The short answer
No, by Blizzard’s own early numbers Forever leveling is not faster than Classic Era from level 1 to 20.
On the first official WoW: Forever Podcast, a developer said the analytics team measured an average of 20.4 hours in Classic Era and 20.5 hours in Forever.
The gap is 0.1 hours, about 6 minutes (our calculation).
Treat it as an early beta average: it covers only levels 1–20, and Blizzard did not publish how it was measured.
What does change is where your experience comes from: more of it sits in quests, including dungeon quests, and less in kills.
Grouping for drop quests also got easier: a developer says drops themselves work as before, but quest items are now split more evenly among group members.
This guide checks every number against Blizzard’s podcast, development notes and news posts in English, German and Korean.
Is Forever leveling faster than Classic? The developer numbers
Blizzard published the first episode of the World of Warcraft: Forever Podcast on September 24, 2026, on its official YouTube channel and news site.
Host Countdown to Classic talked with Senior Game Designer Josh “Aggrend” Greenfield, Lead Classic Designer Tim Jones and special guest Xaryu.
At about 50:24, a developer said the analytics team had just delivered a report on leveling speed.
According to that report, the average time from level 1 to 20 was 20.4 hours in Classic Era and 20.5 hours in Forever.
Average hours from level 1 to 20
The developer added that Forever was actually a little slower, and that the data was brand new on the day of recording.
We checked these figures against the video’s English captions, which YouTube generates automatically.
Keep three limits in mind before you quote the number.
First, it is an early beta figure: the beta opened with a level cap of 20, so 1–20 is the only range it can cover.
Second, Blizzard did not say how many characters were counted, which classes they played or how exploring was handled.
Third, no 1–60 average has been announced, for Forever or for Classic Era.
Where the experience comes from: quests and dungeon quests
On the same podcast, the developers explained why dungeons can feel like a huge experience jump the first time.
Forever moves a large share of experience off monster kills and onto quests, including the quests tied to dungeons.
The stated goal is to keep players out in the world and to give them a reason to run each dungeon at least once.
Running the same dungeon again and again is still possible, but by design it is no longer the most efficient way to level.
The developers said they will keep an eye on the balance between quest and dungeon experience.
They also said they want to see how it feels once the beta level cap goes up before making hasty changes.
The September 24 development notes fixed a bug that let several dungeon quests be shared, which gave the receiving player a quest item.
Blizzard has not published experience values for dungeon quests, dungeon monsters or a first clear.
Solo or group? Quest items are split more evenly among group members
On September 26, 2026, Senior Game Designer Josh “Aggrend” Greenfield described a change for drop quests on his personal X account.
This is a developer’s own post, not a Blizzard news article or patch note, and he said the system is still being tuned in the beta.
Asked whether Forever changes how quest drops work, he said the short answer is no.
By his account, the drops themselves stay as they were; the new part only affects how the quest items that drop are split among group members.
He gave no drop-rate numbers.
What Blizzard added is logic under the hood that hands out quest items more predictably among players who are grouped.
The goal is that nobody in the group is left far behind on a collection quest while the others are already done.
In a reply the same day, he said it is not a strict rotation and some randomness remains.
It works more like bad luck protection, which kicks in when you have not seen a drop for a while and others in the group are pulling ahead.
Drop quests will still take time, as in the original game, but in a group they should feel less feast-or-famine and the monsters die much faster.
His advice was simple: if you avoid grouping for drop quests, give it a try in Forever.
He also pointed to a Recent Allies feature, which should help you keep meeting people you grouped with in later play sessions.
Blizzard has not published an official description of Recent Allies yet, so we do not list its details here.
Level ranges from 1 to 60: zones and dungeons
Blizzard says Forever adds more than a thousand new quests across the level 1–60 journey, with no flying mounts and no level scaling.
The Skyborne start on Zephras Isle covers levels 1–12.
| Levels | Zone or dungeon | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 1–12 | Zephras Isle | Skyborne starting zone |
| 13–18 | The Hall of Thanes | Dungeon |
| 15–20 | Ruins of Lordaeron | Dungeon |
| 24–29 | Excavation Site: Wetlands | Dungeon |
| 28–33 | City of Dalaran | Dungeon |
| 35–40 | The Drowned City | Dungeon |
| Mid-30s to mid-40sno exact numbers | Riverglades | New zone |
| 40–45 | Krol’dok Stronghold | Dungeon |
| 48–53 | Alcaz Prison | Dungeon |
| 55–60 | Blackmaw Hold | Dungeon |
| 58–60 | Shaper’s Terrace | Dungeon |
| Max levellevel 60 | Barrow Deeps (10 players) | Raid from December 9 |
Zone ranges from Blizzard’s What’s Next and Skyborne posts; dungeon ranges from Kaivax’s forum post of September 15, 2026.
