Part of the fun and strategy of Hardcore Classic is experimenting with different classes for this particular challenge. By level 10, I can tell that the Paladin will be (a) practically indestructible and (b) boring as all get out. I’m not going to do “boring” for the next 50 levels, so I suicided her to a couple of snow leopards and moved on.
Walking on the other side of the factional line, I rolled up a Tauren Druid to see how the community is over there. Also, hey, I never mind visiting Mulgore — one of my favorite Classic zones.
The first six levels were pretty uneventful — just a lot of grinding and light questing. I didn’t feel quite as insane with the competition, but there were still plenty of other players hopping around. Unfortunately, the bag overlord did not bless me, so by the time I got to Bloodhoof Village, I spent most of my hard-earned cash on a single six-slotter and a skinning knife. Time to go recoup those losses!
Aaaand then I saw a named mob 2 levels above me and thought, “Hey, I can take him!” No… no I could not. I died so dang fast. It feels like you’re really failed if you die before level 10. Don’t look at my shame! My only consolation is that another player saw me die and knelt down beside my corpse for a bit to mourn.
Brushing off my embarrassment, I rolled up a Troll Shammy and went again. I figured that I might as well stay on horde side for now, as I like the guild I found.
Shammy got of to a decent start — all quests in newbie area done, one bag found, made a small pile of cash. Next stop, Orgrimmar for skinning!
Considering the player density and the inherent danger with some of these quests, my playstyle for HC has been shaped into “mostly farm mobs in the general vicinity of a quest.” If I can easily finish a quest, fine, but I’m not going out of my way to do it. Mobs offer XP, loot, and cash, and that’s pretty much what I need. The best mobs, of course, are humanoid ones, as they seem to drop better usable loot.
So I set up shop outside Tiragarde Keep and fought a bunch of Kul Tiras soldiers for a good long while until I was level 10. It’s kind of funny seeing them now, long after Battle for Azeroth came out. But hey, I got a new bag, upgraded my mace and shield, and made a chunk of change. The only time I was ever in any serious trouble was when three mobs simultaneously respawned on top of me and interrupted a heal cast. I dropped earthbind totem and booked it out of there while my health got down to 68. Whew!
Bio Break 