~4 MIN
Intro
Blood Elves and Draenei are arriving soon in the WoW Classic 20th Anniversary event, and the pre-patch is your best chance to get ahead before the rush. Whether you’re planning to level fast, secure your BiS early, or jump straight into Anniversary raids, preparing now will save you hours—if not days—once the new races unlock.
If you’d rather skip the slow part entirely and start strong, 20th Anniversary Leveling is available to get you to key breakpoints fast.
Here are the 10 most important things to prepare before Blood Elves and Draenei go live.
Reserve Your Name Now
The simplest preparation is also one of the most important—reserve your character name ahead of time.
Just create a placeholder character with the name you want, and when pre-patch hits, delete it and recreate the new race instantly. Name sniping will be fierce, so handling this now guarantees you don’t end up stuck with something you don’t want later.
Stock Essential Leveling Consumables
Consumables dramatically accelerate early leveling. Priority items include:
- Magic Candles – available from early vendors, incredible ranged tag and damage
- Low-level scrolls – Strength, Agility, Stamina, Spirit
- Magic Dust – extremely strong CC for difficult pulls
- Swiftness Potions – huge movement speed boosts
- Swim Speed Potions – amazing for water-heavy leveling routes
- Invisibility Potions – skip dangerous mobs and tight zones entirely
Cheap investments that pay off massively during the first 20 levels.
Get Powerful Low-Level Enchants
Weapons matter more than anything while leveling. The best enchants are:
Crusader
Massive attack power spike + healing proc.
Fiery Weapon
Fantastic burst damage, especially on a fast off-hand or skinning knife.
Shield Spike (Paladin/Shaman)
Blocks deal extra damage—very helpful for hybrid tanks and melee.
To skip early gearing entirely, you can also start strong with iconic raid drops like Spineshatter or Soulseeker.
Don’t Buy Goblin Rocket Boots
In Burning Crusade, Rocket Boots require Engineering skill. They no longer work at Level 1, so don’t waste gold stocking them early.
Install a Reliable Leveling Addon
A good leveling guide:
- Shows your route
- Orders quests properly
- Minimizes travel time
- Works for all classes and both factions
Leveling guides save hours, especially when thousands of players crowd starting zones.
Or skip the stress completely with 20th Anniversary Leveling for an optimized start.
Get Cheap Weapon and Gear Upgrades Before Pre-Patch
Auction House prices spike once new races flood the game. Buy leveling weapons early:
- 2H for Paladins
- 2H → dual wield for Shamans
- Early green/blue weapons for any spec
- Solid armor upgrades at breakpoints
If you plan to raid as soon as you hit 60, gearing early is huge.
And for players aiming to jump straight into Anniversary raids, boosts like Blackwing Lair Anniversary runs and Zul’Gurub Anniversary runs will get you raid-ready instantly.
Prepare Gold—A Lot of Gold
You will need thousands of gold soon:
- Level 30 mount
- Level 60 mount
- 70 normal flying (800g)
- 70 epic flying (5200g)
- Class mount materials
- Early dungeons and crafted items
- Professions
Gold right now is cheaper, more abundant, and easier to farm—use that window.
Stock Up Profession Materials
Everything jumps in price during pre-patch:
- Herbs
- Ores
- Stones
- Leather
- Cloth
- Enchanting mats
- Jewelcrafting gems (new profession)
Buying now saves you from inflated markets later and lets you rush professions on your new Blood Elf or Draenei.
Pre-Farm Big XP Turn-Ins
Prepare quest hand-ins to secure fast XP spikes:
- Cloth turn-ins (Wool → Runecloth)
- Green Hills of Stranglethorn pages
- Blue Pearls (Badlands)
- Boar wings, crystals, and small collection quests
These give excellent XP/minute and help you sprint through slow levels.
Buy Bags and Reputation Items Now
You don’t want to level with 6-slot bags.
Recommended:
- 16-slot Traveler’s Backpacks
- 14-slot bags as budget options
Reputation items like Meaty Beetloaf also help push early rep for shoulder enchants.
Final Thoughts — Prepare Now, Level Faster Later
Success in the Blood Elf and Draenei launch is about preparation. Consumables, enchants, bags, early weapons, profession mats, and XP turn-ins will save you hours once the pre-patch opens.
If you want an even stronger launch:
- 20th Anniversary Leveling lets you skip queue chaos and start ahead
- Blackwing Lair Anniversary prepares you for endgame instantly
- Zul’Gurub Anniversary runs fill gear slots fast
- Spineshatter and Soulseeker give you massive early damage boosts
Do your prep now—and your new character will feel smooth, strong, and ready to dominate from the first pull.