I’m assuming that this is being pursued by a Night Elf character, just out of Darkshore. Another assumption is that this is PvE, and not on a PvP server.
You will have entered Ashenvale on The Sleeper Awakens quest, and so will be starting at Maestra’s Post with the Tower of Althalaxx continuation. There are some quests to collect there, then head on to Astranaar, and check in at the inn, and with the griffon master.
Zoram Strand
And the Maestra’s Post area. Pick up the relevant quests:
In Astanaar, 2 quests:
Shindrell Swiftfire – The Zoram Strand.
Raene Wolfrunner – Raene’s Cleansing.
Then in Maestra’s Post, Orendil Broadleaf – Bathran’s Hair. Head towards Zoram Strand (west), but first go south to Lake Falathim (on the way). Kill enough murlocs there to reach the centre island and the corpse, then hunt around the edges until you get the Glowing Gem; this is for the first part of Raene’s Cleansing.
Back out, and find Talen – The Ancient Statuette by his campfire slightly inland from the south end of Zoram Strand. Kill naga heading north, to the small jut of beach, with an elven boat offshore. Just where that boat points is the ancient statuette that you need. Save the next quest for later. This is: Talen – Ruuzel. Ruuzel is a level 22 naga on the island at the NW of Zoram Strand; she is usually guarded by one or two level 20/21 naga. I’d guess that this is probably best to do after returning from Stonetalon, and you should be able to do it easily around level 24. The silver elite that often spawns on the beach (Lady Vashj?) also drops Zoram’s Ring for this quest.
Maestra’s Post
On the way back, head due north from Maestra’s Post, almost back to Darkshore (but on the east side of the road). Around the undead in Banthil’s Haunt you can collect from Plant Bundles the hair required. The continuation of this quest sends you to Astranaar (Orendil Broadleaf – Orendil’s Cure). Undead are the same level as the naga, but some patrol in twos or are otherwise hard to split. Just south of this spot are the Dark Strand for Delgren the Purifier – The Tower of Althalaxx, which you should already have. Some of these are warlocks with voidwalker and imp pets, and can be up to level 21, although most of those with minions are 18/19.
Stonetalon Mountains
At the moment my thinking is to get to this point, switch over to Stonetalon Mountains, then come back to continue here. You will want to have Sentinel Thenysil – On Guard in Stonetalon, Faldreas Goeth’Shael – Journey to Stonetalon Peak, and Shindrell Swiftfire – Pridewings of Stonetalon. All are in Astranaar. To reach Stonetalon, head east out of Astranaar. Just where the lake to the north almost touches the road, turn and head south. There will be lots of 20-22 bears along this path. You can either turn east at the end to reach Silverlake Refuge, or continue south and follow the path of stones on the ground into a passage to Stonetalon Mountains, Talondeep Path. The pass is safe, but empties into an area of STM filled with spiders, mostly 18-20. This is Windshear Crag. Head SW through the crag and across the river to the area where you will meet Kaela and Gaxim. See Stonetalon Mountains.
Astranaar
Pelturas – Elune’s Tear; from Astranaar to find a ground spawn in Iris Lake, but it is guarded by level 23-24 elementals. This isn’t as bad as it sounds. Following this, you will be given Pelturas – The Ruins of Stardust. The elementals this time can nuke, but are roughly the same level. Following this, you will be given: Pelturas – Fallen Sky Lake. Save for much later.
You can also do the next stage of Tower of Althalaxx now; it was bugged and not giving out the quest when I first tried, but since then I have been able to complete it. The quest is given by Delgren at Maestra’s Post, and the orc you need is quite close to the Shrine of Aessina. Head around the hill to the west of the shrine, aiming to end up to the SW, where you will find a load of demons. Follow the path to a stone arch to the north, and enter there. He is level 25 and has a voidwalker pet, and can summon multiple voidwalkers if you let him. The next stage in the quest series is rated for level 31, and needs a group (or a lot of luck) at that level.
Silverwind Refuge
The next easiest to complete will be Sentinel Velene Starstrike – Elemental Bracers, from Silverwind Refuge. Elementals are around the lake, and are 23-25. Watch out for the named elemental, Tidress, level 27; it stays in the lake and on the island. Once you complete it, the follow on quest is: Sentinel Velene Starstrike – Mage Summoner (Barrens).
In the same area (Silverwind Refuge), a little to the north, you can kill for: Raene Wolfrunner – An Aggressive Defense. The problem with this quest is the the Ursas and Den Watchers all stand in a crowd of six furbolg, all level 22-25. I managed it in a duo at 23 with a higher level rogue (27), but only at the price of several deaths. I would guess that you would need to be several more levels higher to safely solo it.
The Barrens
Sentinel Velene Starstrike – Mage Summoner (Barrens). The mage is level 25, and is found in the Barrens, at the top of a mountain NW of Crossroads. To get there, follow the road east out of Astranaar and turn off south; this is a main route on the map. At the Horde outpost, turn left a few yards and run through the unguarded opening. The mage summons level 1 water elementals that heal him; he runs very early, so keep the elementals dead, and try to slow his movement if you can.
This is a good opportunity to head east from the Crossroads to visit Ratchet, and take the boat to Booty Bay. Register the flight path in Booty Bay – the gryphon master is to the SW of the town in, high up in a building next to the inn; he is quite hard to find. A good reason to pay a visit here is to buy the fishing expert book; this is the only place it can be found.
Astranaar
Raene Wolfrunner – Culling The Threat. This involves the furbolg west of Astranaar and north of the path. You only need to kill the one named furbolg, Dal Bloodclaw. He wanders around the densely populated area just south of the entrance to the hold (a “cavern” area). If you are careful, you should be able to get him alone as he wanders around.
