Zygor vs. Dugi: Which one is better?

If you spend a little time researching WoW Cataclysm leveling guides, you'll quickly learn that your two best options are Zygor Guides and Dugi Guides. Tens of thousands of their customers will say that each guide is top notch, but the hardest part is choosing the right one for you.

Honestly, you can't go wrong with either guide, but there are minor differences that might swing your decision one way or the other. That's why I created this comparison review! I have broken down the review into several sections that highlight the minor differences between each guide. Please feel free to comment below with your own opinions.

Leveling speed (advantage: Zygor)

Zygor has a very slight advantage here even though both guides will get you to max level in under 7 days of played time. Both guides basically have you running the same quests, but the instructions in Zygor's guide eliminate the confusion you're sometimes faced with using Dugi's guide, which means you'll level a wee bit faster. For example, Zygor will provide a detailed description of a quest-giver's surroundings so it's easier to follow the navigation arrow, whereas Dugi will only give you the quest-giver's name and you're forced to look a bit harder. This difference becomes a factor in buildings and cities where there are multiple floors and levels (e.g., Thunder Bluff can be a tricky place to find quests).

Generally, you'll level about 8x faster from 1-85 using either of these guides than if you were to stumble around without one. It should take you less than a day of played time to go from 80-85 using both guides.

Price and value (advantage: Tie)

Dugi Guides $30 per faction leveling guide $50 bundled price (both factions) Free bonus w/purchase Talent guide  Seasonal events guide  $97 BIG bundle (both factions, dailies and events guides, and $137 in free bonuses) 24/7 help and money back guarantee  Free trial and free updates Other products ($) Achievements and Professions($30)

Zygor Guides $40 per faction leveling guide $60 bundled price (both factions) Free bonuses w/purchase Archaeology guide (limited qty) Guild leveling guide (limited qty) Talent guide Nether Drake mount guide Death Knight class guide Inscription profession guide Auctioneer Appraiser guide Food and Drink stats guide 24/7 help and money back guarantee  Free trial and free updates Other products ($) Dailies ($50) Gold (coming soon) Achievements (coming soon)

As you can see from the comparison chart, Dugi's leveling guides are a bit cheaper than Zygor's, but they also come with less bonuses. If you are only interested in the leveling guides, Dugi has the better price. However, with all the freebies offered by Zygor, you get a better value with his guides. I have to call this a tie because it all depends on how many extras you want. Both guides offer great support, free updates, free trials, and moneyback guarantees!

Number of zones covered (advantage: Zygor)

Zygor's guide will take you to over 58 zones in total from levels 1-85, while Dugi's only covers 46. A recent post from Dugi on his forum says he is planning to have all zones covered by the end of December.

Installation and ease of use (advantage: Tie)

Zygor offers a slightly easier installation and updating process, but both guides are very easy to use once they're on your computer. If you've ever installed an add-on for WoW before, you won't have any trouble installing Dugi's guide.

Interface (advantage: Zygor)

I would have given this one to Dugi a week ago, but Zygor just released his version 3 client, which is great. Dugi's interface is slick, minimal, and offers plenty of customization options. Zygor now lets you choose between two different modes: minimal (my preference) or flashy. Zygor's interface is also a bit smarter, letting you know when there are multiple quest objectives in the same area so you don't waste time running back and forth. In Dugi's favour, his guide makes using quest objects a bit easier by popping up a big icon you can click when needed.

Standout feature

Zygor covers both Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms 1-60 leveling, while Dugi only covers Eastern Kingdoms 1-60 at the moment. That accounts for a lot of missing content.

Dugi has an ant trail navigation feature that is useful for players who tend to get lost in the huge game world. This feature basically connects your quest waypoints to make running around easier.

Conclusion

In my opinion Zygor comes out slightly ahead of Dugi as the ultimate guide for World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. This is why I gave Zygor 5 stars and Dugi 4.5 in their individual reviews. I still think Dugi has an amazing product, but I feel Zygor's guide is a bit more polished. Either guide will put you miles ahead of someone who plays the game without one.

If you're looking for lots of extra features (gold making, daily quests, video tutorials, etc.) and don't mind spending up to $100 for them, then Dugi's guide is probably your best bang for your buck. If you want a sleek and speedy no hassle leveling guide, I recommend Zygor.

