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You are not prepared. How's it going, lads? It's the Bald Boomer BioSparks, and finally, yes, finally, the news we have all been waiting to hear. No more rumors, no more leaks, no more speculation. The Burning Crusade Classic is officially on its way. And this is a great time to plan how to get from level 60 to 70 quickly, grab some pre-raid best-in-slot items along the way, as well as getting access to heroic dungeons and complete your Karazhan attunement.
Well, launch weeks in World of Warcraft are always a crazy and chaotic mess, and this is going to be especially so in The Burning Crusade Classic. Remember, The Burning Crusade was made during a time Blizzard was still experimenting and pushing the lines of creativity, immersion, but also logistics in the game. This game was made before the lesson was learned that it just isn't a good idea to have the entire server population forced through a choke point to enter the new expansion zones. And to double down on this mistake, they made the questing zones very linear in design.
So, to give you a better idea, here's a visual representation of what launch week is going to look like, with many people booking time off work just to play the game and scrambling to reach level 70 ahead of the pack, and just how well the Blizzard servers will most likely handle it. So, if you want to hit level 70 quickly with as little disruption as possible, while also unlocking heroic dungeons, completing your Karazhan achievement, and some pre-raid best-in-slot, then this guide is for you.
The methods in this guide can be adapted even if Blizzard insists on keeping a daily cap of 30 dungeons, because I will also show you the amount of clears you need to do in each dungeon to ensure you have your reputations at revered before or as you hit level 70, as well as some very efficient spots around Outland to grind mobs for experience and gold. I'm going to split this guide into two sections. The first will cover the best way to farm your dungeon reputations on the way to 70, and the second will show you the best spots to farm experience in Outland that will get you ahead of the pack.
Just before we start, I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who has supported my channel so far. And if you like what I do, please hit that like, subscribe, and notification bell, because there will be more and more Burning Crusade Classic content coming as we get closer to launch day. And now, let's get straight into the guide.
So, before the launch day itself, you're going to need a few things prepared ahead of time. Number one, a reliable group of friends. You'll definitely want reliable people that you know are going to be ready to play with you during launch, so that you have a consistent group to grind the dungeons. Quite a lot of players coming from Classic WoW will have AQ40 and Naxxramas level gear, which means you won't be replacing your items for a while, and you are very powerful compared to the early Burning Crusade dungeon content. Even if you don't have this gear, do not worry, it just means your clear times will be a bit slower, and this one impacts your ability to clear dungeons.
When it comes to your dungeon group composition, you can min-max as much as you like, or just play with your friends. As long as you have a tank, a healer, some form of interrupting crowd control, you will be fine, but this option is completely up to you.
Number two, hit rating. During your time in dungeons and grinding mobs, you will be attacking targets that might be one, two, or three levels above you. And this means that all your gear with hit rating from Classic WoW will be very useful, especially for bosses. An important thing to understand is that each level you progress past 60, your hit rating becomes less effective. For example, an item like Striker's Mark has 1% chance to hit in Classic WoW, but in The Burning Crusade, every 1% hit chance an item has is converted into 10 hit rating. A level 60, 10 hit rating is worth 1% chance to hit, but as you progress to level 70, it will continue decreasing, and that 10 hit rating will only give you 0.63% chance to hit. This also happens similarly with spell hits. If we look at Bracers of Arcane Accuracy as another example, that 1% spell hit is tending to 8 spell hit rating, which is also worth 1% at level 60, but only 0.63% at level 70.
So, how do we use this information? To keep things simple, when you move to a new dungeon where mobs and bosses are higher level than you, remember to swap in your hit rating gear when necessary, as there will be a huge help, especially once you start hitting level 68 plus. Where, if you feel your group is geared and confident enough, you can start pushing dungeons like Shadow Labyrinth, Black Morass, Steamvaults, and The Shattered Halls.
