World of Warcraft: Forever has just become a considerably bigger game.
Blizzard has raised the beta level cap from 20 to level 30, opening the next stage of progression and giving testers access to three more dungeons. Two are familiar Classic destinations, Razorfen Downs and Uldaman. The third is something we have never properly explored before: Excavation Site: Wetlands.
We knew this phase was coming when the Forever beta originally launched with a level 20 cap. Now the wall has actually come down, and Blizzard can start testing whether Forever still feels like Classic once characters have enough talents, abilities and questionable green items to become dangerous.
Excavation Site: Wetlands Is Now Open
The most interesting addition is Excavation Site: Wetlands, a completely new dungeon intended for roughly levels 26 to 31.
The dungeon builds on one of those old Azeroth locations that always looked as though somebody had intended to do more with it. Wetlands already contains Whelgar’s Excavation Site, dwarven archaeology, ancient ruins and enough mysterious stonework to make any respectable adventurer wonder whether digging deeper is really a good idea.
Forever’s answer is apparently: absolutely. Bring four friends.
This is the third completely new Forever dungeon available for beta testing after Hall of Thanes and Ruins of Lordaeron. There will eventually be nine new dungeons across Forever’s leveling journey, and Blizzard is preparing to show one of them in considerably greater detail at PAX Aus next week.
Razorfen Downs and Uldaman Join the Pool
Players can also enter Razorfen Downs from level 25 and Uldaman from level 30. They are old dungeons rather than Forever originals, but their arrival matters because the beta can now test the new dungeon philosophy across both redesigned and completely new content.
That philosophy has become slightly controversial this week. Blizzard has deliberately reduced repeated dungeon grinding, and the latest build also cut the additional XP awarded by dungeon quests by 50%.
So the level 30 phase presents an interesting experiment. Blizzard has just given players more dungeons to run while simultaneously making sure they cannot comfortably spend the entire leveling process living inside them.
Classic players have certainly attempted stranger relationships with Scarlet Monastery.
The New Build Changes More Than the Level Cap
According to Blizzard’s latest Forever beta development notes, the new build also includes another substantial round of class and systems changes.
Druids have received adjustments to Rage generation and Feral talents, Hunters have Aggressive pet mode back, Mages have seen further tuning to their new scroll mechanics, and Paladins and Priests have received additional balance passes. It follows the larger class redesign work we examined when Blizzard revealed its new approach to Warrior Rage and Priest racial spells.
Professions are moving forward too, with changes to Skinning, Enchanting and Mining appearing as testers reach the next progression bracket.
This Is Where Forever Gets More Interesting
Level 20 was useful for testing starting zones, early class identity and Forever’s first new dungeons. Level 30 is where systems begin colliding with one another.
Characters have more talent points. Classes have more of their toolkits. Profession investment starts to matter. Dungeon groups have more ways to solve problems, and Blizzard can finally see whether all the changes being layered onto original Azeroth still produce something recognisably Classic rather than Retail wearing a 2004 costume.
And now there is another hole in Wetlands for us to crawl into.
Historically, that has worked out extremely well for Warcraft adventurers.
Post a Comment