Powerlevelling guides

[Ray Domkrat]

Did you use them? I mean are they worth it? Like Joana's guide that is 37$ IIRC but praised a lot.

Are these guides of any real use?

[memetootoo]

Used them, they were pretty handy, but the thing is you end up playing the game reading the guide more than actually looking at the screen. If your alright with that than by all means. Made leveling faster, and less tedious though. Had xp/hr speeds as fast as straight out grinding.

You might also want to give cartographer mod a shot with quest addon, and questobjectives addon. What it bascilly does it whatever quests you have in your quest log it tells you where you have to go and what you have to kill. Using your map. So you can plan out the quickest route making it more effective.

[Lalaust]

Tried to use one on my paladin before I retired him. I got to level 50 in 4 days played, which I think is quite nice.

I have never done it faster!

Now I'm going to try again with a warrior that I have. Hopefully I will be able to do it faster since I now know a little bit more where to go.

I am using Jame's leveling guide btw.

I would not recommend you this if this is your first character. If this is your first character there is no real reason to speed up the leveling, it's much more enjoyable to chill it.

[amgyn]

yeah i used james alliance guide on my warrior and he is 49 in about 6 days played.. but i also have PVP gear and my prof's are at about 200~

[det]

I am not bothering with them, because speed isn't really that much of an issue for me. First character to 60 in 17 days, second in 11...which is about what works for me...

[Ray Domkrat]

Not my first character, I have a 51 lvl Orc Shaman and lots of lesser characters.
But I am a very slow leveler. (having 5 active characters doesn't help either).
And I need a high level Alliance shaman for a friends guild. So i was thinking about using one of the guides.

[memetootoo]

You wont really learn how to play the class well if your leveling up with those guides, they pretty much tells you to avoid instances because of their low xp/hr

[Ray Domkrat]

I belive I know how to play shaman. Did lot's of instances while leveling myself.

Ok, let's stick to the point. What guides would you recomend yourself? Thanks for the Jame's guide I love it (=

[Tanitha]

You wont really learn how to play the class well if your leveling up with those guides, they pretty much tells you to avoid instances because of their low xp/hr

Depends. On my Alliance Warlock I used James' Guide and although he mostly works with an optimized quest runs he also includes quite a few instances. They are optional, but he picks up all the quests for them and so on and they cut out a few hours of grinding.

I keep those types of guides close at hand, if only to refer to worthwhile quests when coming into a new zone.

[kcma]

instances DO lower your xp/hr :)

[Tanitha]

They do, no disputing that. James' Guides however DO NOT tell you to avoid Instances. Some of the others might though. L2Read nubsauce. :wink:

[Stigg]

instances DO lower your xp/hr :)

Not really true. If you can get every available quest and find a good group, they can net more xp in the same amount of time. But, after you have completed all the quests....then thats when it goes downhil...very quickly.

[GamerManOneTwo]

I am currently using the tentonhammer horde 60-70 guide.

It is OK - not as good as Jame's guide (which only goes up to 60).

It doesn't advise where the best place to set your hearth to - there are several errors in it - wrong co-ords at times, skipping some quest pre-reqs.

It is good to make sure you have at least done all the easy quests in an area before moving on. Although in general, questing in the Outland is very simple and most people will get to 70 with several questing areas to do.

[Aurum]

I use Jame's horde lvling guide for my druid. Its not for as fast lvling as possible but more for the fun of it. Have 3 chars already +60 and this guide makes me do different things, quests that i havent done before. And its free i mean whats wrong in using it then^^

[Pin]

I tried using Jamie's horde one recently whilst levelling my rogue.

When I followed it strictly (did 100% what the guide said) I felt like I wasn't playing. It bored me terribly.

When I just had it open in the background and picked and chose from it I enjoyed levelling a lot more. I find it nice to remind you about all those "gotcha" quests, where they send you back somwhere you just went, etc.

[Telmar]

instances DO lower your xp/hr :)

Clearly you never tried BF zerging at TBC release :)

Can do about 150k an hour there, and no competition for repops

[Stigg]

I looked at Jame's leveling guide when I was on my alliance toon, it was decent, but it some of it was very poorly chosen. For example....one of the quests was killing mobs for a "drop quest" in STV, while like 3 levels below said mobs, and attempting to not get touched by the horde.

