What are the best quests in WoW, specifically for lvl 30 and under?

[theblackw0lf]

I don't want to miss out on any of the coolest quests, so I'd like some input as to what the most enjoyable quests are, especially for lvl 30 and under, since that's around where I am. But also feel free to use this thread to talk about your favorite quests, regardless of level.

By enjoyable I'm primarily focused on story, plot ,and writing.

[John Keefer]

Alliance or Horde?

[Charles]

I personally really like the Rogue poison quest chains. Actually, just about any class specific quest is pretty awesome -- it always disappointed me about WoW that there weren't a lot more of them.

[LesJarvis]

Alliance side the best chain is The Missing Diplomat.

[Kareem]

The final quest in the Draenei area (Bloodmyst Isle) is awesome.

[Stroker Ace]

Alliance side the best chain is The Missing Diplomat.This morning I was working through that when I realized I'd done about 5 steps on the same quest. I checked lightheaded and noticed that it had 10+ steps and started to wonder if I shoudl've read some of the quest text. Oh well - thanks QuestHelper!

[LesJarvis]

A lot of the chains in Duskwood are great, too. Stitches, Mor'Ladim, etc.

[Nathan Phoenix]

I'd say the Draenei starting area kicks the crap out of all others in this regard. I don't remember names specifically, but the one where you first meet the furbolgs, and their spirit guides direct you to the camp where some are imprisoned, is among the best quests in the game.

[Lum]

Both new player areas (Bloodmyst/Ghostlands) are good and a great way to avoid the Barrens if you're horde.

Most of the good low-level quests in WoW involve instances. The Deadmines is a fun instance to run as a low level (20-25) Alliance player - one of the better laid out ones in the game, and the Defias quest line that leads to it has a pretty good plot attached. It eventually leads all the way to one of the end-game instances (well, it was end-game pre-TBC!).

Zul'Farrak is another good low level instance - a bit above your level (40-45) but has a very strong Raiders of the Lost Ark feel. Uldaman is another really well done one but it's harder to find groups for that since until 2.4 the difficulty was way out of whack with the rewards.

Un'Goro Crater quest lines are pretty much one huge Nintendo easter egg if you're into that.

[MarchHare]

Alliance side the best chain is The Missing Diplomat.

That is inded a great quest chain, at least until you get to the point where it ends abruptly and remains unresolved. Has Blizzard announced if they ever plan to revisit it?

[Stroker Ace]

I'd say the Draenei starting area kicks the crap out of all others in this regard. I don't remember names specifically, but the one where you first meet the furbolgs, and their spirit guides direct you to the camp where some are imprisoned, is among the best quests in the game.If you swim around like a spaz to enjoy your fish speed buff you can miss the cheetah runspeed buff and have to walk all the way across the island at normal speed :(

[theblackw0lf]

Alliance side the best chain is The Missing Diplomat.

Where and at what level does this start off at?

[Charles]

That is inded a great quest chain, at least until you get to the point where it ends abruptly and remains unresolved. Has Blizzard announced if they ever plan to revisit it?

Pretty sure the new quests they added in Dustwallow some patches back continue it.

[LesJarvis]

That is inded a great quest chain, at least until you get to the point where it ends abruptly and remains unresolved. Has Blizzard announced if they ever plan to revisit it?

Yeah, that's really annoying. At this point I expect that it will never be resolved, though I vaguely remember someone suggesting it might be continued in WotLK. I'm not holding my breath.

[MarchHare]

Where and at what level does this start off at?

IIRC, it starts in Stormwind, and it's around level 30 or so. I might be mistaken, but I think you have to complete some of the quests in The Stockades to unlock the chain.

[LesJarvis]

Where and at what level does this start off at?

Here's the first step in the chain: http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=1274

It requires level 28.


IIRC, it starts in Stormwind, and it's around level 30 or so. I might be mistaken, but I think you have to complete some of the quests in The Stockades to unlock the chain.

I thought that too, but wowhead doesn't list any pre-reqs, though I'm not sure that it necessarily would.

[Jag]

A lot of the chains in Duskwood are great, too. Stitches, Mor'Ladim, etc.

I second this for low 30s. A FP at the other end of Duskwood, would make this zone alot less annoying.

[MarchHare]

I second this for low 30s. A FP at the other end of Duskwood, would make this zone alot less annoying.

IIIRC, Duskwood is a level 20-30 zone, so it's not really suitable for someone 30+.

And yes, it's super-annoying that most of the quest-giving NPCs are in Darkshire at the far East side of the zone, yet completing the quests involves running to the cemetary at the far West end. It helps to load up on 3-4 quests and knock them out in one trip, but there's still an awful lot of pointless running back and forth (at a level when you don't yet have a mount, no less!). At one point a friend and I did a test to determine if it was faster to run from Darkshire to Raven Hill on foot or to take the Gryphon to Westfall and run from there. I can't remember the result, but I think both times were roughly the same. The fact that we even considered running a test like that shows how poorly laid out that zone is. Thankfully Blizzard has learned from their mistakes and post-TBC questing areas don't have nearly as much needless travel time.

