Stranglethorn, Stranglethorn, Stranglethorn, Stranglethorn. My favourite zone of all-time. The oldschool one, that is. I have spent so much time with so many characters in there, to me it's just what I think of when I think about leveling in WoW. It just brings back so many great memories. And back in the day, with the Gurubashi Arena, a lvl 60 raid and all that pvp going on, it was just the essence of WoW in one zone. After that I loved Howling Fjord for its atmosphere and viking theme, duskwood for its storyline and most BC zones because in general, I just had a lot of fun in BC + the storyline, again, was very entertaining to me. Gotta mention though, I only did a little bit of questing in the WoTLk zones and barely did any questing in Cata and MoP.
indeed. the fact that it isnt on the list (its 1st on my personal) is just ridicilous. its easily the most atmospheric, creepy and awesome place in Azeroth.
It'll always be pre-Cata Tirisfal Glades for me. It was so tragic and haunting, every inch of it was dripping with darkness and loss and you really felt for your character. Playing there as a newb was genuinely scary purely from the ambience alone. I'll add Hillsbrad and the Plaguelands for their undead-ness as well.
***** I remember being a noob and playing there. It was so freaky! You felt like there was something hiding in the shadows ready to jump out of you at any moment. Especially seeing the blinking eyes in the bushes in Deathknell :P
little bit late, but post-cata tirisfal glades isn't bad either if you like being a villainous character. you get to experience a new undead scourge on the rise, building up and amassing their forces.
I loved Stranglethorn Vale back in Vanilla/BC, Although at the time I hated the constant running back and forth from Booty Bay with no fucking mount just to get killed by a level 38 Gorrilla at the side of the road, but when I think back to it, it was probably some of the most fun i've had leveling.
I totally agree, I loved this zone and it was the first zone, where i actually met the alliance players. I immediately fell in love with the constant PvP there and the sense of danger. Like one second you were killing a raptor and the other one some alliance were ganking you, or otherwise... pure fun :D
Yes. SV and booty bay was colorful and exciting. So many different animals & quests, so easy to aggro, lol. Solo or group was fun. The risk of getting ganked was always high. Definitely overlooked.
To me, the number one questing area will always be Darkshore, pre Cataclysm. Granted, it's for sentimental reasons- the first race I rolled back in 2008 was a night elf, and after the beauty of Teldrassil (another highpoint) Darkshore was my entire world for quite a few levels. I actually cried whwn I saw that Auberdine and the docks there were destroyed, and can remember the layout even now.
I love leveling up a worgen in Gilneas, my favorite zone by far! The questline is amazing with a great story to them, and it's so cool the fact that you start of with killing worgens and then turn into an worgen yourself, and the whole zone changes while you level in it! :D
+gellert varga In terms of leveling zones and atmosphere, yes. But Wotlk also introduced some shitty little details like Gearscore and this fuckin leveling gear (don't know the english word for it), that destroyed the whole balance throughout the leving phase!
Cyaneyed77 Oh man, I don't know why I loved Zangarmarsh so goddamn much. The quest wasn't anything special, but man I always looked forward to Zangarmarsh.
bmay91 Normally I would point out the obvious but the title of this vid is indeed 10 best 'leveling' zones and mentions nothing about questing, so you have made a good point. If you don't mind me asking can you summarize Westfall story for me? I had played in Vanilla so I have lived through Barrens chat. Post-cata Westfall is about murder, conspiracy, and betrayal of Hope, the daugther of Edwin VanCleef, true name Vanessa VC leading to another Defias Brotherhood uprising. But I don't think I remember much about pre-cata Westfall.
My favorite zones are the old Darkshore and Ashenvale. I loved exploring all of the dark corners and ruins within these zones and wonder how it would've looked if it were still populated. The Zoram Strand was my favorite place to visit and it didn't matter which level I was. Also; Duskwood had an EPIC storyline
Revamped Silverpine Forest is one of my favorites. It's kind of going back to Battle for the Undercity (which I am very angry that blizz removed) in that you fight side by side with one of the faction leaders to do something that feels meaningful. Here we help Sylvanas drive out the worgen and take hold on Gilneas. And as a bonus we get the second part of Godfrey's story of how he ended up in Shadowfang Keep. We even get a little bit of backstory (for those that didn't already know it) told by Sylvanas herself quite early in the zone.
I'm sure this might sound really lame, but I have a lot of fond memories of The Barrens! lol I loved questing there, until Blizzard screwed it up with Cata of course..
I have some very strong nostalgia for old Barrens, but I remember it being somewhat frustrating the first time through as a new player, and then a little tedious on a second character. Still, it's the first really immense zone a Horde player would pass through, and love it or hate it the Wailing Caverns was an event. I think my first expedition there took longer than three hours.
I know how you feel bro! I remeber that old nostalgic feeling, listening to the calm music, as you walk on the roads and lions and raptors are running around you. I think that zone should deserve a place on this list. :-)
Uldum, really? Here is what experience with Uldum was like, after getting through the prior zones "HEY DUDE WELCOME TO CATA, YOU WANNA FLY UP TO MOUNT HYJAL AND FIGHT OFF CULTISTS AND OGRES AND TEAM UP WITH ANCIENTS AND EVENTUALLY FIGHT OFF RAGNAROS?" "HELL YEAH!" "HEY DUDE WELCOME TO DEEPHOLM! ARE YOU READY TO FIGHT STONE DRAGONS AND TEAM UP WITH ELEMENTAL LORDS AT THE CENTER OF THE FUCKING EARTH, SO THE ENTIRE PLANET DOESN'T IMPLODE?" "HELL FUCKING YES, SIGN ME UP" "ALL RIGHT DUDE ITS TIME FOR ULDUM. ARE YOU READY TO HELP SETTLE A CIVIL WAR BETWEEN EGYPTIAN CAT CENTAURS?!" "Uh...what" "OH SHIT, I MEAN UH, WANNA TEAM UP WITH INDIANA JONES AFTER DOING A BUNCH OF OTHER BORING SHIT" "Uh.... sure okay, I guess!"
Lt_Doghouse Lets not overeact, Vashj'ir was really a awful and boring experience for lvling. the zone was so big that blizzard needed to split it in 3, it was so freaking long to get xp that for it's time getting to lvl 81 took me a whole day and for mount Hyjal 3 hours. Uldum was vast, but yet intresting in some ways...but the quest line was dull and the pleasure to do it was.........meh!
Goatmon Yup, agree. I did it once... Never again.. Vash'ir that is. Uldum was really nice to look at, but the quests, I just never got in to it. I guess it was interesting for a couple of minutes. I agree to what he said in the clip though, it was more like a movie montage then a nice leveling experience.
The one I was waiting for was... Ashenvale. Anyone who leveled there prior to the mess they made of it in Cata will remember that feeling of fantasy immersion the zone gave you with its mystical elven forest music and beautiful surroundings. Having an Alliance base on one side and Horde on the other also gave most people their first experience of PvP and made questing even more nerve-wrenching yet enjoyably exciting.
As a Tauren player for years Mulgore and the starting area for the Tauren brings a tear to my eye, just so simplistic and beautiful and the music it brings me back to my first day of wow.
+Jacob Garnsey Same I remember running around collecting peacebloom. It was my very first character so everything was so new and I couldn't wait to explore the rest of the world.
Vashj'ir is the most beautiful zone by far. It has so many special features to it, like going underwater, learning naga history first POV, even exploring two giant organisms from the inside, and after all that going into the depths of the depth into a stunningly gorgeous 5 man dungeon. I don't know how even Nagrand can be compared to it. Surprised it's not even on the list.
Think the issue it tanked in a way, was the underwater fighting. I too love Vahj'ir but I get what he means when he talks about it in the worst lvling areas.
What fighting specifics are so bad underwater? I can only imagine AoEs are unlcear to where they land, otherwise I quite enjoyed being able to move in all directions and swim ultrafast and run on the ground ultrafast. I totally don't get how can this zone be among a "worst" list.
I had no issue with it. Though, most likely range was easier then melee underwater due to needing be lined up and facing the mob and with it coming from every angle, I could see where it maybe annoying to some. I've been there a hunter so I can not say for sure personally. I personally, very much loved the area. It was very different with it being underwater, loved the story line and it was beautiful.
