The Ultimate WoW Leveling Guide for Levels 1-50
If you only read one article about WoW leveling guides, read this one. Trust me; it will have everything you need to know.
WoW has been around for a long time, almost two decades now. And, just like last year and the year prior, World of Warcraft is still one of the top-grossing video games, with hundreds of thousands of new players each month.
While leveling guides have become more and more efficient as time went on, we are now at the point in WoW history where leveling up is super simple, fast, and efficient.
This post will introduce the fundamentals of leveling up in World of Warcraft. And will break down step-by-step the fastest way to levels 1-50. By the end of this article, the question “what is the best way to level up in WoW” should be answered.
Jump to…
- Where Did We Get Our Information?
- Leveling from 1 to 10
- Leveling from 1 to 50
- Leveling 50-60
- XP Buffs to Use
- Summary — The Ultimate WoW Leveling Guide for Levels 1-50
Where Did We Get Our Information?
There is a lot to learn about World of Warcraft, so much that we couldn’t gather this information all by ourselves. We had to get help from the community.
To write this article, we found that the best source of info was Joana’s Classic WoW Speed Leveling Guide. We found Joana’s Guide to be the most in-depth yet simple-to-understand source of leveling-up tutorials available on the internet.
We highly suggest you check her out, here. Or not — but we know you came to this page for a reason: to learn how to level up in WoW. And we believe that Joana does spectacularly in that regard.
Leveling from 1 to 10
Before starting the game, players are prompted with two options; Exile’s Reach or Northshire Valley. It is highly suggested that you choose Exile’s Reach from these two starting zones, as it’s a much stronger option and will be featured in this guide. Depending on your skill level, you can expect that it will take 40 to 45 minutes to complete this region and achieve level 10 — as it primarily serves as a tutorial for new players.
How to Get to Exile’s Reach in WoW
As players can access the Exile’s Reach very early within the game, we will guide you on how to get there, from creating your character when you first open the game.
- Once you have created your character, you will find yourself on a boat. This event is scripted and is made to teach you the game’s basic controls. This section acts as a tutorial for World of Warcraft. You will learn two skills within the mission, depending on your class.
- Eventually, you will automatically reach level 2 — again, this is scripted. Suddenly, a short cutscene should play, whereby at the end, you should be on an island (this is Exile’s Reach).
- You have a new objective; explore the region while freeing imprisoned characters.
- Continue to play within Exile’s Reach until you are level 10 — as I mentioned, this should take about an hour. The speed depends on whether you attempt to speedrun the area (skipping dialogue, rushing past enemies, etc.).
Now, you should be at least level 10, ready to begin the next step in our guide. If you are interested in a more in-depth guide of this article, check out Joana’s Classic WoW Speed Leveling Guide 👈, which does a way better method of explaining leveling up than we do.
Leveling from 1 to 50
If you have reached level 10 before, I’m sure you are all too familiar with Chromie. She offers the ‘Timewalking Campaigns.’ and can be found in one of two locations. Refer to the images below:
Chromie allows the player to go back to missions they have already completed and, thus, gain level EXP. Suppose you’re lucky enough to have at least one character on your account above level 50. In that case, she will offer you unique expansions, which are new levels/missions.
What’s important is that within Chromie’s available expansions, the enemies will adapt to whatever level you currently are. This makes leveling remarkably easy; there’s just one question remaining, which expansion should you choose to maximize leveling efficiency?
Click one of the links below to learn more about each expansion! 🧠👇
Warlords of Draenor
By far, the fastest leveling-up expansion available is the Warlords of Draenor. It isn’t recommended for most players, but it remains the quickest way to level up to level 50 in WoW. Although the treasures have been nerfed, they still bring in a lot of XP, which is why the Warlords of Draenor is the best; it has so much treasure!
Since Warlords of Draenor is the recommended path, it will be the one we go into the most depth explaining. More specifically, we will detail how to grind through the Auchindoun section, as it’s regarded as the best for leveling. Over its course, you must fight four separate bosses. You can find a guide for each one below.
The first boss players must fight is Kaathar, which can spawn damaging rings on the floor—trying to avoid these aren’t too much of an issue. In addition, Kaathar will occasionally throw his shield at you, thus, knocking you back slightly. At this point, players who aren’t behind his shield will get damaged by his AOE attack. We suggest that the healer use this opportunity to aid some of their teammates. All in all, Kaathar is a relatively easy boss to fight.
The second boss players must fight is Nyami, which also is a manageable fight to win. Her ability Mind Spike blasts a player with shadowy spikes, which deals significant damage. However, players can cancel it by attacking during her animation. Like Kaathar, she has an AOE attack, which players can avoid by standing inside the dark ring that will spawn.
The third boss players must fight is Azzakel. Its first ability is knockback-based, resulting in hit players receiving a six-second damage debuff. The second ability is a void zone, which limits where you can stand by placing a damaging ring around the arena. The final ability involves making players pulse with fire, which can spread to other nearby players.
The fourth boss players must fight is Teron’gor. His abilities are Chaos Bolt, Incinerate, Corruption, Drain Life, and Rain of Fire. Drain Life, Incinerate, and Chaos Bolt can be interrupted, and Corruption and Cure of Exhaustion can be dispelled.
The Burning Crusade
The Burning Crusade expansion is set in the ‘Outland’ region, a Hellfire Peninsula. The Burning Crusade won’t offer you the fastest leveling experience, unlike the other options. This expansion is played for enjoyment rather than efficiency.
