Alternative leveling - part 2 of 3

So last time I covered three leveling options - Pet battles, archeology, and PvP.

This time I want to think about using the group finder for dungeons, getting experience from collecting herbs and mining, and doing the daily cooking and fishing quests.  Hold on to your hats, here we go!

Dungeons

I would make my restriction be that I could only use the group finder, be it random or custom. I’m not in a guild that I could just hop in with other guildies when I wanted to run some, so that option is out for me. I’d, of course, have to be whatever the minimum dungeon level is, but I’m above that on enough characters. I’m not sure if dungeon quests would count as part of the dungeon or not. An argument could be made either way.

Good – Generally quick. I would get gear and money. I could use heirlooms to make it easy or only rely on dungeon gear drops. I think I’d generally lean towards gear drops only, unless I’d be letting down the group too much. I might keep heirloom gear on hand, in case I wasn’t pulling my weight. But with dungeon bags and drops, it probably wouldn’t be too bad. Reputation gains would move along for the core factions and perhaps a few others. One of the quicker options, I'd think.

Bad – Silent runs would be the norm. As it is now, I say “hello” at the start of almost every dungeon and typically get one or two responses and then nothing. It'd be soloing together, which can be okay but I'm not sure for 99 levels. I’d also be subjecting myself to a higher-than-normal incidence of the "gogogo" crowd. I can’t say why, but this feels even more repetitive than the other options. There are more dungeons than battlegrounds, I think, but it just feels more restrictive. Maybe because I’ve spent more time in the PvE world, I know many dungeons by heart.

Material collection only

Farming mats as the kids say. Mining and herbalism would be my focus.

Good – I can start at level one and collecting skill can be somewhat connected to character level. There would be a tons of mats for sale or use as I leveled. After a slow start, they would likely be self-supporting. It would be a big help to guild achievements.

Bad – I think the picking/mining skill can get out of whack with character level at times, if I remember correctly. I’d need to collect lots of mats in an area that are grey to my collection skill for the XP to level my character. They would initially need support for gear (unless wearing heirlooms) and bags. If not doing well on the auction house, I might have to play space management games. This would be a grind on a level that would be unprecedented for me.

Profession quests only

While a few professions can have dailies or side quests, I’m mainly thinking of the cooking and fishing dailies in the racial capitals. I would need to get to whatever skill level is necessary to unlock those quests. And perhaps character level? I’m not sure.

Good -They give a fair amount of experience for the investment.  It wouldn't take me long each day to do them, so the character would level slowly but I could move on to other characters quickly.  I'd be able to spend all of the tokens I'd accumulate on a lot of mats.  Money and reputation wouldn't be much of a problem.  Well, reputation of the core factions anyways.

Bad - Excessively repetitive game play.  Two quests a day.  If I included the Darkmoon Faire profession quests I'd get two extra that week.  Whee.

Dungeons seems like the most feasible one so far and I'm pretty sure that is how some people actually level.  I'm still not that enamored of it.  The mat collection path seems like it might be a nice way to make money and collect mats.  Let's see if Friday produces better leveling ideas.