WOW Forever Race - Forever Race To 60

The WoW Forever race to level 60 is on. When World of Warcraft: Forever launched at 23:00 UTC on November 4, Blizzard opened every region at the same moment - so for the first time since Classic in 2019, the whole world started a race to the level cap from the same second. Twenty-four hours in, nobody is at 60 yet, but a pack of European players has broken away, and one of them has won this race before.

Here's where the Forever race to 60 stands right now: who's ahead, which classes and races they picked, how fast they're going, how much is still left, how the race trackers work and where to watch - plus our guides if you want to level quickly yourself.

WoW Forever race to 60: the leaders are level 41 after 24 hours, about 30% of the XP to level 60 — The WoW Forever race to 60, 24 hours after launch.

WoW Forever race to 60: the short version

No one has reached 60 yet. As of 22:45 UTC on November 5 - about 24 hours into the race - the highest level on the public trackers is 41.
Six characters are tied at level 41, all in Europe on the Normal ruleset, according to the World First 60 leaderboard.
Mages lead the pack: three of the six are Undead Mages, alongside an Undead Paladin, a Troll Shaman and a Night Elf Hunter.
JokerdTV is in the race. His character Jokerd Prime is one of the six at 41; he was the first player to reach 60 in WoW Classic in 2019.
Most of the race is still ahead. On the Classic XP curve, which Forever keeps, level 41 is only about 30% of the total XP needed for level 60.

Who's ahead in the WoW Forever race right now?

Two trackers agree on the top of the board. The WoW Forever Tier List race page, updated at 22:45 UTC on November 5 with the race clock at 23 hours and 49 minutes, shows five characters at level 41, all on the Normal ruleset in Europe. The World First 60 leaderboard, checked shortly after, shows a sixth - Ksuper's Hunter - joining them at 41:

Vitochie Gofast (streamer VitochieR1) - Undead Mage, level 41
Lmgd Mmr (Lmgd1) - Troll Shaman, level 41
Jokerd Prime (JokerdTV) - Undead Mage, level 41
Burning Speed (b_urning) - Undead Mage, level 41
Cloud Bells (cloudbells) - Undead Paladin, level 41
Ksuper Worldfirst (Ksuper2) - Night Elf Hunter, level 41

Right behind them, World First 60 lists four characters at level 39: Tommysalami Forever (tommysalamiwow), Ahmp Ahmpy (ahmpy), Gunnar Dota (Gunnar) and Liz Pls (okayitsliz). Liz's character was the top Skyborne on the early boards - a Druid, according to the AOTC race board.

Ksuper Worldfirst is the leader with the most detailed public data, because he runs the AOTC addon. On the WoW Forever Tier List's snapshot he was level 40 with 85.8% shown beside his level, in Hillsbrad Foothills, after 23 hours and 29 minutes played - earning about 52,500 XP per hour. The five characters above him at that moment showed their level only, with no XP or played-time data.

Note: these are the levels the public trackers showed at the time of writing. The trackers can run several minutes behind the game, and the race moves fast - check the live boards linked below for the current standings.

The first 24 hours of the race

The trackers give a rough picture of how the first day went:

23:00 UTC, November 4: WoW Forever goes live in every region at once. The Forever Guides' tracker, updated just before launch, still marks every first as "Unclaimed".
About 3.5 hours in: an early snapshot of the AOTC board shows Hunters filling most of its top 10. Ksuper Worldfirst leads at level 18 (42% of the way through it) in Darkshore after 3 hours and 35 minutes played, earning about 36,300 XP per hour. Gingi Beastmode and Nevermore are level 15 Troll Hunters in the Barrens and Durotar; the top Mage on that snapshot, a Gnome, is level 14 in Loch Modan.
About 24 hours in: the leaders are level 41. Ksuper's rate has climbed to about 52,500 XP per hour, and Undead Mages have caught up with the Hunters at the top.

That pattern - Hunters fastest early, Mages catching up once they can pull bigger groups - is exactly what experienced racers expected. The question for the second day is whether anyone can keep those rates up as each level costs more XP.

The rest of the pack: PvP, Roleplay and the US

Not every racer is on the Normal ruleset. The WoW Forever Tier List's streamer panel, from the same snapshot, shows the highest-level streamers on other rulesets and in other regions:

Gingi Beastmode - Troll Hunter, EU PvP, level 37 (39,800 XP per hour)
Tekz Mage - Human Mage, EU PvP, level 36
Smoshie Smash - Human Priest, EU PvP, level 36
Dan Gorbachov - Troll Hunter, EU PvP, level 34
Figment Tv - Gnome Mage, US, level 34
Babyhoof Hooffles - Druid, EU PvP, level 33
Savu Forever - Undead Priest, EU Roleplay, level 33
Nevermore Twitchtv - Troll Hunter, EU PvP, level 33

On the PvP rulesets, racers can be attacked by the other faction while they level, which slows them down - so the Normal ruleset is where the race is fastest. The highest US racer on that panel, Figment, was level 34.

