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Are you in the midst of leveling a character between 20 and 60? Well right now is the time to stop everything, rush over to this forum post from Blizzard, and sing a happy song while you hurry up and wait! That's right, in answer to the crying pleas of casual alt-oholics everywhere, Blizzard is finally speeding up the tedious leveling curve for old world content in patch 2.3, adding in a bunch of new quests, nerfing a lot of the nastiest bad guys, and buffing a whole bunch of the items they drop.
Here's a summarized list of the changes, with the full post by Vaneras copied for you beyond the link below.
Amount of experience needed to level reduced by 15% per level between 20 and 60.
Experience gained from completing quests increased between levels 30 and 60.
Outdoor elite quests will now now be soloable, with the same (or better) rewards.
About 60 new quests and a new goblin town based in Dustwallow Marsh (levels 30 to 40)
Level ranges for old dungeons to be narrowed down a bit (so that if you are high enough to start them, you are high enough to finish them too)
Increased questing experience for dungeon quests.
Buffed up item drops from dungeon bosses.
As Vaneras says, "Though we've given you a few examples of the things to come, we think everyone will pleasantly surprised when they see the full extent of the changes discussed above." Keep reading to see all the juicy details.
It can be a touch daunting to level a character in WoW, especially if you have a lot of real life commitments. The designers are aware of this, and changes are on the way. But what amazes me is that there are players out there who pay other people to level their characters for them. It's usually offered as an adjunct to real money transfer services, and it always boggles my mind.
I can understand that after you've leveled a few 70's up, you might get bored with the old world content to some degree. After my fourth 70 I was bound and determined that none of my under 60 prospects were going to set foot in Stranglethorn Vale again because I'm sick of the place (they all did, because while I'm sick of the place, I also know where all the quests are - I can go through STV like a steam powered quest thresher now, be it Horde or Alliance quests - expediency trumps all, I guess) but I still have a hard time imagining actually giving someone else access to my account, especially someone who is in all likelihood working for a gold seller.
I suppose it's only different from playing your wife's toon while she's at work by degree, but it seems different to me. (Hey, she really wants that Firefly, it would be a great anniversary present.) I play WoW because, well, I like the game. If I disliked playing the game so much that I felt like I needed to hire someone to play it for me, I don't think I'd play it at all. Is it that important to get to 70 super-fast? Is the game so much more fun at max level that you'd actually pay someone to get you there?
Yet again we descend into the maelstrom and bring forth The Care and Feeding of Warriors, the column that shoots forth horrid tentacles at the bathysphere of warrior issues, probing, searching, a kraken of communication. Yeah, I don't know what the deal is with all the squid imagery either. I think Matthew Rossi had too much pizza last night and had some weird dreams that are still lingering as he writes his intro text. The guy's got something like six warriors, he's not right in the head.
Yesterday, when writing Totem Talk, I mentioned that I'm leveling up a draenei shaman (this is in addition to the shaman I already play) - what I didn't mention is that I'm also leveling up a draenei warrior. Yes, this is my sixth or seventh warrior and, after my three 70's and my poor orc warrior who's been stuck at 60 forever, he's currently my highest level alt at 52. Part of the reason I'm doing this is due to extreme guilt at the fact that I haven't gotten a draenei to 70 yet and warriors are exceedingly easy for me to level.
In general, warriors offer a unique way to level compared to other classes. Unlike most of the mana classes, there's only enough downtime to restore your health, and with a properly maintained first aid skill a warrior can maintain a grinding pace most other classes would find ludicrous. (Rogues and druids to a lesser extent, but rogues often have to stealth and position themselves for maximum effect, which can slow them down. Again, I admit now that I am an awful rogue and a talented one might play differently.) However, there are things to keep in mind as you start your newbie warrior. Since I've recently been taken to task for writing most of these columns for the level 70 warriors out there, I wanted to try and provide some balance and address leveling a warrior up.
Tommy writes in with an interesting question: do we have any tips for rerolling? Since I've played on a lot of different servers in order to play with friends, I felt like I could give this one a shot.
First off, if you're really rerolling instead of merely rolling up an alt (and it's a tenuous difference at best... but starting on a new server, for instance, is different from rerolling on your original) you need to make some choices. Rerolling horde when you originally played alliance means you're going to be making some adjustments, even if you're starting a character of a familiar class. You won't have to relearn everything, of course, but the quests will be different, for starters. Horde and alliance auction houses tend to be different on the same server, depending on which faction is more numerous, so don't assume you'll be able to get all your gear from there.
