The Light and How to Swing It: Levels 41-50

This week I'm going to continue the class guide by talking about levels 41-50. This is the level range I dislike the most when playing most of my characters (more specifically, 45-50), but I'm going to include suggestions to help you get through it as fast as possible. Since you got your mount at 40, you'll notice a distinct drop in travel time, but please be careful when mounted -- enemy mobs can still hit you, potentially knocking you off your mount to make your escape on foot. You may have chosen to respec at 40 to Protection or Holy, but I'm continuing as Retribution for leveling purposes (though Prot grinding is also quite fun). As such, certain quests / areas may be harder for some specs than others, so I've tried to offer alternative zones when possible just in case you start having trouble.

If you missed the last two installments of the leveling guide, you can find 1-20 here, and 21-40 here. Before we get started on level 41, I have a couple of recommendations: First, make sure your First Aid skill is leveled up and you have a nice stock of bandages, as sometimes you'll be low on mana and a bubble/bandage can save your life. Second, always carry around a stack or two of the best water (and maybe food) you can get, and if you've leveled cooking, try to keep yourself food buffed as much as possible. Third, take a deep breath -- some of the zones you have to quest in at this level range are notorious ganking grounds on PvP servers, and many have tough mobs that may give you trouble (especially if they have a level or two on you). You will likely find yourself running back from the graveyard a lot, and that's always frustrating. Just keep on at it, and you'll get through it.

Alright, so you just got your super-cool Warhorse, you've probably picked up a few pieces of plate armor, and you're feeling invincible. What do you do? Well, unless reaching 40 was some kind of personal goal at the end of a long journey, you keep leveling!

Levels 40-41: Stranglethorn Vale. There are tons of quests here, some of which you probably already did back in the late 30s. If you're Alliance, grab the new Flight Path at the Rebel Camp in the northernmost part of STV. If you're Horde, pick up all the available quests at Grom'gol. Players of both sides should pick up any quests you haven't done yet at Nessingwary's Expedition (northern STV , along the river). You should also make the run down to Booty Bay in the south-- there are a lot of quests down there, some of which require trips back up north. There are lots of quest chains in STV , so if you have any green quests here, you should finish them up and see if there is a follow up (especially for the "Mastery" quests from Nessingwary's). If you're finding STV too difficult, consider Arathi Highlands (some of the later quests are around level 40-ish) or Desolace.

Levels 42-43: At level 42 you pick up new ranks of Blessing of Might, Flash of Light, Seal of Righteousness and Seal of the Crusader. You also get Cleanse, which should replace Purify when you're trying to get rid of debuffs. Like Purify, Cleanse removes 1 poison and 1 disease debuff, but it can also remove 1 magic debuff. It also costs the same amount of mana to cast, so there's no real reason to ever use Purify again. 

On the leveling front, continue running quests in STV. If you find yourself running low on quests or just want a chance in scenery, you can take a trip to the Swamp of Sorrows, which is east of Duskwood and Deadwind Pass. If you're Horde, stop in Stonard and get the flight path, and stock up on quests. There's less to do here if you're Alliance, but there are a few quests to be found in the swamp.

Levels 44-45: When you go to train at 44, you'll pick up new ranks of Blessing of Wisdom, Exorcism, and Frost Resistance Aura, as well as a new skill -- Hammer of Wrath. Hammer of Wrath is similar to Execute for warriors (it can only be used when your target has less than 20% health), but since it is a ranged attack that causes holy damage, it can be used to finish off runners. And that's a good thing, because you should be questing in Tanaris now, where there are many mobs who like to run when they get low on health. 

If you're Horde and looking to get to Tanaris, fly to Thousand Needles, then head east to the Shimmering Flats. In the southern part of Shimmering Flats, there is a road that goes through the mountains that leads to Tanaris. If you're Alliance, this trip is a bit of a pain -- take the boat to Theramore, then follow the road north until you find the west exit to The Barrens. Once in the Barrens, head south until you get to the Great Lift, which will take you down into Thousand Needles. From there, follow the Horde directions until you get to Tanaris. Almost immediately you'll see the goblin town of Gadgetzan -- the Alliance flight path is on the south side of the city, and the Horde flight path is on the north side.

There are lots of quests for both factions in Tanaris -- check all parts of Gadgetzan, as well as Steamwheedle Port to the east. If you like to grind (especially if you're Prot spec), then you will likely find Lost Rigger Cove (south of Steamwheedle) a paradise. It's filled to the brim with pirates that'll respawn faster than you can kill them.

