Here's a summarized list of the changes, with the full post by Vaneras copied for you beyond the link below.
- Amount of experience needed to level reduced by 15% per level between 20 and 60.
- Experience gained from completing quests increased between levels 30 and 60.
- Outdoor elite quests will now now be soloable, with the same (or better) rewards.
- About 60 new quests and a new goblin town based in Dustwallow Marsh (levels 30 to 40)
- Level ranges for old dungeons to be narrowed down a bit (so that if you are high enough to start them, you are high enough to finish them too)
- Increased questing experience for dungeon quests.
- Buffed up item drops from dungeon bosses.
As many of you already know we've been working on changes designed to improve various aspects of leveling for those making their way to level 60. These improvements, available in patch 2.3 will come in many forms and should significantly contribute to a more fluid and enjoyable leveling experience .I have a couple of characters I've been wanting to work on right around the level 25 to 30 range, so I'm one of those happy customers in a prime position to take advantage of this new system. If it turns out to be as good as it seems, then this may make the game much more enjoyable for those of us who really like to try out all the different classes and get to know different play styles very well.
The first notable change was to simply reduce the amount of experience needed each level by approximately 15% between levels 20 and 60. Please note that when the patch is released, characters affected by this change will remain at their current level percentage. For example, if a character had exactly 50% of the current level's total experience before this change went into effect, the character would still have exactly 50% of the current level's total experience; only now fewer points would be needed to level.
Questing plays a very large role in World of Warcraft, especially while leveling and we felt that improvements to this front were necessary as well. Experience gained for completing quests (on average) between levels 30 and 60 is being increased. The increase becomes more substantial as you make your way towards 60. Additionally, many outdoor elite mobs will become non-elites, making many quests which were previously too difficult or required a group much easier and offer the same rewards (in some cases better!). A good example of this change would be Stromgarde Keep in Arathi Highlands, which will become a solo friendly environment when patch 2.3 goes live.
We've also added approximately 60 new quests in Dustwallow Marsh. This should help players who find themselves lacking quests in the 30-40 range. The Steamwheedle Cartel is building the new town of Mudsprocket in south-west Dustwallow Marsh, so you'll have to wait until construction is complete to learn more about these changes.
We're making other improvements to pre-bc leveling dungeons that players will likely find most agreeable. The level range for most every dungeon is being adjusted so that there is a much smaller range between the level of mobs found early in the dungeon to those found towards the end. For example, Shadowfang Keep is currently designed for levels 18-25 which means that right now, players who are towards the bottom of that range (18) will find it nearly impossible to complete the dungeon, while players towards the top of the range (25) will find most of the dungeon trivial. Using our new model (similar to what you'll notice with Burning Crusade leveling dungeons), Shadowfang Keep is being retuned for levels 18-21.
We also want to make running a leveling up dungeon more worth while. In addition to increasing quest experience for dungeon quests, we're also upgrading all pre-bc dungeon boss drops to blue quality items. Some examples are listed below:
Ragefire Chasm
Robe of Evocation old: +3 Stamina, + 4 Intelligence
Robe of Evocation new: +4 Stamina, +5 Intelligence, and +5 Spell Critical Strike Rating
Deadmines
Smite's Reaver old: +2 Strength, +1 Stamina, +1 Spirit, 11.1 dps
Smite's Reaver new: +2 Strength, +3 Stamina, +2 Hit Rating, 14.5 dps
Shadowfang Keep
Robes of Arugal old: +3 Agility, +5 Stamina, +9 Intelligence, +10 Spirit
Robes of Arugal new: +3 Spirit, +5 Stamina, +9 Intelligence, +12 Spell Damage
As you can see there is much in-store for the next major content patch, particularly a number of changes designed to benefit players who are leveling a character. Though we've given you a few examples of the things to come, we think everyone will pleasantly surprised when they see the full extent of the changes discussed above.
[via WoW Vault]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
10-08-2007 @ 1:17PM
Solnova said...
About time.
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10-08-2007 @ 1:22PM
Liel said...
Amen!! too bad I already leveled a bunch of alts in 3 years.
Nice to see they buffed instance drops to have some +something on them.
Now I wish they would nerf scholo/strat for level 56-58? Reason being is their lore is great for the next expansion
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10-08-2007 @ 1:24PM
Big.Daddy said...
I can't wait!!
Hurry up 2.3.
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10-08-2007 @ 1:26PM
aratan said...
Yay, new mid-level content with the additon of a quest hub in Dustwallow. Now if only they would do the same elsewhere, and open up Gilnaes, Grim Batol, and the islands between the two continents.....
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10-08-2007 @ 1:40PM
Addie said...
My little altsies might make it to 70 after all. O.o
Do you think we'll see gobs more 70's that have no clue how to play?
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10-08-2007 @ 1:43PM
Erron Kelly said...
