Thought some might find this helpful. It seems that some people want to be told where to go and what to do. I think half the fun is exploring new areas without knowing anything about them and then figuring out what you like. However, for those of you who would like to follow a proven path (at least to level 54, my current level), here's where I went to level in the game so far

General note: While I don?t address it below, you should know that there is almost always a quest that will lead you from one area to another. For example, in Elwynn Forest, you will eventually talk to someone who will say ?Go to Westfall.? This was nice of Blizzard as it really tells you where to go and when you should go there. If you ever get stuck and can?t find this quest, however, just go to www.thottbot.com and look around ? it?s usually there. At level 54, I have found that this still holds true ? you get ?delivery? quests that still take you to new and different areas.


MY HISTORY LEVELING:

I am a level 54 human paladin. Here?s where I went to level:

Elwynn Forest: This is where you start as a human and there are several quests in the immediate area where you enter the game. Stay here until level 8-9 or so.

Logistics Note: When you can make it (e.g., after you have obtained a few levels), go to Stormwind, which is close to where you entered the game, and talk to the gryphon master to obtain the Stormwind gryphon stop. This facilitates future travels. Also, go to the Inn in Stormwind, talk to innkeeper and set your hearthstone there. This will facilitate questing in immeasurable ways (at least for me as a paladin it did ? I found that I always had to go to Stormwind for some reason until about mid 30s ? at that level, then set your hearth to Ironforge which is more centrally located).

Westfall: At level 8-10 or so, go to Westfall. A ton of quests here and your first instance - Deadmines. Can get Verigan's Fist in this area as a paladin which is the best weapon at this level for just about anyone. Stay in Westfall until 20 if you want, but you can also go to Redridge, which is a level 15-25 area, as a stop-gap from levels 15-20.

Duskwood: As soon as you hit 19-20, go to Duskwood. It's a level 18-30 area and much of the content will be too tough for you, but if you do the group quests you will get crazy xp. You can actually do enough quests in Duskwood to last you all the way from about 20-32. Downside to this area is that you will spend way too much time running around. You won't have your mount yet and the area is pretty much split between an eastern part and a western part. I foiund that it was often quicker to fly from Darkshire to Westfall (Sentinel Hill) and then run across the river to the western part of Duskwood for some quests. With planning, however, you can minimize the ineffiiency by trying to take multiple quests to a given area.

Arathi Highlands: Once you get to level 28-32, go to Arathi Highlands (start quests in Refuge Point) and Alterac Mountains (start quests in Southshore). These areas will be hard until you get to low 30s. But once there, these two places are the fastest places to level I have found - lots of quests you can do in one trip out. For example, in one trip in Alterac, I left southshore and headed north, kiledl mountain lions, killed ogres, and finished one other quest that I can't remember. In about an hour or so, I racked up close to 10,000 xp just from completing quests, plus about 200-250xp for each thing I killed. Made some decent money at the same time from selling the loot. I leveled from 32-36 in a couple nights.

Stranglethorn Vale: Once you hit 36-37, you can head to Stranglethorn Vale (quests begun in Rebel Camp in the north; in Nesingwary's Expedition camp a little south, or in Booty Bay). Start with the quests in Nesingwary's camp as they are almost all kill quests and have multiple parts for relatively quick xp. You will have to group to kill some of the animals, but still get good xp from completing the quests. You can stay in Stranglethorn Vale for a LONG time. I'd say from level 36 - level 45 easily. In fact, there is a quest to kill a level 55 elite gorilla (Quest: Message in a Bottle) that I just completed with a group at level 53. This is by far the area with the highest number of quests.

Badlands: Once you hit level 38-40 or so in Stranglethorn, you can go to Badlands. There are many quests here that will let you get a few levels. I didn?t stay here long, but probably should have stayed longer.

Tenaris/Gadgetzan: While I stayed in Stranglethorn and the Badlands for a while, I got bored and left at level 41 or so to go to Tenaris/Gadgetzan. This is a level 40-50 area and also has quite a few quests. Another 40-50 area I played around with is Feralas. In hindsight, I believe I should have stayed in Stranglethorn/Badlands and leveled to around 43-44 before going to these areas. The quests just are too hard to complete many of them on your own in these areas at level 41. Also, they are on Kalimdor and, for me (hearth set to Ironforge) were a little out of the way. Gadgetzan wasn?t too bad because it is a short ride from Theramore Isle (which you get to by flying from IF to Menethil Hill, and then take boat to Theramore).

Hinterlands: This is a level 45-50 area that I went to from 46-48 or so. Quite a few quests out of Aerie Peak ? the trolls in this area drop good loot. Got my first epic from one of them (Dazzling Longsword). Leveling from 40-50 was my most inefficient time in the game because there were a lot of options to go places very far away from each other and, in addition, I tried to focus on blacksmithing.

Searing Gorge: This is a level 43-50 area that I didn?t really visit until level 48-49 or so. You can run a quest to get a key so you can quickly enter this area (otherwise there is a long way around you can use through the badlands). Didn?t stay here long, but there are quite a few quests and good xp to be made in this area.

Burning Steppes: This is a level 50-58 area that is entered through Blackrock Spire Mountain in southern Searing Gorge. I didn?t spend much time here at all (yet) but wanted to go there because I had overflown the area SO many times (looking down in awe) while going from Ironforge to Stormwind.

Western Plaguelands: This is a level 51-58 area that is, in my opinion, the bread and butter area for this level. I am currently running quests at level 54 in this area and the Eastern Plaguelands (see below). The quests begin for Western Plaguelands begin in Chillwind Point in northern Alterac Mountains Between the Western and Eastern Plaguelands, I believe it will be easy to reach 60 ? there are SOOO many quests here. I came here at level 50 and, in a matter of a week and a half of casual playing, reached level 54 last night. The plaguelands are especially suited to paladins because just about everything in this area is undead so you can use your special undead abilities (e.g., Exorcism) all the time. The story lines for the quests are good too .

Eastern Plaguelelands: Started running quests here at level 52, but it was pretty hard ? this is a level 53-60 area. First quest I picked up was Pamela?s doll, a neat story line that begins a chain of quests that takes you all over the place in the Plaguelands ? make sure to get the Light Hope Chapel gryphon stop in far eastern part of Eastern Plaguelands as it makes questing in this area much quicker. Eastern and Western Plaguelands are very challenging areas as you will find mobs from level 50 all the way to level 61 elites (Araj the Summoner in Andorhol Ruins ? she is surrounded by 4-5 level 60 non-elite protectors). You will die a lot. But this is a fun area. If you like to grind, you can easily kill thousands of undead just to the northwest of Chillwind Point. These drop scourgestones that you can collect and turn in for 550xp per 20 ? you trade them in for an Argent Dawn token that you can use to gain reputation with Argent Dawn faction (no one seems to know the benefit of this yet). This is also the area where Stratholme, a level 60 instance, is located. One piece of advice - don't go into the instance just to take a look around. I did and found that, once in, you can't just go back out. Big gates come down that block any exit you might want to make. Ended up having to hearth or die - most mobs were high 50s and there were A LOT of them.

OTHER: I?ve been to just about every area below my current level. But there are some areas that I really haven?t spent a lot of time in. These are mainly on Kalimdor, which is less centrally located for me. These areas are: Azshara 45-55, Un?Goro Crater 48-55, Felwood 48-55 and Winterspring 55-60. I?m sure these are good areas too and I may visit them later, but I am just too happy for now with the Plaguelands.

Good luck! If you are human (and especially a paladin) this will help you know where to go. It might work also for other races/classes.