I never looked into Joanna's guide, nor will I. I am sure there are things that I don't know about, but it is completly unnecessary.

I am working on a horde leveling guide of my own for 10-45. I doubt it would be as hugely immense and detailed as Joanna's....but it will be free, something that I think Joanna is an ass-hat for doing. But w/e.

[Sturm]

U think Joanna is an ass for taking money for doing all the work he put into that guide? I have read some of it (it fell of a speeding truck) and it seems really nice, but not as nice as Jame's tbh.

I still think that taking money for a guide this well prepared should be up to one self. That Jame doesn't charge for his is just a big plus and a nice gesture.

[irogue]

My suggestion is to use it as a reference and do it a couple level above the guide suggested. (i.e. lvl 52 doing lvl 50 in the guide). It will make your life easier and less frustrated.

Jame’s guide groups and organizes related quests so you won’t waste your time running around. His dungeon guides are pretty useful as well that you can do many quests while you are in it. I can’t remember how many times I was the only one who knows where the boss was.

As many people said, you might get bored from reading a guide to play WOW. On the other hand, if you want to do quests faster in an organized fashion, use it. It is free so give it a try.

iRogue

[Sturm]

I am still amazed by the number of new players. Every instance I do while leveling my warrior I meet ppl that have never tried any instances. I meet mages that use pyroblast, priests that stay in shadowform, druids that go lolkin and all that kinda stuff.

I tend to get pretty dictator'ish and start telling ppl what to do. I really really try not to sound to patrionizing, but ffs - why wont they listen to common sense...

[Xmcdaniel]

I am still amazed by the number of new players. Every instance I do while leveling my warrior I meet ppl that have never tried any instances. I meet mages that use pyroblast, priests that stay in shadowform, druids that go lolkin and all that kinda stuff.

I tend to get pretty dictator'ish and start telling ppl what to do. I really really try not to sound to patrionizing, but ffs - why wont they listen to common sense...

Because they choose not to. I have a mage to 65 on a PvE server, and recently rolled another on Underbog PvP alliance side. Let's just say that Deadmines has re-opened my eyes with regard to this problem. Most of these people don't have the attention span to level a character to 70, and if the do, the will most likely be on everyone's ignore list in short order.

[Stigg]

U think Joanna is an ass for taking money for doing all the work he put into that guide? I have read some of it (it fell of a speeding truck) and it seems really nice, but not as nice as Jame's tbh.
Personal opinion. I would much rather share a well-written guide with a community of respectful playes than make money off of it. Seems to elitist IMO. Games are for fun, profit is for work. But once again, personal opinion.

[Sturm]

Personal opinion. I would much rather share a well-written guide with a community of respectful playes than make money off of it. Seems to elitist IMO. Games are for fun, profit is for work. But once again, personal opinion.

Very much true mate. I have no problem saying that I would never charge for my help, but when u suddently see a market with 10 million customers - and u know u have the best product ... the temptation must be hard. Imagine 1 % buying his guide for lets say 10$ - can u follow my idea ?

[Stigg]

Very much true mate. I have no problem saying that I would never charge for my help, but when u suddently see a market with 10 million customers - and u know u have the best product ... the temptation must be hard. Imagine 1 % buying his guide for lets say 10$ - can u follow my idea ?

I do, I originally wrote "Make a few thousand dollars", then I thought about it. He has probably sold 5k+ copies at $37 each...which is quite a lot of money. But, who cares. You can get his guide illegally, and if I was an author that would just piss me off, result in me running around screaming and hating the world.

So, anything I do (except work-related) is freely available to anybody that has the internet. I actually saw a word-for-word copy of my rogue twink guide as a torrent under the title "Dodgy's Twink Rogue Guide - TBC edition."

I lol'd. If i had been charging money for that I would have been pissed.

[xDarkDrifterx]

Jame's is free :thumbsup:

[Sturm]

I lol'd. If i had been charging money for that I would have been pissed.