Levels 46-47: New ranks of Holy Light and Retribution Aura, as well as a new blessing called Blessing of Sacrifice. This is a "tactical" type of blessing, because it only lasts 30 seconds (with a 30 second cooldown); however, it can be used to great effect in groups, and especially in battlegrounds. If you cast this on someone that is taking damage, it will transfer part of that damage to you, preventing you from being crowd controlled (remember, skills like Polymorph and Sap break on any kind of damage). I never used it much while soloing, though. 

You've got a couple choices of places to level, here. You'll be coming back to Tanaris, so don't feel you have to clear out every single quest. No matter what your faction is, check out the Hinterlands (northeast of Hillsbrad, just north of the ruins of Durnholde). The Alliance town of Aerie Peak is just to your north as you enter, but the Troll run village of Revantusk is a little harder to get to -- if you follow the road that starts about mid-zone to the southeast, you should eventually see a path down to the coast. Once there, head south the Revantusk village (the flight path is out on the dock). There are quests here for both factions, but there are far more for the Horde, some of which have great quest rewards, so I wouldn't skip this place.

Alternatively, check out Feralas -- Feathermoon Stronghold in the west if you're Alliance, and Camp Mojache towards the east side of the zone if you're Horde.

Levels 48-49: You can train a new rank of Fire Resistance Aura, Redemption, Seal of Justice, and Seal of Wisdom at 48. If you're specced Holy, you can also pick up a new rank of Holy Shock. 

If you're Horde, you'll likely still be working on Hinterlands quests, but if you're Alliance I like to head to Searing Gorge around this level (don't worry Horde players, there will still be lots here for you to do when you finish Hinterlands). The safest way for both factions to get to Searing Gorge is through the west exit from the Badlands. You'll emerge in the southeast part of the zone, but the flight path (and a good chunk of the quests) comes from Thorium Point in the northern part of the zone. There's plenty of quests here to keep both factions busy for a while.

Level 50: Whoo! I always breath a sigh of relief when I hit 50, because it generally starts to pick up again here (most of 41-50 is slow for me). This is really the last big milestone for your talent trees, because it means you now have access to the 41 point talents. If you're Retribution, you get Crusader Strike, which is an instant strike that causes 110% weapon damage and refreshes all judgments on the target. For Protection paladins, you'll get Avenger's Shield, which is a ranged ability that causes holy damage and dazes up to 3 targets. Holy paladins can pick up Divine Illumination, which reduces the cost of all spells by 50% for 15 seconds. All paladins get new ranks of Blessing of Light, Consecration, Devotion Aura, Divine Shield, Flash of Light, Lay on Hands, Seal of Light, and Seal of Righteousness. You also get a new spell called Holy Wrath, which is sort of an AoE exorcism -- it causes holy damage to all undead and demon targets within 20 yards of you.

I like doing the quests in the north part of Blasted Lands to get me going through level 50. They're all grinding quests, so you'll get good experience from kills as well as the quests, and the reward for each is a nice item that buffs one of your stats by 25. These quests are repeatable, but unfortunately the quest reward doesn't stack, so you can't farm up a bunch of them to help you level.


You're getting closer and closer to Outland, and it won't be long before you can get your epic land mount at 60 (which is well worth it, since it will likely be the fastest thing you can ride for a long time). Start saving money for it now if you haven't already, cause the increased mount speed is invaluable. You're almost there, so don't get discouraged! You'll make it, but there's a few more levels to get through first. Just keep swinging!

The Light and How to Swing It: Levels 21-40

Over here at The Light and How to Swing It, we've gotten behind on our class guide. If you missed the first installment and have just rolled a Paladin, check out Elizabeth's guide on levels 1-20. As Elizabeth said in her article, until you hit 40 or so, Retribution is probably the best talent tree for solo leveling unless you're doing a lot of instances where you are healing or tanking. Even so, Prot and Holy specs get far more effective at 40, so my advice is also to stay Ret until then, as it really will speed things up.

