Zzamba is now a level 12 druid. The only quests I have left to do are Ursal and Oakenscowl; I also need to go get Blackmoss The Fetid’s heart. I have been routinely finding random people to group with for these quests, and thats been a lot of fun. Not only in the social sense, but also to see other players’ styles. I tend to be cautious as I enter a zone, carefully picking a target and then dropping spells on them from afar to soften them up as I close in for melee. Clearly I’m the most timid elf in Teldrassil because almost everyone else just runs straight to the nearest foe and starts slugging it out. It’s also humbling to see that most people I team with are lower level than I am, but way better at killing off enemies (in terms of speed and strategy). I suspect almost everyone I meet is playing an alt, though I did meet a couple of players even more noob than I.
I have been using the mail a lot, sending a lot of gear and silver to my other players, especially poor dwarf Gganda who is only level 4 and thus doesn’t have access to a mailbox yet (haven’t found one yet, anyway, in the dwarven starting area playpen). I also started that blood elf paladin, Aelasha, and decided to keep her on Staghelm with the rest of my characters just for convenience.
At any rate, once I am done with Teldrassil then I will be ready for Zzamba to do the druid quest for bear-form and move onwards to Darkshore. I will probably switch over to Gganda for a while once I’ve left Teldrassil though just to keep things balanced. To be honest, though, Gganda hasnt been as interesting to me; I’m more motivated to give Aelasha a run (the blood elf scenery is breathtaking, reminding me of the whole Dragonlance elven city. Its so techno in contrast to the night elves’ leafy burbs).
I like the combinations I’ve done so far: human warrior, night elf druid, blood elf paladin, and dwarven rogue. I will probably do an undead mage for the fun of it, and an orc priest, at some point. I’m considering a repeat druid for the Tauren, too – they have that whole shamnistic, native american vibe going so it seems a natural fit.
I’m glad you’re having fun. I play a night elf druid on an oceanic server, main tank (as a bear) for my guild even. If you need any tips let me know. I love being a feral druid.
The blood elf area (as well as the draenai area) also have a better plotlines, in my opinion, than the other starting zones. Most of the quests move the story along, with a partial resolution at lvl 20 that picks up again at lvl 58 when you head to Outland. Blizz learned a lot from its earlier experiences in creating starting zones. I found the orc and dwarf zones dreadfully boring; the forsaken and night elf areas weren’t bad.
I’ve never leveled a druid past 48, but they do have the advantage of never getting boring. If you start finding one style of play dull, you can switch. Heal for a while, then go feral and rip people’s lungs out, or fry opponents at range, then switch back as the mood strikes you. Paladins are the same way… great healers, currently the best multiple-opponent tanks in the game, and really good damage dealers, depending on how you spec.
Glad to hear you’re having fun.
There are no mailboxes in any of the starting areas; you need to get out to the level 5+ area to find one.
I just finished Teldrassil and completed my Bear Form quest. Have also moved to the inn in Auberdine for my hearthstone.
I pretty muc cheated though on the final quests in Teldrassil – had a friend who was a lvl 19 hunter join me and we made ridiculously sort work of Ursal and Oakenscowl. Then, he invited me to come out to Warsong Gulch. That was a *blast* even though I was essentially useless at lvl 13. Im gonna do some leveling and head back – that was a hugely entertaining aspect of WoW Id never even thought of before.
Many people have characters that they level to 19 and leave at that level for Warsong Gulch. This is why prices in the auction house are outrageous for good gear for a level 19 (it’s being bought up by high-level folks for the level 19 character).
Such a character is called a “twink”.
Heh, wait ’til you get to Arathi Basin and the other battlegrounds. Some of them are a hell of a lot of fun. The marks you get for battlegrounds aren’t as useful as they used to be, but can be turned in (once you get enough of them) for cool items and even mounts.
I can see the appeal. How do you go about twinking, though – it takes a long time to get to level 19, is there some way your main character can accelerate an alt’s progress? My two mains (Aabde and Zzamba) are at 12 and 14. Ideally I’d like for my dwarf rogue to be my battleground guy but the idea of grinding him up to 19 is just not appealing.
incidentally, im having a lot of fun in Auberdine and darkshore. I have almost a dozen quests to go through – and bear form is just a blast. Ill probably swap over to Aabde and do Loch Modan instead of Westfall; am just tired of the scenery.
PS – Does Chisa have any more spare 16-slot bags? I’ve been doing a lot of cooking š Speaking of which, I have spider kabobs and spiced bread to give away. Anyone want some?
Mains benefit alts through the money they provide for better gear and the equipment they can make if they have the right skills. Twinks not only have the best items, their gear is usually enchanted beyond the limits of sanity. It’s not unusual to see twinks with lvl 19 weapons that have enchantments like “Crusader,” which gives bonuses designed for lvl 60 characters. Other twinks would pull every trick in the book to fish in Stranglethorn Vale (a lvl
30-45 zone) during the fishing contest, in the hopes of getting a very rare hat that gives +15 stamina. You name it, if there’s a way to get ultra-powerful gear at lvl 19, they do it.
The best gear at lvl 19 comes from instances like the Deadmines. Twinks will run (or have high level buddies) run them through instances over and over and over, looking for the best gear, then spend buckets of gold getting it enchanted.
There are similar twinks at each lvl X9, until you get up towards endgame where most pvp players just want to push to lvl 80 and get into Wintergrasp and arenas, where awesome gear is available.
Your best bet for leveling quickly to 19 is to get a high level friend to run you through instances (and maybe help you to quest). The quest rewards are great, and it’s fairly easy to hit your desired level. You’ll probably find that as you become familiar with the game you can burn through low levels quickly… getting to 19 isn’t too much of a chore when you know where everything is.
I think I have a couple of 16 slot bags left; I’ll check when I get done with work this evening.
I can make 28 slot leatherworking bags; might be handy if you’ve still got a skinner.
28 slot bags?! yes please. both my mains are skinners, and Zzamba is a leatherworker.
dwarves (and gnomes) are in a position that i think is unique in the game, in that their playpen is actually bounded, and can’t be escaped until sufficient skill is gained (barring teleport tricks). everyone else can just walk out and find the 5-10 town if they need a mailbox.
I’ve had no trouble running a level 1 gnome or dwarf out of the starting area; sure, I *almost* get killed running through the tunnel to get out, but (to paraphrase Miracle Max) there’s a big difference between dead and almost dead.
A couple of guilds I’ve been involved with have had nekkid gnome races. These involve creating a level 1 gnome and running it from the starting area to Orgrimmar, first one to enter the gates of Orgrimmar wins. Good times, although I must admit that I used a minor cheat to win the first one…