This is how your experience in shadowlands will go for intial set up into endgame and how it differs from recent years
1. Linear leveling.
for the first time since WoD you will have a linear path of leveling 50-60
intro: you do the intro scenario (not spoiling what happens) and you end up in oribos which will be your new capitol. You will be around 51 by the end dependant on rested exp and then you head into Bastion.
51-54 Bastion bracket and afaik the mobs wont scale up as a way to return the feeling of actual power progression and the cap for the campaign being 54 is very important as that is when you will be sent to the next zone however you might be able to out level this as the 54 cap is just the unlock requirement for the next chapter and as such is obtainable through simply doing the main storylines. It is suggested that you do the side content for any zone that you plan on joining the covenant of. An example of the side content is the steward fruit offering quests to unlock the bonus chests.
54-56 Maldraxxus bracket where again you simply quest and do the extra side content if you want to join the Necrolords for an easier time HOWEVER there are many reports where the experience here is nowhere near the same as Bastion so do all side content if possible so you don't hit the cut off at say level 55 and can't move forward.
56-58 Ardenweald bracket where there is a bit more experience but again do the side content just in case since ya know....covenant stuff and level requirement (plus the quests are interesting to say the least). This will be the first zone where in early days the choke point is gone and it wont be as filled as say Maldraxxus with the day 1 players that actually sleep.
58-60 Revendreth bracket and it is VERY important to remember that this is the first time where you might hit 60 relatively early depending on your previous performance HOWEVER that doesn't matter. Your level essentially stops mattering in this area as long as you hit the cap at some point because you must finish the campaign to move forward.
It is very important to know that your level is essentially just a prerequisite to move forward and doesn't matter unlike in BfA where you could hit cap before finishing the last zone and immediately go into the endgame quests and all that.
2. Covenant set up
choosing a covenant is your next task. There will be a room in oribos where you can test the abilities of each covenant and remind yourself of how each one feels...however it seems they removed the target dummies so make sure to have one of the toys that lets you summon a dummy for the abilities that require a target. You will get a preview of the armor and the mount that you gain through the renown system (you get a recolot through the campaign quests and if you wanna spend the time on it you can upgrade them to mythic 0 ilvl however it takes at least 7 weeks)
Going to your covenant to get the start set up is also very important and i believe (might be different because they keep changing everything on beta and i might be wrong) you will not get the soulbind until you go through the first campaign chapter and your first visit to the maw. To get to the maw jump through the middle spire of energy in Oribos READ THE QUEST. You will do basic stuff there then come back get the soulbind and your first conduit. You will then have callings which are the new emissaries.
Callings are relatively simple as each one will either require doing a specific "hard" WQ or just 4 in a zone possibly collect treasures and kill rares or do dungeons. They can provide gear however you will notice the WQ gear and the calling gear will be a certain ilvl until you reach higher renown. These are also where you get your conduits outside of dungeons.
Dungeon weekly is another fun returning quest. These dont give items or anything but instead give a decent chunk of rep for a faction of your choosing which is very helpful because the reps have leggo memories and conduit upgrades for you so you set out on your path there. You also get to start the dungeon grind but that isnt all.
Torghast is technically available in the fist week but you do not get the soul ash reward in the first week similar to you not getting the extra renown that week. The set up for torghast starts with a quest in oribos which doesnt pop up immediately or warn you about. You must clear Torghast about 8 times in order to get through the set up entirely and personally i am going to push through it all at once which takes a few hours but this means on reset you only do 2 runs. You should be able to get gear drops from the final boss on these runs.
Professions are very important this time around due to the fact that crafting gear can be made to be almost on the level of heroic dungeon gear day 1 with secondary stats taht you can determine. They are also relevant for legendary items as you need one base item and 2 scrolls from a scribe to determine the secondary stats (my scribe gets more money) so keep them ready.
THAT IS IT for your first week. It might feel like a ton of stuff when laid out in front of you but keep in mind thats mostly just set up and after the first reset you will have a much easier time with just callings and weekly quests as a requirement for upkeep.
Normally i would be giving tips about collecting things like the 1 minute potions for leveling but blizzard has hammered potions so that wont really speed you up a bit and the only real tip is have a gathering profession and dont worry about speed leveling because week 1 is limited and a majority of the set up available is just gutted compared to the first reset week.
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oh and have your mount with either anti daze or the glider because water walking is pretty pointless