The WoW Forever beta opened capped at level 20 and has gone up to 30 since October 1; this guide covers the first stretch, 1 to 20, and the 20-30 guide picks up where it ends. This is not a quest-by-quest route: Forever changes a lot of quests and nobody has published a complete, verified route yet. What we can give you, from client data and our own pages, is which zone fits each level for your race, which dungeons to run, which new quests give gear, and the XP boosts that are already confirmed.
Looking for the whole route? See the 1-60 leveling guide, with zones and dungeons all the way to max level.
Zone levels are not in the game client: the ranges in this guide come from our zone pages and the map, built from Blizzard, Wowhead and our reference data. Classic dungeon levels do come from the beta client; the new dungeons use Blizzard's official table.
Before you start: what speeds leveling up
| What | What it does | From |
|---|---|---|
| Cozy Sleeping Bag | +1% experience per minute lying in it, up to 3%, for one hour | Level 14 |
| Crafted food | An experience bonus per kill while Well Fed (professions) | Level 1 |
| Canvas Latchbag | A 6-slot bag from the Grund and Gozwin quest in Dun Morogh | Level 4 |
| Grouping up | Quest items dropped by enemies have bad luck protection while you are grouped | Level 1 |
| Camping | The campfire and your profession's camp items give bonuses while you rest | Level 1 |
Two things worth knowing so the numbers add up:
- The experience needed per level is the same as Classic. A report said Forever had lowered it, but Wowhead corrected it: it came from a client file the game does not use.
- The Legacy System usually unlocks at level 25, so you will not reach it in this stretch.
The route by race
The general idea is the Classic one: your race's starting zone until 10-12, a second zone for your faction until 18-20 and, along the way, your first dungeon once you have a group. If a zone runs dry, the alternatives in the table work just as well.
Alliance
| Race | 1-10 | 10-20 | Alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Human | Elwynn Forest (5-10) | Westfall (9-18) | Loch Modan (10-18), Redridge Mountains (15-25) |
| Dwarf and Gnome | Dun Morogh (4-12) | Loch Modan (10-18) | Westfall (9-18), Redridge Mountains (15-25) |
| Night Elf | Teldrassil (5-11) | Darkshore (11-19) | Ashenvale (19-30) as you near 20 |
| Skyborne (Eminent Order) | Zephras Isle (1-12) | The other Alliance zones for their level | Loch Modan, Westfall or Darkshore |
Horde
| Race | 1-10 | 10-20 | Alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orc and Troll | Durotar (5-10) | The Barrens (10-25) | Stonetalon Mountains (15-25) |
| Undead | Tirisfal Glades (5-12) | Silverpine Forest (10-20) | The Barrens (10-25) |
| Tauren | Mulgore (5-10) | The Barrens (10-25) | Stonetalon Mountains (15-25) |
| Skyborne (Windshapers) | Zephras Isle (1-12) | The other Horde zones for their level | The Barrens or Silverpine Forest |
The Skyborne start on Zephras Isle, which goes up to 12 and has more new quests with gear than any other starting zone (see below). We have not found a reliable source for which zone the game sends them to after the island, so the table only says what is certain: from there they level through their faction's zones.
The route, zone by zone
Worked out from the quests in Wowhead's Forever database (beta client): for your faction, the zones with the most quests at these levels, in the order they come up. "Quests" is how many your faction has between those levels in the zone; the town is where you pick up most of them.
The order is optimised for experience. After your starting zone, at each point it picks the zone that gives you the most quest experience at your level (quests you can already pick up, with the penalty for ones you have outgrown), preferring not to cross continents and to go somewhere close. It uses each quest's experience and Classic's experience-per-level table, which Forever keeps, and assumes a normal amount of killing between quests. It does not measure play time.
Alliance
The order that gives the most experience, worked out for a human:
| Order | Zone (levels) | You arrive at | You leave at | Quest experience | Quests |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elwynn Forest (1-10) | 1.0 | 12.7 | 32,485 | 75 |
| 2 | Westfall (10-18) | 12.7 | 16.8 | 34,460 | 46 |
| 3 | Loch Modan (11-18) | 16.8 | 19.4 | 29,876 | 34 |
| 4 | Redridge Mountains (21-25) | 19.4 | 21.2 | 25,750 | 12 |
You can skip: Dun Morogh (10-13), Darkshore (13-20), Redridge Mountains (15-20), Ashenvale (19-20). By the time you'd get to them, their quests give little experience.
The start changes with your race, because you begin in a different zone. In Where to level you enter your level and race and it tells you the zone to be in and which quests to pick up there, with who gives them and the map. For step-by-step while you play, a leveling addon does that job better.
Hubs, flight points, new quests with gear and the dungeon in each zone, in that same order:
| Step | Level | Zone | Where to pick up quests | Quests | New quests with gear | Dungeon in the zone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10-11 | Elwynn Forest | Goldshire | 28 | — | — |
| 2 | 10-18 | Westfall | Sentinel Hill (flight) | 48 | — | Deadmines (15-28) |
| 3 | 11-18 | Loch Modan | Thelsamar (flight) | 42 | Twisting the Knife (16), Banner of the Fallen (17), Silver of the Waves (20) | — |
| 4 | 15-20 | Redridge Mountains | Lakeshire (flight) | 27 | — | — |
| 5 | 19-20 | Ashenvale | Astranaar (flight) | 12 | — | Blackfathom Deeps (20-34) |
| 6 | 10-13 | Dun Morogh | Kharanos | 24 | — | — |
| 7 | 10-12 | Teldrassil | Dolanaar | 28 | Twisted Hatred (12) | — |
| 8 | 13-20 | Darkshore | Auberdine (flight) | 71 | WANTED: Jai'vhanel (13), Baron Marinous (21) | — |
Horde
The order that gives the most experience, worked out for an orc:
| Order | Zone (levels) | You arrive at | You leave at | Quest experience | Quests |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Durotar (1-12) | 1.0 | 12.6 | 31,660 | 58 |
| 2 | The Barrens (13-20) | 12.6 | 20.4 | 78,880 | 75 |
You can skip: Tirisfal Glades (10-13), Silverpine Forest (11-18), Stonetalon Mountains (18-20). By the time you'd get to them, their quests give little experience.
