Alt development

The main focus of the Silken Hunt is character development for alts. Main characters just do whatever comes their way. Alts are more focused having learned from what their mains have already accomplished. This is a compilation of what has been learned.

Level Development

You can level anywhere. There is no best way to level. But since most people want to get to the end game with a maxed out character, leveling quickly is generally the order of the day.

Power leveling is defined differently by different people. There are some amazing techniques out there that can get your character maxed out really quickly. But when you get there, you have nothing to show for your efforts other than the levels themselves.

The philosophy of the Silken Hunt is to level as quickly as possible while developing support mechanisms such as multiple hearthstones, the garrison, and others. None of this is necessary and you may feel you don't need it. If so, there are other guides available which provide a more streamlined experience path.

A note about recommended levels

You must be level 10 before any of the following will be available to you. Once you start, you don't have to do these in the order noted but Warlords of Draenor experience starts to lessen around level 40 while Legion experience remains strong through level 50. Also keep in mind that level 40 is not some hard core switching point between the expansions. You can start your Legion efforts a few levels early and you can continue to work on your garrison after you've reached 40. This includes intermixing both at the same time if you like. It's up to you.

Warlords of Draenor through Level 40

Experience for individual quests from level 10 through 40 is relatively the same regardless of which expansion you choose. The difference is not in the quests themselves but in the path traveled. Warlords of Draenor (WoD) has one of the better paths, generally smoother and quicker than the other expansions. The garrison acts as a focal point throughout providing not only a home but extra opportunities above and beyond what those other expansions offer. This is the way to go for a quick leveling experience. Check out the Garrison development page for a full description.

Assaults

The Assault leveling technique is both very fast and very slow at the same time. It's fast because the experience from doing Assaults is significant. It's slow because the number of activities is limited. You'll only have 10-20 minutes worth of work each outing. Once you complete the current assault, you must wait for the next one. The assault schedule can be found on the WowHead home page by going to the Today in WoW section and clicking on either Legion or BFA.

To get started in Legion, (a) complete the Dalaran quest line in the Hearthstone section below, then (b) complete the quest in the Flight Whistle section further down the page. Legion Assaults are scheduled every 18.5 hours and last six hours each time. Legion mobs stop advancing at level 45. You can continue to run assaults after this point but the experience will wain.

To get started in BFA, complete the quest line in the Battle for Azeroth Portals section below. BFA Assaults are scheduled every 19 hours and last for seven hours each time. BFA mobs stop advancing at level 60. You can continue to run assaults after this point but the experience will wain. In addition, BFA has two other kinds of assaults which are a little more complicated to get access to and participate in. If you're looking to play more regularly than the standard assault schedule allows, check into these.

On to Shadowlands

Leveling in Shadowlands can be a little slow, especially if you only do World Quests since there are only a limited number each day. However, there are also around a half dozen Bonus Objectives in each of the four main zones which gives you additional things to do. The key to Shadowlands isn't what you do but in what order. Each meta-quest for the four main zones will provide you with a shiny new weapon. You should probably space these out so that your weapons get stronger as you level. For two-handed weapons, you could turn in the first one at level 53, the second at 55, the third at 57, and the fourth at 59 giving you the strongest weapon possible going into level 60. That way your character would get incrementally stronger as you play smoothing out this part of your leveling experience. Bumping up two levels each time is not necessary but don't waste your reward by getting two or more new weapons during the same level. For one-handed weapons, you may want to save both of your last two turn ins for level 59. Remember, just because you complete the quest prior to a specific level doesn't mean you can't wait until you reach the level that serves you best to turn it in.

Also, there's a Bonus Objective in Maldraxxus called Choice of Action which rewards you with a trinket called Vial of Caustic Liquid. This trinket is a significantly powerful DPS trinket. You should pick it up at some point. Saving it until the last part of the leveling experience means having a powerful trinket going into max level but power levels have progressed throughout the expansion so waiting until level 59 is not as significant as it once was. In fact, you will rapidly change out all your equipment upon reaching level 60 simply because even normal drops have gained in power over time. Still, you'll likely find this trinket worth your time and effort.

