The Cataclysm zone level requirements help to dictate where to go when leveling through the latest World of Warcraft Classic expansion. Unlike modern WoW where many zones adjust to your level, each area in Classic is bound by a pretty narrow level range. This means you can accidentally wander into zones you're not ready for, so it makes sense to figure out which order to tackle them in beforehand.
World of Warcraft Cataclysm saw a huge upheaval in Azeroth and introduced us to the modern landscape of WoW, and we'll get to re-experience that shift in Cataclysm Classic. The expansion increases the level cap from 80 to 85, meaning you'll need to level your character through older zones first. With that in mind, here are the Cataclysm Classic zones by level, ready for when you hit level 80.
WoW Cataclysm zone levels
As well as the new zones added from level 80 onwards, there are new starting zones for goblins and worgen, the two races that were added with the Cataclysm pre-patch—those have also been included below.
Starting zones:
- Gilneas City (Worgen): Levels 1-5
- Kezan (Goblin): Levels 1-5
- Gilneas (Worgen): Levels 5-12
- Lost Isles (Goblin): Levels 5-12
You'll have a choice to make before you start venturing into the Cataclysm zones at level 80. You can choose one of two leveling paths. The first takes you to the (mostly) lush lands of Mount Hyjal, or you can take to the sea and explore the underwater zone of Vashj'ir—just make sure to grab the seahorse mount as soon as you can to make traversing the area easier.
After that, the leveling path is fairly linear, as laid out in the list below. It makes sense to know the level requirements of each zone though, as moving onto the next area as soon as you can means you'll get better XP gains from both quests and killing enemies.
Level 80 onwards:
- Mount Hyjal: Levels 80-82
- Vashj'ir: Levels 80-82
- Maelstrom: Levels 82
- Deepholm: Levels 82-83
- Uldum: Levels 83-84
- Twilight Highlands: Levels 84-85
- Tol Barad (PvP): Levels 84-85
- Tol Barad Pennisula: Level 85
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Senior Guides Writer
Sarah started as a freelance writer in 2018, writing for PCGamesN, TechRadar, GamingBible, Red Bull Gaming and more. In 2021, she was offered a full-time position on the PC Gamer team where she takes every possible opportunity to talk about World of Warcraft and Elden Ring. When not writing guides, most of her spare time is spent in Azeroth—though she's quite partial to JRPGs too. One of her fondest hopes is to one day play through the ending of Final Fantasy X without breaking down into a sobbing heap. She probably has more wolves in Valheim than you.
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