And finally, number three, consumables. If you want to make your clears easier, especially the higher level dungeons, then be sure to bring some elixirs or even some flasks for those of you that can afford it. Remember, The Burning Crusade will most likely have the battle and guardian elixir system in place at launch, meaning that you are limited to one flask, which counts as both a battle and a guardian elixir, or a choice of one battle elixir and one guardian elixir. As usual, some bandages, health and mana potions will never hurt, just in case you over-pull or if you need them for a tricky boss fight.
Once those three things are done, even Illidan would consider you prepared for The Burning Crusade launch.
So, imagine it's launch day, and you know that Hellfire Peninsula and Zangarmarsh is going to be an absolute free-for-all. The most important rule to follow is to always stay away from the large pack of players that are going to be flooding through the Dark Portal at all costs, because as more and more people start trying to level around you, they will start making your life very difficult to get experience efficiently. With that in mind, your best bet to get ahead of the pack will be grinding dungeons. You have two main goals in your dungeon runs. The first is to never clear dungeons faster than 12 minutes so that you don't go over the five dungeons per hour cap. Some dungeons in The Burning Crusade are quite short, and if you have AQ40 or Naxxramas level gear, as well as consumables, you can end up clearing them before 12 minutes, so keep an eye out for how fast you clear each run. The second is you want to maximize experience and reputation gain, so you'll be aiming for full dungeon clears and hunting down every single bit of trash in those dungeons.
Without further delay, I'm going to cover the order of dungeons you want to complete, as well as show what the minimum number of clears needed to make sure you get the reputation you want, in case you want to mix dungeon grinding and solo mob grinding, which I'll cover later, though I do recommend staying inside dungeons the whole way. If Blizzard removes the daily 30 dungeon cap, as you arrive through the Dark Portal, make your way to Honor Hold or Thrallmar and set your hearthstone there, since you'll have to return to towns and cities to vendor and repair quite often.
Your first dungeon will be The Blood Furnace, which has trash from level 61 and 62, and the bosses which are level 62 and 63. This dungeon is very straightforward and mostly linear, so make sure you pick up every mob inside the dungeon along this route, as well as taking the shortcut back to the main entrance. A full run of this dungeon will grant you 750 reputation with Honor Hold or Thrallmar, and will take about 12 clears to reach Honored. I've seen a lot of talk from people saying they plan to do Hellfire Ramparts as their first dungeon. This is a mistake. It has less experience and less reputation, and you really want to reach level 61 as soon as possible so that you can get to The Slave Pens or The Underbog quickly.
Once you reach level 61, it's off to the Coilfang Reservoir, but I would highly recommend grabbing the Horde flight paths at Swamp of Sorrows and Zangarmarsh, or the Alliance flight path at Teldrassil. Then you can head to Shattrath City so that you can set your hearthstone there. Within Aldor Rise or the Scryer's Tier, you'll need to complete the quest to choose between Aldor or Scryers to do this, but it's worth it in the long run. This is very important because there are none, that's right, zero class trainers in Outland. This means you'll be flying back to Shattrath City, taking a portal back to Azeroth so you can train new skills, and then hearthstone back to Shattrath City to continue the dungeon grinding many times on your route to 70. Of course, having a Mage makes this faster, but remember, they don't learn the Shattrath City portal spell until level 65. Shattrath City is in a very central position in Outland, so it's a useful place to set your hearthstone, since it also has vendors and a bank.
Once that's sorted, you have a choice of two dungeons: Slave Pens and The Underbog. The Slave Pens have trash from level 62 to 64, and the bosses will be level 64. Throughout this dungeon, to maximize experience and reputation, you will want to kill all the waste walkers, slaves, I mean. I know it's morally and ethically questionable, but hey, those heroic dungeon keys aren't going to grind themselves. Make sure you kill the slaves before the Coilfang Slave Masters that are close to them, otherwise the slaves will run away and start evading. You're going to want to take this particular route and also check the areas with red circles so that you can pick up all the trash. With the full clear, you will net 915 reputation with the Cenarion Expedition, which will also take about 10 clears to get to Honored. There's no shortcut to the exit in the Slave Pens, so you'll need to run back for a reset, so there is a fair amount of walking around in this dungeon.
