- Author: Luxrah
- Date: February 17, 2024
- Updated: February 17, 2024
- Expansion: WoW Classic
Season of Discovery will have four leveling content phases, each with a new level cap. Phase 1 started us off with a level 25 cap. Phase 2 will bring that cap to level 40.
Along with the new level cap, we’ll see some more revamped vanilla content, including a new 10-player raid version of the Gnomeregan instance and some fresh content for the Stranglethorn Vale zone. Many classes and talent specializations will also have access to some of their crucial higher-level abilities that were inaccessible at level 25.
In this guide, we’ll look at everything you can expect to see at level 40 in vanilla World of Warcraft, as well as some of the new content we expect to be added in Phase 2 of Season of Discovery.
Inventory & Travel
Your limited bag space may see some slight relief at level 40. Tailors will be able to craft Mageweave Bag, and Journeyman’s Backpack can drop from mobs level 41 and above.
But the big convenience factor at level 40 is getting your first regular mount. For most characters in vanilla that means spending 20
on the riding skill and another 80 on the mount itself. This cost was reduced in Season of Mastery, but has been reverted as of the most recent patch. Paladins and Warlocks can skip buying a mount entirely, since they each get to complete a unique quest that will allow them to summon a special class mount. See our Season of Discovery Mount Guide for more info about the mounts available and how to get them
Travel will also be made easier by the addition of mage portals. At level 40, mages will be able to create portals to two of their faction’s major cities: Ironforge & Stormwind for Alliance, and Orgrimmar & Undercity for Horde. Mages will be able to teleport themselves to Darnassus and Thunder Bluff, but they won’t be able to create portals to those cities until Phase 3.
New Rested Experience Items
Blizzard have added two new items to the game to boost your rested experience as you level: the Cozy Sleeping Bag and Student Fodder.
The Cozy Sleeping Bag is a reusable item that provides a buff that grants up to 3% bonus experience for two hours. Check out our Cozy Sleeping Bag Guide for details about how it works and how to get it.
Student Fodder is a consumable item that gives 20% (4 “bars”) of rested experience regardless of level, the equivalent of resting in an inn or city for 36 hours. See our Student Fodder Guide for more information about this item.
Discoveries
We will see Rune Engravings for at least two additional slots in Phase 2. These Rune Engravings will add new abilities and further expand on the new roles and builds we saw in Phase 1. The Runes that we know about so far have been added to our class rune pages below.
This phase also adds several new skill books to the game that will provide your character with a new permanent spell when used. These abilities are mostly quality of life features such as reduced mana costs for buffs. They are included with our class rune guides on the pages below.
Class Abilities
Many higher level class abilities that were inaccessible in Phase 1 will be available in Phase 2. Perhaps the most significant of these are capstone talents in talent trees, which will be just barely within reach at level 40. Several classes will also be able to wear new armor types at level 40: Hunters and Shamans will be able to use Mail and Paladins and Warriors will be able to equip Plate.
We have a detailed list on each of our Class Abilities & Talents pages:
Class Quests
There are a few class quests that offer some really nice rewards in this level range. Here’s a list of some of the best ones:
Quest | Class | Rewards |
|---|---|---|
Professions
Professions in Phase 2 will be capped at 225 skill, or Expert level. You still won’t be able to complete specialization quests for Blacksmithing, Engineering, or Leatherworking, nor will you be able to complete the Triage quest for First Aid or Nat Pagle’s quests for Fishing. However, you will be able to access a lot of higher level recipes than you could in Phase 1.
There will also be several new recipes added to the game this phase, many of which will be unlocked through an epic quest chain similar to the one we saw in Blackfathom Deeps.
Find out what that means for each profession in our Season of Discovery Profession Guides:
Zones
The following are the zones that you will be able to quest in up to level 40. There won’t be anything stopping you from entering higher level zones in Phase 2, but you’re not likely to find any quests there and the enemies will be extremely dangerous.
Zone | Level Range | Faction |
|---|---|---|
1-10 |  Alliance | |
1-10 |  Horde | |
1-10 | Alliance | |
1-10 | Horde | |
1-10 | Alliance | |
1-10 | Horde | |
10-20 | Alliance | |
10-20 | Alliance | |
10-20 | Horde | |
10-20 | Alliance | |
10-25 | Horde | |
15-25 | Contested | |
15-27 | Contested | |
18-30 | Contested | |
18-30 | Contested | |
20-30 | Contested | |
20-30 | Contested | |
25-35 | Contested | |
30-40 | Contested | |
30-40 | Contested | |
30-40 | Contested | |
30-45 | Contested | |
35-45 | Contested | |
35-45 | Contested | |
35-45 | Contested |
Dungeons
Most of the dungeons that will be available at level 40 are located in zones that are controlled by one faction, but we start to see more entrances in Contested zones in Phase 2.
