Jumping into a new World of Warcraft expansion can always be a little daunting, and Battle for Azeroth is no different. When you first start the questing experience, you’ll have a whole new continent to explore and plenty of options at your disposal.

For some players, this means a peaceful time to wander a new island and explore the environment. But for others, it’s all about hitting the level cap so you can start doing the expansions huge list of endgame activities.

This guide will answer all your questions about the fastest way to level through Battle for Azeroth.

What do I need to do before the expansion comes out?

Outside of the really obvious things like picking a class and making sure they’re level 110, there are a few other steps you should do to make sure you’re prepared for the expansion to come out.

Some are pretty basic, like, clearing out your bags and quest log to make sure you will have plenty of space for all the new stuff you’re going to get. Others, like stocking up on supplies at the auction house, might be a little less obvious. So, here’s your auction house shopping list:

Cheap food (to get back mana or health)

Goblin gliders (especially if you’re on Horde these will make getting around much easier)

Flasks (because a few extra stats never hurt anyone)

Hexweave bags (because you’ll get plenty of new items while leveling and you need somewhere to put them)

Finally, you’re going to need to complete the “War of Thorns” quest line. That means taking care of all of the quests in the Dark Shore, as well as doing the Battle for Lordaeron scenario. If you have multiple characters, you can skip most of this your second time through with a dialogue option.

After you’ve gotten all of that done, go to Silithus and wait, because that’s where Magni will give you your first quest when the Battle for Azeroth expansion officially launches at 6 p.m. ET on Monday, August 13.

What spec should I be leveling as?

This is a tough question, mostly because there are a lot (36!) of specs in the game. Instead of us going through every single one, let’s set up some ground rules, listed in order of importance:

Level as a DPS Spec. The reason you’ll want to do this is because they always offer the best damage, and killing enemies efficiently is the most important part of leveling fast. Level with whatever is going to kill enemies the fastest, like specs with high AOE damage. Some classes have multiple DPS Specs, so it’s good to pick the one that can kill large groups of enemies quickly. While you’ll occasionally have to fight one boss enemy with lots of health, leveling is mostly about killing large packs of small enemies. Level with a pet if you can because it will help keep you safe. If your pet is tanking all of the damage from the enemies you’re fighting, you won’t have to. The other reason is that pets are easier and cheaper to heal than you are. If you don’t have a pet, make sure you know how to use your defensive abilities. You can’t level quickly if you are dying all the time.

Which order should I do the zones in?

This is the question that will likely have the biggest impact on your leveling experience in Battle for Azeroth. While there is certainly no wrong answer to this question, there is a best answer. Here are the zones you should level through and why:

Battle for Azeroth – Horde: Vol’Dun first, Nazmir second, Zuldazar third

Vol’Dun is the hardest and most tedious of the Horde Zones in Battle for Azeroth. It’s also probably the one that makes the most sense. Each sections of quests leads directly to the one you should do next. For all of these reasons it’s going to be best to get this one done early. Thanks to any legendary items you might have collected in Legion, you’ll be strongest in the leveling process before 115 and weaker after — because that’s when the legendary effects stop working.

Nazmir packs a lot of mobs together early on, which is why you’ll want to do it second. You should end the zone somewhere around 116 or 117.

Zuldazar is last because it’s the easiest zone and also the one with the strangest layout. You’ll have to run all around the area doing quests, and it’s sure to be pretty crowded when the servers first go live (but fine any time after that).

Battle for Azeroth – Alliance: Drustvar first, Tiragarde Sound second, Stormsong Valley third

Drustvar is far and away the hardest Alliance zone, which is exactly why you want to do it first. If you have legendary items, they’ll still be usable, and if you don’t, this zone will still be easier early on than it will be later. Drustvar is also extremely fast and will let you jump out ahead of your competition in other zones, which means fewer players around to take your quest objectives.

Tiragarde Sound and Stormsong Valley are both fairly similar zones, but Stormsong is a little longer, meaning that you might not even have to finish it to hit 120. Tiragarde also comes with a bit of a warning. There are plenty of side quests to do in the zone after you finish the story quests. Don’t do them. It’s not worth the time or the experience you’ll get.

Should I level with War Mode on?

Battle for Azeroth’s War Mode puts you into PvP mode and grants you 10 percent extra experience. But since the two factions will mostly level in separate zones entirely, you should almost definitely have this on when you’re leveling. That said, if you start getting killed by random PvP players consistently, stop using it. Although 10 percent is nice, it’s not worth dying every few minutes for.

Note: Don’t turn War Mode on until after you accept the first quest from Magni. He will send you back to your capital city, then you can turn it on, that way you can accept the first quest without getting killed by other players.

When should I do the War Campaign missions?

As late as possible. Early on, you’ll want to follow the missions in Battle for Azeroth right up until you get the option to send a follower on a two-hour long quest. As soon as you get there, stop doing the War Campaign missions. You can come back to them once you have reached something like 119 and a half and finish leveling with those if you want. If you don’t use these missions to cap off your leveling journey, then they’re the first thing you’ll want to do once you reach max level.