Feel free to check out my individual reviews for more details:

• Zygor Guides 1-85 Cataclysm leveling guide review
• Dugi Guides 1-85 Cataclysm leveling guide review

I hope this helps! Please leave a comment below with your recommendations!

Review: 'Zygor Guides' Cataclysm Leveling Guide

Review: 'Zygor Guides' 1-85 Leveling Guide
Score:
Free trial: Click here


UPDATE: Zygor Guides just released their complete 1-85 Cataclysm leveling guide. Their guide viewer also received a major update today. It's now much easier to navigate and takes up 30% less screen space than the old version!

PS. I recently wrote a detailed Zygor vs. Dugi guide comparison if you're having a hard time choosing.

If you're like me, you hate wasting hours and hours grinding away in World of Warcraft with little to show for it at the end of your gaming session. I consider myself a seasoned WoW veteran, having created one of Shattered Hand's first horde guilds way back in 2004 (Enmity), but even I think the leveling process can be slow and cumbersome at times. And now that Azeroth has changed due to the Shattering, I'm a total newbie again when it comes to map knowledge! Blizzard designed the game that way on purpose of course because they don't want to you hit the max level too quickly and get bored. How clever of them!

Well, I found someone who figured out Blizzard's leveling design and created a tool to help you level as fast as humanly possible. Ask any WoW player what the most popular Cataclysm leveling guide is and they will quickly tell you, "Zygor Guides!" Why is that? Not only has John "Zygor" Cook been around since beta and devised an excellent leveling path for each race and class, he basically invented the in-game leveling add-on. He also spent months in the Cataclysm beta in order to update his guide for the new expansion coming out on December 7th.

So what's an in-game leveling add-on? You've seen PDF/e-book/website leveling guides before, right? While these types of guides might be accurate and helpful, they always require you to take your attention away from the game by either alt-tabbing or looking down at hundreds of pages of paper. Zygor's in-game add-on removes the annoyance and frustration by bringing the leveling guide right into your game client. Simple instructions appear on your screen and a directional arrow shows you where to go next and automatically adjusts as you move (see it in action).

CLICK TO VISIT ZYGOR GUIDES FOR A FREE TRIAL

Can you get any easier than that? Yes! Here's what else comes with Zygor's guide:

• Backed by 24/7 technical support and a money back guarantee
• 100% FREE lifetime updates! Yes, you heard that right...
• Try before you buy with Zygor's free trial!
• All levels and zones covered from 1-85
• Goblin and Worgen starter guides
• Free talent advisor that takes the hassle out of talent placement (includes dual-spec)
• Free Archaeology profession guide for first 3,000 customers after Dec 6 and preorders
• Free guild leveling perks guide (limited time)
• Make a fortune with the bonus Auctioneer Appraiser guide (limited time only)
• Death Knight class guide bonus (limited time only)
• Inscription profession leveling guide bonus (limited time only)
• Food and drink stats guide bonus (limited time only)
• No grinding! You'll never be told to "Sit here and kill wolves until your next level."
• Easy installation wizard. It's even simpler than installing a traditional WoW add-on

Zygor Guides offers both Alliance and Horde leveling guides separately but you can buy them together in a bundle and save a whopping 40%!  Cataclysm is going to change the landscape of Azeroth forever and what you thought you knew is now a thing of the past. The entire 1-60 game has changed and two new races have been introduced (Goblins and Worgen). Short of paying some shady power-leveling service hundreds of dollars to level your character, Zygor Guides is the most efficient way to level your character from 1-85 or 80-85 out there. And there's no risk of your account being compromised!

I've used Zygor Guides to level up my alts for over a year and can vouch for its awesomeness. I've even seen a sneak peek of the Cataclysm update. You really will hit max level as fast as humanly possibly. Don't believe me? Why not give the free trial a shot and see for yourself? Zygor has over 50,000 happy customers, so feel free to check out the forum on his site.

CLICK TO VISIT ZYGOR GUIDES FOR A FREE TRIAL

Here's a demo video of Zygor Guides in action. The video will be updated to show the Cataclysm features shortly.

Review: 'Dugi Guides' Cataclysm Leveling Guide

Review: 'Dugi Guides' 1-85 Leveling Guide
Score:
Free trial: Click here


UPDATE: Dugi is now offering his full 1-85 guides. He also has special pricing for a limited time so now is a perfect time to buy!

