A short route from level 1 to 100: which zones to take, what to speed yourself up with and what not to forget. The experience rate on the server is x10 for kills, quests and exploring territories.
Zone scaling in 7.3.5
Almost the whole of the old world adjusts to your level, so a zone can be played through to the end.
| Continent | Range |
|---|---|
| Racial starting zones | 1–10 |
| Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor | 10–60 |
| Outland | 58–80 |
| Northrend | 58–80 |
| Cataclysm zones | 80–90 |
| Pandaria | 80–90 |
| Draenor | 90–100 |
| Broken Isles | 98–110 |
The route
- 1–10. Your race's starting zone in full — at x10 that is 10–15 minutes.
- 10–58. The old world. Take zones with dense quest hubs: for the Alliance — Westfall, Redridge Mountains, Duskwood; for the Horde — Tirisfal Glades, Silverpine Forest, Hillsbrad Foothills.
- 58–80. Outland gets going faster (Hellfire Peninsula → Zangarmarsh → Nagrand), Northrend is denser further in (Dragonblight → Zul'Drak → Sholazar Basin). A sensible compromise: 58–68 in Outland, 68–80 in Northrend.
- 80–90. Cataclysm is faster: Mount Hyjal → Deepholm → Uldum → Twilight Highlands. Pandaria takes longer, but has more story.
- 90–100. Draenor: the intro campaign in Tanaan Jungle → your first zone with the garrison → Gorgrond → Talador → Spires of Arak and Nagrand.
The main principle: do not jump between zones. Once you have taken every quest in a hub, close them all in one loop and ride on to the next one.
Why Draenor is the fastest
- Bonus objectives in every zone: they sit on the map, get done along the way and give a big chunk of experience.
- Treasures. There are hundreds of them, and every chest is noticeable experience.
- The garrison. Start building right away, level 2 opens up at 96. The tavern gives you a daily quest rewarding Oralius' Whispering Crystal.
- Experience potion. The garrison quartermaster sells Excess Potion of Accelerated Learning for 100 garrison resources: +20% experience for an hour, works from level 35 to 99. Keep a stack of them.
Heirlooms
| Slot | Experience bonus |
|---|---|
| Head, shoulders, chest, legs | 10% each |
| Back (cloak) | 5% |
| Two special rings | 5% each |
| Maximum | 55% |
- The other slots give no experience bonus — only stats.
- The items have a level ceiling: the base ones work up to 60, beyond that you need the upgrade kits for 90, 100 and 110. Past the ceiling the bonus disappears.
- The bonus stacks with the garrison potion and with rested experience.
Short on gold? Take the chest, shoulders, head and legs first — 10% each. Pick up the cloak and the rings later.
More accelerators
- Rested experience. Log out in a tavern or a capital city — the rest you bank gives double experience from mobs.
- Quests are the backbone, dungeons are a bonus. On a private server the queue is often empty, so build your route around quests and go into an instance when a group has come together or when there are quests inside.
- Two gathering professions (Herbalism, Mining, Skinning) from the very first levels: you gather along the way and get experience for it. Crafting professions pay off better on a second character.
- Bags are your first investment of gold. Stuffed bags slow you down more than anything else.
Once you reach 100, move on to the Broken Isles and the artifact: there is a separate guide about that in the Guides section.