How long does it take to level to 60 in WoW Forever?

Nobody knows yet, because the beta's cap is 30 and launch on Nov 4 is the first chance to reach 60. The XP to 60 is Classic's 4,084,700, and so far Forever has matched Classic Era's pace, so expect a Classic-length road. Level 30 is 12.2% of the XP, and you pass halfway at level 48.

How long does 1 to 20 take in WoW Forever?

Blizzard's analytics put it at 20.5 hours on average (Sep 24), against 20.4 hours in Classic Era. Creators who timed it on the beta took 8.5 to 22 hours played, depending on class, dungeons and how much they stopped to test.

Is WoW Forever leveling faster than Classic?

Not by the numbers so far. The XP curve and the quest XP table are Classic Era's, Blizzard measured 1 to 20 a tenth of an hour slower than Classic Era, and Xaryu's level 14 Gnome Mages were 5 minutes apart in Forever and Era. An early report that Forever would be 26% faster came from an older datamined build, and the developers said it wasn't true.

Did the dungeon XP changes slow leveling down?

For dungeon runs, yes. The Oct 1 build cut the bonus XP dungeon quests pay, so Shadowfang Keep's quests fell from 32,200 to 19,800 XP all together, and the Oct 8 build gave back about 20% on dungeon kills. Running a dungeon once with its quests still pays well; farming one over and over is slow.

What is the fastest way to level in WoW Forever?

Quest on a route that keeps you moving, take each dungeon once with all its quests, keep rested XP up (the Well Rested Legacy perk and a Leatherworker's Camp Tent help) and eat cooked food for its kill XP. The BoF Guide plays such a route in game and is free to level 30.

Leveling guide · WoW Forever · build 1.60.1.70450

WoW Forever leveling speed

WoW Forever levels at Classic Era's pace so far. The XP from 1 to 60 is Classic's 4,084,700, quests pay the same XP by quest level as Classic Era, and Blizzard's analytics put levels 1 to 20 at 20.5 hours on average against 20.4 in Classic Era. Beta players showed 1 to 20 in 8.5 to 22 hours played. Nobody has timed 1 to 60 yet, because the beta stops at 30, and level 30 is only 12.2% of the XP to 60.

4,084,700: XP from 1 to 60, Classic's total
20.5 h: Blizzard's average for 1 to 20, against 20.4 in Classic Era
48: the level where you pass halfway to 60
12.2%: of the XP to 60 is done at 30, the beta's cap

Hours played by level, as creators showed them

Every /played time a creator showed on the beta: level across, hours played up. Lines join one character's times. Tap a point for who, how and the video.

Tap or hover a point.

Every time, as a table

Creator	Character	Played	How	Video
Jokerd	Dwarf Shaman	10: 1 h 39 min · 12: 2 h 45 min	A Hardcore race on a speed route through Dun Morogh	Sep 20
Crix Forever	Warlock	20: 15 h	Much of the time spent testing rather than leveling	Sep 20
Xaryu	Gnome Mage	14: 8 h 42 min	Side by side with a Classic Era Gnome Mage at 8 hours 47 minutes	Sep 24
Solheim Gaming	Mage	20: 8 h 30 min	No AoE farming outside dungeons; 12 to 14 hours to 20 is the usual in Classic for this creator	Sep 25
Mehr Sieglinde	a beta character	17.5: 9 h	About 12 hours to 20 is the usual in Classic Era for this creator	Sep 25
Denpa	Druid	20: 22 h	Questing, before two days of farming level-20 gear	Sep 27
Mishka Kuma	Dwarf Shaman	5: 0 h 22 min · 10: 2 h · 20: 10 h 36 min	No professions, no auction house, two dungeons	Sep 29
Mishka Kuma	Undead Paladin	10: 1 h 46 min · 20: 13 h	The same rules; level 20 took a little over 13 hours	Sep 29
Xaryu	Skyborne Protection Warrior	20: 12 h	Zephras Isle, then Hall of Thanes, Deadmines and Ruins of Lordaeron back to back	Sep 30
Mishka Kuma	Skyborne Druid	5: 0 h 25 min · 10: 2 h 2 min · 20: 11 h 3 min	Horde, no professions or auction house, three dungeons	Oct 1
Bajheera	Night Elf Protection Warrior	17: 11 h	On a PvP realm	Oct 4
Bajheera	Human Warrior	20: 18 h	An earlier character	Oct 4
Ahmpy	a five-player group	22.5: 10 h 30 min	Practising a world-first route with a speed addon	Oct 4
Bhfior	Druid	28: 80 h 18 min	Grouped and streamed, with every dungeon's quests on the way	Oct 5

Each time is the creator's own, from the video at that moment, and none of it is checked against the game. Times run long when a creator streams, tests or groups, and short on a practised route.