Special Events and Candy Buckets

There is an addon called Candy Buckets that can be used with three main events throughout the year, Hallow's End, the Lunar Festival, and the Midsummer Fire Festival. The addon got it's name from the candy buckets distributed throughout Azeroth for the Hallow's End celebration. Each candy bucket has a instant turn-in quest that awards experience, event currency, gold, and other things. The two other events have similar turn-ins available in most zones in the game.

The amount of experience you get is always worth the effort but it is level dependent. At level 1, honoring a fire will get you half of that level. At 62, honoring a fire will only get you 2% of a level. (Desecrating a fire doubles these amounts.) 2% may seem small in comparison to the experience gains seen in earlier levels but compared to other level 62 activities it's better than average. Even though the experience gain diminishes as you level, the relative experience gain is worthwhile into the early 60s as long as you don't find the process too terribly boring.

Since you will be traveling all over the continent, having all the flight points is extremely beneficial. Of course, if you don't have the flight points (or the toys that give them to you instantly), this is a great way to get those flight points and learn your way around. Keep in mind that different zones have different starting levels. If your level is below the base level of a given zone, traveling though there can be very dangerous. However, there are plenty of lower level starting zones to choose from. Almost all expansions have a handful of zones that start at level 10. The exceptions are Cataclysm (30), Shadowlands (50), and Dragonflight (60). Good planning will net you access to a lot of relatively safe areas with instant turn-in quests.

There are a couple of things you should consider before doing these events. First, unlike the other content on this page that requires level ten, the quests in these events are available at level one. Even so, getting to level ten is quick and easy. It's better to just get that done first before doing starting these quests. It's worth noting that flying is very beneficial with all this traveling around. You may wish to prepare in advance by leveling elsewhere and saving this for level 30s and above.

Second, some of these instant quests will get you flagged PVP. Once you're flagged, other players can and will attack you. On some servers, PVP is very normal and you should expect to be slowed down by these attacks. On other servers, flagged people just wave and dance with each other. Your mileage may vary.

Travel

Zidormi

When traveling around Azeroth, you may run into Zidormi, a nice young woman standing near areas where major changes have occurred in the world. She's actually a dragon, a member of the bronze dragonflight, the Keepers of Time. And she's there to adjust the world for you, to take you back to what was before, so that you can do things that may no longer be doable in the present. Currently she can be found in ten different zones but you may or may not be able to see her and make use of her services. You'll find more detailed information in the comment section of one of her pages on WoWhead.

Hearthstones

Every player has a hearthstone. You can set your hearth at any inn you go to and your hearth will take you back there when you use it. There are many reasons for choosing your hearth the most common being you will be playing near a specific inn for the foreseeable future. However, in today's game when you may be playing in any number of expansions on any given day, one particular location stands out. If you're a world traveler, you may wish to consider using the main city in the Battle for Azeroth expansion, Boralus for the Alliance or Dazar'alor for the Horde. The reason is simple. Blizzard considers this expansion a core focus so it's portal room has been left intact. For just two quick quests in Stormwind/Orgrimmar and three more in BFA, you will have quick access to the three remaining main cities for your faction. If quick access to your two other main cities is not needed/wanted, then simply set your hearth in Stormwind/Orgrimmar for access to the main portal rooms.

There are two additional hearthstones. They can be extremely helpful and they are very easy to get. The quest boards for both the Alliance and the Horde show the exact same quests starting at level 10. The three quests are Chromie's Call, Broken Shore, and Tanaan Jungle. Choose Broken Shore to get your Dalaran hearth stone and Tanaan Jungle to get your garrison hearthstone.

The first is the Dalaran Hearthstone which you get for completing the opening quest line for the Legion expansion. You can skip almost all of the quest line making this process nearly instantaneous. Simply choose Broken Shore from the quest board then go to the quest turn in point. You will be given the option to skip the remainder of the quest line. If you choose this option, you will be ported to Dalaran where you will receive your Dalaran hearth stone.

The second is the Garrison Hearthstone which you get for building your garrison in the Warlords of Draenor expansion. This takes approximately 10 minutes if you skip the introductory quest line or around 45 minutes if you complete it. For complete details, go to Garrison development.

