World of Warcraft Classic - Druid Leveling Guide

"Entry

Since the Cataclysm, completing quests has become a lot more straightforward. Many main quests appear when you log into the game and take you through several hubs that have a neat design. Each of them branches off into a series of quest chains, which at the end are linked together and serve to tell a single story. But today we will talk about how things were in the time before the Cataclysm.

There are big quest hubs in Classic too, but they don't stand out that much, so whether you find quests or not is entirely up to you and your willingness to explore the world. In addition, completing all the quests in a location does not guarantee a certain level. You will need to constantly grind mobs in between quests in order for the leveling to go as fast as possible.

If you found this guide, then you already know that it will talk about exactly the best methods for leveling a Druid in order to reach level 60 as quickly as possible. Since I maxed Druid a few times in the vanilla version of the game, I can say that they are a fairly easy class to level and are very good at level 60.

This guide is divided into several parts, including Quests, Grinding and selection of Talents. At the end, I will share some opinions and general information regarding the best method of leveling a Druid.

Quest System Changes

If you are coming to Classic from BzA or any other new update, then you will encounter a different quest system and you should be prepared for that.

Quests and their objectives are not displayed on the map. Simply put: you have to travel. There will be times when you can get lost while doing a quest, and you will still need to read the quest text or go to a third party website to figure out where to go next. Of course, someday there will be a leveling add-on for Classic, but part of that old charm of the game is precisely immersion in the game world, where you can find your own adventure.

You may find it difficult to deal with enemies. Speaking of Druid specifically, you won't have to cool down too long between battles because your different animal forms use different resources, plus you can easily heal yourself between battles. However, Classic mobs will be more dangerous than BzA mobs, and are only worth fighting one-on-one.

The best areas to complete quests

While questing is based on opportunism, exploration of the world, and competition with other players, it doesn't hurt to get to know the zones that are best for questing for both factions.

Alliance Territories:

Dark Shores (Darkshore). Once you've beaten the starting zone for your race, there are a few quest zones open up for you, and one of the best early zones for the Alliance is Darkshore.

Loch Modan. Immediately after Darkshore is the Dwarf/Dwarf zone Loch Modan, intended for characters level 10-18. This zone is not as good as Darkshore, but the quests in it are quite simple. You can return here after you level up above the recommended level, and quickly complete all the quests.

Western edge (Westfall). The choice of starting zone for leveling is largely down to your taste, but I would not recommend leveling in the Westfall due to the complexity of this zone. However, if you have a group to level up, then you can easily go to the Dead Mines to complete quests and get some high-level items.

Redridge Mountains. After reaching a certain level, you will have to move between zones with the same difficulty if you want to solo quests. The speed of your pumping will largely depend on whether you can make an effective route through several locations.

Dark Forest (Duskwood). This is one of my favorite areas. It is full of quests, very atmospheric and will help you get a lot of good items. Be sure to visit this location if you play for the Alliance.

Wetlands. This will most likely be your last zone in Alliance territory. After it, you will have to travel through the disputed territories, where both the Alliance and the Horde will meet.

Horde Territories:

Northern Steppes (Barrens). A large zone containing three of the four races of the Horde. This location is full of quests, and here you can upgrade immediately to level 20. This zone is of course very good, but you need to be ready to compete for mobs, as a large number of players will be concentrated here.

Silverpine Forest. These are Barrens for the Undead. There are some good quests here, but most of the time I don't even go into this zone.

Stonetalon Mountains. Despite the fact that there are several quests for the Alliance, almost the entire zone belongs to the Horde. A big plus of this location is that it is located almost close to the Barrens and the level of quests smoothly flows from one zone to another.

Disputed territories:

Hillsbrad Foothills. It is here that the famous battlefield between Southshore and Tarren Mill is located, where PvP battles were constantly in full swing. There are many good quests for both the Alliance and the Horde here, so this zone is included in the leveling routes of most experienced players.

Ash forest (Ashenvale). Another very atmospheric area. This is where the Warsong Gulch is located. Lots of quests for both factions.

Thousand Needles. Here you can find the Shimmering Flats. Here, a player from any faction will be able to get almost a whole new level. There is a quest hub for the Horde.

