Welcome to the Night Elf starting zones everyone! When you burst onto the pixel plane you'll find yourself in Shadowglen. This is where you'll be spending some time until you hit level five (some who are brave may choose to leave here at level 4 but I prefer to wait ). There will be plenty of time in later levels to push your toon as far as you can.
Once you have your toon set up to your liking it's time to start killing! Some people wonder "What should I kill?" Honestly it doesn't really matter what you start out killing just as long as you are killing and not questing. Night Elves do not need to quest to get out of their starting area. (Don't forget the new Blood Thirsty quest rules are in effect you can review the rule changes here.)
Shadowglen is pretty safe. The mobs that are out in the open wandering around are neutral so that makes starting out a bit easier. There is only one place I recommend avoiding in Shadowglen and that's the spider cave. The spiders in there are HOSTILE, and if the cave is busy with others working on the quest that leads in there, the mobs could start coming back faster then you are able to deal with at a low level. Just avoid it, I see it as an unnecessary risk. There are plenty of mobs to kill around Shadowglen without needing to go in there.
So here are a few tips I've come up with for Shadowglen. If you are in a rush and trying to get to level 5 quickly, then you may want to hang out at one of the several Grellkin camps. There are a few of them and the mobs seem to spawn back in fairly quickly. For those who have trouble getting some starter cash going, these guys have a chance of dropping a Dimly Glowing Eye that vendors for 15 copper. Now keep in mind the Grellkin are a quest mob so if the zone is busy, sitting at one of these camps might not save much time. If you'd rather run around a big loop around Shadowglen the cats have a chance to drop Small Leather Collars and these vendor for 33 copper. Personally I prefer to kill the boars roaming around. They drop Tough Jerky which you can eat (free food is free food when you do not have any money). The boars also have a chance of dropping a Chipped Boar Tusk which vendors for 38 copper. Those items won't make you a TON of money starting out but if you get lucky with the drops you might get a couple of silver in your pocket to leave the area with.
When I reach level 5, I head on over to the vendors in the building attached to the big tree (Aldrassil). After getting rid of all the junk except for 1 stack of Tough Jerky it's time for me to hit the road and head to Dolanaar. I set my hearthstone to the inn there to make life a bit easier for when I need to return from my killing spree. While there, don't forget to learn First Aid at the trainer in the tree next to the flight master.
Where to now you might be thinking, well after all my "chores" are done at the town, I head to Starbreeze Village. In Starbreeze Village you'll find Gnarlpine furblogs. I like to just do loops around the village killing everything I come across. The Gnarlepine furblogs are nice to kill because they are considered humanoids and have the chance to drop some cloth along with some copper when killed. Not much I know but hey we're broke, remember? Every little bit helps. There is a rare that spawns in this village named "Uruson" he is just another furblog looking mob but his color will be grey so he'll look out of place. He tends to drop a 6 slot bag and takes him about 20 to 30 mins to repawn so if you want a free bag or two I would kill around here for while. I tend to leave Starbreeze Village at level 7 or 8, depends on how squishy I feel.
Next stop will be The Oracle Glade. I like to kill the harpies down there. Be careful though. Some of the harpies are tightly packed and like to bring their friends uninvited to the killing party. I like to start near the bear statue where the vendors are and turn left off the road towards the harpies. You'll see a bunch to the right near some trees, but don't go that way as they are too tightly packed. I will bear left and kill harpies while heading towards the main road that goes to Darnassus. The ones in this direction are not as tightly packed and more survivable. When I see spiders, I know it's time to take the side road back to the bear statue and start my loop over again. Be on the lookout for a rare harpy named Fury Shelda. She will be patrolling through the harpy area and seems to have a short respawn timer. I'll end up staying here till level 10. If you need to vendor, there is one at the bear statue. Always a good idea to know where the closest vendor is so you don't have to waste time going farther then you need to.
At level 10, I head to Darnassus and put up any greens that I don't use on Auction House, along with making sure my First Aid is trained as high as I can take it for the moment.
Now I know there are probably other rares out here, but this is how I approach the Blood Thirsty Challenge and the path I take. So, that covers how I handle the Night Elves up to level 10.
Next starting zone post will be about the Draenei! Take care till next time! Challenge onward and Challenge safely!
