What Is the Fastest Way to Level in WoW Classic?
Far and away the quickest and most passive way to level your character in Classic WoW is through dungeon boosting. To do this, you will need in-game gold and pay high level players who regularly run dungeons for gold.
To get the highest XP during your runs, you will do so by joining groups with lower leveled players. It’s a bit more complex than that, but a general rule of thumb is that the lower average lvl in the group, the higher the xp will be per kill.
To get a dungeon boost, type in your chat box…
/join LookingForGroup
….and look for people advertising dungeon boosts.
If you’re unable to find anyone selling runs for the dungeon you need, you can use the /who function to check for any max level characters in the dungeon and ask if they’re selling runs.
/who Shadowfang Keep
You can also try to hop into your server’s boosting discord and leave a message in the appropriate channel.
Level Ranges
| Dungeon Level Ranges | Optimal Boosting Range | Minimum Level |
| Mob Tag Boosting | 1 | |
| (RFC) Ragefire Chasm | 8-16 | 8 |
| (SFK) Shadowfang Keep | 16-20 | 10 |
| (SM) Scarlet Monastery | 20-42 | 20 |
| (Mara) Maraudon | 42-54 | 30 |
| (ZG) Zul’Gurub | 54-60 | 50 |
Cost
| Level Range (Dungeon) | Cost |
| 8-16 (RFC) | 20-80g |
| 16-20 (SFK) | 25-60g |
| 20-42 (SM) | 400-800g |
| 42-54 (Mara) | 700-1500g |
| 54-60 (ZG) | 900-2000g |
| Grand Total | 2045-4440g |
The chart above is based on non-rested XP calculations based on my characters and typical expected costs. As you can see, it varies greatly depending on the group level and XP gained. You can also save by buying 5 runs at a time, which will knock your total down.
Note that you can knock a few hundred gold off if you wait to join SM until level 27. You will get less XP in SFK, but you will save gold. You’ll also save gold by staying in Mara as long as possible.
| Dungeon | Typical Cost Per Run |
| (RFC) Ragefire Chasm | 3g |
| (SFK) Shadowfang Keep | 3g |
| (SM) Scarlet Monastery | 9g |
| (Mara) Maraudon | 18g (300+ mob pulls) |
| (ZG) Zul’Gurub | 20/duo 25g/trio 45-50g/single |
Addon
NovaInstanceTracker:
https://www.curseforge.com/wow/addons/nova-instance-tracker
NovaInstanceTracker is a really cool addon that shows all the instances you’ve entered along with experience gained and mobs killed. It’s an easy way to track your hourly/daily lockout and to ensure your booster is killing the correct number of mobs. I would highly recommend downloading this.
Discord
While boosting discord is a great way to draw attention to dungeons that are lacking boosters, /join LookingForGroup is typically a quicker and cleaner option. Nevertheless, here are the discord channels I am aware of:
Faerlina: https://discord.gg/wcjwKGy3
Mob Tag Boosting (1-10)
For this low-level boosting trick, it works best with a high level Hunter or Warlock along with a dead lvl 1 character. In lieu of the dead lvl 1, you can also party with any player in the zone but they will share XP if they are too close (no XP is shared with a dead character). You need to be partied with the dead lvl 1 and they need to be in your zone (and logged in). The Hunter/Warlock cannot be in your party.
Simply attack a mob (tag it) and have the Hunter/Warlock pet kill it. You will receive full XP. As you run around tagging mobs while the pet follows you for the kills, you’ll be able to hit level 10 in under an hour. Works like a charm.
RFC (Ragefire Chasm) Boosting
Levels: 8-16
Optimal Boosting Range: 8-16
Cost: 2-3 gold per run
XP/Run: 3,000-8,000 XP
Avg Mob Kills: 135-145
Average Run Time: 7-10 minutes
Where to AFK: Beginning of instance, a bit in and to the right
RFC is a great option and yields good xp/hr for the level range. If you’re getting an RFC boost, you’ll zone in with your party and take an immediate right upon entering the instance. There is a small walkway with no mobs, so you’ll be able to jump and run straight ahead into the wall without pulling.
While RFC boosting is decent XP, I find it difficult to find boosters on my server. I prefer to quest until level 10 and go straight to SFK. Note: RFC is usually a better option if you’re able to find boosters up until about level 15-16.
SFK (Shadowfang Keep) Boosting
Levels: 10-27
Optimal Boosting Range: 16-20
Cost: 3-4 gold per run
XP/Run: 5,000-9,000 XP
Avg Mob Kills: 80-140
Average Run Time: 10-15 minutes
Where to AFK: Beginning of instance, straight ahead
As you enter the instance, run straight ahead into the wall and then you are free to afk for the next 10 minutes.
SFK is my favorite instance for early boosting because it’s low-cost and hands-off. Compared to Scarlet Monastery, it is much preferred. Scarlet Monastery requires a lot of running from instance to instance as each wing only takes about 5-6 minutes.
What is the minimum level for SFK?
The minimum level for SFK is 10 in WoW Classic.
