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Is leveling via dungeon finder faster?

Post by Towsmash

I'm back, after having taken all of Cata off. I'm starting over with a brand new warrior, no heirlooms, on a new server.

This morning, I hit L15, hit the queue as a tank, and got Ragefire Chasm. By the time I was done, I'd dinged 17. It was kind of fast, and blew my mind a bit. Is it really that much faster to level via dungeons, or is the new RFC just a bit above the normal XP curve?

I also played the new Wailing Caverns and only managed to get a single level out of it - dunno if things are slowing down there because the amount of XP is out of line with what RFC gave me, or if the amount of XP needed to level goes up that much and questing would give me a similar slowdown at that point.

What say you all? Is it worth it to run each dungeon once to get the quest XP, or should I stick to solo questing?

Post by Capnboomkin

The majority of experience that you gain from each dungeon is from the quests you complete. That said, I find it fastest to do each dungeon once while questing in-between. A good mix also keeps you from getting bored, so you'll actually reach 85 too!

Post by felhunter

dungeoning queueing is often the best way too level if you can chain run them.
that means you must have queue's of a few secs too at best a min. between runs, only tanks and healers get such short queue's (with tanks having the average quickest queue).
so if your a dps do a mix, unless your can queue with a tank/heal.

Post by auntmousie

If you're trying to level fast through PvE, the Dungeon Finder is an essential part of your toolbox - you will level faster with it than without it. For one thing, the mob density is generally higher in instances than environments - which means more kills per unit time, plus they're almost all "Elite" mobs that are worth more. On average, I find that on-level Dungeon Finder mobs are worth about 1.5-2x as much xp per kill - plus the kills take less time. Quests are similarly boosted; you can only do any given quest once, but a dungeon quest is worth twice (or more) what you would get from a non-dungeon on-level quest.

One major difference, though, is that the number of kills per quest reward is MUCH higher in a dungeon - and kills burn up your rested XP, while quest rewards do not. Once your bar turns purple, you can do better churning out quests than wading through mobs - and there are more environment quests than dungeon quests.

For DPS, who can count on a ten-minute queue even at max level (and can often wait an hour or more for unpopular content), questing while queueing is an essential strategy. For tanks and healers, the balance can be harder to find, because at most levels you'll get queue times approaching zero. I haven't personally brought a tank from 15 to 85 while standing in Orgrimmar and queueing for randoms, but I know people who have.

If you have some rested xp saved up, or have access to instances that have open quests for you, I would prioritize those. Apart from that, go with your gut. When the dungeons start to feel repetitive, go questing. When questing starts to feel slow, queue for a dungeon.

Post by lonewarrior

I leveled an Spriest almost entirely through dungeon ques.
The rare time i quested was when I left a dungeon at 95+ xp and need to knock off a couple of quest to ding.

Benefits.
Tons of mats.= Easy craft leveling or AH gold.
Since most players are decked out in heirlooms you get to need and keep all the blues.
A nice way to find a transmog piece in long forgotten dungeons like Uldaman or Dire Maul.
Since the endgame is about dungeon/raids....why not practice honing your skills early on.

You can still see the world, if you choose, when doing the same dungeon runs becomes redundant.

Post by Azrile

Dungeons are faster, but one thing you should do is queue for specific dungeons, not random. Do each dungeon once, with quests, and you will fly to 80. I am not sure how much they changed Scholamance, but that dungeon has like 8 quests and the quests will give you more than a full level.

Post by Glanzman

Time flies when you're having fun. And so does leveling.

Instead of focusing on whichever is "quickest", focus on whatever form of leveling you enjoy the most.

If you hate questing, then it will be a long, tedious grind no matter how quick it may be.

If you love going solo and not so much grouping with others, quest till your heart's content.

Or, if you're like me and enjoy it all, quest while waiting in dungeon ques and throw in some battlegrounds here and there to mix it up.

When it's fun, it's no longer a grind!

Post by 44284

This post was from a user who has deleted their account.

Post by Mortalous

The best way to level is to quest in between queuing for random dungeons. Additionally, if you are a hybrid class such as druid, paladin, priest, etc., gather gear and dual spec for any of the two rolls (tank or healer). Don't just gear up/spec for tanking or healing. Learn to heal or tank effectively too! That will reduce your queue time as those are much needed in dungeons, especially tanks.

Is leveling via dungeon finder faster?

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