Do I have to gear up before lvl'ing to 85?

[DMac84]

So Im rolling a new toon right now (Lock) and going to get it to 80 before Dec 7th. Am I going to have to run WotLK Raids to get purples before I start leveling from 80 to 85?

I got into WoW during WotLK and never new how it was before...

Thanks

[Unholey]

Nah mate you wont if you did, youd be replacing your epic purples with quest greens

[Aestis]

If you ran Kara to gear up for Borean Tundra/Howling Fjord, then the answer is a resounding yes.

[Exerionx]

I don't believe so because people levelling fresh toons through Northrend might head to Vash'jir or whatever at 78. So they're not going to make you gear up in epics to keep pushing through. But having epics will just make everything smoother.

[Thatwsntmilk]

It is definitely not necessary but there are a few pieces that could be helpful for the first levels, so if you have time you could farm those (as it is quite easy nowadays anyways). Mostly items that can boost your leveling speed a lot by fully enchanting and gemming them (e.g. headpiece: meta+gem+enchant or weapon: enchant).

[Rivin]

It will be difficult if you go into Hyjal or Vashj'ir with Northrend greens, but you'll be replacing gear pretty fast and it won't take long to replace your entire set.

It's very similar to the transition to Hellfire Peninsula if you go in at 58 in Classic zone greens.

[Randominatór]

Even 251 ilvl items will be much much better then Mount Hyjal / Vashji items , not to mention 277 ilvl weapons or higher.
So...gear up.

[fizikz]

Even 251 ilvl items will be much much better then Mount Hyjal / Vashji items , not to mention 277 ilvl weapons or higher.
So...gear up.

http://cata.wowhead.com/compare?items=55041;50729

wth are you talking about? so, so wrong.

[danoob777]

251 epics are pretty much the same as the 272 green quest rewards you get in both the cata starting zones. It might take you 1.2 hours do do the first 15 quests instead of 1 hour but after that you will have a pretty decent set to work with.

So IMO no you don't have to gear. Personally I like to though. It only takes a few days of heroics to get your t10 and the end of expansions are always kinda fun with super high crits and everything.

[Solo mish]

Even 251 ilvl items will be much much better then Mount Hyjal / Vashji items , not to mention 277 ilvl weapons or higher.
So...gear up.

lol

[Fleabass]

It makes your DPS better, but you will replace the gear quickly. I suggest you spend the time on leveling professions instead or farming gold

[Kivimetsan]

Im actually in the same position as you man. Im going to re-subscribe in a couple of days because I finish my HSC soon (Aussie High School) and I want to level my Warlock which I played throughout TBC. IM thinking the best thing to do is spam battlegrounds till your fingers fall off so that on release day (if your on a pvp server of course) you will have less trouble fighting PVE nubs :P

[Deleted]

On the beta I personally found it challenging the first few levels in Vashj'ir wearing my ~255 epics.

Of course, that might just be because I play a hunter.

[WTBskillplz]

Im actually in the same position as you man. Im going to re-subscribe in a couple of days because I finish my HSC soon (Aussie High School) and I want to level my Warlock which I played throughout TBC. IM thinking the best thing to do is spam battlegrounds till your fingers fall off so that on release day (if your on a pvp server of course) you will have less trouble fighting PVE nubs :P

Same! i'm in vic though so its VCE. Agree with the pvp business, but i'd be inclined to save my honour for 85..

[BicycleMafioso]

Even 251 ilvl items will be much much better then Mount Hyjal / Vashji items , not to mention 277 ilvl weapons or higher.
So...gear up.

Sarcasm. Don't listen to it. The only thing that could possibly keep things interesting, is stuff that is really gemmed out, and enchanted.

There are also several other things that won't get replaced until really late. I as a Resto-Shaman (albeit levelling Elem, aside from dungeons, obviously), for example, kept my Wrathful-belt all the way to 85, because I found no other mail belt without agility. There's A LOT of mail-agi-gear in Cataclysm, but in their defense 4/6 mail-speccs use agi.

But apart from not being present in drops/rewards, enchants/set-boni is is the only things I can think of that would hold back progression in Hyjal, the first zone.

However, as I'm levelling my mage now, who'll clearly reach 80 before Cataclysm.. I can't just sit idle with him, I'll have to do something /shrug.

[Kilpi]

On the beta I personally found it challenging the first few levels in Vashj'ir wearing my ~255 epics.

Of course, that might just be because I play a hunter.

Or it just works as they wanted. They have stated many times that they don't want mobs that die in 2 GCD's. Which is good.

[Vanyshh]

I will go with no

[twinkleblur]

only classses that seemed to have an issue lving on beta seem to be rogues and druids if there not geared. ferals in the begining and rogues in the end. why rogues? because it still doesnt feel like they have scaled well.

[bethofwow]

Gearing up when you hit 80 is now pretty much pointless. The first level of quest and crafted greens in Cata is lvl 289-300, higher than ICC 25 hc stuff.

[Pythagoreant]

Hyjal and Vashir will both be level 78-81/82 or whatever, just like WotLK, the mobs may have a large amount of hp but they shouldnt be life threatening and youll just be getting better gear while leveling then you could get from raids.

Actually, if I recall correctly, they changed it so you have to be 80 to get into the new zones.