I can only speak for pre cata since i just played from vanilla to wotlk. My list: 1. Elwynn forest - first character, human warrior 2. searing gorge - so many memories in that zone its insane 3. The barrens - barrens chat was just too awesome 4. Loch modan - such a cosy place with good quests 5. Shadowmoon valley - mostly because of the lore and i got my netherwing drake there 6. Howling fjord - reminds me of the northern europe aka sweden and norway with awesome music 7. Eastern plaguelands - dinged 60 there and I just love the dark atmosphere there with the scourge 8. Western plaguelands - great lvling zone really with great lore 9. Tanaris - mostly because of the quests to zul'farrak and i had some really good times with my friends there 10. Felwood - Such a creepy place where every creature is cursed of some kind
Not that anyone cares, but my list: 10. Old Darkshore. Not an abundance of reasons, just liked it. 9. Zangarmarsh. Loved the color palette and feel, though not the quests. 8. Old Duskwood. Similar to the Plaguelands, the worgen stuff there (much like Silverpine Forest) was excellent, as well as Stitches and Abercrombie and just the way the darkness weighed on you. 7. Stranglethorn Vale. Loved the Hemingway reference in Hemet Nesingwary, loved the jungle theme, loved the pirates. 6. Grizzly Hills. The music is gloriosuly memorable, the return of Gryan Stoutmantle, Drakuru's questline. It was just plain awesome. 5. Borean Tundra. Yes, people seem to hate it, but from what I've gathered it sucks more for the Horde than it does for the Alliance (which I play exclusively). I loved Thassarian's questline, and I loved how desperate and tenuous the Alliance grasp on their beachhead felt. After questing through it five times, though, it starts to wear on you a bit. 4. Howling Fjord belongs much higher. 3. Dragonblight. Angrathar: The Wrath Gate. 'Nuf said. 2. Icecrown. Where to start? Argent Tournament, ICC, the Vrykul, the destruction of the Scarlet Onslaught, Quel'Delar and oh-so-much Scourgy goodness. 1. Both of the old Plaguelands. They're fucking STEEPED in lore. It kills me every time I see how Blizzard changed them post-Cataclysm. The dungeons, too, were so awesome until Cataclysm rolled around. I still keep Blood of Heroes and my Argent Dawn Commission in my bank as keepsakes.
Topic for the next discussion. Comments left there may get featured in the next video - and please note ONLY THE *worst* ZONE (another top 10) comments will be featured: www.reddit.com/r/theddguides/comments/1wojhc/top_5_bestworst_zones/ If you'd like to suggest a future discussion or "Top 5/10" video, please leave a post over at www.reddit.com/r/theddguides or upvote the one you want to see made!
I only started playing in MoP and I hate leveling through 85 to 90 all together although my least favorite leveling stone must be deepholm. I hated the quests, terrain and everything else about deepholm.
Worst zone to level in currently is felwood as it has no decent questing hubs and anything you do find to do is booring and grindy, its small and doesn't give any good vibes, in vanilla it had a purpose for the giant chicken Q thing for the warlock quest or w/e and the furlbolg cave to winterspring that you can get rep with, but now its crap
Darkshore. It is jsut a really boring and dull looking zone. And I always found myself skipping it. It also looks really similar to Teldrassil, so you don't get that good "zone-contrast" when moving to the next leveling zone.
The worst zone IMO had to be Wetlands. I remember as alliance, you'd get hit not by one mob, but it seemed like 2-3 mobs would get pulled no matter which direction you went. As leveling my first alliance, no BoA, newb, I found myself getting wrecked. I went horde shortly after :)
I've played this game since early 2004 (stopped around a year ago), so I've experienced a lot of the zones in the Vanillia glory, and how it is now. But no zone is a match for Grizzly Hills imo. The music is absolutely fantastic, the whole storyline is so well done, and the landscape is amazing. You have everything in one zone: the war between the Alliance and Horde, Giants, cool wild animals, Pirates, Worgens, Undeads (the plauge), Trolls, Titan and Oldgold story and at last the former Worldtree and furbolgs. The zone is so relaxing and cool. If I needed to chill a bit in world, I always flew over to a lil island over here, and fished for the Sea Turtle
MY personal favorite is Feralas. its beautiful, its "elvish-ey" i feel like teldrassil the epitomes of fantasy zones. and the fact that it is pretty much unchanged. Would like to see more Night Elf lore and zones. Night Elves are IN MY OPINION the best race and the fact that elvish fantasy lore is so vast there is a lot you could do with it. I mean come on They are I THINK the oldest race in azeroth you see all kinds of elvish ruins every where i find it hard to believe they have like no more than three NE quest zones. Either way Feralas is my favorit zone.
He also managed to neglect the Draenei starting zone of Azyremyst Isle, a more serene and tranquil zone you will have to look around for. This along with the old-school Darkshore were my two favorite locations. I used to LIVE in Auberdine before Cata - it was a choke-point for all Horde raids ever (practically 1-2 a day on Argent Dawn back in the day) and the little town itself is just so terribly cute and homely. Or rather it was. F U Blizzard, that was my home you destroyed :'(
I loved both Teldrassil, (pre-cata) Dark Shore and Ashenvale more than Stonetalon, IC or Elvyn. But Dayton Cassel I think you are mistaken. NEs are not the oldest race. Dragons are. ^^ But leaving funny creatures aside, Trolls are the first humanoid, flesh and blood creatures of Azeroth. From trolls (through the "Well of Eternity" the Titans placed in Azeroth) evolved the "Kaldorei" (elves), they built an empire, some of them screwed around with magic (calling themselves "Highborne"), those who feared disaster remained "Kaldorie". Then of course they were right, sh*t happened, Burning Legion came, war broke out, Kaldorei civilization pretty much destroyed. The surviving Kaldorei renamed themselves Night Elves, while the surviving Highborne renamed themselves High Elves. After some wandering they settled down in a place they called Quel'Thalas and continued to screw around with magic, creating the Sunwell. That's right, later it goes bad again, scourge comes, lots of loss, so they (again) rename themselves, now to "Blood Elves". I think that sums up the elvish race. Anyway... Though Dwarves were present even before all that, they were...not exactly like they are now. The first ones were carved from stone by the Titans, and were more of earth elemental beings than flesh and blood they are now. Then... They realized it'd be fun to create things out of things other than stone, so they made mecha Gnomes, iron Dwarves and such. If I'm not mistaken, it was the "curse of flesh" that made these races into puny meatbags. And the Draenei... They are rather old as well, probably older than the rest, but aren't from Azeroth. Vyrkul were present for a quite some time as well, seemingly vanished at some point, don't know their role but they're the ancestors of humans. They aren't THAT old though. So first (probably) the Dwarves of stone (if you consider them alive, later similar beings of such kind). Dragons were blessed by the Titans as well around that time, I'd probably put then in 2nd place. Trolls were the first humanoid flesh and blood creatures, then the predecessors of the elves. Orcs came from another planet as well as the Draenei. Tauren "are as old as the Night Elves" so they are pretty "young", considering how NElves came to be. Them, with the rest of the races came afterwards. ...Or something like that. It's been long since I've read it, so if anyone could correct me, that'd be great.
I cant believe you left out Durotar. I have 6 different orc characters and i really loved the whole aesthetic to the zone and meeting up with the trolls. Plus, the quests take you back over to the islands that Rexxar had saved the trolls from in warcraft 3. It had nice lore and will forever be filled with nostalgia for not only me, but dozens of horde players.
Teldrassil is probably my favorite leveling zone, probably due to the fact that my first toon was a Night Elf but I will never forget the countless fun and memories I had with my friend in that place.
Am I the only one that loved leveling in Zangarmarsh? I thought the whole place with gorgeous with the giant mushrooms and unique mobs. Probably my favorite place in the game.
Andrew Adams I still love Un'Goro, mostly because it's the "shout-out" zone, with lots of nods to games and movies in it, especially The Legend of Zelda. :)
Love this list!! These zones are all the ones that I miss and desperately want to play whenever I'm not subbed to WoW, and are the ones that bring me back every time. And I have most of the soundtracks for these zones which add so much nostalgia and feels!
There is way to many LK zones in this list, but if I have to uses this list and put it in orders then, It would be... 10: Eversong Wood 9: Stonetalon Mountain 8: Icecrown 7: Grizzly Hill 6: Storm Peaks 5: Jade Forest 4: Uldum 3: Nagrand 2: Howling Fjord 1: Elwynn Forest. And my personnal best is of course *Westfall* each time I make a new character I always do 90% of the quest in than zone with them.
