What is the Max Level in Shadowlands?

Introduction

Among many changes in WoW’s eight expansion, one certainly is the new max level. Therefore, as we’ve previously used to, level 120 was a cap and we all bravely fought to achieve it. It took many diligent hours of quality questing, raiding, doing dungeons, and whatnot. Now, 50 is the new 120 – a new cap level of the game. 

The Great Squish and the New Cap

Let’s continue by mentioning once again the most prominent innovation when it comes to leveling –  a “level squish” that will start happening in the Shadowlands pre-patch. It will squish all levels by coefficient and thus, lvl 120 characters with will be squished down to 50. Developers state that this change shouldn’t influence your character’s power, and it will allow you to, supposedly, go from 50 to 60 faster. However, the experience we had previously when the gear was squished makes us think that it will take some time to balance the game.

Furthermore, you might ask why the level cap in Shadowlands is 60, and let us explain that. So, the main impeller behind the idea is so many hours needed to level to the max. Also, “why is hitting the max so important” question might arise. Well, because as many WoW veterans already know, that’s where you get the “good stuff”

Further, players were getting bored while doing repetitive tasks like killing the re-spawned mobs in already visited zones just go get XP. Or simply, to get to the highlights of the game like Dungeons and Raids, you needed to go “ding-ing” more and more. So, the time, even an experienced player needed, to max their character was very long, boring, and cumbersome.

 Nonetheless, Blizzard also wanted to reward players for every “ding” and to make leveling more meaningful. That’s why they diminished the leveling scale and focused on enabling players to reach the “good stuff” by faster getting to new cap 60. 

The Actual Purpose of the New Max Level

Suffice to say, Vanilla WoW had the same cap and it seems that Blizzard is going back to the basics. Over years, the leveling system got to the point where it was needlessly time-demanding. 

What’s more, it seems that Blizzard decided to listen to their fanbase and simplify the biggest source of boredom in the game — their ancient (or, rather, finely aged!) leveling system. That’s why the cap in Shadowlands is 60 and the idea is for players to enjoy the highlights of the game more. 

Precisely, by allowing players to level and hit the cap faster, and by streamlining repetitive actions to get XP, players will enjoy the game more. That means more time to do other fun stuff, enjoy the content, building alts easier, and many more, instead of mostly spending hours to level.

Let’s recap what was the max level throughout the WoW’s history:

• Vanilla – 60
• TBC – 70
• WotLK – 80
• Cata – 85
• MoP – 90
• WoD – 100
• Legion – 110
• BfA – 120
• SL – 60 again!

Nevertheless, while some players welcome the change and really want things to happen faster, others insist that this will somehow ruin the experience. However, changing the new max level to 60 and speeding leveling up will allow different activities to take place. In that light, we expect the complete evolution of game-experience and in-game goals over time. 

All in All

Anyhow, whether we like it or not, we should prepare for some leveling, and the expansion itself. Besides, we can rest assured that we will have more time now to enjoy the game from other aspects, and why not use it fully. 

That’s why we are preparing some more articles on how to maximize your Shadowland’s experience, once it airs, so stay tuned.