Totally Warcraft

For The Alliance? For The Horde? What side are you on? There’s so much that can be argued regarding the differences between leveling Horde as opposed to leveling Alliance. I’m not going to drone on and bore you to tears covering every single angle of this issue, so in that light – here it is: Horde players will say that leveling an Alliance character is playing wow on “easy mode”. Alliance players will fight tooth and nail to prove that the “Hordies” have an easier time leveling than they do. Is there a faction that is easier to level than the other?

Let’s be honest here. The majority of WoW players who argue one side or the other are players that either: A, are new to the game (By new I mean a player who has only leveled ONE character). Or B, players who stick only to one faction without even giving the other side at least a 20-30 level shot. For those players in the latter category, before you pass judgment based on ignorance and, well let’s face it, LAZYNESS – do me a favor? Log on, create a new character of the opposing faction and give that toon’s leveling the old “college try”. Either that or RESEARCH the other side, at the very least!

From my almost 4 years of experience with this game, I’ve noticed that about 90% of the people complaining on the forums or in trade chat (that’s not what that channel is for by the way), that their faction was harder to level than the other, don’t have a bloody clue what leveling the other side is even like. Hell most of the complaining I hear in game, about ANYTHING, is built on a foundation of ignorance. I was guilty of it myself once and even now sometimes my guildmates will correct me and say: “Achilles, you might want to look that up….” Anyways, that’s a whole other issue.

As a WoW player who has faced leveling both Horde and Alliance toon’s to level cap – I, naturally, have my own opinion regarding this matter. When speaking of generalities, both factions when starting out, have the same basic areas, enemies, and instances. Meaning that the areas usually have mobs of the same level, and starter instances on both sides are organized the same way, so the new players can get the feel of what it’s like to function in a group. Both factions have areas with enemies of the same levels (e.g.: Westfall 10-19, and Barrens 10-19), both factions have roughly the same amount of quests to help you level, and both factions have the same world drop rate in terms of green and blue leveled items. So in actuality, is there really a huge difference in the beginning?

Some players will argue that the Alliance have more quests to do in the earlier areas like Westfall and Redridge. Others will say that the Barrens (although boring at times) have some of the easiest quest lines ever, and as a result going from level 1-23 is a snap. In terms of leveling from 1-25, I will agree that leveling a Horde toon up until this point is easier. BUT the Alliance, I have noticed, have maybe 10-20% more quests at their disposal. So when you think about it hard enough, it evens out – Well, at least for the early levels.

When you get to the middle level areas, the game changes drastically. In areas like Stranglethorn Vale and Tanaris, everything becomes harder. Not only because there are more enemies, and therefore more chances to run into elites, but because now, both factions are now REALLY competing. Areas like the two I mentioned above are, for the most part, evenly controlled – meaning that there is an Alliance town, and a Horde town in the area. Places like Duskwood, and Thousand Needles are reserved for specific factions, but now, it’s anyone’s game. Ever been on a collection quest with a really crappy drop rate, and see a member of the opposing faction run in and engage 3 or 4 mobs at once, leaving you with nothing to do but wait for a re-spawn? THAT is why leveling sucks, my friends. The moment you introduce that kind of inter-faction equation into the game, it makes things sluggish and well….aggravating. Once you get used to the fact that levels 25 to basically 59 are going to give you a run for your money, you can and will, find ways to deal with it, and PERHAPS get back into an even pace.

So here it is – the home stretch! 60-80. Now most of you are wondering, “home stretch? Is he freaking kidding me???” But to be honest, from personal experience, leveling from 60-80 is infinitely easier then 1-60! The reason being is that since the introduction of death knights in the last expansion, finding groups for things like quests and instances has never been easier! Considering DK’s can do both tanking and dps, finding a group for an instance can take a matter of minutes due mainly to the fact that there are more DK’s out there now than any other class. And if you level like I do, instances are your life-line. With rest experience you can gain anywhere from 4-6 bars PER Outland instance just by killing mobs. That, coupled with the fact that bosses drop some decent gear for leveling, makes the journey to level-cap, as long as it may seem at times, just a tad easier. Outland is notorious for having more quests then actual mobs, (slight exaggeration obviously) so I’ve never had trouble finding something to do. I’ve leveled a DK from 58-66 just by messing around in Hellfire Peninsula and Terrokar Forrest, with a few instance runs thrown in there for a change of pace. That leaves 70% of Outland still untouched, and attaining those last 4 levels is a snap simply by completing quests in the remaining 5 areas.

Now you’re wondering, “What about the two factions? Is there a difference in leveling between the two in Outland?” – From what I’ve seen, not really. Outland is designed a little differently than Old World. Yes there are areas in Outland that favor one side over the other. Yes there are areas that have both Alliance and Horde towns. BUT because Outland is now considered Old World as well, you won’t find much competition for quest mobs or gathering quests. The reason for this is quite possibly because players find it a little much leveling from 58-70, so a lot of toons go unleveled; most just sit at 45 or 50 collecting dust. A lot of players I talk to wish that their toon could just jump from 58 to 70. Therefore, a lot of players don’t even bother with Outland. I know because I do it too.

Now the final push is approaching – 70-80. This, by far, is my favorite part of the game. There is so much to do in Northrend, so many new challenges to face for both factions. In my opinion, Blizzard did a great job of trying to balance out the number of quests between the two factions. I have 2 level capped toons on either side: An Alliance and Horde paladin, and an Alliance and Horde Rogue, including several other toons of all classes ranging from levels 30-65. You don’t get much more unbiased than that. As a result, I was able to gauge the difficulty of leveling in Northrend twice over for either side. The conclusion I came to is that leveling in Northrend, no matter which side you play for, is SO much fun. It’s the most populated part of the WoW world so it’s easy to find groups for instances. Finding someone to help you with that really “hard to complete” quest is easy, and the quests are not only vast in number, BUT they seem much more original than before!

I do have to say this: Whether you’re playing Alliance or Horde, leveling is still a pain in the ass, simply for the fact that most of the quests are repetitive and redundant. I mean HOW MANY TIMES can you pick up a great goretusk liver before you question whether or not you should be out kicking a ball around, or reading a book? Go “here”, pick “this” up. Go “here”, kill “this guy”. And then there’s my personal favorite, go “here”, collect “this many” of “this”, then come back to me so I can send you to the opposite end of the map to do the EXACT SAME THING. There has been MANY a time where I complete a quest chain and have actually physically hated myself for doing it. Because let’s face it, guys – There are better things to do with ones time than repetitive quests.

The bottom line is that whichever faction you’re used to playing, more often than not that is the side you prefer to level. So OFCOURSE you’re going to say that Horde is easier if you play Alliance, and vice versa. If you spend 2 years in game leveling a human paladin, running raids with him, pvping with him, all you will ever know is one side of the game. Hell, even by only playing ONE CLASS you only know a FRACTION of the game. In conclusion, I don’t believe that one faction is easier to level than the other. I believe that Blizzard did a good job when it comes to creating an even leveling playing field. But don’t take my word for it. If you’ve never played an alliance past level 25, or vice versa, try it! Branch off, my friends! The world of Azeroth is far vaster then just Crossroads or Goldshire…. explore!

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