I love westfall too... and I always play horde! Agreed on the too much LK stuff. I hated Wotlk and it always weirds me out when people go on about how great it presumably was.
Fuck Elwynn Forest, such an overrated place. I also dislike Westfall, but I suppose that's partly because I played as a night elf druid back in vanilla. That said, I don't like Icecrown that much either. The list could do without Storm Peaks as well. Apart from DD's top 3, I don't really care for any of the other zones on the list.
No love for Sholazar Basin? I thought it was much better than Nagrand. The hunting quests were pretty good and there was a good storyline overall in the zone.
Imo: 3. Nagrand 2. Grizzly hills 1. Azuremyst Isle. My first ever character was a Draenei and this zone was FUCKING AMAZING! The music, the atmosphere with the purple lighting, majestic creatures, and just everything made me squeal with excitement to explore and play the game. Overall. One of the best zones ever, and for me, the most nostalgic.
This list makes me very happy! Love every single one of these zones, i especially love that Nagrand got number 1 for it holds a special place in my heart!
Netherstorm was my favorite. I liked Nagrand. But Netherstorm was literally a Nether storm. And How The Pure magic was everywhere, even being forged. And the Destroyed Islands around the areas with Even Arcane domes fit with life in such a desolate environment. But one could easily dislike it thinking its a clusterfuck.
do one for world of warcraft zone soundtracks.because some of them are so amazing,my favorite is sholazar basin,i played hunter and was searching for Loque'nahak so long and failed in the end.but time wasted on that is not even close as a time wasted searching for time-lost proto drake i found vyragosa like 10 times but not time-lost proto but he atleast lives up to his name.so many time was lost searching for him.
I loved how you let the music play for a few seconds before saying what zone it was, maybe I'm just weird but I was glad that I could tell what zone was coming up just by the track you played.
Uhg. Hated Jade Forest... Especially on day one when everyone got stuck on the gunship at the very beginning for about an hour or two because no one could click the object that jumped you off.
I absolutely hate Eversong woods It takes far too long to get to from one quest to another,not to mention 80% of the quest are actually to just talk to a guy or deliver something It made me rage quit my blood elf after i got to level 10 and i have never made another one again
You talked about music so much im suprised you didnt do Teldrassil or Ashvenvale. ANYBODY who made a night elf could tell you the nostalgic vibe they get just by walking out of darnassus, either to the night elf starting area or just to the boats. Not only that if they made alliance, a lot of people rolled that race, simply for the fantasy aspect, and the quests then were perfect.
BurakkuHishou Pretty much this. Although I'm Horde at heart, my very first character was a NE because I wanted to play with my brother. Anytime I hear the first notes of the Shadowglen BGM I get massive nostalgia of stepping into this massive world for the first time (and then discovering Teldrassil was in fact pretty small !). Now on my Troll main, I sometimes fly there just to listen to the music and remember the old quests.
Storm Peaks were my favourite. Leveling through Wotlk I was generally bored through most of Northrend. Personally, I didn't like Howling Fjord or Grizzly Hills, but when I got to the Storm Peaks I fell in love with it so fast. The environments, the quest lines, the lore, and obviously the music. The Storm Peaks are home to some of my fondest memories of World of Warcraft.
Cataclysm revamp on the old zones was a big mistake. I would have preferred just getting a new continent similar to what BC, Wrath, and Mists did. If something's not broken, don't try to fix it.
I liked most of the Cata revamps, but I'll agree that some was really unnecessary, which is even more painful when you consider the zones that DID need a revamp the most (Arathi Highlands and Silithus, notably) were barely touched.
Verunme I quite liked the revamps, the problem was the levelling itself being more dull and repetitive than it needed to be. The design of the zones in the Cata revamps were great. I levelled in every zone atleast in some way on the way to 60 back in the day, and some of them were awful. So in Cata, zones were improved, but the levelling experience and enjoyment were lost.
The revamp of the low level undead zones was amazing. currently they are some of the best questing in the game. The story in silverpine is unequaled anywhere in wow.
Verunme Meh, I disliked the revamps in general. Barrens, Ashenvale, even Darkshore were made horrible in my opinion. Some zones improved I agree, but again "in general" I really disliked it. And you are right on spot, some zones that needed improvements were left out of the picture.
Still the calmest zone in the game. Always felt like going on holiday when you go there. I might actually have to start playing again when WoD releases just to see what they do with it.
Bilbo Baggins Better yet was to catch someone AFK or having a duel on one of those islands. Drop down and kill em both. The swearing must have been epic.
Oh my god I totally agree, not only with the list, but with the fact that you said you loved the Storm Peaks music. It's my all time favorite music in WoW.
I'm basically surprised not to see Sholazar Basin and Dragonblight on the list too. Holy crap Northrend was truly amazing, a masterpiece. Well, aside from Borean Tundra and Zul'Drak, but I guess nothing can be perfect. I truly loved WotLK, it was an amazing expansion. I miss it.
Matt Hallada I agree. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't good. The first quests at Borean Tundra was a fucking drag though, and the zone as a whole wasn't exciting. That zone actually is bad.
Mulgore will forever be my favorite zone in any MMO (I've tested this theory a few times). When I first began playing warcrack, my first character was a Tauren druid that I still have. I spent endless amount of time running around Mulgore being amazed by everything I found. Nostalgia...
I love this video and I love the fact that Elwynn forest is included, the pre-cataclysm version was so beautiful and the music... oh the music. Sometimes i'll put it on and just weep, and I don't just shed a tear or two, I weep like a baby taken from it's mother.. and I have no idea why
Agreed. It was just a grindfest without a heck of a lot of variety. And it was practically a necessity to level there because the lines gave so much exp. Also, screw Corki.
It looked good and had decent quests but I always have stayed there for only a short time to finally reach 68 in Shadowmoon Valley, it felt much more epic.
My favourite leveling zone was vannila eastern plaguelands. It just felt preety god damn epic to slaughter millions of undead and seeing uther's tomb. Second favourite is vanilla Stranglethorn vale. I felt like a real hunter when i completed the game hunter quests and then you go booty bay and BAM pirates everywhere! And my third favourite is(prepare your anus) vashj'ir. I really liked that you want to go fight the horde one minute later you are frickin drowning. 10 minutes later you are being dragged away. Another 10 mins later you got your sea pony(lol) and then later on you are in a giant ass thing's stomach and then a hour later you see the past with a naga's eyes. Only thing i did not liked is the scrapped abyssal maw raid. And my most hated leveling zones: cata plaguelands ;(
Shadowmoon Valley was better than Nagrand. Any place where the overarching story ties in to the environment is good in my book. Nagrand has nothing to do with the Burning Crusade, it might as well not exist except for that little ridge in the west.
As much as I know MoP was unpopular with a lot of players, I feel that 3 of the best questing zones in the game were introduced in MoP. Jade Forest (which did make the list here), Valley of the Four Winds, and Kun-Lai Summit. He covered the points about Jade Forest. I love VotFW because of both the music (especially at night...stop and listen to it sometime...so peaceful) and the visual design of the zone. It really feels like this fertile farmland, like a place where the Pandaren live and work, not like the typical zone with a few isolated quest hubs and then a bunch of places that are just full of mobs to kill. As for Kun-lai, it's just epic. Huge mountains, awesome visuals, amazing music...and Grummles.
Jade Forest and pretty much the whole design team for MoP deserve a ton of credit. I mean temples and villages everywhere.. Compared to other xpacs when you go to a zone it's just one giant castle and a couple of stick huts here and there.. lol but MoP you really felt like it was a brand new world/game. It was amazing
Man, I loved Stormpeaks. The music is utterly amazing and only adds to the plainly calm solitude that it is. Most people were questing in Icecrown and thus the old remnants of the Titans truly felt abandoned, buried beneath the snow. Walking through the massive temple entrances as a small Gnome, throwing javelins off dragon horseback, befriending those giants. It really felt amazing.
I can't believe, levelling zones are the focus of this video and not one single Night Elf zone was mentioned in this list, truly unbelievable. Night Elf zones have some of the most beautiful music in the game. I often stood around just listening to the music.
Thank goodness! When you got all the way to second place and didn’t mention Nagrand yet I got worried. Easily my favorite region and was the sole reason I searched for a RUclips video that talked about the best regions just to see if I wasn’t alone. Oh how I miss those floating waterfalls and trolling people with my Druid!
