[0:00] Hey folks, I recently managed to get a
[0:02] new 1 to 70 speedrun world record in
[0:04] only 1 hour and 55 minutes by using
[0:06] Chromy time. The speedrun represents the
[0:08] absolute best time that you can achieve
[0:10] by using my route. And with this video
[0:12] guide, I aim to break down my route into
[0:14] simple, easy to follow steps that you
[0:15] can use it to quickly level characters
[0:17] for yourself. Also, while I obviously
[0:19] use many fancy experience buffs and
[0:21] consumable items for the purposes of my
[0:23] speedruns, these are not taken into
[0:25] account for the purposes of this
[0:27] leveling guide. These items obviously
[0:29] save a small amount of time, but in
[0:31] practice, the route itself is what makes
[0:32] this leveling method so fast. If you're
[0:35] interested in learning more about the
[0:36] items that I prepare for my speedruns,
[0:38] I've made a separate video purely on
[0:39] that topic, which is linked in the
[0:41] description below. But with all of that
[0:43] out of the way, let's jump into the
[0:45] guide. Before you can enter Chromy Time
[0:47] and begin following the bulk of this
[0:48] route, you'll first need to reach level
[0:50] 10. How you'll do this will vary heavily
[0:52] depending on the race that you selected.
[0:54] If you're playing an allied race, you'll
[0:56] already begin the game at level 10, so
[0:57] you can skip ahead to the next section
[0:59] of my guide. However, any brand new
[1:01] players watching this video won't be
[1:03] able to create an allied race as their
[1:04] first character, so you'll need to pick
[1:06] one of the standard races and begin at
[1:08] level one. While every race will be
[1:10] presented with multiple options as their
[1:12] starting zone, I would always recommend
[1:14] choosing Exiles Reach. This zone may not
[1:16] be exceptionally fast, but it was tailor
[1:19] made by Blizzard to get your characters
[1:20] exactly from levels 1 to 10.
[1:22] Additionally, the zone is extremely
[1:24] linear and tries to teach you basic
[1:26] mechanics of the game as you progress
[1:27] the quest line, meaning it's very
[1:29] helpful for new players. The only small
[1:31] exception to this rule would be if you
[1:33] plan on leveling a human, which is the
[1:34] race that I selected for my world record
[1:36] run. The standard human starting zone is
[1:38] Northshshire Valley, and although it's
[1:40] not very fast on its own, it's directly
[1:42] next to a bunch of important locations
[1:44] within my leveling route. Ellen Forest
[1:46] is one of the best zones for Alliance,
[1:48] and it's going to be the first part of
[1:49] my route after you reach level 10.
[1:51] Additionally, the entrance for the
[1:52] Darkman Fair is located in the nearby
[1:54] town of Goldshshire, and this is very
[1:56] important for speed leveling for reasons
[1:58] we'll discuss later on in the video. To
[2:00] top it off, Stormwind City is only a
[2:02] small distance away. So, when you're
[2:03] asked to travel there later in the
[2:04] guide, it'll be a pretty quick trip.
[2:07] Obviously, Northshshire Valley is
[2:08] significantly faster than Exiles Reach
[2:10] in a speedrunning context, as you're
[2:12] able to access powerful items earlier
[2:13] than you'd normally be able to, but I
[2:15] would argue that it's still faster even
[2:17] for a casual player. That being said,
[2:19] the difference between these two zones
[2:21] will likely be marginal. So, I would
[2:22] urge you to prioritize picking whatever
[2:24] race you think is the coolest. If that
[2:26] happens to be human, then whichever zone
[2:28] you choose is a matter of personal
[2:29] preference. And if you want to try the
[2:31] standard starting zone, just skip ahead
[2:33] to the level 10 section of my guide and
[2:34] begin questing in Ellen Forest. Don't
[2:36] worry about starting 10 levels behind,
[2:38] as my guide includes multiple backup
[2:40] zones at the end to account for this.
[2:42] Lastly, if you're playing a demon hunter
[2:43] or a death knight, your only option will
[2:45] be to level through your class's
[2:46] starting zones, and this will put you
[2:48] past level 10 by the time you finish.