Hahaha - so true.

But on the other hand. If u had made 150.000$ on a guide I guess u are satisfied :P

[JaTal]

I am still amazed by the number of new players. Every instance I do while leveling my warrior I meet ppl that have never tried any instances. I meet mages that use pyroblast, priests that stay in shadowform, druids that go lolkin and all that kinda stuff.

I tend to get pretty dictator'ish and start telling ppl what to do. I really really try not to sound to patrionizing, but ffs - why wont they listen to common sense...

Because it's not Common Sense?

Shadow Priests that Stay in Shadowform do more damage, and can provided nice topoff healing.

Moonkin Druids can dish out serious DPS damage, and the 5% crit bonus is nice for mages in the group.

/end offtopic

I used James' guide for about 2 levels, but I found that it wasn't any more efficient than what I was doing with my style of questing, it seems to involve more running around, and to much grinding.

[mesonm]

Personal opinion. I would much rather share a well-written guide with a community of respectful playes than make money off of it. Seems to elitist IMO. Games are for fun, profit is for work. But once again, personal opinion.

I think that work is what you make, where you make it...

Work can be fun, and if someone wants to make money, more power to them...I can choose to send them some, or not...

[front243]

Did you use them? I mean are they worth it? Like Joana's guide that is 37$ IIRC but praised a lot.

Are these guides of any real use?

Curiosity got me so I purchased both Joanas and Brian Kopps guide (Horde and Alliance guide respectively). I must say that especially Joanas guide is very much geared towards being a hunter, with a lot of references to pets to tame etc., and some of the quests are a bit tough to solo for some classes other than hunters. If you want a leveling guide I recommend you try Jame's instead it is for free afterall (though it does involve more grinding than I like). Joana's 60-70 part of the guide was gold though because I never been in Outlands when I got the guide.

What I found most useful about these guides were some quests which I never did before or never heard of before which I have now implemented in my own "grind" to 70.

[IRPander]

I had a friend give me Brian Kopp's guide(>.>) and I was actually Alt tabbing too much to do anything so i dropped it and just leveled myself...

[ajowahn]

I'm using Joana's guide at the moment for my hunter. I definitely wouldn't recommend using a guide if it's your first character but I've got my main priest (holy) who's 70 and a shammy who's 62 and I levelled both of those without a guide. The only reason I started the hunter is for farming to help out my priest. I've got no intention of doing instances with the hunter, I just want it at 70 as fast as possible. She's lvl 52 now and I've found the guide very good for a hunter :)

[Exalted Warlock]

I am working on a horde leveling guide of my own for 10-45. I doubt it would be as hugely immense and detailed as Joanna's....but it will be free, something that I think Joanna is an ass-hat for doing. But w/e.[/QUOTE]

I have Joana's guide, and as the undisputed and PROVEN fastest leveller in WOW so far (yeah others claim they are, but unlike Joana don't prove it) - it's quite worth the $$$ I paid for it ( I think it was $37 ) and it's updated constantly and for free.

Joana knows this game inside and out,
and the maps, exact coordinates and VIDEOS of almost every quest how to do it if you get stuck is priceless!
So stop your whining - your guide won't be 5% as good as Joana's,
and for all the work put into it (and the proof of results) it's worth a few bucks.

You all whine about cost and about Joana because Joana is simply
the best, period.

But there is NO point at all in using Joana's guide if you're doing Alliance - a good chunk of all quests, locations to hearth, etc would be all wrong.
use Brian's instead. It's almost as good, as IS all alliance (and he's updating it, it's much better)

but harping on Joana for charging for all that work?
Get a life and a clue, cheapskate.

[Stigg]

I have Joana's guide, and as the undisputed and PROVEN fastest leveller in WOW so far (yeah others claim they are, but unlike Joana don't prove it) - it's quite worth the $$$ I paid for it ( I think it was $37 ) and it's updated constantly and for free.

Joana knows this game inside and out,
and the maps, exact coordinates and VIDEOS of almost every quest how to do it if you get stuck is priceless!
So stop your whining - your guide won't be 5% as good as Joana's,
and for all the work put into it (and the proof of results) it's worth a few bucks.

