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Everything you need to know about WoW Forever leveling
WoW: Forever keeps the original Classic experience curve, so reaching the level 60 cap is expected to take a substantial amount of time. Blizzard says the unchanged pace is intended to keep players exploring the world and support social play, making the journey to the new endgame a central part of the game.
Players earn experience through quests, killing monsters and discovering areas. In the beta, reaching level 20 took an average of 20.5 hours, close to Classic’s 20.4 hours; Blizzard also plans to increase monster spawn rates at launch before balancing them later. Players can group to share experience from monster kills, while quest experience remains individual, and professions level separately through related activities.
In short
- WoW: Forever retains Classic’s experience curve.
- Beta players took 20.5 hours to reach level 20.
- Blizzard says the pace supports exploration and social play.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Keeping Classic’s slower levelling pace preserves the sense of progression and gives players time to explore, build social ties and learn their characters before reaching endgame. The beta’s level 20 timing closely matches Classic, which supports Blizzard’s aim of retaining that familiar experience; higher monster spawn rates may also ease some friction without changing the overall pace.
The case against
A long journey to level 60 may make the game harder to fit around players’ available time and delay access to endgame content. If levelling feels like a barrier rather than meaningful exploration, the unchanged pace could discourage newcomers or those who prefer to spend more time on group activities and endgame play.