Go West Young Man - To Theramore

It had been a while since I leveled an alt through the thirties. As my shaman approached the dreaded "Time to go to Stranglethorn" I remembered that 2.3 had added the new quest hub of Mudsprocket in Dustwallow Marsh. I decided to try it out and see if this was a viable path that allowed skipping of the Stranglethorn quests I knew so well.

Let me say, Theramore is big fun! There's a whole line of Theramore deserters quests in the town itself which have you stopping deserters, confiscating propaganda, and redistributing that propaganda after some creative editing. There's a sea-monster to fight in Theramore (level 54 Elite and all) that's a nice diversion. And both the Defias and Grimtotem have set up a camp or three in Dustwallow. The area around Tabetha's farm has also been expanded with several quests. The famed zeppelin crash site also has a few new added things.

Eventually, you make it out to the town of Mudsprocket and deal with mostly raptors and dragons. I'm not finished in Dustwallow yet, although I think I'm getting close to running out of quests. At level 38, I've managed to skip the Northern Stranglethorn quests--including annihilating the wildlife for Nessingwary and his cronies.

As I approach forty, I'm wondering if I'll need to return to STV to fill a hole in questing later, but I don't think it'll be necessary. Which is good, because honestly with six characters that have gone through STV (one on a PVP server) I am mighty tired of that zone.

So, if you're leveling an alt up and are in your early thirties, check out Theramore and Dustwallow as an alternative path.