[2:50] Don't worry, though, because my guide
[2:51] has been structured in such a way that
[2:53] you can jump straight into the level 10
[2:54] section and not lose any time. Once
[2:57] you've managed to reach level 10, you'll
[2:58] first want to do a few quests to acquire
[3:00] a dollar on Hearthstone. This only takes
[3:02] a few minutes, and it'll save a ton of
[3:04] time over the course of the 10 to 70
[3:06] leveling process. Although the dollar on
[3:08] Hearthstone was added to the toy box
[3:09] during Dragon Flight, you're unable to
[3:11] actually use it on new characters until
[3:13] you've completed the original unlock
[3:14] quests. To kick things off, you'll need
[3:16] to speak to Crummy and begin the Legion
[3:18] quest line. If you're unsure where to
[3:20] find her, head to the Stormwind embassy
[3:21] and look for a gnome sitting on a big
[3:23] hourglass. After receiving the quest,
[3:25] the Legion Returns, you should run to
[3:27] the Stormwind docks and speak with
[3:28] Recruiter Lee. This NPC should have a
[3:30] dialogue option that starts with, "I've
[3:32] heard this tale before." And you want to
[3:34] select it in order to skip the Broken
[3:36] Shore introduction. If the dialogue
[3:37] option isn't appearing, it means you've
[3:39] never done the Broken Shore scenario on
[3:41] your account. For your first character,
[3:43] you'll still want to complete the
[3:44] scenario as it only takes about 15
[3:46] minutes and allows you to skip the
[3:47] entire thing on all future leveling
[3:49] runs. Once you've reached Doeron, you
[3:51] can turn in the nearby quest to receive
[3:52] your dollar Hearthstone. If you already
[3:54] have the toy unlocked on your account,
[3:56] you can just delete the quest reward
[3:58] itself and add the toy to your bars.
[4:00] From here, fly towards the alliance
[4:01] section of the city and take the portal
[4:03] back to Stormwind. It's worth noting
[4:05] that the process I just described is
[4:06] technically not needed if you're playing
[4:08] a mage, monk, dark iron dwarf, or some
[4:10] combination of the two. Each of these
[4:13] classes and/or race have an ability
[4:14] which completely removes the need for a
[4:16] dollar Hearthstone. However, you should
[4:18] still speak with Chromy and select a
[4:19] timeline as this ensures all zones will
[4:21] scale with your level. I also want to
[4:23] make it absolutely clear that after
[4:25] returning from Doeron, you do not need
[4:27] to visit Chromy and change your active
[4:29] expansion. Despite the misleading design
[4:31] of the menu, Chromy Time is actually a
[4:33] binary state. It's either fully enabled
[4:35] or fully disabled for your character.
[4:37] The only difference between the various
[4:39] expansions is which breadcrumb quests
[4:41] you get offered, like the
[4:42] affforementioned one for traveling to
[4:43] Dollar. Also, your active expansion will
[4:45] determine which random dungeons you're
[4:47] allowed to queue for, but beyond that,
[4:49] all of them function exactly the same
[4:50] for the purposes of questing. Lastly, if
[4:53] the Dark Moon Fair happens to be active
[4:54] while you're leveling, this is the ideal
[4:56] time to swing by and grab your 10%
[4:58] experience buff. The fair is active
[5:00] during the first full week of every
[5:01] month, and you can also see when it's up
[5:02] by looking at your in-game calendar.
[5:04] There are many ways to reach the Darkman
[5:06] fair, but the fastest path involves
[5:08] taking the portal to Old Doon and
[5:09] receiving a teleport from the Darkman
[5:11] mage standing in the nearby courtyard.
