Autoloot everything. Shift + Right Click on a kill. Saves a ton of time. Or better yet, turn automatic looting on in the interface menu.
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Get as many quests as possible, simultaneously. Do not do quests "1 at a time". When entering a new map region, go to the "main" town first, speak to all the NPC's, get all the quest, and then proceed to explore.
Remember that some quests can be a waste of time, requiring you spend an hour running to and from different people. Don't be afraid to abandon quests in favor of other ones. Wasting time on crappy quests isn't worth it.
Use groups to your advantage. Grouping will immensely speed up your power-game, but do it only when necessary. About 25% of the quests are group quests, and you will waste time trying to solo them- UNLESS you wait until you are a few levels higher and the quest becomes green (good tip for solo'ers). The rest of the quests, you can solo. There are some conditions here, however: Beware of inefficient groups! A group that doddles around or keeps dying trying to complete a quest will slow you down! You are better off soloing in this case. If you are a Shaman, or a Paladin or have a quick way to heal yourself and mele both, then you may be better off soloing more often than not. Warriors and types that mele well but can't heal, and priests and mages who have little armor function better in groups. Groups work well! But they must be efficient groups.
LEVEL-GRINDING: Killing stuff a few levels below you (con green) is a GREAT way to quickly rack up EXP and grind out a level. Yea, its boring, but it pays! You don't take much damage, you kill them fast, you have quick recovery (low down time). Fast, numerous smaller EXP gains add up over time much quicker than higher, but slower EXP gains with more down time. If you are struggling with a quest, you may want to consider 'level grinding' yourself by spending time killing lesser creatures and then tackle the quest If you want a really quick way to gain a level or two, use the AFK Realm BOT supplied at this website. Its at your own risk, of course, but it is a great source of 'bonus' exp on the side, when you are AFK.
USE A GUIDE: Use a leveling guide, yes you may be unaware but there are some REALLY good leveling guides out there that can reduce your play time dramatically, some of these guide authers have spent countless hours developing these guides, the best ones are: Joana's 1-80 Horde leveling Guide for horde, and Penn's 1-80 Alliance leveling guide for alliance.
GREAT TIP: Doing quests 3 or more levels higher than you, or an elite quest solo may only take excess time, UNLESS you are in a group, don't attempt them. If you spend 5 hours trying to do a level 15 quest and you are at level 13, you may get it done. But in those same 5 hours, you could have made level 15 simply by killing stuff 2-3 levels beneath you. And then doing the quest in 1 hour. So in 6 hours, you get the quest done, and are at level 15, as opposed to finishing the quest in 5 hours and still being at level 13. Trust me on this one....this kind of thing happens all the time in this game. Its soooo tempting to go for that mob boss who's three levels above you and finish your quest solo. You could literally waste 10 hours, or even days trying. BUT, if you get in a group, then you can do it in a cinch. OR you can 'level grind' yourself. This is the heart of powering through this game to the upper levels.
AVOID THIS BIG MISTAKE: Players are too quick to use DPS (damage per second) on their weapons as the primary factor. This is just not true! Abilities such as % to crit and damage bonuses are calculated based upon the damage of the weapon or its speed. DPS is just an 'average' and is never used in computing an ability. Example: Weapon A: a slow, heavy weapon deals 110-130 damage, yet is only 80 DPS Weapon B: a faster weapon deals 75-85 damage, and is 85 DPS. most players will equip weapon B automatically. Well if you are a warrior and you like to use your mortal strike ability....this would be a terrible idea! Why? Because Mortal Strike on weapon A would deal 220-260 damage and on weapon B would deal 150-170 damage. Quite the difference!
Here is another: Weapon A: super fast, super light. 10 DPS, speed of 1.5 Weapon B: not as fast, but harder hitting: 12 DPS, speed of 3 Now, lets say you are a Rogue, and you have all your abilities in %critical chance. You have a 12% chance to crit with every swing. With Weapon A, you will have twice as many crits as you will with weapon B! You see why its not always automatic to equip the higher DPS weapon? In Macro's and speech, remember that %t will cite your current target. Shift + Clicking on something will add it to your speech or your macro. Both %t and shift+click come in very handy. At about level 12-15 or so, you can travel to another race's "starting region" and still be low enough in levels to get the quests in that area. They will be a cinch to solve and you will still get some exp for the kills. (this is optional, might be something you want to do). Many of the really great weapons drop off bosses inside of instances. Roll on everything. Acquire, Acquire, Acquire.
One-Handed + Wand Bug (might be a bug, i dunno): While in combat, if you have a wand equipped in your off-hand and are engaged in mele combat, you can double your damage by hitting with your wand and your mace simultaneously. Normally, when you "use" a wand, it resets the timer on your one-handed swing. But not if you time it right. Wait until your character is just about to swing with his melee weapon (you see his arm fly back). At this very moment, use your wand, and you will get a double punch! A great trick that turns a caster into a tank. For this reason alone, I would never go for a 2-H weapon as a caster. (I play priest and this dual mace + wand thing works as if I am dual-wielding, making me into a genuine tank. It works wonders i tell ya!)
Honor Kills: Do not join raid groups for honor points....you will get virtually nothing. Solo or a normal party is your best bet for getting maximum contribution points. Being in a RAID will cut your contribution points down to the absolute minimum per kill.
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