PS. I recently wrote a detailed Zygor vs. Dugi guide comparison if you're having a hard time choosing.

Dugi Guides, also called "Ultimate WoW Guide", is known in the World of Warcraft community as the second most popular Cataclysm leveling guide, but that doesn't mean it's second rate! In fact, there's little difference in the quality of Dugi's guide versus Zygor's guide. See my comparison review for details.

So why do I think Dugi Guides is so great? First, I love that his guide is an in-game add-on instead of an annoying PDF. I don't want to constantly alt-tab out of my game or stare down at a mile high stack of paper (especially in the dark which is how I mostly play). Dugi's guide integrates perfectly with the WoW client and installs very easily.

I'm also a big fan of his compact, customizable, and informative interface. It tells me just enough of what I need to know to get the job done without going overboard. I can choose which objectives to track and the TomTom arrow points me in the right direction 99.9% of the time. I'll admit that Dugi has sent me slightly off course a couple times, but with Blizzard changing quests and NPC locations from time to time, I can forgive Dugi for slight inaccuracies between updates. I've found his post-Shattering 1-60 guide to be bang on though (see it in action).

What else am I a fan of? The leveling speed is awesome of course! I like to explore and experience the game world as much as the next guy, but I also want to keep pace with my friends. Comparing the speed of someone who doesn't use Dugi's guide vs. someone who does is almost laughable. The person who uses Dugi's guide is going to leave the other person in his or her dust because they're doing all the right steps in the right order.

Trust me, I've been left in the dust before! I refused to use a leveling guide in WoW for years due to some sense of pride or honour. I was so old school. I was so hardcore! I finally cracked and bought Dugi's guide after maxing two characters the hard way and I haven't looked back since. In fact, I often swap back and forth between Dugi's and Zygor's guides. It's very easy because both guide will figure out exactly where your character is at in level and adjust themselves accordingly.

CLICK TO VISIT DUGI GUIDES FOR A FREE TRIAL!

The main reason you buy a leveling guide is because you want to level as fast as possible with little frustration. However, there are a number of bonuses that come packaged with Dugi Guides you might find useful.

• Free trial
• Technical support forum
• 60-day money back guarantee
• Free updates!
• Complete Worgen and Goblin starting zones
• Ant trail navigation so you won't get lost
• PvE and PvP talent guides
• All class-specific quests covered
• Easy quest-skipping feature (you'll use it, especially when grouping)
• Key quest items appear on screen when needed so you're not looking through bags
• 10 class gear guide showing you where and how to get the best gear

Dugi Guides is just as helpful for fresh-faced newbies as it is for grizzled veterans. Players of all ages and skill levels will benefit from the secrets contained inside his leveling guide. Want to level very fast? Want more gold? Want better gear? Want help choosing the right talents for the right situation? Want to beef up your achievements? Want to max your reputation? Dugi's got you covered.

Why wouldn't you want you own little hitchhikers guide to the WoW universe, especially now that the 1-60 content has drastically changed? Travel from Dun Morogh to Duskwood. From Durotar to Hillsbrad Foothills. From Stranglethorn Vale to the Swamp of Sorrows. From Hellfire Peninsula to Blade's Edge Mountains. From Borean Tundra to the Storm Peaks. And finally, with the Cataclysm expansion, from Mount Hyjal to Twilight Highlands.

Explore every nook and cranny of the game or skip over the areas you don't want to visit. Dugi Guides will get you to level 85 so fast you'll want to keep making alts! I know I do and I can't recommend Dugi Guides enough.

CLICK TO VISIT DUGI GUIDES FOR A FREE TRIAL!

Have a look at this video showing off all the features Dugi's Guide has to offer. It will be updated once Cataclysm comes out!

Review: 'KFGuides' Cataclysm Leveling Guide

Review: 'KFGuides' 80-85 Leveling Guide
Score:
Free trial: Click here


UPDATE: KFGuides are still working on their 1-80 guides, but their 80-85 guides are great. You'll  receive the 1-80 guide in a free update if you subscribe. The leveling guides also come bundled with free guild leveling and lag reduction guides right away and dungeon/raid, class, profession, achievement, and gold farming guides once they're finished soon.