[5:13] From here, you can run down the hill
[5:14] into the fair proper, purchase a
[5:16] carousel ticket from a panda named
[5:18] Katie, and ride the carousel to receive
[5:20] your 10% XP buff. There's a few more
[5:22] niche advantages that the Darkman fair
[5:24] provides for leveling, but they're a bit
[5:26] more complicated, so you should watch my
[5:27] speedrun items video if you want to
[5:29] learn more. Now, you should be ready to
[5:31] start the 10 to 70 route. But before we
[5:33] dive into specifics about the zones and
[5:34] quests, I want to briefly go over a few
[5:36] bits of general advice that apply to the
[5:38] route as a whole. First, I strongly urge
[5:41] you to only follow the listed zones in
[5:42] the route without taking extensive
[5:44] detours. If I don't mention a zone in my
[5:46] guide, it's not because I forgot about
[5:48] it. It's because it's slower than the
[5:49] rest of my route. Also, if you feel that
[5:51] you're not getting enough experience
[5:52] from completing quests, please double
[5:54] check that you've actually enabled
[5:56] chromy time, as otherwise your XP gains
[5:58] will eventually be reduced by 90%. You
[6:01] would be surprised at how often people
[6:02] make this exact same mistake. The final
[6:05] general tip that I want to discuss
[6:06] pertains to rare mobs. You'll find many
[6:08] of these while following my leveling
[6:10] route, and it's especially important
[6:11] within any Cataclysm revamp zones such
[6:13] as Elwin Forest or Lock Modon. Each one
[6:16] of these rares gives roughly a quest's
[6:18] worth of experience, so it can be
[6:19] extremely helpful to hunt for them while
[6:21] you're leveling. However, this is not
[6:22] the case for any rares you encounter in
[6:24] Warlords of Dranor Zones, as those give
[6:26] a standard amount of experience and
[6:28] aren't worth killing. In order to help
[6:30] you find all of the important rares
[6:31] while leveling, I've created a companion
[6:33] video on my second channel, which goes
[6:35] over the location of every single rare,
[6:37] and you can find it linked in the
[6:38] description below. That being said, the
[6:41] zones mentioned in my guide will still
[6:42] be faster than any alternatives, even if
[6:44] you don't manage to find a single rare
[6:46] mob. It's a nice little bonus if you
[6:48] happen to encounter one, but you should
[6:50] never sit and wait at a spawn location
[6:51] instead of continuing along the quest
[6:53] path. The first zone you'll be visiting
[6:55] at level 10 is Elwin Forest since it's
[6:57] located just outside of Stormwind.
[6:59] Getting there is extremely simple, and
[7:01] you'll want to begin by completing all
[7:02] of the quests within Goldshshire.
[7:04] Although this zone has a lot of travel
[7:06] time, as you'll be sent back and forth
[7:07] between Goldshshire and the Southern
[7:09] Farms, the fact that you now get
[7:10] skyriting immediately upon reaching
[7:12] level 10 means this isn't an issue. Once
[7:14] you've completed all of the quests in
[7:16] central Ellen, you should fly a bit to
[7:18] the west and complete the quests that
[7:19] task you with killing nulls and
[7:21] defeating Hoger. Some of these quests
[7:23] will end in the nearby zone of Westfall,
[7:25] but after turning them in, you shouldn't
[7:26] continue along that chain. You'll now
[7:28] want to fly all the way back across
[7:30] Elwin Forest and hand in the quest
[7:32] further concerns in the east. From here,
[7:35] pick up and complete every quest that
[7:36] you find in and around the town of East
[7:38] Veil Logging Camp. Once you finished up
[7:41] every quest in Ellen Forest, you should
[7:42] fly east towards Tower Watch, which is
[7:45] found just past the border inside of Red
[7:47] Rich Mountains. Pick up and complete all
[7:49] of the quests at this location, as
[7:51] you'll eventually be directed towards
[7:52] the town of Lakeshshire. Follow the
[7:54] quest lines in this area until you reach
[7:56] the quest Prisoner of War, which you'll
[7:58] get shortly after reaching Camp
[7:59] Everstone. The quests from here on out
[8:01] are sparse, RP heavy, and take a while
[8:03] to complete, so I do not recommend
[8:05] finishing them. Instead, you'll want to
[8:07] abandon Red Ridge Mountains and fly
[8:09] southwest towards Duskwood, the next
[8:11] zone in the leveling route. At some
[8:12] point during this process, you should
[8:14] have reached level 20, and you'll now
[8:15] have the option to enable war mode. This
[8:17] can only be enabled at Stormwind. So,
[8:19] you should set your Hearthstone to the
[8:20] nearest inn and then use your dollar on
[8:22] Hearthstone. From here, you can take the
[8:24] nearby portal to reach Stormwind, enable
[8:26] war mode, and then use your regular
[8:28] Hearthstone to return to your current
[8:29] leveling zone. As previously mentioned,
[8:32] mages or monks can use portals or Zen
[8:33] pilgrimage, respectively, as a
[8:35] replacement for the Delaron Hearthstone.
