Ultimate WoW Guide Review
Dave from Ultimate WoW Guide has been kind enough to provide me a copy of his latest guide for review.
The latest version is v2 and its a real change from the last guide. I thought the last one was good… but a bit too fiddly and clunky looking, meaning it took up too much screen space.
Dave, or “Dugi” as most people know him has been around the leveling guide scene for years, and also publishes gold guides, PvP guides, profession guides and even daily quest guides. He’s put in thousands and thousands of hours of WoW gaming, so knows good leveling routes as well as anyone.
On to the review for the leveling guide…Quick Summary
Guide: Ultimate WoW Guide
Author: Dave “Dugi” Farrel
Faction: Horde AND Alliance in one guide
Covers: Level 1 to 80
Burning Crusade/WOTLK.
Burning Crusade/WOTLK.
Format: In-game addon or html guide
Used for: Fast leveling/Power leveling
The Full Review
For anyone wanting to know Dave’s “credentials”, he started making leveling guides when his friends wanted to know how he leveled up so fast… So starting from small beginnings, Dave laid it all out for them many years ago, and they seemed to like it… so he kept at it.
Today, Dave not only helps his friends in WoW with his in-game leveling guides, but over 13,570 happy customers and counting.
Here’s a rundown of the feature list:
- 100% In-Game Leveling Guide Addon
- Fastest quest order developed
- Very compact (only takes up a small rectangle of your screen)
- Only quest, no grinding
- Step by step guide of where & when to accept & turn-in quests
- Automatic detection of quest accept, completion & turn-in
- Automatic class quest detection – guide naturally blends in class quests as you go
- Automatic ‘use quest items’ – automatically displays items to use for the right quest
- Online/printable format available
So how does Dave’s Ultimate WoW Guide stand up to my play testing?
First up, installation:
5 out of 5: Easy and straight forward – backed up by detailed instructions, and detailed videos showing how it all works. If you don’t know how to unzip a file into your WoW addons folder, Dave shows you how.
Secondly, introduction & orientation:
4.5 out of 5: Again pretty easy – just select which guide you need (there’s starting areas for all races, and a main section for the old world, Outland, and of course Northrend.
I recommend new members to Dugi’s Ultimate WoW guides start a few levels below the suggested level in the guide to integrate themselves with his leveling path. Obviously if you’re starting a toon at level 1 or level 58 and about to enter Outland you can ignore this advice.
Third up, how does the guide play?
4.5 out of 5: I mentioned in my introduction that Dave has recently released version 2 of his guide. This version is much nicer looking, and is a more streamlined automated in-game leveling guide.
I know from using previous versions of Dave’s guide the routes he has developed are excellent — they’re fast, efficient, and you don’t spend hours running or flying, just 100% questing as the feature list promises.
One of the most obvious new features is the guide’s automation. I don’t have to keep my place in the guide, and I don’t have to click next/previous all the time to update my spot. The guide just senses you’ve completed a certain objective, and then tells you where to go next.
Ultimate WoW Guide comes complete with a TomTom leveling arrow, which points you from place to place, quest to quest, as well as telling you how far you have to go, and how long it’ll take you to get there.
Two of my favorite new features developed by Dave are the automatic class quest detection, and the auto use quest item features.
What the class quest guide does is, once you get to a particular level when a class quest opens up, the guide will automatically show you where to go at the best time (so that you’re nearby at the time you’re told to do it).
The auto use quest item display is also awesome. I always lose my stuff amongst the dozens of bag slots I have, so just clicking a button to use the quest item you need is neat and saves me getting frustrated because I can’t find something.
What’s not so hot about the guide?
The guide loses half a point, as all guides do, because it can take a while to sync up with. If you’re a level 1, obviously you can start straight away and don’t need to sync up.
If you’re level 30 in Kalimdor rather than Eastern Kingdoms, then you might have to spend a long time getting new flight paths, syncing long quest chains etc. Its a pain sometimes, but unfortuantely all leveling guides suffer from this.
You’re either where you’re supposed to be or you’re not, and if you’re not, are you prepared to sacrifice time now to save hours of time later?
If you do end up checking out Ultimate WoW guide and you have a character somewhere between 30 and 60, read my “How to use a WoW Leveling Guide” post before you start and you’ll have an easier time if you happen to be in an unfortunate starting spot.
Last but not least – Value:
5 out of 5: Look at practically any guide online today and you’ll find that you’re paying $50 dollars or more for a guide that only covers one faction – Horde or Alliance.
While this *is* the Horde Leveling Guide I run, I play Alliance toons, and I know a lot of players have characters on both sides.
If that describes you too, Dugi’s Ultimate WoW Guide is awesome because you get both faction’s guides for cheaper than most guides charge just for one. Since we’re not all made of money most readers will be happy to find that they don’t have to make a decision on which faction to play, just because they can’t justify buying $100 dollars or more worth of guides.
Conclusion & final score.
A really tough to beat guide when you look at everything you get included for the price.
As I mentioned earlier, Dave’s Ultimate WoW Guide also offers custom gold, PvP, and profession packages if you need that kind of info.
I personally use Dave’s gold and profession packages because I know from experience leveling fast often means falling behind on your gathering professions, and extra gold means you can afford your mounts right away (which really saves you travel time).
So do I like Dave’s guide? Yes…! I think its a solid, affordable option for any level player in WoW.
I like it, and I recommend it.
Score:
4.8 out of 5.
Best feature? Its value. At a lower price than competitor’s single faction guides, you get a Horde and an Alliance guide, rather than having to choose which faction you want a guide for.