I had a big gap here, as I found the last few quests tough at 24. I levelled to 28 and came back to complete the final ones below.
The last quest from Pelturas can be done about now, Skyfall Lake. You have to kill a few level 24-26 elementals, and finally a level 30 oracle/elemental (who I killed at 28, so he was easy).
The Raene’s Cleansing series should be completed next. Follow the road towards Felwood, and kill level 27-28 “treants”, called ancients, etc, to get a key. Then find the chest it unlocks, behind a small hill on top of a pillar, to the west of the road where you see a load of ruined pillars. The next stage will be to kill level 21-22 slimes, east of the road just north of the Barrens. Finally kill a level 30 furbolg, Ran Bloodtooth, with several 28ish guards. Again, I did this at 28. This description is too short, as there is a lot of running back and forth between quest givers here. One of them, Shael’dryn, is a dryad by the moonwell in the hollow in the hills east of Iris Lake; another is a small shine east of her, just north of the “R” of Raynewood Retreat, and the last is Krolg, a furbolg at the top of the waterfall, to the SE of Mystral Lake. To reach the Moonwell, head east along the road from Astranaar to the seat and pillars to the north, then head north from there. Follow Shael’dryn’s directions to the hidden shrine.
At this level you can also try: Shindrell Swiftfire – Kayneth Stillwind. Kayneth is in the far NE of Ashenvale, just after the satyrs in a large clear area north of the Warsong Lumber Camp, and just before all the unknown level elite dragons. This quest just involves saying hello to the target. However, you have to run between two horde outposts on the road with level “??” (ie much higher than me at 28; they are actually level 40), and at least one level 30 patrolling horde on the road itself. Combine this quest with the quests from the Shrine of Aessina, as most of them involve the satyrs.
He then gives: Kayneth Stillwind – Forsaken Diseases. There is a small camp of 27-29 undead around a table outside the Dor’Danil Barrow Den, which is east of the road leading to the Barrens. The bottle of diseases is any of several scattered around the table and tents. His final quest, Insane Druids, involves entering the Den (I skipped it, as a group is probably advised until much higher).
Shrine of Aessina
Finally, Sentinel Melyria Frostshadow – The Howling Vale. This is the start of a long series, which gives good Darnassus reputation and decent experience towards the end of the series. The Sentinel is in the Shrine of Aessina. The Howling Vale is reached by heading directly west just before the entrance to Felwood (the change of colour of the terrain makes the location obvious). Head up the ramp, and at the top of the ramp you can drop down to the right before the cave with the three guards. Drop down again to the left so that you are in front of the building, and the book is on a table in front of you. This may be possible with no killing at all, but the mobs are 28-30 with high shadow resistance. The continuation takes you to Darnassus, Ratchet, Booty Bay and Duskwood, where it combines with the worgen quests there, so you might as well pick those up.
Also in the Shrine is a series of three quests, starting with Illiyana – Vile Satyr! Dryads in Danger!, leading to The Branch of Cenarius and Satyr Slaying!
The dryad you are sent to find is lying on the ground in the middle of the camp of satyrs at Xavian. You can reach this quite easily by following the stream just west of Satyrnaar, then head east just before reaching the lake. She asks you to kill a named satyr just north of her. He is level 32, the other satyrs are 27-29. You then have to return to Aessina to get the next quest. The satyr horns drop from any satyrs, including the lower level ones in Satyrnaar and Night Run (24-27), which is where the highborne souls are for the penultimate stage of Delgren the Purifier – The Tower of Althalaxx (from Maestra’s Post). The souls are in floating purple obelisks; one in the middle of the camp (there is a small tower in front that makes it hard to see) at Satyrnaar, close to the entrance; and the other in the camp at the southern tip of Night Run. You can get to Night Run from Satyrnaar reasonably safely through the hills, avoiding the Ghostpaw Alphas (level 27-29).
These quests will leave you with a further quest for Duskwood. I find it best to finish the main, non-elite, Duskwood quests apart from the last worgen quest there, and combine it with the last quest from this series: The Scythe of Elune.
Grinding
If, between Stonetalon Mountains and here, you feel the need to kill mobs to grind experience in your low 20s, one of the north/south valleys between Astranaar and Silverwind Refuge is usually full of bears and stags. The middle one, which doesn’t have an obvious entrance from the path to the north, seems to be particularly good. Level range is 21-23. Closer to Felwood there are level 26-28 enemies to fight, bears, stags and treants. For 28-30, look for the worgen in Howling Vale and the bears and spiders close to Satyrnaar.
I skipped the following quests:
Feero Ironhand – Supplies to Auberdine 24; this is an escort quest.
Delgren the Purifier – The Tower of Althalaxx 24; this was bugged and wasn’t being given out when I tried.
Professions
Drops for cooking:
Crisp Spider Meat – used in a recipe that is quested in Redridge Mountains.
Gooey Spider Legs – used in a recipe bought in Stormwind or quested in Duskwood.
Big Bear Meat – recipe can be purchased from Ulthaan (in Silverwind Refuge, in Ashenvale), or quested in Hillsbrad (Horde), or from vendors in Desolace.
Lean Wolf Flank – recipe quested in Duskwood (Alliance), but requires a seasoning bought only in Stormwind. Ignore this one.
To raise cooking above 150, you need to buy the expert cooking book from Shandrina in Silverwind Refuge (price 90 silver, with good faction).
I am gradually becoming convinced that to level cooking past 150 you really want to have fishing at an equivalent level; that lets you have near infinite supply of free raw ingredients for purchasable recipes (from fishing vendors), where most recipes only have a single ingredient.