WoW developer hints at new leveling changes in Season of Discovery phase two

The initial excitement surrounding World of Warcraft: Season of Discovery has started to wear off, and players are looking towards the future. As part of these ongoing conversations, it seems like there could be new leveling experiences heading into the game’s second phase.

Season of Discovery offers a fresh take on the Classic formula that had proved so popular for Blizzard back in 2019. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this testing of the waters for a Classic+ mode proved immensely appealing to the game’s wider community, and the first phase has been a monumental success.

In December, the developer released several statistics, one of which confirmed that players had created over 4.5 million characters. With a vast base now invested in the game’s future, many are asking what later phases are going to look like.

Now, one of the developers working on Season of Discovery has hinted that phase two and beyond could include new ways to level.

Season of Discovery could have “new things” to help with leveling

In a tweeted response to a player’s comment on dungeon grinding in Season of Discovery, Senior Game Producer Josh Greenfield hinted at other ways to play through the game and level efficiently.

I think I hope people come to learn going into each phase is that the value of pre-planning is different for SoD. There’s a lot of assumptions being thrown around right now. Dungeon grinding is one thing, but who’s to say there won’t be other new things to help with leveling?

— Josh Greenfield (@AggrendWoW) December 31, 2023

Though he didn’t go into specific detail on what the development team is planning, the hint at “new things” outside of dungeon grinding should be enough to get players excited for the next phase.

Much of the concern surrounding leveling relates to the nature of the staggered system of level caps in place in Season of Discovery. There are extensive reports of players attempting to prepare for the increase in the level cap by stockpiling sources of experience, like Marks of Honor.

Another problem arises from the time between the phases. While they provide the advantage of allowing plenty of time for players to enjoy the new activities in the game, those who spend the most time in-game have found they have begun to run out of quests and things to do in the open world.

With phase two of Season of Discovery set to release sometime between the end of January and March 2024, players should not have too long to wait to find out what these new leveling additions may look like.