Be prepared -- going from 20 to 40 will take you a lot longer than going from 1-20. If you're on a PvP server you'll have to level in a contested area (this means you are automatically flagged for PvP), and that means you are likely to be ganked by opposing players who will often be a much higher level than you. If you're on a PvE server there is no threat of ganking unless you flag for PvP or wander into an area held by the opposing faction, but the difficulty level also ramps up here as well. Mobs have more health and do more damage, and you will probably find quests are harder to complete. Generally, you won't need to group up for quests (your bubble and your ability to heal yourself is invaluable), but in many zones it's not a bad idea. Since Blizzard increased the amount of experience gained from quests in this level range, it may be advantageous to group up and finish a quest quickly, rather than do it solo.

As you've probably realized by now, every 10 levels you gain is a milestone: you generally pick up more skills or new skills at these levels, and the next big tier on your talent tree becomes available. Usually I would recommend that you start saving for your first mount at level 20, but paladins, like warlocks, get their first mount for free. Despite that fact, I would still try to save some money, as training your new skills can quickly get expensive. As you level from 20 to 40, make sure to increase your skill in any gathering professions you may have (herbalism/skinning/mining) so that you don't have to spend extra time in lower level areas grinding it up later.

Alright, let's get to the new skills!

Level 22: You get another new aura -- Concentration Aura! You don't need to run with this up all the time, but if you're under attack and need to heal yourself it's best to switch to this first. When combined with Spiritual Focus from the Holy tree, your heals can't be interrupted by damage. Level 22 also gets you new ranks of Holy Light and Seal of the Crusader. Additionally, you get a brand new skill... Seal of Justice. This seal doesn't deal damage but it does have a chance to stun the target. However, its real power lies in Judging it: the Judgement will stop a mob from running in fear when it gets low on health, which is great because running mobs have a nasty habit of pulling other mobs.

Level 24: You get a longer lasting Blessing of Protection and Hammer of Justice, as well as an improved Blessing of Wisdom. You also get a new skill called Turn Undead, which acts as a fear for undead mobs. This is handy since undead are immune to all normal fear effects. If you're leveling an alliance character in Duskwood, you'll probably use this a fair amount there.

Level 26: Your rewards for making it to 26 are new ranks of Seal of Righteousness, Retribution Aura, and Flash of Light, as well as a new skill -- Blessing of Salvation. Blessing of Salvation reduces the amount of a threat generated by 30%, which is excellent to use on DPS-type characters when running instances since it makes it harder for them to pull aggro off the tank.

Level 28: Only two things to train this level: a new rank of Exorcism, and the first of your "Resist" auras. Shadow Resistance Aura does just what it sounds like: increases your shadow resistance (by 30, for this rank).

Level 30: Another milestone! You've probably seen a few new zones now and are ready for more! Before you get back out there, make sure to stop by a city with a Paladin trainer to get your new skills, since there's a lot this level. If you've stayed in the Retribution tree, you can get the talent Sanctity Aura, which increases Holy damage by 10% and should replace Retribution Aura when you're in combat. You also get new ranks of Consecration, Holy Light, Devotion Aura, Lay on Hands and Seal of Command (if you're Ret). In addition, you get 2 completely new skills: Seal of Light, and Divine Intervention. Seal of Light (and its Judgement) have a chance to restore health whenever you hit with your weapon. Divine Intervention is only really useful in instances -- it has a long cooldown, requires a reagent, and kills you when you use it, but it saves your target from death. When used on someone else who can rez in an instance, you've just prevented a wipe (when all your party members die).

Level 32: You get another resistance aura, called Frost Resistance Aura (guess what it does). You also will snag new ranks of Blessing of Might and Seal of the Crusader.

Level 34: Upgrades to Blessing of Wisdom, Seal of Righteousness and Flash of Light are yours at level 34. You also get a new bubble: Divine Shield. This is an upgrade to Divine Protection -- you're still protected from all spells and physical attacks, but the main difference is that you are able to attack while using Divine Shield! The downside to this is that it doubles the amount of time between your attacks, but at least you can do more than stand there and heal yourself now.

Level 36: At level 36 you gain new ranks of Exorcism, Redemption and Retribution Aura in addition to your final resistance aura. This one is called Fire Resistance Aura, and it works the same way your other resist auras do, except for Fire instead of Frost or Shadow.

Level 38: You're probably sick of running everywhere on foot at this point, but you're almost there. Level 38 gets you new ranks of Blessing of Protection, Holy Light and Turn Undead. You also get a new seal: this one is called Seal of Wisdom and it works similarly to Seal of Light, except this grants mana instead of health.

