I’m new to SoD, and I have to say it’s quite wonderful. I’m leveling a ret paladin (again) and having a blast! Crusader Strike, Divine Storm and instant-cast Exorcism have made things a lot easier (compared to Vanilla/Classic.) I’m not nearly as gear dependent as I was back in 2019.
The XP buff is pretty significant. My leveling progression so far has been Elwynn Forest Westfall Duskwood Hillsbrad/Alterac Stranglethorn Vale. In the past, I’ve always had to hit Loch Modan, The Wetlands and Redridge along with dungeon quests in order to progress. The upshot - the pacing is good, and my character is fun to play. Using the Chronoboon Displacers has been pretty helpful, as well (no sense wasting 15 minutes of your buffs in flight!) I had to drop Blacksmithing for Skinning in order to make money. The 300% gold from quests doesn’t quite cut it.
As others have pointed out, the bots are pretty much everywhere. They’re questing more than I’m used to seeing. They’ll even invite you to a group if you show up in the area. I still report’em.
I grouped up with a noobie paladin earlier today. People are still playing SoD and ammore are coming.
I usually do Elwynn, Westfall Defias related quests until I unlock Van Cleef quest. Unsent Letter quest, rethbane ore quest chain, stockades quest, usually get help with The Astral for Seal of Wrynn then go do The Missing Diplomat. Pick up Noble Brew questline and finish it. Pause around Menethil with Mising Diplomat or get help until the last part. Shimmering Flats for few more levels then Scarlet Monastery stuff until 40.
Cauchy make sure you are doing ur Incursions dailies. You make decent gold and get xp from them. Most importantly you get rep for emerald dream and at lv50 get access to a sweet set of armor that will do just fine for you to enter MC h1 and or grind those reels from the 60 dungeons. Also, get ready for the scourge invasion it will also hand out great catch up gear.
That’s great advice! Thank you! Is level 35 too late to start?
I’ve always loved ret, even back in Classic. But man, you’re right. It’s a blast. My other go-to classes for alts are druids and warlocks. I really hope they keep it going, so I have time to level some alts, too.
I think 35 is good for Duskwood one and at 37 go to Ashenvale till 47 and then Feralas 47-53. If you are playing solo you might want to stay a little longer like 50 in Ashenvale and 50+ in feralas.
Make sure you keep an eye out on BFD, Gnome, ST runs. They are fantastic xp for their levels.
I’ve been having fun returning to SoD as well! 2h Shaman is exactly what I had hoped it would be, this is the most fun I’ve had with WoW in a while. Levelling wasn’t too quick or too laborious. Honestly, I think Blizz knocked it out of the park on this one. Looking forward to seeing how the endgame raids look.
I really do hope they keep going with this iteration of SoD. Blizzard can always introduce new runes instead of changing the talent trees (and maybe they can add a mastery/paragon system to avoid the need to raise the level cap.) I feel that there’s a lot of unfinished content that they can use for new/improved zones or dungeons.
Westfall