Really? No Stranglethorn Vale? Ungoro Crater? Zangarmarsh? Plaguelands? Silverpine? Usually your lists are awesome, but I gotta disagree with this one.
Keyshell Ungoro was SHIT, idk after cata i always skipped it, the pre-cata made me so damn sick i never wanted to see it ever again ever in my life ever
McGliga After Cata is when they added Maximillian of Northshire, who in my opinion is the best comic relief in the whole game xD Only positive thing about Ungoro though.
Keyshell Stranglethorn is literally worse than Hitler. Everything fucking tries to kill you, it's a nightmare due to the sheer amount of capped players who are there for no apparent reason.
i dont like Nagrand. i dreaded having to grind through it when leveling. i would rush the RoB and Hemitt quests so i could gtfo of that zone asap. id have put Duskwood on this list personally
I so glad my top three are the top three on this list, I absolutely adore Grizzly's music and Uldum's aesthetic and I always make sure to level in them whenever I make new alts
Where the fuck is Barrens? Mankirk's wife? Crossroads fights? Ratchet gathers to attack Thrall by Alliance? Sorry this video is ruined without barrens. EDIT: I now remember, you're Alliance, it makes sense as to why Barrens isn't even mentioned in your video. For the Horde, and even as a player who's played both factions extensively, nothing compares to the Barrens, being thrown into the open wilderness with the chaos that ensued. There's a reason why barrens chat is somewhat of a meme in WoW.
Although I agree that The Barrens was a great zone, other than the nostalgia of player interaction, the area was rather stale. There wasn't much lore to discover, the music was okay at best, and it took (or at least it seemed) forever to get get through.
Good list, in my opinion. For me I'd say my favorite zone is probably Jade Forest, but that's mostly because I like zones that are pretty to look at and make you feel like you're interacting with the game world. Jade forest looks goddamn amazing and between befriending indigenous species, chilling with Cho, training at a monastery, and the series of events leading up to the fishalliance vs monkeyhorde showdown, the experience was second to none.
Weird, I loved Eversong. I've made tons of blood elves now, more than any other race, just levelling them up through the starting zone and than abandoning them once they'd left the Ghostlands. The music, the story, the lore, all of it was perfect.
Pyro Monkey I also love the music,lore and style, but the questing experience is horribly outdated. There is too much running back and forth between the quest hubs. Some of the mobs are too close to each other, which gives problems for certain classes at low levels and the drop rate of certain quest items is ridiculously low. Worst of all the "Traitor's Destruction" quest in the Ghostlands still requires a group of 4-5 people and unless you can get a high level guild buddy to help you, you're gonna have a hard time finding enough people who are on that quest. Nobody likes group quests anymore. If only Blizzard would revamp the quests, it would appeal to both new players and blood elf fans like you and me.
imagine leveling in grizzly hills at 8 am with a cold weather drinking hot coffee and listening to the gorgeous music oh my god the feeling
loved grizzly hills
Stranglethorn, Stranglethorn, Stranglethorn, Stranglethorn.
My favourite zone of all-time. The oldschool one, that is.
I have spent so much time with so many characters in there, to me it's just what I think of when I think about leveling in WoW. It just brings back so many great memories.
And back in the day, with the Gurubashi Arena, a lvl 60 raid and all that pvp going on, it was just the essence of WoW in one zone.
After that I loved Howling Fjord for its atmosphere and viking theme, duskwood for its storyline and most BC zones because in general, I just had a lot of fun in BC + the storyline, again, was very entertaining to me. Gotta mention though, I only did a little bit of questing in the WoTLk zones and barely did any questing in Cata and MoP.
Oh dear, where did Duskwood go? was amazing before and after Cata! I always stop my dungeon leveling spamming at that level just to do that zone.
indeed. the fact that it isnt on the list (its 1st on my personal) is just ridicilous.
its easily the most atmospheric, creepy and awesome place in Azeroth.
HighConCannibal I hate duskwood, I hate most zones to be honest
I love duskwood too till now *.*
Do you level atm so we can level together while making love
It'll always be pre-Cata Tirisfal Glades for me. It was so tragic and haunting, every inch of it was dripping with darkness and loss and you really felt for your character. Playing there as a newb was genuinely scary purely from the ambience alone. I'll add Hillsbrad and the Plaguelands for their undead-ness as well.
***** I remember being a noob and playing there. It was so freaky! You felt like there was something hiding in the shadows ready to jump out of you at any moment. Especially seeing the blinking eyes in the bushes in Deathknell :P
***** Oh god that damn ambiance. If you had good headphones with the bass turned up, that was all you could hear XD.
little bit late, but post-cata tirisfal glades isn't bad either if you like being a villainous character. you get to experience a new undead scourge on the rise, building up and amassing their forces.
Atmospherically the best 1-10 levelling by far, so scary and great questing. I used to love wandering round it's dark corners.
I loved Stranglethorn Vale back in Vanilla/BC, Although at the time I hated the constant running back and forth from Booty Bay with no fucking mount just to get killed by a level 38 Gorrilla at the side of the road, but when I think back to it, it was probably some of the most fun i've had leveling.
I totally agree, I loved this zone and it was the first zone, where i actually met the alliance players. I immediately fell in love with the constant PvP there and the sense of danger. Like one second you were killing a raptor and the other one some alliance were ganking you, or otherwise... pure fun :D
Yes. SV and booty bay was colorful and exciting. So many different animals & quests, so easy to aggro, lol. Solo or group was fun. The risk of getting ganked was always high. Definitely overlooked.
3:23 I unknowingly rolled on Moonguard for my first toon, so Goldshire was an entirely different experience for me...
+Wrangle McDangle Sorry bro. You're not the first one....
+Wrangle McDangle XD
Cataclysm Silverpine? Great lore, fun quests, good implementation of guilneas and one of the most important moments for Sylvanases character arc.
Certainly would of come before nagrand.
Duskwood was one of my favourite zones. The only "scarily" theme zone.
To me, the number one questing area will always be Darkshore, pre Cataclysm. Granted, it's for sentimental reasons- the first race I rolled back in 2008 was a night elf, and after the beauty of Teldrassil (another highpoint) Darkshore was my entire world for quite a few levels. I actually cried whwn I saw that Auberdine and the docks there were destroyed, and can remember the layout even now.
I love leveling up a worgen in Gilneas, my favorite zone by far! The questline is amazing with a great story to them, and it's so cool the fact that you start of with killing worgens and then turn into an worgen yourself, and the whole zone changes while you level in it! :D
Undead/Worgen/Human are my favourite starting zones never bothers me running them 💙
did anyone else really enjoy loch modan?
me bro
Yes! Loved it!
(^-^)/
fantastic... pre Cata that is
along with vash'jir they're my favorite zones
whole Northrend is a masterpiece. Wotlk was the best expansion IMO. And the music... Brilliant!
+gellert varga In terms of leveling zones and atmosphere, yes. But Wotlk also introduced some shitty little details like Gearscore and this fuckin leveling gear (don't know the english word for it), that destroyed the whole balance throughout the leving phase!
+Gian-Marco Moder oh and made dungeons easy which made backclash in cata and destroyed cata as an experience
Whole northrend, Boring Tundra and east Dragon Blight
I agree, but seriously boring...I mean borean tundra or Zul' Something wansn't that good....
Just wait until August 30th
No Zangarmarsh? That was always my favourite.
Yeah zangarmarsh was awesome!
Zangarmarsh was the best !
Cyaneyed77 Oh man, I don't know why I loved Zangarmarsh so goddamn much. The quest wasn't anything special, but man I always looked forward to Zangarmarsh.
how are you gonna leave the pre-cataclysm Barrens and Westfall off? Westfall was amazing, and Barrens general chat alone should've convinced you
westfall is in my top 10 (vanilla version), but i hated it when they add the tornado in that zone, kinda kill the peaceful atmosphere of the zone
I miss Westfall ;-;
bmay91 I feel Barrens General was only interesting on Horde side. Any time I was there as Alliance it was next to vacant.
bmay91 Normally I would point out the obvious but the title of this vid is indeed 10 best 'leveling' zones and mentions nothing about questing, so you have made a good point.
