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Leveling · Experience rules · Final beta build

Dungeons or questing in WoW Forever?

This was the beta's loudest argument, and the numbers behind it changed twice in October. The short answer: Blizzard is balancing dungeon leveling to landroughly level with questing, not ahead of it — so the fast route is a mixed one, and who you bring matters more than how many pulls you chain.

Last change · 3 change live in a build, 1 announced ·beta change record

The short answer, by what you are doing tonight

  • Levelling alone

    Quest. Pick up the dungeon quests for the instance on your path, run it once with a group near your level, and go back to questing.

  • Levelling with a fixed group

    Stay close in level. Since the October 8 fix each player's kill experience uses their own level, but one member far above the mobs still stops experience for everyone.

  • Chaining dungeons to 60

    Blizzard has said plainly that this will not be the optimal path. It is being balanced to parity with questing on purpose.

Experience changes that affect this route

The beta changed the leveling maths twice in October, so advice written in September no longer holds. Each entry is what Blizzard wrote, with our reading of it marked separately. Last change .

  1. Dungeon kill experience was being paid at the group's highest level, fixed October 8Live in a build

    Aggrend confirmed that experience per kill inside a dungeon was calculated from the highest-level character in the group instead of your own. His example: a level 20 in the Deadmines with four other level 20s and one level 25 earns very little per kill. The October 8 build fixed it, so kill experience uses your own level against the mob's. A party member far above the mob's level still means no one gets experience.

    What it means for your route: Every XP-per-hour number testers posted from a mixed-level group before October 8 was measuring this bug as well as the nerf, so treat those older dungeon-speed claims as unusable.

    Source: Blizzard Entertainment · The bug and the fix

  2. Base kill experience in dungeons goes up about 20%Live in a build

    Shipped in the October 8 build alongside the bug fix. Blizzard says the two together should make dungeon runs feel better and more even.

    What it means for your route: Trash pulls pay more than they did, which favours full clears over quest-only runs that skip packs.

    Source: Blizzard Entertainment · The bug and the fix

  3. The target is parity with questing, not Classic Era dungeon speedAnnounced, not in a build yet

    Blizzard's stated aim: after these changes, perfect experience-per-hour dungeon play should land very close to, if not equal to, optimal questing. It also said dungeon experience will not return to Classic Era levels, because dungeon spam being the optimal path fails its design pillars.

    What it means for your route: Plan a mixed route. Dungeons are for the levels where an instance sits on your path and the group is close to your level; questing carries the levels in between. A pure dungeon run to 60 is being balanced out of the game on purpose.

    Source: Blizzard Entertainment (Aggrend) · Blizzard's reasoning

  4. Dungeon quests give 50% less bonus experienceLive in a build

    In the level 30 build Blizzard cut the extra experience dungeon quests award beyond normal quest values by half, and recalibrated some quest rewards. Normal quest experience and experience from killing things in a dungeon were not touched.

    What it means for your route: Chaining dungeon quests is still worth doing on the first run of an instance, but it no longer beats a good quest chain outside by the margin it did in September.

    Source: Blizzard Entertainment · What the level 30 build changed

Where dungeons fit, band by band

Dungeon levels come from the chart on our dungeon pages, and the quest counts are from the beta client's quest data. Where a dungeon has quests, its page lists them with the prerequisites and what cannot be shared.

Levels 13–24

7 dungeons on the chart

Early dungeons are short and their quests are on your questing path anyway, so a single clear of each is nearly free experience.

Levels 25–34

10 dungeons on the chart

The busiest band on the chart. Several dungeons overlap, and this is where dungeon spam used to overtake questing.

Levels 35–46

11 dungeons on the chart

Longer runs with more travel. A dungeon is worth it for its quest chain and gear, not for the clear itself.

Levels 47–60

16 dungeons on the chart

Pre-raid gearing territory. By now you are running dungeons for drops and reputation, and levels come from whichever is faster that evening.

The mixed route, in practice

  1. Quest through the zone the dungeon sits in. You collect its dungeon quests on the way, which is where most of a run's experience now lives.
  2. Run the instance once, with the quests in your log. Two quests in the Deadmines cannot be shared, so each player needs their own — theDeadmines page marks those.
  3. Match levels in the group. One level 25 in a group of level 20s used to tax everyone's kill experience. The October 8 build fixed that, but a member far above the mobs still stops experience for everyone.
  4. Go back outside for the levels in between. The Alliance andHorde routes carry the zones in order.
  5. Come back for loot, not for levels. Later runs are about drops and reputation — see the dungeon's loot list on its page.

