Initial Preparation:
-This is probably a good time to use up old stock piles of Food and Pots, so get them ready for leveling as they wont be useful after a level or two.
-Grab your Frostweave bandages if you need them, but realize they become useless after a level or so since your Hit Points scale so much.
-Clean out your bank so you have room for all the new crap you will want to toss into it.
-etc, etc, (use common sense).
Hearth Stone:
-The best spot to be hearthed is in Stormwind, this is due to the portals that open up in the North East section (on the island) of the Stormwind map to all 5 of the new Zones plus Tol Barad.
-Which Inn you are hearthed at in Stormwind is up to you, I prefer the south bank myself but many will like the north as the portals are next to it and it is usually less congested.
Initial Log In Placement:
-Log your character out directly in front of "Bralla Cloudwing" (Flying Trainer-next to the Gryphon Master) in Stormwind. This is done so that immediately upon logging into the game on December 7, you can purchase the Flight Master's License (250 gold) and start flying everywhere and use the speed increase that gives you.
Trade Skills:
The next thing you should do is grab your Trade Skill upgrades from the profession trainers in Stormwind. If your memory is rusty, go visit all your Trainers before Dec 7, so you can find them again, thus saving you time and you wont be one of the idiots in chat asking where XYZ Trainer is.
Archeology:
If your main focus is to level your character first, then I suggest to just skip Archeology until level 85. This is not a profession that you "do while leveling" as everything else is, Archeology is a focused event and because of this, you can skip it until you get to level 85 and decide that you now want to do "Archeology".
However, most people will just want to go pick it up anyways, and the location is the Castle Library in Stormwind. Speak to Harrison Jones at 85,25. FLY here, don't ride. Remember, you have flying now!
Check the Bank Auction House:
Provided it isn't midnight and you are not geared up in ICC Raid loot, it can be worth taking a few minutes to go hit up the Auction House and see if there are any CHEAP level 80 "green" equipment upgrades for your character that you can buy. Don't pay inflated prices though, you will upgrade everything else eventually anyways.
A Note On Mob Difficulty:
If you are reading this, then you have probably heard by now that Mob's hit harder and have more health in Cataclysm. Initially, this isn't a big issue but by level 83 or so, you will notice that Mobs hit a lot harder than their level 80-82 Cataclysm counter parts and have a LOT more health than what you find in Vashj'ir and Hyjal. A level 80 Cataclysm Mob has about 3 times the health of a Level 80 Northrend Mob.
What this means is that most non-self healing type classes/specs will find that they have to stop and heal after a couple mobs and then go at it again. To me, this sucks.
Personally, my advice is to use a spec that gives up some DPS power in favor of healing yourself as you level up. (ie- Frost or Blood Death Knight vs Unholy). Myself, I prefer to kill a little slower but never stop, than kill faster but have to stop.
Where To Level First?
You have the choice of leveling in Vashj'ir or Hyjal as both are level 80 to 82 zones. To get these zones going, you need to do the starter quests that you will find appearing in Stormwind on Dec 7. Do those and they will lead you to the respective zones you want to start leveling in.
Is there any real advantage to what zone you start in?
Not really, both will be hugely busy and both have virtually the same quest loot. The only real difference is that Vashj'ir is obviously a very unique zone as it takes place totally under water and it will certainly give you more of a "this is a new expansion" feel than Hyjal will. Hyjal is still awesome but it isn't unique.
For those that hate under water zones, don't worry about it. 3 or 4 quests into it, you get a permanent breathing buff and a movement speed buff and then about 15 quests in, you get a fast under water mount. You can basically think of being under water as "flying" once this happens.
How do I get to Vashj'ir, Hyjal and the other new zones?
As I said above, you DO THE QUESTS. The quests are gotten from the Hero's Call Boards.
How do the portals open up in Stormwind?
I forget exactly, but after you do about 20 or 30 quests in each zone, the Portal to that zone opens up in Stormwind.
Leveling Ranges:
Current level ranges are basically set for:
80-82 - Both Hyjal and Vashj'ir
83 Deepholm
84 Uldum
85 Twilight Highlands
Do you need to do "both" Hyjal and Vashj'ir?
No. Either zone will raise you to level 82 at which point you enter Deepholm, however you can do them both if you want and then move to Deepholm and then over to Uldum and then over to Twilight Highlands. If you are an achievement whore, then this may be the best route for you.
How is the story?
The story in Cataclysm is VERY WELL told. For this reason, I recommend reading each quest and doing ALL zones. It really is worth it, there are dozens of little in-game cinematic and "epic" quests worth doing.
How is the Loot?
Level 80 Green Loot starts at about ~IL270. It kicks ass and your alts will love it.
Are instances worth it?
Yes, for 4 reasons:
-The loot is good (if you get lucky and get an item drop you need)
-The XP is good.
-You are setting yourself up to learn the instance before you do it as a Heroic.
-It is part of the game, go see something. The game isn't just about "phat lewt".
Are instances hard?
Yes and no.
Personally, I don't find them hard if everybody follows classic play formulas. If you think you can run in and blow all your AOE's or tank on the spot and ignore patrols or blow up CC's, then yes, they will be hard and yes, you are stupid and I hope I never get grouped with you (but probably will find the LFG tool putting you with me). A lot of people are in for a lot of grief initially with Cataclysm.
Is loot progression required before Raids?
Yes.
Everything Blizzard has said is that progression rules are in effect in Cataclysm, meaning you need to do Regular instances to gear up to do Heroic instances to gear up to do Raids. It wont be as "easy" as Wrath of the Lich King was, where people in crappy blue quest loot went right into Naxxramas.
From what I have seen, most guilds are waiting until after the holidays to start raiding.
Do new Factions exist?
Yes. Each zone has its own faction and some daily quests associated with it. This is similar to WotLK. I have a link here with Faction Locations and Info:
Faction Locations
Useful Links:
Useful Dungeon Links
MMO Champion:
Blackrock Caverns
Grim Batol
Halls of Origination
The Stonecore
Throne of Tides
Vortex Pinnacle
Lost City of the Tol'Vir
Heroic Deadmines
Heroic Shadowfang Keep
Useful Trade Links:
Crafter's Tome
Mitarn's Archeology Guide
MMO Champion:
Archeology
Alchemy
Blacksmithing
Cooking
Enchanting
Engineering
Inscription
Jewelcrafting
Leatherworking
Tailoring
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I survived to the end and got nothing out of it, but hey.