[8:37] Also, in case you're unfamiliar with
[8:39] what exactly war mode does, this is a
[8:41] buff that grants you roughly 10%
[8:43] additional experience while also
[8:44] permanently flagging your character for
[8:46] PvP. This may sound really scary, but
[8:48] you have to remember that Elwin,
[8:50] Duskwood, Redidge, and Lock Modon are
[8:52] all alliance only zones, so you'll never
[8:54] encounter a Horde player while leveling
[8:56] there. This means that Warode is
[8:58] effectively a free 10% XP buff for the
[9:00] first four zones in my route. When you
[9:02] get to Warlords of Dranor later on,
[9:04] there is a small chance that you'll
[9:05] encounter other Horde players, but the
[9:06] vast majority of people are simply there
[9:08] to level and won't try to fight you. In
[9:10] the worst case scenario, you can always
[9:12] go to a nearby town and disable war mode
[9:14] later on if you run into someone who
[9:15] really wants to kill you. Now, before we
[9:17] discuss the next zone, Duskwood, I want
[9:19] to take a moment to touch upon dungeon
[9:21] leveling. Over the last few years, I've
[9:23] done a few test runs that completed
[9:24] Burning Crusade dungeons from levels 10
[9:26] to 20, and I found that it can
[9:27] potentially be faster under specific
[9:29] situations. Since war mode only applies
[9:32] to outdoor content and it isn't
[9:33] available until level 20, it's possible
[9:35] to get marginally faster times in TBC
[9:37] dungeons if you queue as a tank and get
[9:39] extremely lucky with the random dungeons
[9:41] that you're offered. In practice, I
[9:43] wouldn't actually recommend running
[9:44] dungeons for alliance players, as on
[9:46] average, it'll be much slower than the
[9:48] questing route. However, if you did
[9:49] really want to try dungeon leveling and
[9:51] want more detail on the subject, I
[9:52] discussed it in a bit more detail in the
[9:54] written version of this guide, which is
[9:56] linked in the description. As previously
[9:58] mentioned, you'll now want to fly to
[9:59] Duskwood and complete nearly every quest
[10:01] in the zone, and you should start by
[10:02] heading to the town of Darkshshire in
[10:04] the east. While Duskwood does have a lot
[10:06] of travel time between hubs, the overall
[10:08] quest density is very high, and the
[10:10] addition of skyriting makes this less of
[10:12] a concern. After finishing all the
[10:14] quests in and around Darkshshire, you
[10:16] should head west and complete the hubs
[10:17] in that part of the zone. The only quest
[10:19] you should not complete is the final
[10:21] one, which tells you to kill more Leip,
[10:23] as it requires a ton of travel for a
[10:25] minimal reward. Upon reaching that quest
[10:27] and completing all others, you should
[10:29] return to Stormwind. Now, you'll want to
[10:31] reach Loch Modon, but getting there will
[10:33] require a decent amount of travel time.
[10:35] The simplest and fastest option will
[10:37] usually be to fly there directly on your
[10:38] Sky Riding Mount, as this only takes a
[10:40] minute or two. Once you arrive in the
[10:42] zone, you'll want to fly to the southern
[10:44] section of Loan and start the quest line
[10:46] in the Valley of Kings. You'll
[10:47] eventually be directed up north to the
[10:49] town of Delsmer. And from here, you
[10:51] should complete every single quest in
[10:53] the zone. Throughout Lock Modon, there
[10:55] are six interactable objects called
[10:56] Stolen Explorers League documents, and
[10:58] they'll give you a quest when you
[11:00] interact with them. A few of these are
[11:02] directly in your questing path, but many
[11:04] of them are off the traditional route.
[11:05] So, I recommend looking up their exact
[11:07] locations in order to make sure you
[11:08] don't miss any. This may seem trivial,
[11:10] but each object gives full quest XP for
[11:12] minimal effort, so it's absolutely worth
[11:14] going out of your way to pick these up.
