World of Warcraft

This is a special project that I have been working on for got2wow. The idea came to when a few guildies asked me exactly what level was required for entrance into Outlands. I remembered reading that a character could enter upon reaching 58, but was that too young? Then I remembered I had a 56 enhancement shaman on Illidan and the sparks flew. This is the story of his journey to 70, and the quickest path from 58 to 70.

When the “Before the Storm” patch came out on 12/5/2006, I decided to stop leveling my shaman in an effort to PVP grind for the rank 12 and 13 gear for my Hunter so that he could level quickly to 70 in The Burning Crusade (BC). I logged back into my shaman upon considering the 58-70 project and found him in Winterspring with what looked to be two levels of double experience (xp). I knew the project was meant to be. I turned on my music and went to work in Winterspring grinding on Furbolgs for rep and xp. Enhancement shamans have an incredible ability to grind in that they can heal, do very good damage per second (DPS), and can also regenerate mana with their shamanistic rage ability. Upon reaching 58 I immediately headed to The Dark Portal.

The first fact I gathered in Outlands was that as a level 58 severely undergeared shaman, I was still able to complete most grind quests as long as I was careful not to pull more than one mob. After completing a few quests and realizing that the xp scaling in outlands was giving my shaman extremely good xp per hour rate, I decided to investigate instances in outlands at 58. I had no problem finding a group for Hellfire Citadel (HFC) Blood Furnace (BF). Even though this is technically the second Outlands instance, after Hellfire Citadel (HFC) Ramparts, I still had no problem finding a group. The group was composed of a 64 Rogue, 61 Paladin, 62 Mage, 67 Shadow Priest, and 58 Enhancement Shaman (myself). I was told to main heal, which I did on skill alone. I had very little +healing gear, but I had been Restoration Spec before so I knew how to heal. The help from the Shadow Priest was undeniable with Vampiric Embrace. The run took an hour and fifteen minutes and I gained 7.5 bars. This was FAR quicker than what blizzard had said the projected leveling rate was, which was around 10 hours per level. I continued to run HFC Ramparts and BF, along with questing in Hellfire Peninsula.

What to Take Away:
1. Starting in Outlands at 58 is not only possible, but far superior to leveling in Western Plague Lands or Winterspring for a variety of reasons.
2. The gear in Outlands, especially in the instances, are incredible upgrades to gear from Azeroth and will quickly bring an undergeared character up to par in Outlands.
3. The reputation gains from starting early in Outlands are incredible! This means that upon reaching 70, it will not be as long of a grind to get the exalted weapons.
4. The xp scaling means that levels 58-60 will fly by, whether in an instance or questing in Hellfire Peninsula.

Check back tomorrow for levels 60-62 and an update from my Hunter on the Arena and Karazhan.