The start changes with your race, because you begin in a different zone. In Where to level you enter your level and race and it tells you the zone to be in and which quests to pick up there, with who gives them and the map. For step-by-step while you play, a leveling addon does that job better.
Hubs, flight points, new quests with gear and the dungeon in each zone, in that same order:
| Step | Level | Zone | Where to pick up quests | Quests | New quests with gear | Dungeon in the zone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10-12 | Durotar | Razor Hill | 30 | Bloodtalon Matriarch (8), Stormy Potential (11) | — |
| 2 | 13-20 | The Barrens | The Crossroads (flight), Camp Taurajo (flight), Ratchet (flight) | 87 | Chol'aruk the Ravener (21) | Wailing Caverns (15-28) |
| 3 | 18-20 | Stonetalon Mountains | Sun Rock Retreat (flight) | 14 | — | — |
| 4 | 10-12 | Mulgore | Bloodhoof Village | 22 | — | — |
| 5 | 10-13 | Tirisfal Glades | Brill | 32 | Hides for the Forsaken (11), Leonid's Letter (13) | — |
| 6 | 11-18 | Silverpine Forest | The Sepulcher (flight) | 45 | Arugal's Folly (16), Watching the Roads (20) | Shadowfang Keep (18-32) |
Dungeons up to 20
| Dungeon | Levels | Faction | New in Forever |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Hall of Thanes | 13-18 | Both | Yes |
| Ragefire Chasm | 13-22 | Horde | No |
| Ruins of Lordaeron | 15-20 | Both | Yes |
| Wailing Caverns | 15-28 | Both | No |
| The Deadmines | 15-28 | Both | No |
| Shadowfang Keep | 18-32 | Both | No |
The two new ones matter most in the beta: they are built for exactly this stretch and have quests that reward blue gear. Each page has its bosses, quests and what is known about the loot, and dungeons lists every dungeon in the game by level with what each boss drops.
New quests that give gear, by zone
These are Forever's new quests up to level 20 that reward gear. All of them, with their rewards and each item's tooltip, are on the quests page.
| Zone | Level | Quests |
|---|---|---|
| Elwynn Forest | 7 | Rare Books (elite) |
| Durotar | 8-11 | Bloodtalon Matriarch, Stormy Potential |
| Zephras Isle | 9-13 | 15 quests, including WANTED: Vulgara the Insatiable, Tower Defense and Confront Lorthuna |
| Tirisfal Glades | 11-13 | Hides for the Forsaken, Leonid's Letter (Horde) |
| Teldrassil | 12 | Twisted Hatred |
| Darkshore | 13 | WANTED: Jai'vhanel (Alliance) |
| Stormwind and Orgrimmar | 13 | Exploring the Alliance / Exploring the Horde |
| Orgrimmar | 15 | Rocks to Rests (Horde) |
| The Hall of Thanes | 15-16 | An Ancient Grudge, Important Heirlooms, The Restless Dead, Old Ironforge Incursion |
| Silverpine Forest | 16-20 | Arugal's Folly, Watching the Roads (Horde) |
| Loch Modan | 16-20 | Twisting the Knife, Banner of the Fallen, Silver of the Waves (Alliance) |
From level 21 on come the Ruins of Lordaeron, Barrens and Undercity quests: all of them in quests and in What to do at my level.
Along the way
- Rares: several zones in this range have rare enemies with their own loot. In The Barrens they drop set pieces, and the rares guide lists them by zone with coordinates.
- Library books: the books you find around the world are not junk: you hand them in at the library for rewards (books guide).
- Gear: the BiS shows, for your class and role, which pieces you can get at each level and where they come from.
- Talents: the calculator's role builds are made for the beta's level 20.
- All at once: enter your level, class and faction in What to do at my level and it tells you which zones, dungeons, gear quests and spells fit.
What we do not know yet
- A verified quest-by-quest route. Forever changes and adds quests, and no reliable source has published one yet. When one exists, we will add it to this guide.
- Which zone the game sends the Skyborne to after Zephras Isle.
Your class guide
Every class has a guide with its level 30 talents explained in order, how each spec plays, which professions and races fit, and useful macros: Warrior, Paladin, Hunter, Rogue, Priest, Shaman, Mage, Warlock, Druid.
Frequently asked questions
What is the level cap in the WoW Forever beta?
Level 30 since October 1, 2026 (it opened at 20). This guide covers 1 to 20; the rest is in the 20-30 leveling guide.
What is the 1-20 leveling route in WoW Forever?
Your race's starting zone until 10-12, then a second zone for your faction: Westfall or Loch Modan for the Alliance (Darkshore for Night Elves), and The Barrens or Silverpine Forest for the Horde. In between, The Hall of Thanes (13-18) or Ruins of Lordaeron (15-20) if you have a group.
Is leveling faster in WoW Forever than in Classic?
The experience needed per level is the same as Classic, but there are more boosts: the Cozy Sleeping Bag (up to +3%), food that gives experience, the starting-zone bags and bad luck protection on quest items while grouped.
Which dungeons are there up to level 20 in WoW Forever?
Two new ones, The Hall of Thanes (13-18) and Ruins of Lordaeron (15-20), plus the classic Ragefire Chasm, Wailing Caverns, The Deadmines and Shadowfang Keep.
