World of Warcraft is one of the longest-running MMORPGs that is still releasing new content at nearly 20 years with 9 expansions. This can lead to some confusion on the proper order of expansions for new or potential players. This confusion can be made worse by the relatively new ability to choose which expansion you will progress through before reaching the most current expansion (Dragonflight as of this article’s writing).
If you are looking to get into World of Warcraft or just want to refresh your memory of the expansion order, this guide will help you out. First will be the TL;DR list with their release years, followed by a more detailed blog post describing the expansions, and how they fit into the timeline. The latter can be important if you want to understand what happened to the zones that originally came out with the base game (aka, Vanilla or Classic) when the Cataclysm expansion revamped them.
I won’t include Vanilla in the shortlist, as those zones no longer exist in their original form in the current version of the game. If you want to experience them, check out the Classic servers. You can experience the original zones in any servers that host Vanilla, The Burning Crusade, or Wrath of the Lich King.
- The Burning Crusade (TBC) – 2007
- Wrath of the Lich King (WotLK)- 2008
- Cataclysm (Cata)- 2010
- Mists of Pandaria (MoP)- 2012
- Warlords of Draenor (WoD)- 2014
- Legion – 2016
- Battle for Azeroth (BfA)- 2018
- Shadowlands (SL) – 2020
- Dragonflight (DF) – 2022
To select which expansion you’ll play through in order to reach the current expansion’s content, you’ll speak to Chromie in your faction’s capital city; Orgrimmar for the Horde or Stormwind for the Alliance.
Vanilla – November 2004
The original release of World of Warcraft with no expansions yet added to it, is often referred to as, “Vanilla.” It was released with the two continents of the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor, with some zones acting as exceptions. Eversong Woods, the Ghostlands, Azuremyst Isle, and Bloodmyst Isle were added with the Burning Crusade. Mount Hyjal, Uldum, the Twilight Highlands, plus a few zones not on the Vanilla continents, were added later during Cataclysm.
Although the original versions of the Eastern Kingdom and Kalimdor zones don’t exist in the modern version of the game, you can play the updated versions by selecting the Cataclysm option when you speak with Chromie.
The Burning Crusade – January 2007
The Burning Crusade’s primary addition was the landmass known as Outland. Outland is the shattered remnants of Draenor, which was mostly destroyed during the events of Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal. Outland’s zones include (in their original order):
- Hellfire Peninsula
- Zangarmarsh
- Terrokkar Forest
- Nagrand
- Blade’s Edge Mountains
- Netherstorm / Shadowmoon Valley
- These two were considered the “endgame” zones of TBC and could be done in any order.
As mentioned in the Vanilla section, TBC added the four zones to the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor. Eversong Woods and the Ghostlands were added as the starting zones for Blood Elves. Azuremyst Isle and Bloodmyst Isle were added as the starting zones for Draenei.
You can transition smoothly into these zones by choosing Sunstrider Isle (Blood Elves) or Ammen Vale (Draenei) when creating characters of either of the Burning Crusade races, as opposed to choosing the newer Exile’s Reach starting experience which is race agnostic.
These starting zones have not been updated, so their storylines still take place during the events of TBC, whereas the rest of the zones on Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor currently take place during the events of the Cataclysm.
You may also notice the Isle of Quel’Danas north of Eversong Woods on your map. This was not a leveling zone, but an end-game zone added in the last patch of TBC which housed a new dungeon, Magister’s Terrace, and the final raid, Sunwell Plateau. It also added daily quests which were farmed to acquire gear designed to help players catch-up a little faster in order to clear Sunwell Plateau before the expansion ended.
WotLK‘s primary addition was Northrend, the icy continent north of Azeroth. Northrend is home to many powerful forces, both living and undead. Unlike TBC with a mostly linear zone order, WotLK offered players two possible leveling zones as they progressed. This was designed both to give players some choice of how they’re leveling experience played out and to help alleviate the pressure that expansion launches put on WoW’s servers by spreading players out across the continent instead of dumping them all in a zone like Hellfire Peninsula in a giant mob.
- Borean Tundra/ Howling Fjord
- Dragonblight / Grizzly Hills
- Zul-Drak / Sholazar Basin
- Storm Peaks
- Icecrown
Cataclysm – December 2010
Cataclysm was the first expansion to not add a landmass to the game. Instead, it updated all of the old zones of the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor, including their storylines. The events of those zones now take place after WotLK, and some of the effects of that expansion’s events can be felt in those updates, along with the Cataclysm itself triggered by Deathwing in the opening cinematic.
However, it also added several leveling zones designed for players to go from level 80 to level 85 (the new max level at the time). That may sound confusing as the max level of the most recent expansion (as of September 2023) is 70. That’s because the WoW dev team “squished” the levels down to level 60 in Shadowlands, due to everyone agreeing that the inflated numbers from so many years of character power creep were getting out of hand.
Like WotLK, Cataclysm gave players a choice in which zones they’d start out in.
