Dungeon bosses will probably be too strong or too weak, certain abilities might do unfathomable amounts of damage, and all sorts of level requirements might break. Every time Blizzard has made any changes to the underlying math behind character progression-like when it squished character stats and item levels at the beginning of Battle for Azeroth-the result is all sorts of nasty bugs and terribly unbalanced combat encounters. It's not clear what will happen to characters who aren't already level 120, though my guess is that their level will be scaled down accordingly.īut what I can guarantee is that all of this will be horrifically broken for the first few weeks.

Newcomers will play through Battle for Azeroth to get caught up with the story, but any of WoW's previous expansions are available to veterans. Unlike the current starting zones, which are outdated and boring, Exile's Reach will feature all of the modern quest and dungeon design that makes Warcraft fun.Īfter players reach level 10 and complete Exile's Reach, they'll then choose an expansion to level through in its entirety which will take them all the way up to level 50. New players, on the other hand, will still start at level 1 but will begin their journey in an entirely new zone called Exile's Reach. So instead, Blizzard will squish everything down so that current level 120 players will now be level 50 at the start of Shadowlands and reach level 60 by the end of its main campaign. The idea is simple: Having to level a character all the way to 120 is becoming a bit much, especially when so many of those levels don't have any material reward and feel like pointless filler. Sometime before its launch, Blizzard will be squishing the level cap down to the original limit of 60, completely overhauling how leveling a new character works in the process. One of the most exciting features in Shadowlands actually has nothing to do with the expansion itself. Like the current Rise of Azshara update, that'll probably mean lots of grinding for the sake of grinding-but with a new expansion just around the corner is it even worth it if all that progress will be thrown out in a few months? The upcoming level squish will break everything for a bit In the end, I'm expecting Visions of N'Zoth to feel more like necessary filler to chew on while we wait for Shadowlands' summer release.

Though a final confrontation against the only living Old God is exciting, Battle for Azeroth's story has been convoluted and hamfisted in a way that makes it hard to care about what's happening-and a smattering of new progression systems won't change that. Given just how turbulent Battle for Azeroth has been so far, though, I don't think Visions of N'Zoth will do much to improve anyone's feelings on this expansion. I don't think Visions of N'Zoth will do much to improve anyone's feelings on this expansion.

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