World of Warcraft: Forever’s Dungeon XP Cut Applies to the Bonus, Not the Base
A Wailing Caverns quest that paid around 4,650 XP before the change still awarded 3,100 XP in a post-change turn-in.
World of Warcraft: Forever’s dungeon quest XP reduction is aimed at the bonus layered onto those rewards, not their full base value. A Wailing Caverns quest that paid around 4,650 XP before the adjustment still awarded 3,100 XP in a post-change turn-in, leaving the quest well above its Classic payout.
Blizzard’s October 1 beta notes say dungeon quests will grant 50% less extra experience beyond their normal quest values. Regular quest rewards remain intact, so the change does not halve all dungeon XP or remove the reason to finish these objectives.
Deviate Hides in Wailing Caverns shows how the calculation works. The quest paid 1,600 XP in Classic WoW. Before the adjustment, its Forever beta reward was around 4,650 XP, including roughly 3,050 bonus XP. Halving that bonus brings the total to about 3,125 XP with those rounded figures, close to the 3,100 XP awarded in the post-change turn-in.
Dungeon creature kills already provide considerably less experience in Forever than the dungeon-specific quests do. Earlier beta changes had reduced dungeon-mob XP to little or nothing in an effort to discourage boosting, where a max-level Mage could clear enemies with area-of-effect attacks while lower-level characters waited for the rewards. Blizzard had raised dungeon quest XP to keep those runs worthwhile, so the latest adjustment narrows that compensation rather than removing it entirely.
Shadowfang Keep provides a larger example of the change. A Shadowfang Keep comparison puts the earlier quest payout at 32,200 XP and the updated reward at 19,800 XP. Advancing from level 22 to level 23 requires 27,300 XP, which means those quests no longer cover a full level by themselves. Some Horde races also have to travel out of their way to reach Shadowfang Keep, making the smaller payout a less efficient reason to take the trip.
Feedback about leveling speed behind the adjustment focused on levels 1-20, already the fastest stretch of progression. Earlier wording in Blizzard’s beta note said testers were leveling too quickly, while the revised version referred more generally to leveling feedback and ongoing beta discussions.
Blizzard is adding open-world quests to fill gaps in the leveling route, although some gaps remain. Gear from the dungeon quests has also been reduced, leaving players with both less experience and weaker items as rewards. The beta is scheduled to continue through October 22 ahead of the project’s scheduled November 4, 2026 launch. World of Warcraft: Forever returns to the pre-Burning Crusade version of Classic while adding new content built around its old-school design.
How has the reduced quest bonus affected the way you approach dungeon leveling in the beta? Follow along as the test’s leveling rules develop on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram.
