Shadowlands Leveling Changes
- 2020-04-18 15:21:08
- Shadowlands WoW leveling service
- 50-60
Why Change Leveling?
Raiditem.com will share you all the details today. In addition, You can also get the best Shadowlands WoW leveling service here.
At BlizzCon 2019, WoW developers identified three key areas needing improvement, based on observations of leveling up through and including Battle for Azeroth:
Time: leveling takes too long
Satisfaction: too many levels = not every level is rewarding
Consistency: too many storylines and not enough time to explore them all before leveling out of an area or expansion
Fifteen years and eight expansions can overwhelm and confuse new players. The traditional "newbie" zones don't adequately prepare brand-new players to the wide variety of concepts even a beginning player needs to know to progress through World of Warcraft. The challenge is how to balance the requirements for new players with the needs of experienced players who want to level up alts for the endgame.
This process started with the introduction of scaling words introduced with the Battle for Azeroth expansion, allowing leveling players greater choice in where to level instead of being stuck in narrow-band zones that would go grey before they could even begin to explore the area's storyline. Shadowlands will take that scaling one giant step farther.
Leveling up in Shadowlands
Level Squish - 50 Is The New 120
Shadowlands will introduce a "level squish" -- existing characters will have their level number reduced to a new scale. Level 120 characters will wake up in the new expansion as level 50, and the other levels will scale down from there. Changing level numbers will not change your character's relative power; the level number is simply a new representation of your character's current power and development.
At this point, we don't know what this formula will be. Blizzard has hinted at a "simple straightforward" formula, but there are no details. It might be a straight conversion or perhaps a "sliding scale" where early levels are closer together and higher levels are further apart.
Speculation: Right now, a level 120 to 50 conversion translates to 2.4 levels in BfA to 1 level in Shadowlands, so if it's a straight conversion, you'd divide your current level by 2.4. A level 70 character would translate to 29.17, which would probably mean level 29 plus a 17% toward 30. But again, we don't know the formula yet.
Leveling Speed in Shadowlands
In Shadowlands, leveling will progress about 60-70% faster for 1-50, compared to the time it now takes to get from 1-120.
Levels will also become more meaningful, with something new awarded on every "ding".
New Players and Alts in Shadowlands
New players and alts will have different choices and leveling experiences. New players will be directed through a specific, limited set of zones for leveling purposes; experienced players will have more choices.
While "new player" was not specifically defined, the most probable criteria is whether they have an account with at least one character leveled to 120 (50). Players without one will likely be defined as "new"; players with one will likely be treated as leveling an alt. If you're currently new to the game (or have a new account) and want to preserve the maximum number of choices, be sure to get at least one character leveled to 120 before Shadowlands is released.
The new leveling choices both for new players and for alts break down into three leveling brackets, each of which will be discussed in detail.
New Players:
1-10: Exile's Reach (new newbie zone for all players)
10-50: Battle for Azeroth
50-60: Shadowlands
Experienced Players:
10-50: Any choice of the 8 expansions
50-60: Shadowlands
New players will automatically go to Exile's Reach, a revamped newbie zone that helps players understand the current world and mechanics better. They do not have the option to choose a different starting zone.
Experienced players leveling alts will have the option to go to Exile's Reach or to one of the traditional racial/class newbie zones.
Exile's Reach is accessible by both Horde and Alliance, which makes it unique among racial starting zones (though not to the class zones). One advantage to this centralized newbie zone is that if you're starting out with friends who would normally start in distant zones, they would be able to join in a zone where you can play together.
The story of Exile's Reach is that it's a newly discovered, uncharted island. An expedition was sent two weeks before, and nobody has heard from it since. You are sent with a second force to find out what happened to the first zone.
The purpose of Exile's Reach is to acquaint players new and old with the fundamentals of World of Warcraft, as well as introducing them to the essential mechanics of their chosen class. Class abilities will be woven into the storyline and fabric of Exile's Reach through encounters with special NPCs and quests.
Exile's Reach culminates in a two-boss mini-dungeon designed for 1 to 5 players. Traditional balanced dungeon parties are not required. The dungeon scales to the size and abilities of your party.
Both new and experienced players will then proceed normally to Shadowlands to start their 50-60 journey.
Find out more about Shadowlands' zones!
Shadowlands has a strict leveling path for everyone going through this expansion for the first time. Unlike the previous two expansions that allowed you to start in any of the available zones, all players will start by escaping the Maw and proceeding to the island of Bastion. This will start the main story arc and getting to know the four ruling Covenants of the Shadowlands in their primary realms:
Bastion (Kyrian) > Maldraxxus (Necrolords) > Ardenweald (Night Fae)> Revendeth (Venthyr)
After completing this story arc and attaining level 60, players will have to choose one of the four Covenants to join. This is an important decision to make, as this will inform every part of your endgame experience. Each Covenant will present its own campaign, with unique quests, powers, benefits, and rewards.
You will be able to change Covenants if you are dissatisfied. Although there are no details yet, it was hinted that this would take time to gain the trust of the new Covenant, so this is unlikely to be a quick or easy process. Needless to say, you will lose the powers and perks of the Covenant you have left.
Once one character has completed this story (level 60 and joined a Covenant), any alts entering Shadowlands at level 50 will not have to repeat the linear questline. They may join any of the four Covenants immediately and begin working on world quests, Covenant-specific quests, and endgame goals. Players are certainly welcome to go back and quest in any of the four major Covenant realms if they wish, but this isn't required.
This makes Shadowlands far more alt-friendly, allowing a player with a stable of alts to contribute to the whole more quickly.