Wrath of the Lich King
Overall, the Wrath of the Lich King is one of the, if not the most enjoyable expansions. But unfortunately, similarly to The Burning Crusade, in regards to leveling up, it is not the best option.
Mists of Pandaria
The Mists of Pandaria is one of the better available options and has various upsides. This expansion offers high-quality gameplay, which is genuinely fun to play. But also, by the end of the story, the player should be at least level 50.
Legion
Legion is perhaps the most efficient leveling-up expansion of all. In fact, during the epilogue, you should already get to level 50 — yes, it is that quick.
Battle for Azeroth
The Battle for Azerothallows you to level up efficiently and is very story-rich. Plus, you will reach level 50 before finishing the story. On the other hand, this expansion can be quite lengthy and take some time. Whether you will like this expansion will depend on what experience you are looking for in World of Warcraft.
Which Expansion Should I Choose From Chromie?
The overall census among WoW gamers is that Warlords of Draenor is the best option for leveling up.
Give or take a few hours; you can expect to get to level 50 from level 10 in the Warlords of Draenor within 5-6 hours. Using a few techniques can lower the time that it takes, such as skipping dialogue, etc.
Alternatively, you can prioritize enjoyment. Instead of speedrunning through the expansion, you can take your time and pick the expansion that you best enjoy.
Leveling 50-60
The primary location for leveling up to 50-60 is the Shadowlands. Available as the eighth expansion, the tutorial quest alone for the region gets you to level 51.
What level you are trying to get to will depend on where you will go. Here is our wiki guide for the Shadowlands:
- Levels 50-52: Bastion
- Levels 52-54: Maldraxxus
- Levels 54-56: Ardenweald
- Levels 56-60: Revendreth
These places, respectively, will boost your leveling ability tenfold.
If you are interested in a more in-depth guide regarding levels 50-60, check out Joana’s Classic WoW Speed Leveling Guide — which goes into more depth, and gives specific step-by-step instructions to leveling up — questing, dungeons, Shadowlands, and guides; she covers all of it.
XP Buffs to Use
In World of Warcraft, users can improve their EXP gain substantially by taking into account various factors such as:
- Quests
- Dungeon
- Zones
Here are a few skills to guide you through your quest to lv 60.
The Basics — Gain EXP While You Rest
You may or may not know this, but your character is ‘resting’ when you log out while in a hostel or town, which gives you bonus XP when you reconnect.
If you plan to speedrun to lv 60 in a couple of days, this won’t be too useful to you. But it’s still good to know. In contrast, if you have a group of characters on your account, make sure always to use this trick.
Draught of Ten Lands
The Draught of Ten Lands increases all stats by ten and experience gained by 10% for 1 hour. And as you can imagine, this comes in handy when you are trying to rush to lv 60.
Players can purchase a Draught of Ten Lands from Vendor Murka at Dazar’alor Port for the Horde and Vendor Darkforge in Boralus Port for the Alliance. The item costs five service medals.
You get service medals by performing activities on the War Front.
- You’ll get 15 for winning a Warfront.
- You can also get them by completing quests.
- In addition, Assaults also reward you with several medals.
Items that Boost Experience Gain in World of Warcraft
- The Horde War Campaign in the Battle of Azeroth provides a +10% XP bonus.
- You can receive a 10% XP buff if you complete an assault in Kul Tiras and Zandalar.
- The Darkmoon Faire Ride gives a +10% gain for about 60 minutes. Players can also buy the Darkmoon Top Hat for 10 Darkmoon Tickets, which offers another +10% gain.
Note: The two modifiers from the Darkmoon Faire Ride do NOT stack.
If the user stacks all these modifiers, their experience gain will be much faster and more efficient.
Read more about items that will add to your XP modifiers. Check out Joana’s Classic WoW Speed Leveling Guide, which tells you about all the items that increase your XP.
Heirlooms And Leveling
Heirlooms are items that provide the user with various bonuses, depending on how many pieces of the Heirloom the player has collected.
- 2 Heirloom Pieces: The ‘Rest’ experience modifier gets used 30% slower.
- 3 Heirloom Pieces: Increases your health regeneration when the player is away from mobs and out of combat.
- 4 Heirloom Pieces: Gain an ability called ‘Burst of Knowledge,’ dealing Holy damage to nearby enemies.
- 6 Heirloom Pieces: The ‘Rest’ experience modifier gets used an additional 30% slower.
Items That Increase Movement Speed
To increase the current rate at which you gather XP, you can utilize the items that allow you to run faster. We suggest you start by using the Man’ari Training Amulet. Players can find it by playing the ‘Legion Class Hall’ mission — which there’s an in-depth guide for here.
Enchantments to Use
To increase the number of levels you gain when questing or exploring a dungeon, we suggest you enchant your weapon with these enchantments:
Enchantments
- Enchant your Necklace with the Mark of the Hidden Satyr — summons a Satyr.
- Enchant your Chestplate with Glorious Traits — Skill gain +10 for all Stats
- Enchant your Cape with Gift of Haste — + 2% Movement Speed and +5 Haste.
- Enchant your Boots with Minor Speed — +8% Movement Speed
- Enchant Your Ring with Greater Haste — +30 Haste
Dungeons, or Not?
Dungeons are a fun way of playing WoW but, unfortunately, do not earn as much XP. If you want to be a pure level-up demon, we guide you to avoid Dungeons. Stick to the Shadowlands section — and kill mobs there.
Summary — The Ultimate WoW Leveling Guide for Levels 1-50
In The Ultimate WoW Leveling Guide for Levels 1-50, we taught you everything you needed to know about gaining XP in World of Warcraft.