You'll notice I only have three reviews up on this site. Two for Dugi and Zygor and now one for KFGuides. The reason I've done this is because I only want to review what I feel are the best guides on the market. I'll state up front that I feel Dugi and Zygor are your two best options mostly because they're client addons that tell you what to do and show you where to go while you're in the game. KFGuides is a PDF file, so you'll need to print it off or alt-tab out of your WoW window to follow along. That said being, KFGuides is also less expensive, which is why you should consider it.

KFGuides has a bit of experience in the guide-making business. They released a wildly popular leveling guide for Aion last year that was highly recommended on my other review site. Their guides are thorough and detailed, providing lots of instructions and maps to keep you on the right track.

CHECK OUT THE KFGUIDES FREE TRIAL

Specifically, their 80-85 Cataclysm leveling guide will get you to max level in around 15 hours of played time. All the zones are covered so you won't miss out on amazing content as you slay and conquer your way to max level. Their guide is so detailed, that the Alliance and Horde guides combined reach 500 pages. This is obviously a strength and weakness; lots of detail but lots of pages to print or browse. Luckily, you can keep track of your progress using the PDF checkboxes as you go. The PDF also has click-navigation enabled taking you quickly from section to section.



The guide is organized very well, offering four major viewing modes. First, there's a detailed map showing off key locations. Next, there's the actual step-by-step leveling guide for the zone. Following that, there's a basic quest list detailing all your objectives. And finally, each NPC name is indexed alphabetically along with his or her location. Click here for a free copy of the Mount Hyjal guide to see what I mean.

I think this is a great low-tech guide for casual players. Because KFGuides is a homegrown operation with only two authors, the slated updates won't roll out as quickly as those for Dugi or Zygor, but hey, those guides are supported by huge teams. The price is also quite reasonable considering what you're getting (30% cheaper than Dugi).

• Are you looking for step-by-step leveling instructions aided by detailed maps?
• Do you want to avoid messing with addons and other things that might glitch up your game client?
• Can you handle a massive stack of paper or a large PDF file you alt-tab to?
• Are Dugi and Zygor a bit expensive for your tastes?

CHECK OUT THE KFGUIDES FREE TRIAL

The Shattering is upon us...

The biggest change that came to World of Warcraft in the Shattering patch on November 23rd is that the entire level 1-60 experience was totally redesigned. The zones changed. The quests changed. The NPCs changed.  Blizzard took everything they learned in the last 6 years remade the old world better.

However, while these changes are awesome and make the game feel smoother and much more fun in general, the difficulty of WoW increased as well. Simply put, you're not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy!

Check out my reviews of these two amazing guides. They can be your metaphorical ruby slippers!

• Zygor Guides 1-85 Cataclysm leveling guide review
• Dugi Guides 1-85 Cataclysm leveling guide review

The old WoW quests would have you kill 10 of these, collect 5 of those, and deliver everything to some nearby camp. Easy peasy, right?

The new WoW quests are much more challenging. Now you need to use objects to tame creatures, mount up as early as level 5, clear entire dungeons with the aid of an ally you must keep alive, and kill epic bosses that require much more strategy than your basic "tank and spank." And those are just examples from the new troll starting zone!

Do you want to know the nasty part? It seems like the quest givers these days offer very little instruction on how to complete each new objective. You are very rarely given clear and easy to follow instructions or directions in a post-Shattering Azeroth. It's like Blizzard wants you to roam around until you figure things out the hard way. That can make for some fun gameplay if you're into that sort of thing, but if you're easily frustrated or if you just want to level fast, it can be very annoying.

There are also quite a few different leveling paths you can take from levels 1-60 now. Do you really want to get confused hopping from continent to continent or would you rather find one fun but efficient path and stick to it? That way you can take your alt down another path later on!

Please check out my reviews of two amazing leveling guides that take away all the confusion in WoW's new leveling experience. And save yourself a lot of time and money by forgetting about the competition because these two guides are your best choices. They are the best selling in-game leveling guides for a reason. Find out why!

• Zygor Guides 1-85 Cataclysm leveling guide review
• Dugi Guides 1-85 Cataclysm leveling guide review

Please let me know what you think by leaving a comment below!

(PS. If you want to know just how much WoW's zones changed, head on over to WoW Insider and look at their road map to Azeroth's cataclysmic zone changes. And for an excellent overview of what came in the November 23rd 4.0.3a patch versus what's coming on December 7th with the Cataclysm expansion, check out this post!)

