Ever since World of Warcraft was released, players have come with many types of strategies that fit best to their play style. Not any Horde leveling strategy is great when it comes to keeping up a high XP rate.

So, in this post, I’m going to outline a bit, some of the leveling strategies that Horde players can follow these days, focusing on the pros and cons of these methods.

1. Grinding. In my opinion, just grinding on mobs at one of the well-known Horde leveling spots will never be a great method to level up. However, with a considerable XP bonus, from gear, rested XP, or various other buffs, you can still get decent XP, if you’re able to AoE large packs of mobs. Anyway, this method will always be boring.

2. Battlegrounds. I don’t remember which patch was it when XP in battlegrounds was introduced. Many players received the news with a lot of enthusiasm, because leveling up via BGs can be a lot of fun. However, if Horde loses 3-4 BGs in a row, this is not a viable Horde leveling strategy.

3. Gathering. This sounds crazy, and it’s definitely a bad idea just to level up by gathering resources. You will surely level up at snail speed. I know some players that have done that, but only because they had nothing better to do. Gathering is a good way to boost your XP by questing though. Picking up a mineral here, or a herb there will gather up a nice amount of XP over time.

Best Horde Leveling Strategy

Questing, has always been the best way to level up in WoW. But, if you want to level up your Horde character as quickly as possible, you need to know precisely what to do on each quest, and also which quest hub to choose at your current level. For that, the best Horde leveling strategy that I can recommend is to work with an in-game Horde leveling guide.

To level up fast in World of Warcraft you have to change zones and quest hubs frequently as you advance, moving to the zones with creatures and quests close to your level, or one-two levels higher. If you remain to grind just in one or two spots, from level to level, your XP won’t be that great. That’s why when you’re looking for Horde leveling spots, you should aim for new quest hubs, instances close to your level and only then for places to grind.

However, in some cases, grinding in certain Horde leveling spots isn’t a bad idea. For example, if you want to get your XP from battlegrounds or instances, while you’re waiting in queue, you should kill something to get some additional XP. Especially if you’re a skinner, if you want to boost up this profession, you’d better find one or two Horde leveling spots with beasts that you can skin.

So, here are two examples:

In Badlands, just behind New Kargath, there’s a huge spot with drake whelps, all level 46-47. They drop Thick Leather and Rugged Leather if you skin them, and if your guild has the Bountiful Bags perk it would be even better. Also, these whelps have a small chance to drop a vanity pet – the Dark Whelpling – which sells for 1-2000g.

Badlands Spot

Another one of the best Horde leveling spots for where you can do some skinning is Borean Tundra. At level 70, when you move to this area with your questing, you should grind a bit on the rhinos and mammoths here. They can be found in large packs to the north from Warsong Hold and northeast from the big lake in the middle.

I hope these tips help. However, if you want the fastest leveling, and to make sure you pass through the best Horde leveling spots and quest hubs at the right time, to get maximum of XP, follow this link: Horde Leveling Spots.

If you want World of Warcraft fast leveling nowadays, you’d better stick with questing, because grinding, PvP and dungeon leveling won’t get you to 85 that fast. On top of that, if you’re going to use a WoW leveling guide to make sure you reach the best Alliance or Horde leveling places, at the appropriate time, your leveling process will surely be swift.

Anyway, you’re going to need some gold as you level up, for your mounts, for to raise crafts if you want to level them along, or even for better gear. So, here are two nice Horde leveling places where you can also make some gold.

Thousand Needles. This area was completely flooded after the Cataclysm. The whole content has changed and it’s very cool to level here from level 40 to 45, that’s why it’s one of my favorite Horde leveling places. If you’re a herbalist you can make a lot of gold here as you’re leveling up, by gathering all the Stranglekelp that grows underwater. I usually pick up herbalism as I level up. This profession is easier to level up as you’re questing, so you’ll always be able to gather the herbs in your current area. As you reach Thousand Needles, you will surely have 85 skill in herbalism to be able to gather Stranglekelp. Since this herb grows underwater, not many gather it and it’s expensive.

Swamp of Sorrows. Althogh this isn’t exactly one of the Horde leveling places that I like because you don’t have great visibility and the place is crawling with crocolisks, cats and spiders, it’s also a great zone to quest through if you’re a herbalist. There are loads of Sorrowmoss and Golden Sansam in the area, all you need to do is fill up your bags with these herbs while you’re questing. You will be needing 285 skill in herbalism to gather Sorrowmoss, but you’ll surely have it before you reach this zone.

A great Horde leveling path from 30 to 40 that you can choose from, involves only two zones: The Hinterlands and Western Plaguelands.

Even if from level 25 to level 30 you have been in Northern Stranglethorn, you shouldn’t continue with the quests in the Cape of Stranglethron, because if you’re on a populated PvP server things will probably get rough here. Even if you’re going to be in Booty Bay, level 85 Alliance players may still kill you continuously and make your life miserable.

So, a safer Horde leveling path would be:

1. Hinterlands (30-34). Revantusk Village and Hiri’Watha Research Station will provide you with a huge amount of quests, and if you’re in a high level guild and also have a few Heirlooms with XP bonus equipped, you can even reach level 35 and a half here. Also, since it’s pretty much a green zone, you will find plenty of herbs here, so if you’re a herbalist, you’ll also get a nice XP bonus from gathering.

Revantusk Village, Hinterlands

2. Western Plaguelands (34-40). There are quite many small quest hubs with easy to complete, short quest chains in Western Plaguelands. In fact the whole zone is designed for you to obtain one level of XP after you finish all the quests at each of the quest hubs here. Although a guildless player without any Heirlooms probably won’t reach level 40, only 39, this is a great place to XP after level 34.

Western Plaguelands

Tip: Once you reach level 39 or 40 here, the next stop on your Horde leveling path should be, obviously Eastern Plaguelands. However, you might want to complete a Scholomance run. There are many elite quests inside and you will boost your XP rate by a lot.

Although Horde leveling in WoW as well as Alliance leveling are much easier now than back in the days of the Vanilla WoW, there still are factors that slow you down. And I’m pretty sure that anyone would want to level up their Horde character in 3 days and a half instead of 5 or 6 days. That’s why in here I’m going to present a few factors that may be a drag, when it comes to Horde leveling.

First of all, all the professions, especially crafts, consume a lot of time and gold as well. Even if you have Herbalism and Mining, and by gathering herbs and minerals you get XP now, you can still waste a lot of time if you break your leveling course to pick up more resources. To actually make those professions worth in terms of XP, you should only get the herbs and minerals that are on your way, as you’re leveling up. It’s going to be pretty much impossible to keep up with both Herbalism and Mining as you level up without side tracking from questing. Mostly because minerals can be found on rocky areas, not just everywhere. That’s why Herbalism is a much viable solution.

Another aspect regarding Horde leveling in WoW that can slow you down is playing battlegrounds. I know that some of the players like to diversify a bit their leveling course by playing a BG or two, or even completely level up from 10-15 to 85 exclusively in BGs. Well, if Horde loses 3-4 BGs in a row, your XP rating will be drastically diminished. When it comes to leveling up in WoW, questing is the way to go, if you want to reach level 85 quickly.