[Balasarius]

I thought they added fp to the west side of Duskwood.

[MarchHare]

I thought they added fp to the west side of Duskwood.

That might be the case; it's been at least three years since I've quested there. If they have added a flight path, it would be a godsend.

[Stroker Ace]

I sure as hell didn't see it this morning.

[Kareem]

I have to disagree with recommendations for anything beyond the starting area of the Blood Elves. While the Ghostlands have a haunted Duskwood feel, the quest progression in it feels very old world and disjointed. It's like Auberdine, but with a lot more quests, and they aren't organized in a manner similar to the Draenei quests. There's a lot of running back and forth between areas you've already quested in, and very few interesting quests that I can remember (with the notable exception of the Lament of the Highborne quest chain). Mostly just of the kill the foozle variety.

It's like Blizzard did the Blood Elf areas, then fixed all their mistakes with the Draenei zone.

[Adam Altmann]

For Alliance, I enjoyed the quest chain in Ashenvale that starts with The Howling Vale (http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=1022)

[Jag]

For Alliance, I enjoyed the quest chain in Ashenvale that starts with The Howling Vale (http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=1022)

Speaking of Ashenvale, the Raene's Cleansing questline gives you a quest item towards the end which turns you into a Furbolg for 3 mins. You can keep the item which has unlimited uses. Many people who skipped this quest went back and did it at 60/70 just for Dartol's Rod of Transformation (http://www.wowhead.com/?item=5462#comments)
(make sure you read the wowhead notes, because you have to drop the quest before turning in the quest or you will lose the rod permanently)

The quest:
http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=1045

[Balasarius]

It's like Blizzard did the Blood Elf areas, then fixed all their mistakes with the Draenei zone.
I disagree strongly. The Ghostlands has a faction system with a quartermaster in the main town. If you complete all the quests in the zone, you will reach exalted with the town and be able to purchase several nice blues from the quartermaster -- at prices a bit out of reach for newbies, but nothing for a twink.

I just finished the Draenei quests and I don't believe it received any blues.

I did get to ride an elephant, though. For 10 minutes. Ooh.

[Kareem]

What does being able to grind rep that early on in the game have to do with the quality of quest progression and the efficiency of the quest hubs?

[Balasarius]

What does being able to grind rep that early on in the game have to do with the quality of quest progression and the efficiency of the quest hubs?

Because it's not "grinding" it's doing the quests in the zone and getting "free" blues. Specifically, free blues that the demonic space paladins don't give you.

[Stroker Ace]

Yeah but his complaint is that the zone sucks. Saying "and then you get a free rep blue at the end" doesn't make the zone's quest progression suddenly awesome.

[Kareem]

I still don't see what getting a blue item at level 20 or whenever you manage to get your rep up to exalted have to do with the quality of the quests and how they're arranged.

And isn't it only one blue item? Which I don't think you'll miss terribly if you just do a low-level instance or once you outlevel it (which ought to be a rather quick thing).

Don't get me wrong, better quest itemization is a big plus in the expansion, but neither is it restricted to the Blood Elf questing area nor is it particularly meaningful at the early stages that you outlevel fairly quickly. And furthermore it has nothing to do with whether the quest progression is organized or even the quality of the quests.

EDIT:


Yeah but his complaint is that the zone sucks. Saying "and then you get a free rep blue at the end" doesn't make the zone's quest progression suddenly awesome.

Exactly. The promise of the blue rep reward carrot at the end is not an incentive for me to get through a poorly organized zone.

[Gedd]

Not to mention the Draenei get to fight a mini-Onyxia at one point in their quest chains. It's beyond cool. Blizz really got the questing there right. While you might come out of Ghostlands somewhat better equipped, the Draenei area is a lot more fun. The spirit totem chain, disguising yourself as a tree to eavesdrop in on a conversation, tradeskill trainers who give you quests...it's really well done.

[Balasarius]

You're right, you only get one blue from the quartermaster, and another from the final quest.

There's nothing wrong the Ghostlands, the progression is fine, it's far more interesting than Bloodmyst and the final fight with the foozle is far more satisfying.

The quartermaster is an excellent source of "free" upgrades as you progress through the zone.

The sword from the final quest (http://www.wowhead.com/?item=22995) is far better than the level 20 green I bought on the AH.

But, back on the subject of quest quality, someone said Bloodmyst blew Ghostlands away, and what I'm saying is that's not so. The Lament of the Highborn is probably the best sub-30 quest in the game.

[Balasarius]

The spirit totem chain,
That assumes you're a shaman.

[Dumdeedum]

I'd recommend This Old Lighthouse (http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=11191) for the last step in the chain alone. I don't think it was in the game on my first time through, but caught it on an alt and it's definitely one of the better ones in the game. Beyond that I dunno, the Legend of Stalvan ones are generally pretty popular, and Horde-side there's a fun one where you resurrect an elite to attack Southshore (Horde quests tend to be slightly more fun on average though). It's a pretty miserable level range to be honest, after level 20 the areas are big but you don't get your mount till 40 so it can get somewhat tedious.