The other dungeon is The Underbog, which has trash from level 62 to 64, and the bosses which are level 65. The Underbog is a very straightforward path and is also fairly linear, but again, check the areas in red for mobs. There are also lots of fish inside the water, but just ignore them since they don't provide any experience or reputation. As an added bonus, there is also a shortcut to the dungeon entrance after the final boss, but there isn't as much walking around compared to the Slave Pens. A full clear here will net you 1043 reputation with the Cenarion Expedition, which will take a minimum of nine clears to get to Honored. Out of the two dungeons, I would recommend doing the Slave Pens since it yields better experience gain. However, if you do choose to run The Underbog, I would recommend you wait until you're level 62, since the bosses in there are level 65.
Once you're level 63, you can head for The Mana Tombs. As you enter Terokkar Forest, make sure you pick up the flight paths at Stonebreaker Hold for Horde, or Allerian Stronghold if you are Alliance. Make your way to Oshu'gun, and the Mana Tombs are at the north entrance. The Mana Tombs have trash that ranges from level 64 to 66, and the bosses are level 66. The dungeons in Oshu'gun are essentially just corridors you have to follow until you reach the final boss. All you have to do to ensure you have a full clear is just check you've pulled everything in each room, and you won't miss any reputation or experience. A full run will net you 990 Consortium reputation, and it will take a minimum of nine clears for Honored. Remember, the Consortium doesn't have a heroic associated with it, but they do have many valuable and sought-after items, so it will be beneficial to earn reputation with them anyway. You'll want to stay here until you reach level 66.
Once you reach level 66, transfer over to Sethekk Halls, which is on the east side of Oshu'gun. This dungeon is important because you will get a key to enter The Shadow Labyrinth, which will be part of your Karazhan tomb and quest chain. The trash ranges from level 67 to 69, and the bosses are level 69. Again, this is a very straightforward path, and there is a lot of experience and reputation to be gained here, so make sure you clear out each and every single room in the dungeon. The key for The Shadow Labyrinth is in a chest behind the final boss, marked in yellow. The full clear of Sethekk Halls will net you 1139 reputation for the Lower City, and will take a minimum of 8 clears to reach Honored.
Once you hit level 68, it's time for a small break from doing dungeons, as you'll be heading back to Azeroth to the Gates of Karazhan to start your attunement quest. The quest involves small quests around Karazhan, as well as traveling to Dalaran and ultimately leading you to Khadgar in Shattrath City. It will ask you to find the first key fragment in The Shadow Labyrinth, but we won't go there just yet.
Now that you have the quest for the Karazhan key fragment, head over to the Caverns of Time in Tanaris. You'll have an introductory quest where a Custodian of Time will walk around and show you the area. If you're on a PvP server, I really recommend you stick together with your group because you can get killed by the opposing faction here. Once the quest is complete, you can enter Old Hillsbrad. This is a dungeon that I suggest you only do once, since the latter part of the dungeon is just a glorified escort quest, which is tediously slow, and honestly, it's not worth repeating for the reputation or experience.
As you enter, make sure you pick up the bombs from the NPC and make your way to the entrance of Durnholde Keep. Once you arrive, clear all the trash under the watchtowers before you clear the lower levels to maximize your experience and reputation. Then plant the bombs and kill Lieutenant Drake and all the trash that you can find on the way to Thrall. Before starting the escort, when you take Thrall through The Terror Mill, there are patrols walking around the perimeter of the town which also grant you more experience and reputation, so make sure you clear those before you start the final part of the escort. To finish up, you'll have to clear up some Infinite Dragonflight spawns, and then the final boss. Hopefully, after all that, the only time you'll come back to this dungeon is for the heroic version.
This dungeon has trash ranging from level 66 to 68, and the bosses are level 68. If you follow this route, it will net you 1150 reputation for the Keepers of Time. At this point, you have two possible choices. If your group is confident with Naxxramas level gear and big pumper DPS, you can start tackling the final dungeons, since the final bosses will be level 72. However, if you'd rather play it safe, then you can go back to Sethekk Halls until you're level 69.
