WRITTEN ARTICLE · LEVELLING UPDATE
How long does it take to reach level 20 in WoW Forever?
Blizzard says beta players average 20.5 hours from 1 to 20 in WoW Forever, close to Classic. What the figure means and how to plan your own levelling pace.
How long does 1–20 take in WoW Forever?
About 20 hours of played time, on average. In the first episode of Blizzard’s Forever podcast, Josh Greenfield and Tim Jones shared a beta statistic. Icy Veins reports that players take an average of 20.5 hours to reach level 20 in Forever, against 20.4 hours in Classic.
In other words, the extra content has not made the early levels noticeably slower or faster. The figure is an average across beta players, not a target or a speedrun time.
| Version | Average played time from 1 to 20 |
|---|---|
| WoW Forever beta | 20.5 hours |
| Classic | 20.4 hours |
In this article
Why is it so close to Classic?
Forever adds more than 1,000 new quests, but more quests mean more choice rather than a shorter path. The experience needed for each level has stayed the same. Icy Veins quotes Kris Zierhut telling The Sun: “We did not change the experience curve.”
The biggest reported change is in dungeons. Creatures inside give considerably less experience, while dungeon quests give substantially more. A first run with your quests still pays off. Repeating the same dungeon is less rewarding than it used to be.
What the average doesn’t tell you
An average hides a lot. Beta players stop to explore, report bugs, try new classes and restart characters. Some will be much faster than 20 hours and others much slower. We don’t know whether Blizzard used a mean or median, or how rested experience was counted.
On the official forums, one player questions whether a beta population is a fair comparison with Classic. The same thread claims an 8% baseline experience increase. None of the sources we checked confirm that, so treat it as an unverified community claim.
How long will level 20 take you?
If you play at roughly the average pace, this is how 20.5 hours of played time spreads across a week. It is simple arithmetic, not a prediction for your character or class.
| Play time per week | Approximate time to level 20 |
|---|---|
| 5 hours | About 4 weeks |
| 10 hours | About 2 weeks |
| 15 hours | About 10 days |
| 20 hours | About a week |
How to spend less time between quests
Most lost time while levelling comes from travel and indecision rather than combat. These habits help, whatever your class.
- Follow a route, so you pick up nearby quests together and hand them in together.
- Group up for collection quests. Drops are now shared more evenly in a party.
- Take dungeon quests with you on a first run, rather than repeating the same dungeon.
- Log out somewhere you earn rested experience.
- Plan profession training around the town visits you already make.
Our free 1–20 routes
Our written routes cover each starting area up to level 20. They group quests by location and include profession stops. We have not timed them against Blizzard’s average, so we won’t promise a particular number of hours.
Related reading and guides
Sources and review notes
- Icy Veins: Blizzard reveals an interesting stat about WoW Forever’s average leveling speed
- Blizzard: World of Warcraft: Forever podcast, episode 1, 24 September
- Blizzard forums: Watch the World of Warcraft: Forever podcast episode 1
- Blizzard forums: player discussion about levelling speed after the podcast, 24 September
Based on Icy Veins’ report of Blizzard’s September 24 podcast and player discussion on the official forums. The 20.5-hour figure is Blizzard’s beta average. We have not timed our own routes against it.
