Joyous Journeys +50% XP buff is back in Cataclysm Classic (plus an easy boost for Season of Discovery players)

With Mists of Pandaria Classic launching in July, the Joyous Journeys buff has returned to help players catch up and hit max level before the next expansion launches. Joyous Journeys provides a +50% XP buff to all players up to level 85, and it stacks with rested experience. We’ve seen this buff several times before, usually right before a patch or expansion to help people get ready for the latest content — and while Blizzard didn’t announce an exact end date, we expect Joyous Journeys to last up to launch day (or at least close to it). The only caveat is that the buff is only available to players on Cataclysm Classic realms — players on Classic-era realms, Hardcore realms, Season of Discovery realms, and anniversary realms are stuck in the same old daily grind.

Of course, if you are a Season of Discovery mainstay, you have another option to level up for Mists of Pandaria Classic: skip it. Players who defeat Dreadlord Balnazzar in the Scarlet Enclave raid get a free level 85 character boost on Cataclysm Classic realms so they’ll be ready to jump right into Pandaria when it launches. It will be an easy way for SoD players to get back into the main game (at least if they want to). This will be available on July 1, when the Mists of Pandaria Classic pre-patch goes live.

Whether you’ve been playing Classic since the very beginning or you’ve never found the time to check it out, this experience buff makes it easy to get started. And with Mists of Pandaria just around the corner, you’ll have plenty of time to level up a new character, switch mains, or beef up your army of alts.

Originally published July 25, 2022. Updated June 2, 2025.