Jame's Northrend Leveling Guides - New information
Northrend leveling is different from Outland and Azeroth leveling. The zones are bigger, much bigger. There are also no long quest chains taking you from one zone to another, besides a couple of transition quests, which are actually optional.
That's why my Northrend Leveling Guides will also be different from what you're used to, and I'm sure you'll like the changes. Here's the list so far.
1 Zone = 1 Chapter
Instead of seperating my guides in two chapters (70-75) and (75-80) as I had initially planned, I will be seperating them into zones. For example, for the Horde it will be like this:
This change also brings the following advantages:
Achievements included
This was sometimes a problem in my old guides. I would just say "Go back to Booty Bay and turn in all quests, get all follow ups" for example, and people missed a few quests here and there. This won't be a problem anymore, you just have to look for the quest color code and you won't miss any quest, even if you try to read through my guide as fast as possible, because for each quest turned in and each follow up taken, the full quest name will be mentioned.
Shorter maps
Most circuit maps will only contain 5 steps or less, this will make it easy to follow the maps without having to scroll up and down a lot. Whenever there are steps including a lot of text or big images, I've tried to shrink that number even further down. In other words, my circuit maps should be even easier to follow from now on.
That's all I remember from the top of my head, but there will be more changes and I will constantly try to improve the quality of my leveling guides to make them as easy and enjoyable to follow as possible. If there's any other feature you'd like me to introduce in my guides, please leave a comment and I'll do my best to include it, as long as it's reasonable and worth the effort.
That's why my Northrend Leveling Guides will also be different from what you're used to, and I'm sure you'll like the changes. Here's the list so far.
1 Zone = 1 Chapter
Instead of seperating my guides in two chapters (70-75) and (75-80) as I had initially planned, I will be seperating them into zones. For example, for the Horde it will be like this:
- Jame's Horde Leveling Guide - Borean Tundra (70-72)
- Jame's Horde Leveling Guide - Dragonblight (72-74)
- Jame's Horde Leveling Guide - Grizzly Hills (74-75)
This change also brings the following advantages:
- People can jump in my guide easily now, they just have to pick a zone and start there.
- The guide will also be useful to level 80's who haven't followed my guide and wish to go back to a zone to finish the quests they haven't done and get the achievement for it.
- When I get feedback from you guys, the comments will be directly targeted at one zone in particular, making it easier for me to find and fix the errors.
Achievements included
- Some achievements will be automatically included in my Northrend Leveling Guides, simply by following the quest circuits.
- Some other achievements will require just one little extra step to be completed and will also be included in the guide. I will be using a special color code for those achievements, making it easy to find them or to skip them.
- Other achievements which deviate a lot from our main objective (getting very high XP/hour rates) will be mentioned but won't be incorporated in my guide. Instead, I will simply give a link to a corresponding achievement guide.
This was sometimes a problem in my old guides. I would just say "Go back to Booty Bay and turn in all quests, get all follow ups" for example, and people missed a few quests here and there. This won't be a problem anymore, you just have to look for the quest color code and you won't miss any quest, even if you try to read through my guide as fast as possible, because for each quest turned in and each follow up taken, the full quest name will be mentioned.
Shorter maps
Most circuit maps will only contain 5 steps or less, this will make it easy to follow the maps without having to scroll up and down a lot. Whenever there are steps including a lot of text or big images, I've tried to shrink that number even further down. In other words, my circuit maps should be even easier to follow from now on.
That's all I remember from the top of my head, but there will be more changes and I will constantly try to improve the quality of my leveling guides to make them as easy and enjoyable to follow as possible. If there's any other feature you'd like me to introduce in my guides, please leave a comment and I'll do my best to include it, as long as it's reasonable and worth the effort.
Posts
Very smart additions. I am really looking forward to seeing the final guide.
I like the changes and I'm very excited that you've been able to participate in the beta and get the guides ready for WotLK launch.
One quick question, how long do you think it will take per level? I know it varies by class, but was just curious to get your take on an average. I'm hoping it stays fairly similar to BC leveling
Oh my god, Jame this post is awesome! Nice informations and addition to your guides, can't wait to follow them.
Hard to say matt, as I haven't got the time to do speed runs with my guides yet. I'd say 10 hours /played per level so far, but that's just a rough approximation.
Sounds like some great changes, I look forward to leveling with your guides! Thanks for all your work!
Looks awesome :-D Cant wait to try them out :-D
"Some other achievements will require just one little extra step to be completed and will also be included in the guide. I will be using a special color code for those achievements, making it easy to find them or to skip them."
make sure you add a the word achievement to each one so we can simply use crtl-f to find achievements instead of having to scan all the pages for a color. of course this is for people that level before they discover your guide.
Hmmm this is the first time I have ever actually commented on any of your articles and for starters I would like to say that your guides are truly amazing and I love them.
As I am aware that you are making new additions for the Northrend leveling guides, i was curious as to whether or not you could provide us with any advice pre-launch. As far as to save up more money because the prices of items are raised quite a bit more. Or if for example if the lobsters I have saved up to cook, if when I advance to to 375/450 if I will still be able to cook them and get xp as they are still yellow.
Anything that can make our trnasition easier, smoother, and well what everyone is looking for... to make it faster :)
I wish I could help you Zach, but the truth is, the economy on the beta server is totally messed up. People pay 1000 gold for a port to Shattrath for example. The prices of everything at the auction house are ridiculous too. So I really have no idea how it's gonna be.
