Your leveling gameplan for Mists of Pandaria

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As I write this post, its less than 24 hrs before Mists of Pandaria is unleashed.  If you have been distracted playing other great releases from last week like Borderlands 2 or Torchlight 2, you may have forgotten to prepare for release day tomorrow.  This is not a post about going for a realm first achievement, but about simple preparations to ensure you have a smooth and enjoyable launch.

Pre-game plans

Here are some things you can do before the launch:

  1. Log into the game early – There is no need to relog when Mists of Pandaria launches, so its important to log in early to avoid log in troubles right at the launch.
  2. Make sure your addons are updated and working –  There will be no patch for the launch, so make sure you have all your favorite addons ready to go.
  3. Clear out your bank and bags –  You are going to need lots of space while leveling, so now is the time to clear out any junk you won’t need.  Sift through all your gear and put anything you like into the bank or void storage and vendor the rest.  Toss out off-set gear if you don’t plan to level with that spec.  That gear will be obsolete by the time you hit level 90.  Other candidate for the trash are old food, bandages and potions which will be outclassed very quickly.
  4. Respec for leveling – Leveling talents and glyphs are often very different for leveling.  Self heals and speed boosts are little things that will make leveling smoother.  You won’t be doing 6 minute boss fights so short cooldowns will be more useful than a more powerful long CD ability.

Launch plans

As soon as MoP launches, the temptation will be to rush off to the new land, but here are a few things worth doing right before that:

  1. Visit your profession trainers and learn the new Zen level of each profession – You don’t want to waste potential skill points when leveling through Pandaria when skinning a mob or mining a node because you forgot to train.
  2. Use cataclysm materials to gain skill points – For most professions, you can get a few more skill points from cataclysm recipes, which could be cheaper than using the new MoP materials.
  3. Turn in any completed daily quests you may have saved up – Its not going to be a huge XP boost, but every bit helps.
  4. Learn Pet Training – While most of the tameable critters in Pandaria will be lvl 24 or higher, its nice to have the skill for a quick diversion when leveling.

End of the day plans

At the end of the first day, there are a few more things you can do to make your next session more efficient:

  1. Mail off all materials you aren’t going to use immediately – Keeping your bag space free means a quicker start in your next session.  Mail off greens to your enchanter, cloth to your tailor and everything thing else to a alt.
  2. Travel to the Shrine in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms – Its just a quick 10 – 15 min trip to ride to the Shrine in the Vale.  It is the new hub city for the expansion and contains a bank, inn and portals to all major cities, the best place to set your new hearthstone.
  3. Bonus: Start farming at Halfhill – Leveling cooking will take lots of vegetables gained from farming, you can start as early as 85 with just four plots.  Worth the effort if you have time.

I hope you found something useful to add to your MoP launch gameplan.  Above all else remember to have a good time and be ready to adapt to any unforeseen server outages or gameplay quirks.

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