The nine new dungeons use the level list community manager Kaivax posted on September 15, 2026.
The Hall of Thanes covers levels 13–18 and Ruins of Lordaeron covers 15–20; both were in the first beta phase.
Excavation Site: Wetlands covers 24–29 and City of Dalaran 28–33.
The Drowned City covers 35–40 and Krol’dok Stronghold 40–45.
The Riverglades, a new zone roughly the size of Stranglethorn Vale, covers much of the mid-30s to mid-40s.
Alcaz Prison covers 48–53, Blackmaw Hold 55–60 and Shaper’s Terrace 58–60.
Official level ranges with exact numbers
The Barrow Deeps is planned as a max-level 10-player raid, and Hyjal Summit brings 20-player raids; new raids unlock on December 9 in the U.S. and Europe.
Blizzard has not published a Forever level table for the original Classic zones, so we do not copy old Classic ranges here.
Mount Hyjal and Shen’dralas also have no official level range yet.
Campfire buffs: how to get them after the September 24 update
Camping turns the old Cooking Fire into a Basic Campfire that creates a campsite in the open world.
A campsite gives access to rest, vendors, repairs, profession workspaces and one-hour buffs.
To receive those buffs, you need to sit by the campfire for a few moments.
Nearby players can add up to three special crafted objects to a Basic Campfire.
The first campsite objects are learned once a profession reaches skill 20, from special nonplayer characters (NPCs) who introduce camping, or from profession trainers.
Blizzard’s examples are a Sharpening Wheel for Attack Power, a Faction Banner for Spirit and an Incense Candle for Intellect.
These buffs are variants of class buffs and do not stack with them.
Cooks can learn upgraded campfires that hold five or 10 objects.
The September 24 beta development notes relaxed how you wait for the buff.
You can now earn a campfire buff while sitting, sitting in a chair, sleeping, lying down or using the kneeling emote.
Players can also buff each other, cast spells and craft while they wait.
A bug that made you stand up when you crafted or cast while waiting was fixed.
| Condition | What Blizzard says |
|---|---|
| How to get it | Sit by the campfire for a few moments |
| Poses that count |
|
| While waiting | You may buff others, cast and craft |
| Buff length | One hour |
| Objects per fire | Up to threefive or 10 with a Cook’s upgraded campfire |
| First objects | Profession skill 20 |
Rules from Blizzard’s Deep Dive recap and the September 24 beta development notes.
Rested experience, food and Legacy perks
None of the three campfire buffs Blizzard lists as examples is an experience bonus.
Blizzard does say that crafted food is being adjusted to give a small experience bonus and stat boosts.
The Legacy System adds more help for leveling once it unlocks on your account.
Well Rested raises the rested experience cap and lets rested experience build up faster.
Blizzard calls it especially useful for leveling alternate characters (alts).
In the same Adventure tree, Field Guide shortens the one-hour cooldown on placing camping features.
Permanence makes party, raid and camping buffs last longer.
The exact size of these Legacy effects has not been published.
What players are debating
This summary uses our daily report data collected on September 26, 2026; it is not a fact check.
On r/classicwow, the thread about the 20.4 and 20.5 hour figures had 1,536 upvotes and 666 comments.
On Blizzard’s U.S. forums, a thread asking for shared monster tagging while leveling had 98 posts.
Readers mostly ask whether players exploring the new beta inflate the Forever average.
Others ask whether times will drop once players learn the new quest routes.
Blizzard has not answered either question, so treat both as open.
In our daily report data collected on September 28, 2026, the most-upvoted r/classicwow thread was about the grouped quest-drop post, with 2,096 upvotes and 538 comments.
One question readers raised there is whether the protection also covers quest items inside dungeons; the developer did not say.
Not announced yet, and a leveling checklist
As of September 26, 2026, Blizzard has not published the following.
A 1–60 average for Forever or Classic Era, experience values for dungeons and quests, and first-clear rules.
Level ranges for the original Classic zones, Mount Hyjal and Shen’dralas.
When the beta cap rises from 20 to 30; the September 24 notes do not mention it.
A simple leveling rhythm
- Quest in the open worldBlizzard moved a lot of kill experience onto quests
- Collect dungeon questsPick them up before you go in
- Camp before the dungeonSit by the fire for one-hour buffs
- Run the dungeon onceFinish its quests on the first run
① Plan to do each dungeon’s quests once, since that is where Forever puts much of its dungeon experience.
② Before a dungeon, sit at a campfire and pick up the one-hour buffs.
③ On alts, look at the Well Rested Legacy perk once your account unlocks the system.
④ Recheck this page after new beta notes, because experience tuning is still under review.
⑤ Try a group for drop quests: quest items are now split more evenly among members, though Blizzard is still tuning it.