Leveling in regular Classic WoW is hard enough, but in Hardcore WoW leveling becomes a vastly different experience. In Hardcore WoW the best way to complete quests is to only fight green enemies and take on green quests. This makes it easier for players to hit enemies, makes it harder for enemies to land hits, and ensures that small mistakes don't become the end of a run.
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The best Hardcore World of Warcraft classes are those that can easily survive to max level, if players can manage their playstyles – and their pets.
The best way to ensure this happens as much as possible is to rotate between two or three zones at all times, only completing the easiest quests and killing near-trivial mobs to stay safe. The best Horde leveling route in WoW Hardcore sees players mostly spending time in Kalimdor and zones around Tirisfal Glades – but the long travel times should be the least of players' worries heading into this dangerous version of Azeroth.
Where To Go From Level 1 to 10 In Hardcore WoW
All Three Horde Starting Zones: Durotar, Tirisfal Glades, & Mulgore
After spawning into a starting zone, complete all the introductory quests until around level 6, head to the first major quest hub – Razor Hill, Brill, or Bloodhoof Village. Set your Hearthstone to the inn there, then head to another starting zone. This allows players to quickly get back to their original starting zone once they outlevel another, without spending money on flight paths.
Despite being so far away, it's actually easiest to travel between Tirisfal Glades and Durotar thanks to the Zeppelin system. Though Mulgore is only two zones away, it's separated by the Barrens, which low-level players will struggle to get through safely. To level in Mulgore, take a teleport to Thunder Bluff from a Mage or Warlock, but it's generally not necessary if players complete both Tirisfal Glades and Durotar.
Level 11 to 20 Horde Route & Zones
The Barrens & Silverpine Forest
One of the benefits of Mulgore and Durotar being so close to each other is that players only have to swap between two zones while leveling in this level bracket. While the Alliance has to manage Darkshore, Loch Modan, and Westfall, Horde players have the enormous Barrens and the shadowy Silverpine Forest.
Theoretically, players can level all the way to 20 and beyond in the Barrens alone. But with death on the line, it's best to complete a few levels' worth of quests in the Crossroads, then head to Silverpine Forest for a few levels. Come back to the Barrens around level 17 or 18 to finish up the Crossroads and head south for higher-level content.
Level 21 to 30 Horde Route & Zones
The Barrens, Ashenvale, Hillsbrad, Thousand Needles, & The Shimmering Flats
After finishing up most of the Barrens, and after completing most of Silverpine Forest, players will have likely reached the low Level 20s. Stay in the Barrens as long as feels feasible, then head to Ashenvale via the northern Barrens entrance – complete a few quests here, but be very careful of an Alliance Elite that wanders the forests.
After spending a level or two in Ashenvale, head to the south Silverpine Forest to get to the Hillsbrad Foothills. In this level bracket, players normally have to worry about PvP from all angles, but with PvP disabled in Hardcore WoW (unless tagged by an enemy faction NPC), things are a bit less dangerous. As always, don't get too confident, and keep your head on a swivel.Once players have spent a few hours in Ashenvale, head back to the southern Barrens for a few more mid-20s quests. Around Level 27 or 28, head to Thousand Needles. Here players will find a variety of quests intended for players up to level 35, but luckily, the nearby Shimmering Flats also has some high-20s-level quests to fill in the gaps. Stonetalon Mountains are a decent option, but other zones are less dangerous and offer more quests.
Level 31 to 40 Horde Route & Zones
Thousand Needles, The Shimmering Flats, Dustwallow Marsh, Desolace, & Stranglethorn Vale
Around Level 30 is when most classes in WoW have their Defensive cooldowns, powerful iconic spells, and hopefully great gear – significantly increasing players' likelihood of surviving. This level bracket, consequently, doesn't feel as tough as previous levels, especially if players make sure to outlevel enemies and quests whenever possible.
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Finishing up most of the Thousand Needles and Shimmering Flats quests should get players to the low-to-mid 30s, when it's a good idea to head over to Desolace for a few levels. Desolace can be accessed from Stonetalon Mountains, but players will have to make sure they don't aggro Alliance NPCs from Nijel's Point on the way down.
Around Level 35 or 36, head into Dustwallow Marsh and Stranglethorn Vale – via the southern Barrens and Zeppelin from Orgrimmar, respectively. Dustwallow, Desolace, and Stranglethorn will serve as players' main three rotating zones in the high 30s, and Dustwallow and Stranglethorn still offer quests into the 40s, too.
Level 41 to 50 Horde Route & Zones
Feralas, Swamp of Sorrows, Tanaris, Hinterlands
To start off the level 40 bracket, players should finish up Stranglethorn Vale and Dustwallow Marsh's quests, which ought to bring them to around Level 42 or 43. From there, head to the Swamp of Sorrows to get to around 43 or 44. From here, players should plan to spend most of their time in Feralas and Tanaris, starting with Tanaris and the Gadgetzan hub.
At around Level 46 head back to the Swamp of Sorrows to finish off the zone, then finish off the level bracket mostly in Feralas and Tanaris, which are conveniently close to each other and on the same continent as Orgrimmar.
At around level 48 players can start to take on quests in the Hinterlands, but Revantusk Village is a notoriously tough place to get to for Horde players, who must either swim along the coast for a long time or try to avoid Alliance NPCs from Hillsbrad.
Level 51 to 60 Horde Route & Zones
Azshara, Felwood, Blasted Lands, Un'Goro, Burning Steppes, Plaguelands
From Level 50 to 60, leveling slows way down, and grinding mobs to get to the next level will take up a lot of time. There aren't as many quests available in this level bracket, compared to the abundance in previous zones, but players are mostly safe from dying thanks to high-level gear, abilities, and hopefully general environmental awareness. Though there isn't too much to see there, start in Azshara for a few late 40s quests, then grind for a little bit in Felwood while completing the limited quests available in the west of the zone. At around Level 52, players can start thinking about going to the Blasted Lands and Un'Goro Crater, where lots of roaming elites can be a death sentence when aggroed. Around Level 56, players should head to the Western Plaguelands, accessible via the northern Hillsbrad Foothills and Alterac Mountains. This and the Eastern Plaguelands, alongside the Burning Steppes and the Blasted Lands, will be where players spend the majority of their late 50s leveling experience – for some easy XP, grind mobs on the way to and from quest objectives to make the journey a little less tedious.
World of Warcraft
- Released
- November 23, 2004
