In every expansion to WOW Classic to date, dungeon grinding in the open world or solo dungeons from previous expansions at launch will always be the first choice for players if you want to reach the highest level as quickly as possible. Because this is the only point at which you can meaningfully level up your character in preparation for new expansions.
But Cataclysm Classic changes that. We found that the reputation and gear obtained in Cataclysm will be more important for leveling. So I think more people will benefit from a mix of quests and dungeons this time around, which is also more in line with the spirit of an MMO.
That being said, I have no doubt that we will have a fair share of dungeon levelers who will find themselves reaching level 85, but with an uphill battle ahead. When they reach the max level, they can’t work towards improving their character until they go back and do what they needed to do while leveling up.
To avoid this, here I will share four things you should do when leveling up during the launch of Cataclysm to help you reach the highest level without any hindrance.
Get Faction Reputation
Just like previous expansions, you’ll have Head Enchants and Shoulder Enchants locked behind reputation. You’ll have access to tabs that you can equip, which will help you gain a reputation with a specific faction.
But you won’t be able to bind to a faction until you establish friendly relations with it. This will require you to complete at least some tasks in each area. Not to mention a ton of Pre-Raid & Best In Slot options locked behind these reputations.
Therefore, it’s not a bad idea to participate in all missions in areas with valuable reputation rewards. And because we have 310% speed mounts, missions in Cataclysm will be completed quickly.
Deepholm
Deepholm is also an efficient way to gain reputation compared to spam Heroic dungeons. And this will be a mandatory quest area for everyone’s first level up in Cataclysm.
Not only is it a very efficient leveling area, but the items that unlock your head and shoulder are also locked behind a long questline here.
Once you complete the quest line, it rewards you with considerable reputation and leads directly to Honored Reputation. This means we can get item level 346 gear from this quest line.
But just like the mission reward in WOTLK, it is counted, so for future alt leveling, you can choose to skip this area.
Get Decent Gear
Note that before jumping into Heroic dungeons, it’s not a bad idea to spend WOW Cataclysm Classic Gold on some decent gear for three reasons.
First, compared to WOTLK, Cataclysm Heroic has obvious improvements. I don’t doubt that today’s players will have any difficulty clearing Heroic, but having some proper gear on hand will really make your dungeon journey more confident.
Secondly, you need an item level 329 gear to access Heroic dungeons. Meanwhile, you can still mount your mount and head to the entrance of the dungeon, which will allow you to queue up for Heroic faster and help you reach your Valor Points cap easily. This could be very important for us in the first week because we can’t get into the raid.
Third, gear scaling is much higher than WOTLK, and some of your Sunwell sets will become part of your Pre-BiS gear. But things will be very different this time, and there will be an obvious difference between your current ICC gear and normal level dungeon gear.
Therefore, I recommend completing all dungeons that reward item level 316 and 333 gear around level 83 or 84. All dungeons will have several quests associated with them to earn generous XP and guaranteed loot.
Complete Halls Of Regulation Quest Chain
All dungeons will have quests at the beginning, except Halls of Regulation, which require some pre-questions in the old Cataclysm.
The appeal of these missions in the past was that it provided quick XP, but I don’t think it was an effective way to level up unless you were ahead of everyone else.
This quest chain can be started in Twilight Highlands at level 84, and will reward item level 333 weapons, which will give you a tremendous boost as you move into Heroic dungeons. Because there aren’t many other easy ways into Twilight Highlands, and entering the portal requires some exploration, but you’ll need to at least be friendly with the faction.
Regardless, once you do these 4 things, you’ll be leveling up in Cataclysm Classic quickly. I think dungeon spamming will be your way to catch up on all settings. But at launch I would avoid relying solely on dungeon play throughs until level 85, because eventually you’ll be returning to the leveling area to do all the things you skipped.