If you don't mind me asking can you summarize Westfall story for me? I had played in Vanilla so I have lived through Barrens chat. Post-cata Westfall is about murder, conspiracy, and betrayal of Hope, the daugther of Edwin VanCleef, true name Vanessa VC leading to another Defias Brotherhood uprising. But I don't think I remember much about pre-cata Westfall.
Andrew Y P IIRC it was primarily about uncovering a Defias plot that would put Stormwind in Jeopardy that culminated in VanCleef's death.
My favorite zones are the old Darkshore and Ashenvale. I loved exploring all of the dark corners and ruins within these zones and wonder how it would've looked if it were still populated. The Zoram Strand was my favorite place to visit and it didn't matter which level I was.
Also; Duskwood had an EPIC storyline
4 of the 10 zones are from WOTLK. That only confirms that WOTLK was the BEST expansion! I loved it!
zizamdidan Ja, han gör väldigt bra videor. Vem är du förresten? =)
zizamdidan Okej, vad kul att du gillar min channel. =) Nästa vecka kommer resultaten presenteras från min tävling i två olika videor.
no 10 minus 4 minus the version of the game 3 equals 3 HALF LIFE 3 CONFIRMED
Wowmusicable Warcraft Music Wrath raids got shitty quick though.
Revamped Silverpine Forest is one of my favorites. It's kind of going back to Battle for the Undercity (which I am very angry that blizz removed) in that you fight side by side with one of the faction leaders to do something that feels meaningful. Here we help Sylvanas drive out the worgen and take hold on Gilneas. And as a bonus we get the second part of Godfrey's story of how he ended up in Shadowfang Keep. We even get a little bit of backstory (for those that didn't already know it) told by Sylvanas herself quite early in the zone.
I'm sure this might sound really lame, but I have a lot of fond memories of The Barrens! lol I loved questing there, until Blizzard screwed it up with Cata of course..
I have some very strong nostalgia for old Barrens, but I remember it being somewhat frustrating the first time through as a new player, and then a little tedious on a second character. Still, it's the first really immense zone a Horde player would pass through, and love it or hate it the Wailing Caverns was an event. I think my first expedition there took longer than three hours.
I know how you feel bro! I remeber that old nostalgic feeling, listening to the calm music, as you walk on the roads and lions and raptors are running around you. I think that zone should deserve a place on this list. :-)
Barrens chat
Cody Crawford "where is Mankriks wife?"
Nostalgia
Is that the scent of vanilla tears?
I've seen this video 3 times unknowingly, and every time the line "And you know that Arthas is at the top, planning shit" get's me.
Stranglethorn Pre Revamp..? That was most players lives from 28 to 45 !
It was nice visually and had a nice feel to it, but fuck all those grinding quests with low drops...
I love how you emphasize the music. It's such an important aspect of the game that many seem to overlook!
true... but to be honest I didn't like most of the music that everyone here loves. Just not my thing.
Uldum, really?
Here is what experience with Uldum was like, after getting through the prior zones
"HEY DUDE WELCOME TO CATA, YOU WANNA FLY UP TO MOUNT HYJAL AND FIGHT OFF CULTISTS AND OGRES AND TEAM UP WITH ANCIENTS AND EVENTUALLY FIGHT OFF RAGNAROS?"
"HELL YEAH!"
"HEY DUDE WELCOME TO DEEPHOLM! ARE YOU READY TO FIGHT STONE DRAGONS AND TEAM UP WITH ELEMENTAL LORDS AT THE CENTER OF THE FUCKING EARTH, SO THE ENTIRE PLANET DOESN'T IMPLODE?"
"HELL FUCKING YES, SIGN ME UP"
"ALL RIGHT DUDE ITS TIME FOR ULDUM. ARE YOU READY TO HELP SETTLE A CIVIL WAR BETWEEN EGYPTIAN CAT CENTAURS?!"
"Uh...what"
"OH SHIT, I MEAN UH, WANNA TEAM UP WITH INDIANA JONES AFTER DOING A BUNCH OF OTHER BORING SHIT"
"Uh.... sure okay, I guess!"
The world ending weapon should have been the centre of the story....
I SAID THE SAME GODAMN THING ITS REALLY BAD I HATE ULDUM I WOULD HAVE MORE OF THAT GODMAN UNDERWATER PLACE THAN ULDUM I HATE IT!!!!!!!!!!
Lt_Doghouse Nah, Uldum was just dull.
Vash'ir was actively TERRIBLE.
It was just the worst. Easily the most awful leveling zone in Cata.
Lt_Doghouse Lets not overeact, Vashj'ir was really a awful and boring experience for lvling. the zone was so big that blizzard needed to split it in 3, it was so freaking long to get xp that for it's time getting to lvl 81 took me a whole day and for mount Hyjal 3 hours. Uldum was vast, but yet intresting in some ways...but the quest line was dull and the pleasure to do it was.........meh!
Goatmon Yup, agree. I did it once... Never again.. Vash'ir that is.
Uldum was really nice to look at, but the quests, I just never got in to it. I guess it was interesting for a couple of minutes. I agree to what he said in the clip though, it was more like a movie montage then a nice leveling experience.
The one I was waiting for was... Ashenvale. Anyone who leveled there prior to the mess they made of it in Cata will remember that feeling of fantasy immersion the zone gave you with its mystical elven forest music and beautiful surroundings. Having an Alliance base on one side and Horde on the other also gave most people their first experience of PvP and made questing even more nerve-wrenching yet enjoyably exciting.
As a Tauren player for years Mulgore and the starting area for the Tauren brings a tear to my eye, just so simplistic and beautiful and the music it brings me back to my first day of wow.
+Jacob Garnsey Same I remember running around collecting peacebloom. It was my very first character so everything was so new and I couldn't wait to explore the rest of the world.
Vashj'ir is the most beautiful zone by far. It has so many special features to it, like going underwater, learning naga history first POV, even exploring two giant organisms from the inside, and after all that going into the depths of the depth into a stunningly gorgeous 5 man dungeon. I don't know how even Nagrand can be compared to it. Surprised it's not even on the list.
Think the issue it tanked in a way, was the underwater fighting. I too love Vahj'ir but I get what he means when he talks about it in the worst lvling areas.
What fighting specifics are so bad underwater? I can only imagine AoEs are unlcear to where they land, otherwise I quite enjoyed being able to move in all directions and swim ultrafast and run on the ground ultrafast. I totally don't get how can this zone be among a "worst" list.
I had no issue with it. Though, most likely range was easier then melee underwater due to needing be lined up and facing the mob and with it coming from every angle, I could see where it maybe annoying to some. I've been there a hunter so I can not say for sure personally. I personally, very much loved the area. It was very different with it being underwater, loved the story line and it was beautiful.
I can only speak for pre cata since i just played from vanilla to wotlk.
My list:
1. Elwynn forest - first character, human warrior
2. searing gorge - so many memories in that zone its insane
3. The barrens - barrens chat was just too awesome
4. Loch modan - such a cosy place with good quests
5. Shadowmoon valley - mostly because of the lore and i got my netherwing drake there
6. Howling fjord - reminds me of the northern europe aka sweden and norway with awesome music
7. Eastern plaguelands - dinged 60 there and I just love the dark atmosphere there with the scourge
8. Western plaguelands - great lvling zone really with great lore
9. Tanaris - mostly because of the quests to zul'farrak and i had some really good times with my friends there
10. Felwood - Such a creepy place where every creature is cursed of some kind
Not that anyone cares, but my list:
10. Old Darkshore. Not an abundance of reasons, just liked it.
9. Zangarmarsh. Loved the color palette and feel, though not the quests.
8. Old Duskwood. Similar to the Plaguelands, the worgen stuff there (much like Silverpine Forest) was excellent, as well as Stitches and Abercrombie and just the way the darkness weighed on you.
7. Stranglethorn Vale. Loved the Hemingway reference in Hemet Nesingwary, loved the jungle theme, loved the pirates.
6. Grizzly Hills. The music is gloriosuly memorable, the return of Gryan Stoutmantle, Drakuru's questline. It was just plain awesome.
5. Borean Tundra. Yes, people seem to hate it, but from what I've gathered it sucks more for the Horde than it does for the Alliance (which I play exclusively). I loved Thassarian's questline, and I loved how desperate and tenuous the Alliance grasp on their beachhead felt. After questing through it five times, though, it starts to wear on you a bit.