- Mount Hyjal / Vashj’ir
- Uldum / Deepholm
- Twilight Highlands
Like TBC, Cataclysm introduced new races of Goblins (Horde) and Worgen (Alliance), and those races came with new starting zones. The goblin starting zones are inaccessible after they are completed by your new goblin characters, so it’s not worth mentioning here. The Ruins of Gilneas are accessible but don’t contain any content to explore or quest through. So at best, you can visit it for exploration and sightseeing, but that is about it.
Cataclysm also added the isles of Tol Barad, which housed some daily quests and a PvP zone known as the Tol Barad Peninsula.
Mists of Pandaria – September 2012
From here on out things get pretty straightforward. There are far fewer revamped zones, and the ones that are revamped can be swapped between their Cataclysm version and their more updated versions. In Mists of Pandaria Theramore was destroyed by an arcane bomb. However, it will be perfectly intact if you quest through the Cataclysm content, and you can choose to see the destroyed version of Theramore by talking to a bronze dragon NPC outside of the city.
And then of course MoP would add Pandaria and all of the zones that it comes with. Unlike WotLK and Cata, MoP would switch back to a more linear leveling path:
- Jade Forest
- Valley of the Four Winds
- Krasarang Wilds
- Kun-Lai Summit
- Townlong Steppes
- Dread Wastes
End-game zones (not needed for leveling)
- Vale of Eternal Blossoms
- Isle of Thunder
- Timeless Isle
Warlords of Draenor – November 2014
Like MoP, WoD would transform one of the legacy zones with the option to revert it back and forth using a bronze dragon NPC. In this case, the Blasted Lands are invaded by the Iron Horde as opposed to being filled with fel-infused wildlife, demons, and ogres.
WoD adds Draenor, a version of the Orcish home world that is set in the past, and in an alternate timeline. So it has little connection the rest of Azeroth, especially now. The starting experience is split by faction, with the Alliance starting in Shadowmoon Valley, and the Horde starting in Frostfire Ridge. From there the quest path becomes the same for both factions.
- Shadowmoon Valley (Alliance) / Frostfire Ridge (Horde)
- Gorgrond
- Talador
- Spires of Arak
- Nagrand
End-game zone (not needed for leveling)
- Tanaan Jungle
- Ashran (PvP area)
Legion – August 2016
Legion added The Broken Isles and later created an end-game zone in the Burning Legion’s home world of Argus.
Going back to the WotLK and Cata design, players would have a choice of how to progress through the expansion. While the path could change, the original intent was for players to complete all 4 leveling zones regardless of the order. This typically isn’t necessary now though, as players often finish leveling before finishing all of the zones and then move onto the current expansion.
- Azsuna / Stormheim
- Val’sharah / Highmountain
- Suramar (End-game… ish)
End-game zones (not needed for leveling)
- The Broken Shore
- Argus
Battle for Azeroth – August 2018
BfA incinerated the entirety of Teldrassil and Darnassus and transformed Darkshore into a battleground. Like the other transformed zones, they can be switched back with the obligatory bronze dragon NPC. BfA would also introduce several new races, but like the Cata racial starting zones, they would not be accessible outside of leveling said race, aside from maybe being a small, and sort of useless, hub you can visit.
As for leveling, we revert back to a WoD-style faction split, but this time it goes even further. The Alliance will quest through the zones of Kul Tiras, and the Horde through Zandalar. As you progress through your faction’s storyline, you will get an opportunity to do some faction-specific quests on the opposite faction’s landmass, but it doesn’t really have you explore the full zones unless you hang around longer than you need to reach the current expansion content.
Originally you could progress through your faction zones in any order you wanted, but it seems there is now a leveled order to them.
Additionally, you may notice the Naga capital of Nazjatar and the mechagnome home of Mechagon, both end-game zones.
- Tiragarde Sound (Alliance) / Zuldazar (Horde)
- Drustvar (Alliance) / Nazmir (Horde)
- Stormsong Valley (Alliance) / Vol’dun (Horde)
End-game zones (not needed for leveling)
- Nazjatar
- Mechagon
Shadowlands – November 2020
SL will have you choose a covenant early on. This decision gives you a few special abilities and dictates which zone you will quest through first. After that, you are free to choose which order you go in. The Maw and Zereth Mortis are both end-game zones that will have little impact on your playthrough now that the expansion is over. If you’ve already cleared SL once before, you can choose to skip the regular questing experience and instead do a more free-form experience of completing daily quests and bonus areas.
- Ardenweald / Bastion / Maldraxxus / Ardenweald
End-game zones (not needed for leveling)
- The Maw
- Zereth Mortis
Dragonflight – November 2022
As of the writing of this article, DF is the current expansion. The leveling process is linear for your first playthrough then like SL you can choose a more freeform leveling experience where you can bounce around all of the zones doing content to level up.
- The Waking Shores
- Ohn’ahran Plains
- Azure Span
- Thaldraszus
End-game zones (not needed for leveling)
- The Forbidden Reach
- Zaralek Cavern
More to be added as expansions release. If you have any other questions or see anything I missed please reach out and I’ll add corrections and/or updates.
Jumping into World of Warcraft can be overwhelming due to the volume of content accumulated over nearly two decades. I hope this guide helps you parse the bloated content and focus on what interests you the most.