Blizzard's plans to speed up the old Azeroth leveling experience 1-58 have been pretty vague so far, about some additions toDustwallow Marsh and some kind of general speed increase at some point in the future. Drysc has made things a little bit more clear though: we can expect to see a "pre-expansion change to the experience curve and gain." You won't have to wait until the expansion comes out to finish leveling that alt you've always wanted to play but couldn't make time for. Exactly when "pre-expansion" this will be isn't clear of course, but it's nice to know it shouldn't take as long as some had feared.
In addition, Drysc goes on to add that they are interested in "refining (?)" a couple of the old-world instances, namely Gnomeregan and Uldaman, because apparently those dungeons tend to get more people more often during the leveling process. "Refining" those dungeons could mean anything from changing some of the trash mobs to really reorganizing parts of the instance, and the effect could be for better or for worse -- several of my friends tremble with hatred at the mention of those two instances, and would much rather Blizzard removed Gnomeregan and Uldaman altogether than encourage us to go back to an "refined" version anytime soon.
For my part, any refining of old-world content is a good thing. It would be good to speed through content that most of us have already seen before, and it would be refreshing to revisit some old dungeons with new twists for those of us who haven't already done them to death. Some players, however, are crying bloody murder -- apparently ones who enjoy repeatedly slogging through hours and hours of the same old content and think that everyone else should have to also.
Fridays are a time for early happy hour quiet contemplation and reflection upon the past, and in that spirit we're taking a look back at some of the best posts from over the lifespan of Ask WoW Insider. Now that we're all older and wiser -- who *did* end up being the top PvP classes at 70?
Top PvP classes at level 70 Just after Burning Crusade came out, we speculated on which classes would dominate in PvP. Were we right? Would you change the answer you gave then?
Best ways to make money in Burning Crusade "What are some good ways of making money for levels 60-70 in Burning Crusade? Are there people making money from jewelcrafting yet, should I pick that up? What about good mobs to grind or drops that sell well to vendors or on the AH?"
Best way to get instance invites "What are your tips and tricks for convincing a group you've got the goods despite not having seen the inside of the dungeon?"
Why are you overpowered? "Dig deep, self-examine and admit it: what makes your class overpowered?"
How's WoW performance on a Mac? "I play Wow on a PC, and am looking towards a new computer purchase. One thing that influences my purchase is how well WoW will run on my new computer. I'm leaning towards a Mac, but how well does WoW run on a Mac?"
Best way to power level alts "What's your strategy for the quickest power leveling? How do you maximize your time with your alts?"
Best healing class "Which class would you roll for a purely healing role? Which would you roll for a powerfully healing hybrid who might want to take on other roles from time to time? Relatedly, which healing class is the worst?"
Best DPS class "Which classes can dish out the most DPS and which ones make the least amount of DPS?"
Favorite WoW podcasts "There are a ton of WoW-themed podcasts out there now -- which would you recommend? What are your favorites?"
Great ding stories "Any fun or interesting stories to tell about hitting the level cap? Or more generally, any memorable or unusual dings at any level?"
We see that look in your eye, and we know it means you want to send us questions. Ask WoW Insider needs 'em -- send them to us at ask AT wowinsider DOT com!
Sure, it'll be nice to have a new class -- we've been stuck with the same nine since 2004. However, there are some downsides to the Death Knight as well. Some see it as a threat to their raid spots (mostly rogues and warriors), some don't think it fits in well with the lore, some are afraid it'll be overpowered. However, I have a different concern: how am I going to fit one in my character list?
Some players with less severe altitis may not know it, but there are limits on how many characters you can have: ten per server, 50 per account. Ten is a good number for the per-server limit, at least right now; you get one of each class, plus one more for a bank/AH alt. But what are we supposed to do if we want to make a Death Knight? Delete one of our beloved alts? Pay to transfer a character? Start the DK on a different server (if that's even possible)? CM Nethaera tells us there are no plans to add more character slots, although she notes that people are unhappy with it and that she'll relay that to the devs. Are you going to run up against the character limit in WotLK?
Old world content continues to be a hot topic with certain sections of the population -- namely anyone who's prone to leveling alts through Azeroth after spending some time in Outland. So what will you find in the new zones that you won't see in the old?
Streamlined quests means that when you're first sent to a zone, you've got a good assortment of quests you can work on. You're rarely sent all over the world to complete a quest. (Flying all over the world isn't really fun -- though it's a good time to go AFK and grab a soda.) And when you're finishing up the quests in a zone, you're conveniently directed to the next appropriate zone.
Every zone has an inn and a flightpath for convenient travel -- and most of them have multiples of both.
Almost all quests have rewards you want! Looking at Outland quest rewards, even if you don't have a reward that works for you, you can see how it would be useful for certain classes or builds. There are quest rewards in Azeroth that it's hard to tell who might ever want to use them.
