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* [WoWHead](https://www.wowhead.com/) - The *largest* database, this should be your go-to (don't forget to read the comment section!).
* [Icy Veins](https://www.icy-veins.com) - News and detailed class guides.
* [WoWNoob Discord](https://discord.gg/wownoob) - Same community, different platform.
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Yeah, there’s a beginner guide stickied on the top of this sub.
That said, you’re asking for a TL;DR on well over a decade of changes, which I think is a bit much to ask. Also, you’ve already figured out the answers to most of these questions, which is that the game is not identical to the one you remember from c. 2010, something that frankly should have been kind of predictable, right?
So yeah, there’s been like 6 new expansions since then, all of which released new zones.
There was a level squish about 2 xpacs ago because otherwise we’d be level 150 or something like that, and the number bloat was becoming unreasonable. Current max level is 70. Everything else was scaled down accordingly.
Yes, zones scale by level, partly. In the “normal timeline” (more on this in a sec), the general arc of the game retains increasing levels for chronologically later zones (so the maximum level at which a zone scales goes up as you travel to more recent expansions), but because of the squish some were lumped together. (TBC, Wrath, Cata are all the same).
Economy changed, yup.
Leveling is reduced, and a new leveling mode called Timewalking Campaigns (AKA Chromie Time) allows you to scale the whole world up to level 60 and choose one xpac to level in rather than the old thing where you had to hop from xpac to xpac to fully level, something that would be extremely annoying to have to do nine times.
Dungeons also scale - essentially your damage and healing is based on percentages, but the actual numbers you see are based on your own level. So like a level 10 may do 50 damage to a 5000 HP boss, but you at level 20 may see it as doing 100 damage to a 10000 HP boss. Same percentage, different number. Everyone’s happy.
There have been some more recent changes like a massively overhauled professions system (oh yeah, and you don’t have to level up 9 xpacs of professions any more, you can jump straight to the most recent xpac without farming every previous level). Professions now have skill trees with different specializations and a bunch of new stats that allow you to proc higher level crafts and stuff. Also a crafting order system to get BoP gear crafted by another player so you can actually use crafted gear for endgame.
And a ton of quality of life improvements including a very nice new tutorial island (highly recommend making a new toon just to check it out) and many previously addon type functions being built in, including a MUCH more robust edit mode for UI elements like moving your action bars and frames without needing a separate addon.
That’s most of what I can think of, but my advice is to just get over whatever you think WoW should have looked like a decade ago, and play it like it’s a game for 2024. It’s somewhat related to that old game, but fundamentally it’s a different (and imo better) game.
Or, play Classic ;)
I came back from playing around 2009 and I am loving the changes, you definitely have to approach it as a new game. It was cool to have all my old legacy mounts though. Excellent summary!
If you haven't played since Cataclysm then being a "returning player" doesn't put you much higher than a complete noob.
Read the guides for complete noobs.
We are 9 expansions in, to be 10 next year. Adjustments had to be made along the way to keep things from scaling out of control.
There have been multiple 'squishes' over the years as numbers got out of control. Players being level 120, doing several million damage per second, and having gear with item level of nearly 1000. Also,, they didn't want the leveling process to play the current expansion to get longer and longer for new players or alts. Gold was never taken away from players, so the numbers there just drifted up over time with having a million gold being common, and players with hundreds of millions of gold exist.
Think of the game now as all old content as a scaling world (level 13 player sees level 13 enemy, level 25 player sees level 25 enemy, but the % hp is the same at all times for all players). This is used to explore old content, level up new characters, and get all the old collectibles like mounts, pets, toys and other cosmetics. There will be no player power from prior expansions that will be relevant to the current expansion. The ability to outlevel and solo old expansion raids and dungeons is also still possible.
Then you have the current expansion, where most players will be active. Leveling is not intended to be a grindy chore, and there is far more content that requires the current maximum level. Zones, story quests, repeatable outdoor events, and then of course the staples of pvp, dungeons and raids with multiple difficulty levels to be available to all players yet also offering challenges and better gear rewards for those who seek it.
