New Alliance player here, want the full experience but not sure where to go

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So, I’ve been playing this game on and off for about a year or something, never having my level above 30.
This time, I’ve managed to go to 40th level, and I’m really enjoying my time in the game.
I’m playing a human paladin (cliche, I know) and I’ve just arrived at Booty Bay.

I’m not sure where to go from here.
On one hand, Western Plaguelands seems like the natural way to go, but some other NPC just offered me to go to Ratchet in the Northern Barrens.
My goal in the game is simple - live the great stories I’ve heard about this game. I want to see the Lich King and find out what happened to Arthes, I want to meet the main characters of the story (the ones I keep seeing in Hearthstone), I want to see what great moments this game has to offer.

Where should I go now? the WoW head leveling guide says Plaguelands, but won’t I meet Gazlow and Jaina at Ratchet and join up with a bigger story?
What’s the best route to take to relive cool/main story arcs?

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I would say go to the Western & Eastern Plaguelands,
great stories lie within!
You can later join Jaina in Ratchet.

1 Like
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Glad you’re enjoying yourself!

Someone should write an orientation …

You won’t see any of the Grand Stories in Vanilla (levels up to 60). Each zone has its own story, its own personalities, but they don’t really converge into one overarching narrative.

Neither do the quest lines in TBC (Outland, used to be levels 60-70) tie together very well from playing through. There is an overall story, but you won’t get it from questing, or even from the dungeons and raids at TBC endgame.

Wrath, (Northrend, was levels 70-80) on the other hand, is the peak of WoW’s story telling, with the Lich King a constant presence in every zone, but no heavy-handed linear storyline forced on you.

Subsequent expansions went the linear route, to a greater or lesser degree. It has its pros and cons. It works well enough the first time you go through, but gets tedious when you go through again on alts. However, since a lot of the overall story is in the “endgame” - what you did when at max level in that expansion - new levellers miss out on that because they move on without ever seeing it, never doing the raids and some of the related dungeons, and end-game quest areas for each expansion.

For big picture story, I would start with Wowpedia, starting from

which I still think is the best, and channel Nobbel87 on YouTube, starting with

For individual zones, Wowpedia https://wow.gamepedia.com/ is also a great resource.

For your case, I’d rate either Western Plaguelands or Kalimdor about equally. You could do both. Eastern Plaguelands, which naturally follows Western, has for my money maybe the best questline in the game: Darrowshire. Ratchet will eventually lead you to Theramore and Jaina, which are well worth seeing.

If you’re doing the Plaguelands, Badlands, which is a reasonable follow-up now, also has an amazing story of Rhea, a dragon working for the Greater Good.

And don’t forget to upgrade your riding skill at level 40!

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Good to know about my riding skill!

Ok, so I’m going to Western Plaguelands. At level 60, what should I do? This is the start of the next expansion, right?

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At level 60, your FIRST PRIORITY will be to upgrade your riding skill again - when you can buy FLYING!

FLYING!

I really think the day I got flying was my best day ever in WoW!

Take a moment to enjoy it!

OK, so then you will have a choice to go to Outland or Northrend. Either of these continents will get you from 60 to 80, but you can mix and match, doing some zones in each, if you want.

Most people prefer Northrend. I have a soft spot for Hellfire Peninsula, the first zone in Outland. The experience of walking through the Dark Portal into a completely different landscape at 60 was another thing that make 60 great for me. But if it’s story that drives you, it’s done much better in Northrend, where the Lich King is behind all kinds of badness everywhere.

One unfortunate side-effect of levelling is that you will miss out on doing the amazing endgame of Wrath - Naxxramas, the three dungeons leading to Icecrown Citadel, and ICC itself. Followed by the secret Titan facility of Ulduar. You can come back later and solo them, probably from around level 91 onwards, or you can get someone at high level to walk you through them. Either way, do not miss them!

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What is unfortunate about it? Because I won’t be able to do it on the first time, only after level 91?

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Yes. It will still be well worth the journey at 90-100, but it won’t be as immediate.

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