Stranglethorn Vale. One of the most famous zones in the entire game. You will constantly leave and return to this location between level 30 and 50.

Wastelands (Desolace). Here is the dungeon Maraudon. One of the best zones in the game, where you can quickly level up many levels. There are quest hubs for the Alliance and for the Horde.

Arathi Highlands. Home of the second battlefield Arathi Basin. There are quest hubs for both factions, and the location is full of very good quests to kill mobs.

Badlands. This zone can be passed quickly enough. The quest hub is only for the Horde. If you have a group of enough players, you can try doing quests in Uldaman.

Tanaris. Here is the Zul'farrak dungeon. I recommend doing all the quests here, including the full chain of quests in ZF.

Feralas. This location is not very popular for pumping, but you can look here when you just hit the magpie. There are plenty of quests for both factions.

Searing Gorge. In this zone, you can taste high-level content for the first time. On one of the slopes of Blackrock Mountain is a lower-level zone full of quests from the Thorium Brotherhood.

Burning Steppes. On the other side of Blackrock Mountain there is a high-level zone where there are hubs for the Alliance and Horde. Most likely, you will return to this location several times, since the spread in levels in it is quite high. Some dungeon quests are taken in this zone.

Felwood (Felwood). I think that this zone should be passed without fail. This location not only has a lot of great quests, but you just need to go here to get your Cenarius Beacon, which is needed to farm various consumables, like the Fruit of Whiproot.

Un'goro Crater. Another very popular zone, in which there are many quests where you can raise yourself two levels.

Western Plaguelands. This zone is great for a quick leveling thanks to the "cauldron" quest chain, for which you can get a very large amount of experience.

Eastern Plaguelands. It is here that the legendary Naxxramas is located, and here you can once again plunge into the endgame by completing quests. You will spend a lot of time in this location even after reaching the maximum level.

Winter keys (Winterspring). Just an amazing area. Lots of quests that reward a huge amount of experience. If you get the Treasure of Mau'ari, you can farm Juju, which is a very useful consumable for raids.

Druid talents for leveling

For pumping, the most faithful will be to swing into the Power of the Beast:

The power of the beast (Feral). It is better to swing in Feral, because at level 20 Cat Form will open, and you can invest the first point in Cat Speed. In the classic version of World of Warcraft, the speed of movement will be one of the most important characteristics for pumping. Being able to move 15% faster at level 20 and 30% faster at level 21 is a huge help for a Druid. The rest of the talents worth picking up are focused on increasing damage dealt while in cat form.

Omen of Clarity. If you look at the build, it immediately becomes clear why we are pumping the Balance branch and the Recovery branch. Some players prefer to start with 11 points in Balance in order to get Omen as quickly as possible, while others even start with Furor and only then level up to Feral. I would recommend just leveling in Feral to get the increased run speed as quickly as possible, which will be very useful in leveling.

Talents

Stage 1: The first 5 points go into Ferocity, reducing the cost of using abilities.

Stage 2: Then I would put 5 points into Feral Aggression as it will increase your damage and push you to tier 3.

Stage 3: Invest 2 points in Cat Speed, because movement speed greatly speeds up leveling. Then of course you can take Feral Charge, but I think it's better to invest 3 points in Sharpened Claws and get access to tier 4.

Stage 4: Invest 3 points in Predatory Strikes, then 2 points in Blood Frenzy. I would level Predator Strikes first, but consistency doesn't matter that much.

Stage 5: Take Faerie Fire. You will cast this spell on every mob. Then we put 2 points in Savage Fury, pump in the aforementioned Bestial Attack and spend 1 point on Improved Shred.

Stage 6: There are no options here. 5 points in Heart of the Wild.

Stage 7: Time to grab the 31-point talent - Leader of the Pack.

Stage 8: Go to the Balance branch. The first point goes into Nature's Grasp, and the next 4 points go into enhancing it with Improved Nature's Grasp.

Stage 9: Then put 5 points into Natural Weapons to increase the damage dealt.

