WotLK leveling guide, 1 to 80, for Alliance and Horde

Leveling from 1 to 80 in Wrath of the Lich King 3.3.5a takes you through three continents: the old world up to 58, Outland from 58 to around 68, and Northrend from 68 to 80. This page gives you a route for each faction, the points where you should move on, when dungeons beat questing, and the habits that save the most time. On Lasthavens you earn twice the normal experience from kills, quests and exploring, so the advice below is tuned for leaving zones earlier than you would at the original pace.

How the 2x rate changes the route

At the original pace you can finish most quests in a zone before it stops being worth it. At 2x you outlevel zones about twice as fast, which means two things:

• You will rarely finish a zone. Once most of the quests left in your log are green or grey, move to the next zone on the list. Grey quests give very little experience, and grey monsters give none.
• You can skip zones. The tables below list more zones than you need. Pick the ones you enjoy, or the ones closest to where you already are, and drop the rest.

A good rule: if a zone’s quests are more than three or four levels below you, pack up and travel.

Levels 1 to 58: the old world

Every race starts in its own zone and is pointed to the next one by its quests. Draenei and blood elves have their own second zones too.

A few notes on the old world:

• Level 20 is a milestone. You can learn riding and buy your first mount, which makes every later zone quicker to cross.
• Stranglethorn Vale and Hillsbrad Foothills are contested. Lasthavens is a PvP realm, so players of the other faction can attack you there. If a zone gets busy with enemy players, the next zone on the list is usually just as good.
• Tanaris and Un’Goro Crater are good choices for both factions in the 40s and 50s because they have plenty of quests close together.
• You do not need to reach 60. At 2x, many players are ready for Outland a zone or two before the end of the old world list.

Death Knights

Death Knights start at level 55 in their own zone, the Scarlet Enclave in the Eastern Plaguelands, and skip the old world entirely. Do the whole starting chain: it gives you a full set of gear, a mount, and enough experience to leave close to 58, ready for the Dark Portal.

Levels 58 to 68: Outland

At 58 you can go through the Dark Portal in the Blasted Lands into Hellfire Peninsula. Quest rewards in Outland quickly replace your old world gear, so it is worth going as soon as you are 58.

Both factions use the same zones, with their own quest hubs in each. Nagrand is a favourite: lots of quests, open ground, and few awkward caves. At 60 you can learn flying in Outland, which makes the later zones much faster if you can afford it.

At 2x, Hellfire Peninsula, Zangarmarsh, Terokkar Forest and Nagrand are often enough to reach 68. You do not need to finish Outland. Northrend gives better experience and better gear, so leave as soon as you hit 68.

Levels 68 to 80: Northrend

At 68 the boats and zeppelins to Northrend are worth taking.

• Alliance: the boat from Stormwind Harbor goes to Valiance Keep in the Borean Tundra, and the boat from Menethil Harbor goes to Valgarde in the Howling Fjord.
• Horde: the zeppelin from Orgrimmar goes to Warsong Hold in the Borean Tundra, and the zeppelin from the Undercity goes to Vengeance Landing in the Howling Fjord.

Pick one of the two starting zones, not both. Borean Tundra and Howling Fjord both lead naturally into Dragonblight. Dragonblight’s story is one of the best in the expansion and well worth following through.

At 2x you will often reach 80 somewhere in Zul’Drak or Sholazar Basin. You can learn Cold Weather Flying at 77 to fly in Northrend, which helps a great deal in The Storm Peaks and Icecrown if you are still questing there.

When dungeons are worth it

Questing is the steadiest way to level, but dungeons are worth it in a few situations:

• When you have the dungeon’s quests. Dungeon quests give a lot of experience and often good rewards. Pick them up before you go in. In Northrend, many are given near or inside the dungeon entrance.
• Your first random dungeon of the day. Patch 3.3.5 has the Dungeon Finder, which builds a group and teleports you to the dungeon. The first random dungeon you finish each day gives a bonus reward on top of the normal experience.
• When a group forms quickly. A full group clearing a dungeon at the right level levels well. A group that wipes over and over does not.
• For gear. Dungeon blues help a lot in the levels where quest rewards are thin.

Some of the dungeons players remember from each stage:

• Teens: Ragefire Chasm, The Deadmines, Wailing Caverns.
• 30s: the four wings of the Scarlet Monastery.
• 40s and 50s: Zul’Farrak, then Blackrock Depths.
• Outland: Hellfire Ramparts is the first, around level 60.
• Northrend: Utgarde Keep and The Nexus are the first, around level 70.

If you do run dungeons at 2x, remember you will outgrow each one faster, so do not plan on running the same dungeon many times.

How to level faster

• Use rested experience. Logging out in an inn or a capital city builds rested experience, which doubles the experience from kills until it runs out. You build it slowly anywhere else, so ending each session at an inn is a free boost for the next one.
• Work in quest hubs. Take every quest in a hub, do the ones in the same area together, hand them all in, then move to the next hub. Avoid running back and forth for one quest at a time.
• Kill as you go. Monsters you pass on the way to a quest still give experience, and at 2x they add up.
• Keep your flight paths. Talk to every flight master you pass, and set your hearthstone at the inn of the hub you are working from.
• Train your class. Visit your trainer when you get new spells, roughly every two levels. Stronger spells mean faster kills.
• Wear heirlooms if you have them. Heirlooms exist in 3.3.5. They are bought with currency earned at level 80, so they help your second character more than your first. Heirloom shoulders and chests each add 10% experience from kills and quests.
• Turn on a quest helper. At the character select screen, the AddOn Library lets you switch on curated addons. Questie is one of them and marks quest givers and objectives on your map, which saves a lot of searching.
• Do not grind grey monsters. They give no experience. If everything around you is grey, you belong in the next zone.

Start leveling

Lasthavens is free and runs in your browser, so there is no 17 GB client to download and no launcher. The first visit downloads about 50 MB to reach the login screen, where you make an account with Create Account; the email address is optional. It plays on Windows, Mac, Linux, Chromebook, iPhone, iPad and Android. Read how playing in a browser works, see what to look for in a free WotLK server, or play Lasthavens and start your route.

Updated 18 October 2026