With Shadowlands, the leveling experience of World of Warcraft is completely turned upside down. Many players have wondered how this will all work. Now Blizzard reveals details on how leveling will proceed at the start of the new expansion.
What is this new system? Already at BlizzCon 2019, Blizzard announced, that Shadowlands will significantly change the familiar leveling in WoW. Instead of battling through various areas and dungeons, you select expansions for leveling.
The leveling experience differs based on whether you start as a new player or as a veteran. In principle, you will start the first 10 levels in a specific area, after which you can choose one of the seven expansions (plus Classic) to reach level 50. From there, it continues with Shadowlands.
Why a new leveling system? The new system implements, among other reasons, because the level cap is halved from 120 to 60. In Shadowlands, you will level from level 50 to level 60.
Everything is designed to go much faster. Leveling time is expected to be reduced by up to 60-70%.
First Steps in Shadowlands
How do I start as a newcomer? Blizzard has now revealed initial details on how you will start as a new player in Shadowlands. Instead of usually beginning somewhere in Durotar or in the Elwynn Forest, you will start in Exile (orig. “Exile’s Reach”), a solitary island, to search for a lost expedition.
There, you will spend the first 10 levels and learn more of your class’s fundamental abilities. The culmination of the experience is a “mini-dungeon” for 1-5 players featuring two bosses where you can test your skills.
After that, as a new player, or if you have never created a character on the account before, you must continue with “Battle for Azeroth” to avoid missing out on the story. There, you will level up to level 50 and can then travel to the Shadowlands.
How does it work as a veteran? If you have previously played WoW, you can choose whether to start in Exile or in your race’s standard starting area. Upon reaching level 10, you can either continue leveling in BfA or talk to Chromie. She will then let you choose which expansion you want to continue leveling in until level 50, before you travel to Shadowlands.
It runs a bit differently if you play a Death Knight, Demon Hunter, or Allied Race. Unlike previously thought, these classes and races do not start at level 1, but at level 8.
There, you will get your own starter experience, about which there is still no detailed information. However, it is likely that you will also be able to choose any expansion afterward to level.
However, there’s still some time until the launch of Shadowlands, and much can still change. If you want to take a look beforehand, you might be lucky enough to participate in the alpha and beta tests. We have compiled all information on Shadowlands here for you.
