Thoughts on the "Longest Level"

[Saxywoo]

I've been told that once you hit level 39, you've entered the "Longest Level" of the game, on the basis that you're so close to getting a mount, and as a Paladin, on the cusp of being able to wear plate armor.

Being a casual gamer (it's taken me about 6 days of game playtime to get here), I really didn't think that it would be such a big deal. I'm used to playing little bits at a time, or in long drawn out stints, where I would be on for about 1-2 hours. Then there are my marathon runs of 4 hours, which were pretty much limited to instances, though I have only done two with this character.

I had full rest state, and it turns out that it went through 3/4 of what I need to get to lvl 41. Level 39 took me a whopping 4.5 hours to burn through the level, which wasn't a problem at all. It was a case of running from Booty Bay to where the Basaliks are for the Singing Blue Crystal quest, and the tusks from the trolls that are relatively close there. During my travels, I killed everything that I came across, so each kill was giving me a minimum of 400xp, which made getting the 85k xp not that difficult at all.

I originally started spec-ing out SaxyCoo as being a Protection based Pali, but then switched to a Retribution base. From that, my DPS easily doubled, and the amount of Holy Damage that I deal (even with my mace that sucks - had it since level 30) is nothing to sneeze at. Fights that started out taking 1.5 minutes suddently returned to taking 20-30 seconds. For this, I was glad. I could again dish it out, without it being a test of whether their health could hold out longer than my mana could.

I'm also thinking that for those classes that still get the free mount, level 39 truely is a long level. Since you're getting something that everyone else compains about for free. Being someone that even during the Beta didn't have a mount (since I was a casual gamer then too), this is new for me. Never had a mount, so the speed is rather interesting, being that I can be alive at the same time that I can be moving that fast. Not being PvP, I think that helped keep the level from being long.

I've actually enjoyed being in STV, since there are mobs plentiful for killing. But again, being PvE the Horde players weren't really that much of an issue.

What have been your (my fellow Lurkers) experiences been?

SaxyCorp
SaxyCoo - lvl 40 Paladin - Stormrage

[Lord_Olf]

Hail Saxywoo,

for myself, it was a rather short level, since I just kept doing what I always did: Do my quests, and only kill mobs that are in some way associated with a quest. This is because I had too much spare time at my hands, so I was playing a lot and rest state became something of a bonus rather than a factor worth considering too much.

For other players I've seen, including some in my guild, it indeed has been a very long level. Why is that? My best guess is that some just lose their heads when they hit 39 an a "Have to, have to, HAVE TO get to 40 now" sets in; they start doing quests that require a lot of travel time, have people help them doing these quests and so on - waisting time travelling when they could be killing mobs, waisting experience they could well do alone by doing them in groups. Also, people with a high rest state (say, the more casual gamers) somehow seem to get the idea that they have to fight relatively high-lvl mobs now to get as much XP as possible, when they could just fight easier mobs and get a little less XP, but getting it way faster.

Well, that's just my experience, and now I have to work on my Pala a bit; he's 59, Mininer 300/ Blacksmith 300... and I often get asked how I played him to that level rather fast (can't remember what time I've now played him for)... and all I can say is that I play the game and do my quests... and that works from 39-40 as well as fpr every other level.

Well, guess that's it for now!

Take care,

Lord_Olf

[lfd]

and that works from 39-40 as well as fpr every other level.
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It works a lot better post-40 I found, as the range of mobs from which you can get experience gets bigger, and your abilities to deal with mobs get stronger. I've found I've pretty much rocketed up into the mid-fifties, especially with the addition of Revantusk Village.

[Watto44]

Revantust has certainly filled a rather large quest hole on the horde side, which has certainly made it easier for me to level my druid. With my shammy I remember getting from 48 through to the early fifties being a lot more fiddly with a lot more travelling, trying to eek out the quests. With Revantusk, you can do what I've always found the most efficient: sit in a zone and hammer away at the quests until they're either all done, or they're too damn hard. :-)

But, back to the OP...Yeah, I totally lost my head when I first got to about 38/9. I ran all over the damn world doing one or two quests, handing in quests, and just freaking out and hitting the wrong FP. lol. If you can keep your head and just play the game, it's all a cruise.

Cheers.

PS. Wait until you get to 59. :D

[Treesh]

PS. Wait until you get to 59. :D
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Many people say that, but really, it wasn't hard to hit 60 for me. Well, with the exception of finishing off the last four solo quests I had. The power went out twice, the ISP crapped out once and once I crashed to desktop. All while flying on the bird to turn in the last quests. After all that, I was still one kill away from my level so instead of a picturesque screenshot - rising sun over the waters in Ashazra, standing on the island with the big water elemental - I got a screenie of me inside a huge blob of a lobsterman killed in the water. The sky was still pretty though. ;)

I didn't have to grind in the plaguelands for it. I didn't have to do instance runs over and over again. I just did regular quests in various areas. The only times I went into the plaguelands before 60 was for killing the water elementals and when I had quests where I had to talk to someone in the plaguelands. It really wasn't as big of a deal to hit 60 as I had been led to believe. But, as always, your mileage may vary. ;)

[kandrathe]

I don't have any trouble in this regards. In fact I feel the opposite sometimes, that there are so many choices of quests that I won't have an opportunity to see them all.

I made a list of areas you could work;

Desolace (and some easier parts of Maraudon)
RFK (30-34) and (RFD (38-42)
Dustwallow Marsh (35-45)
Scarlet Monestary (38-42)
Some of the easier quests from Gadgetzan in Taneris
Some of the easier quests from Feralas
Arathi Highlands (Stromgarde ogres and circles of bindings, Princess) (30-40)
Badlands quests (35-45) and Uldaman (36-45)
Swamp of Sorrows (35-45)
Shimmering Flats Racetracks quests
STV(30-45), hit all the Giants (Elite Ogre quests)

I like to use; http://www.wowwiki.com/Main_Page
or http://www.thottbot.com/ to find quests and quest givers in a particular area.

[savaughn]

I've blown past 40 on a number of characters. For me it often is a very long level but that has nothing to do with level 40 itself. It's generally because I have to buy the mount for that character. This means pulling out my highest level character on that server and grinding my way to 90g.

Grinding that gold can take a while. Leveling is cake by comparison.

[Icebird]

I suspect at least for your first character, the "longest level" is because you reach level 39, and suddenly realize you're about 80 gold short of that mount. Doesn't apply to paladins or warlocks obviously. But suddenly you're hitting every mining node and herb spot you can remember, skinning every critter that moves, selling every muroc eye and intacct basilisk spine to raise some cash.

Once you have more than one character I recommend juggling your rest state bonus to ensure you're always get the most XP for your time played.

Chris