The fastest way to level in WoW Forever right now is not to live in dungeons but to visit each one once, at the right level, with every one of its quests already in your bag. Below level 40, dungeon quests pay roughly twice their Classic XP, so a prepared first run of Ruins of Lordaeron is worth almost two levels at 15, while a second run of the same dungeon gives you little more than the mobs, which pay about a third of what they used to.
This guide gives the dungeon order for the Horde and the Alliance up to level 33, how much quest XP each run is worth, where to collect the quests on the way, which runs you can skip and what is known so far about the dungeons from 35 to 60.
Yes, for the first run of each dungeon, and the reason is the quests. Blizzard gave dungeon quests extra XP on top of their normal value, and even after the October 1 beta build cut that extra in half, they still pay about twice what they did in Classic. One example measured on the beta: Deviate Hides in Wailing Caverns gave 1,600 XP in Classic and gives about 3,100 now.
The mobs are the other half of the story, and they went the other way. Dungeon creatures give only about a quarter to a third of their Classic XP, even after the October 8 build raised it by about 20%. The same build fixed group XP: each player now earns XP by their own level, not by the highest level in the party, but if anyone in the group is far above the mobs, nobody gets XP from them.
So a dungeon is worth the time once, when your quest log is full for it, and a repeat run is slower than questing. Blizzard's developers have said the same thing in their own words: their target is for perfect dungeon leveling to be close to, not faster than, optimal questing. Two more changes from the beta to keep in mind:
The run itself is the easy part; the time is lost before it, gathering a group and walking to the entrance. There is no automatic dungeon finder in Forever: the Group Finder only lists groups, and meeting stones do not summon. Players who leveled on the beta lose the most time standing at an entrance while one member finishes a pre-quest, so the routine below is about having everything ready before anyone travels.
The Horde has the easier early game for dungeon leveling: Ragefire Chasm sits inside Orgrimmar, and Ruins of Lordaeron, the best run before level 20, is a zeppelin ride away. Run those two back to back around 15–18 and you skip most of a zone. The table runs in the order to do them; the quest XP is the total for every Horde quest of that dungeon as measured on the beta, so it drops if you skip a quest or arrive overleveled.
| Level | Dungeon | Quests | Quest XP | Where the quests start | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15–16 | Ragefire Chasm | 5 | 12,750 | Thunder Bluff, Orgrimmar, Undercity | Go first: all five quests are in Horde cities |
| 16–18 | Ruins of Lordaeron | 6 | 29,800 | Tirisfal Glades, Undercity, Silverpine Forest, a dropped item | Zeppelin to Tirisfal straight after Ragefire; the best run before 20 |
| 19–22 | Wailing Caverns | 7 | 25,150 | Thunder Bluff, The Barrens, a dropped item | Finish the Barrens chains first |
| 23–25 | Shadowfang Keep | 3 | 19,800 | Undercity, Silverpine Forest | Optional: only three quests |
| 25–28 | Blackfathom Deeps | 5 | 23,750 | Ashenvale, a dropped item | Quests at Zoram'gar Outpost and in the cave before the entrance |
| 28–29 | Excavation Site: Wetlands | 4 | 22,800 | Orgrimmar, Arathi Highlands, a dropped item | Pick up the Arathi quests while questing there |
| 29–31 | Razorfen Kraul | 4 | 27,700 | The Barrens, Thunder Bluff, Undercity | Optional, on the way to Thousand Needles |
| 30–33 | City of Dalaran | 4 | 37,600 | Hillsbrad Foothills, Undercity | Only after the Dalaran attunement from Tarren Mill |
A few things decide whether a Horde run pays off:
The Alliance route leans on the Eastern Kingdoms: Hall of Thanes under Ironforge in the mid-teens, the Deadmines after Redridge, the Stockade while you quest in Duskwood and the new Excavation Site in the Wetlands. That last one is the single best payout on either side before level 30. The quest XP below is the total for every Alliance quest of the dungeon as measured on the beta.
