Nearly one month ago Blizzard announced a special World of Warcraft event coinciding with stay-at-home orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All World of Warcraft players would receive a 100% experience buff while leveling. The buff was named the Winds of Wisdom and it was mean to provide World of Warcraft players an opportunity to revisit their alts or start new characters without stressing over the grind. Blizzard has now decided that the Winds of Wisdom event is worth continuing.
The Winds of Wisdom 100% bonus experience event was set to end on April 20 in World of Warcraft. Blizzard has now extended the event all the way up to the pre-patch for World of Warcraft's next expansion, Shadowlands. That means that World of Warcraft players will receive a free 100% experience buff for the next several months. Considering there's no end in sight for the COVID-19 quarantine, World of Warcraft players stuck at home are certain to be appreciative.
While there's no official date announced for the launch of the Shadowlands pre-patch and the end of the Winds of Wisdom buff, some speculation can be made. The past two World of Warcraft expansions, Legion and Battle for Azeroth, both launched in August. Pre-patches tend to last at least a month, but potentially a little longer. That means pre-patch for Shadowlands should arrive early-to-mid July, giving current players another 3 months of 100% bonus experience.
The reason why Blizzard is setting a deadline for the event at all is due to a major feature change in Shadowlands. Starting with the expansion's pre-patch, World of Warcraft is getting a "level squish." The current 120 levels in World of Warcraft will be squished to just 50, with another 10 being added in Shadowlands itself for a cap of 60.
Leveling in the Shadowlands expansion will be easier and faster than ever. It may even be faster than with the current 100% experience buff, outside of those 10 new levels. Adding a 100% experience buff on top of the level squish would be a bit extreme.
For now, all that matters is that World of Warcraft players can continue taking advantage of the 100% experience buff for months yet. Whether players have the full game through Battle for Azeroth, are still rolling around with Legion, or have just begin with the Starter Edition, everyone gets a 100% experience buff. Players can event stack the buff with other experience modifiers including potions and heirloom gear. There's no better time to power level some alts.
World of Warcraft is available now on PC.