[roguefrog]

Tarren Mill was kinda cool when I played WoW a couple years ago. You can be backstabbed while standing in the middle of the town. I ended up beating the game at level 36.

[_Fury_]

If we move ahead a few levels, I can't recommend the new Dustwallow quests (specifically Horde) enough. I took my alt mage there to check them out at level 37ish, and had hit 40 before I had even realized it had happened. The quests were really well laid out and fun, as an extra bonus.

[Lum]

That might be the case; it's been at least three years since I've quested there. If they have added a flight path, it would be a godsend.

They did not, however, the Alliance has a flight point in Stranglethorne/Rebel Camp which is probably much closer than Westfall.

[RichardC]

This Old Lighthouse is worth it for the bit where you get to fight Tethyr. Really big mob, especially at that level. And you get to do it with cannons. And gigantic laser beams smacking you in the face for pretty much no damage. Woo!

[Doctor Hillbilly]

The new 30-40 quests they added in Dustwallow Marsh are also excellent - on par with the BC starter zones. Well, the Alliance version is. Most new quests (Jarl, Tabitha, the goblin town) are available to both factions.

I don't know the quality (fun, reward) of the quests out of the Horde ogre village there since they updated. They sucked when I did them back at launch.

edit: See _Fury_'s rec above.

I'd love a new MMO with consistent questing at the Bloodmyst/Ghostlands/Dustwallow level of quality. Once you exit the fun starter zones (I'm running a dwarf rogue through Bloodmyst now) the quality - with a few exceptions, like Dustwallow - drops off the table until you get to Outlands.

[sluggo]

"A King's Tribute"

If you're Alliance, there's a "Waterlogged Letter" in the water underneath the Thandol Span (the bridge connecting the Wetlands to Arathi). The letter sends you back to Ironforge to talk to one Sarah Balloo, and the quest eventually reaches King Magni Bronzebeard in the throne room -- one of only three quests he gives in the game. (the other two are Blackrock Depths-related). In the middle of a ton of Kill-X-Foozle quests, this mini-story actually stuck with me. One of my favorite quest threads in the entire game.

[wildpokerman]

How about that one where you killed a bunch of things and collected that one thing?

The best part was that the things you needed to kill were a 10 minute walk outside of town.

That was really memorable.

[SirBruce]

Actually I liked the one who you had to collect a bunch of things but they only appeared on the things you had to kill like 20% of the time so it was really like you had to kill a whole lot of things even though it seemed like every one of them should have had one of those things. Oh and your friend got all those things a lot quicker than you did.

Bruce

[wildpokerman]

Actually I liked the one who you had to collect a bunch of things but they only appeared on the things you had to kill like 20% of the time so it was really like you had to kill a whole lot of things even though it seemed like every one of them should have had one of those things. Oh and your friend got all those things a lot quicker than you did.

Bruce

Yeah I remember that one. Also your 'friend' was actually just some random dude you met in town who happened to need to do the same quest. That was actually helpful because you needed to be 3 levels higher to solo kill those things.

Of course as soon as your 'friend' collected all his things he lost interest in helping you. After that you had to trek back to town to find another friend and treck back 10 minutes to your killing field to kill enough things to get your quest finished.

Of course there was the alternative quest path of joining some nazi guild of grinders who would quest with you all the time but drop you from the guild if you took a day or two off to do something like take a vacation. Man memories of this make me want to turn in my rare japanese RPG collection at Gamestop so I can use store credit for a few WOW subscription cards.

Sir Bruce do you want to trade in your wargame collection so we can form a raiding guild?

[chibibigos]

That assumes you're a shaman.

Think he meant the "Learning the furbolg language while visiting all of their spirit totems and getting neat buffs" questline, which anyone can do, and is, indeed, a lot of fun.

Unless he didn't, in which case, my bad.

[Gedd]

That assumes you're a shaman.

Have you done the Draenei starting area quests? The chain I'm referring to is this one (http://wowhead.com/?quest=9538), which is available to everyone. Maybe Spirit Totem isn't the perfect way to describe the chain, but anyone who has done them should know what I'm talking about.


The sword from the final quest (http://www.wowhead.com/?item=22995) is far better than the level 20 green I bought on the AH.

Like I said, Ghostlands is great in terms of how well-geared you will leave it if you do all the quests.


But, back on the subject of quest quality, someone said Bloodmyst blew Ghostlands away, and what I'm saying is that's not so. The Lament of the Highborn is probably the best sub-30 quest in the game.

It's the coolest quest in the area (although the area where you get the drop can get random aggro issues), but we'll just have to disagree with it being the best sub-30 quest. I think Bloodmyst/Azuremyst provides a much better overall experience.

Not to say I didn't like the Belf area. It's probably my favorite Horde-side, although I like the Undead starting area a lot (I've done Undead three times and Belf four times).

[Ben Sones]

I disagree with the Ghostlands hate. Westfall is easily my favorite 10-20 level zone in the game, but Ghostlands is probably the best one on the Horde side. I didn't think there was that much running back and forth, and certainly less than you'd have in Silverpine or the Barrens. It's a neat zone visually (even if it's not quite as cool as Duskwood), and there are several good quest chains there. The Deathholme quest chain was quite fun.

