I am working on getting my Warriors caught up as possible for ToC. ToC is such a freaking blast of a patch and I don’t want to miss out on my Warrior. So, here’s exactly what I’m doing to get us caught up as quickly as I can.

Step 1: Level To 80!

The first thing I’m doing is leveling to 80 as fast as I possibly can. There are a couple of things I didn’t know when I started leveling my Warriors. And I want to tell you now.

Get A Flying Mount

The first thing is that you can actually have flying at level 60 in the Outlands. That was a huge shock to me because I’ve been riding around on a land map this whole time.

Also, for some reason, I completely forgot about Heirlooms. You could actually get a 10% XP bonus from both the chest and the shoulders from Heirlooms. Though even without Heirlooms, I was leveling really fast. It’s about two hours of leveling even in the Outlands.

Go Leveling In The Open Worlds

If you’re a little hesitant to level in the open world right now, I would recommend it for sure. It kind of feels like retail honestly. The mobs just melt like butter. So, anyway, back to what I’m doing to catch up.

Step 2: Pump AVs

Once I hit level 71, I’m going to pump AV weekend as hard as I can. AV weekend starts on April 7th. 

Open world leveling in Northrend is still really fast. Just make sure to available yourself a Tome Of Cold Weather Flight at 68, so you can fly around. Being able to do those early quests on the flying mount feels like cheating or if you really want to cheat, you could just get a boost from 72 to 80. 

For me, leveling up an AV is only going to take a couple of sessions. But if for whatever reason I’m too busy with my Warrior, I’ll just get some boost instead. I’ve already leveled up a few times. I really don’t feel any shame in it.

Step 3: What Comes After Level 80?

You’re just doing level 80. What are you going to do to catch up with ToC?

The first thing I would do and the thing I’m already doing is farming as much WOTLK Classic Gold as you can. Once you have gold, you’re basically unlocking the entire game. You’ve got the BOE gear. You can purchase the GDKPs.

If you got a guilder friend, you can reach out to somebody in the Auction House. You can actually get these BOE gears a lot cheaper. While you’re getting those BOEs, you should also be doing Wintergrasp over three hours. The reason Wintergrasp was so insane is that you can get those 232 item level pieces. 

In just a few days of running Wintergrasp, you can have a bunch of these extra off pieces, like the Bracers. I mean, I have a confession. My Resto Druid has been using the PVP Bracer this whole time in Ulduar. 

While you’re getting your BOEs or while you’re PVP, you should also be hitting Heroic Plus. I’d recommend trying to fill out all your slots with blues or purples before you do Heroic Plus. I know it sounds counterintuitive, but people are pretty choosy when it comes to her Rough Climber’s Grips.

Heroic Plus really fixes all your gear issues at the same time. I mean, for one thing, you’ll just be getting a bunch of free max level epics and the daily heroic quest will give your Emblems of Conquest.

If you check out the conquest vendor, you can get so many different pieces. Of course, there’s your actual best chest and helmet tier pieces. Plus, you can get necklaces, belts, legs, and the list goes on and on.

Related: WotLK Classic Phase 3 Prep Guide: How I’m Dominating Trial Of The Crusader?

Step 4: Pump Phase 1 Raids

So, by this point, you should definitely be ready for some Phase 1 Raids. I really recommend trying to hit both the lockouts for 10 and 25 man raids. Even from the 10-man, you’ll be getting that extra 25-man loop.

For example, I just went to a 10-man recently on my palette and I cleaned up on all that best loot and I know some people are going to complain about this. But GDKPs are really efficient for the next. In the next marvelous GDKPs, it’s usually a 500 Gold Min Bid. If you’ve been following this guy so far, you should have enough gold to get five or six items during your first raid.

Speaking of my Paladin again, that’s exactly what I did in a recent 25 man. I walked out an ax with so many business pieces in my inventory almost overflowed. On top of all the Phase 1 Raids, you should definitely be hitting the Vault of Archavon. 

VOA has a chance to drop your current phase best gear and also nobody even really does gear checks when it comes to VOA. Once you’ve done a couple weeks of Phase 1 lockouts, you should be ready for Ulduar.

Pro Tip: Stay Away From Hard Modes

Definitely, look for a run that isn’t doing the hard mode because your gear isn’t quite ready for it yet. But you should be trying to do both the 10-man and the 25-man lockouts each week. 

Again, my recommendation is definitely to hit up those GDKPs. I’m able to get upgrades a lot faster in GDKPs than I would in a typical software has run.