Legacy Points while you level

Unconfirmed

Where to spend Legacy Points for dungeon leveling, in the order the points arrive. A character can spend 16, and an account can earn 65 at launch. Stop wherever your total is — the list is cumulative. Effects are quoted from the Beta client 1.60.1.70532 data.

  1. 1.

    Well Restedrank 1 · Adventure

    Your rested experience accumulates 4% faster and your rested experience cap is increased by 4%.

    Only one point here for now — it is the prerequisite for Talented, and rested experience is worth having while you are at it.

    1 point · 1/16
  2. 2.

    Talentedrank 5 · Adventure

    You gain talent points every level starting at level 5 instead of starting at level 10, but you still may not have more than 51 total talent points.

    The strongest leveling node in the tree: talent points from level 5 instead of 10, so you reach your first real build five levels sooner.

    5 points · 6/16
  3. 3.

    Reinforcerank 5 · Resourcefulness

    You take 40% less durability loss when you die.

    Wipes cost durability. This is the only node that makes dying cheaper.

    5 points · 11/16
  4. 4.

    The Quick and the Deadrank 2 · Resourcefulness

    Increases movement speed while dead by 10% and your helpful spells and abilities cost no resources for 2 min after being resurrected or until you enter combat.

    Faster corpse runs and free heals for two minutes after a resurrection — exactly the state you are in after a wipe.

    2 points · 13/16
  5. 5.

    Field Guiderank 2 · Adventure

    Reduces your cooldown on adding Camp features by 17%

    Your class buys no vendor reagents, so Reagent Economy would do nothing; these two points shorten the wait between camp features instead.

    2 points · 15/16
  6. 6.

    Gourmandrank 1 · Resourcefulness

    Increases the duration of beneficial effects from eating food by 33%.

    The last point. Longer food buffs are the only thing left that does anything between pulls.

    1 point · 16/16

What to skip, and why

  • Thrill of Adventure: The client says it is ineffective in dungeons, raids and battlegrounds — zero value in an instance.
  • Frequent Flier: Worth it if you fly between instances; skip it while the group finder is sending you straight in.
  • For Great Honor, Diplomat: PvP and reputation nodes, neither of which speeds up a dungeon run.

Variants

  • If you gather while you level, one or two points in Bountiful Harvest (20% more scarce materials per rank, Mining, Herbalism and Skinning) pay for your mounts; take them out of the last picks on this list.
  • Questing between runs? Thrill of Adventure works outdoors, so the solo plan on a solo leveling guide is the one to follow for those levels.
  • Your class buys no reagents, and Reagent Economy no longer makes camp features free, so it is left out of this plan.

Legacy values are datamined from the beta client and can change. Plan your own spread in the Legacy planner, see where points come from inLegacy Points, or read the Legacy system guide. The order above is our recommendation; the effects are game data.

What is not known yet

  • How close "very close to, if not equal to" turns out to be at launch. The fix and the 20% increase shipped on October 8, so only two weeks of beta runs measured them.
  • Whether the halved dungeon quest bonus survives to launch. The final beta build on October 15 kept it, but Blizzard can still change it on the live client.

We update this page when a build or a blue post changes the arithmetic. Measured a run yourself? Send us the numbers.

Take it to your class

Dungeon and questing XP FAQ

Is dungeon leveling still faster than questing in WoW Forever?

Not by the margin it was. Blizzard halved the bonus experience dungeon quests give on October 1, then shipped a kill-XP fix and a roughly 20% increase to dungeon kill experience on October 8, saying perfect dungeon play should now land very close to, if not equal to, optimal questing. It also said dungeon experience will not go back to Classic Era levels.

What was the dungeon kill XP bug?

Experience per kill inside a dungeon was calculated from the highest-level character in the group instead of your own level. A level 20 running the Deadmines with four level 20s and one level 25 earned very little per kill. The October 8 beta build fixed it, so kill experience now uses your own level against the mob's.

Should I bring a higher-level friend to a dungeon?

A slightly higher friend no longer costs the group, because the October 8 build stopped the group's highest level from deciding everyone's kill experience. A friend far above the mob's level still means nobody in the party gets experience, so keep the group close in level for leveling runs.

Do dungeon quests still matter?

Yes. Normal quest experience was not changed; what shrank is the extra bonus on top. Dungeon quests are still worth picking up before a run, and most of a dungeon's value is now its quest chain and its loot rather than the clear speed.

What does this change about my talent build?

Nothing. Talent builds follow your spec and your group, not the XP rate. What changes is the route: fewer back-to-back runs of the same instance, more questing between runs.

Sources

Dungeon levels and quest counts come from the chart and the beta client's quest data on this site. Blizzard's words are quoted as written; what it means for a route is our reading. WoW Forever Builds is a fan site and is not affiliated with Blizzard.