Your next stop will be The Black Morass, which is a very straightforward dungeon. Before you start the encounter, make sure you clear the mobs around the red circles, since they can pull during the waves. Some of them are also in stealth. After that, just kill six waves of Rift Lords followed by a boss spawn, which cycles three times. Make sure everyone in your group picks up a Chrono Beacon from the NPC at the start of the dungeon. This will summon a Guardian of Time to assist you on the trash waves. If you use it for the bosses, though, they'll just remove the guardian. An effective strategy is to make sure you have your cooldowns ready for each boss spawn so you can just blow them up quickly and save the Chrono Beacons after 12 waves, so you have an easy time leading up to the last boss. The trash ranges from level 70 to 71, and the bosses are level 72. Each run will net you 1110 reputation with Keepers of Time, and a minimum of 18 runs will give you Revered.
The next dungeon is The Shadow Labyrinth, which has the first Karazhan key fragment you'll need. The dungeon is quite linear and straightforward, so make sure you fully clear every room as you progress through the dungeon. Some of the bosses can be tricky if you're unprepared, but with a coordinated group, they shouldn't be too much of a problem. The most challenging boss will be Murmur, but if you respect his mechanics, you'll be fine. Once you have fully cleared the dungeon, pick up the Karazhan key fragment marked in yellow. The trash ranges from level 69 to 71, and the bosses are level 72. A full clear of Shadow Labyrinth will net you 2012 reputation with the Lower City, and will require a minimum of six clears to reach Revered. Make sure you hand in the key fragment to Khadgar in Shattrath City to continue the quest chain.
The Steamvault is your next dungeon, which also contains the next Karazhan key fragment, marked with the yellow circle. You can find it under the water. There are a lot of mobs here, especially in the first room marked in red, so check you've cleared everything, which really benefits your reputation and experience gain. Make sure to also kill the slaves in this dungeon, just like you did in the Slave Pens. The trash here is level 70, and the bosses are level 72. Clearing everything will net you 1796 reputation with the Sha'tar Expedition, and a minimum of seven clears will get you to Revered.
The next dungeon you'll need to go to is The Shattered Halls, however, you need to create a key to gain entry. You'll need to pick up four Fel Iron Bars, two Arcane Dust, and four Motes of Fire. At this point, there should be some on the auction house, and only one member of your group needs the materials, since they can open the gates for the whole party. Head over to the Black Temple in Shadowmoon Valley. Remember to also pick up any flight paths along the way. Once you're there, you'll find a Fel Orc named Smith Gorlunk, who will drop the Primed Key Mold, and this will send you to Honor Hold or Thrallmar. Follow the quest chain and have the materials with you, and then you'll be given the task to hunt down one of the Fel Reavers patrolling Hellfire Peninsula. There's one that patrols around the west and one to the east. I would recommend splitting up, scout for one, and ask in general chat if anyone had spotted one recently or if they've been killed. You can always hop to another layer. Once you've destroyed the Fel Reaver and completed the key, you can head into The Shattered Halls.
The Shattered Halls is quite a tough dungeon, which is why I left it for last. The good news is that it's very linear, so you can just focus on clearing all the mobs within the dungeon and forging a path straight to the last boss. The trash ranges from level 70 to 71, and the bosses are level 71 and 72. Each run will net you 1604 with Honor Hold or Thrallmar, and it will require a minimum of eight clears to reach Revered.
If you have followed this guide so far, you should be at or reaching level 70, and you'll have access to four out of the five heroic dungeon keys and two out of the three Karazhan key fragments. So, congratulations, you've completed a lot of the objectives already. There are just a few things to clear up from here. If you still haven't hit level 70, you can just continue grinding dungeons and push some reputations towards Exalted. So, check which ones are most beneficial to you.
