Searching for a Horde toon to level up with this adventure I started up a Blood Elf Rogue. I haven’t been through the BE area in some time so I decided to level without heirlooms. When running heirlooms from the start, I have it stuck in my head that level 10 should come just after a half hour of play. That’s hardcore, kill everything in your path on your way to the next quest and don’t stop to loot, play style. You can imagine my surprise then when at the 30 minute mark I was only sitting at level 5!
Obviously there are many factors that go into how fast you can level. Starting zones factor in since some have quests close together, and some have you running all over the place. Classes factor, since a ranged Hunter or Affliction Warlock can slaughter groups of mobs while continuously running around, where a Rogue has to run up to each and every mob. (Even a Warrior’s Charge spell helps out.)
If memory serves me right, I used to love the BE starting zones as I always thought they were the quickest to level through. Hence my surprise at being so low at the 1/2 hour mark. Something just didn’t feel right. Yes, I didn’t have heirlooms on, but I didn’t think they contributed THAT much.
To Loom, or not to Loom. That is the question.
I decided to run an experiment. I started a new Tauren Warrior, with no heirlooms, and ran him up to level 10. Not looking at the clock, I didn’t think it took too much longer than when I ran one up with heirlooms. I got into the second area, after that ‘spirit wolf run and jump over the lake’ quest, and finished up all of those quests just as I dinged. Then I looked at the clock…
1 hour and 16 minutes! Wow, just wow. I was stunned.
I then started up a new Tauren Paladin with heirlooms and ran him up to level 10. Yes, it’s a different class, but at least the starting zone was the same, and the play style between 1 and 10 is pretty much the same as with the Warrior. Hit things with your big 2 handed axe.
Around level 7 I stepped away to get a glass of water and noticed I left the clock running. Ugh. So much for my not even close to scientific test parameters. I also remembered the ‘kill everything i run into along the way’ trick to leveling quicker. (Wish I would have remembered that sooner!) When I dinged 10 I looked at the clock…
46 minutes. What a difference! 30 minutes faster!
I have no doubt that if I didn’t stop for water, or started off killing every mod I came across, I would have finished 5-10 minutes quicker.
This definitely makes me think about changing the parameters of The Adventure, whereas when I come to a zone area level that I’ve already completed, maybe I’ll heirloom up just to get the toon up to the next incomplete zone area. But it feels like cheating the purpose…
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