[Gordon Cameron]

My favorite teen zones are Loch Modan and the Barrens, more for atmosphere than for quality of quest writing. Loch Modan along with Dun Morogh might be my favorite area in the game. As for the Barrens, I've spent so much time there that it feels more like "home" to me than most earthly locales, god help me.

I can't get enthusiastic about Ghostlands just because it has that gloomy depressing Plaguelands vibe. I spent too much time in EPL and WPL to want to hang out in a place like that. The other Belf zone is great, though.

[Cedstick]

I can't think of any really good quest, but I can recommend against going to Thousand Needles. The quests closer to the end of Ghostlands are pretty cool, though.

Instead, I'll just jump straight in to the two quests that really stick out to me: Until Death do us Part and the end of the Unyielding Souls quests. Both Horde for what it's worth.

Until Death do us Part is far from exciting, and even simplistic, but standing atop my destination--a Paladin's grave--is still stuck in my head. There's not much to spoil, but still I'll not go in to the specifics. If you pick that quest up--around level 16 at Thunder Bluff--I suggest you take the time to make the delivery to The Sepulcher. If you don't like it... well, you didn't have to do much, right?

For a similar reason I like Unyielding Souls; I am a role-player at heart so story-telling that really pulls you in to the game and makes you feel a hero gets my vote. The quest is available at Spinebreaker Post around level 60, and is recommended if you want to take a break from the annoying Zeth'Gor quests.

[Malcolm Tucker]

I'm glad there are some interesting quests coming up; I just got my first WoW character to level 10 and nothing that interesting has happened yet. There is a lot of killing gnolls for their armbands and such, though.

[Hanacker]

I'm glad there are some interesting quests coming up; I just got my first WoW character to level 10 and nothing that interesting has happened yet. There is a lot of killing gnolls for their armbands and such, though.

Oh, it never really gets that interesting. Stick with it a little while longer I guess.

[Cedstick]

Oh, it never really gets that interesting. Stick with it a little while longer I guess.

Unless you try to find something interesting, such as a decent plot-line, you're shit outta' luck. Fun quests are a rare treat, so you're best benefitted approaching quests as a role-player. Don't shrug it off; you might find it cheesy, but I've found that letting youself asbord in to the world and marvel at it as just that--another world; another universe--really helps you along your way.

If that's not your thing then your best bet is to look forward to either the PvP--which I find fantastic--or the satisfaction brought from collaborating with friends and guildmates to hurdle specific feats such as raids and... well, PvP. PvP just rocks in this game, but that from someone damned competitive.

Raids and PvP are what it's all about, yo'. Also, I'm a smug elitist :D

[Stroker Ace]

PvP! PvP!

[Redfive]

The Missing Diplomat does not require you to do anything in the Stockade. I'm in the middle of it now on an alt.

[theblackw0lf]

I'm glad there are some interesting quests coming up; I just got my first WoW character to level 10 and nothing that interesting has happened yet. There is a lot of killing gnolls for their armbands and such, though.

Duskwood has some pretty cool quests, that are bit more outside the norm. And the Defias Brotherhood storyline is getting pretty interesting actually.

But really, if someone is looking for a MMORPG with great quests and storyline, I'd recommend LOTRO over WoW.

[SirBruce]

I particularly liked the stories in City of Heroes.

Bruce

[Anaxagoras]

That is inded a great quest chain, at least until you get to the point where it ends abruptly and remains unresolved. Has Blizzard announced if they ever plan to revisit it?

If they were going to continue it, they prolly would have done so in patch 2.4.... especially since they added a nearby quest hub that's the right level.

I think it's safe to say that that long, awesome quest line will forever fizzle out into that non-ending.

[Thomas Wilde]

Oddly enough, the whole issue of Stormwind's missing king is apparently being sort of dealt with in the Wildstorm WoW comic.

My favorite zone in the game is unequivocally the Eastern Plaguelands (The Battle of Darrowshire (http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=5721) is easily one of the greatest quests in the game), but that's a little higher than the OP's request.

For level 30 and under, Bloodmyst Isle is a great place to level from 12 to 22 or so. Westfall is great, especially if you follow the quests and the story behind them; it's an early indication of both corruption in the humans' ranks and the fact that the entire zone would be peaceful farmland if not for idiots among the nobility. Duskwood got hit hard by patch 2.3 and is sort of weird now; you can do quests on the west side of the zone as early as level 19, but the closer you get to Darkshire, the tougher the monsters get.

Ashenvale is an okay place to level, but it tends to be a PVP warzone most of the time, and you basically spend 20-25 killing foozles until you can head east and do the long circuit of quests around Forest Song.

If I had to pick an ideal quest circuit for a new Alliance player, it'd probably go like this:

Azuremyst Isle
Bloodmyst Isle

(If you're a warlock, do Elwynn Forest -> Westfall instead, because the closest warlock trainer to the draenei starting zone is in Ironforge.)

That'll get you to about level 20-22, depending on how much you love your rested XP. Be sure to do a couple of Deadmines runs so you can get the quest item off the last boss, then go to Stormwind and run the Stockades.