Now that you've hit level 70, it's time to pick up your flying mounts in Shadowmoon Valley. If you're Alliance, head over to the Wildhammer Stronghold, and for the Horde, go to the Shadowmoon Village. If you've saved up the hefty gold price to buy your epic flying mount, that would also be a great time to do so.
Your final objective is to get the last Karazhan key fragment and finish your attunement. The only problem is that it's inside The Arcatraz, which requires a flying mount, which we just solved, but it also requires a key, which has to be obtained from a quest chain from Area 52 in Netherstorm. Follow the quest chain until Adal in Shattrath City sends you to clear The Mechanar and The Botanica dungeons and loot a quest item from the last bosses. Once you return to Adal, you will have the key to The Arcatraz. The last key fragment is in the first room on the second floor after you climb up the large ramp. It's in the corner of the room marked in yellow. You don't have to kill any bosses to reach the key, but the dungeons of Tempest Keep give you reputation with the Sha'tar. I recommend you grind Sha'tar reputation later by clearing The Botanica. It provides the most reputation with the least amount of downtime, and then you can finally acquire your last heroic dungeon key.
Once you have the last key fragment, return to Khadgar in Shattrath City, and he will send you to The Black Morass one more time, so Medivh can give you the Karazhan key. And in the key to Khadgar, who will send you back to Archmage Alturus outside Karazhan, and you are finally done. You are now level 70, you are ready to raid Karazhan, and you have access to all but three heroic dungeons. This was all done while avoiding the huge massive players fighting tooth and nail for every single quest item and mob tag during launch week.
On top of this, if you saved up for your epic flying mount, you are now in prime position to start gathering herbs or mining nodes, soaring across the map at an increased speed of 280% while most players will still be leveling with their ground mounts, meaning that you can get a head start in gathering for your main professions or selling the materials on the auction house.
And finally, here is a cheat sheet for the condensed route of dungeons and the minimum number of runs you need for your reputation. With the main dungeon farming guide out of the way, we can now talk about some of the best mob grinding spots that you can take advantage of. There are a few reasons why players may prefer mob grinding. Some players may not have access to a 5-man group when they need one, so this is a solid choice if you want to avoid the huge massive players that will be in Hellfire Peninsula and Zangarmarsh at launch. Others may simply just not want to do dungeon grinding and prefer the solo open-world experience as their level. And lastly, if the daily 30 dungeon cap is still in the game at launch, and you're still intent on pushing to level 70 in good time while staying ahead of the pack, there are a few good spots in Outland that are great to farm experience, especially if you can get to them early with little to no competition.
The main rules here are to grind as many mobs as possible while ignoring quests, since you can return later at level 70 to get increased gold, as well as any reputation you may have missed out on. Make sure you're also stocked up with food or drink to have a high uptime grinding mobs. Be prepared to hop between different layers quite often if you find that other players arrive and start contesting you for mob tags, since you don't want to be dealing with waiting around for spawns. Otherwise, the pack of players will begin to catch up with you and will cause you even more headaches. If you're on a PvP server and you see members of the opposing faction in your spot, don't even think about fighting them. Just hop to a different layer as soon as possible. The last thing you want is to be sidetracked messing around for minimal honor gain while you and another player are ganking each other, which just ends up in wasting your time and allows the huge pack of players to catch up with you.
The grinding spots that come at later levels are really good, so the sooner you hit level 64, the sooner you can steamroll ahead of the pack and enjoy a large amount of largely uncontested mobs to grind. The first area I'm going to recommend is in Terokkar Forest. During launch week, Hellfire Peninsula and Zangarmarsh are no-go areas, just forget they even exist, since they are going to be massively overpopulated during the first week. Preferably, you should grind The Blood Furnace to reach level 61 before starting this small grind, but if you're playing a class that is able to kill mobs that are slightly above you in level pretty easily, or you have good gear, then you can still come here at level 60 as soon as you get through the Dark Portal.
