The long-awaited World of Warcraft: Shadowlands pre-patch is finally live, and it has completely changed the game. In addition to cosmetic, class, and teleport changes, there is the big discussion over the new leveling system. All classes got scaled down and now have the option to level through any of the old expansions. This begs the question of which World of Warcraft expansion is the fastest for leveling. The answer seems to be Warlords of Draenor, but for a few interesting reasons.

The Shadowlands pre-patch has significantly overhauled several aspects of the game. Levels, items, and stats have all be squished down. Level 120 players are now at the current cap of 50, with other levels similarly scaled. The impressive item levels in the high 400s are now in the low 100s. There is a brand-new starting zone, Exile’s Reach, where players can learn about their class and where they fit in the world.

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Alongside these new changes is a new feature called Chromie Time. This allows players to ask Chromie to adjust an expansion to scale with the player, effectively allowing a new character to spend almost their entire time in one single expansion. This is great for many players that skipped an expansion or are new to the game, as they can get the full experience and properly play through an expansion’s storyline. In terms of leveling speed, it looks like the expansions vary greatly, boasting between 12 and 24 hours for World of Warcraft players to reach level 50.

WoW New Leveling System

On the lowest end of the leveling time, clocking in around 12 hours, is Warlords of Draenor. This expansion has a lot to offer players in terms of leveling, even allowing them to skip the Warlords of Draenor intro, should they prefer to jump right into the heart of the story. Shadowlands made leveling in Draenor even easier with the removal of the Pathfinder achievement as a requirement for flying. Previously, players had to complete several sections of achievements in order to start flying around these zones. Now, new players can simply fly in Draenor once they unlock the capability elsewhere.

Overall, one of the biggest factors in leveling speed is the Garrison feature. This is the player’s home base during the expansion and can be upgraded multiple times in order to fit their needs. Profession trainers, bankers, vendors, and even a Battle Pet stable are all ready to be worked on, upgraded, and—most importantly—come with plenty of experience to award players. There is also the missions feature which appears in later expansions, allowing players to send followers out on missions for rewards and experience. If a player properly utilizes their Garrison while questing, hitting the new level cap will be a breeze.

Since Warlords of Draenor also boasts two of the rarest mounts in the game—Voidtalon and Solar Spirehawk—it is likely to still be plenty populated, regardless of which expansion players are choosing for leveling. With the official Shadowlands release delayed until later this year, players have plenty of time to level up any characters that aren’t already at the max. This is a great opportunity to check out more details of previous expansions that they may have missed as well.

World of Warcraft is available on PC.

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