About tradeskills, I also can't help, I haven't had the time to look at or level any tradeskill so far, my whole time is spent on the levelin guides for now and it's still not enough :/
First of all Jame, I love all the info you are posting!
Here are some fun facts for you and all our readers.
(Info drawn from research on the beta test servers and may change at anytime...)
In the WotLK spellpower will replace +Heals and +Damage on items. Spellpower will effect both heals and damage with the SAME bonus.
To figure out what an item’s +spellpower will be use these simple equations:
(+Heals) * 0.53 = spellpower (+/- 1)
(+Damage) * 1.6 = spellpower (+/- 1)
(Note: I say +/- 1 because they do not always round items as you might expect, most of the time they follow the standard rule of rounding 0.5 or more up and less then 0.5 down… but NOT always… but you get the idea)
So, for example, my current helm is +75 heals and +25 damage
spellpower = 75*0.53= 40 (+/-1)
or, using the damage:
spellpower = 25 x 1.6 = 40 (+/- 1)
So you get the same number either way… so the new helm now gives +40 to heals and +40 to damage…
Note: Blizzard claims that the healing spells themselves have been increased in their base healing so the lower spell power will yield about the same level of healing. If this is true then it means well geared healers will stay the same … while healers in junk gear will get a boost! The junk gear healers were depending more on the spells unbuffed healing (which was raised due to spellpower being 53% of the old +heal)
i.e. if you were a proud +2000 healer due to your gear then you are now a proud +1,060 healer! (but blizzard claims you’ll heal for the same amount…)
Note: this also means that ALL items are now mixed +heal/+damage items... since they all will become spellpower and spellpower adds to BOTH healing and damage…
Enjoy!
--Bill
Obviously I was thinking as a healer when I posed the above.
The first question a Mage is going to ask is so my spell power is higher (160%) of my old spell damage bonus… Have my damage spells been decreased… The answer is not that I can see. My Shammy’s earth shock has the same base damage but my +damage from spell power is much higher.
So if you have +1000 spell damage with your current items you should end up around +1600 damage with your new spellpower updated items.
Keep this in mind if you see them nerfing spell damage talents.
Of course, Blizzard can change anything at any time…
--Bill
First let me say I love your guides and have been using them for over a year now and I thank you for all the work you put into them. I would suggest incorporating class quests/guides/tips into your existing guides. For example, around lvl 50 hunters get a class quest that ends up taking them into Azhara and then into ST, your guide takes us into this zone and instance shortly after this quest becomes available and could be mentioned at that point. Perhaps using the wow class colors (i.e. green for hunter, pink for pally, etc.) would be an appropriate way to mark this extraneous content in the guides?? What I love about your guides is the efficiency they provide and if you could include class specific tips in the same fashion I think that would be wonderful. Deviations from the lvling guide that is beneficial to all classes might also be included, such as the AV quest reward weapon available at lvl 51.
Thx again for enriching my wow experience and I look foward to your Northrend guides :)
Jasbur
Hey Jasbur, thanks for your comment.
It's something I plan to do, but instead of adding class information to my guides, I will just create a leveling guide for each class and add it there.
This is the best way to prevent my guides from becoming too big and too hard to read.
I love you.
Thank you so much for making these guides, I'ts the most readable guides out there, and the fastest imo!
Good work jame!!
I deleted my previous post because you answered my question in an older Blog posting. Sorry for the confusion.
Thanks so much for the work your doing. I have been an avid follower of your guides for a year and 3 characters.
I know time is getting short, and your fighting lag and the calander. Keep up the great work, and if you miss launch, it's cool with us.
I think Jame is a legend and has made the greatest contribution to the WoW community - more than anyone I know.
For people with lives that only have 10 hours a day to game, these guides are just awesome and they bring a whole new level enjoyment to the game.
I really want to thank you Jame. You deserve so much more credit than you receive. I hope that life throws you something back because you absolutely deserve it.
Please dont stop doing what youre doing. Thank you friend!
PS. Whoever posts a comment on this blog MUST AT ALL TIMES end with a "thank you Jame, you are a legend". It's mandatory.
Hehe, crazyness. I'm just a gnome who enjoys to write guides ;)
But if you want to help me or support me, it's quite simple:
1. Spread the word about my guides. Tell your guildmates/friends so that they don't waste their money on other guides.
2. Keep using my guides and giving me awesome feedback, like you all have since years.
First of all, thank you very much for the guides. I have used them to level up my Horde warlock and warrior toons and enjoyed the process doing so.
I have a question about leveling 70+ after Nov. 13. I have leveled my toons without setting feet into Netherstorm and Shadowmoon Valley. I dinged 70 on both toons in Blade's Edge Mtn. I think that was possible becuase I took your advice on staying in E.P. and leveled up a couple more with the old world quests. With WotLK, would sticking around and doing quests in Netherstorm and Shadowmoon Valley a good idea? I was thinking another potential side effect (could be a good one) will be avoiding the opening day crowd. What do you think?
It's a very good idea for several reasons:
1. As you mentioned, avoiding the opening day will for sure save you a lot of time.
2. Going to Northrend at level 71 or close will bring many advantages. Quests will be easier for you, and of course, you'll ding 80 with plenty of quests left to do in Northrend, and that means a lot of gold.
The only downside is that I still haven't done those extra circuits for SMV and for the rest of Netherstorm.
Thanks, Jame, for the feedback. For those of us who choose to go that route, we will muddle through NS and SMV with the help of QuestHelper or something.
Now to make sure I observe the proper protocol...
Thank you Jame, you are a legend!
Haha :p