But what about Azeroth? There's a lot more levels that need to be done there than there are to be done in Outland. Says CM Vaneras on the EU forms:
Many players have posted ideas and suggestions for ways to revamp Azeroth after the release of the Burning Crusade. But many of those ideas and suggestions posted by some players have been radically different than ideas and suggestions from other players, so at times it can be quite hard to get a good overview of which things in Azeroth people would like to see changed or improved more than other things...
He goes on to ask what change you would make if you could make one change to Azeroth. Now, I sort of think Azeroth needs more than just one change, but if you play on the EU side of things and want to give them your two cents, this thread is the place. Otherwise, you're welcome to let us know what you think in our comments!
How well I remember the day I that created my warrior. I had seen a gnome walking around with an adorable name, a cute hat, and all that plate armor much too big for her, and I was suddenly inspired with a character idea that I just had to make real. As a roleplayer, I was fiercely excited to play this undauntedly brave gnome who would proclaim in an adorably child-like voice: "I am NOT cute! I'm the most fearsomest warrior you'll ever see!"
The character was wonderful fun to roleplay for a long time, and brought plenty of laughs with my friends, but after finally reaching level 40 and getting my cute mechanostrider mount, I realized I was getting killed way too often, killing monsters way too slowly, and just not having that much success at the actual "war" part of being a warrior. I had heard of a number of warriors complaining in the forums and it seemed that the class was just way too weak. So I gave up and blamed Blizzard for my bad experience -- but oh, how I was wrong...
Our reader Josh wrote to us with an common and practical question, saying that he said that he and his girlfriend are looking forward to starting two new alts together and they would like to know what the best classes would be for leveling exclusively together, with no solo play in between. He said, and I quote: "what would the greatest, most face melting/ass kicking/uber pwnage duo in WoW look like?"
Now, fortunately for Josh and his girlfriend, we've actually been asked this question before, and anyways this sort of topic comes up lots and lots and lots of times in one way or another. I'm happy to refer them, and all interested parties of two, back to those posts with comments from our insightful readers. Of course if you feel something has changed since those topics last came up and there's a new best duo in the game, feel free to let us know here!
But in order to give this post some kind of interesting spin, how about we advice them what not to do! What would be the absolute worst class combination imaginable for two people to level with? It's not as easy as you think -- As our class encouragement breakfast topics have shown so far, each of the classes has their own form of face melting, ass-kicking uber pwnage, and they all seem to have abilities that complement each other, no matter who they're paired with. Still... there has to be a less-than-optimal combination in there somewhere, right?
Ideologically, you'd think that paladins and warlocks just would not mix at all, but no, that's not true! Actually they work great together. From my own experience, I remember practicing as a 2vs2 arena team with a mage friend, who is an excellent player, but we still didn't do very well at all. I know it could be just because I may be a terrible druid, or my gear may not be good enough, but it's actually the only time in this game that I've ever paired up with a friend only to feel that maybe our class abilities didn't complement each other well. I thought that if I could level my rogue to join her we might be a lot more successful, but my friend thought that I just needed more practice. Maybe there is no worst class duo! What's your experience?
[Check out the girlfriend's answer in the last panel of this great Penny Arcade comic above, and take it as a warning not to choose for your duo a new class that you like toooooo much, or else you might not be able to resist soloing with it when you have free time and your partner doesn't!]
Michael over at MMOG Nation struggled a lot with the same issues many of us have been having, including the leveling bottleneck in "Stranglethorn Hole," but he seems to have found the answer that works for him -- and it isn't new content, new features, or "new" anything from Blizzard! He just follows Jame's Alliance Leveling Guide. (There's a Horde one too)
With my laptop open and my game running on my main machine, I don't even have to alt-tab. I just turn my head, reference the guide, and then do what it says to do. By chaining myself to this experience as written down by Jame ... I've found it to be incredibly freeing. Don't get me wrong; I completely [think] the first time through a Massive game [like WoW] should be a period of exploration. But ... I've quested in STV with three different characters now. I've braved the deserts of Tanaris before; having someone tell me where i should be and what I should be doing is actually exactly what I need right now.
I feel stupid saying this, but it's the most fun I've had playing WoW in a long time. I only pick up groups when they're running the same quests I am, and I just generally plow ahead with the well-laid-out instructions. It's like having a tour guide to Azeroth in some ways, and I'm really enjoying playing Tourist.
Is such a guide the answer to all our alt-leveling woes? Have any of you had a similar experience?
Recent reports that the general population of WoW players may be going down for the first time cause some concern, enough to even have our post on the subject listed on the BBC for a while. Our readers gave lots of reasons why something was missing from The Burning Crusade, from problems with the new raids, new items, or even lack of anything actually "new" at all. Granted, it is too soon to say whether people are leaving WoW en masse or not, but the concerns raised here are still valid.