Cataclysm Portals

The Cataclysm Portals are located in your faction's major city. The portals can be opened through questlines for the specific zones they lead to. These are available at level 30 down at the harbor. In addition, the portals seem to simply open up on their own as you reach higher levels. There are two portals to isolated zones which have no other access, Tol Barad (two islands, one PVE and one PVP), and Deepholm, an underground cavern in the Maelstrom. The other portals are to scattered zones in the Eastern Kingdoms (Twilight Highlands and Vashj'ir) and in Kalimdor (Uldum and Mt Hyjal). Since the two original continents are still the largest in the game, these portals can sometimes save you a significant amount of travel time.

Battle for Azeroth Portals

This set of portals isn't as helpful as the Cataclysm portals but they're worth the small effort to get them. Simply go to the quest board in your faction's major city and there will be a guard standing next to it with a quest.

Alliance Your quest is called Battle for Azeroth: Tides of War. After a council with the King in his keep, meet Jaina down at the docks. If you've already done this questline on another character, you can take the skip at this point. Otherwise, select "I'm ready to set sail". Once you've landed in Boralus, Taelia will give you the next quest, Get Your Bearings. You'll visit four locations then be given your next quest, The Old Knight. You'll meet Cyrus Cresthall and then be given the final required quest, Sanctum of the Sages. Completing this quest will give you the Boralus portals. For now, this just includes portals to Stormwind, Ironforge, and Exodar. However, later on you'll get a portal to Silithus and Nazjatar. When you turn this quest back in, be sure to grab the Ferry Pass quest so you can use the local Ferries for transport.

Speaking of additional transportation, you should open up boat rides to Zandalar. The process is simple. First, you'll need to be level 35. If you have not already done so, get the quest A Nation Divided from Taelia. Watch the video then select a starting zone. Turn these two quests into Taelia then step outside and board the closest ship.

Horde Your quest is called Battle for Azeroth: Mission Statement. Once you discuss your mission with Sylvanus, meet your team in the inn. If you've already done this questline on another character, you can take the skip at this point but it's tricky. Turn in the current quest and accept The Stormwind Extraction from Nathanos Blightcaller. You must interact with him a second time before he'll give you the skip. Otherwise, pick up the potion and continue the questline. Once you've landed in Zuldazar, Princess Talanji will give you the next quest, Welcome to Zuldazar, which leads to Rastakhan then Speaker of the Horde. You'll visit four locations then be asked to interact with the scouting map to choose your first objective. The portal room is now active with portals to Orgrimmar, Thunder Bluff, and Silvermoon City. Later on you'll get portals to Silithus and Nazjatar.

If you're level 35, you are now eligible for assaults and you can open up boat rides to Kul Tiras.

Riding

• Apprentice Riding - Available at level 10
• Journeyman Riding - Available at level 20
• Expert Riding - Available at level 30
• Artisan Riding - Available ?????
• Master Riding - Available at level 40

Your low level alts can fly on dragons before they can fly regular mounts. Dragon Riding is an inherent skill that does not require training. However, Dragon Riding only works in the Dragon Isles so you'll have to hitch a ride there first.

Low level characters cannot interact with the Dragon Riding Trainers. But don't worry, they can still access the Skills and Unlocks menu by clicking on the dragon icon on the minimap. Your skills are only limited by what your high level characters have already unlocked.

So login to your low level alt, load up your favorite dragon, learn those riding skills, and take off for a wild flight through the Dragon Isles. But when you get one shot by a killer duck, don't blame me.

Flight Points

Scouting maps make the lives of your alts much easier. Each map gives your alts the majority of the flight points for a specific continent of expansion. Most of the maps are usable at level 10 even though your character can't even go to some of those expansions yet.

The Flight Whistle

The flight whistle is a device that allows you to catch a quick ride to the nearest flight master. It doesn't work in all expansions and may not work in all zones for a specific expansion but it works in enough places to be worth the few minutes it takes to pick it up.

To get the flight whistle, do the following:

• Get to level 45(??).
• Go to the Violet Citadel in Dalaran (Legion) and get Uniting the Isles from Archmage Khadgar.
• Turn it right back in to Khadgar.

That's it. Now you have your flight whistle. As a bonus you've also opened up world quests in Legion.