Why Are We Ignoring Years of Actual Leveling Data?
What surprises me most about this entire debate is how many people are willing to accept Blizzard’s unspecified “internal data” while ignoring years of publicly available gameplay footage.
Classic 2019 and Anniversary Classic weren’t that long ago. There are hundreds of YouTube videos documenting actual leveling routes, clear times, and XP/hour results.
From the examples I’ve seen:
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Optimized solo questing with RestedXP (levels 35–40): 50–60k XP/hour.
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Optimized SM Cathedral spellcleave with 4 mage and 1 pull/1 heal : 60–80k XP/hour.
These numbers suggest dungeon grinding can be faster, but not necessarily by the enormous margin Blizzard’s changes imply.
Now consider the nerf:
80% initial reduction + 20% subsequent buff = 76% net reduction in dungeon mob XP.
If a dungeon group previously earned 60–80k XP/hour entirely from affected mob kills, that would drop to approximately 15–20k XP/hour, assuming identical kill rates.
Yet Josh Greenfield claims dungeon leveling after the adjustments should be “very close, if not equal” to optimized questing.
How do those numbers reconcile?
I’m not claiming YouTube videos automatically invalidate Blizzard’s internal data. Different routes, group compositions, XP sources, and levels can produce different results.
But those videos provide real, observable, repeatable benchmarks that Blizzard’s claims should be tested against.
If Blizzard’s internal calculations show that dungeon grinding was dramatically more efficient than questing, show us the methodology and explain the discrepancy.
Because based on the historical results available to players, a 76% reduction in dungeon mob XP appears wildly disproportionate.
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***New Comparison**
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“Defias Brotherhood” ; 2600 xp in classic, 6200 xp in Forever now
“Red Silk Bandana” ; 1250 xp on classic, 2950 xp on Forever now
Running Deadmines Full
17000 xp on Classic Anniversary according to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jq8WSpQOgf8
4000 xp on Forever now according to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VplVx5n45LU
You lose 13000 xp from mob on the first run. And they are only giving back like portion of it from quest. Good Job!
Noticed that? 17000*0.24=4080!
At very least we prove the theory and numbers are correct.
80% initial reduction + 20% subsequent buff = 76% net reduction in dungeon mob XP.
Conclusion?
The two quests are just examples: one with the largest XP increase (3,600 XP) and one with the smallest (1,700 XP).
Let’s be generous and assume that, out of all 6 Deadmines quests, 3 receive the larger buff and 3 receive the smaller one.
3,600 × 3 + 1,700 × 3 = 15,900 bonus quest XP.
Now remember, a full dungeon clear used to give 17,000 XP, but that was nerfed to 4,000 XP.
17,000 − 4,000 = 13,000 XP lost per run.
So even with the 15,900 bonus quest XP, you’re already at a net loss compared to Classic by your second full clear:
• First clear: +15,900 − 13,000 = +2,900 XP
• Second clear: +2,900 − 13,000 = −10,100 XP
And the gap only gets bigger with every additional run. For dungeons with fewer quests, it’s not even a competition. You’re taking a straight XP loss right from the start.
***Updates**
Questing Examples:
Hunter Questing LVL38-40 He has Addon showing XP/H at 55-75K depending on the quest turn-ins
Warriorr Questing LVL35-38 average 1.5-2h per level which is 71-76k per level. Net around 40K xp/H
Hunter Questing LVL35-38 average 1.5h per level with 71-76k xp per level. Net around 50K xp/H
Rogue Questing LVL35-40 average 1.5h per level with 71-90k xp per level. Net around 55k xp/H
Spellcleave Examples:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSuBPyutJiM
LVL 43 Start with 5.75 bar xp at 1:45 ends 8.1 bars at 1:58.
13mins with 2.45 bar of 106k per level. 60k xp/h
www.youtube.com/watch?v=aM4zbT8SOLI
LVL43 Start with 14.25 bar xp at 11:07 ends 16.5 bar xp at 11:17
10mins with 2.25 bar of 106k per level but you can only run 5 runs per hour 60k xp/h
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dQHYf4Ilyc
LVL42 Start with 2.5 bar xp at 6:39 ends 5.1 bar xp at 6:48
10mins with 2.6 bar of 100k per level but you can only run 5 runs per hour 65k xp/h