Why Mages and Hunters are winning

Look at the top 10 and two classes stand out: Mages and Hunters. That isn't a surprise to anyone who watched the Classic race. Mages can pull large groups of mobs and kill them together with area spells, which gives them the highest XP rates of any class when it's done well - and three of the six leaders are Mages. Hunters level with their pet doing much of the work, so they lose very little time to resting and recovering. Our sims agree: Beast Mastery Hunter is the strongest damage spec at level 30 in our WoW Forever DPS rankings, with 155 DPS, and Hunters filled the top of the AOTC board in the first hours after launch.

The race choices are telling too. Five of the six leaders are Horde - four Undead and a Troll - and all six chose the Normal ruleset. If you want to know which race is best for your own class after the November 2 racial changes, the best race is shown for every spec on our rankings, and our final build roundup explains what changed.

How much is left? The XP math

Level 41 sounds like two-thirds of the way to 60. It isn't. According to ConquestCapped's leveling guide, Blizzard didn't change the Classic XP curve for Forever: it takes about 4.1 million XP to go from 1 to 60, from 400 XP for level 2 to 209,800 XP for the last level. Using that curve:

Level 20 is about 4% of the way to 60.
Level 30 is about 12%.
Level 41 - where the leaders are now - is about 30%.
Level 50 is about 56%.
Level 59 to 60 alone takes 209,800 XP - more than the first 18 levels combined.

So after 24 hours, the leaders have about 2.8 million XP still to earn. At Ksuper's last published rate of about 52,500 XP per hour, that's more than 50 hours of play. XP rates rise as racers reach higher-level mobs and quests, so the real time should be shorter - but not by enough to finish in a day.

Our take: one thread on Blizzard's forums predicted the first level 60s "by tomorrow morning". The XP curve says otherwise. With roughly 70% of the XP still to go after the first day, and the highest levels costing the most, we expect the first 60 to take at least another two days - which would put it around three days after launch, close to the Classic record. That's an estimate from the public numbers, not a prediction about any one player: a racer could find a faster route, and trackers only show what they can see.

The record to beat: Classic's first 60

There's history here. When WoW Classic launched on August 26, 2019, the first player to reach level 60 was the streamer Jokerd. Guinness World Records lists him as the first player to reach level 60 in World of Warcraft: Classic, on August 30, 2019, "just 3 days 7 hours after World of Warcraft: Classic's release." Video Games Chronicle reported at the time that he had been grinding virtually non-stop since release.

Seven years later, Jokerd is racing again - his character Jokerd Prime is one of the six at level 41 after the first day. Whether he can repeat it against a field that has studied his old route is one of the best stories of the WoW Forever launch.

What makes WoW Forever's race different

Forever isn't Classic, and a few changes matter for anyone racing - or just leveling fast:

New zones and quests. Forever adds over a thousand new quests, so the old Classic routes don't fit everywhere - though familiar zones still matter: Ksuper was questing in Hillsbrad Foothills at level 40.
A bigger quest log. You can hold 40 quests at once instead of 20, according to ConquestCapped - a big help for stacking quests in one area.
Nine new dungeons. Forever's new dungeons start at level 13. During the beta, Blizzard first reduced and then raised the XP from dungeon mobs, and halved the extra bonus on dungeon quests.
Rested XP. Kills give double XP while you have rested XP, which builds while you're logged out in an inn or city - something non-stop racers barely get to use.
Faster respawns at launch. Blizzard raised respawn rates for launch, fastest in the starting zones, so crowded areas cleared quickly in the first hours.
One worldwide launch. Every region opened at the same moment, so no region got a head start.

How the race trackers work

There's no official Blizzard leaderboard for the race, so the community built several. Each one sees the race a little differently:

AOTC Race to 60 (race.aotc.gg) - the most detailed board. Players who install its addon share their level, XP and zone; with its Companion app, progress is sent every few seconds. AOTC says the Companion "only reads pixels drawn by the addon" and doesn't read memory or modify the game. Characters without the addon show their level only.
World First 60 (worldfirst60.com) - reads progress from public stream frames, so XP readings and rates can be estimates.
WoW Forever Tier List (wowforevertierlist.com/race-to-60) - combines the live boards into one page with a race clock and a streamer panel.
The Forever Guides - a world first tracker that marks every first as "Unclaimed" until it sees verifiable proof.

Because each board gets its data differently, they can disagree by a level or two - and they all lag the game by a few minutes. When the first 60 happens, it will almost certainly be live on stream first.

