The First 30 Levels

It’s been a little while since I’ve had a chance to write. I’ve been spending most of my free time split between Classic WoW and a programming project.

I’ve gotten Kurn to 31. Madrana remains at 10 and I’m writing this as my mage is level 3, running around Northshire. Wow, what a difference between 8am now and launch time a couple of weeks ago! The goal is to get her to 5 so she can pick up Tailoring (and make use of all the linen I no longer need for First Aid) and Enchanting.

I’ll get back to Madrana soonish — gotta level her soon — but in the meantime, I’m loving running around on Kurn. I got Aspect of the Cheetah at 20 and it was life-changing. As someone who hasn’t been without a mount of some sort in like, a decade, it was amazing. (I have the chauffeur for my toons under 20 on retail.)

And at 30, I got Feign Death. HOLY CRAP THE BEST EVER. Even if I get resisted every so often, I can now, once again, do Stupid Hunter Things. Frankly, that’s one of my favourite things to do in this game.

Example: There’s the Preserving Knowledge quest up in Alterac. I was level 30. My brother was 31 on his warrior. There is no WAY we should have been able to get that done, at least not retrieving the Worn Leather Book. But I found the place where the book was and we used my pet to distract a level 38 elite ogre and my brother ran over to join me. Then I feigned after my pet died. And then, just at that moment, a group of people came up and destroyed all the things for us so we just ran in and got the book. But my pet could have tanked the boss for a second (turtle with shell shield!) if needed. Ahhhhh, Stupid Hunter Things. I love them.

I’ve also made a serious effort to level my professions. Skinning isn’t a problem, I’m already at like, 230. Training Artisan skinning for 5g was not my favourite thing in the world to do, but I did it.

Leatherworking is hard at this point. I’m at about 200 and can’t wait to hit up the Hinterlands at 35 to train Artisan.

But I’m also at about the 150 mark at Fishing and First Aid and my Cooking is approaching 200! (I may have spent money to get there by buying stuff off the AH. Oops.)

I’ve done Deadmines once and Stockades once, both with my guildies. (Though we pugged a healer for Stocks.) I am planning to skip Razorfen Kraul and Gnomer entirely, thank you kindly. Next up for me will be Scarlet Monastery.

The world feels big again. And it’s not just the lack of mounts, it’s the lack of flying mounts. Don’t get me wrong, I love all of my flying mounts on retail, but flying from Ratchet to Auberdine means flying down to Theramore first. It’s altogether ridiculous, but there’s a certain something to it.

And the danger! I don’t tend to die on retail, not unless I’m in a raid or something. As a hunter, I can feign, as a pally, I can bubble, etc, etc. So there is no real danger involved on retail. But it’s all around you in Classic. I’m not saying I like dying to murlocs or elite orcs or Bellygrub, but it does happen and I do enjoy knowing I have to be alert when kiting or pulling.

I also really enjoy working towards various goals that are achievable, but difficult. Like, 90g or whatever it is for a 60% speed mount? That is going to suck. But it’s also so rewarding when you get there. It’s been hard to get Leatherworking to 200! It’s been challenging to get Kurn to 31. There’s like a dead zone for quests around 25-27 where things seem to be really hard. I ended up questing in Wetlandsand Redridge with a touch of Duskwood and Southshore and did a lot of just killing of whelps in the Wetlands.

Killing whelps and dragons in this game — and then skinning them — is truly one of my favourite things to do in this entire game. Love it all day long. I must have ground out at least a level or so doing just that over the course of a few days.

So I’m having a great time. Do I miss some of the creature comforts of retail? Of course. Mounts, flight, even some high-level abilities like Blink on my mage or Cleanse on my paladin, not having to stable one pet to call out another… All of these would be nice to have but I know I’ll appreciate Cleanse more on my paladin when I get it in my 40s. I’ll appreciate my slow mount SO MUCH when I get it.

What are you up to in Classic, if you’re playing? Let me know!