4. Howling Fjord belongs much higher.
3. Dragonblight. Angrathar: The Wrath Gate. 'Nuf said.
2. Icecrown. Where to start? Argent Tournament, ICC, the Vrykul, the destruction of the Scarlet Onslaught, Quel'Delar and oh-so-much Scourgy goodness.
1. Both of the old Plaguelands. They're fucking STEEPED in lore. It kills me every time I see how Blizzard changed them post-Cataclysm. The dungeons, too, were so awesome until Cataclysm rolled around. I still keep Blood of Heroes and my Argent Dawn Commission in my bank as keepsakes.
I loved WotLK. So many fond memories leveling alts there and completing the many fun dungeons.
Back when Danger Dolan was a Warcraft channel, The Warlords of Dreanor happened and he hated it ever since
Topic for the next discussion. Comments left there may get featured in the next video - and please note ONLY THE *worst* ZONE (another top 10) comments will be featured: www.reddit.com/r/theddguides/comments/1wojhc/top_5_bestworst_zones/
If you'd like to suggest a future discussion or "Top 5/10" video, please leave a post over at www.reddit.com/r/theddguides or upvote the one you want to see made!
I only started playing in MoP and I hate leveling through 85 to 90 all together although my least favorite leveling stone must be deepholm. I hated the quests, terrain and everything else about deepholm.
Worst zone to level in currently is felwood as it has no decent questing hubs and anything you do find to do is booring and grindy, its small and doesn't give any good vibes, in vanilla it had a purpose for the giant chicken Q thing for the warlock quest or w/e and the furlbolg cave to winterspring that you can get rep with, but now its crap
My top 5 worst:
5) Draenei starting area
4) Vash'jr
3) Hellfire
2) Silithus
1) Dreadful Waste of a zone. (Dread Wastes)
Darkshore. It is jsut a really boring and dull looking zone. And I always found myself skipping it. It also looks really similar to Teldrassil, so you don't get that good "zone-contrast" when moving to the next leveling zone.
The worst zone IMO had to be Wetlands. I remember as alliance, you'd get hit not by one mob, but it seemed like 2-3 mobs would get pulled no matter which direction you went. As leveling my first alliance, no BoA, newb, I found myself getting wrecked. I went horde shortly after :)
WHERE D FLUCK IS SHOLAZAR BASIN??
OMG YES
YES
FenerocityGaming am I the only one who hates all of northerend? I don't like dragonblight and out of northerend that's my favourite
Omggg yes! I loved the tropical feeling of it
yes
To this day, Eversong Woods is still my favourite zone in the Eastern Kingdoms.
Me too :)
My list:
10. Redridge Mountains
9. Feralas
8. Uldum
7. The Hinterlands
6. Nagrand
5. Dragonblight
4. Grizzly Hills
3. Sholazar Basin
2. Eversong Woods
1. Storm Peaks
I've played this game since early 2004 (stopped around a year ago), so I've experienced a lot of the zones in the Vanillia glory, and how it is now. But no zone is a match for Grizzly Hills imo. The music is absolutely fantastic, the whole storyline is so well done, and the landscape is amazing. You have everything in one zone: the war between the Alliance and Horde, Giants, cool wild animals, Pirates, Worgens, Undeads (the plauge), Trolls, Titan and Oldgold story and at last the former Worldtree and furbolgs. The zone is so relaxing and cool. If I needed to chill a bit in world, I always flew over to a lil island over here, and fished for the Sea Turtle
MY personal favorite is Feralas. its beautiful, its "elvish-ey" i feel like teldrassil the epitomes of fantasy zones. and the fact that it is pretty much unchanged. Would like to see more Night Elf lore and zones. Night Elves are IN MY OPINION the best race and the fact that elvish fantasy lore is so vast there is a lot you could do with it. I mean come on They are I THINK the oldest race in azeroth you see all kinds of elvish ruins every where i find it hard to believe they have like no more than three NE quest zones. Either way Feralas is my favorit zone.
He also managed to neglect the Draenei starting zone of Azyremyst Isle, a more serene and tranquil zone you will have to look around for. This along with the old-school Darkshore were my two favorite locations. I used to LIVE in Auberdine before Cata - it was a choke-point for all Horde raids ever (practically 1-2 a day on Argent Dawn back in the day) and the little town itself is just so terribly cute and homely.
Or rather it was. F U Blizzard, that was my home you destroyed :'(
Terenin Probably because the Draenei starting zone is so fucking boring.
Agree 100%. So much potential in Teldressel and Darnasus. So sad to see 1 or 2 people around, if you're lucky. I remember when it was packed.
I loved both Teldrassil, (pre-cata) Dark Shore and Ashenvale more than Stonetalon, IC or Elvyn.
But Dayton Cassel I think you are mistaken. NEs are not the oldest race. Dragons are. ^^ But leaving funny creatures aside, Trolls are the first humanoid, flesh and blood creatures of Azeroth. From trolls (through the "Well of Eternity" the Titans placed in Azeroth) evolved the "Kaldorei" (elves), they built an empire, some of them screwed around with magic (calling themselves "Highborne"), those who feared disaster remained "Kaldorie". Then of course they were right, sh*t happened, Burning Legion came, war broke out, Kaldorei civilization pretty much destroyed.
The surviving Kaldorei renamed themselves Night Elves, while the surviving Highborne renamed themselves High Elves. After some wandering they settled down in a place they called Quel'Thalas and continued to screw around with magic, creating the Sunwell. That's right, later it goes bad again, scourge comes, lots of loss, so they (again) rename themselves, now to "Blood Elves".
I think that sums up the elvish race.
Anyway...
Though Dwarves were present even before all that, they were...not exactly like they are now. The first ones were carved from stone by the Titans, and were more of earth elemental beings than flesh and blood they are now.
Then... They realized it'd be fun to create things out of things other than stone, so they made mecha Gnomes, iron Dwarves and such.
If I'm not mistaken, it was the "curse of flesh" that made these races into puny meatbags.
And the Draenei... They are rather old as well, probably older than the rest, but aren't from Azeroth.
Vyrkul were present for a quite some time as well, seemingly vanished at some point, don't know their role but they're the ancestors of humans. They aren't THAT old though.
So first (probably) the Dwarves of stone (if you consider them alive, later similar beings of such kind).
Dragons were blessed by the Titans as well around that time, I'd probably put then in 2nd place.
Trolls were the first humanoid flesh and blood creatures, then the predecessors of the elves.
Orcs came from another planet as well as the Draenei.
Tauren "are as old as the Night Elves" so they are pretty "young", considering how NElves came to be.
Them, with the rest of the races came afterwards.
...Or something like that. It's been long since I've read it, so if anyone could correct me, that'd be great.
Bliz destroyed azshara with cata
I really miss Duskwood on this list, it had a great, creepy vibe back in Vanilla.
I cant believe you left out Durotar. I have 6 different orc characters and i really loved the whole aesthetic to the zone and meeting up with the trolls. Plus, the quests take you back over to the islands that Rexxar had saved the trolls from in warcraft 3. It had nice lore and will forever be filled with nostalgia for not only me, but dozens of horde players.
Old Ass-shara is the best with its 5 quests, amirite?
Teldrassil is probably my favorite leveling zone, probably due to the fact that my first toon was a Night Elf but I will never forget the countless fun and memories I had with my friend in that place.
Grizzly Hills is still my favorite place to be even after all the expansions. Thank you for making it number 2! :)
Am I the only one that loved leveling in Zangarmarsh? I thought the whole place with gorgeous with the giant mushrooms and unique mobs. Probably my favorite place in the game.
How the hell is mount hyjal not on here?
Yes, why is Mount Hyjal not on here?
I was expecting it to be number 1 :/
hyjal is love hyjal is life
I wonder if Draenor Nagrand would've been on here (since this vid was made before WoD was released). I find it better than BC Nagrand.
No Sholazar Basin? The quests in that zone were so epic.
Sholazar and Un'Goro are my 2nd and 3rd Favourite Zones. 1st being Grizzly Hills but yea why no love for those zones they were both amazing
sholazar bassin music is EPIC!!!!!!
Oohh, Un'Goro was fun in vanilla (might still be fun, I just haven't been back there in awhile). It was like questing in Jurassic Park
Andrew Adams I still love Un'Goro, mostly because it's the "shout-out" zone, with lots of nods to games and movies in it, especially The Legend of Zelda. :)
Love this list!! These zones are all the ones that I miss and desperately want to play whenever I'm not subbed to WoW, and are the ones that bring me back every time. And I have most of the soundtracks for these zones which add so much nostalgia and feels!