One of the main problems our readers cited was leveling boredom. The game before Outland is a bottleneck for casual players who want to explore other classes and playstyles but find that getting where they want to be with their new favorite alt would take more tedium and repetition than they're willing to tolerate. Some have the patience and dedication for it, but for others it feels like an impassible jungle.
Stranglethorn Vale, sometimes called the "Stranglethorn Hole" (coined by Tobold in reference to black holes, I think), has been the prime example of 1-60 leveling boredom, because at some point between levels 30 and 45, quests in most other areas just dry up, and you're left with little choice other than to help out the goblins in Booty Bay. The Gaming Fascist complains that he couldn't get any characters through the Vale without it feeling like "an affliction or a chore, something I don't really enjoy and fall back to when times get too boring." This was especially infuriating for him since he apparently chose a PvP server and he got ganked a lot there. Anyone tends to feel frustrated and hopeless when your goal is so far away that you have no reasonable means to achieve it.
We took a light-hearted look into the future a couple weeks ago, to see what solutions might present themselves in a few years as this problem gets increasingly severe. The fact is that has to be done for casuals who can't or don't want to go raiding, and if trying out new classes and isn't really a feasible option, then what's to prevent them from feeling stuck with nothing to do? More reputations to grind?
The year is 2012. WoW fans are excitedly awaiting the game's 5th expansion, Revenge of the Gnomes, which brings two new races to the game (Sporeggar and Goblins, at last!), as well as a new class (the Tinker), and a slew of other features. As everyone knows, this is the expansion where the gnomes finally take back Gnomeregan from the troggs, pushing them back all the way into the "Undergloom," a vast and ancient network of caverns beneath Azeroth. Of course, the gnomes also accidentally stumble upon the long-buried prison of the Old Gods and unleash unbridled havoc on the World of Warcraft, but that's where the fun is, right?
I could go on and on about the new features included in Revenge of the Gnomes, but I'm sure you've heard about most of them already (like the subterranean hovercraft group-mounts and blue-pill, red-pill potions for alchemy). Suffice it to say that the feature everyone is most excited about is that the level cap is once again being raised another 10 levels, to a grand total of 110.
Like everyone else, you're probably wondering how in the world (of Warcraft) are you going to level your new Goblin Tinker character all the way through those tedious levels of 1 to 100? Everyone wants to try out the new content, but no one wants to slave away through Stranglethorn Vale for the 48th time. To complicate things further, Blizzard still doesn't want to add any more 1-60 quests in the lower-level zones (not to mention any of the Outland, Northrend, Emerald Dream, or Great Sea Expansion zones)!
Fortunately, though, Blizzard's got what you need! Are you prepared for the "/level" command?
I probably play World of Warcraft way too much. Admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery, right? My addiction stems from not being happy with one character, or two, or three... I have 7 characters leveling in the Outlands right now, two of which are raiding Karazhan. Why can't I stick with just one and work on it until it's the best of the best? Because I love my alts!
I created my first alt when my primary character, a Hunter, hit level 52. I'm not entirely sure why I did so, but it probably had something to do with having out-leveled my friends by about 20 levels and wanting to help them without hindering our playing experience. My first alt was a Warlock, who I took to 60 first, becoming my first instance grinding and raiding main character. The hunter stood on standby for a while, until my guild had Molten Core on farm-mode, upon which I took him to 60 and brought him in for our alt runs. He was one of the first to complete the Lok'delar/Rhok'delar/Lamina quest in our guild, which he still has (at least, until I dust him off and bring him out of retirement).
After a few months with them, I met other people who played on a different server, and they needed main tanks for their progression. So I was off and running with a Warrior, who was level 60 in a matter of a few weeks. I helped that guild progress through Blackwing Lair when I took my first burnout hiatus. It took a few months of enjoying other things, more real-life than virtual, when I was feeling the pangs of withdrawal and logged back in.
It's time once again for our weekly dose of Ask WoW Insider, wherein we publish one reader's question for everyone to answer. This week's question comes to us from Richard, who has a slew of alts he's interested in leveling quickly:
I've been playing for about a year now and have leveled a bunch of alts. My main and an alt are 70 and 64, respectively. But I have a bunch of alts all in the 10-35 range that I would like to get up in level. Some of my friends are in the same boat and we're trying to figure out the best way to maximize our leveling time. I've heard everything from solo'ing is faster, to run same level groups, to a high level 5-man instance with a couple high levels and have the lowbie hang back as you clear the place. I'd love to hear people's ideas on power leveling alts.
So, what's your strategy for the quickest power leveling? How do you maximize your time with your alts?
Got questions? Get answers. Send us your burning inquiries at ask AT wowinsider DOT com.
It can be a touch daunting to level a character in WoW, especially if you have a lot of real life commitments. The designers are aware of this, and 
