How to Power-Level a World of Warcraft Character

For those who have already played their first character to level 85, currently the maximum attainable level in World of Warcraft, completing the whole grind all over again can become boring, especially after the second or third time. Many avid players have multiple secondary characters, popularly referred to in-game as “alts.” Fortunately, the levelling grind has become somewhat easier and faster, especially up to level 80. To avoid boredom when rolling a new character, you should also consider creating a character with a class of a different role to what you are used to. For example, if you have always played a damage-dealing class, why not choose a class which can take on the role of healer or tank? You may even want to try playing a character of the opposite faction. This gives you the opportunity to experience a completely different side to the game along with thousands of different quests and storylines.

Power-levelling a character means getting to the maximum level as soon as possible, with this being the first and only priority. Whether you just want to get a high level character as soon as possible, or you need to get one to the maximum level for reasons such as levelling two new primary professions, power-levelling techniques will make much of the grind fly by. Following are some methods that you may want to try.

1 –Heirloom Items

It is generally safe to assume that, if you are interested in power-levelling a character, you have already levelled a character or two to the maximum level before and thus experienced the process as it was meant to be. If this is the case, you will have a high-level character which can purchase heirloom items that you can hand down to your new characters. Heirlooms are purchasable with Justice Points. These are easy enough to get by running normal dungeons and heroic dungeons at level 85. The heirloom shoulders and the heirloom chest-pieces are available to purchase from level 80 and, combined, they give a 20% experience gain, allowing your alts to level 20% faster. However, this effect wears off at level 80.

Joining a high-level guild and getting a high reputation with it is a must if you are interested in power-levelling, since it gives you the opportunity to purchase heirloom helms at level 85. They give another 10% experience gain and the effect remains until you reach the level cap. Heirloom cloaks are also available once you reach Honoured with your guild and they give an extra 5% experience point gain. Additionally, a high-level guild rewards a perk which provides an extra 10% to experience point gain in addition to heirlooms. Of course, you will need to get your power-levelling alt into the guild. With this and a full set of heirlooms combined, your new character will enjoy a 45% experience gain until level 80 and a 25% gain thereafter.

2 – Levelling Add-Ons

Levelling add-ons can greatly increase your levelling speed, especially if you are not very familiar with the game. They will constantly point you in the right direction for picking up new quests, carrying them out and completing them. While the latest expansion pack, Cataclysm, has made the level 1-60 grind far more straightforward, a levelling add-on is still very useful.

You should not have to pay for such an add-on, although there are some top quality guides which cost a modest amount of money. Alternatively, you can try free add-ons such as TourGuide combined with TomTom. This solution will always tell you what to do and where to go, constantly pointing you in the right direction with an arrow at the top of the screen.

3 – Random Dungeon Finder

Throughout much of the level 1-60 grind, running random dungeons is ideal, especially if you are getting tired of questing. The first seven random dungeons completed in every level bracket of ten levels awards you with a considerable extra experience bonus upon completion. Killing dungeon bosses and completing the dungeon quests will also offer a generous amount of experience.

Relying on the Random Dungeon Finder for power-levelling is only suitable if you are playing a tank or a healer, since the queues for damage-dealers are typically much longer. If you are playing a damage-dealer, you can stay queued in the Random Dungeon Finder while completing quests during the wait.

4 – Other Tips

Avoid random battlegrounds if you are power-levelling. They offer very little experience, although there is one exception to this: Alterac Valley when it is on the battleground holiday weekend. If you are lucky enough to happen to be level 40 or above at this time, the experience you can get from completing Alterac Valley is enormous.

Avoid grouping with other players, unless you need to group for an elite quest which is worth doing because of particularly good rewards. Although World of Warcraft is very much a sociable game, grouping with other players will generally only hold you back while power-levelling.