Summary
- The new leveling changes in The War Within only slightly increase enemy difficulty from levels 70 to 79, making the process more gradual.
- Players with endgame gear from WoW: Dragonflight Season 4 will still feel overpowered at level 70, while others can quickly find replacement gear.
- Enemy health and damage changes gradually increase from level 71, peaking at 136% more health and 139% more damage before decreasing after level 77.
World of Warcraft just clarified that the new leveling changes in The War Within will have minimal impact on the process of reaching level 80 beyond making the difficulty curve more gradual over time. Combat from level 78 and up will be virtually unchanged, but World of Warcraft aims to make it so battles near level 70 provide slightly more of a challenge.
Recently, World of Warcraft announced it would be changing leveling in The War Within, with a focus on making enemies between levels 70 and 79 slightly more challenging. With such short notice, however, fans became worried that the game would become punishingly difficult, especially because some noticed enemies started dealing much more damage around level 78.
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Now, World of Warcraft has further clarified how these changes work. In a post on Twitter, it emphasized the goal of these changes is to make the difficulty curve from level 70 to 80 more gradual, and to spread the power spikes in the late 70s out to earlier levels. Characters with endgame gear from WoW: Dragonflight Season 4 will still feel overpowered at level 70, and those with basic leveling gear should still be able to survive and quickly find powerful replacement gear. According to Blizzard, combat at level 78 and above will be unchanged, and the overall time it takes to level a character to 80 will be about the same – enemies in early levels will just take a few more hits to defeat.
Leveling Changes in World of Warcraft: The War Within
Wowhead went into even further detail, identifying the percentages by which monster health and damage were buffed or nerfed at each level. The changes are most noticeable at level 71, where creatures have 136% more health and deal 139% more damage, gradually lessening to about 5% for both at level 77. It also seems level 78 and 79 enemies actually got a slight nerf to their stats.
Enemies Health and Damage Changes
|
Level |
Health Change |
Damage Change |
|
68 |
0.7% Nerf |
0.2% Nerf |
|
69 |
2.4% Nerf |
2.2% Nerf |
|
70* |
123.2% Buff |
116.2% Buff |
|
71 |
136.2% Buff |
139.3% Buff |
|
72 |
103.2% Buff |
103.9% Buff |
|
73 |
76.5% Buff |
77.1% buff |
|
74 |
53.0% Buff |
53.1% Buff |
|
75 |
35.1% Buff |
35.1% Buff |
|
76 |
18.7% Buff |
18.3% Buff |
|
77 |
5.9% Buff |
5.2% Buff |
|
78 |
5.0% Nerf |
6.4% Nerf |
|
79 |
3.1% Nerf |
4.0% Nerf |
That said, these numbers are also now further adjusted by item level scaling. Monsters fighting characters with an item level of 342 get a 54% nerf to their stats now, with the penalty decreasing until they reach item level 424, where the modifier is removed. Dragonflight world quests drop item level 454 gear to fresh level 70s, so most characters have much better gear scores, but this ensures undergeared level 70s can survive in World of Warcraft: The War Within.
Item Level Scaling for Enemies
|
Character Item Level |
Enemy Stat Modifier |
|
342 |
~54% Nerf |
|
359 |
~47% Nerf |
|
372 |
~40% Nerf |
|
385 |
~32% Nerf |
|
398 |
~23% Nerf |
|
411 |
~12% Nerf |
|
424 |
No Modifier |
While many fans are still upset that their peers with early access to World of Warcraft: The War Within were able to level without these changes by buying the premium edition, this explanation helped to ameliorate some player concerns. Hopefully, these alterations can make reaching the level cap of WoW: The War Within more fulfilling while not overly impacting the process.
- Released
- August 26, 2024
- Base Game
- World of Warcraft
- Developer(s)
- Blizzard
- Publisher(s)
- Blizzard
WHERE TO PLAY
In this opening chapter of The Worldsoul Saga, you’ll journey through never-before-seen subterranean worlds filled with hidden wonders and lurking perils, down to the dark depths of the Nerubian empire, where the inscrutable Harbinger of the Void has gathered her arachnid forces to bring Azeroth to its knees.
