The newly released World of Warcraft: Dragonflight has returned to the old WoW formula of expanding the max level by 10 with the release of new expansions, meaning the new level cap for players will now be 70, up from 60. Many players will be interested in accessing the new content as quickly as possible, which means reaching the endgame content and having the appropriate level to access all the new dungeons in-game.

The process for leveling in World of Warcraft has expanded a lot over its expansions and was largely overhauled with the ‘level squish’ in the previous expansion, WoW: Shadowlands, but overall the process of leveling has become easier than ever, with XP available from profession grinding, dungeon runs, and PvP events and activities in addition to the usual mob slaying and questing. This makes level grinding in WoW: Dragonflight reasonably straightforward, but for the most effective and efficient methods, these methods will help players reach max level quickly.

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Complete Quests To Gain Levels

Quests remain the most common method of gaining XP in World of Warcraft, with each new expansion adding a new collection of quests to gain large amounts of experience from. Questing is often seen as a fairly slow method of leveling, but there are ways of doing it efficiently, and it’s probably the most user-friendly method for new players or those who don’t want to have to worry too much about maximizing efficiency. WoW: Dragonflight places quests throughout the starting zones in the Dragon Isles, with plenty of side quests along with the campaign story. Players will have to progress through the main story quests to access all of the features the new expansion offers, so it’s best not to skip these for full access to the expansion.

The campaign quests are straightforward and will take players through all four of the zones in the Dragon Isles. They also tend to have side quests nearby in every hub zone, so it’s possible to efficiently grind quests by accepting all the available ones in a hub zone, then completing them all at once before progressing to the next area. Unfortunately, the main campaign quests themselves will not provide enough XP to bridge the 10-level gap from level 60 to 70, so players hoping to get to the max level through quests alone will have to do side quests at some point.

Dragonflight can make over-world grinding significantly easier with the addition of dragon mounts in World of Warcraft, which is now the fastest method of traveling in the game. They outclass any other mount or speed buff, even at a base level, and can be made faster by using the Dragon Glyphs’ scattered around the island. Players concerned with leveling as quickly as possible might be tempted to grab all the Glyphs as soon as possible, but this will take longer than it would to reach the max level without them, so it’s advised to prioritize leveling first.

Running Dungeons

Dungeon running continues to be probably the easiest and most reliable way of grinding XP quickly, a fact probably already well-known to veteran players. In addition, dungeons can give World of Warcraft players huge amounts of XP and are infinitely replayable, making them excellent sources of XP. The only catch is that players need a group to play with, and queuing with strangers can take a long time (especially when queuing as DPS) and can always lead to a bad experience. So, finding reliable friends to clear dungeons with is generally advisable.

Generally, older dungeons are preferred for quick leveling, with dungeons up to the Cataclysm expansion taking preference for leveling quickly. This is largely because they are significantly shorter than later dungeons and tend to have a few more quests attached. They're also more convenient since players already have access to them going into the game, whereas players will have to progress through the Dragon Isles to get access to the dungeons there.

Grinding out Professions

Professions are one of the features that’s changed the most in World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, with a complete overhaul to the entire system. In addition to all the new changes, players are now rewarded with XP for crafting or making an item of any kind the first time they make it. While this requires the materials to craft items, it can be an effective method for players with a large stockpile of materials or plenty of gold in World of Warcraft: Dragonflight to spend at Azeroth's auction houses, with the capability to gain several levels worth of XP from crafting alone.

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Players will also get XP (albeit a fairly small amount) from gathering professions. Again, a small amount granted for every item looted using a gathering profession. While this isn’t an effective method for grinding XP, it can be an excellent supplement on top of other activities, with the added bonus of supplying materials that can be used for crafting or making gold at the auction house.

Earn Honor and XP in PvP

One of the most popular ways players to farm XP among WoW players is to run PvP Battlegrounds. Ever since XP became a reward for gaining honor in PvP activities late into the lifespan of the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. While leveling through Battlegrounds may not reward as much XP as other methods can, it’s straightforward to do and favored by many players who consider PvP the most enjoyable aspect of the game. It also circumvents needing to hunt down mobs in dungeons or quests in the over-world, as players only really need to join and participate in a Battleground to get the rewards. It might take some time, but it’s a consistent and generally enjoyable way to gain levels.

It’s always best to try and use these methods in conjunction with each other to maximize XP gain most efficiently, though players returning to a level 60 character on the release of World of Warcraft: Dragonflight shouldn’t have much trouble bridging the 10 levels regardless, especially considering the main quest line is mandatory to access the full breadth of the expansion.

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Editor’s Note: A lawsuit has been filed against Activision Blizzard by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, which alleges the company has engaged in abuse, discrimination, and retaliation against its female employees. Activision Blizzard has denied the allegations. The full details of the Activision Blizzard lawsuit (content warning: rape, suicide, abuse, harassment) are being updated as new information becomes available.

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  World of Warcraft

  Released:

  2004-11-23

  Franchise:

  Warcraft

  Genre:

  MMO

  Platform:

  PC

  ESRB:

  T

  Developer:

  Blizzard

  Publisher:

  Blizzard

  How Long To Beat:

  5309h 48m