Do the Pelturas Whitemoon quests in western Ashenvale, then head back to the Eastern Kingdoms.

Duskwood
Forest Song in eastern Ashenvale

That'll put you at level 34 pretty easily. At that point you can go to Southshore for easy questing, then go north from there to murder ogres to Alterac, or go to Theramore and do the quests there.

[Mike Hussey]

Be wqarned, if you are on a PVE server, that the final part of the Lost Diplomat PVP enables you. The first time I completed it, I wandered blissfully down the road and got ganked by a level 60 Troll rogue. Still, getting ganked ona PVE server is an experience.

[Charlatan]

I will echo that the 10-20 Dranei zone has some very good quests, and the culmination of the quest chain is one of those rare moments when I looked around at the screen with a big goofy grin on my face. While the 10-20 BE zone (Ghostlands) isn't quite as good, I still think that both of the new race zones show just how much Blizzard has learned about questing and zone design since the game launched. All four of those newbie zones are well done and full of interesting stuff.

And also mentioned above is the Renae's cleansing quest chain from Ashenvale, in which you get (and always always keep!) the rod of transformation. My level 70 Human Warlock has it.

I'll add that if you never complete the Missing Diplomat quest chain, you will have an instant portal from the wizard tower in Theramore to Stormwind. I have read that some people keep the quest at that point because that free port is very handy.

I also like the low level Horde quest in Ashenvale where you attack the elven outpost. I always forget the name of that quest, but it starts just to the right of the path as you're running from Barrens into Ashenvale (the questgiver is hanging out in the Horde Lumber Camp).

One overarching storyline that I personally find interesting is the Silithid invasion one for the Horde. It's not so much a single questline as an undercurrent to the higher level zones. I believe it starts with the Bug Hunt quest in Crossroads, at level 20. Then closer to 30 you get a quest to go talk to the Caravan guy in the Shimmering Flats from the same questgiver. That gives you a quest to kill the Silithids in the corner of the Shimmering Flats. From that one you're sent to Gadgetzan to start the full-fledged bug questchains. I like how as you move into higher and higher level zones, you see more and more evidence of bug infestations. While I don't think there's any real final bug quest, I find the constant threat of invasion/infestation interesting.

[Gordon Cameron]

I guess that pays off in Ahn Qiraj, which means a nonraider like me will never see the end of that particular arc, at least until I am level 100 and can solo AQ40.

[Kareem]

God forbid that some interesting quest chains require group play!

[AaronSofaer]

I guess that pays off in Ahn Qiraj, which means a nonraider like me will never see the end of that particular arc, at least until I am level 100 and can solo AQ40.


God forbid you should have to find three or four friends to go clear AQ.

(Yes, it can be done by one group.)

[_Fury_]

5 Manning AQ? 40? I haven't been there since pre-expansion, and didn't spend enough time there then to get a feel for it. Doable? Guess I could look on youtube, if someone's done it, there'll be a video.

[Mordrak]

You forget. Aaron is the Übermensch.

[Ryan A]

I guess that pays off in Ahn Qiraj, which means a nonraider like me will never see the end of that particular arc, at least until I am level 100 and can solo AQ40.

I found a picture of Gordon:

http://www.hollywoodstandups.com/images/Eeyore.jpeg

[theblackw0lf]

I just finished The Legend of Stalvan questline from Duskwood. And while the actual story is pretty simplistic, the way the quest was executed, with you running around trying to find clues and uncover the mystery, was executed really well. And it's one of the first that actually affected me on some emotional level.

More like that please.

[AaronSofaer]

5 Manning AQ? 40? I haven't been there since pre-expansion, and didn't spend enough time there then to get a feel for it. Doable? Guess I could look on youtube, if someone's done it, there'll be a video.


I haven't 5-man'd AQ40, or AQ20 for that matter, nor did I spend enough time there to really understand the fights, but there was a youtube video of one of the Guilds on my server (I want to say Exodus but it might have been Optimus Prime) doing it.

It's not doable with the level of gear I'm sure Gordon has, but it's far from a prospect at level 100; I'm sure it'll be casually 5man'able at level 80 in greens, just like ZG can be 5man'd at 70 in blues.

[Kareem]

I am fairly sure AQ40 cannot be 5-manned by normal people, the assertion is ludicrous unless you're with super-hardcore raiders with tremendous gear. The 20-man stuff is different - you can certainly do most of ZG with only 5-7 level 70s.

[Athryn]

I found a picture of Gordon:

http://www.hollywoodstandups.com/images/Eeyore.jpeg

Gordon is cute!

[theblackw0lf]

I started up a Drainai character and am playing through the starting zones.

Wow! What a fantastic experience. Everything about it is really top-notch. the tragic feel of it, the innovative quests (the totem quest was really cool), actually being able to converse on some level with NPCs, the beautiful world (Exodar is breathtaking). The quality of these zones far exceed any other zone I've been in by an order of magnitude (granted I've only been in Elywnn Forest, Westfall, Redridge, and Duskwood before this). And it makes me excited to see what Blizzard has in store next.

