I say run through the portal and never look back.

I only have 1 character who has made it to 60. Lvl 58-60 was almost all grinding (Timerbermaw for XP an Rep), which wasn't all that fun.

In Outland, not only is the gear better, but the XP rewards are higher too, which will allow you to lvl from 58 to 60 rather quickly.

I hear a lot of warriors crying, except for my brother, who seems to have no problem lvling his warrior. Granted he was already 60 when the expansion released, but according to him, any warrior can do anything as long as they know how to play (this means you warriors who won't tank because you aren't specced for tanking, makes me have to go look for a druid).

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Hmm lots of our members hit Outlads as soon as 58 and didn't regret. However they were huntards, locks and mages, all these are excellent solo classes. Warriors will suck bug time below 60 I think. Warriors are super-gimp solo class.
My priest and mage both run out of "old-world" quests way before 60, I could solo all quests so early and was very bored 58-60 :D Now this will change.

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Typo: bug time = big time :D

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I have to agree, once you ding 58, run as fast as you can for the portal. The late 50s in the original game really devolved into a dungeon and rep grind. This was most likely by design because you were about to hit the level cap, but most players aren't going to want to do those dungeons (at least not over and over) nor care about most of those old faction rewards now that BC is out.

With the release of BC, the quest rewards (in both XP and items) blow away anything in the old world that you could be doing at 58 (especially if you factor in risk vs. reward.) Some of the content might definitely be more challenging, but the rewards are much greater too.

It could be a class-by-class thing, however. The only toon I've done it with so far is a hunter, but I plan on at least trying it with all of my other alts that get that high as well.

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Being already level 60 when the Dark Portal opened, my warrior jumped right in. I was fairly decently geared (mostly stuff out of AQ20, various faction rep rewards). Currently at level 69. I have no troubles soloing or grinding. Did need to find a few groups, like that big mofo Durn in Nagrand, but that's too be expected.

Would I take a newly levelled 60 into the Dark Portal? Probably not. BoE greens and blues may not cut it. There's plenty of quests in the old world to break 60 and get decent reward gear.

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I am a 65 Shaman and I jumped right in to the new areas as soon as the portal opened. I don't think it's too hard at all, and I wasn't even geared as well as some people. (I had one epic) The funny thing is that even if it is slightly hard, it only takes four or five quests in Outland to level to 61 and replace four or five pieces of your old armor and weapons.

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/completely agree with #1 and others.

I can't see that there's any benefit at all in wasting time in EPL, Silithus, or Winterspring getting sub-par gear and rep you'll likely never use when the Outlands promises gear that's worlds better, a lot of different reps you'll need for endgame activities, and a lot more money.

In terms of just leveling, you'd likely reach 60 much faster (and have more fun) on just a few Ramparts runs than you would soloing your way through EPL and the like.

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I actually had a warlock summon my lv 54 shadow priest to Honor Hold last night and I started grinding on lv 58 mobs (lv 59 mobs resisted just about everything). It seemed like a good idea, I was getting 1200xp with rested bonus but the problem was that I had to mana up after only 2-3 mobs, so the down time was slowing me down a bit. I'm not sure if I should grind it out here some more or return to felwood/winterspring for a couple of more levels, we'll see...

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Being a bit of a latecomer to WoW, I was level 56 on my warlock when BC hit. I worked my way to 58 as quickly as I could and was there the day after everyone else. As a lock, it was a great decision. I burned to 60 in no time. I would recommend it to classes that solo well, but can't speak for warriors, etc.

Oh, and in case you wondered about my gear...it sucked. I was wearing 3 pieces of my T.5 blues and some shadoweave gear. It's defintely doable at 58 for the warlock class. (cue cries of "OVERPOWARD!!!1)

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I'm heading right in at 58 because My buddy and I will be able to tag team everything like we have been all game.

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You're doing yourself a disservice if you're not heading to outlands by 58. The experience immediately doubles, the items are better, the bonus from the quests is better, and the quests are all doable at 58 (albeit a little harder). Took me 5-7 hours or so from 57-58, and then about that for 58-60 with a holy/shadow priest.

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Run screaming towards the portal at 58. (having first replace most of your gear at 57 from the AH) As a prot spec paladin, Outlands has been a walk in the park (even on a PVP server). Even without the loot and gold, the xp alone compared to the difficulty would still make it an easy decision. This is based off of my experiences with my main who was

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Continued from #12. Experiences based off my main who was in the low 50s when the expansion came out.

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Personally i think the Outlands would be a little difficult for a fresh 58 warrior in ZF and Mara blues and assorted greens. With just over 4k health, sporting pathetic armour and non-existent DPS, the Outlands could prove to be a little much. I will qualify the statement by saying that my warrior was 60 and fully epic'd out when TBC arrived, so i can't quite say for certain its too hard.

Myself, i'd bring a fresh 58 warrior to the Outlands simply because the experience is great, and the quest rewards and random drops there blow away anything a young warrior could get in Azeroth (Never allowed a 58 warrior to tank ZG, MC, AQ, BWL or Naxx before). No group will take a 58 warrior with no tanking gear as a main tank even the ramparts, but i'd expect a lvl58 warrior to level to 60 and acquire some decent greens in good time, assuming he has a friend or two to quest with.

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Im a warrior and as soon as i hit 58, I ran through the portal and never looked back. Your first quest items are almost as good as some end game loot so you dont really have to worry about gear.. It took me only a few days to go from 58 to 60 and it was well worth it. The only bad thing as that people who come through at 60 and do the same quests and runs i have would be well on their way to 66 but I just hit 64 last night... I guess thats bad but I dont think so!

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This is how I leveled my Warlock from level 58 to level 60. You get tons of XP from both the mobs and the quests in the outlands. I think if you did the quests with a friend, which is what I did, you'd be set. It certainly is easier to quest the closer you get to 60, but at 58 things aren't unmanageable.

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For all of you saying that it's really the dps classes (mage, lock, hunter) that get to start outlands at 58, you're wrong.
Had a druid in the guild that wasn't even 50 yet when the expansion hit, which made it 100 times more difficult for him, so he had help from a few friends and guildies, got him to 57, and then just said "F it, we're summoning you across." He started doing the Hellfire quests and he's been able to do it on his own mostly, other than the ones that say you need a group of people.

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I am a feral druid and went directy to Outlands at lvl 58. The gear is WAY better, and the XP is much higher. I was grinding those buzzards and boars for about 1000+ XP from 58-60. The quests are easy enough, and have some great rewards. Go there-you won't regret it!

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Can anyone tell me what it's like for a lvl 58 balance druid? Right now I'm at 53 and I can't wait to get to outland, but not if I'm going to get crushed constantly.

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Me and my fiancee went in at 58, with some blues, mostly greens. She had purple gloves, and I had nothing epic. Really wasn't all that hard, and the whole experience of new content, and the gold and XP that were dropping in contrast to the "step up" in action/difficulty, more than made up for any pains in the rear...

I seriously have a hard time pulling myself back to "the old world" for anything... other than training, as we haven't ventured into Outland far enough to find a city that has any trainers or an AH...

Go. Now. You won't regret it.

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