[11:16] In the past, this is where I would have
[11:18] recommend starting warlords to Dranor
[11:20] zones, but the addition of skyriting
[11:22] means that certain quests up north in
[11:23] the wetlands are now efficient to
[11:25] complete. This quest line begins in the
[11:27] mountains around Don Algaz, where you
[11:28] can turn in checking on the boys and
[11:30] grab the follow-up quests. You'll only
[11:32] need to complete a handful of quests in
[11:34] the sub zone before you're directed to
[11:35] fly a bit further northeast towards Slab
[11:38] Chisel Survey. This quest hub is really
[11:40] efficient, as you'll complete three sets
[11:42] of three different quests, each of which
[11:44] is relatively fast. However, after
[11:46] you've completed all of the quests here,
[11:48] I wouldn't recommend continuing along
[11:50] this chain, as the rest of the quests in
[11:52] the zone aren't nearly as efficient.
[11:54] Once you're finished up in the wetlands,
[11:55] you should use your dollar on
[11:56] Hearthstone and return to Stormwind.
[11:58] Once there, head over to Chrommy and
[12:00] select the Warlords of Dranor timeline.
[12:02] You'll be directed to speak with an NPC
[12:04] called Vanguard Battle Mage, but you
[12:05] should instead talk to the Honorhold
[12:07] Mage, who can be found standing nearby
[12:08] in the entrance of the Stormwind Mage
[12:10] Tower. Talking to the honorhold mage NPC
[12:12] will cause you to be teleported directly
[12:14] next to Khadgar in the blasted lands,
[12:16] allowing you to immediately start the
[12:17] next quest. The Vanguard battle mage,
[12:19] despite being the intended NPC, will
[12:22] teleport you much further away from
[12:23] Khadgar. After speaking with Khadgar,
[12:25] you should fully complete the Warlords
[12:27] of Dranor intro scenario. Many people
[12:29] like to skip this area, but it's still
[12:31] one of the fastest quest lines in the
[12:32] entire game, so if you skip it, you're
[12:34] doing yourself a huge disservice. Once
[12:36] you reach Shadowmoon Valley, complete
[12:38] the entire quest line to set up your
[12:39] garrison as this provides you with a
[12:41] garrison hearthstone. You'll also want
[12:42] to finish the next few quests where you
[12:44] kill pale orcs, gather supplies,
[12:46] construct a barracks, and rescue Kiana
[12:48] Moonshadow. Around this time, you should
[12:50] receive a quest in your garrison from
[12:51] Cordana Felong named Meet us at Starfall
[12:54] Outpost. Complete this entire chain up
[12:56] until the quests soul shards of
[12:58] summoning and cleaning up Golvar as
[13:00] things slow down immensely from that
[13:02] point onwards. You should now fly south
[13:04] and complete the Bloodthorn Cave bonus
[13:06] objective along with a nearby quest, A
[13:08] Matter of Life and Death. The next full
[13:10] zone you'll be questing at is Gorgrand,
[13:12] but getting there will require a bit of
[13:13] travel time. While you could just take a
[13:15] straight path to the zone from your
[13:17] garrison, there's a slightly more
[13:18] optimized route that involves a few
[13:20] detours. First, fly west to Talidor and
[13:22] complete the Aruna's desolation bonus
[13:24] objective. You can then head north until
[13:26] you reach Fort Ren, and you want to
[13:28] construct the artillery tower to unlock
[13:30] the Zangara bonus objective. Ignore the
[13:32] remaining quests in Fort Ren and head
[13:34] east to complete this affforementioned
[13:35] bonus objective. When it's done, fly
[13:37] north into Gorggrounds and complete the
[13:39] Tailthr Basin and Ruins of the First
[13:41] Bastion bonus objectives. Upon finishing
[13:43] both, head to your real on the eastern
[13:45] coast and begin the quest line. Follow
[13:47] these quests until you reach the town of
[13:49] Highass. At this point, you'll be
[13:51] prompted to choose between the sparring
[13:52] ring or the logging camp. The sparring
[13:54] ring is significantly better than the
[13:56] logging camp, as it gives you access to
[13:58] a ton of extremely efficient quests
[14:00] later on. Continue along the quest line
[14:02] and pick up a harsh reminder in
[14:04] Affliction Ridge. While doing this,
[14:06] round up a wide variety of mobs and pop
[14:08] your champion's honor ability. This
[14:10] spell has a hidden effect that drops
[14:11] quest starting items when you kill
[14:12] certain enemies with it active. Under
[14:14] Dranor Exploration, there's an
[14:16] achievement called Prove Your Strength,
[14:18] and this can help you keep track of
[14:19] which items you've collected. You'll
[14:21] want to only use it when you've rounded
[14:22] up a few mobs of at least two types in
[14:24] order to maximize your chances at
[14:26] getting quest items. Around this point,
[14:28] you'll receive multiple quest lines, but
[14:29] you should complete everything in
[14:30] Stonewall Arena before continuing
[14:32] onwards. The quests involving Rexar go
[14:34] on for a while and will lead you further
[14:36] north into the zone. You'll want to use
[14:38] your champions honorability on the
[14:39] bassilisks and steam furies that you'll
[14:41] encounter during the quest on the men.
