WoW Forever October Beta: Dungeon Experience, Honor Prices and the Level 30 Cap

The October 1 build raised the beta's level cap to 30 and opened Excavation Site: Wetlands for levels 26–31, a new Forever dungeon at an excavation site in the Wetlands. Razorfen Downs (25+) and Uldaman (30+) joined the eleven dungeons already open, including the new The Hall of Thanes and Ruins of Lordaeron.

On October 8, City of Dalaran opened for testing as well.

Blizzard rebalanced dungeon leveling in two steps, citing player feedback on leveling speed:

• October 1: dungeon quests award 50% less bonus experience above normal quest values, and some quest rewards were recalibrated.
• October 8: creatures killed in dungeons give about 20% more experience.
• October 8: the penalty for killing lower-level creatures in a party now uses each player's own level, as in Classic Era, instead of the highest level in the party. A party member far above the enemy's level still prevents experience for everyone.

Blizzard expects the October 8 changes together to raise dungeon experience a lot for most players. The weight moves from turning in dungeon quests to clearing the dungeon itself, so mixed-level groups no longer slow down their lower-level members.

Some dungeon quest rewards also dropped from Rare to Uncommon quality with adjusted stats, and Desolace's new Gelkis and Magram quests now start at level 35 instead of 30.

Since the October 1 build, the character sheet explains that spells cast at ranks far below your level get less benefit from spell damage and healing and are less likely to trigger class talents and abilities. Blizzard's example: rank 1 Frostbolt at level 60 has no chance to trigger Frostbite, so you choose between a quick slow and a spell that can freeze.

Mages later got a dedicated answer to this, the new spell Frost Blast; see WoW Forever Mage Overhaul: Arcane Wrath, Frost Blast and a New Arcane Blast.

• Most PvP gear and upgrade tokens cost about 50% more Honor, to match Blizzard's targets for how fast gear is earned.
• The Honor cap rises from 15,000 to 25,000 to make room for the higher prices.
• From October 8, critical strikes in PvP are no longer reduced in effect.

• Rage: the October 8 build fixed how Warriors and Druids gain Rage from damage taken, which should mean more Rage for most of them. Details are in WoW Forever Warrior Rework: New Fury Talents and a Reshaped Protection Tree.
• Legacy: every beta tester was granted the Legacy Challenge's 16 Legacy points to test the system, and Legacy respecs start at 1 silver during the beta.
• Weapon swaps: several weapons can be swapped within one global cooldown again, for example a macro from a two-handed weapon to sword and shield.
• Cooldown Manager: now supports every class, racial abilities and trinkets; consumables are planned.

• Plan dungeon runs for the kills, not just the quests. Dungeon quests are worth less than before, but full clears are worth more, and grouping with friends of different levels no longer costs the lower-level players experience.
• Expect PvP gear to take longer. With prices up by half, plan which pieces to buy first; the higher cap lets you save for them.
• Don't rely on low-rank spells for damage or healing late in leveling. Check each rank's trainer level in Class Spells.