I loved storm peaks and Ice crown the raids and dungeons were awesome.
There is way to many LK zones in this list, but if I have to uses this list and put it in orders then, It would be...
10: Eversong Wood
9: Stonetalon Mountain
8: Icecrown
7: Grizzly Hill
6: Storm Peaks
5: Jade Forest
4: Uldum
3: Nagrand
2: Howling Fjord
1: Elwynn Forest.
And my personnal best is of course *Westfall* each time I make a new character I always do 90% of the quest in than zone with them.
I love westfall too... and I always play horde! Agreed on the too much LK stuff. I hated Wotlk and it always weirds me out when people go on about how great it presumably was.
Fuck Elwynn Forest, such an overrated place. I also dislike Westfall, but I suppose that's partly because I played as a night elf druid back in vanilla. That said, I don't like Icecrown that much either. The list could do without Storm Peaks as well. Apart from DD's top 3, I don't really care for any of the other zones on the list.
RandoMuTuberMaowlick
Westfall is a lot better since Cataclysm.
this guy is alliance
Yanlin Wang
Yep 100% alliance
1. Elwynn forest
2. Hillsbrad foothills
3. The barrens
No love for Sholazar Basin? I thought it was much better than Nagrand. The hunting quests were pretty good and there was a good storyline overall in the zone.
Agreed, I'd put Sholazar first and BC Nagrand as number two.
Imo:
3. Nagrand
2. Grizzly hills
1. Azuremyst Isle. My first ever character was a Draenei and this zone was FUCKING AMAZING! The music, the atmosphere with the purple lighting, majestic creatures, and just everything made me squeal with excitement to explore and play the game. Overall. One of the best zones ever, and for me, the most nostalgic.
This list makes me very happy! Love every single one of these zones, i especially love that Nagrand got number 1 for it holds a special place in my heart!
Grizzly Hills best zone of wow
Netherstorm was my favorite. I liked Nagrand. But Netherstorm was literally a Nether storm. And How The Pure magic was everywhere, even being forged. And the Destroyed Islands around the areas with Even Arcane domes fit with life in such a desolate environment. But one could easily dislike it thinking its a clusterfuck.
do one for world of warcraft zone soundtracks.because some of them are so amazing,my favorite is sholazar basin,i played hunter and was searching for Loque'nahak so long and failed in the end.but time wasted on that is not even close as a time wasted searching for time-lost proto drake i found vyragosa like 10 times but not time-lost proto but he atleast lives up to his name.so many time was lost searching for him.
thats an awesome idea for the soundtracks...my personal fav is silvermoon soundtrack : )
Sholozaar and Ashenvale for me.
Thunder Bluff music. Dear God.
I loved how you let the music play for a few seconds before saying what zone it was, maybe I'm just weird but I was glad that I could tell what zone was coming up just by the track you played.
when the grizzly hills violins came on i almost cried. damn do i love that place, the music is some of the greatest ive heard in any video game
Uhg. Hated Jade Forest... Especially on day one when everyone got stuck on the gunship at the very beginning for about an hour or two because no one could click the object that jumped you off.
I absolutely hate Eversong woods
It takes far too long to get to from one quest to another,not to mention 80% of the quest are actually to just talk to a guy or deliver something
It made me rage quit my blood elf after i got to level 10 and i have never made another one again
omg i love blood elves and their places but the quests SUCK your so right
Me too. I remember fondly Eversong Woods.
You talked about music so much im suprised you didnt do Teldrassil or Ashvenvale. ANYBODY who made a night elf could tell you the nostalgic vibe they get just by walking out of darnassus, either to the night elf starting area or just to the boats. Not only that if they made alliance, a lot of people rolled that race, simply for the fantasy aspect, and the quests then were perfect.
BurakkuHishou Pretty much this. Although I'm Horde at heart, my very first character was a NE because I wanted to play with my brother. Anytime I hear the first notes of the Shadowglen BGM I get massive nostalgia of stepping into this massive world for the first time (and then discovering Teldrassil was in fact pretty small !). Now on my Troll main, I sometimes fly there just to listen to the music and remember the old quests.
fuck. yeah finally someone talked abt the music in ashenevale
Dolan I am absolutely addicted to your WoW countdowns... of course it's the only thing I've really played for ten years or so.
Storm Peaks were my favourite. Leveling through Wotlk I was generally bored through most of Northrend. Personally, I didn't like Howling Fjord or Grizzly Hills, but when I got to the Storm Peaks I fell in love with it so fast. The environments, the quest lines, the lore, and obviously the music. The Storm Peaks are home to some of my fondest memories of World of Warcraft.
Cataclysm revamp on the old zones was a big mistake. I would have preferred just getting a new continent similar to what BC, Wrath, and Mists did.
If something's not broken, don't try to fix it.
I liked most of the Cata revamps, but I'll agree that some was really unnecessary, which is even more painful when you consider the zones that DID need a revamp the most (Arathi Highlands and Silithus, notably) were barely touched.
Verunme I quite liked the revamps, the problem was the levelling itself being more dull and repetitive than it needed to be. The design of the zones in the Cata revamps were great. I levelled in every zone atleast in some way on the way to 60 back in the day, and some of them were awful. So in Cata, zones were improved, but the levelling experience and enjoyment were lost.
The revamp of the low level undead zones was amazing. currently they are some of the best questing in the game. The story in silverpine is unequaled anywhere in wow.
ThorDog81 I agree. I'm mostly sad that they are the only way to experience the Worgen story post-start zone.
Verunme
Meh, I disliked the revamps in general. Barrens, Ashenvale, even Darkshore were made horrible in my opinion. Some zones improved I agree, but again "in general" I really disliked it. And you are right on spot, some zones that needed improvements were left out of the picture.
Agree on Nagrand. Totally agree.
Still the calmest zone in the game. Always felt like going on holiday when you go there. I might actually have to start playing again when WoD releases just to see what they do with it.
CptSideSlider And there way something about these floating vegetated islands which kept me fascinated.
Bilbo Baggins
Better yet was to catch someone AFK or having a duel on one of those islands. Drop down and kill em both. The swearing must have been epic.
6:41 .. those goosebumps
1:09 aswell the wotlk music is just so good
Oh my god I totally agree, not only with the list, but with the fact that you said you loved the Storm Peaks music. It's my all time favorite music in WoW.
I genuinely have a soft spot for every zone in WoW. There's not one place I can think of that I absolutely hate. I have memories everywhere.
Teldrassil ashenvale for the music
YAAAAAAS
I'm basically surprised not to see Sholazar Basin and Dragonblight on the list too. Holy crap Northrend was truly amazing, a masterpiece. Well, aside from Borean Tundra and Zul'Drak, but I guess nothing can be perfect. I truly loved WotLK, it was an amazing expansion. I miss it.
Even so i didn't hate Zul'Drak, it had a really cool look and feel but the quest just didn't pan out
Matt Hallada
I agree. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't good. The first quests at Borean Tundra was a fucking drag though, and the zone as a whole wasn't exciting. That zone actually is bad.
"Nothing boring about Borean". Blizzard went full sarcasm mode with the achievemnt name.
+shawaam Just play rising Gods They have a wotlk realm
dragonblight sux
I dont know, I really never look forward to leveling in Northrend. I do like Howling Fjord & Grizzly Hills a bit tho.
Mulgore will forever be my favorite zone in any MMO (I've tested this theory a few times). When I first began playing warcrack, my first character was a Tauren druid that I still have. I spent endless amount of time running around Mulgore being amazed by everything I found. Nostalgia...
I love this video and I love the fact that Elwynn forest is included, the pre-cataclysm version was so beautiful and the music... oh the music.
Sometimes i'll put it on and just weep, and I don't just shed a tear or two, I weep like a baby taken from it's mother.. and I have no idea why
I hate Nagrand. HATE IT. I loved Shadowmoon and Netherstorm though
I agree. Totally.
