WoW Forever beta level 30: what opens up at the new cap

Two weeks after it opened, the beta is about to get ten levels bigger. Kaivax posted the news on both the EU and the US forums: Thursday's maintenance brings "an updated build that includes changes and fixes, with the level cap raised to 30"^[1]. Blizzard said from the start that the cap would begin at 20 and go up to 30 later in the test^[2], and anyone parked at level 20 has been waiting for it.

When the WoW Forever beta reaches level 30

In Europe the beta goes offline on the evening of Thursday 1 October (CEST) and should be back early on the morning of Friday 2 October^[1]. On the US forums the same maintenance starts on Thursday morning, Pacific time, with the beta returning "several hours later"^[3]. Kaivax did not give exact hours, so expect the realms to come back some time overnight in Europe and during Thursday in the Americas.

The patch notes are not out yet. Kaivax wrote that the details follow "here tomorrow", in the same forum thread. The Codex's blue tracker picks them up as soon as they are posted.

What ten more levels unlock for your class

Every level from 10 on gives one talent point, so a level 30 character has 21. A tree's fifth row opens once 20 points are in that tree, which means the 21st point is the first that can reach row five. Across the nine classes there are 75 talents in row five, and 33 of them are new in Forever.

Discipline priests can take Penance, a volley of holy light that hurts an enemy or heals an ally. Assassination rogues get Mutilate, a strike with both weapons that awards two combo points. Protection paladins get Templar's Bulwark, a shield that absorbs damage equal to their maximum health for 8 seconds, and Survival hunters get Strider Kick, a melee kick for full weapon damage.

The talent calculator already shows every tree as Forever has it, and each class page lists what changed from Classic, so you can plan the 21 points before the servers are back.

There are new spells as well. Between levels 21 and 30 a warrior picks up Intimidating Shout, Execute, Berserker Stance and Intercept, a mage gets Counterspell and Ice Armor, and a priest gets Mana Burn and Mind Control. Each class's spellbook shows what it learns at every level and how Forever changed it.

The dungeons between 20 and 30

The new cap reaches two of Forever's new dungeons. The Excavation Site in the Wetlands is meant for levels 24 to 29. The City of Dalaran in the Alterac Mountains starts at 28, so a level 30 group can go in near the bottom of its range. Neither has published loot or quests yet, and Dalaran's three bosses are only known from datamining.

Blizzard has not said which of these open with the new build. The launch announcement only promised that "additional zones, dungeons, and the new battleground will open for testing as the beta continues"^[2]. If the Excavation Site is in, its bosses and drops go on its page here once they are known.

What we don't know yet

Kaivax's post names one change, the cap, and leaves the rest of the build for the patch notes. Whether the new zones and dungeons open now or later, which class changes are in, and whether anything happens to characters already sitting at 20 with a bar full of rested experience are all open questions until then.

On the Codex, BiS at 30 is next. Every class page already has the tab, marked as coming soon. Until it is ready, the BiS at level 20 lists are still the ones to gear from as you level out of the old cap.