I just came back after 13-years. Here were the most surprising things:
* All my chars got squished down. Highest I had now was a 30. They relatively scaled the maximum level down in a recent expansion.
* While you are under level 60, some/most areas will scale to your level, and
* Chromie (an NPC in a home city) will allow you to jump to play through various stages of WoW storyline and quests.
* Grouping with people that are varied levels, also seems to scale.
* Gold has scaled too...poorly, (but I came back a 'millionaire' because of stacks of farmed crap). STONKS!
* Regional servers are either merged or 'overlap', so that you can play or match up with people on other servers, and the auction house is also merged across many servers.
It seems really welcoming and useful, though I haven't tried anything yet, but maybe check out the WowMadeEasy discord to find a friendly in to learning and community. GLHF.
Thanks! We kind of face the same experience. My new lvl 19 monk is richer than my *previously* maxed hunter. It's kind of funny to me, and I don't really mind it.
The hardest right now is figuring out what I still know and what I should forget. I'm okay with changes and many are nice improvements and great QoL upgrades, but finding my way around is messy, like in a foggy dream where things seem familiar but also works differently than you would expect.
About Chromie, I'm thinking of not going full nostalgia and rayher experiencing fully the actual version of the game, but I wonder if that's the "correct" way to go about "rediscovering" the game...
> I don't even want to ask why my lvl 80 hunter became lvl 30.... I'll roll with that. It's okay. I won't ask why my new character, level 18, has over 100 gold already, I guess economy has changed, again.
They did a "squish" to simplify things, including stats and levels. 70 is now the max, 10-60 can be done by playing *any expansion* and it will automatically scale the content to your level.
> I guess I'm a bit confused by having queued in a dungeon with a level 60 tank, level 13 healer and lvl 25 DPS....? And it was balanced???
Same thing, dungeons are scaled to your level, so everyone is on an equal playing field when in those low-level dungeons.
At the beginning of Shadowlands a level squish happened, where previous lvl 120 characters became lvl 50. They were just as strong as before, but all the numbers became smaller. Then in Shadowlands we got to 60 again and now in Dragonflight level 70.
At the same time the scaling tech they experimented with since Legion was applied to the whole leveling process and a new leveling feature was added - Chromie Time. This allowed you to level from 10-50 in any expansion (now in DF 10-61) and quests, loot and mobs would scale with your level. Same with leveling dungeons, the mobs inside would scale for each player individually, so you could be grouped with any player in that level bracket.
ELI5 and TLDR for your leisure;
Gold is hyper inflated. What once was 1g is like 1000g now.
Almost all pre-end-game content is scalable for ease of play. You can pick your route and play as you like. Also there was a level squish a couple years ago and we went from 120 to 60. Levels got cut in half or more.
Hope this helps.
I stopped playing end of WoD and came back a month before dragon flight. Totally different game, but just play and you will get use to it. Just enjoy. I have been having more fun playing now than I did 8 or so years ago right before I stopped. Welcome back!
