How long will it take to level in WoW Remix: Mists of Pandaria?

WoW Remix: Mists of Pandaria had a brief PTR, and though the server was available for a mere 48 hours on fairly short notice, we were able to take a few things for a spin, and get a feeling for the introductory experience — including getting a feel for how long it’ll take us to level in ReMists.

For ReMists you will be playing in a restricted version of Retail World of Warcraft — you have to create a Timerunning character specifically. It can be any class or race currently available on Retail, allowing for any Hero Class server restrictions. A new Timerunning character will start at Level 10 on a small corner of the Timeless Isle — an end game zone from the Mists of Pandaria expansion that does not allow flight, and is normally populated with many end-of-expansion-level elites. After a brief series on introductory quests you will be transported to your chosen faction’s airship over the Jade Forest then, after a few more intro quests, you will find yourself at the the beginning of the MoP questing experience. I was close to or had just reached Level 11 at this stage. You will have access to flying, and if you have the toy on your account, can automatically unlock all the flight points on Pandaria, both of which will make questing a much faster and smoother experience than previously.

Your ReMists Timerunning character can be levelled to the current level cap of 70, and as usual a number of end game activities will be locked behind reaching that level. The speed that you can level your character will be heavily impacted by your Timerunner’s Advantage buff. This buff is granted by your Cloak of Infinite Potential, and any alt characters you create will be given a boost based on your furthest progressed cloak. It has been calculated that the cloaks may max out somewhere between a 150% and 200% XP boost. It’s unclear if we will also get a rested XP bonus as the PTR preview was not really active long enough to earn a noticeable amount.

The most efficient levelling path for your first character may be to complete quests in an orderly manner. Nearly every quest grants a Cache of Infinite Treasure, which are a good source of Bronze and threads to upgrade your cloak. Additionally, mobs you kill while questing can also drop both of these valuable items. Be sure to complete the daily Group Finder quests for better quality caches. You will have access to Scenarios and Dungeons starting at L10, and the first Raid from L25. They deliver good XP and quantities of Bronze.

I am not a go-hard leveller. I spent around 12 hours in game over the course of two days, much of which was retracing my steps for screenshots and rechecking quest texts for articles. I comfortably reached level 31, and was close to 32 at the point I stopped. I had only levelled my cloak to a 17% experience bonus and had not completed any dungeons or scenarios, which have a chance to drop higher quality threads. The number of possible experience boosts are restricted to the cloak bonus only, but as you level the cloak it should offset any slowdown from the higher XP requirement per level. I’m sure someone will calculate the fastest and most efficient method of levelling, but I think 3-4 hours for every 10 levels would be a comfortable expectation.

Remember that this is supposed to be fun and there are only cosmetic rewards and achievements to be earned. You should always ensure you take regular breaks, keep your hydration up, and take a walk from time to time. There is no world first race for this content, so you should feel free to, “slow down,” as the Pandaren say.