[Gordon Cameron]

God forbid that some interesting quest chains require group play!

There's a difference between "group play" and "hardcore 40 man raid zone that a vast majority of players will never see."

I don't raid, and considering that my primal mooncloth wearing priest is apparently undergeared for nonheroic motherfucking magister's terrace (yes, I'm still pissed about that), I seriously doubt I will be 5-manning any 40-man raid instances any time soon.

Sorry Aaron, we are not all god-men whose epeens extend across the continents knocking buildings down as we stride forth in our manly awesomeness.

Hey Ryan:

Blow me.

[Stroker Ace]

I dunno Gordon, I think maybe expecting to beat every new 5-man on your first try the week it comes out is a little optimistic. I know we are all conditioned to take the easy and repeatable way to success and farm stuff for drops but it's OK IMO for new content to be hard.

The problem is whether or not you can bridge the gap with skill or experience. If it's a total gear check then yeah, fuck it.

[Kareem]

There's a difference between "group play" and "hardcore 40 man raid zone that a vast majority of players will never see."

I don't raid, and considering that my primal mooncloth wearing priest is apparently undergeared for nonheroic motherfucking magister's terrace (yes, I'm still pissed about that), I seriously doubt I will be 5-manning any 40-man raid instances any time soon.

The 5-manning of AQ40 is a bit ludicrous so if we could put that aside for a bit...

Ultimately there will be some epic questing revolving around the epic in-game encounters, unless you're asserting that Blizzard should not cater to the hardcore raiding group at all with quality quests.

There is a large amount of excellent quests in the end-game that don't require huge raids and time commitments. There are a few great solo quest chains, plenty that involve some form of 2 to 5-man quests and then some that involve larger groups of players. That's why there are raid instances, and there's certainly no dearth of 5 player dungeons at that level either with a lot of dungeon quests, and even 2 daily quests involving 5-man instances.

So I'm not sure what you're arguing at this point really. That there should be no raid quests?

[Gedd]

It would be impossible to 5-man Skeram (1st boss in the zone), let alone the 4xAnubisath pulls before him. The mechanics of the fights in AQ40 just wouldn't allow it.

[Thomas Wilde]

Magister's Terrace is just a weird zone. I ran in there on my warrior, who's geared appropriately to main-tank the entirety of Karazhan, and the first few pulls fed me my lunch.

It's certainly thematically appropriate that the place would be full of casters, but it makes it a difficult instance.

[Joe O'Malley]

There are a lot of great suggestions here. One thing I'd suggest, though, is a little planning. With the changes made to leveling characters you are likely to FLY through the 20-40 level gap. So here's my take on some good ways to go. I'm assuming alliance right now.
1. mid-20s-Duskwood. Lots of quests, elite mobs mostly made normal, good XP and some great (for WoW) storylines. Abercrombie's series remains one of my favorites to this day "You fool! You've doomed us all!" good stuff.
2. late 20's-the Wetlands "upper" quests. the archeology dig, orc camp and doomed fleet give fast xp action.
3. Early-mid thirties-Dustwallow marsh is now excellent for questing and leveling. Since the quests are all new they have some upscale rewards, too.
4. Also, Stranglethorn is great for finishing off the 30's before the mount becomes available.

One of the big drawbacks to the new leveling process is that they didn't change some of the underlying game mechanics to keep up. You level faster so don't get so much cash per level, for instance. This can make the mount money harder to come by in time. Also, gathering skills (at least for me) are hard to keep up since you basically fly through zones and then don't have the skill to gather in the new zones you move to.

I do absolutely love thatthey have pulled a lot of the drudging out of leveling. I used to hate leveling toons. It's kind of fun now, at least until around level 50.

[RobotPants]

That assumes you're a shaman.

No it doesn't. Any class can do it.

[Thomas Wilde]

I do absolutely love thatthey have pulled a lot of the drudging out of leveling. I used to hate leveling toons. It's kind of fun now, at least until around level 50.

Once I hit level 50 or so, I do find myself craving the HFP power bump.

[Hanacker]

One of the big drawbacks to the new leveling process is that they didn't change some of the underlying game mechanics to keep up. You level faster so don't get so much cash per level, for instance. This can make the mount money harder to come by in time. Also, gathering skills (at least for me) are hard to keep up since you basically fly through zones and then don't have the skill to gather in the new zones you move to.

I think this will be true for most people. Definitely true for me. Seeing 99% iron nodes but can only mine tin :(

[theblackw0lf]

Well I'm level 37 and in a couple more levels will be done in Dustwallow. Any recommendations on where to go for good quests after this?

The end of the "This Old Lighthouse" quest was so frickin cool. I actually abandoned the quest after completing it so I can go back and relive it whenever I want.

edit: guess I should change the thread title and remove the "30 and under part"

[Kareem]

There are some late 30s quests in Stranglethorn Vale IIRC, as well as some quests in Desolace, the Scarlet Monastery quest and then Tanaris I think.

[Thomas Wilde]

Well I'm level 37 and in a couple more levels will be done in Dustwallow. Any recommendations on where to go for good quests after this?

