Ram at 40!
I started a Night Elf hunter shortly before BC came out. I decided that said hunter was going to become an enchanter to enchant my friend's gear, after I played the class for long enough to realize that I might actually be able to play it to 60+ (I am a severe altaholic, and have a minimum of one of each class. More than one of several). I also decided, since my druid main still doesn't have an epic mount because I hate the He-Man cats (eventually I'm getting a talbuk- pre BC I was starting to grind out IF rep a bit, but hadn't started the bulk runecloth turn ins), that I was going to get a ram. And I was going to get a ram...at 40.

And he's awfully cute. I think they suit elves quite well. Yes, I took the picture with UI so you could see that yes, I am still 40 there! It's a night picture because, well, I just got him, and was all excited and had to share now.



I ran Elders during Lunar Festival like crazy. I put on a blue festive pant suit, and corpse hopped to 38 of them- including the opposing faction's major cities and starting zones, and a lot in some very very nasty places for a lowly little elf of 30-32.

That wanging of rep degradation that happened shortly before BC also played a huge part in being able to get it- I still get full rep from everything that isn't in one of the new areas, so I could go back and run everything grey for full rep. So I took evenings out to do Darkshore (I generally skip it, since if I'm an elf I want other faction rep asap for the discount, and Westfall leads to Deadmines), Ashenvale, Loch Modan, Dun Morogh, etc. I also made sure to do the elites in the Wetlands that lead to the Stockades quest, as well as the booze run to Southshore from there and that letter for Sara Baloo that racks up a fair bit of rep for IF for mostly just running around the city (if you don't know about it, it's somewhat hidden, dive down under the broken part of Thandol Span and look for a dead dwarf pinned under some of the rubble). I have skipped Stranglethorn Vale entirely.

After doing all of Darkshore and Ashenvale, I hit Exalted (and maxed it out soon after) with Darnassus at 35. In Desolace, I hit 40, with some juicy rep, but still 1651 away. And then I remembered I hadn't done a lot of Redridge because I hates it with the fiery passion of a thousand suns, so I went over and burned through everything I'd left there, and hit Exalted with Stormwind. Curses! I do not want a pony, I want a sheep! I called on my friend to run me through the elites in Arathi (I'd gotten him to kill elites in Alterac the night before last), and at the last turn in, I finally hit Exalted with Ironforge! So I took a detour and bought my ram before delivering his letter. And proceeded to prance a little.

While I didn't quite make my goal of Exalted before 40, I did get Exalted before I got past 40, so it's ok. I could have gotten it by 40 if I had done the last of the Duskwood quests (we were going to do them together, on his 30 something hunter), gone to Badlands and done things there instead of as much human rep, and things like that. And I didn't finish the war banners quest line in the Wetlands, so that would have pushed me up a bit faster. Also, er, I totally forgot about the cloth turnins until after I got it, that would have gotten me a little bit further, even before the repeatable runecloth. I was also levelling 2 pets on grinding greens upon occasion, which added a bit of non rep xp (and they are still a bit under level, but getting there- switching off two pets is a hastle, especially when one needs to be raised more than 10 levels when trained. Stupid ravagers not being my level- but I fell in love with them on my Draenei hunter on another server).