WoW Forever Leveling Guide 20 to 30: Best Zones, Dungeons and XP Tips

The fastest way from 20 to 30 in WoW Forever is a four-zone route per faction: Alliance goes Redridge Mountains, Wetlands, Duskwood and Ashenvale, while Horde goes The Barrens, Hillsbrad Foothills, Ashenvale and Thousand Needles, with dungeon quests mixed in along the way. You need 331,800 experience for those ten levels, about twice as much as for 1 to 20, so the route and Forever's new experience rules matter more than ever. This guide covers both routes, the ten dungeons in range, the experience changes and what your class gets by level 30.

Alliance Route: 20 to 30

Duskwood is the heart of the Alliance route with 32 quests. Night elves can do Stonetalon Mountains (20 to 22) and Ashenvale (20 to 24) first, then take the boat from Auberdine to Menethil Harbor and join the route in the Wetlands. Pick up the Goaz Scrolls library book at Whelgar's Excavation Site while you are in the Wetlands; our library books guide lists the rest.

Horde Route: 20 to 30

The Barrens has rares worth killing on the way, including Humar the Pridelord and Swiftmane; see our rare spawns guide. In Thousand Needles, the Geomancy library book sits in the largest hut at Darkcloud Pinnacle.

Dungeons Between 20 and 30

The two new dungeons are the standouts. Excavation Site: Wetlands sits right on the Alliance route, and City of Dalaran's quests are worth around 37,600 experience in total. The full list with every level range is in our guide to all WoW Forever dungeons by level.

How Experience Works in WoW Forever

Forever changed experience in ways that affect your route:

• Monster experience uses the monster's level, not yours. At level 30, a monster one level below you gives 173 experience, two levels below 151, three below 131, four below 111 and five below 93. Grey-ish mobs still pay, so you do not have to skip a zone the moment you outlevel it.

• Dungeon monsters give about 20% more than in Classic, and each group member earns by their own level.

• Dungeon quests pay a bonus. It was halved during the beta but still works out to roughly twice Classic's experience.

• Experience food adds kill experience while you are well fed.

• The Cozy Sleeping Bag gives up to 3% bonus experience for two hours after three minutes of rest. Get it as soon as you can; our Cozy Sleeping Bag guide has the route.

• The Well Rested Legacy perk builds rested experience 20% faster and raises the cap by 20%. It unlocks on your account once a character hits 25; see our Legacy guide.

What You Unlock Between 20 and 30

• Talents: 10 more points, for 21 at level 30. Row 4 opens at 15 points in a tree and row 5 at 20. With the Legacy Talented perk at full rank you have 26 points and can reach row 6.

• Abilities: 7 to 18 new abilities per class, plus new ranks. Highlights include Shield Wall for warriors, Divine Intervention and Holy Shield for paladins, Feign Death and the new Lacerate for hunters, Vanish and Kidney Shot for rogues, Mind Control and Prayer of Healing for priests, Reincarnation and Windfury Weapon for shamans, Cone of Cold and Ice Armor for mages, Summon Felhunter for warlocks, and Travel Form and Tranquility for druids.

• Legacy: your first character at 25 opens the account-wide Legacy system.

• Druids: Cat Form at 20 through The Great Cat Spirit chain. Our Cat Form quest guide walks you through it.

• PvP: the Darkspear Islands battleground, a 15 versus 15 map for the 30 to 39 bracket with four bases and a central flag. The first team to 2,000 points wins.

• Mounts: not yet. Riding still starts at level 40.

These numbers come from the final beta build at level 30. Small values can change in hotfixes, so check your trainer in game.

Quick Tips for 20 to 30

1. Stack your bonuses. Sleeping bag buff, rested experience and experience food together make a noticeable difference.

2. Collect dungeon quests before you queue. They are a bigger share of dungeon experience than the kills.

3. Do not skip slightly low mobs. Thanks to the monster-level formula, they still pay most of their experience.

4. Set your hearthstone to your next hub, not your last one.

5. Use a coordinates addon for quests and books. Our best WoW Forever addons list has the setup.

Want to Skip Ahead?

Twenty to thirty is where many players stall. If you would rather spend your time in dungeons than on the road, WoW Forever dungeon runs give you the quest experience and loot with an experienced group, and Battle.net accounts on our marketplace are an option if you want a character that is already further along.

FAQ

Where should I level from 20 to 30 in WoW Forever? Alliance: Redridge, Wetlands, Duskwood, Ashenvale. Horde: The Barrens, Hillsbrad Foothills, Ashenvale, Thousand Needles.

How much experience do you need from 20 to 30? 331,800 experience, about twice the total from 1 to 20.

Which dungeons are best between 20 and 30? Excavation Site: Wetlands (26 to 31) and City of Dalaran (28 to 33) for their quests, plus Shadowfang Keep and Blackfathom Deeps.

How many talent points do you have at level 30? 21, or 26 with the Legacy Talented perk at full rank.

Do you get a mount at level 30 in WoW Forever? No. Riding still starts at level 40.

Do low-level mobs still give experience in WoW Forever? Yes. Forever calculates experience from the monster's level, so mobs a few levels below you still pay most of their experience.