Leveling in Shadowlands - Request

Community General Discussion
1

Hey,

So I’ve been thinking about the upcoming changes, and intent to simplify the leveling process in Shadowlands, where you’ll be able to pick in which expansion you want to level, and them saying that you should be able to reach lvl 50 by doing a one expansion whole storyline/quests.

I know this is pretty exciting for everyone, as it will allow you to level faster, and by only doing the content/expansion you enjoy.

What I’d like to request is if they could add an option (maybe “hidden” kinda like the XP turn off NPCs, or maybe an extra option in the pop-up that will appear) where it would allow us to set an option so we could still level in a similar way to what we have today, meaning leveling through the expansions:

1-60 - Azeroth
60 -80 - TBC or WTLK
80-90 - Cata/MoP
90-100 - WoD
100-110 - Legion
110-120 - BFA

With the level squish, adapting this to the new level brackets ofc.

I know this might be silly, but one of the things I love about leveling alts is leveling in one place for a couple of levels, and eventually getting excited to go to another expasion content once I finish a zone/storyline/level bracket.

I know you’re not obliged to level in only one expansion once you pick it, and you can just do a zone, and then skip the rest, and pick another expansion to continue - but I don’t want this. I prefer an option that will maybe reduce drastically the XP gains, so we can flow more naturally/similarily to what we have today into each expansion - meaning, we have to do more zones/quests to level up.

The leveling is part of the journey of the character you play with, and by doing only one expansion worth of content, that jorney will feel incomplete to me. Like, I want my characters to have a story to tell on how they’ve battled the devastation left by deathwing, and then ventured into the frozen lands of Northrend, and then met the Pandaren and fought the Sha, and then travelled to an alternate universe, to then come back and fighting the burning Legion.

I hope that this reaches a blue, and it’s taken into consideration. With all in mind that this would be a COMPLETELY OPTIONAL way vs what we’ll have.

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2

I think the xp block option will still be there in Shadowlands

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3

Yes, but I don’t want to turn off the XP.
I’d like an option that will allow me to level “the old way” - meaning, reduced XP gains, so I can level more or less like we do today, where we have to go to multiple expansions

4

I doubt there will be an option like this. Your best bet would be turning xp off. Besides that I think it will only be the new levelling speed…Even so it’s pretty impossible to lvl through a whole expansion with levelling today. I always manage to do 1 zone in mop before I outlevel it.

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5

Im pretty sure you can still do that. Just start out lvling in azeroth. When you are level 20, i dont think anything will prevent you from taking to outland. When you are lvl 30,go to pandaria if u like, 35 go wod, 40 go legion 45 go bfa. Its all up to you if i understand it correctly :blush:

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6

I don’t necessarily want to level every single whole expansion.
I want to be able to level at least a couple of zones, and then proceed to the next expansion, and so one.

Kinda, level like 4 zones in “vanilla” then → Howling Fjord – > Grizzly Hills → Hyjal → Uldum → Jade → Valley, etc. so each Alt, I could have different paths, but always progressing this way through expansions

My concern is that I won’t be able to two full zones for example, in each expansion, without reaching lvl 50 pretty fast. What you’ve sugested is kinda what I want - an optional “XP” nerf so I can level exactly that way :slight_smile:
Still having “level brackets” for each expansion

7

That’s planned. You can either join some kind of timewalking leveling experience where you 10-60 in a single expansion or level as you currently do today

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8

lvling will be 70% faster though…he wants to level slowly

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9

^ yea, pretty much. I want that as something completely optional so it won’t affect anyone who doesn’t want it.

I’ve just thought of another option:

What if they make something like “Make your own adventure” - so, by this option, you are given the map, and you have to pick a mandatory minimum of X zones you want to level in, and then you can pick as many as you want to. Once you do, your XP bar will “adapt” to the amount of zones you’ve picked. This would be perfect

10

“Everything in your chosen expansion will scale dynamically to match your level and power. Think of this as “outdoor timewalking”.”

Honest question: With this dynamic scaling, does it matter if you are gaining XP or not? It will feel “your level” the entire time, so just relax and enjoy the adventure, no matter your level in my opinion :slight_smile:

11

Can always go to Classic for a bit for that.

2 Likes
12

That is a thing you will be able to kinda do yourself after leveling first time in SL.

