As Blizzard's front page has noted, the realm levels page has been updated with all of the Northrend zones and the levels that we'll be going through them. There are ten Northrend zones in total, which you'd think would equate to one level per zone, but of course that's not the case -- as with Burning Crusade, there's a lot of overlap, so it looks like not only will many players be reaching 80 before seeing everything, but you may even have to run the zones twice to get the entire Northrend experience.

And it's interesting to see that Lake Wintergrasp is so [redacted!]. Wait, what? You don't want to know which levels match up with which zones in Wrath of the Lich King? Just in case you think this list is a spoiler, we've gone ahead and thrown it, uncensored, after the break. Read on for where you'll be when.
Borean Tundra: 68-72
Howling Fjord: 68-72
Dragonblight: 71-74
Grizzly Hills: 73-75
Zul'Drak: 74-77
Sholazar Basin: 76-78
Crystalsong Forest: 77-80
Storm Peaks: 77-80
Icecrown: 77-80
Wintergrasp: 77-80

Ahem. As I was saying, it's interesting to see that Wintergrasp is so high, though that's definitely the best way to make sure everyone's playing fair. And though it's obvious now, I almost forgot that Borean Tundra and Howling Fjord started off right at 68 -- does this mean that Netherstorm and Shadowmoon Valley are now as useless as Silithus? Not to mention that you'll note there are not one but three zones scheduled for 77-80 (not counting the PvP zone), so if the next expansion starts at 78, does that mean that Blizzard will be throwing three whole zones away?

Kind of a shame. But that's all in the future, of course: we're excited about Northrend for sure.

Tags: borean-tundra, howling-fjord, icecrown, leveling, levels, netherstorm, northrend, shadowmoon-valley, wrath-beta, wrath-of-the-lich-king, zones

Filed under: Realm News, Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, PvP, Quests, Expansions, Leveling