[14:44] Later on, you can use it once again
[14:45] while killing Ogran during the quest
[14:47] fair warning. After you finish the
[14:49] quest, Chains of Iron, you should
[14:50] complete the nearby bonus objective,
[14:52] Valley of Destruction. Upon returning to
[14:54] Highass, you'll receive a quest named
[14:56] Strike While the Iron is Hot, but this
[14:57] is extremely inefficient and should be
[14:59] ignored. Complete the Miscreet Meer and
[15:02] Razer Bloom bonus objectives just south
[15:03] of Highass. While you're here, make sure
[15:05] you use Champion's Honor on the nearby
[15:07] wasps and ravagers. If you have any
[15:09] leftover time on the buff after getting
[15:11] the Wasp and Ravager items, you can try
[15:13] to kill any nearby orcs and botani to
[15:15] get their associated quest items in case
[15:16] you're still missing either one. Next,
[15:19] head east and complete the entire
[15:20] Crimson Fen quest line. If you haven't
[15:22] yet managed to hit level 70, you should
[15:24] use your garrison Hearthstone once
[15:26] again. Your next stop is Spires of Iraq,
[15:28] but before you enter the zone itself,
[15:30] you should fly just north of it and
[15:31] complete the Zorra's Fall bonus
[15:33] objective in Talidor. From here, head
[15:35] into Spires of Iraq and progress through
[15:36] the quest line until you reach level 70.
[15:39] Spires of Iraq is a peculiar zone as it
[15:41] has a fairly high quest density early
[15:43] on, but falls off significantly towards
[15:45] the end. Upon reaching Southport, you
[15:47] can construct the Stockturn Brewery,
[15:48] which gives you 20% increased experience
[15:50] within Spires of Iraq, as well as a
[15:52] localized Hearthstone ability on a
[15:54] separate cool down. While this buff is
[15:56] nice to have, it's nowhere near as
[15:57] impactful as many people seem to think
[15:59] it is. By the time you get the 20% XP
[16:01] buff, you've already completed most of
[16:03] the efficient quests in the zone, so it
[16:05] doesn't end up helping you much. After
[16:06] building the tavern, you'll want to pick
[16:08] up the wanted quests from a poster on
[16:09] the wall, as these give great experience
[16:11] and can be usually completed alongside
[16:13] other quests. Now that you finished
[16:15] leveling in chromy time, you'll need to
[16:17] enter war within zones to level from 70
[16:19] to 80. I've already fully optimized War
[16:21] Within 70 to 80 leveling with a record
[16:23] time of only 1 hour and 4 minutes. If
[16:26] you'd like to learn more about how to
[16:27] follow that route, you can click on the
[16:28] video shown on screen or find a link to
[16:30] it in the description. Additionally, if
[16:32] you're interested in leveling a Horde
[16:34] character from 1 to 70, I've made a
[16:35] separate video on that subject. If you
[16:38] found this video helpful, I'd greatly
[16:39] appreciate it if you could subscribe and
[16:41] toss it a like, as that'll help other
[16:43] people find it as