Coming through the first 40 levels has left me surprised at myself at how quickly I am leveling. Normally, I am a fairly fast leveler, but with the heirloom pieces and their respective experience gain bonuses, it is borderline ridiculous with how fast I am leveling this retribution paladin.

If you are teetering on the edge of making a ret paladin, and have some extra tokens or emblems to spend, you won’t be disappointed at how quickly everything moves. Especially if you already have a main or alt plate wearer. Even if a ret pally isn’t for you, the heirloom gear can still be used for your upcoming toons. Think of it as a future investment for Cataclysm.

Continuing with my Paladin Heirloom Project, I am going to post levels 31 through 40 here.

• Levels 1-10
• Levels 11-20
• Levels 21-30
• Levels 31-40
• Levels 41-50
• Levels 51-60
• Levels 61-70
• Levels 71-80

Paladin Heirloom Project Part V

Levels: 41-50

Zones Involved: Dustwallow Marsh (40-43), Stranglethorn Vale (43-46), Feralas (46-48), Tanaris (48-50)

Training at Levels: 44, 48, 50

Overall Time Elapsed: 1 day, 7 hours, 1 min

Gear Purchased: Done by a bank toon every couple levels, random BoE greens of the Bear and of the Tiger.

Tips

General

• Quest stack as much as you can. Each zone in this level range provides for optimal quest stacking, so make sure you are taking advantage of it.
• Art of War and Judgements of the Wise become available in this range. I opted to put points into JotW first, to eliminate my mana issues. Then I put the rest into AoW to make my Exorcisms and Flash of Lights instant on crits.

Dustwallow Marsh

• With the revamp of the zone, this has become a prime leveling area. I could have hit this zone earlier, but my leveling path brought me here at 40. That’s okay, because it made me absolutely fly through the zone.
• Make sure to start the quests n the dock area first. The quest chains start there.
• Grab the flight path in Mudsprocket when you get the chance. Running all the way back to Theramore is a pain.

Stranglethorn Vale

• I did every quest in the zone I could with a few exceptions.
• I did not do Hemet Nesingwary Jr.’s quests, as they were minimal xp gains, and not worth the time invested.
• I completed the Stone of Tides chain up until I had to venture to Southshore, at which point I abandoned the chain. Travel time would not have been efficient.
• I did not do the crocolisk quest, as it was minimal xp, and also the drop rate is horrible for that quest.
• Don’t forget the Message in a Bottle quest that can be found in the tiny green bottles buried in the sand on the south eastern shore, usually just north of the Bloodsail pirates.

Feralas

• On the way west to Feathermoon Stronghold, don’t forget to find Kindal Moonweaver and complete her quests.
• Well above the level requirements for the zone, so it was cake. I did every quest available.

Tanaris

• Pretty cut and dry. Lots of quest stacking, very good xp gains. Level 50 was very easy to reach at this point.

Summary

With the talent improvements gained from 41-50, I really was able to pick up the pace. It was at this point I realized my goal of 60 in under 2 days played time was a very real possibility. In fact, I knew I would probably clear it well ahead of time.

Having my epic mount at 40 was also a world of difference, and I was able to drastically reduce my traveling time.

Finishing Tanaris at 50 left me realizing I was able to skip many zones I normally would have hit. Among the casualties were Desolace, Badlands, and Felwood.

They key, a usual, was to keep moving. I wasted very little time, and was able to blast my way to level 50, which let me pick up Crusader Strike. One more missing piece to add to my dps rotation.

Next up: levels 51-60.