The end of the "This Old Lighthouse" quest was so frickin cool. I actually abandoned the quest after completing it so I can go back and relive it whenever I want.

edit: guess I should change the thread title and remove the "30 and under part"

I went from Dustwallow to Tanaris, personally. You should also try to get a couple of Scarlet Monastery runs in; you're about the right level for the Cathedral.

[divorced]

For me, the first really memorable quest is still the one in Nightfall (or whatever that town is) and you end up on the pirate ship at the end. That was just awesome!

[AaronSofaer]

The most memorable quest moment for me was finishing the Dranei starting island quest line. Damn that was awesome.

[Athryn]

That is inded a great quest chain, at least until you get to the point where it ends abruptly and remains unresolved. Has Blizzard announced if they ever plan to revisit it?

They have. This quest chain is it. (http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=11136)

I was doing these quests on my warrior today, and although it's not a direct followup to The Missing Diplomat in the sense that it's part of a chain, it's definitely meant to help resolve it. It also helps tie Missing Diplomat to the much later Onyxia Attunement (http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=4182) chain, in that it definitely gives you some hints about who specifically is behind the disappearance.

[Pogo]

I don't raid, and considering that my primal mooncloth wearing priest is apparently undergeared for nonheroic motherfucking magister's terrace (yes, I'm still pissed about that), I seriously doubt I will be 5-manning any 40-man raid instances any time soon.

PMC priest undergeared for MagT? I'm sorry you're terrible at playing your priest.

[Athryn]

PMC priest undergeared for MagT? I'm sorry you're terrible at playing your priest.

Please don't turn these boards into Wow general. It's less his skill at playing his class (which Gordon is actually good at) and more attitudes of some players.

[Pogo]

Please don't turn these boards into Wow general. It's less his skill at playing his class (which Gordon is actually good at) and more attitudes of some players.

What players? If he has all the tailored gear and filled the rest in with good blues, heroic epics, and badge gear, he has 1900+ healing easily. Are players turning him down?

edit: Fuck it, I'm guessing he's making a general statement based on one asshat group leader that said he didn't have enough stamina to heal MagT or something stupid like that.

[André Costa]

What players? If he has all the tailored gear and filled the rest in with good blues, heroic epics, and badge gear, he has 1900+ healing easily. Are players turning him down?

edit: Fuck it, I'm guessing he's making a general statement based on one asshat group leader that said he didn't have enough stamina to heal MagT or something stupid like that.

You seem to be the type.

[Jakub]

What players? If he has all the tailored gear and filled the rest in with good blues, heroic epics, and badge gear, he has 1900+ healing easily. Are players turning him down?

edit: Fuck it, I'm guessing he's making a general statement based on one asshat group leader that said he didn't have enough stamina to heal MagT or something stupid like that.

To echo what Athryn said: this isn't WoW General. You're going to find your stay here to be short and unwelcome if you talk like that.

[Pogo]

You seem to be the type.

Depends. If he socketed his gear with +int and +spell crit, I'd turn him down in a heartbeat.

And yeah, I'm better than you.

[AaronSofaer]

Quarter to Three != WoW General Boards.

I'm perfectly good at playing "leeter than thou", but keep it out of threads like this, eh.

[Athryn]

Depends. If he socketed his gear with +int and +spell crit, I'd turn him down in a heartbeat.

And yeah, I'm better than you.

See, the thing is, most of us who participate in wow related threads know who the characters are that others play, and instead of engaging in pissing contests, we actually try to help each other. So play nice, because unless you're in Sunwell, or one of the top Arena teams in the world, you're probably not better than anyone else in this thread. :)

[AaronSofaer]

Actually, even if you are in Sunwell, so are some of the other people in this thread.

I don't think we've had any Gladiators pop up yet, though. Though this week I'm joining a 5v5 team that's going to try for it, or at least try for 2k rating so I can pick up my shoulders.

[Pogo]

See, the thing is, most of us who participate in wow related threads know who the characters are that others play, and instead of engaging in pissing contests, we actually try to help each other. So play nice, because unless you're in Sunwell, or one of the top Arena teams in the world, you're probably not better than anyone else in this thread. :)

You missed the Priest thread where I was helping out the guy that wanted to PvP as Shadow.

And yeah I'm in Sunwell.

If the PvP arena game wasn't so retardedly boring and monotonous, I'd easily work for shoulders, but right now I'm content with 4/5 Vengeful just so I can laugh at rogues and warriors in the BGs.

[Athryn]

Well, perhaps you could be less of a penis in the rest of the threads, then? :)

[AaronSofaer]

Even an spriest on 4/5 Vengeful doesn't laugh at any Rogue anytime. qq.

[Dalai]

I like the quest where you kill the mobs and pick up the loot.

[Fozzle]

Put your epeen away there Pogostick...

My favorite WoW quest/place has to be dead mines. Dead mines made me cancel EQ 2, EQ and go WoW full time. At the time, I had never seen an instance like it. I haven't been to Sunwell, but I've been about everywhere else, and well... I still smile when I think of deadmines with a group, on level. The first time you bust into the final cavern was just great.

