The long road to level max in "World of Warcraft" has been cut in half, just weeks before the "Dragonflight" (opens in new tab) expansion drops later this month. [Icy-Veins (opens in new tab) calculations indicate that Blizzard has issued a patch that reduces the amount of XP required to get from level 1 to level 60 by 57%. Unlike temporary XP gain boosts like the recent "Winter Winds" buff, Blizzard has permanently made the entire leveling up experience faster than ever.

The XP required to reach 60 from level 49 has been reduced by about 70%, and starting anywhere in the Shadowlands, you can zoom up to the maximum level in as little as 2 hours (open in new tab) with XP boosting items and a good quest route.

Blizzard has accelerated the leveling experience considerably over the past few years. Not only are zones packed with quests and enemies, but the entire world scales with your level. Once you reach level 10, you can choose a specific expansion zone to visit. Many people recommend Warlords of Draenor because of the concentration of quests and bonus objectives, which give you a lot of XP for doing almost nothing. Combine this efficiency with the new XP requirements, XP boosts from heirlooms, PvP warm mode on, and rest bonus XP, and you can reach level 60 in a matter of days.

WoW: Dragonflight raises the level cap to 70 and introduces a new dragon-themed storyline set in the ancient homeland of the Dragon Islands. Because the new expansion is not about competing to reach the level cap, but about experiencing the story and unlocking new features, leveling up may seem slower than in other parts of the game.

You can always skip most of this process by pre-ordering the Heroic or Epic version of Dragonflight to get your character up to level 60, or by purchasing level skips separately for $60. With one level 50 character, you can roll a highly customizable (opens in new tab) new dragon race, the Draktir, which starts at level 58 and ends its starting zone (opens in new tab) at level 60.

WoW: Dragon Flight will be released on November 28.