// PC GAMER — GAMING
The WoW: Forever beta's nerf to dungeon XP isn't nearly as bad as it seems
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
"Developers’ notes: We appreciate the feedback on leveling speed as we continue ongoing discussions about the Beta. As part of those discussions, we’ve decided to reduce the amount of XP granted from dungeon quests with this release. Certain quest rewards have also been recalibrated: Dungeon quests now reward 50% less extra experience beyond normal quest values," via the WoW forums.
Okay okay okay everyone, calm down—this one's a bit of a lesson in the dangers of skimming patch notes. I will readily admit that I had a knee-jerk reaction to these changes. In case you're unaware, dungeons in WoW: Forever give considerably less experience from mob kills—but with massively improved XP rewards from dungeon-specific quests.
Essentially, the design goal is to encourage players to do dungeons once or twice to complete all the quests in them, then keep them open if folks wanna grind gear, but otherwise? To encourage 'em to move on and get out into the actual open world.
And while 50% should be a lot, it's been confirmed (by more than just yours truly) that this reduction is to the extra bonus that these quests were given in the first place. So you've got the base XP they gave in classic, and then the bonus, often incredibly meaty, that they were given in Forever. It's that bonus that has been slashed in half.
Let's take the Deviate Hides quest for the Wailing Caverns. In Classic WoW, this gave 1600 XP. Before this patch to the Forever beta, it gave around 4650 XP–-3050 more than the original, meaning that 4650 number would be reduced by 50% of that bonus, around 1525 XP. Turning it in this morning, I got 3,100 XP, which more-or-less tracks. I was shortchanged by about 25 XP, so Blizzard's probably doing some rounding.
In other words, these dungeon quests are still very much worth doing. And for another thing, I do feel a duty of care to remind folks that this is a beta—all of this is up in the air and subject to change, and Blizzard'll have a whole month to adjust things if it feels like crap. For now, I'm just cosily sitting on two and a half levels from my greedy little quest hoarding session a while back.
Best MMOs: Most massiveBest strategy games: Number crunchingBest open world games: Unlimited explorationBest survival games: Live craft loveBest horror games: Fight or flight
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Harvey's history with games started when he first begged his parents for a World of Warcraft subscription aged 12, though he's since been cursed with Final Fantasy 14-brain and a huge crush on G'raha Tia. He made his start as a freelancer, writing for websites like Techradar, The Escapist, Dicebreaker, The Gamer, Into the Spine—and of course, PC Gamer. He'll sink his teeth into anything that looks interesting, though he has a soft spot for RPGs, soulslikes, roguelikes, deckbuilders, MMOs, and weird indie titles. He also plays a shelf load of TTRPGs in his offline time. Don't ask him what his favourite system is, he has too many.