Which has the best leveling experience in classic?
That seems like a very subjective question.
There were some things about Alliance leveling on a Horde dominant PVP server during Phase 2 that I greatly enjoyed.
Iām not a big fan of the Barrens, and tend not to level there on Horde, but itās a pretty large, uncontested zone that lets you level virtually conflict-free, until mid-high 20s.
Iām also not very into lore, so if someone who is could comment, that could give some better insight, if you care about that sort of thing.
Otherwise, I think they are pretty similar, but Horde tends to have prettier races, and better looking cities.
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I am some what a sucker for lore, not much into pvp
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I think the Defias Brotherhood questline and the BRD saving the guy one are pretty good Lore-wise.
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I would say Alliance have better faction zones, storylines, and quests.
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Horde has more convenience, but Alliance probably has a better story.
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Yeah the zeppelins are super convenient for getting around, but for the most part itās pretty similar
That and the fact that Horde only moves between areas that are either close together or easily accessible for the first 30 or so levels.
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Having done both, I really like Horde better. Alliance doesnāt have anything like the barrens, and for better or worse Barrens chat is one of those things you wonāt experience in any other game.
Horde has way more quests in Hinterlands, which felt pretty dead for alliance. Also, no FP in STV is one of those design choices Iāll never understand.
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Horde has by far better leveling experience.
So many levelling dungeons are barely accessible for the alliance due to their location: SFK, WC, RFK, RFD. You will almost never see groups formed for these dungeons alliance side. That is a huge chunk of good content missed.
The lack of good way to travel between continents, no mainland Kalimdor capital city, and a lack of FPs or their horrible positioning in many important zones (STV, Feralas, Felwoodā¦) seals the deal.
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I agree with just about everything you said. The placement of the felwood fp relative to the questgivers has got to be the most annoying thing in the game, with the lack of fp in northern STV being a close second. But Feralas? Alliance has two flight points on opposite ends of the zone. Very convenient. If the boat is your complaint, just swim. I have my hearth set to feathermoon on my mage for easy access to DM and I never ever use the boat. Occasionally the boat passes me mid-swim but over 90% of the time I get there faster.
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Leveling Horde means you get to hang out in the saunas with all the male muscle-orcs.
Or ā¦ you can level Alliance and paint your toenails with other humans in Goldshire. Yāknow, whatevā.
Horde is easier to level but Ally has better stories.
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Boats are also pretty convenient.
Iām not a fan of the Barrens, personally, and I suppose leveling-wise, I donāt really have a preference. I prefer the aesthetics of the Horde.
Is Booty Bay in STV?
Classic was the first time I ever actually leveled an Alliance, and was surprised to walk into STV from Duskwood. I had no idea how close it was to Stormwind.
Like, similar distance from SW to STV as from Org to the Barrens.
Meh.
With a couple of exceptions, like the bow, and maybe the shield Deadmines has much better gear than WC, and is equally ābarely accessibleā for the Horde, whereas Stockades is far better than RFC, and not even ābarely accessibleā it simply isnāt accessible, unless maybe you have a group of druids/rogues.
RFK/RFD are very difficult to find groups for, even on Horde side. People donāt not tend to run them very often. Even in September 2019, it was difficult (as a tank) to find groups for RFK/RFD.
Boats are great. Menethil Harbor offers a great way to travel. Also, Booty Bay, and Ratchet (but yeah, that is in The Barrens, and Zeps > Ships).
I mean, Darnassus, but it isnāt really the same as Undercity in that itās sort of off on its own, not in a central, major leveling dungeon area like SM.
Feralas has better flight paths for Alliance, imo, than for Horde. And a whole Alliance area that I had never even noticed until I leveled in Classic as Alliance.
Iām not sure about Felwood, as I donāt see any obvious reason why Horde vs Alliance would be better or worse in this case.
As for STV, having a FP is obviously better than not, so yeahā¦
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Stockades doesnāt even really count as a dungeon because there are literally no gear drops besides standard drop table, and therefore no reason to run it more than once to do the quests. Itās basically a glorified elite zone, like ārunningā through the caves out the front of WC is comparable to doing WC itself. Deadmines is baller and has some great drops, but so does SFK, WC and RFK.
As others have said, Horde is easier for early-mid levelling due to access to dungeons and also having highly centralised levelling zones (I was surprised to hit level 10 in 60m /played in Durotar, the quests are just so compact and accessible).
But nuts to spending the first 30 levels of gameplay running through desolate wastelands. I never get sick of Elwynn, Westfall, Redridge, Duskwood, to STV. The diversity in environment and having some tangible plot quests is well worth the extra hours of /played.
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Itās very opinion based. I do think Horde have better traveling, all around compared to the Alliance. However, I think the Alliance have the better Mounts, particularly the Night Elf ones. Every single one of my Alliance Toons will either be Nelves or Exalted with Darnassus LOL
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Meh. Iād put it above RFC in terms of gear/usefulness, and definitely better than WC for say being carried by a guildy, but yeah, itās not the greatest instance. It is certainly much, much better than āārunningā through the caves out the front of WC,ā but I suspect Iāve misunderstood your point there.
RFC is really the only earlier access to dungeons, but idk if anyone even runs it these days. RFK/RFD arenāt particularly much easier to find groups for Horde side than Alliance side, but SFK definitely is (in my experience, at least, whatever thatās worth).
I donāt think thereās much difference, tbh, but maybe that depends on the race. Iāve only ever leveled on Alliance side once, and that was as a human. It was during phase 2 on a Horde dominant PVP server, and I found it to be enjoyable, quick, and fun.
I leveled faster on my Alliance Paladin (in Phase 2), than I did on my Horde Warrior (in Phase 1). Iām not a particularly fast leveler though, and didnāt spend much time planning things out, nor following guides.
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Maybe weāre not so different, you and I.
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I think thereās nothing better than starting in Elwynn Forest, going to Westfall, swinging back to Redridge and then working between Duskwood and the other level-appropriate places.
No involvement with the hideous Barrens.
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