Efficiency of the guide?

[joseph213]

Is this guide suppose to be followed to the T?

I ran into some issues about the guide that makes me wonder if I am using this guide properly or that I've mistaken what the guide is for? Currently, it seems no different than the free addon Questhelper.

First, the efficiency of the guide. Before I bought the guide (which was last weekend), I was already halfway into the quests in Hellfire Pennisula and had gather all the quests (the starting quests if they had chains) in HP so I had a lot of quests in the quest tracker by Blizzard in my map.

So in terms of efficiency, for example, I have Demonic something (collect hellboar blood sample) and <Keep Thornfang Hill Clear!> (kill ravagers), the pvp quest, and the quest where you stick a flag to challenge a fel orc elite. I'm flying from Thrallmar, and Zygor is telling me to fly to the area near Cenarion Expedition to do the hellboar quest while the kill fel orc elite quest and pvp quest was on the way.

After I'm done collecting hellboar blood samples, the guide tells me to turn it in while I next to the <Keep Thornfang Hill Clear!> kill ravager area. Wouldn't it have been more efficient to finish that quest and then turn both quests in as they were given at the same place? Also I had quests in Ruins of Shannaar which was south of the hellboar blood sample. It would've made sense to also do those as I was in there already. Doesn't the guide factor into where you are and try to steamline the quests so you don't have go back to turn it in, thengo back to the area you were in to do another non-chain quest? Instead of bunch up the quests in that immediate area and do them all so as to limit the traveling time?

Next is the Zangramarsh zone. I had to go to Shatt (I forget the reason), so as I am flying back to Zangramarsh, the first quest (at the border of Zangra and Terrokar Forest is the Umbrafen kill quest. It's the closest quest to me as I am flying to Cenarian Refuge. Yet the guide is telling me to do the Plant of Zangramarsh quest just south of the Refuge... Shouldn't I first do the Umbrafen kill quest as it is on the way? As I worked my way up to the Refuge, I did the hydra scale collection quest, the eel filet quest, the Gorlash, the escort in Umbrafen, and the guide is still telling me to do the Plant quest... by the time I got to Cenarian Refuge, I've done 4, 5 quests.. and turn them all in. Still the Plant quest looms on the guide. (Btw, you shouldn't specifically do that quest at that spot (guide says kill everything in that area. Most mobs in Zangra drops the plant, and you can do that quest with other quests). So far, Zygor isn't streamlining the quests as I thought it would be. Or am I using it wrong, although I had thought the SIS system and the quest guide was help make my questing more efficient?

[cabby]

I think your main reason for confusion is that you're comparing the guides to QuestHelper. They are two entirely different things. The guides don't keep track of where you are physically in the world and adjust to your location. They are more like a pdf file that's being read by the guide.

Think of it as you have a whole lot of printed out pages in front of you that outline where to go and what quests to do. It's easy as you look down the listing on the pages to spot things that can be done near you if you went somewhere, like to Shatt. The pages don't know you went to Shatt when they still think you should be up at Refuge so the next step on the page will still be the same no matter where you are in the world. This kind of analogy is pretty good for how the guides work.

As for the quest routing like you saw in Hellfire. A lot of times you'll see the guide taking you past a spot that you can do a quest. Most of the time this is because the guide will have you getting other quests that can be done there, but sometimes you have to finish a chain first. Overall the quest routing is pretty good for the guides, and it's something that is being tweaked a lot when there are obviously better routes available. One thing to note, the guides do not contain every quest in the game, only the ones that you need to do to level fast. Quests like that PvP one are not in the guide, and as such the guide will never tell you to do it. The guides are designed for solo leveling for any class, as such quests involving dungeons, PvP, and even some of the elites aren't included.

Where the guide really differs from QuestHelper is that with QuestHelper you have to go find the quests you want to do and hope that the ones you pick to do aren't a waste of time. Zygor's already skips all the quests that aren't worth the time spent to do them, streamlining your questing time and maximizing your XP per hour.

I think a portion of the problem you saw was in not knowing how to properly get synced up with the guides. Normally the easiest way to get synced up would include dropping all quests in your log, then letting the SIS and the guides find a spot for you to start.

On another note, since you're in Outlands, right now it's highly suggested to turn off the SIS. To do this go into the Dynamic Progression section of the guide options, adjust the 'allowed levels ahead' slider all the way to the right, and empty all check boxes to disable everything. Allowing the SIS to remain on while in Outlands will cause you nothing but headaches because it tries to skip reputation building quests that will need to have been done later on. The new SIS that should be out in a week should fix this problem.

As always, there are a lot of us here that are always willing to help answer any questions or give some advice. Please don't hesitate to post any questions or concerns you might have.

[joseph213]

Hmm... so if I were to deviate from the quest order, I should follow the guide and start where it tells me to? Questhelper does factor into where you are in the world. It'll adjust the quest to where you are atm. But I'll try to stick to the guide when I start my quest in Nagrand. Right now, I'm 66 and leaving Zangramarsh to Nagrand, and will start afresh as I've not picked up any quest yet, and once I get to 68, I'm heading to Wrath content. I do hope it'll be helpful (as I bought it already haha.. I'm counting on it to blast me to 85

[cabby]

Yeah, following the guide and ignoring all other quests will be your fastest route, that's why it doesn't keep track of where you are in the world. Questhelper needs to know where you are because it's just a database of all quests, and there are a lot of quests (at least there were before Cata) that are nothing but a waste of time. Blizzard makes those quests to slow down your leveling so you have to pay more. Zygor only directs you to the quests that will level you fast, ignoring all the time wasting quests.

If you want to move to Nothrend early it can be done, but some suggest you get at least half way thru 68 first to make sure there aren't any problems with not being able to pick up quests due to level restrictions. When you do decide to more to Northrend, just dump all quests in your log and load the Northrend 70-72 guide, as that's a fresh start in the guides and there won't be any problems with syncing.

[Cartman]

Another main advantage of the guide compared to questhelper is that the quests are done in an order that they are not too difficult. If you just take all quests and try to do them you may have problems but one or two levels later they are easier.
And especially before Cataclysm it sometimes was better to turn in some quests as you got follow ups that took you to an area where you already have a quest for. I saw friends without guide running around back and forth in the same area for different quests because they did not collect them intelligently.
Maybe at the current state of WoW being that linear and easy even at lower levels a guide is not such a big advantage as it was before. But you'll most likely still be faster with a guide.

[Kamchak]

I'd just like to point out that you seem to still be comparing Zygor Guides to Questhelper.
When you use Questhelper you can move through the quests quickly, but what you will end up doing is spending time on quests with longer travel times than other quests, and in some cases for less XP. What Zygor Guides has done is remove the "keep-em-busy" quests and keeps you on the quests that will get you to the next level as quickly as possible. This difference is ultimately what separates Zygor Guides from the rest. The quests listed in Zygor Guides are ones you can do solo (no group kill quests) and they are quest lines that keep you within your level range for max XP returns.