How do you ding?

If you're reading this blog of mine, you've either got at least one level 70 character or you will have one soon. Today's question is this: Once you hit Outland, how do you ding 70?

For some people, they ding 70 the only way they know how. They run around Hellfire Peninsula doing every quest they can find, eventually moving on to Zangarmarsh. After that they'll either head to Terokkar Forest or to Nagrand. Lastly, they'll finish off those last few levels in either Blade's Edge Mountains, Shadowmoon Valley, or Netherstorm. Their leveling progress may seem random to some, but as a player's only level 70 character, it just seems awesome!

Then you'll find others like me. I've leveled two characters to 70 so far, and my third is 69. I've figured out my process and what I like. I know what works best for me, which quests/zones I hate, and which ones I must hit before that final ding.

Also, you've got the niche group of players that cannot stand to quest. These are the players that grind mobs, and only grind mobs. I don't think it's a road I'll ever take a walk on, but it works great for some.

Lastly, you've got the group of people that are similar to my wife. They have 4+ level 70 characters. She knows the ins and outs of about every quest in Outland, has a very set pattern for questing, and generally zoom through those last 10 levels. This type of player rarely veers off course to hit a dungeon or spend time helping others out, focusing particularly on having that experience bar vanish.



Personally, I've found my groove. I will complete Hellfire Peninsula and Zangarmarsh in their entirety. On my second character to 70 I actually skipped lots of quests, moving between zones as I got bored. On my most recent, my druid, I completed all quests in HFP, Zangarmarsh, Terokkar, and Nagrand. I skip BEM because I really dislike the zone. At this point I'm between 68 and 69. I head straight to Netherstorm and bust out the quests there until the final flash of gold.

So, fellow Azerothian... How do you ding? What are some of the advantages and disadvantages to any certain leveling style? You be the judge.