Now that the World of Warcraft Shadowlands release date has officially been confirmed, many players are racing around the current Battle for Azeroth version of the game finishing up tasks and getting their characters in order before the big level squish arrives. As the squish gets closer, players may want to consider if it's worth creating any new alts or leveling any existing characters more before the big change arrives.
After the pre-patch is put in place, level 50 will become the new max level until Shadowlands is released and the cap is raised to 60 once again. Most new characters created after the level squish will start at level 1, but some players are probably wondering how that will work for Demon Hunters and Death Knights. These two classes have always started at higher levels since they were added to the game in Wrath of the Lich King and Legion. As some players predicted, there may be a major benefit to creating one of these classes now (before the squish) if you haven't yet and have plans to level one in the near future.
New Death Knights and Demon Hunters created after the level squish takes place are going to start at level 8 according to the latest information from the test realms. That means they will have to level all the way up from 8 to 50 (and eventually 60 to become max level). Players who aren't interested in playing from basically the start again can shorten the grind by creating their characters now and taking the time to log in to the game and complete a few of the starting scenario quests. Apparently, with the way that the level squish works, this will leave players with alts that are much higher than level 8 after the squish takes place.
A level 55 Death Knight (which is what they currently start at) should squish down to level around level 27. A level 98 Demon Hunter (again, what they currently start at) should squish down to around level 39. 27 or 39 definitely seems like a much better place to start than level 8, unless players are feeling particularly nostalgic. This should help shave a few hours off the new leveling grind when players get around to trying to max out these characters.
All of that said, there is still a surprising amount of mystery surrounding exactly how the level squish will work considering the pre-patch is likely just a few weeks away. There hasn't been an official level conversion guide released or anything like that, so it's hard to predict exactly how each alt who isn't already 120 will be squished down when the big change takes place. Hopefully those details are released whenever the official pre-patch date and details are confirmed. With the release of Shadowlands growing close each day, that
Be sure to check back in the coming weeks as more details about Shadowlands emerge. Until then, For the Horde!
World of Warcraft is available now for PC. At this point, World of Warcraft Shadowlands releases on October 26 or 27 (depending on time zone) for PC.