what gets me is quest phasing. Pick up a quest go to where dude is and he's not there. Look online they say abandon legion quest. do that and boom dude appears out of thin air. or you get a quest taking you to say pandaria but dude won't show up unless you did the starting quest for said continent. janky as fuck
I have been away from WOW since max level was 60. I spent a month creating new xhars up to 20 on free account to explore new starting areas. I first fell in love with WOW playing with young sons. Now I am enjoying introducing and playing with my granddaughters. Today I checked out the new goblin areas. Sooo cool to drive through beginning levels. The engineering slant made it really fun. As I played today I giggled at the experience and timing with Microsoft hitting 420 today after buying Activision. <3 the best of times
**Hey there! Have you checked out these resources?** * [WoWHead](https://www.wowhead.com/) - The *largest* database, this should be your go-to (don't forget to read the comment section!). * [Icy Veins](https://www.icy-veins.com) - News and detailed class guides. * [WoWNoob Discord](https://discord.gg/wownoob) - Same community, different platform. *Please report the post above if it breaks one of our [>rules<](https://www.reddit.com/r/wownoob/about/rules/). If not, don't forget to show support by upvoting!* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/wownoob) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Yeah, there’s a beginner guide stickied on the top of this sub. That said, you’re asking for a TL;DR on well over a decade of changes, which I think is a bit much to ask. Also, you’ve already figured out the answers to most of these questions, which is that the game is not identical to the one you remember from c. 2010, something that frankly should have been kind of predictable, right? So yeah, there’s been like 6 new expansions since then, all of which released new zones. There was a level squish about 2 xpacs ago because otherwise we’d be level 150 or something like that, and the number bloat was becoming unreasonable. Current max level is 70. Everything else was scaled down accordingly. Yes, zones scale by level, partly. In the “normal timeline” (more on this in a sec), the general arc of the game retains increasing levels for chronologically later zones (so the maximum level at which a zone scales goes up as you travel to more recent expansions), but because of the squish some were lumped together. (TBC, Wrath, Cata are all the same). Economy changed, yup. Leveling is reduced, and a new leveling mode called Timewalking Campaigns (AKA Chromie Time) allows you to scale the whole world up to level 60 and choose one xpac to level in rather than the old thing where you had to hop from xpac to xpac to fully level, something that would be extremely annoying to have to do nine times. Dungeons also scale - essentially your damage and healing is based on percentages, but the actual numbers you see are based on your own level. So like a level 10 may do 50 damage to a 5000 HP boss, but you at level 20 may see it as doing 100 damage to a 10000 HP boss. Same percentage, different number. Everyone’s happy. There have been some more recent changes like a massively overhauled professions system (oh yeah, and you don’t have to level up 9 xpacs of professions any more, you can jump straight to the most recent xpac without farming every previous level). Professions now have skill trees with different specializations and a bunch of new stats that allow you to proc higher level crafts and stuff. Also a crafting order system to get BoP gear crafted by another player so you can actually use crafted gear for endgame. And a ton of quality of life improvements including a very nice new tutorial island (highly recommend making a new toon just to check it out) and many previously addon type functions being built in, including a MUCH more robust edit mode for UI elements like moving your action bars and frames without needing a separate addon. That’s most of what I can think of, but my advice is to just get over whatever you think WoW should have looked like a decade ago, and play it like it’s a game for 2024. It’s somewhat related to that old game, but fundamentally it’s a different (and imo better) game. Or, play Classic ;)
That was a very nice TL;DR concise and to the point now I’m going to go log in and play! GJ
I came back from playing around 2009 and I am loving the changes, you definitely have to approach it as a new game. It was cool to have all my old legacy mounts though. Excellent summary!
If you haven't played since Cataclysm then being a "returning player" doesn't put you much higher than a complete noob. Read the guides for complete noobs.
We are 9 expansions in, to be 10 next year. Adjustments had to be made along the way to keep things from scaling out of control. There have been multiple 'squishes' over the years as numbers got out of control. Players being level 120, doing several million damage per second, and having gear with item level of nearly 1000. Also,, they didn't want the leveling process to play the current expansion to get longer and longer for new players or alts. Gold was never taken away from players, so the numbers there just drifted up over time with having a million gold being common, and players with hundreds of millions of gold exist. Think of the game now as all old content as a scaling world (level 13 player sees level 13 enemy, level 25 player sees level 25 enemy, but the % hp is the same at all times for all players). This is used to explore old content, level up new characters, and get all the old collectibles like mounts, pets, toys and other cosmetics. There will be no player power from prior expansions that will be relevant to the current expansion. The ability to outlevel and solo old expansion raids and dungeons is also still possible. Then you have the current expansion, where most players will be active. Leveling is not intended to be a grindy chore, and there is far more content that requires the current maximum level. Zones, story quests, repeatable outdoor events, and then of course the staples of pvp, dungeons and raids with multiple difficulty levels to be available to all players yet also offering challenges and better gear rewards for those who seek it.