Remove Heirlooms, turn WM Off and see how far you can go with your route before hitting level 50.
If you hit it too son, just lock experience gain while finishing some zones.

13

You can level as you do now, no need to use Chromie Time.

If I remember correctly it’s the using of Chromie time that results in 70% faster levelling, not generally speeding it up (don’t quote me on this). This would make sense given using Chromie time requires a lot of scaling and returning to make the “expo fit 10-50” so it’d probably be easier to redefine the speed it takes and just have it go quicker. With the “general levelling” atm, they’re effectively just cutting the final number in half, so there’s little incentive for them to mess with the speed of levelling because they probably don’t need to.

I think it’ll be sensible this way. Wanna do it fast because alt? Chromie time is quicker. Want the normal route? You’re probably interested in nostalgia so applying the exp boost makes little sense. As said though, don’t quote me on it.

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14

I play retail, not classic. I have no interest in playing classic - otherwise, I wouldn’t be posting about the leveling process in the retail forums

I’m only quoting you, but to say that if this is in case what will happen, then it will be awesome. If the “chromie” option isn’t mandatory, and you can level the “same old way” instead (and without the 70% boost), then it’s perfect for me :slight_smile:

I want the “old way” of leveling to take roughly the same ammount of time as it does today.

15

I know you can choose whether u do Chromie time or not. What i’m unclear on is whether it’s just CT that gives the faster experience, or even the “normal” levelling.

My guess is it’s just CT that gives the boost, because to apply it to both would require rescaling “normal” levelling more than is needed, and having the CT system work separately to the normal one makes it easier. I mean if it’s going to be 70% quicker but deivded over expos, in most cases you’d be spending about half the intro zone in an expo before you move to the next. That sounds really stupid.

Whereas you won’t feel that 70% so much over one expo, because it may well take that 70% boost to ensure the entire expo gets you 10-50. That’s why I think the normal levelling will be at whatever speed it is now.

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16

I think the Chromie thing is just a “intro quest and teleportation to the place” more than changing how the game plays, but not 100% sure

17

Nah, Chromie time literally puts you into a different phase where everything in that continent scales to your current level, and the experience is tailored to take you theoretically from 10-50. Outside of this it will be the usual of having about half of our levels in “old world”, and then divisions of 10% for each expo after until 50. The idea is very much that CT changes how you paly, so the entire expo content gets you to 50.

Blizz said as much as new players are recommended to “CT” using BFA content so they experience the freshest story before going into shadowlands proper. But blizz said they will keep the unphased world as well so ppl can farm old raids (because farming old raids won’t be possible if they keep scaling to your level, whereas if you jump out of Chromie time MC stops scaling at level 30 for example)

18

Any chance you can find a quote that specifies this? (I am also looking as I am, as always, more than happy to admit when I am wrong and don’t want to be spreading misinformation)

All I could find so far is

Experienced players are not limited to a single expansion. You can move from one expansion to another through normal means of travel. This is helpful if you start in one area and find out your friends are all in another, or you change your mind about where you want to level.

which, in my opinion, backs up my theory that no matter your use of Chromie, things will work the same way (except how you arrive at the start of the expansion)

19

I suspect you may be right, I’ve been doing some digging and the exp is spoken of generally. My thoughts regarding it were that “logically” it would require more effort for blizzard to design a “quicker” exp system that works for Chromie time and also one that works outside of it, but hey, maybe they intend to do just that.

20

Another quote I managed to find:

So all of the legacy content - Pandaria and the like - that’s being scaled somehow?

Patrick Magruder: It’ll be scaled from 10 to 50.

Actually, to be clear, it’ll be scaled from 10 to 50 while you’re levelling. However, that’s where Chromie comes in - Chromie Time. As you’re doing it from 10 to 50, it’s Chromie time, it’s scaled. Once you hit 50, Chromie will show up again and say, ‘Hey, it looks like you’re done, cool - let’s bring you back to the main timeline,’ and then you’ll be 50 and Pandaria will have been scaled down to around, I’m going to guess, 35-ish in the new scheme.

it specifies “while levelling”, not while in Chromie Time - sounds like you might be locked into “Chromie Time” no matter what, from level 1-50, with Chromie being an optional teleport, then you leave Chromie Time at level 50 no matter what