Is there a quickest way to reach level 90 at all?
Quickest is relative, but yes, there is a sensible shape to it. Level 90 is the cap in Midnight, and the path there is made of zone quests, dungeons, delves and whatever bonus your account carries. Players who arrive fastest usually do one thing differently: they stop switching activities every twenty minutes. Pick a loop that gives steady experience and stay in it.
I will not quote you hours, because they depend on your class, your route and how often you read quest text. What I can say is that the order matters more than the raw effort.
Should I quest, or just run dungeons?
Do both, but lean on whichever your class handles comfortably. A tank or a healer will find dungeon queues short and rewarding. A damage class may prefer questing in a zone that fits the story they care about. The group finder is your friend in either case, because a dungeon run mixes experience with gear that you can actually use.
If you are on a fresh character with no bonuses, questing gives you a natural break between dungeon sessions. Questing also fills the map, which becomes useful later when you want to fly around without restrictions.
A small trick: when a quest chain sends you across the zone for a reward you do not need, skip it. Experience per minute drops when you spend half the time travelling. Treat quests as a menu, not a checklist, and take the ones that cluster nicely together on the map.
Do delves help while I am levelling?
They do, and they are one of the nicer additions of the expansion. A delve is a short, instanced adventure for one to a few players, and it hands out loot at a pace that suits a levelling character. You do not need to wait for a queue, and the rewards tend to arrive in useful pieces. If you are stuck in a lull between zones, a couple of delves are a decent refresh.
Take your follower along, if the delve allows it. A second pair of hands makes the harder rooms less of a puzzle.
Delves also work well for the moments when you have thirty minutes before dinner. They have a clear start and a clear end, which means you can fit one in without feeling you left something half done.
Does my gear matter before the cap?
Less than you think, but not nothing. A few upgrades from quest rewards and dungeon drops will smooth the final stretch. Do not spend crafting orders or crests on gear you will replace within an hour. Save those for the cap, where they stick.
One exception: if a crafter can offer a weapon that suits your spec, ordering it early is a small quality-of-life win that persists for the rest of the levelling.
When in doubt, vendor-bought or quest pieces are fine. The point of levelling gear is to keep you alive and your numbers respectable, not to impress anyone. The real equipment decisions start at the cap, and they will be easier once you know what your class actually wants.
Is paying for a level boost a normal thing to do?
Plenty of players ask this, so it deserves a straight answer. Some people do choose a WoW Boost to get to the cap, especially on an alt when the main already took their evenings, and they tend to say it freed them to focus on the end-of-level activities they actually wanted to play. Others never would, because they enjoy the journey. Both camps exist, and both enjoy the game.
The useful question is what you want your hours to go toward. If the answer is the raid, the keys and the group content, then a shorter road to 90 is attractive. If the answer is exploring Midnight at your own pace, the road is the content.
What should I do the moment I hit 90?
Breathe, then make a short list. Delves are the gentlest entry into current gear. Crafting orders cover holes in your equipment. A few low Mythic+ keys will teach you the Season 2 dungeon pool. And if you have friends who are raiding, ask whether there is room in an alt run of The Voidspire, the previous raid.
Do not queue for the biggest thing on day one. A sensible first evening is a delve, a key, a look at the gear vendor.
It also helps to open the group finder once, just to look. Seeing which dungeons are popular and what level of key people are running gives you a sense of the current landscape before you commit to anything.
Will I be locked out of group content at 90?
No, though you will want some preparation. Most group finder dungeon listings accept anyone with a sound item level and a working rotation. Raid listings are pickier, and it is common to be asked about your gear before you are invited. That is not rudeness. It is a leader trying to keep a raid on schedule.
If you get declined, treat it as information, upgrade a slot or two and try again.
A quick tip: when you apply, add a short note with your item level and your role. Leaders skim dozens of applications, and a clear one stands out. It costs nothing and often earns you the invite.
How do crests fit into this?
Crests are the currency that turns a piece of gear into a better piece of gear. You earn them from content at the cap, from keys, from raids and from certain delves. As a levelling player you can ignore them completely until 90. Once there, they become the thing that decides which of your pieces get stronger first.
Pick a few key slots, such as the weapon and trinkets, and put your crests there. Spreading them thin makes every slot a little better and none of them good.
You will also notice different crest types for different tiers of content. Do not memorise them all on day one. Open the currency tab, hover over each, and read what it is for. The tooltips are accurate and they will save you from spending something on the wrong upgrade path.
What about Venomous Abyss, can a new 90 touch it?
You can queue for it, and the raid has eight bosses spread across difficulties, so there is a gentle place to start. Patch 12.1 added it, and groups that run it regularly tend to welcome newcomers who show up prepared. Spend the first week gearing and practising, then try the earliest encounters on the easiest setting.
The raid is a team sport. Showing up on time and listening to calls earns you far more than a few extra points of item level.
And the last question: is it worth hurrying at all?
That depends on what you are hurrying toward. If your friends are at the cap and waiting, hurry. If you are new and curious, slow down and look around. The expansion has more places worth stopping in than any fast route will let you notice, and the endgame will still be there on the day you arrive.
Whichever way you go, the goal is the same: arrive at 90 with a character you understand and an evening you actually want to spend.