Level 40: You made it! Level 40 is a major milestone because you get your first mount -- nothing compares to the feeling of riding around on your mount for the very first time, especially if it's your first character. I spent hours just riding around when I got my first one. Unlike other classes, who have to shell out a good amount of gold to get the training and purchase their mount, you get yours for free. The other big deal at this level is that you learn to equip Plate armor! You may not replace the Mail you've been wearing for the last 40 levels right away, but you should upgrade as soon as you can. You also get new ranks of Consecration, Devotion Aura, Hammer of Justice, Seal of Command, and Shadow Resistance Aura. If you're staying Retribution, you can pick up Repentance, which acts as a ranged sleep that is usable on human enemies. If you've been eyeballing the other trees, this is a good time to respec. If you want to go Protection, you can pick up Holy Shield and start some serious prot grinding. If the Holy tree appeals to you, you can pick up Holy Shock and start on a Shockadin spec.

With a mount, the world shrinks: you get from place to place much faster than before, which helps increase the speed at which you level, and you have most of the skills you'll use for the rest of the game. But now that you're 40, there's no time to stop: 41-60 can be both the most challenging and rewarding part of the leveling process, and Outlands looms behind 60. There's still a long way to go, but don't get discouraged -- you'll make it if you just keep swinging!

Your guide to levels 41-50 this way ==>

The Light and How To Swing It: Surviving 1-20 as a pally

A lot of people want a high-level paladin to heal, tank, or (as of 2.3) smash faces, but aren't sure how to get up to the point where it becomes fun. Does it get beyond Seal of Righteousness, Judge, Seal of Righteousness, Judge, heal? How can I make the same content I've done five times interesting? When are people going to stop laughing at my blood elf? Read on, as The Light and How to Swing It takes you and your paladin to level 20.

First off, you should know what to roll. Four races -- human, dwarf, draenei and blood elf -- can be pallies. If you're Horde, your choice is limited to one. Alliance have more choices, so you need to look at the racials of the classes and what races you've already played. If you haven't made a draenei yet, I would recommend them, as the 1-20 content will be new to you. Plus, the 1% hit aura is pretty nice. The human Diplomacy racial is killer if you're planning on doing heroics, and both Sword and Mace specialization come in handy if you're going Ret. As for dwarves ... well, dwarves have Stoneform, which is nice for PvP. There aren't a whole lot of benefits to being a dwarf paladin, but they are kind of cool-looking, especially female dwarves.

Depending on what you think, you'll start in a monastery (human), an icy plain (dwarf), a crashed spaceship (draenei) or a beautiful city (blood elf.) The Alliance races begin by using maces, while the blood elves start out with swords. You'll be unable to use some of the other weapons until you make the route of big cities, so it would be best to stick with your given weapon type at the beginning, or make your way to another capital if you're really desperate. You'll get a couple quests to run around, find your paladin trainer, and talk to various people, and then you're going to start your questing.

The skills you begin with are very limited. You start out with the armor-adding Devotion Aura, the holy damage Seal of Righteousness, and the healing spell Holy Light. This combo gives you fairly high survivability, but little damage and no crowd control. As such, it's best to take on one enemy at a time until you're comfortable with the class. Just put on Seal of Righteousness and Devotion Aura and hit stuff, and heal yourself when you get low on health. But a couple stacks of food and water to help you along. Sell all of the vendor trash you get to make the cash for your skills.

From here on, we'll go level by level to the new things you get and how they should affect your playstyle.

Level 4: You receive your first blessing, Blessing of Might, and the Judgement ability. Now, you'll be able to Judge your Righteousness for extra damage. Don't forget to reapply it! A macro can help wonders there. Also, keep BoM up constantly, as it'll help out your meager damage.

Level 5: Time to pick your professions. If this is your only character on your server, it's probably best to pick up two gathering professions, like mining and herbalism. If you're going ret in end-game, mining and blacksmithing will get you some awesome weapons. Tanks and healers can pick some non-weapon and armor professions, like jewelcrafting, enchanting, engineering or alchemy.

Level 6: You get your first bubble, Divine Protection, and your second seal, Seal of the Crusader. Your fights should now begin with sealing and judging Crusader before turning on Righteousness, since Crusader increases your holy damage. At this point in time, Divine Protection should probably be used to get a heal off (easy with your new rank of Holy Light) or run for it.

Level 8: Not too exciting of a level. You get Hammer of Justice, which stuns your opponent for 3 seconds, and Purify, which removes a disease and poison effect.

