World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, the eight expansion pack for Blizzard’s landmark MMO, has arrived. Perhaps more than any of its predecessors, Shadowlands makes some huge changes to World of Warcraft. The max level has been cut in half, new areas have been introduced, and the entire story structure has been overhauled.
However, does this mean that World of Warcraft: Shadowlands is friendly for new players? For years, Blizzard’s genre-defining MMO has had a hard time attracting new adventurers in the droves it garnered in its heyday. The sheer size of the game, which has been out for 16 years, has left many prospective players feeling like climbers at the base of Mount Everest. Seven major expansions, each adding hundreds of individual stories and timelines that overlap and interweave, have only added to the complexity. With the arrival of the eighth, many are wondering whether Blizzard has done enough to provide an inviting experience for new players.
The first thing World of Warcraft: Shadowlands does for new players is introduce a brand new starting zone. For the first time in 16 years, players are no longer starting in a region based on their chosen race. The new zone is an island called Exile’s Reach, which players journey to as part of a Horde or Alliance expedition. While having a combined starting zone may take some of the variety out of beginning a new character’s journey, it’s a smart move from a gameplay perspective.
The former starting zones were unique, but that came with its own problems, especially as the game got older. Some new players could have radically unbalanced levelling experiences, and many zones were notoriously more difficult than others. For instance, not all of the World of Warcraft starting zones were clear enough on introducing key mechanics, like how to use quest items.
On Exile’s Reach all players should be able to make the journey from 1 to 10 together, picking up the core gameplay mechanics before being dropped into the larger world. Exile’s Reach even ends with a mini-dungeon, to give players their first taste of boss-slaying. It’s worth noting however, that the former starting zones aren’t gone completely. Players who have existing characters will be able to choose whether to go to the island or begin in their race’s classic starting zone instead when making a new character. Once new players have reached level 10, they’ll be returned to their faction’s capital and dropped straight into Battle for Azeroth levelling content, which will take them all the way to level 50.
Many players may be wondering what happened to all the rest of the content in World of Warcraft, now that it’s possible to level from 1 to 50 in Exile’s Reach and BFA alone. The good news for new players is that they haven’t missed their chance to experience the previous 16 years of World of Warcraft DLC content. Players who have already levelled a character to 50 in BFA will gain the ability to level up any subsequent character in a expansion zone instead.
To do this, all players need to do is head to the NPC Chromie, who can be found near the Stormwind or Orgrimmar Embassies. There are six campaigns on offer from Chromie, each corresponding to a specific World of Warcraft expansion:
- The Cataclysm: Takes place during the events of Word of Warcraft: Cataclysm.
- Portal to Outland: Takes place during the events of World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade.
- Fall of the Lich King: Takes place during the events of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King.
- Wilds of Pandaria: Takes place during the events of World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria.
- The Iron Horde: Takes place during the events of World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor.
- The Legion Invasion: Takes place during the events of World of Warcraft: Legion.
All of these zones have been scaled to take players from 10 to 50, meaning there are now essentially seven different stories to experience during the levelling journey. With the Level Squish and all the other changes that surround the Shadowlands expansion, the Timewalking Campaigns really are a clever way of allowing new players to experience the content they’re most interested in.
One of the biggest changes in World of Warcraft: Shadowlands is the so-called Level Squish, a sweeping update that has affected every level, item, and stat in the game. Put simply, the Level Squish has reduced the pre-Shadowlands max level of 120 all the way down to 60, with the last 10 taking place in the Shadowlands expansion.
This means that players who were the top level of 120 before began Shadowlands at 50, those who were 60 started at 25, and so on. While this may not seem relevant to new players beginning in the Shadowlands expansion, the Level Squish didn’t only cut the number of levels in the game. In addition, it made some pretty sweeping changes to the whole gameplay-structure. While it used to take upwards of 100 in-game hours to go from 1 to 120, it’s now possible to go from 1-50 in around 24.
This removes one of the biggest hurdles that new players had to overcome coming into World of Warcraft. Faced with 16 years of expansions and updates to grind through, it’s fair that many have avoided Blizzard’s gargantuan MMO. With Exile’s Reach starting players out on a level field, Timewalking Campaigns keeping the old DLC alive, and the Level Squish cutting out the grind, Blizzard has done a lot to make new players feel welcome in World of Warcraft.
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands is available for PC.
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