Where to watch the WoW Forever race

Most of the leaders stream their race on Twitch, and the community stream lists make them easy to find - WoWForever.be's stream page, for example, listed around 400 WoW Forever streams live at the time of writing, including ahmpy's world first 60 race. Search Twitch for the streamer names above, or follow the live boards to see who's closest.

Can you join the race board?

Yes. AOTC's board isn't only for streamers: its FAQ says the AOTC addon shares your level, XP and zone so your progress shows on the board, and characters that aren't signed in or using the addon still appear, but without their XP. If you're curious how your own pace compares with the leaders, it's an easy way to see it - just remember that the board needs a few hours to settle, according to AOTC, so missing or outdated characters are normal.

What the race means for everyone else

For most players, the race is something to watch, not something to join - and it changes surprisingly little for the rest of the server. The first level 60s will be early to the level 60 dungeons and the first to farm gold at the top level, which is what one player on Blizzard's forums pointed to as the main effect: the economy. But there's a natural brake. The first raids - Barrow Deeps, Hyjal Summit and Onyxia's Lair - don't open until December 9, so even the fastest racer will wait more than four weeks for the raids. If you're leveling at your own pace, you're not missing out on anything that won't still be there.

The racers do leave something useful behind: their routes. Fast leveling routes are built on a few simple habits - quests picked up in bulk and done in one trip, hearthstones used to jump to the next quest hub, and as little time in town as possible. Those habits work at any speed, whether you play for two hours a night or twenty, and they're the same ideas behind our quest routes and class leveling guides.

Racing tips you can use

Plan your route before you log in. Racers don't stop to read quest text - they already know where the next objective is. Our 1-30 guide and Questie do that job for you.
Stack quests in the same area. With a 40-quest log, pick up everything in a hub before you leave it.
Spend your talent points the moment you get them. Plan the whole build in advance in the talent calculator.
Keep your gear up to date. A quest reward that's a real upgrade makes every fight shorter; check it with Find Upgrades.
Rest when you stop. Log out in an inn or city to build rested XP - kills give double XP while it lasts.

Want to level fast yourself? Our leveling guides

You don't need to play for 24 hours straight to level efficiently. The same things that make racers fast - a good route, the right talents, and not wasting time on bad quests - work at any pace. Here's where to start on Forever Upgrades:

The route: our WoW Forever leveling guide for levels 1-30 lists every quest in order for both factions, with coordinates.
Your class: a leveling guide for every class, covering talents from 10 to 60 - Warrior, Paladin, Hunter, Rogue, Priest, Shaman, Mage, Warlock and Druid. The Mage leveling guide covers the AoE spec the leaders are using.
Every quest: the quest database has every quest's giver, objectives, reward and coordinates, and quest reward upgrades shows which rewards are upgrades for your spec.
Talents: plan your build in the WoW Forever talent calculator, with a default build for every spec on the November 2 trees.
The best leveling spec: the best level 30 DPS spec in WoW Forever ranks every class in our sims.
Addons: the 15 must-have addons for WoW Forever leveling - Questie, TomTom, RestedXP and our own Forever Upgrades Export.
Gear: paste your character into Find Upgrades to see the best upgrade for every slot, and check the item database for where each item drops.
Professions: gathering pays for your training - see the professions page and the best profession for every class.

Which spec levels fastest?Our level 30, 50 and 60 rankings for every spec, with the best race for each, after the November 2 build.See the rankings

WoW Forever race to 60: FAQ

Has anyone reached level 60 in WoW Forever? Not as of 22:45 UTC on November 5, about 24 hours after launch. The highest level on the public trackers was 41.
Who is leading the WoW Forever race? Six characters were tied at level 41 on the World First 60 leaderboard: Vitochie Gofast, Lmgd Mmr, Jokerd Prime, Burning Speed, Cloud Bells and Ksuper Worldfirst - all in Europe, on the Normal ruleset.
What class is fastest to 60? In the race so far, Mages and Hunters lead. In our level 30 sims, Beast Mastery Hunter is the strongest leveling spec.
Who was first to 60 in WoW Classic? Jokerd, on August 30, 2019, 3 days and 7 hours after launch, according to Guinness World Records.
When will someone hit 60? Nobody knows yet. With about 70% of the XP still to go after the first day, our estimate is at least two more days.
Is there an official leaderboard? No - the race is tracked by community sites like AOTC, World First 60 and the WoW Forever Tier List.
How long does it take a normal player to reach 60? Much longer than the racers - think weeks, not days. The first raids open on December 9, so there's no rush.

Whoever gets there first, the WoW Forever race to 60 is already the biggest leveling race since Classic. We'll update our coverage when the first level 60 is confirmed. Until then, good luck to everyone racing - and to everyone taking their time.

More from Forever Upgrades

Everything else for WoW Forever: the home page, news, Sim DPS, BiS lists, class guides (for example Arcane Mage and Beast Mastery Hunter), our addon, the FAQ, about us and contact.