Revenge of the Jiyas: Coldridge Valley

Revenge of the Jiyas  returns today with an article on Coldridge Valley, the dwarf starting zone. As usual, I'm documenting my speed testing of the WoW-Pro Leveling addon.This time our intrepid adventurer was Jiyadwarf, a dwarf warrior.

Note: The 1-5 starter zones are very quick, with levels flying by so quickly it's hard to get an accurate measurement. Additionally,  the pacing of some starting zones is vastly different than others. It will be nice to have a comparison of how long each takes, but not too much should be read into these tests. The higher level tests will be much more accurate and indicative of zone and guide quality.

Total /played at level 5.5: 33min 
Coldridge Valley (1-5.5): 33min

7.3 min/lvl

Previous Chapters:

• Project Overview
• 1-5: Valley of Trials | Echo Isles | Red Cloud Mesa | Kezan | Deathknell | Sunstrider Isle
          Northshire Valley

I rather like dwarves, and there were a lot of charming things about this zone that worked well. However, there were lots of things that did NOT work, as well. You'll notice right away that the time for this zone is very long compared to other speed throughs. Yes, I ended at a slightly higher level, but I felt like this zone simply didn't want to let you leave.

But first, the good things. I enjoyed that it looked like an actual battle was taking place. There were NPCs helping you fight the troggs. You were gathering supplies the civilians needed (though this had us killing boars and wolves forever to get less than 100% drop items. I guess that's just a thing with dwarves). Your quests had purpose and seemed natural, and at first, weren't ridiculously long. Then, all of a sudden, you are sent by yourself to the caves swarming with trolls and told to kill 10 of them, then 10 more. Bleck. The troll quests seemed to take forever. Finally, when it's time to leave, you find your way blocked. But do you immediately hop onto the gyrocopter offered to help you continue on? No, you have to go back inside and gather a bunch of your stuff (why didn't we have it with us to begin with?). It felt very arbitrary. That said, the gyrocopter ride was awesome, and a good way to introduce the rest of the zone.

The guide for this zone was very good, aside from a couple auto-complete issues. I liked the use of single objective steps as well as a hearthstone use to get you back to town quickly.

I've updated the guide page for this section on WoW-Pro.com, and the changes will be included in the next addon update. I wouldn't recommend trying to update the file on your own unless you are experienced working with addons. If you do decide to update early:

1. Go to the Coldridge Valley page and copy the contents of the guide. 
2. Open up your WoW folder and go to Interface > Addons > WoWPro_Leveling > Horde 
3. Open up 01_05_Gylin_Dwarf_Starter.lua
4. Copy the guide contents there.

Next Up: ALLIANCE - Shadowglen!