World of Warcraft: Tying Up Loose Ends Part One

Tags : wow expansion, wow cataclysm, world of warcraft    

Sam Guss kicks off this series of articles designed to help prepare players for the eventual launch of Blizzard's next expansion, Cataclysm.

Welcome to "Preparing for a Cataclysm," a new series of articles between now and World of Warcraft's next expansion, aptly titled, Cataclysm. This series will focus on all things to do with and to prepare for this new expansion as well as express opinions and known updates about it. Currently the release date is speculated to probably be Q2, 3 or 4 of 2010. Blizzard has confirmed they are shooting for a 2010 release and Game Stop has a release date holder for November 2010. Chances are high that it will be released sometime between May and November of 2010. That's a large window to work with for now, but at best, I figure we have six months before the start of that window to prepare.

Tying Up Loose Ends

As we prepare for Cataclysm, the first step I suggest is tying up loose ends. Once the new expansion comes out, we will be busy leveling to 85, playing with the new races and race/class combinations and experiencing new content, which will leave much of the content elsewhere even further in the background.

Tying up loose ends means getting the things done that have been on our back burners anyway. They usually fall into one of three categories:

1. Leveling.
2. Attaining tangible (in-game) items.
3. Attain intangible (in-game) goals.

For some, you may have aspirations in more than just one of these areas, so you also need to decide which are more important to you. You're going to have to prioritize a little. You're also going to have to figure out some time management in order to get a lot done (if you have a lot to do that is).

Leveling

Let's look at leveling. For starters, if you do not have a toon at level 80 yet, get one there! I am not saying rush through content and not enjoy the journey - indeed it is one of the most enjoyable aspects of the game if you haven't leveled a toon to 80. That said, you will really want a toon at max level before Cataclysm comes out. It will be very easy to get side tracked with all the new content, or beginning a new toon as a Worgen or Goblin.

Many of you I am sure, like me, have at least one level 80 and probably another couple that are leveling along but not there yet. Mileage will vary greatly but you can expect that if you are putting a sincere effort into leveling, it takes anywhere from 10-15 days playing time to get from level 1 to level 80. Power-levelers and players with great time management can do it much faster, likewise us "slow" levelers can take even longer. With 240 hours to level to 80 from first level (10 days) and playing an average of two hours a day... that's four months to level a toon in real time.

Again, mileage may differ and of course many of us have toons well on the way to 80, so some time is spared. All in all you can still expect some significant time spent leveling your alts. I suggest doing so however. The reason is the same as for someone who doesn't have a level 80 yet. When Cataclysm comes out we will be leveling to cap again, perhaps starting one of the new race/class combinations, experiencing new content, etc. This means our alts who are not level 80 yet, will still not be level 80 and the chances of that happening will most likely decrease.

The hard part here is deciding which alt(s) you want to focus on first to get to level 80. I've personally made the mistake in the past that I could level them together and for some that may work. I have found that focusing on one toon at a time for leveling works better for me. Whichever toon you decide to level to 80 first though should be one that is furthest along the way to begin with and one that you do enjoy playing. Using myself as an example, I have my level 80 Rogue and my Priest is 79. I want to get the Priest to 80 first, and then I have a level 74 Death Knight and a level 31 Hunter as my next highest level toons. If you gathered that I would level the Death Knight and then the Hunter, give yourself a gold star. Time-wise it is feasible to get the DK and the Hunter to level 80 before the expansion comes out. My other two alts, the Shaman and the Warlock I "may" have time for one of them to level but with my play style I have to be honest with myself and know I won't be able to do both.

In a near-future article we'll take a look at some leveling strategies, heirloom items, how our mains can assist our alts and other ideas to speed the leveling process for our alts.

To be continued, In part two of this article we'll look at the tangibles and intangible goals of our characters and how all of these goals fit together in our estimated timeline until the release of cataclysm.

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