Shadowlands won’t raise the World of Warcraft level cap like the seven previous World of Warcraft expansions have – it will cut the level cap in half.
It’s one of the craziest things Blizzard has done to World of Warcraft in the 15 years the game has been alive. It means everyone – – who’s currently level 120 will be chopped to 50 for Shadowlands, where they’ll grow to 60. For a brief moment, then, they’ll be lower level than even the people playing World of Warcraft: Classic!
Of course, there’s method behind the madness. The numbers were getting ridiculous and with so many abilities it was a bit of a mess. What’s more, the breadth of numbers meant people out-levelled legacy content in the blink of an eye, making it quickly redundant. Shadowlands will address all of that. Think of it less as bolted-on expansion content and more like a full-on overhaul.
But what will happen to the abilities we have now – will we lose them, will they change? There’s a lot to wrap your head around. Producer Michael Bybee and lead engineer Patrick Magruder talked me through it.
How does the new levelling work? Are everyone’s levels going to be squashed?
Patrick Magruder: Yes, the maximum levels will be changing to 60.
120 will be no more – everybody who is currently 120 will become level 50.
What a demotion!
Patrick Magruder: No – your power will remain the same. In fact, you’ll actually have probably more abilities because of the other changes we’re doing.
What will happen is a new player will start off in a new starting area, or they can choose to go to one of the old ones, but the new starting area, Exile’s Reach, is custom crafted for levels one to 10, and it will teach them some basics on how to do World of Warcraft, ending in a mini-dungeon-like experience to get a taste of all of the things WoW has to offer.
A new player will go to Battle for Azeroth. Experienced players can choose another story. And they’ll choose Classic or they can choose an expansion.
They can choose stuff from as far back as they like?
Patrick Magruder: Yes and you’ll level from 10 to 50. We call it Chromie Time by the way.
Chromie is like your assistant?
Patrick Magruder: She’s like our time-travelling [guide]. Outdoor time-walking is another phrase. Basically you travel back in time and see the world as it once was. You can play through the Cataclysm from 10 to 50, or a new player can play through Battle for Azeroth from 10 to 50.