Blizzard Cuts Dungeon XP in the WoW Forever Beta

Twenty and a half hours to reach level 20 on the WoW Forever beta, against 20.4 hours on Classic. On September 24, Blizzard put out those two numbers on a podcast to defend a leveling pace as long as the original’s, with no shortcut. The message was simple: the pace stays the same, nobody is rushing you.

A week later, the October 1 patch cuts the dungeon quest XP bonus in half. It is not the only change. Low-rank spells are now penalized, the rogue is announced as the single-target DPS king, and Blizzard slips in a warning against RMT (real-money trading for gold).

The WoW Forever beta moves up to level 30

On October 1, 2026, the beta moves from level 20 to level 30, according to Blizzard’s official notes. The October 1 patch breakdown covers every change. On the content side, an entirely new dungeon arrives: Excavation Site: Wetlands, for levels 26 to 31. This titan dig site, guarded by automatons, lines up four bosses and is played with five.

Two other dungeons open up: Razorfen Downs from level 25, and Uldaman from level 30. Blizzard also presents a new battleground, the Darkspear Islands, 15 versus 15, for levels 30 to 60.

Dungeon quests: the XP bonus cut in half

The official October 1 notes contain a developer note. Blizzard says it appreciates the feedback on leveling speed, as part of the ongoing discussions about the WoW Forever beta, and draws one decision from it: reduce dungeon quest XP. Some quest rewards were also recalibrated, and some blue items go back to green.

The patch line fits in one sentence: “Dungeon quests now reward 50% less extra experience beyond normal quest values.” Only the bonus added by Forever is cut in half. The base Classic value does not move.

PC Gamer put numbers on the Deviate Hides quest, in the Wailing Caverns. It pays 1,600 XP in Classic and about 4,650 XP in Forever before the patch, which is 3,050 XP of bonus. Halved, that bonus removes about 1,525 XP. The journalist got 3,100 XP on turn-in, within 25 XP, probably a rounding effect. His verdict: the nerf is less severe than it looks.

Still, WoW Forever beta testers report that a dungeon that used to give two levels now gives about one. Dungeon monsters already gave far less XP than in Classic, and the quests made up for it. If you follow the guide to which dungeons to run by level, expect smaller XP gains than it claims.

Why cut dungeon XP a week later? Two explanations hold up. The first: the average hides well-oiled groups. The day before the patch, one player said he finished every quest in the Ruins of Lordaeron in under 20 minutes with a group of five experienced players. Blizzard may have feared the best players would hit level 60 much faster than planned.

The second: everyone, not just the “sweats” (ultra-optimized players), was chaining dungeons. That is the opposite of the intent announced on the podcast, which is to keep players in the open world as long as possible, for the social experience and wild PvP. Dungeons once or twice for the quests, then back outside.

On Reddit, MrRightHanded (79 votes) sums up the unease: “I thought it was already shown leveling times between forever ptr and classic were minutes within each other. So is this making leveling even slower than classic, or did they just straight up lie.”

On Reddit, fears of a toxic meta

A thread on r/classicwow, tagged “Forever Beta Feedback” (feedback on the WoW Forever beta), is titled “Dungeon XP Nerfs Created a Toxic Meta”. Its author describes the problem: dungeon monsters now give almost no XP, so a new player paired with veterans who skip half the dungeon has a rough time. Conversely, veterans get annoyed at beginners who do not know the skips and shortcuts. According to him, Blizzard “created a mess”, and the dungeon experience for new players has become “horrible”.

OXBDNE7331’s comment, backed by 454 votes, points to a related effect: “One negative is that if the majority of the group has already completed the dungeon quests and one person needs an out of the way mob or item good luck getting the group to clear towards it”.

Another argument raised: once you count forming the group, the trip, and waiting for an invite at the entrance, a dungeon can now yield less XP than outdoor quests. The September 20 dungeon leveling story gives a point of comparison with the old pace.

Gamewave reports mostly negative feedback, especially from tanks and healers. Some players still welcome that boosting is getting harder. On the official forum, a Blizzard forum thread flat out asks to revert the monster XP nerf or open refunds.

The key phrase is “far below”. Blizzard cites two examples, Frostbite for the mage and Omen of Clarity for the druid, two effects that the Spellbook details.

Blizzard’s developer note goes further: “Using a Rank 1 Frostbolt at level 60 will result in a 0% chance to get a Frostbite activation.” For Blizzard, the mage now chooses between a fast slow, with Rank 1 of Frostbolt and its short cast, and a spell able to trigger Frostbite. Both at once is over.

The Restoration druid pays too. If he casts low ranks of Rejuvenation, he will trigger his talent effects less often, or not at all.

Mage-focused content creators reacted strongly. Spamming Rank 1 Frostbolt is part of the Classic Frost mage’s identity. Blizzard wants something else: keep the downranking many players like, while cutting the hunt for overly profitable procs.

The rogue, named top single-target DPS

In the second episode of the official WoW Forever podcast, devoted to classes (featuring Josh Greenfield, Aidan Moon and the streamer Sodapoppin, according to Warcraft Tavern), lead game designer Kris Zierhut announced that rogues will deal the highest single-target damage in the game. The stated frame: a boss fight where you stay in melee without moving, Patchwerk style. That will be, in his words, one of the main reasons to bring them to raid.

A Blizzard developer saying which class should finish on top is rare. The context explains the candor: the buffs and debuffs other classes bring to the raid weigh far more than the rogue’s. Its only justification in raid becomes raw damage. The full episode 2 summary covers the rest of the class discussion.

The promise has limits. It targets static single-target, not multi-target, mobile fights or PvP. Zierhut also admits rogue damage is hard to balance, because it comes from several systems at once. The Combat Rogue build shows this logic in practice, with Sinister Strike as the main attack.

Gold buying: a warning on every trade

The last issue of the moment is gold buying. Kaivax, community manager, posted a message on the official forum titled “Actions Taken Against Botting and RMT”. Since its previous note, Blizzard has been continuously sanctioning accounts that farmed gold with bots in the beta, as well as those that knowingly bought or received illicit gold. Sanctions will continue in the WoW Forever beta and after launch, planned for November 4.

Soon, a warning will show up in game on every trade with a stranger. Its text: “Be wary of accepting gold from unknown or suspicious sources. If the provider is engaged in Real Money Transactions, you could put your account at risk of closure.” It will link to a support article. Blizzard insists: “Our stance on RMT in World of Warcraft is crystal clear”. Any account that generated, sold, bought or received illicit gold risks gold removal, a suspension or a permanent closure.

This message follows the case of streamer Payo, banned after encouraging his viewers to buy gold for him. Ziqo, another streamer, had his gold removed without a suspension, which caused grumbling. Targeting buyers is not new: Blizzard had announced it in late September.

With the warning on every trade, the excuse “I did not know the gold came from a purchase” no longer holds. Receiving gold from anonymous players, as some streamers do, becomes risky. On this point, the WoW Forever beta community mostly applauds. The XP nerf goes down far worse.