Agreed. It was just a grindfest without a heck of a lot of variety. And it was practically a necessity to level there because the lines gave so much exp. Also, screw Corki.
only thing I did not like about it were the hunting safari quests otherwise it were a good zone. :) And the gas clouds! *drools*
It looked good and had decent quests but I always have stayed there for only a short time to finally reach 68 in Shadowmoon Valley, it felt much more epic.
i still prefer Terrokar Forest lol
My favourite leveling zone was vannila eastern plaguelands. It just felt preety god damn epic to slaughter millions of undead and seeing uther's tomb. Second favourite is vanilla Stranglethorn vale. I felt like a real hunter when i completed the game hunter quests and then you go booty bay and BAM pirates everywhere! And my third favourite is(prepare your anus) vashj'ir. I really liked that you want to go fight the horde one minute later you are frickin drowning. 10 minutes later you are being dragged away. Another 10 mins later you got your sea pony(lol) and then later on you are in a giant ass thing's stomach and then a hour later you see the past with a naga's eyes. Only thing i did not liked is the scrapped abyssal maw raid. And my most hated leveling zones: cata plaguelands ;(
agree with strangethorn, my top 5 for sure
Eastern and Western Plaguelands my favourite bu far. First time I came across the Lich in the town was sick
Csaba Székely Eastern Plague lands were amazing
am i the only one who really doesnt like nagrand?
Too grindy for me
looks like a few people did not like Nagrand.
Shadowmoon Valley was better than Nagrand. Any place where the overarching story ties in to the environment is good in my book. Nagrand has nothing to do with the Burning Crusade, it might as well not exist except for that little ridge in the west.
MrBthomp Grizzly hills was also very nice
MrBthomp That how I felt. It just looked out of place.
As much as I know MoP was unpopular with a lot of players, I feel that 3 of the best questing zones in the game were introduced in MoP. Jade Forest (which did make the list here), Valley of the Four Winds, and Kun-Lai Summit. He covered the points about Jade Forest. I love VotFW because of both the music (especially at night...stop and listen to it sometime...so peaceful) and the visual design of the zone. It really feels like this fertile farmland, like a place where the Pandaren live and work, not like the typical zone with a few isolated quest hubs and then a bunch of places that are just full of mobs to kill.
As for Kun-lai, it's just epic. Huge mountains, awesome visuals, amazing music...and Grummles.
Jade Forest and pretty much the whole design team for MoP deserve a ton of credit. I mean temples and villages everywhere.. Compared to other xpacs when you go to a zone it's just one giant castle and a couple of stick huts here and there.. lol but MoP you really felt like it was a brand new world/game. It was amazing
Really subjective topic, did love the video =]
The Hinterlands. Anyone? No? Okay...
except the troll tower city thingy
Love that place. Very underrated.
WHERE DA HELL IS VANILLA BARRENS?!
where is mankirks wife
+kickassmage Chuck Norris jokes. Oh 2009 how I miss you.
+Thallanar Rabidtooth 2009? Lol try 2005!
Man, I loved Stormpeaks. The music is utterly amazing and only adds to the plainly calm solitude that it is. Most people were questing in Icecrown and thus the old remnants of the Titans truly felt abandoned, buried beneath the snow. Walking through the massive temple entrances as a small Gnome, throwing javelins off dragon horseback, befriending those giants. It really felt amazing.
I can't believe, levelling zones are the focus of this video and not one single Night Elf zone was mentioned in this list, truly unbelievable. Night Elf zones have some of the most beautiful music in the game. I often stood around just listening to the music.
Well i kinda agree but where is vash'jir ?
Brah, u kiddin' right?
My top three would be Duskwood, Zangarmarsh, and Nagrand.
Mine would be zangmarsh ice crown grizzly hills.
justus4justice my top 3 would be Highmountain, Neatherstorm and The Jade Forest
My top 3 would be Teldrassil, Tanaris and Westfall
Thank goodness! When you got all the way to second place and didn’t mention Nagrand yet I got worried. Easily my favorite region and was the sole reason I searched for a RUclips video that talked about the best regions just to see if I wasn’t alone. Oh how I miss those floating waterfalls and trolling people with my Druid!
Omg, you are making me cry, the music, the nostalgia. I've played this game since i was 6, and it mAkes me so sad to watch the time go bye.
Really? No Stranglethorn Vale? Ungoro Crater? Zangarmarsh? Plaguelands? Silverpine? Usually your lists are awesome, but I gotta disagree with this one.
Keyshell Ungoro was SHIT, idk after cata i always skipped it, the pre-cata made me so damn sick i never wanted to see it ever again ever in my life ever
McGliga But, but Jurassic theme :
Arko777777 Those Dino Elites made you scared all the time and you had to avoid them. It was painful!
McGliga After Cata is when they added Maximillian of Northshire, who in my opinion is the best comic relief in the whole game xD Only positive thing about Ungoro though.
Keyshell Stranglethorn is literally worse than Hitler. Everything fucking tries to kill you, it's a nightmare due to the sheer amount of capped players who are there for no apparent reason.
i dont like Nagrand. i dreaded having to grind through it when leveling. i would rush the RoB and Hemitt quests so i could gtfo of that zone asap. id have put Duskwood on this list personally
Silverpine Forest Horde side is fantastic.
the old style was, i never went there now...
Enrico Alessio Man, you gotta check it out now. Killing Worgens and taking names! For Sylvanas!
Storm peaks is simply amazing, the area, the questlines, the music. I simply love that place !
I so glad my top three are the top three on this list, I absolutely adore Grizzly's music and Uldum's aesthetic and I always make sure to level in them whenever I make new alts
Where the fuck is Barrens? Mankirk's wife? Crossroads fights? Ratchet gathers to attack Thrall by Alliance? Sorry this video is ruined without barrens.
EDIT: I now remember, you're Alliance, it makes sense as to why Barrens isn't even mentioned in your video. For the Horde, and even as a player who's played both factions extensively, nothing compares to the Barrens, being thrown into the open wilderness with the chaos that ensued. There's a reason why barrens chat is somewhat of a meme in WoW.
I fully agree.
Although I agree that The Barrens was a great zone, other than the nostalgia of player interaction, the area was rather stale. There wasn't much lore to discover, the music was okay at best, and it took (or at least it seemed) forever to get get through.
It was a terrible zone but that's why it was so good.
Darkshore???
U wot m8?
Leonel Santander precata darkshore :)
why the fuck are storm peaks on the list?
Good list, in my opinion. For me I'd say my favorite zone is probably Jade Forest, but that's mostly because I like zones that are pretty to look at and make you feel like you're interacting with the game world. Jade forest looks goddamn amazing and between befriending indigenous species, chilling with Cho, training at a monastery, and the series of events leading up to the fishalliance vs monkeyhorde showdown, the experience was second to none.
This Top 10 is perfect, in my opinion! Great job.
It's funny because Eversong is my least favorite area XD Personally, if I ever roll a belf I send it to Tirisfal
A revamp of the Blood Elf and Draenei starting zones would make them more fun to level in. I hope Blizzard does it in a future expansion.
Agreed.
Weird, I loved Eversong. I've made tons of blood elves now, more than any other race, just levelling them up through the starting zone and than abandoning them once they'd left the Ghostlands. The music, the story, the lore, all of it was perfect.
Prince Stormstrider Well WoD is going to be huge, so they might do just that.
Pyro Monkey I also love the music,lore and style, but the questing experience is horribly outdated. There is too much running back and forth between the quest hubs. Some of the mobs are too close to each other, which gives problems for certain classes at low levels and the drop rate of certain quest items is ridiculously low. Worst of all the "Traitor's Destruction" quest in the Ghostlands still requires a group of 4-5 people and unless you can get a high level guild buddy to help you, you're gonna have a hard time finding enough people who are on that quest. Nobody likes group quests anymore. If only Blizzard would revamp the quests, it would appeal to both new players and blood elf fans like you and me.
i hated nagrand. am i the only one? im not saying its bad, but i hated the bright colors, the quests its so empty. even zangarmarsh is better.
You're not alone, my friend.
Nagrand is ridiculous, why the fuck is Nagrand in 1° ?
Rozor Ridge and Hellfire were my fav Outland zones, Nagrand was the worst imo, it reminds me on super mario world.
I agree with you Nagrand should not even be an honorable mention.
I loved the design and lore behind Nagrand though I agree the quests sucked
Barrens??
The music of Howling Fjord was fantastic as well!
7:42 "You can go up there and be like "Wow, this isn't finished". That was awesome xD
top 10 worst leveling zones plz :)
Tbh, Old Western PLaguelands and old Feralas were immersive, hard and very nice.