Power leveling

Power leveling is the term used to describe the process of leveling a character with the least amount of play time. It can be used from any level up to the maximum level in the game which is currently 70. Contrary to what many believe efficient power leveling does not require endless hours of grinding. The best methods of power leveling involve doing many quests in an orderly fashion.

The goal of these guides is to help you level a character, whether your first on the server or not, to the level of your choice as quickly and efficiently as possible. At the same the quests will be ordered in such fashion to ensure you gain faction with each of the 3 major factions on either the Alliance or Horde side.

Common methods of power leveling include doing only those quests which are most efficient in terms of experience over time, and analyzing the quests in a given zone so as to do them in the most efficient order possible. Remember, the idea of power leveling is speed and efficiency--you may wish to obtain an addon that will show you how much experience per hour you are gaining to test your techniques. Additionally, ensure your character's talent build is crafted for maximum endurance. You want as little downtime (walking, drinking, eating, crafting, typing, etc.) as possible.

With regard to professions, an example would be for a tailor to farm or purchase large quantities of cloth, then identify and repeat the cheapest tailoring recipes so as to maximize skill point gain compared to cost.

Twinking is distinct from power leveling. A twink is usually intended to remain at its current level for an extended period of time, thus providing some justification for the large investment into its gear. A character being power leveled is often equipped with inexpensive gear, since the player will be planning on outleveling it quickly.

Also note that power leveling is sometimes used to refer to paying someone else to level your character to 70 as fast as possible (i.e. they power level for you). This behavior is against Blizzard's Terms of Service. Power leveling yourself, which this article covers, is perfectly acceptable.

Assumptions

• You know common Game Terms.
• Use of an Addon to show your coordinates.
• Use of an Addon to know the value of item drops.
• You are familiar with your Class.
• You have planned out your Talents (if not, refer to the Talent Builds Guide).
• You understand the basics of each Tradeskill.

Generic Tips

• Always end your session in a Capital city or Inn.
• Always repair your armor and items.
• Always have a good supply of Bandages through First Aid.
• Always start out with at minimum one stack of food.
• If your class relies on mana start out with at least two stacks of water.
• New food and water types are available at levels 15, 25, 35, 45, 55, 60 and 65.
• Hunters should always have full ammo, other normal ranged classes should have 1 stack.
• New Ammo types are available at levels 10, 25, 40, 45, 55 and 65.
• Always have as many empty pack spaces as possible.
• Loot every creature, this is especially important past level 20.
  • For more efficient looting, use your item value addon to determine which items to remove from your bags when they are full and a item with greater value is available.
• Do not buy anything from the auction house. Use it to sell. You are practically guaranteed to have enough money for your first mount by level 40 this way.
• Do not buy enchantments.
• Plan your instance runs. Collect all the quests and do them in one run (this is especially important for low-level dungeons not worth the time of running again).
  • Gear gained in instances is a nice bonus, but you will outgrow it quickly.

Tradeskills

With the goal of obtaining levels as quickly as possible it is recommended that if you decide to pursue tradeskills you choose those which will support the process.

• Herbalism can be used to support Alchemy or add to your gold through sales on the Auction House or to vendors
• Mining can be used to augment your income by selling the materials on the Auction House or to vendors.
• Alchemy when combined with Herbalism provides many methods of negating damage done by mobs, especially casters like Shamans who can be more easily handled if you have Nature Resistance potions available.
• Skinning is a good money maker as throughout your travels you will fight many beasts.
• Tailoring might be a good choice if you are a caster or you just want access to cheap bags. Otherwise the cloth is better used for First Aid.
• Blacksmithing is not recommended during the course of these guides as long term development is involved and costly.
• Leatherworking is not recommended during the course of these guides as long term development is involved and costly.
• Engineering is not recommended during the course of these guides as long term development is involved and costly.
• Enchanting is not recommended during the course of these guides as long term development is involved and costly.
• Jewelcrafting is not recommended during the course of these guides as long term development is involved and costly.
• First Aid should be trained no matter what class you are playing. It won't yield much money, but it is inexpensive to train and a great help to reduce downtime
• Cooking benefits all classes, especially melee and hunters (it is a free source of food). Until higher levels the benefits it provides are almost exclusively stamina buffs. While more stamina is always nice, cooking is not essential to leveling. Considering the time investment required, if you pick up skinning then cooking would absolutely be a wise skill to level prior to hitting your level cap, as beasts often drop meat useful for skilling up.
• Fishing requires much time and does not yield much profit until its later levels. Avoid fishing until your level limit.

The Guides

• Alliance
  • 01-06 Coldridge Valley (Dwarf & Gnome)
  • 01-06 Northshire Valley (Human)
  • 01-06 Shadowglen (Night Elf)
  • 01-06 Ammen Vale (Draenei)
  • 06-10 Dun Morogh (Dwarf & Gnome)
  • 06-10 Teldrassil (Night Elf)
  • 06-10 Elwynn Forest (Human)
  • 06-10 Azuremyst Isle (Draenei)

• Horde
  • 01-06 Valley of Trials (Orc & Troll)
  • 01-06 Red Cloud Mesa (Tauren)
  • 01-06 Deathknell (Undead)
  • 01-06 Sunstrider Isle (Blood Elf)
  • 06-10 Durotar (Orc & Troll)
  • 06-10 Mulgore (Tauren)
  • 06-10 Eversong Woods (Blood Elf)
  • 10-20 Ghostlands (Blood Elf)
  • 51-55 Western Plaguelands (Horde)

External links

• Grinding powerleveling guide
• Power Leveling Sucks - Website warning against for-profit powerleveling services.

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