"50% of Nothing Is Still Nothing": Why the World of Warcraft: Forever Dungeon XP Buff Isn't Winning Players Over
Four days after global servers opened at midnight going into November 5, Blizzard Entertainment has deployed a major live hotfix targeting dungeon progression in World of Warcraft: Forever. Responding to reports that 5-player instances were rapidly emptying out once players finished their initial quest runs, the development team increased dungeon enemy kill experience by 50%. Yet instead of celebrating on the official Battle.net forums and Reddit, players immediately broke out the spreadsheets and summed up the adjustment with a blunt verdict: "50% of nothing is still nothing."
Why a 50% Buff Only Restores Dungeon Kill XP to 36% of Classic Era Values
To understand why the community remains skeptical, you have to look back at the sweeping pre-launch adjustments implemented by Kris Zierhut and Josh Greenfield ahead of the November 5 rollout. Determined to eliminate high-level Mage boosting services and the endless Scarlet Monastery cleave grinding that defined the 2019 relaunch, Blizzard slashed baseline dungeon elite kill experience by roughly 75% to 76% compared to historical Classic Era rates.
The mathematical catch behind the November 8 hotfix lies in how multiplicative percentages work. Rather than adding 50 percentage points back to the original baseline, the buff multiplies the heavily gutted 24% residual value:
- Classic Era Baseline (2004 / 2019): 100% standard experience per elite enemy defeated in a 5-player party.
- WoW: Forever Launch Rate (November 5, 2026): roughly 24% of baseline value following the 76% anti-boosting cut.
- Post-Hotfix Rate With the +50% Buff (November 8-9, 2026): 24% multiplied by 1.5, bringing kill XP to just 36% (up to 42% depending on level bracket) of original Classic values.
In practical terms, even after a headline-grabbing 50% boost, an elite dungeon mob still awards nearly two-thirds less experience than it did in traditional Classic Azeroth. For groups hoping to level primarily through 5-player content while avoiding crowded open-world hubs where Horde PvP character creation locks enforce a strict 50/50 faction balance, the efficiency gap between dungeons and outdoor questing remains massive.
Thane's Hall and Ruins of Lordaeron: How Hourly Dungeon XP Compares to Open-World Questing
This progression bottleneck is especially noticeable in the brand-new early-level dungeons introduced in World of Warcraft: Forever, including Thane's Hall (levels 13 to 18, located beneath Ironforge in Dun Morogh for the Alliance) and the Ruins of Lordaeron (levels 15 to 20, set in Tirisfal Glades for the Horde). Across both these new wings and classic staples like the Deadmines or Wailing Caverns, elite packs feature higher health pools and mechanics that prevent reckless area-of-effect pulls.
| Leveling Method (Levels 15 to 30) | Mob Kill XP Multiplier | Estimated Hourly Yield (XP / Hour) | Best Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open-World Questing (1,000+ New Quests) | 100% (Standard) | 20,000 to 28,000 XP/h | Fastest overall route from level 1 to 60 |
| First Dungeon Run (With All Instance Quests) | ~36% + Massive Quest XP Bonus | 22,000 to 30,000 XP/h (one-time run) | Highly rewarding when turning in a full quest log |
| Repeat Dungeon Run Pre-Hotfix (Nov 5 to Nov 7) | ~24% of Classic baseline | 6,000 to 9,000 XP/h | Near-zero progression, strictly for specific boss drops |
| Repeat Dungeon Run After +50% Buff (Thane's Hall, Lordaeron) | ~36% of Classic baseline | 9,000 to 13,500 XP/h | Still roughly half the speed of outdoor questing |
As the numbers tracked by leveling groups show, Blizzard's core design philosophy has not budged: running each dungeon once with its three to five associated quests is still mandatory and lucrative thanks to heavily buffed dungeon quest rewards. However, the moment a party steps back inside for a second or third run to chase a rare weapon drop or help a guildmate, foot travel times without summoning stones and slower elite clear speeds drag hourly experience down to less than half of a standard outdoor questing session. To optimize your spec for both outdoor quest chains and 5-player runs, check out our complete World of Warcraft: Forever Class Tier List for PvE, PvP, and 1-60 Leveling.
Collateral Damage for Dedicated Tanks and Healers Ahead of December 9 Raids
Beyond raw leveling speed, veteran players on the official forums point out an unintended side effect on group formation. Adventurers who level directly in Protection (Warrior, Paladin) or Restoration (Priest, Druid, Shaman) specializations traditionally rely on repeated dungeon runs to keep pace without suffering from slow solo kill speeds in the Barrens or Redridge Mountains.
By keeping elite mob experience suppressed at 36% of Classic rates, Blizzard inadvertently discourages Tanks and Healers from queuing up for repeat runs once their personal dungeon quests are finished. As a result, DPS players are already reporting longer wait times when assembling parties for mid-level dungeons like Alcaz Prison, The Excavations in the Wetlands, or Dalaran City, even as guilds race to prepare for the first three raids unlocking on Wednesday, December 9, 2026 (Barrow Deeps, Mount Hyjal Summit, and Onyxia's Lair).
My Take
Playing a Holy/Discipline Priest Healer myself since launch, I feel this problem every single session: leveling right now is a tedious slog. In the game's current state, dungeons have zero progression value beyond checking off your one-time dungeon quests, which groups end up rushing through in ten minutes flat, even in instances that are supposed to be complex and challenging.
The real issue is that open-world leveling for Tanks and Healers remains just as painful, forcing us to either suffer through every pull or play off-specs that aren't actually ours just to level at a decent pace. Simply put, frustration is starting to set in. Blizzard really needs to find a smart balance for the roles that every single party depends on: a dedicated XP buff specifically for Healers and Tanks would be the perfect fix.
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SEO consultant for over 20 years and digital entrepreneur, Charles "Grimtag" is the founder of Pro-Gamer.gg, Retrocharting.com, and Gamescharting.com. A competitive gamer, streamer, and retro game collector, he has worked in the video game industry for over 15 years, notably as a consultant for leading game price comparison platforms. Passionate about real-time performance data and gaming technology, he analyzes competitive esports, gaming hardware benchmarks, and creator workflows on Pro-Gamer.gg with an authentic player perspective.