Stage 10: Now we take the Sign of Clarity. I said before that some people prefer to be one of the first to level this talent, it is so good. It will serve you well the rest of the way to max level.

Stage 11: You're in the final stretch, but to get the most out of it, put 5 points into Wrath, 3 points into Natural Shapeshifter, and then put the finishing touches by spending the last point on Improved Stripping. Welcome to level 60.

What spells to buy when leveling a Druid

I want to pay special attention to this chapter, because many people mistakenly believe that you need to acquire new abilities as soon as they are discovered. In fact, you only need to buy certain spells at certain levels. This method will save you a lot of time traveling to the trainer, plus it will save you a lot of gold that you can spend on buying a mount at level 40. I will name the levels at which you need to visit the trainer, as well as which abilities are worth buying.

Mark of the Wild. This is the main buff for your class. It is worth pumping whenever the opportunity arises. You can upgrade this ability at the following levels: 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60.

Claws. After gaining Cat Form at level 20, you will constantly use Claws to spend excess energy. You can buy new levels of this ability at the following levels: 20, 28, 38, 48, 58.

Magic fire. Use this on enemies to cut off their armor. You can pump at levels: 30, 42, 54.

Ferocious Bite. This attack will be your finishing blow. You can improve this ability at levels: 32, 40, 48, 56, 60.

Druids have many abilities that are useful only in certain situations. If you have an excess of gold, then you can buy any other abilities in addition to these, if you think they will help you. If an ability requires Cat Form, then it will usually be at least useful to you. Regardless of how you decide to spend your money on leveling, be sure to stock up enough gold to buy a mount at level 40.

Ability rotation while leveling

• Always buff yourself with Mark of the Wild and Thorns.
• Before you unlock Cat Form, use Bear Form and spam Maul.
• After reaching level 20, switch to Cat Form. Here you will generate combo points with the Claws and spend them with Ferocious Bite.
• Constantly maintain on mobs Fairy fire.
• At level 30, you will receive a Travel Form and use it until you get a mount.
• You can use Tiger's Fury if you need to quickly deal with the enemy.
• If you wish, you can pump Dash at level 26 to further increase your movement speed.

The best items for leveling

Unlike most other classes, Druids receive nothing more than increased stats from the items they carry. Therefore, even when getting a new weapon for yourself, you will only be interested in having higher stats on it than on your old weapon. More information on the importance of stats goes below.

Significance of stats when pumping

Strength = Spirit = Agility > Endurance

Force: this characteristic will be your main source of attack power. Each point of strength increases attack power by 2.

Spirit: very useful when leveling in Classic. Allows you to regenerate health faster between fights, reducing the time it takes to eat.

Agility: gives you a chance to dodge and critical strike. Useful combat stats.

Endurance: increases maximum health.

And finally

Quality of life improvements introduced to the game over the years: If you go to Classic after playing Battle for Azeroth, then you will encounter many features of the game that you may find uncomfortable, affect the complexity and speed of completing quests. Quests and their objectives are not displayed on the map, so you will have to find them yourself. There will not be a single quest flow from level 1 to 60, so you will need to combine quests with grinding mobs. There is no AoE loot in the game, and quest items take up space in the inventory. Cooldowns on abilities are noticeably longer, regenerating yourself is much more difficult, which significantly increases the downtime between fights, because you need to either drink or use bandages / Alchemy. To level up as quickly as possible, you need to play carefully and efficiently.

For pumping, choose Feral: this branch is definitely the best for leveling a Druid, as it has access to high damage and increased movement speed.

Playing in a group for a Druid is optional: I will omit this topic in this guide, but keep in mind that Druids are quite self-sufficient and can handle quests alone. However, if you have a group of friends who also want to level up, then the Druid will be a great addition to any squad.

Buy abilities only when necessary: many people think that it is impossible to buy a mount immediately after reaching level 40. But it's doable, as long as you don't waste money buying spell upgrades you don't need. If you follow the instructions in this guide, you will save not only a lot of money, but also time.

New weapons are rare for the Druid: while other classes benefit from higher weapon DPS, you only care about stats. If you find a weapon with high levels of strength and agility, then most likely it will stay with you for a long time.