The 15% reducting in level exp needed between 20-60.. is that 15% per level or 15% over the whole 20-60 span?
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10-08-2007 @ 1:43PM
Scruffy said...
Better itemization? Yes, please.
Better quest rewards and experience? Yes, please.
Narrowed instance level range? Hmm.. maybe.. well, yeah.
Lowered exp needed to level? Hell, our guild has enough trouble with people with one toon and no group/instance experience. Nothing like being the only healer and having one experience tank and mage and trying to get people geared, experienced, and kara keyed....
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10-08-2007 @ 1:44PM
Liel said...
@5 a lot of the new players are soloing to 60 anyways because they cannot get groups. That or they learn from veteran players to just get run through an instance to get gear then they try and learn how to CC,heal or what ever once they get to Hellfire lol.
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10-08-2007 @ 1:47PM
FantomRedux said...
i have one question. will the items be changed if you already have them?
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10-08-2007 @ 1:50PM
Matthew said...
@9, generally item changes like this are retroactive, yeah, although I can't say for sure.
Very nice, although I know I'm not the only one who's not going to bother playing the under-60 characters I have until 2.3 is live now. Still, this should make it substantially easier to get to Outland in the future.
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10-08-2007 @ 1:54PM
FelDork said...
these are my most anticipated changes/additions to WoW. 2.3 can't come soon enough
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10-08-2007 @ 1:55PM
mcm said...
@6
15% per level is exactly, mathematically identical to 15% for 20-60 overall.
I guess unless you left 20-59 as-is, and then only needed 10 XP to get from 59-60! :P
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10-08-2007 @ 2:02PM
mikewalsh19 said...
@6, Erron Kelly, 15% of each level or 15% of the total is the same value.
I am pleasantly surprised they did this. Blizzard had very little incentive to make these changes (at least in the new quests and upgraded drops areas).
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10-08-2007 @ 2:03PM
Psyclerk said...
I like the changes to the drops. Some of the older items have stats that don't make much sense (strength or agility on cloth for example). And tightening the levels on instances is very welcome. Maybe this will make some of my most hated instances (Gnomeregan, Uldaman) a little more tolerable.
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10-08-2007 @ 2:07PM
Hazerduz said...
Personally I hate this idea of more Xp from mobs and less needed to level. I've been playing for over 3 years and have multiple 70's, with a bunch of alts. That being said it was the exploring and finding things and hidden quests that made this game so interesting to me, and the reason I no longer have much of a life......sigh. Level 70 content is great and lots of fun, but it's that way because of the experience of getting to 70 and learning the intricacies of your character.
The idea of adding a new town and new quests however is a great idea. If this is supposed to be a living breathing world that we live in, it should change and evolve with us. Not stay stagnant and the same.
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10-08-2007 @ 2:09PM
Metaphyzxx said...
You mean it'll finally be worthwhile to play my alts again? I'll be able to play the expansion I bought with more than 2 characters? more than one toon on the same server can make it to 60, without feeling like I've cheated my character?
The only other change I think I'd like to see is having rest XP stack beyone 1.5 levels...
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10-08-2007 @ 2:19PM
Dave said...
%15 per level and %15 off the whole aren't necessarily identical.
Since the EXP curve is logarithmic, taking %15 off L20 is a meaningless amount of xp. Taking %15 off L60 is a massive amount comparitively. So, if they're taking %15 off the whole but applying the majority of that %15 to the last 10-20 levels, you're getting a much bigger benefit than if they apply %15 per level.
Ultimately it may end up being the exact same number at the end, but the application of the number is a very significant and non-identical thing. After all, %15 off L60 is the entire amount of XP you need for L20 and some. There's basically one million XP (roughly) from 20-40, and 3 million left once you hit 40. To say that the application of this XP gain would be better suited to take %15 off the total but apply it more to the later levels is an understatement.
If it's just a flat %15 per level, that's not going to be nearly as good but still a welcome change. (it's basically having a day's worth of rested XP every level, on top of your rested xp).
http://wow.allakhazam.com/db/guides.html?guide=362
check out this chart to see what I mean.
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10-08-2007 @ 2:20PM
Liel said...
@15 This is really for the newer players and will help immensely with new players once the level cap is raised to 80.
Also newer players have a hard time doing some instances and quests because they can never find groups or get told "meh not worth it just skip it".
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10-08-2007 @ 2:20PM
Bad Mojo said...
So what's the time frame on this actually going live?
I've got a new fave alt I've been working on and my main has been resting for a while...
Is it next month? Next year? Next expansion?
I've heard conflicting time frames...
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10-08-2007 @ 2:34PM
MechChef said...
Good. I look forward to this. Though, I have the opposite of alt-itus. Between dailies and raiding, I'm finding I have very little time to do other things like push engineering above 365, rep-grind, and level my alt. Unless my commitments decrease, I doubt I'll ever level my 26 warrior.
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