The first two spots I recommend for levels 61 to 63 are Veil Res and Roaster Glade. There are many Arakkoa throughout these two spots, so you can bounce between them efficiently. An added bonus is that they are humanoids, which will help with leveling up First Aid or stockpiling Netherweave for any tailors, as well as dropping money consistently. Tyr's Hand can also be used as an option as well, but there aren't as many mobs concentrated there. There are also a few higher-level mobs in the town, so it can be risky if you pull them. You can have Shattrath City, as well as Stonebreaker Hold for Horde, or Allerian Stronghold for Alliance, as hubs for you to vendor, repair, and restock for supplies.
From level 62 to 64, you can branch out to Firewing Point and the Bonechewer Ruins. Again, these two spots have lots of mobs concentrated together, which will provide a steady stream of experience and drops for you to vendor. Levels at Firewing Point are mostly casters, so if that is an issue for your class, I would recommend going to the Bonechewer Ruins instead. Bear in mind, the Blood Elves also drop Firewing Cygnet, which can be useful to sell or keep if you want to gain reputation with the Squires. Alliance players in particular might prefer the Bonechewer Ruins as a more efficient spot, since the Allerian Stronghold is right next door.
From level 64 to 67, you now get access to the really good grinding spots in Outland. The Ky'lora Fortress on the border of the Grand has an abundance of mobs. It will be quite difficult to clear everything before they start respawning, but even if you manage to do so, you can also hop to a different layer. There are mobs patrolling around the fortress, in the watchtowers, in the buildings, and the wolf kennels, so this is the spot where you really want to start pushing ahead of the pack and taking advantage of all the experience available to you. These mobs all drop Marks of Kil'jaeden, which will be useful to outdoor players or people wanting to sell them off. Alliance players have the town of Talador very close by, so they will have an easy time vending, restocking supplies, and repairing. The Horde will have to travel a bit further to Garadar, or they can visit Pilot Martial at the Nesingwary Camp, which is slightly closer.
Once you hit level 67, or even as early as 66 if you feel you're capable, you can head over to Netherstorm. The first spot will be Manaforge Bana, and this place is absolutely loaded with mobs that also drop Sanctuary Sigils, which again are useful for those looking for Squire reputation or players looking to sell them. What makes this spot so amazing is the high density of mobs, but also Area 52, which is right next door, and that has everything you need for vendoring, repairs, restocking supplies, and it even has a bank available, making bag space much more manageable, and it also lowers your downtime grinding mobs.
Once you're level 69, you can finish off in Manaforge Duro, which is another spot that is densely packed with mobs that also drops Sanctuary Signets. The town of Cosmo's Wrench is also right next door, which has a flight path linked to Area 52, so having the advantage to be able to bank items close by makes this spot very efficient to grind. You can stay here indefinitely up to level 70, since there won't be any shortage of experience available here.
Here's a cheat sheet for the grinding zones that you can use for a quick reference. Depending on what Blizzard does when the launch goes live, you can use these two leveling methods in a few different ways. If Blizzard does remove the daily 30 dungeon cap, then you should 100% stay in dungeons with your group all the way from 60 to 70, since you're able to kill so many birds with one stone, and that means you won't have to backtrack for dungeon reputations or achievement quests. However, if the dungeon cap remains in place, then you have two choices. You can either do 30 dungeons with your group and then log off for the day, or during the downtime between the dungeon cooldown timer, you can go to the mob grinding spots that are relevant to your level so you can continue staying ahead of the pack.
If you're someone who prefers to play solo leveling, then the grinding spots will provide you with enough experience all the way to level 70. Once you're able to hit Ky'lora Fortress and the Manaforge areas in Netherstorm, you'll be raking in a lot of cloth, gold, and most importantly, experience. So you really want to hit level 64 as soon as possible to take advantage of those spots. However, you will have to backtrack for dungeon reputations to unlock your heroic dungeons and Karazhan attunement.
And that is everything for The Burning Crusade Classic launch week leveling guide. Thank you very much for watching. And if you enjoyed the content, feel free to like, comment, and subscribe, and let me know what other types of Burning Crusade Classic content you want me to cover in the future. This is the Bald Boomer BioSparks signing out. Catch you lads next time.