SM (Scarlet Monastery) Boosting
Levels: 20-42
Optimal Boosting Range: 20-42
Cost: 8-9 gold per run
XP/Run: 8,000-24,000 XP
Avg Mob Kills: 130-140 (both sides)
Average Run Time: 12-15 minutes
Where to AFK: Beginning of instance/window for looters
For Scarlet Monastery boosts you’ll be doing Cathedral and Armory. Your mage will have a key and should unlock the doors for you. Once inside the instance, simply AFK right at the start or head in a little bit and wait to loot. The runs are quick, so be ready to move from instance to instance.
Total XP in SM is typically about 8-20k depending on group level. If you’re lazy and don’t loot like me, you can expect to get about 1g50s raw gold loot from mobs that your party loots. This puts the total of the runs down to about 35g per 5. Expect for your mage to kill about 140 mobs total at the end of both Cathedral+Armory.
It is typical to stop around 42 and go to Maraudon. You can also go to Maraudon a bit earlier (around 36) but I like to wait until at least 40 so I can have a mount.
What level should I start SM boost?
You should start SM boosts at level 27 in WoW Classic. It is advisable to stay in SFK as long as you can since it will cost much less per boost. If you don’t care about gold, and XP is your main priority, start SM at level 20. XP in SM is much higher per hour than SFK but much more expensive.
Maraudon (Mara) Boosting
Levels: 36-53
Optimal Boosting Range: 42-54
It will be difficult to stay in a group until 54 since most people will complain you are too high level. Do your best to find a higher level group and stay here as long as possible since the XP is much better than ZG for the cost.
Cost: 18-20 gold per run
XP/Run: 20,000-40,000 XP
Avg Mob Kills: 300-340
Average Run Time: 14-17 minutes
Where to AFK: Beginning of purple side entrance
Enter through the purple side entrance of Mara and you can simply AFK right there. Each run takes a while (usually more than 15 minutes), so you have plenty of down time in between resets.
How Much XP Does Mara Boost Give?
Mara pulls differ by booster, but will usually be advertised in the chat (double check if not). You can get 20k-45k per pull if you join a booster doing 300+ mob kills.
Mara is a good example of why I use NovaInstanceTracker to make sure I am getting what I pay for. You can pay 9g for a boost with half the mobs, or buy a full 300+ mob boost. I wouldn’t buy the cheaper version as it doesn’t really have any benefits and wastes an instance lockout.
Zul’Gurub (ZG) Boosting
Levels: 50-60
Optimal Boosting Range: 54-60
Cost: 20-50 gold per run
XP/Run: 15,000-40,000 XP
Avg Mob Kills: 40-50
Average Run Time: 10-15 minutes
Where to AFK: Wait for the Mage to pull the patrol and he will guide you to the safe spot for about 8 minutes.
How Much XP Does ZG Boost Give?
ZG is a bit different since you will receive the most XP if it is just you and the booster in the party. To buy a solo run, it will typically cost about 50g. If you split the run with another boostee, your cost is down to 25g. If you split it 3-way you’re looking at 20g. I would recommend doing duo runs since it is normally the most bang for your buck unless you have 3 low-level 50’s as boostees.
ZG pulls completely depend on level, but approximately:
- 15-20k for trios
- 20-26k for duos
- 30k for singles
Instance Lockout
You are able to enter 5 instances within a 1-hour time window or 30 instances within a 24-hour time window.
XP Required Per Level Classic WoW
| Level | Required XP to Level Up |
| 1 | 400 |
| 2 | 900 |
| 3 | 1,400 |
| 4 | 2,100 |
| 5 | 2,800 |
| 6 | 3,600 |
| 7 | 4,500 |
| 8 | 5,400 |
| 9 | 6,500 |
| 10 | 7,600 |
| 11 | 8,800 |
| 12 | 10,100 |
| 13 | 11,400 |
| 14 | 12,900 |
| 15 | 14,400 |
| 16 | 16,000 |
| 17 | 17,700 |
| 18 | 19,400 |
| 19 | 21,300 |
| 20 | 23,200 |
| 21 | 25,200 |
| 22 | 27,300 |
| 23 | 29,400 |
| 24 | 31,700 |
| 25 | 34,000 |
| 26 | 36,400 |
| 27 | 38,900 |
| 28 | 41,400 |
| 29 | 44,300 |
| 30 | 47,400 |
| 31 | 50,800 |
| 32 | 54,500 |
| 33 | 58,600 |
| 34 | 62,800 |
| 35 | 67,100 |
| 36 | 71,600 |
| 37 | 76,100 |
| 38 | 80,800 |
| 39 | 85,700 |
| 40 | 90,700 |
| 41 | 95,800 |
| 42 | 101,000 |
| 43 | 106,300 |
| 44 | 111,800 |
| 45 | 117,500 |
| 46 | 123,200 |
| 47 | 129,100 |
| 48 | 135,100 |
| 49 | 141,200 |
| 50 | 147,500 |
| 51 | 153,900 |
| 52 | 160,400 |
| 53 | 167,100 |
| 54 | 173,900 |
| 55 | 180,800 |
| 56 | 187,900 |
| 57 | 195,000 |
| 58 | 202,300 |
| 59 | 209,800 |
| 60 |