World of Warcraft Cataclysm Cinematic

The new Cataclysm cinematic trailer for WoW is amazing. Blizzard seriously needs to consider making movies! I found this quote kind of funny: "And all will burn beneath the shadow of my wings!" Yeah, until you're 10-manned good buddy! ;)

Why should I buy a Cataclysm leveling guide?

A World of Warcraft: Cataclysm leveling guide can be a very useful tool in your journey towards the game's level cap but they're not for everyone. They can also range in price from $30 to $40, which isn't cheap. The main question a lot of people have asked me over the years is, "Why should I spend my hard-earned money on a leveling guide?"

To answer this question I decided to create a list of  the top 5 reasons a person should buy a leveling guide and a list of the top 3 reasons they shouldn't! I hope it helps you make your decision.

TOP 5 REASONS YOU should BUY A CATACLYSM LEVELING GUIDE

5. You prefer guided tours over solo treks into the great unknown

Do you consider yourself more of an achiever or an explorer? Would you rather wander around a museum by yourself or led by a knowledgeable guide who will encrich the experience with interesting stories and conversation? If you'd rather follow a step-by-step approach to leveling that will help you achieve your goals in the most efficient way possible then a Cataclysm leveling guide is your ticket.

4. You want to discover hidden easter eggs and achievmenets

You may stumble across the odd easter egg or achievement while playing the game but Cataclysm leveling guides make an effort to point out as many of them as possible. The best part? You'll find these easter eggs and achievements while you're in level appropriate zones instead of having to come back when you're much higher level. Efficiency is the key here.

3. You want good gear and gold to spare

Cataclysm leveling guides don't just tell you what quests to take, what to kill, and where to kill it. They don't just help you unlock achievements and discover hidden easter eggs. They also help you get good gear and line your pockets with gold.  While this may not be their primary focus, you'll often find yourself much better off in the gear/gold department after following a guide because of the advice they offer on quests, farming spots, and gear drops.

2. You find wading through forums and online game databases cumbersome

I'll be completely honest with you here: you can find most of the information contained within a leveling guide for free on the Internet. The trouble for many people is that they don't have the time or patience to wade through all the content and noise to find it. There's also very little context or order for the information you do find online. Leveling guides don't just tell you how to earn experience points; they tell you how to earn them in the most efficient way possible by mixing and matching advice, quests, achievement unlocks, kill tasks, and not-so-obvious tasks simultaneously. You can find that online but it's difficult to bring all the disparate information together in a cohesive way.

1. You are a casual player trying to keep up with friends

Gamers can be divided up into two groups: casuals and hardcores. Casual gamers usually have tight constraints on their play time and hardcore players do not. While it's almost impossible to keep up with your hardcore friends if you're a casual gamer, leveling guides can provide a huge boost to your leveling performance because they teach you how to play the game most efficiently and effectively. You won't be wasting away your time running around like a chicken with your head cut off; you'll have a detailed list of steps to follow and if you follow them you'll progress at a blazingly fast pace.

TOP 3 REASONS YOU shouldn't BUY A CATACLYSM LEVELING GUIDE!

3. You don't mind spending hours upon hours searching through WoW forums and database sites

As I said above, you can find a lot of great information for free online. If you don't mind joining up with various blogs or forums, asking questions, filtering the answers, and putting the online advice into action then you probably don't need a leveling guide. If you don't mind searching databases, parsing the results, maps, and comments, and putting faith in the *mostly* good people of the Internet then you probably don't need a leveling guide.

2. You are an extreme explorer type who likes to discover everything for yourself.

Explorers aren't driven by experience points, gear, gold, or other achievements; they are driven by self discovery. If you're the kind of player who likes to head out into the wilderness without any kind of guide, map, or agenda then you probably don't need a leveling guide to tell you where to go, what to kill, and how to kill it most efficiently.

1. You are a hardcore player who puts in many hours per day

Let's face it, if you're a hardcore player who plays 5-12 hours of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm per day, you probably don't need the help of a leveling guide. In many cases the leveling guides aren't actually 100% complete when a new game or expansion launches. You'll always get free updates, which is fine for casual players, but the most hardcore players usually outpace leveling guide authors shortly after a new game/expansion releases, which makes the whole thing kind of pointless.