The Alliance Leveling Guide

by David "Xerin" Piner

Page One: Basic Information

Scroll down to continue to the actual guide! However, this is some extremely important and helpful information that you shouldn't skip unless you have a full understanding of the various mechanics of World of Warcraft.

Introduction

World of Warcraft (or WoW) does a great job of pointing you in the proper progression. However, WoW does adhere to the storyline, so while you may advance through one zone to another, that faction will not pull you away from their urgent needs to go assist another faction. So we all need a little help in figuring out what is the fastest and most efficient way about going through the game. That’s where this guide comes in; in this guide we take you level by level through the game to give you the most efficient and speedy way to level sixty.

If you are joining us with either a brand new character or one already made, don’t worry! All of the levels are accounted for (and verified through experience of several players). So worry not if you are level 1 or level 30, this guide will help you get through the level “grind” in the most speedy and efficient manner possible.

Before you Begin…

Like any good adventure, you need to be well prepared. In prepration for your adventures, it’s always best to be both physically, mentally, and in-game prepared so that you are already ready to play!

Physically

• Be sure to take breaks from time to time. While you may have super Internet endurance, taking a break from levelling will make it much more refreshing when you log in again. It really helps with the morale! I suggest a break every hour for about ten minutes.
• If you are playing in a contested (PvP zone) on a PvP server then it may be a good idea to have snacks available (and drinks). Going AFK can often lead to your character being slain by either fiend or player, so it’s a good idea to avoid any avoidable AFKing.
• Be comfortable! If you are not very comfortable then the game will be nowhere near as enjoyable!

Mentally

You should be prepared with some basic game knowledge beforehand. These guides are good starting points!

• Must Know WoW Tips - Tips you shouldn't leave Stormwind without!
• Etiquette Guide - Grouping for instances is important, so is being nice!
• Talent Calculator - Plan out your talents.
• Traveling Guide - You need to know how to get around and this guide helps!

Along with these, I highly reconmend you use the following resources in your adventures!

• The Horde 1-60 Leveling Guide - The Horde counterpart of this guide.
• U.I. Mod Database - Make WoW's interface much more comfortable.
• Quest Database - Find out all about the quests you need to complete!
• Zone Database - Need a map? Our Zone Database has plenty!

In-Game

• Always have food and water on hand (or just food if you are a Rogue or Warrior). Downtime caused by lack of Mana or Health can slow you down! If you can’t afford (or are very cheap) then buy some of the lower level food/drink. It won’t be as speedy, but it’ll definitely help.
• Potions! POTIONS POTIONS POTIONS! I can’t say it enough how much potions can help you avoid an improper death in-game. They may be expensive, but boy do they help alleviate corpse runs. The only rule of thumb about potions is that you should only use one if you are pretty sure it’ll save you.
• Clean your inventory! If your inventory is full then how are you going to pick up more quest items and loot to sell? Anytime you are in town, be sure to sell any unwanted stuff. Anytime you in a major city be sure to bank any wanted stuff that you don’t need right then.
• Combine quests! Be sure you pick up EVERY quest available in an area. It’s the most efficient way to do it. Do research (use our handy dandy WoWDB) into the quests to make sure you can do them in a very efficient order. If you get stuck on a quest for too long (or it’s too hard), then move on.
• Buy any skills you can afford (that you actually use). Yes, there are skills that are very blah to use and you can skip those, but overall you should buy any skills that you need. They seriously help speed it up more then anything else you can spend that money on.
• Be equipped! If you are a Rogue, Warrior, or Paladin you need very good weapons otherwise your damage just won’t scale properly with the enemies. Feel free to run an instance again to try for a weapon drop or go out of your way to get an elite quest done.
• Go to sleep in an inn! Seriously the extra XP is always welcome. Just save your hearth when you know you need to go soon and hearth to an inn. You may have to walk out to where you were, but the extra experience makes up for that ten fold!

Questing vs. Grinding

There is an age old debate between questing and grinding. Grinding is the act of “grinding” through enemies for their base experience while questing involves doing all of the available quests. The giant difference between the two is that one is documented as faster for Rogues, Warlocks, and Warriors while the other is very beneficial to Paladins and Mages. Hunters can really go either way with equal success (their pets making grinding easy on both the HP and Mana). In our guide, we give you both the best mobs to grind on and the best zones for quests. So either way you choose, we have the information here vital to your success!

• Always take any quests on any mobs you are grinding, also do any quests that lead up to an instance (our Quest DB can help, along with our Zone DB in this matter).
• Be sure your weapon is sharp! Seriously though, be sure you have an adequate weapon. Fighting with a weapon way below your level will make grinding less efficient then questing, unless you are a caster. In which case you need generally “decent” gear.
• Always grind enemies at or below your level. Oranges and above are a waste of time, they take too long to slay generally.
• Have skinning. Please, have it. You'll need to slay a lot of Raptors and other stuff with leather and there will be a lot of skinnable stuff. The extra money will help a ton!

Class Specific Tips

Warrior: As a Warrior, you’ll be able to quickly slay enemies while taking little damage (with a two-handed weapon of course). You should mix in grinding with questing, doing the easiest quests and grinding away any XP lost from skipping the harder quests.

Rogue: Rogues are grinding machines. You can go to level sixty as a Rogue in a speedy fashion avoiding a lot of the quests in the game. However, this is ill-advised to take this route without research. You should never skip quests that give you good gear or any instances.

Mage: Mages have the problem of constantly needing to refresh their mana. Therefore they are best at questing. They can quickly slay an enemy, but the need to sit and refresh the mana can really hamper the XP/hour. On the same note, with the change to Arcane Explosion, Mages can sometimes grind away on mass amounts of green enemies. This can sometimes work out well, but overall it’s best to do quests.

Warlock: Warlocks are an odd bunch, with their demon allies and ability to turn health into mana. They are very good at fighting a lot of different enemies with their ability to take little to no damage (through fear and health drains and a pet tanking). It’s really up to the Warlock on what action they want to take, although the Warlocks I know generally prefer to do the easy quests and grind away the rest of the XP.

Paladin: This is a tough one. Paladins can grind endlessly forever without the need to drink or really eat and with little to no risk in dieing. The problem is, they do it at a very slow pace. So generally Paladins will want to quest as much as possible, unless there is a good camp for your Paladin to fight at.

Druid: Druids are… unique in the same way Paladins are. Druids are probably best off, like Paladins, in questing. Grinding is optional, but generally only if you find a really good solid camp of enemies that die easily to your assault.

Wait there is more! Continue on the actual guide itself using the snazzy links below!

Continue to The Alliance Leveling Guide Page Two: Levels 1-30!