The WoW Forever beta has been capped at level 30 since October 1 and, according to Blizzard, it will not go higher before it ends on October 21. If you have already reached it, experience stops mattering, but there is still plenty to do: new dungeons, gear, the new battleground, the whole Legacy system to test, and everything worth thinking through before the November 4 launch.
This guide gathers what you can do at 30, in order of what you will notice most.
In short: run the City of Dalaran and the Excavation Site, the new dungeons of this tier; gear up with the level 30 BiS list; try the Darkspear Islands, which open right at 30; spend the 16 Legacy points Blizzard hands out in the beta; and use the time to settle your class, talents, macros and your name for the October 27 reservation.
Level 30 dungeons
At level 30 experience no longer goes up, so you run dungeons for gear and to learn them before launch. The ones that fit your level:
| Dungeon | Level | Why go |
|---|---|---|
| City of Dalaran | 28-33 | New in Forever, open since October 8. Nine encounters; almost every enemy is immune to Arcane damage |
| Excavation Site | 26-31 | New in Forever, in the Wetlands. Its bosses drop camp blueprints |
| Scarlet Monastery | 29+ | The Classic one, in Tirisfal Glades, by wing. Much of the level 30 gear comes from here |
| Razorfen Kraul and Gnomeregan | 24+ | The Classic ones, to fill in pieces you are missing |
| Razorfen Downs and Uldaman | 25+ and 30+ | Open since October 1, meant for higher levels |
Both new dungeons have a guide or page with their bosses: the Excavation Site guide and the City of Dalaran page. The Horde needs the Dalaran Sewer Key to enter Dalaran (the chain starts in Tarren Mill), or someone in the group who has it. All dungeons, with their level and loot, are in the dungeon ladder.
Level 30 gear
To know what to look for, the level 30 BiS list has the gear for each class and role, with where each piece comes from (boss, quest, recipe or world drop) and the enchants you can put on it. On the paper doll you can try other pieces and see the difference.
Two notes from the latest patches:
- Truthseeker's Bow, the reward for 25 library books, now requires level 40. At 30 it is no longer usable.
- Several dungeon quest rewards have dropped from blue to green. If an old guide sent you after one, check its quality first.
If you are missing a specific piece, in the item database you can filter by level and armor type, and in quests you will find the new quests that give gear.
PvP: the Darkspear Islands and honor
The Darkspear Islands, Forever's new battleground, are for levels 30-60: at 30 you can already enter. It is 15 vs 15, with four points and a flag, and the first side to reach 2,000 wins. It is explained in the Darkspear Islands guide.
In Forever, PvP works like this (Blizzard article of October 7):
- Honor is earned by defeating players, in battlegrounds and through PvP quests, and it buys the PvP sets.
- Rank points, which move you up the 14 ranks, come only from battlegrounds and PvP quests, with a weekly cap. Killing players in the world gives honor, but not rank.
- Since October 8, critical strikes in PvP are worth their normal value again.
It is all on the PvP page. And if you like to fight, the $100,000 duel tournament is played on October 17 and 18 with level 30 characters: the tournament page has the rules and, afterwards, the results without spoilers.
Legacy: 16 points to test
Since October 8, every beta character has 16 Legacy points, the most that can be spent on one character at launch. It is the best moment to try the three trees and decide where you will really spend them. In the beta, changing your split costs only 1 silver.
Two things worth knowing:
- Talented gives you talent points five levels earlier. At 30 that means 26 talent points instead of 21. The level 30 builds in our talent calculator already come with those 26 points.
- At 15 points of Legacy you receive a toy, an air rifle.
You can plan your split in the Legacy calculator and read how the points are earned in the Legacy points guide.
Professions, camp and gold
With your character parked at 30, it is a good time to level professions:
- Each profession's shopping list tells you which recipes to craft and how many materials to buy to go from one skill point to another. It is on each professions page.
- The camp planner shows which camp items you can set up with your group and what bonus each gives.
- Booty Bay reputation is easy to raise at this level, and at Honored its quartermaster sells a level 30 firearm. We cover it in the Booty Bay Bruiser's Buckshot guide.
Collecting: books, rares and mounts
- Library books: with 10 books turned in you get a necklace and with 20, a ring. In the book list you can tick the ones you have and see where each one is, with its map crop.
- Rares: some drop good gear for your level. They are in the rares guide.
- Mounts: in Forever you learn to ride at level 40, so not yet in the beta. See how much they cost and where each one comes from in mounts.
Get ready for launch
Everything you do in the beta is wiped, but what you learn is not. Use these weeks to decide:
- Your class and your race. If you are unsure, the race and class randomizer picks for you, and the class guides explain how each one plays.
- Your talents for the first levels, saved in the calculator.
- Your macros, with the macro builder, and your interface and addons, in interfaces and addons.
- Your name. The name reservation runs from October 27 to November 3, with first and last name. We explain it in the name reservation guide, and if no name comes to mind, there is the name generator.
What is not known yet
- Whether Blizzard will open anything else before October 21. So far it has only said the cap stays at 30.
- Which racials change: Blizzard said in its October 8 podcast that the change would arrive with the following week's update.
- The loot of the City of Dalaran bosses: there are no reliable tables yet.
Frequently asked questions
Will the WoW Forever beta go above level 30?
According to Blizzard, the cap stays at 30 until the beta ends on October 21. The full game reaches 60 on November 4.
Which dungeons should I run at level 30 in WoW Forever?
The two new ones of this tier are the City of Dalaran (28-33) and the Excavation Site (26-31). From Classic, the Scarlet Monastery is where a good part of the level 30 gear is.
Can you play the Darkspear Islands at level 30?
Yes. The battleground is for levels 30-60, so at 30 you can already enter.
How many talent points do I have at level 30?
21 points, one per level from 10. With the Legacy perk "Talented" you reach 26, because it gives you the points five levels earlier. In the beta everyone has the 16 Legacy points to try it.
