Leveling Tips:

• Chose a class you like the feel of and spec appropriately. If you like blasting mobs with spells, a Mage or Warlock is probably for you. If you want to be the person everyone relies on and be a Healer, a Priest/ Shaman/ Druid/ or Paladin are your choices.
• Always choose a spec that does the most damage as this will making killing things a lot easier and therefore leveling easier (i.e Pallies go Ret, Preists go Shadow, Warrior go Arms (argueable vs. Prot), etc…)
• Kill how your spec dictates – this is vital! Prot Paladin – you kill 5 or 6 enemies at once. Subtlety Rogue – stealth behind and take them down A.S.A.P. Learning your class and spec inside out is always a good idea.
• Make sure your gear has the right attributes to your spec and class (i.e Warrior or Rogue, don’t get something that gives you Intellect).
• Make sure you take the time to learn your class and spec well, it will pay massive dividends in the longrun. Example: I (Skumball) used to play a Hunter in TBC. When I applied for a spot in an upcoming raiding guild at Level 68 geared in all greens and some blues, I got the spot purely on my knowledge of my class. To prove this more, my trial instance run was with the Rogue Class Leader of the guild (full T4 and BoJ/ Heroic geared) as a Hunter and Warlock geared the same as the Rogue. I was the one trusted with trapping or kiting, I was also the one who topped the DPS meters all the way through. Not bad for someone in mid 60’s quest greens and blues eh? A little knowledge goes a long way, and knowledge is power!
• Keep lots of bag space. It is a waste of time to stop mid-quest and go back to town just ’cause your bags are full of gray items. Bags are worth buying in the Auction House if you don’t have a high-level main or guild member to supply them. This point can’t be stressed enough. Netherweave Bag (16 Slots) should do, on my server they are only 7g so they are a good investment.
• Don’t waste time or money buying gear from the Auction House at lower levels unless you really can afford it, just use the gear from quests or from drops. If you can afford it, then do it if you want – the better gear will make you level that much faster.
• Take breaks from leveling as this will keep your spirits up and not make you hate this game. Go on an instance run, go do a PvP Battleground, even go and hang around your Capital and chat to the people there. All this will improve your leveling experience and make you want to get back to leveling so you can get the most out of the game.
• Resources like WoWhead, WowWiki.com and of course WoW-Pro.com can answer many frustrating queries without wasting time spamming chat or asking a GM. Jame recommends running WoW in Windowed Mode [Options > Video > check Windowed Mode & Maximized] to switch between windows if you are still using the text version of Jame’s Leveling Guides.
• If you are new to the World make sure you take a little time getting used to the User Interface and the dynamics of gameplay. Ask a veteran player [politely], or take a break and cruise the web. Far too much literature on the ‘net to link here, when a simple Google search can do. Macros, Key Bindings and Interface Options all help you suit the game to your play style, keeping you sane and dangerous while investing in a character.
• Consider the PVP rules of your realm. Gankers, campers, and sneaky sneaky rogues ending you right before you loot the last damn Sprocket can have a significant effect on your exp/hour, your sanity, and the safety of you and those around you.
• Be in the right guild, if your level 21 then don’t join a raiding guild, join a leveling guild.
• Make friends as you go.
• If invited to an instance that you haven’t done yet, make sure you grab the quests for the instance for extra exp.
• If you can’t get a group for a quest or an instance, don’t focus on that, do other things in the meantime. You can advertise in general chat or the LFG channel, soon enough you will have your group ready. Some people use a macro for their chat-channel advertisements, this is useful, but make sure you don’t spam it!
• Put some music on in the background, this will relax you more and make things seem less stressful.
• Don’t kill elites. They are elite for a reason. OK, well done you earned a couple of thousand xp in that ten minute fight with one enemy. I got about 15 thousand for that small quest I did in that time. Though if you can get the job done in under a minute, go ahead!
• Keep in mind that some quests will be long and boring, that doesn’t mean that they are useless it just means that they are long – the rewards at the end of these quests are often the best.
• If something is too hard, don’t give up, but just come back to it in a level or 2.
• If you have the funds, treat leveling just like raiding. Always use low-level enchants, foods, flasks and elixirs.
• Minor Speed to boots is a must for leveling, especially before level 30.
• Save your money! Money is very important in this game especially when leveling because you have to pay for skills repair, training (mounts) and you don’t want to be running around Stormwind (or Ogrimmar) saying in trade channel *cans i plox has 5gs for muont and skilz! wwwwwwwaaaaaadddsssss*
• Don’t steal someone’s boss kill, e.g If someone has spent 15 minutes clearing an area don’t run past him and kill the boss that drop the quest item, the other player will just try make life harder for you.
• Don’t forget XP from exploration. Since you can get a flying mount at level 60 now, fly around Outland for at least 172,000 free XP (around 1/2 a level at 60) and an Achievement. At 77 (or earlier if you have an 80 and you’re on an alt), get Cold Weather Flying and fly around Northrend for at least 460,000 free XP, an Achievement and a Tabard. Takes about 2 hours each. Get all of the Flight Paths while you’re at it. You can also explore Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms if you want, but they are a lot more time consuming since you can’t just fly over them and some of the areas aren’t worth a lot of XP. Don’t waste the free XP leaving areas unexplored until you’re 80.
• The single most important thing anyone can do… Have fun!