[Adam Sensoy]

Possibly stupid question-can I get to the Dranei starting area as a gnome? I am thinking of starting up a new rogue (gnome natch, love my gnomes) but I have done that starting area..oh...50 times? So I was thinking the dranei area might be fun-eventually I would like a Dranei shaman, but not quite ready for that yet.

WoW is such a funny game-I haven't really played it in two years yet its almost always one of the first games I like to to play when I get bored.

[Pogo]

Even an spriest on 4/5 Vengeful doesn't laugh at any Rogue anytime. qq.

Well of course not, rogues are anti-shadowpriest.

Only combat mace rogues give me any trouble really, and that's if the mace procs are lucky (which they frequently are).


Well, perhaps you could be less of a penis in the rest of the threads, then? :)

Okie dokie.

[André Costa]

Possibly stupid question-can I get to the Dranei starting area as a gnome? I am thinking of starting up a new rogue (gnome natch, love my gnomes) but I have done that starting area..oh...50 times? So I was thinking the dranei area might be fun-eventually I would like a Dranei shaman, but not quite ready for that yet.

WoW is such a funny game-I haven't really played it in two years yet its almost always one of the first games I like to to play when I get bored.

Yes, but you have to go from Iron Forge all the way to humm...the city with the boat in ... hmmm... Wetlands(??? forgot the town name). Then you take a boat to the other continent and then from there take the boat to the Draenei islands. Then you can go to the first village(not the crash site) and start there.

However, walking on foot with a low level toon into the wetlands might be a bit tough :D Oh and don't forget to take all the flight paths on your way there because if you're a warlock, you're going to have to come back to Iron Forge to train.

If i were you, i'd level till lvl8-12 on the gnome/dwarves starting area then move to the Draenei land.

[Adam Sensoy]

Yes, but you have to go from Iron Forge all the way to humm...the city with the boat in ... hmmm... Wetlands(??? forgot the town name). Then you take a boat to the other continent and then from there take the boat to the Draenei islands. Then you can go to the first village(not the crash site) and start there.

However, walking on foot with a low level toon into the wetlands might be a bit tough :D Oh and don't forget to take all the flight paths on your way there because if you're a warlock, you're going to have to come back to Iron Forge to train.

If i were you, i'd level till lvl8-12 on the gnome/dwarves starting area then move to the Draenei land.


Good deal-thanks for the info-either that or I will just wait to start the shaman :) This time with the rogue I can't decide what spec to go-I always enjoyed "combat" rogues, but never loved giving up the stealth bonuses by speccing sword or mace (and I have an aversion to mace usage on my cute little gnome). Maybe will go sword spec this time. I also have a mid 40s mage I would like to get to 55 before WotLK.

Are Qt3ers playing any particular server? Wouldn't mind having a new toon somewhere where the cool kids are at.

[Athryn]

Are Qt3ers playing any particular server? Wouldn't mind having a new toon somewhere where the cool kids are at.

Alliance - Moonrunner
Horde - Arathor

[Kareem]

I was under the impression though that in the Draenei starting area there are quests that aren't available to non-Draenei. It would suck if that included the uber-awesome chain at the end of Bloodmyst Isle.

[Athryn]

I was under the impression though that in the Draenei starting area there are quests that aren't available to non-Draenei. It would suck if that included the uber-awesome chain at the end of Bloodmyst Isle.

Some of the quests are not. The chain at the end is one of them, but it's still a good place to level, except for warlocks, whose closest trainer is in Ratchet.

[Thomas Wilde]

Are Qt3ers playing any particular server? Wouldn't mind having a new toon somewhere where the cool kids are at.

If you roll on Moonrunner, look for Axebeard, as that is me.

[Jag]

Possibly stupid question-can I get to the Dranei starting area as a gnome? I am thinking of starting up a new rogue (gnome natch, love my gnomes) but I have done that starting area..oh...50 times? So I was thinking the dranei area might be fun-eventually I would like a Dranei shaman, but not quite ready for that yet.

WoW is such a funny game-I haven't really played it in two years yet its almost always one of the first games I like to to play when I get bored.

You can get a mage port directly to the Drenai city. If you start your Gnome on WW, my mage can port you there along with some gold if you need it.

[Hanacker]

I know that for Horde, you can't do any of the blood elf quests until you hit level 10 and go to the Ghostlands. Haven't tried with Alliance but I'd assume it's like that.

[RichardC]

You can get to Azuremyst Isle from most of the Alliance starting areas really easily. It's a much better place to level up than any of the other starting areas; the quests are great, and you end up much richer and with much better loot.

[Adam Sensoy]

You can get to Azuremyst Isle from most of the Alliance starting areas really easily. It's a much better place to level up than any of the other starting areas; the quests are great, and you end up much richer and with much better loot.

Azuremyst Isle is the dranei zone I take it? I think im going to finally create a new guy tonight...

[Nellie]

Are Qt3ers playing any particular server?

If [generic] you happen to be looking for a home on EU I'll throw Hellscream, Alliance into the mix. It's not QT3, apart from me but you'd be welcome to join us.