The developers said in an interview that dungeons beyond Uldaman would be inaccessible, so you won’t be able to enter Razorfen Downs, Zul’Farrak, or Maraudon in this phase.
Blackfathom Deeps and Gnomeregan have both been converted into raids, and their original 5-player dungeon versions are not available in Season of Discovery.
Dungeon | Level Range | Min Level | Entrance |
|---|---|---|---|
13-18 | 8 | ||
17-24 | 10 | ||
17-26 | 10 | ||
22-30 | 14 | ||
24-32 | 15 | ||
30-40 | 25 | ||
26-35 | 21 | ||
30-40 | 21 | ||
32-42 | 21 | ||
35-45 | 21 | ||
35-45 | 30 |
Notable Dungeon Loot at Level 40
Some dungeon loot from this level range is particularly noteworthy, and we’ll mention those pieces below.
Several new loot items have also been datamined for Phase 2 dungeons, so we can expect to see some additional pieces beyond those listed below.
The Scarlet Monastery – Armory
There are a few items worth mentioning in Scarlet Monastery:
Uldaman
The quest Uldaman Reagent Run/ Uldaman Reagent Run will net you 5x Restorative Potion and lead you to the recipe if you’re an Alchemist. The Platinum Discs/ The Platinum Discs rewards Thawpelt Sack, a 14-slot bag. Other notable loot in the dungeon itself:
- Digmaster 5000
- Horned Viking Helmet
- Ironaya’s Bracers
- Nordic Longshank
- Olaf’s All Purpose Shield
- Papal Fez
- Pendulum of Doom
Raids
One raid has been announced for Phase 2, Gnomeregan. This will be a 10-player raid with six bosses. This raid will be open immediately when Phase 2 launches, but the first two weeks of this raid will be on a normal one-week lockout schedule. After that, it will be on a three-day lockout like Blackfathom Deeps.
The Gnomeregan raid is a revamp of the vanilla dungeon of the same name, and will feature new bosses and new loot. The entrance is located in the Alliance zone of Dun Morogh. Horde players will be able to access a Teleportation Pad in Booty Bay that will take them directly to the raid entrance. Unlocking this requires completing the quest Chief Engineer Scooty that is offered by Sovik, the Engineering Supplies vendor in Orgrimmar. Alliance players will not be able to use this teleporter, but will be able to easily reach the raid by traveling from Ironforge.
We’ve already seen several items from this raid, including the Automatic Crowd Pummeler, an upgraded version of the Manual Crowd Pummeler which was limited to three uses. The old version of this item was once heavily farmed by Feral Druids, for whom it remained BIS all the way through the endgame in Vanilla and WoW Classic.
Player Versus Player
Phase 2 will add the Arathi Basin battleground to the game alongside Warsong Gulch. New quests are also being added to help you earn reputation with your Arathi Basin faction. Blizzard has also announced that there will be changes to battleground matchmaking in Phase 2, so groups of five or fewer will be more likely to be matched with other smaller groups and less likely to encounter large premades.
Similar to the Ashenvale PVP Event we saw in Phase 1, we will also see a new zone-wide PvP event in Stranglethorn Vale. This event is called The Blood Moon, and is a 30-minute event on a set three-hour timer. For those 30 minutes, the entire zone will become a free-for-all PvP zone where we will be able to kill other players from either faction to earn a new currency, which can be spent on new gear items. For details about this event including the available rewards, check out our The Blood Moon Stranglethorn Vale PvP Event Guide.
So far the Gurubashi Arena has not been added back into the game. It’s likely that this event has been cut from Season of Discovery and effectively replaced by The Blood Moon. That means no Arena Grand Master or other rewards from the arena chest.
Changes to Phase 1 Content
In addition to all of the new content being added for Phase 2, there will also be some changes to existing content from Phase 1.
The biggest change is Discoverer’s Delight, a new passive buff that increases all experience gained by 50% for characters below level 25. This will help lower level characters catch up to the new content.
There are a few other significant changes to note:
- The Battle for Ashenvale event will move to a 3-hour timetable like the new event in Stranglethorn Vale.
- The Blackfathom Deeps raid will offer increased experience, encouraging players to continue running it as they level.
- The Boon of Blackfathom buff will work up to level 39, but not on level 40 characters.
- Waylaid Supplies can now stack, but can’t be turned in partially filled. They offer increased experience when turned in.
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