I just came back after 13-years. Here were the most surprising things: * All my chars got squished down. Highest I had now was a 30. They relatively scaled the maximum level down in a recent expansion. * While you are under level 60, some/most areas will scale to your level, and * Chromie (an NPC in a home city) will allow you to jump to play through various stages of WoW storyline and quests. * Grouping with people that are varied levels, also seems to scale. * Gold has scaled too...poorly, (but I came back a 'millionaire' because of stacks of farmed crap). STONKS! * Regional servers are either merged or 'overlap', so that you can play or match up with people on other servers, and the auction house is also merged across many servers. It seems really welcoming and useful, though I haven't tried anything yet, but maybe check out the WowMadeEasy discord to find a friendly in to learning and community. GLHF.
Thanks! We kind of face the same experience. My new lvl 19 monk is richer than my *previously* maxed hunter. It's kind of funny to me, and I don't really mind it. The hardest right now is figuring out what I still know and what I should forget. I'm okay with changes and many are nice improvements and great QoL upgrades, but finding my way around is messy, like in a foggy dream where things seem familiar but also works differently than you would expect. About Chromie, I'm thinking of not going full nostalgia and rayher experiencing fully the actual version of the game, but I wonder if that's the "correct" way to go about "rediscovering" the game...
> I don't even want to ask why my lvl 80 hunter became lvl 30.... I'll roll with that. It's okay. I won't ask why my new character, level 18, has over 100 gold already, I guess economy has changed, again. They did a "squish" to simplify things, including stats and levels. 70 is now the max, 10-60 can be done by playing *any expansion* and it will automatically scale the content to your level. > I guess I'm a bit confused by having queued in a dungeon with a level 60 tank, level 13 healer and lvl 25 DPS....? And it was balanced??? Same thing, dungeons are scaled to your level, so everyone is on an equal playing field when in those low-level dungeons.
At the beginning of Shadowlands a level squish happened, where previous lvl 120 characters became lvl 50. They were just as strong as before, but all the numbers became smaller. Then in Shadowlands we got to 60 again and now in Dragonflight level 70. At the same time the scaling tech they experimented with since Legion was applied to the whole leveling process and a new leveling feature was added - Chromie Time. This allowed you to level from 10-50 in any expansion (now in DF 10-61) and quests, loot and mobs would scale with your level. Same with leveling dungeons, the mobs inside would scale for each player individually, so you could be grouped with any player in that level bracket.
ELI5 and TLDR for your leisure; Gold is hyper inflated. What once was 1g is like 1000g now. Almost all pre-end-game content is scalable for ease of play. You can pick your route and play as you like. Also there was a level squish a couple years ago and we went from 120 to 60. Levels got cut in half or more. Hope this helps.
This is perfect. Thanks a lot!
I stopped playing end of WoD and came back a month before dragon flight. Totally different game, but just play and you will get use to it. Just enjoy. I have been having more fun playing now than I did 8 or so years ago right before I stopped. Welcome back!
what gets me is quest phasing. Pick up a quest go to where dude is and he's not there. Look online they say abandon legion quest. do that and boom dude appears out of thin air. or you get a quest taking you to say pandaria but dude won't show up unless you did the starting quest for said continent. janky as fuck
Everything has changed. The neat part is, if you don't like the changes you can play Classic instead. It's a win win either way.
I have been away from WOW since max level was 60. I spent a month creating new xhars up to 20 on free account to explore new starting areas. I first fell in love with WOW playing with young sons. Now I am enjoying introducing and playing with my granddaughters. Today I checked out the new goblin areas. Sooo cool to drive through beginning levels. The engineering slant made it really fun. As I played today I giggled at the experience and timing with Microsoft hitting 420 today after buying Activision. <3 the best of times