Is Forever leveling faster than Classic?

Not by any number so far. The XP from one level to the next is Classic's level by level, and so is the table that sets a quest's XP by its level. Blizzard's analytics on Sep 24 put levels 1 to 20 at 20.5 hours on average in Forever and 20.4 in Classic Era. That week Xaryu compared two level 14 Gnome Mages at the same Westfall gnoll camp, with 8 hours 42 minutes played in Forever and 8 hours 47 in Era.

An early report that Forever would level 26% faster read the XP per level from an older datamined build, and the developers said it wasn't true. Players still split on how it feels. Some find the beta faster than Classic; after the Oct 1 cut to dungeon quest XP, others found questing in the low 20s slow.

From Blizzard's Sep 24 podcast and the game files (build 70450).

What moves your pace

Dungeons once, with their quests. Dungeon XP sits mostly in the quests, and the Oct 1 build cut their bonus. Killing dungeon mobs alone took about 4 hours a level from 12 up in Solheim Gaming's test, so a run pays when you carry every quest for it. The quests to take before each dungeon.
Kills in dungeons. The Oct 8 build raised the XP from creatures killed in dungeons by about 20%, and fixed a bug that cut a whole party's kill XP by its highest-level member.
Rested XP. The Well Rested perk in the Legacy Adventure tree builds rested XP faster and to a higher cap, and a Leatherworker's Camp Tent tops anyone near it up to 5% of a level once an hour. Plan your Legacy.
Food. Blizzard says almost every cooked food in Forever adds a small kill XP buff on top of its stats. Camping and cooking.
A route. Most lost time is walking between quests and looking for them. The zone guides and the Alliance and Horde leveling guides lay out the road.

Level on a route, not a hunchThe BoF Guide is a leveling addon that plays the route in game: the arrow, your quests in order and every warning, with each dungeon's quests collected on the way. Survival-first, pre-built for Hardcore, free to level 30.

From Blizzard's Sep 13 deep dive and Oct 8 notes.

The XP for any stretch of levels

Each bar is the XP from one level to the next. Pick where you are and where you're going.

From level to

4,084,700 XP from 1 to 60: 100% of the road to 60.

XP to the next level share of the road done

Questions

How long does it take to level to 60 in WoW Forever?: Nobody knows yet, because the beta's cap is 30 and launch on Nov 4 is the first chance to reach 60. The XP to 60 is Classic's 4,084,700, and so far Forever has matched Classic Era's pace, so expect a Classic-length road. Level 30 is 12.2% of the XP, and you pass halfway at level 48.
How long does 1 to 20 take in WoW Forever?: Blizzard's analytics put it at 20.5 hours on average (Sep 24), against 20.4 hours in Classic Era. Creators who timed it on the beta took 8.5 to 22 hours played, depending on class, dungeons and how much they stopped to test.
Is WoW Forever leveling faster than Classic?: Not by the numbers so far. The XP curve and the quest XP table are Classic Era's, Blizzard measured 1 to 20 a tenth of an hour slower than Classic Era, and Xaryu's level 14 Gnome Mages were 5 minutes apart in Forever and Era. An early report that Forever would be 26% faster came from an older datamined build, and the developers said it wasn't true.
Did the dungeon XP changes slow leveling down?: For dungeon runs, yes. The Oct 1 build cut the bonus XP dungeon quests pay, so Shadowfang Keep's quests fell from 32,200 to 19,800 XP all together, and the Oct 8 build gave back about 20% on dungeon kills. Running a dungeon once with its quests still pays well; farming one over and over is slow.
What is the fastest way to level in WoW Forever?: Quest on a route that keeps you moving, take each dungeon once with all its quests, keep rested XP up (the Well Rested Legacy perk and a Leatherworker's Camp Tent help) and eat cooked food for its kill XP. The BoF Guide plays such a route in game and is free to level 30.