Level 10: Now we're jamming! Your Seal of Righteousness and Devotion Aura go up a rank, and you get two more abilities: Lay On Hands, which heals your target to your maximum health for the minor cost of all your mana and a one-hour cooldown, and Blessing of Protection, which can serve as a second bubble at this level. Later on, it's more useful to bubble party members. Both of these are good escape mechanisms if you find yourself in an "oh, crap" moment.

You also get your first talent point. There are a couple of things you can do with your early talent builds. I put my first five points into Divine Strength and then Spiritual Focus, so I could get nearly uninterruptable heals. In retrospect, this was a poor choice, and one I wouldn't recommend. A better option is the ret tree. Put your first five points into Benediction to decrease the mana cost of most of the spells you use at early levels, then toss two into Improved Judgement and 3 into Improved Seal of the Crusader, and then pick up Seal of Command at 20. SoC makes playing a pally much more exciting. Sorry, wanna-be shockadins and prot grinders, those specs don't really shine until level 40. Ret will make your life easier early on.

Around this point, you'll start getting green items. Stats you want to look for right now are strength, stamina and intellect to help you develop a balanced character.

Level 12: You've probably moved from your starter area to the next (10-20) place, but don't forget to go promptly back to your trainer when you level up. At 12 you learn new ranks of Blessing of Might and Seal of the Crusader. You also get your first class quest, to learn the rez spell Redemption. Hordies will be summoned to Silvermoon City and asked to light a brazier in a Ghostlands cave, where you're attacked by another Blood Knight. Then you need to fill up a vial with the power of the Naaru M'uru and ressurect the guy who attacked you (who's been moved to an inn.) It's pretty easy and provides a good overview of Blood Knight lore. Draenei will be called to the Exodar to read the Tome of Divinity, and then use a one-time rez spell to rez a furbolg shaman.

Humans and dwarves have it a bit tougher. They'll be sent from their paladin trainer to Duthorian Rall in Stormwind or Tiza Battleforge in Ironforge. Both these questgivers ask you to go help someone in need. This means John (in Ironforge) and Stephanie (in Stormwind) Turner, who collect linen cloth for orphans. Orphans in linen sweatshops? They never tell. Bring them 10 linen cloth, and you'll be shuttled around for a while before being asked to resurrect a dead guy in Dun Morogh/Elwynn Forest, and retrieve a letter from a Defias member or Dark Iron Dwarf. Then, and only then, will you get your Redemption.

Level 14: You get a new rank of Holy Light and two new skills: Blessing of Wisdom, which increases your mana regen, and Righteous Defense, which is basically the paladin taunt. Use your judgement on BoM vs. BoW. If you don't have any Judgement, why are you playing a pally? *rimshot*

Level 16: At 16 you learn Retribution Aura, which should immediately replace Devotion Aura, and Righteous Fury, another skill that is good only for tanking at this level.

Level 18: A new Seal of Righteousness and a longer Divine Protection will help push you to 20, as will Blessing of Freedom (removing all movement-impairing effects) and Spiritual Attunement (which gives you mana back when you're healed.)

Level 20: Congratulations, you're here! Enjoy your prizes: Exorcism, which hurts undead and demons; Consecration, an AOE attack that does holy damage over a few seconds; Flash of Light, a quick heal that heals a lesser amount than Holy Light; and a new rank of Devotion Aura. Depending on your talent points, you can also pick up Blessing of Kings, which increases stats by 10%, or Seal of Command, which can proc for major holy damage when you're fighting. If you took my advice and went Ret, you'll be getting the latter.

You've also got a new class quest to go on. The Horde will be asked to undertake the Second Trial and kill more Blood Knights near Silvermoon for the skill Sense Undead, which is exactly what it sounds like. Allies will go instead to Westfall and protect an innocent woman from the Defias thugs for the same skill.

You'll then be asked to start what might seem like an awesome class quest for a great weapon, but will instead end up destroying your soul. Hordies need to go to Deatholme, RFC, SFK and BFD to get the Blood-Tempered Ranseur, and Allies must trek to Deadmines, BFD, SFK and an elite area in Loch Modan for Verigan's Fist. Unless you have a group of friends or a level 70 to run you through, these are so not worth it, even though the Alliance weapon will last you for some time.

After 20, the whole world will open up to you. Head to a contested area and start questing, because even with the leveling buff, it's going to be a long way to 70.

Detailed guide on leveing 21-40 this way ==>