You all whine about cost and about Joana because Joana is simply
the best, period.

But there is NO point at all in using Joana's guide if you're doing Alliance - a good chunk of all quests, locations to hearth, etc would be all wrong.
use Brian's instead. It's almost as good, as IS all alliance (and he's updating it, it's much better)


First off, please understand how to quote a message. It is terribly confusing when you see something like that...and are like "What is he talking about? Isn't he contradicting himself?" It might assist you in making points.

Secondly, if you read past my first post, I stated, very clearly, my opinion on the subject was MY OWN opinion. And you are correct, any guide I wrote would not be better than Joanna's guide. But, unlike Joanna, it would be free. Which, for a majority of WoW players, or players that don't use a P2P network for naughty activity, I am fairly certain would be a good thing. And I was also unaware of the fact there was a decent horde leveling-by-quest guide out for free.


but harping on Joana for charging for all that work?
Get a life and a clue, cheapskate.

After spending about 30 seconds of browsing through your posts, I realized that you have been temp-banned before for trolling. So, why don't you skip back over to HERE (http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/?sid=1), and stay away from these forums?

[Daidoji Sagara]

Information wants to be free!

Seriously, I've been reading a couple guides (James', specifically). I think it's a nice help, but never should be seen as the end-all, be-all of WoW.

I skimmed a few notes as to what zones (and part of zone) I should be running around at what level. Keep the 1/4 sheet close at hand. Went to play.

And then the Devilsaur ate me :shocked:

Still best option by my book: take what you absolutely want (where to level?), skip the rest (what quest, what order, where to zone?)

[Tanitha]

Secondly, if you read past my first post, I stated, very clearly, my opinion on the subject was MY OWN opinion. And you are correct, any guide I wrote would not be better than Joanna's guide. But, unlike Joanna, it would be free. Which, for a majority of WoW players, or players that don't use a P2P network for naughty activity, I am fairly certain would be a good thing. And I was also unaware of the fact there was a decent horde leveling-by-quest guide out for free.

Stigg, after seeing the speed with which you level based simply on your own knowledge I think any guide you write would be fabulous. What was it? Level 40 in less than a day with all your trade skills maxed as well? You've got my vote of confidence.

Besides, I agree with the concept of free for these types of things. Good on Joanna for charging for it and if it makes him/her happy then woot. But considering that Jamie's guide is out there, is free and is bloody good I wouldn't hold Joanna up as the be-all end all of guides. Especially as Jamie's also includes videos, coordinates, shopping lists - it essentially holds your hands and talks you through everything with specific tips on difficult quests for EACH and EVERY class. (Not focussed on Hunters as some players here have indicated for Joannas guide)

Knowledge about the game is freely available from many resources. Think of all the fansites, the databases and forums. Think of all the mods that are free. So associating World of Warcraft knowledge with money seems a bit contrary to that free spirit of the game and it's community. But that's just my opinion, others can, will and should feel differently :laugh:

Get a life and a clue, cheapskate.Hang on. If everyone should be paying for guides and information and so on - why aren't you a PAL? Go on - you know your pocket (http://forums.worldofwar.net/payments.php) is itching to pay for being on these forums.

[Ray Domkrat]

Stigg, after seeing the speed with which you level based simply on your own knowledge I think any guide you write would be fabulous. What was it? Level 40 in less than a day with all your trade skills maxed as well? You've got my vote of confidence.


To 40 in less than a day? Wow. Just wow...
I fell so... So noob. :cry:

Want a cookie? :thumbsup:

[Tanitha]

It probably wasn't quite that fast, but I remember Stigg mentioning he was rolling a priest and the next thing he was the same level I was. (45) I think he has details in Semunia's story on his blog.

[Sindas]

not worth it. i tried a free one once. it was ok, it said 1-60 in like 3 days, i got maby a level a day. there not very fun either. jusst do what ya want, do stuff with friends. do it the fun way, screw guides

[Hoonah]

Depends on which one you use. The more popular ones that have been mentioned here can work and work well. When you say 1 level a day I have no idea how many hours that equates to. I can level about 1 to 2 levels in about 8 hours played. Also depends on what level you are.

