As some of you may know, the upcoming Legion expansion has gotten me hyped, and I’ve started playing regularly again. I won’t bore you with the details of how I’ve done all the things I didn’t do in my garrison, the flying achievement I’ve accomplished, or the quest for the legendary ring I’m hoping to complete before it disappears…

What I will tell you though, is a few simple tips on how to level your characters through the current Draenor expansion quickly. This is probably not advisable for people who have never played through it the “normal way” (although it is certainly is possible), but I suspect it might help those who are coming back to level their alts to be ready when it’s time to venture in the Broken Isles.

So here you go:

 

1) Buy and upgrade your (XP) Heirloom gear

Heirloom items used to be somewhat difficult to get, but they are now readily available. You can buy some of them from your guild vendor, and others from vendors in Ironforge or Undercity (here and here respectively). The initial version of each item scales to level 60 only, but you can upgrade them to level 90 with this item, and then to level 100 with this one (these are for armor pieces; weapons upgrade in the same way).

Note that upgrading fully costs a pretty penny, so if you’re short on cash just get the gear that grants bonus XP (helm, shoulders, chest, legs and back if I’m not mistaken). Those are the only ones you’ll really need for Draenor anyway.

Oh, and if you’ve purchased Heirloom gear in the past, remember to log into those characters to unlock them them to your collection!

NB: For the noobest among us, Heirlooms are pieces of equipment that scale with your level.

 

2) Unlock your garrison’s quartermaster to get “XP potions”

It’s time to go out and adventure! Put your Heirloom gear on, go through the introductory quest, and set up your Garrison. At some point you’ll be able to interact with your Garrison quartermaster, and he’ll sell you the Excess Potion of Accelerated Learning, which gives you an additional 20% bonus XP for an hour.

It costs 100 Garrison ressources but hopefully you’ll quickly have enough to buy a few, and it shouldn’t take more than a few to reach max level.

 

3) Focus on “bonus objectives” (and treasures)

Now for the actual leveling. The best way to get XP is to do the “bonus objective” areas in each zone (indicated by a “crossed swords” icon on your map). You can (and sometimes have to) do the quests of course, but your primary focus should be bonus objectives.

You should also grab the treasures you see as you’re going along, as they grant a lot of XP. Those appear on your minimap when they’re close by, but if you want to be a dirty cheater you can use these two addons to reveal them on the map.

And when you outlevel a zone, don’t linger. When you ding, just mop up the last few mobs you’re on and leave for the next zone. Do the line of quests to establish yourself there, and then start doing more bonus objectives.

 

4) [Edit] Mega bonus combo with the Elixir of the Rapid Mind

@Balerstos and @Aldristavan suggested on Twitter using this Elixir of Rapid Mind (300% XP bonus for 15 minutes) by clearing all bonus objectives of a zone save for one item in each, and then activating it to complete all of them. It’s another few thousand gold per, but would obviously speed up the process even further. Thanks both!

 

Well, that’s it! With all of this, you should be… prepared when Legion comes! 🙂