Janglur’s Optimal Iron Man Roadmap for Levels 1-60

(Unofficially Endorsed by Ster)

• Begin in the Night Elf starter zone (of course – SM).
  • Do the quests until you get to the one where you have to go to the stupid barrow and kill 20 mobs.
• Go to Elwynn Forest and do almost everything.
  • The Collector can be done with a hunter if you kite the caster and walk around the building to stay out of line of sight, but is not recommended for most classes.
• Do the initial Westfall quests until you get to “Two-Shoed” Lou and get the first flight path.
• Go to Ironforge, get the quest, and take the flight to Loch Modan and the downed pilot.
  • Do the gnoll ear and Algaz Station quests through Sharpsneer, as they are much easier to complete at low levels, but don’t turn them in until you return to LM.
• Fly back to Kharanos and do the Dun Morogh quests.
  • Make sure you don’t aggro multiple Frostmane Seers.  They do leash reasonably well if you need to run.
• Go to Azuremyst Isle and do the quests there.
  • I usually skip Bristlelimb Village.  It’s not worth the headache.
• Go to Bloodmyst Isle, where there are a million quests.  Do the ones you like.
  • I’m not a fan of the demon areas.
  • AVOID THE CRYO-CORE.  It’s the worst.  The outdoor mobs are ranged and usually in pairs, and the indoors is 10x worse.
• Next up is Darkshore.  Increasingly cherry-pick the quests you like.
  • The Shatterspear Mystics are dangerous, and I avoid all nearby boss quests.
• Fly to Astranaar, where there are a couple of quests with no mob fighting.
  • There are also a few good quests in Forest Song after you take the free ride there.
• Return to Westfall.  I do the quests up until Agent Kearnan because I don’t like ones that require an elite to pound on you.
• Go to Redridge and do the quests through Yowler and the ettin.
  • Don’t go to Alther’s Mill or Render’s Valley unless you want to roll a new iron.
• Next is Duskwood, one of my favorite zones.
  • Keep an eye out for Dark Riders near Beggar’s Haunt and Manor Mistmantle.
  • Watch out for stealth worgen in the Rotting Orchard.
  • Don’t look in the buildings at Raven Hill.
  • OK, it sounds like the zone is dangerous, but there are really good groupings of quests and you can level quickly with a little caution.
  • I don’t do anything that involves going into the heart of the RH cemetary.
• I like to do a few early Hemingwary quests in Northern STV, but only a few.  The rest of the zone is super-grindy with stealth mobs sprinkled throughout.  And all the cats hit hard.
• By now I’m usually in my 30’s, and only then do I go to Loch Modan.
  • Save all six Explorer’s League docs to turn in when you’re level 59.
  • I don’t go after the robot in the cave.  I hate caves in general.
• After LM, I head steadily north, cherry-picking as I go.
• I like the quests in south and east Wetlands, but hate the northwest.  The mobs are too tightly packed with a few named NPCs to boot.
  • I’m not a big fan of Dun Modr either.
• Keep going north to Arathi Basin.
  • Skip the kobolds with the motes.  It’s the timber worg tales of the Eastern Kingdom.
  • I don’t like to go into Stromgarde, even though I do sometimes.
  • Northfold Manor actually isn’t difficult as long as you remain on the perimeter, finding and eliminating the stealth mobs one by one.
• Next stop: the Hinterlands.
  • Old Cliff Jumper is bad-ass.  He’s yellow.  Leave him be.
  • Don’t go into Skulk Rock.  The Direglob sits on top of you so you can’t move and dissolves you.
• Onward to Western Plaguelands.
  • I mostly avoid Andorhal, which is a death trap for irons, but there are some easy quests at Chillwind Camp, where you just have to kill a few bears and pick up some feathers.
• By this point you should over 40 and ready for my next favorite zone: Dustwallow Marsh.
  • I do almost every quest here except for the murloc heads and the Deserters.
  • The turtles are OP, but slow.
  • While you’re getting the clues at the Shady Rest Inn, pop over to Fort Triumph for some easy cheese.  Avoid the quillboars and the burning dwarf building, in which you will die instantly if you don’t know what you’re doing (which I didn’t).
• Then go to Thousand Needles and cherry-pick some more.
• Do the same in Tanaris.
  • I don’t do the quest that ejects you 50 feet in the air if for no other reason than principle.
• Next is Faralas, a very under-rated zone, IMO.  It has some good quests and the mobs are generally well spaced.
  • I especially like the quest chain in Oneiros.
  • Don’t do the quest where you tag the hippogriffs and an orc hunter appears out of nowhere and smacks you in the back of the head.  It’s bad for your heart and your iron’s health.
• By this point you should be in the upper 40’s and ready for my next favorite zone: the Badlands.
  • Goat punching!  The Warden’s Pawns!  The Deathwing chain!
  • The turret quest is easy and safe if you just slowly keep turning in the same direction a little ways, stop, fire, repeat.
• I stop in Searing Gorge for just a few quests and to visit Lunk, my favorite NPC in the game.
  • Stay far, far away from Gravius Grimesilt.  He is bad news.
• Head back to Kalimdor and go to Felwood.
  • I do every quest in Felwood except the ones with satyrs, who all hit really, really hard.
• Only now do I go to Winterspring.  It’s a great zone and the XP for the quests is phenomenal, which is perfect for getting through the 50’s.
  • I don’t do the quests in Winterfall Village because the mobs are grouped.
  • I’m told the named mobs are near impossible to do with a melee toon, but I can do all of them with a hunter EXCEPT Mezzir the Howler. 
•  By the time I’m done with WS, I have usually been pretty close to 60, and that was before the XP nerfs.
  • I could generally get the rest of the way there via Swamp of Sorrows.
  • I do only the first few easy quests in the Blasted Lands, which mostly sucks.
• As soon as you hit 59, turn in the League of Explorer’s docs and do the balloon quest in Cathedral Square, which will take you more than 1/3 through the worst level.

Good luck, have fun, and stay safe!