Back when I was number 2 in our large guild (now gone) a few of used the guides purposely to get a few alts up to 70 to get a variety of classes for raids and 5 mans. Worked very well.

Stigg and others who take the time and care enough to write these guides for the rest of us I say a big thank you!

[Trebora]

When you say 1 level a day I have no idea how many hours that equates to.

1 Earth Day = 24 Hours = 24 Hours Played :thumbsup:
Joking with you :wink:

[Stigg]

Haha no...nowhere near 1 day /played. IIRC it was something like 2 days 17-ish hours. But that was just til about 40. post 40 I don't have the slightest idea. And you also have to understand I didn't walk anywhere. buying portals/summons/etc....if I had to do all of that, it would have been one heck of a lot longer. :)

The fastest group level to 60 (aka with the help of a lot of people) was about 1.5 days.

[Hoonah]

Oh you mean Earth Days... well yes if you are going to be that specific. :laugh:

[Altaris]

From someone who has used James Alliance and Horde guides to the fifties...

I would never pay for something I knew nothing about. And frankly, when you purchase Joana's guide, you really have no idea as to the quality of the work.

Jame's guides are not perfect, and in some places, he misses prequests or other quests that could have easily fit in well. And in truth, his guides work best for Rogues, which he seems to favor. He also forgets to tell you to bank the items on your shopping list, so you never know exactly when you'll need them.

However, Jame's guides really are great. Perfect? No, but perfection is impossible. I have found them indespensible in my leveling career. I do agree with the prior poster who suggested being one or two levels higher than the guides say. However, as my Alliance paladin, I have out leveled several sections of the guides.

I would also suggest to use them as they are named, guides. Read them ahead of time, be familiar with what you'll be doing, but there is no need to follow them exactly. Take the time to work on your professions, play some BG's, enjoy the scenery and the companionship.

The one major drawback to Jame's guides? They suck for PvP servers.

[Sindas]

as a day i ment the average amount of hours an average player is on.

If anyoe here has found a good guide that got you leveled real fast, post it and lets giv it a shot.

[chipmc]

As someone that's still somewhat new to this game (5 months of endless alts it seems) Jame's guide is a pretty nice reference.

My Blood Elf Hunter has been stuck in Hillsbrad now for a while. Its a 20-30 zone, so I innocently thought I could hang out and quest there until level 30. But about half-way through the questing the enemies started out leveling me by about 5 levels. This place seems to have a rather steep leveling curb. It never really occurred to me to go someplace else for a little while then come back.

Guess I'm just stubborn like that. I was ready to grind on bears and lions until that quest to kill all those elite dwarves weren't in red colored text anymore. Still being new to the game I had no idea where to go outside of what little the official guides told me about the starting zones. Once I left those zones I was kinda lost. Its nice to have something to point you in the right direction.

[Big Guns]

I am using Jame's Alliance guide on my current two alts.

I find it quite useful, but it is a "guide" not a bible.

It's utility is in maximizing XP with a minimum of travelling. There is very little grinding in it (well at least for the first 10 levels). I don't agree with everything in it though and modify it to suit.

For example, when you first go to STV he recommends making your hearth at BB. I disagree. Darkshire is better. Early STV is mainly in the north of the zone and Darkshire is closer and does not require you to traverse areas with level 40+ mobs.

I also add in quests that I just like to do or drop out those that I dislike.

(On my Hunter recently I must have killed over 50 crocs and did not get one skin let alone two. This was the fourth time I had attempted the quest and by far it was the worst drop (well non-drop) rate ever. Only need about 10 kills previously!)

[belfastbiker]

For those who waste time switching between screens - the Jame's guide has a printable version - print it four to a page, and make little mini booklets - I now have 31 little A4-folded-over-twice booklets to follow. Quit easy to look ahead and so on now, without switching ou to my memory hogging firefox. :)


Lovely guide, but sometimes I deviate for a spot of fishing, the odd instance with guild or help with their quests and so on.

I'm still in charge. :)