When using a leveling guide, it can be very tempting to simply follow all the instructions to the letter despite being curious about the places and NPCs you might see along the way. Group quests you won’t do, or places you’ll never visit – it’s sure to bother you. But is it worth going off-course for a while to see what may be just beyond the remit of your leveling guide?

The answer is sure, of course, as long as when you want to use it again it has the capability to direct you from the stage you are at after your exploration period has finished. Whether you’re telling your WoW friends about a cool easter egg you found in Un’Goro Crater over a partypoker game that evening or you’re just curious as to what that giant mob is in the distance, feel free if you can get back on track!

If you can’t, think about this in advance – do not spend money on leveling guides if you’re not going to use them in a way that won’t break them once you hit level 12 and wander off into the Barrens, never to be seen by your leveling guide add-on again. Go for something that’s a series of YouTube videos, for example, as it means you can set up and pick up where you left off without too much difficulty.

If you’ve never used a leveling guide before or never played WoW before, then it may be tempting to go via the organic route. After a couple of characters in one faction though, it can be tempting for the third to just soar through to max level, and this is where leveling guides become extremely useful for the career WoW player. So don’t worry – as long as your guide is as flexible as you are, you’re all set to wander off and do that out-of-the-way quest chain for a level or so.