| Level | Dungeon | Quests | Quest XP | Where the quests start | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14–16 | Hall of Thanes | 5 | 13,300 | Dun Morogh, Ironforge, a dropped item | Close for dwarves and gnomes; skip it if the trip is long |
| 18–21 | The Deadmines | 6 | 19,125 | Westfall, Stormwind City | Straight after Redridge; finish the Westfall chains first |
| 24–26 | The Stockade | 6 | 30,450 | Stormwind City, Redridge Mountains, Duskwood, Wetlands | Collect them while questing in Duskwood and Redridge |
| 24–27 | Blackfathom Deeps | 4 | 22,850 | Darkshore, Darnassus, Dun Morogh | Optional, best for night elves |
| 26–28 | Excavation Site: Wetlands | 7 | 39,300 | Wetlands, Redridge Mountains, Ashenvale, a dropped item | Finish the Greenwarden chain in the Wetlands first |
| 30–33 | City of Dalaran | 4 | 37,600 | Stormwind City | Only after the Dalaran attunement from Southshore |
| 30–33 | Gnomeregan | 12 | 54,000 | Dun Morogh, Stormwind City, a dropped item | Many quests |
What makes or breaks the Alliance runs:
Nobody has measured dungeon leveling above 30 yet, because the beta stopped there, so everything past this point is a plan rather than a tested route. The same rule should hold: one prepared run per dungeon, at the top of its range, while the mobs are easy. The order most routes expect looks like this:
| Levels | Dungeons to plan for | Faction notes |
|---|---|---|
| 30–35 | Scarlet Monastery Graveyard and Library, Razorfen Kraul, Gnomeregan | Scarlet Monastery quests are mostly Horde |
| 35–40 | The Drowned City, Scarlet Monastery Armory and Cathedral, Razorfen Downs | The Armory and Cathedral need The Scarlet Key from the Library |
| 40–45 | Krol'dok Stronghold, Uldaman | Uldaman has the most quests of any dungeon below 50 |
| 45–50 | Zul'Farrak, Maraudon, Alcaz Prison | Both factions |
| 50–55 | Sunken Temple, Blackrock Depths, Dire Maul | Blackrock Depths alone has 17–18 quests per faction |
| 55–60 | Blackrock Spire, Blackmaw Hold, Scholomance, Stratholme, Shaper's Terrace | Most quests here are worth doing for gear as much as XP |
The popular dungeon route for the Horde keeps Razorfen Downs at 38, Zul'Farrak at 48, Maraudon at 49–50 and Blackrock Depths at 56–57, and leaves Scarlet Monastery, Uldaman and Sunken Temple out. The quest XP of each of these dungeons is in the calculator below.
Set your faction and level in the two tools below to plan the next dungeon. The first adds up the quest XP each dungeon is worth at your level, counting only the quests you can take; the second lists every quest with where it starts and the blue rewards worth knowing about.
All dungeons
WoW Forever Dungeon List by Level
Every dungeon on one level timeline, with bosses, loot and a guide for each.
The dungeon route works best on top of a good questing route; these guides cover the rest of the climb.
These are the questions players ask most about leveling through dungeons in launch week.
A prepared first run with all the quests is faster than questing for the same time; repeat runs are slower. Blizzard tuned dungeons so that perfect dungeon leveling is close to, not faster than, optimal questing, so the best route mixes both.
Twice in opposite directions. The October 1 beta build halved the bonus XP dungeon quests give on top of normal quest XP; the October 8 build raised the XP of dungeon mobs by about 20% and fixed group XP so each player earns by their own level.
Once, near the top of its level range, with every quest you can get. A second run only makes sense for a quest item that did not drop or for gear you want.
Normal quests can be shared as usual, but quests that start from an item, and the items that start them, cannot. Everyone has to collect those themselves before the run.
Ragefire Chasm at 15–16 for the Horde, followed straight away by Ruins of Lordaeron; Hall of Thanes at 14–16 for dwarves and gnomes, or the Deadmines at 18–21 for the rest of the Alliance.
