Added in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, Archaeology is a secondary profession that all WoW characters can pick up. It's a fun way to learn about bits and pieces of Azeroth's lore, and it's also a great way to pick up unique pets, mounts, toys, and heirloom gear that you can mail to your other toons. While it's going to take you awhile to reach the skill cap no matter what, there are a few ways you can speed up the process of leveling archaeology. Here are seven great tips for power leveling archaeology in World of Warcraft!
Use Your Hot Keys
Throughout your journeys, you'll be performing mostly two actions – mounting up, and surveying. By binding these actions to "1" and "2" on your secondary action bar, you can shave off a few seconds of time spent at each dig site.
Look At Your Minimap
You can now track dig site boundaries on your mini-map. Upon the release of Cataclysm this feature was not yet available, and it is definitely a boon for leveling archaeology. Always keep your dig site tracking on, and you won't have to fiddle with the map constantly.
Are You An Explorer?
If you're a Dwarf, the Explorer racial ability gives a couple of really awesome Archaeology related perks. You get to survey dig sites faster, and you get extra fragments from each dig site. Going to become an archaeologist? Dwarf is hands down the race to pick when creating your character.
Keystones Are Win
If you have some gold to spend, pick up keystones on the auction house to help you complete artifacts faster. Each keystone counts as 12 artifact fragments. Always be on the lookout for cheap keystones on the AH while you're leveling archaeology!
Visit Your Flying Trainer
Having the fastest possible flying speed will definitely save you the most time while leveling archaeology up. The gold you spend will pay for itself in time saved. If you have the gold to spare, train the fastest flying speed you can afford. Become exalted with your home faction to receive the maximum possible discount on your flying training.
Pick The Best Routes
Try to pick dig sites that are located in close proximity of each other, and complete them in a circuit until none are left nearby. For example, if you are in the Eastern Kingdoms you could fly a circuit around the southern portion of the map until a cluster of dig sites appeared farther north.
Know Your Teleports
Set your hearthstone to Dalaran, and don't forget about all of the portals available in your home city. You have easy access to Outland via the Dark Portal which you can teleport to. Need to get to Kalimdor? Visit the Earthshrine and teleport to Hyjal or Uldum, or take the Caverns of Time portal in Dalaran. To reach the Eastern Kingdoms, take the portal to the Twilight Highlands from the Earthshrine, or head to the Dark Portal. The Earthshrine portals only require you to do a few quests before they become available to use, and come in extremely handy when power leveling archaeology in WoW.
