"So, what alts are you rolling?"
If Gabryell was going to abuse a powerleveling spot, he might as well drag his friends into it. He planned to help Carlos, Igor, and Hugo start alts so they could join future GDKP runs together.
Carlos did not even hesitate. "Another Warrior. This one's going Fury."
His main character was going to stay Protection all the way, so he wanted a second Warrior for the joy of actually topping damage meters.
"Good choice. Fury is great at 60. One of the strongest DPS specs in the game."
For players who loved Warriors, making another one was nothing strange.
In Gabryell's previous life during WoW Classic, he had known a Warrior who played seven Warrior characters at once. Every day, he ran Molten Core on a different character for one reason: Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker.
Unfortunately, Thunderfury cared about luck, not how many characters someone had. Before Gabryell was reborn, that friend had five characters with one binding each. He had spent a fortune and still had not managed to complete a single Thunderfury.
A Warrior's faith in Thunderfury could not be shaken. The man was online every day buying gold, swearing he would not stop until he finally got the sword.
Never underestimate a Warrior's obsession. You might think they were being stupid, but they would just laugh at you for not understanding.
Gabryell had no intention of talking Carlos out of it. He could handle the gold farming. If Carlos wanted to play Fury, that was enough.
Igor hesitated for a long time.
"Maybe I should make a Mage too. You haven't been leveling with us, so food and water have been a pain. We keep having to beg random Mages."
Then he immediately changed his mind.
"Nah. Mage doesn't suit me. I'll make a Rogue. Once my Paladin goes full healer at 60, I'll still have something for DPS."
In the end, Igor chose a Rogue alt to wash away the shame of sitting at the bottom of the meters.
Hugo, as usual, went straight for the weak spot.
"You sure? I'm worried you'll somehow turn Rogue into Ret Paladin 2.0. If you're still dead last, that's going to be embarrassing."
Igor snapped, "If I play Rogue and still end up at the bottom, I'll do a handstand in the school field and wash my hair upside down."
Vanilla Rogue damage was not complicated. The hard part was in the details, but overall, it was simple enough that a player should not end up dead last unless something had gone horribly wrong.
A Rogue sitting at the bottom of the damage meter usually meant only one thing: he was dual-boxing the dungeon and barely paying attention. No Slice and Dice, just auto-attacks, slow target swaps—the kind of player who was still killing one mob after everyone else had already finished two.
Only Hugo still had not decided.
"What about you?" Gabryell asked. "What are you rolling?"
Hugo had clearly made up his mind long ago. "Male Night Elf Druid. That way, Lunatori and I can Rebirth each other and trade Innervates."
"Holy shit."
This time, it was not just Igor. Even Gabryell and Carlos reacted.
The man had no shame.
"You are a next-level simp," Igor said, full of contempt.
Carlos thought about it seriously for a moment. "If two Druids keep Rebirthing each other, can they make a little Druid baby?"
"That is not how Rebirth works," Gabryell said. "Also, Druids don't lay eggs."
He really wanted to tell Hugo that his Druid would not be raiding with Lunatori. In the progression group, he would still have to bring his Hunter. The Druid was only for GDKP runs.
But seeing him already lost in his beautiful fantasy, Gabryell decided to let it go.
No need to shatter the man's dream before the character even existed.
"Go make your alts. I'll start leveling you right away. We're aiming for level 10 in an hour."
His own alt was already ready.
Carlos and the others were stunned. "That fast?"
This was only the third day after official launch. The number of players online had not gone down at all; if anything, it had grown compared to open beta. Elwynn Forest was packed with new players, almost as crowded as it had been during the first beta rush. Doing a quest or tagging a mob could take forever.
Under normal circumstances, reaching level 10 in half a day was already considered fast. With that many people fighting over spawns, it could easily take even longer.
"One hour is enough."
Gabryell knew a place that almost no one should know about yet. No competition, endless respawns, perfect for pushing low-level alts to around level 10.
He whispered DesertWanderer.
"Engineering?"
"260."
"Got a parachute?"
"Yeah. Bought the schematic yesterday and made one."
"Come to Ironforge. Need a hand."
To reach that hidden leveling spot, he needed a Warlock with a parachute.
Since Gabryell had called, DesertWanderer returned immediately.
"Meet me by the duel crowd outside the gate."
The area outside Ironforge was still as lively as ever, packed with PvP addicts who would rather waste leveling time than stop dueling.
DesertWanderer arrived quickly and joined the party.
"Mentor, I'm here."
Danielly arrived almost at the same time. Gabryell had called her over before messaging DesertWanderer.
"Follow me."
He led them away from the duel crowd and up the small path on the left, walking all the way to the end.
"See the mountain across from us? Desert, use the parachute and glide over. I'll Slow Fall, and Danielly can Levitate."
Then he added, "Aim carefully. Don't drift off."
"Got it."
DesertWanderer and Danielly were both steady and reliable, which was exactly why he had picked them. If he brought the wrong people, the secret behind Ironforge would be all over the server by tomorrow.
Gabryell demonstrated first and floated across. Danielly followed with Levitate, and DesertWanderer came last with his parachute.
"Come on. Up the mountain."
He led them up the slope until they reached the summit.
They had arrived at Ironforge Airport.
At this point, almost no one had discovered the place yet. For powerleveling low-level alts, it was one of the best spots available.
"There's a whole open area back here?" DesertWanderer stared. "And it has mobs? NPCs too?"
Gabryell invited his own alt first, then converted the party into a raid and invited the three alts belonging to Carlos, Igor, and Hugo.
"Desert, start summoning."
The alts could only get up here through a Warlock summon. Since Ritual of Summoning required two additional players to click, he had brought Danielly along as well.
Danielly looked at the four low-level characters joining the group.
"Whose alts are these?"
"Gabiru, the Gnome Mage, is mine. Egidez, the Human Warrior, is Carlos's. Igorluidi, the Human Rogue, is Igor's. And CheesePastry, the Night Elf Druid, is Hugo's."
"You made another Mage?" she asked.
Other classes could wait until after these alts reached max level. For now, his first alt was still a Mage.
"I need it for something."
No elaborate explanation was needed. That was enough.
DesertWanderer sighed. "You guys are already making alts, and I'm still only 54. Danielly is even a level ahead of me."
"No rush. If you hit 60 within a week, you're still on pace."
Molten Core and Onyxia's Lair were not going to be cleared in the short term. There was plenty of time.
Of course, the earlier they reached 60, the better. That meant more time to farm gear in the big three endgame dungeons and prepare for Molten Core and Onyxia progression.
DesertWanderer began the summoning ritual and pulled all four alts to the airport.
Once they arrived, Gabryell had DesertWanderer and Danielly leave the group, then converted the raid back into a normal party.
The mobs at Ironforge Airport respawned endlessly after being killed. Running out of mobs was impossible. The only real problem was mana.
Gabryell cast Mage Armor and used Rank 1 Arcane Explosion to farm, reducing how often he had to sit down and drink so the alts could level as efficiently as possible.
One wave exploded. Another spawned almost immediately.
DesertWanderer and Danielly stared.
"Okay, that's insane."
Gabryell's understanding of the game had once again expanded their idea of what World of Warcraft could be.
"When you want to level alts later, come find me. I'll help."
That was basically hush money.
Do not expose Ironforge Airport.
DesertWanderer and Danielly were not stupid. They understood what he meant.
"If I make an alt, I'm definitely coming to you," DesertWanderer said. He was clearly already thinking about it.
Danielly smiled. "Then I'll come help summon again."
As the student council vice president and a model student, she did not have as much free time as the others. For now, one character was enough.