I am level 56, over halfway to level 57, and a young hunter’s thoughts are turned to Outlands…
Yesterday, just out of curiosity, I actually went to Honor Hold (I’d been warlock summoned there before, for my alchemy/herbalism training, and I’d also set my hearth to Shatt a few levels back, so I already had the flight point) and wandered out amidst the level ?? elite demons to do some exploring for just a bit. I wound up running into some level 58/59 mobs who I disposed of, and I’ve gotta tell you, your first “Outlands kill” does feel good.
But I quickly returned back to Azeroth… I have some quests there that I want to finish up before I do move on to Outlands “for good”.
I have to admit though, I have sort of been taking a “semi-break” from my main for a couple reasons, not the least of which is that some of my friends and guildies seem to be a bit too well-intentioned for my tastes, and being well aware of my level, they are ready to hold my hand and rush me through Outlands, helping me to do all the quests and get all the gear that they “already know are good”. It’s great of them to offer their assistance, but I’ve always been somebody who does things at her own pace, taking her time to experience the game and its story on her own, to the best of her ability– I don’t really want too much assistance here.
One of these people has a Karazhan-running hunter on another realm; he’s taken it upon himself to tell me exactly which Outlands gear and weapons I “have” to get. I appreciate his advice and don’t doubt his experience but I feel like I can figure out which gear to get on my own, because I seem to have done well-enough on my own so far, gear-wise (this particular person even said so)… so I don’t see why I should be needing all this help all of a sudden. If I do need help or advice I can always just ask when I get to that point.
Anyways, because of that, I’ve been sort of messing around with other characters where there is less pressure. I have a mage that I’ve really been starting to enjoy playing, and I have a dwarf hunter who has recently tamed a wolf named Clifford; if you ever spent a lot of time reading as a kid, then I’ll presume you get the inherent joke here. (Otherwise, I will direct you here! And still make you figure out the joke =P) There is something fun about dwarves that I can’t quite pin down. I love my night elf hunter but dwarf hunters, especially female dwarf hunters, are so unique and refreshing sometimes.
Tawyn and Tux have not been abandoned however! I’m still playing them, just not as much. I am looking forward to hitting level 60 sometime soon, though. Even though I didn’t start playing until 70 was the big one, I still think 60 is an admirable milestone (sort of like 40).
Hitting 60 is definitely a milestone!
I had been 60 for well over a year when TBC came out. I had a ton of Dragonstalker, AQ20 and ZG gear. I was doing well for myself.
First thing I did when I crossed into HFP? Mounted up and just ran everywhere! Got all my flight paths the first night!
The first thing I killed? A lvl 68 Fel Boar in Shadowmoon Valley. Man! That was one heck of a fight. Normally I prefer a straight up smack down to a kiting fight, but this thing was 8 levels higher than me… so a kiting I went. Took about 20 serpent sting to take him down because I was missing so much, and I got him all the way to Terrokar, but MAN! That was fun!
At that point, no one in my guild had killed anything higher than a lvl 65!
Take your time and enjoy the exploration of Outlands. The thrill can wear off far too quickly.
And beware the Fel Reaver!
I know exactly what you mean about people being just a bit too well-intentioned. It’s great that they want to help, but you really want them to back off and let you poke around on your own.
This kind of behavior almost drove me out of MMOs at first. The first MMO I played was Asheron’s Call (although I’d been playing MUDs for years), and my boyfriend and his allegiance wanted me to have fun and stick around. So they gave me a sheet with the optimal character for me to make and then power-leveled me to 20. I quit the next day. I couldn’t figure out where I was or what I was supposed to do and the entire thing just felt too much like … well, like I was a doll they’d dressed up.
Three months later I quietly made my own character, a terrible no-magic gimp sword. It took me another month of heavy play to reach level 20. But man, did I love my little Mor’gan.
I can only echo what Mania & Pel have said: There’s no rush.
I have 4 level 70 characters now (2 Rogues, Priest, and my Hunter, and they hit 70 in that order). The rogues have done more than the other two, although the Priest has done more instances (go figure).
Last night, I took my hunter to an Outlands area and spent about 3 hours on my own, just doing quests and enjoying going at my own pace, amazing myself (again) with how well a hunter can solo…and regretting that I hadn’t taken the hunter through Outlands first.
Unless a quest says it’s a group quest, you can easily do 90% of them in Outlands on your own (if you want to), and the other 10% might take a couple or three tries.
Take your time, enjoy the journey, and keep letting us know how you’re doing!
Most of outland can easily be done alone or in a team of two. As the big rush is long over, and you don’t have to kill steal or something in order to get your quest objectives fulfilled, you are better off playing the game at your own pace.
It will be nice to have those people around for the elite quests, requiring groups of 3-5. A quick call for reinforcements to take down a mob to end a quest thread.
Maybe it helps getting this or that gear a little earlier by following an advice to start q certain quest or run a certain dungeon before your quest progress would have sent you there. But in the end you will hit 70, have a flying mount, and still sooooooo many things to do….
Just enjoy it. I still play for the reason that WoW is developping faster than I can play the content.
Cheer, Xi
/cry
I can’t wait till Outlands, of course, by the time I get there WoTLK or whatever the abreviation for it is, will be out, or soon to come out.