The Threads of Fate

You want to know if you must swap the leveling system. Im gonna explain you this in the next big text.

--------------xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx--------------------xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx--------------------xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-------------
But before going deep into the two ways blizz offers you to level your alts, I will drop you here two links to another two interesting themes that you may want to look later (check into the comments):
- The Covenant experience, how your Sanctum and all covenant stuff works
- How to choose your covenant (not the typical guide perspective)

And remember to upvote this comment with the arrows in the left if you find it useful. (thanks)
----------------xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx--------------------xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-------------------xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx----------------

So good you came here looking for info, let’s see the difference btw both ways.

The first time you level up you follow a guided way. You don’t choose. Is like a campaign that you do in a tour visiting for a short time every map in shadowlands. You visit the maps in a determinate order and once in each map you only do that chain questline. This means that you only have one-two quest actives most of the time. All the rest of the quest that exists in the map are not showed for you, are not available for you.
Is not a bad idea because makes you be focused and reach the “end” faster, because you don’t pick side quest by mistake that steals you time from the main story. You just are send to the map, do the questline (3-4hours) that is basically an introduction to that map and to that covenant, then you are send back to Oribos and again send to the next map. Once you see all maps and do a couple of dungeons you should be already 60 so you choose your covenant (faction) and all the other stuff is then available to you.
The idea is to give you a full perspective in order to be able to choose your covenant at the end.

This default system is not bad for level alts, is fast and safe but after some times will be really boring yeah.
I say is safe because the chain questline is easy and is done in the safe part of each map. Because as far as I already saw, each map has a “star zone” where mobs scale with your level and the rest of the map (more than 50%) where mobs are directly level 60 always.

The “free” leveling system will make you possible to don’t level all alts with the same route and that will make it less bored, yeah.
After you hit level 60 with your first character and finish the first chapter of your covenant quest line, once you complete the Maw introduction and arrive in Oribos with next characters, you're [spell=343980] , and offered the quest The Threads of Fate (this doesnt work with characters that were already level 60). In this quest, you get to decide how will you level in Shadowlands on your alt.
Also if you choose the “free” leveling system and you know which covenant you will choose since the beginning, will allow you to focus while leveling into that map, doing all the quests there and that will help you a lot because you will get reput (because world quests will be available for you in this mode) and you will know the map well and gain resources (anima, etc, due to world quests). This is important because your covenant will “force” you to do a lot of stuff in the map linked to that covenant.
The “main storyline” will be flagged for you as done, so you wont find those quest but you can continue the campaign since the same point that your first character took after hitting 60 and choosing covenant .

IMPORTANT THINGS TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION
Both alternatives has pro´s and cons, lets see some.

When you are in DEFAULT you are phased (I why most of the quests in maps are hidden to you), and this is very important mostly in the first weeks because it will be a lot of people leveling and that means that quest type kill 10 mobs or loot 10 items gonna be hard to complete due to the overpopulation (and there is a lot of this kind of quests yeah).
So, if everyone choose to go FREE MODE just since they ding 60 with their first toon, and you continue in DEFAULT, you wont meet all those grinders in your way while leveling and doing your quests xDDDD.
When you are in FREE mode, you can focus into your covenant, start grinding anima, leveling your followers, gaining reputation, use the traits for professions etc.
But even if you can straight focus, this will become a catch up system? Will make you improve faster?. Its not a sure thing.
Leveling for example could be less repetitive but also slower. All the experience from the main introductory questline that is flagged for you as done, that experience is a lot, and is lost for you.
You are forced to level with side quests and world quests. Quest only from your covenant map wont be enough, so you will to end visiting the other maps as in default mode. Put in mind that spamming dungeons is not as great as it was in other expansions in order to level up. Also your map will be more populated than in default mode as you will have all the other players leveling in free mode and also all the max level players, and you will be doing the same quests they do, and those quests to kill 10mobs I did before easy and fast now… well, I took 3or4 more time to do each single thing. Found myself in small zones with 50 boars where I should kill 10 but it was another 50 players around, so imagine, the horrible “we know” experience about competition into tag the mob.

MY EXPERIENCE: And is only an opinion, and if blizzard introduce changes this could also change over the expansion (in fact the system changed a lot just in the beta).
My experience is that the Free system was not a speed up or catch up system. It took me the same or maybe even a bit more time to level up to 60, and the “advantage” into my covenant was not a big advantage. So is just a different way to level, that’s all, in order to don’t become bored.
I play all classes and some twice so I will end choosing FreeMode but not after the first character.

Because remember, after you choose FreeMode, you cant come back to the default system.

Have fun and upvote this comment with the arrows in the left if you found it useful.

You need to finish the first chapter of your covenant quest line (the ones to unlock WQ...etc) to unlock this.

Once you arrive at Oribos after finishing the maw intro quest, you will be the target of [spell=343980]
Then [npc=174871] will give the this choice.

There's still a way to get this on your characters that otherwise couldn't. Whether that's because they entered Oibos through the portal or chose to Replay the Storyline and forgot to switch before the pre-patch happened, etc.

• 
  
• You'll need a friend to create an allied race toon (so they can get the quest Shadowlands: A Chilling Summons|Shadowlands: A Chilling Summons ).
• 
  
• 
  
• What you need to do is go to the location in Oribos, shown in the map above and wait there.
• 
  
• 
  
• Once the two things above are completed, have your friend choose Shadowlands for chromie time. This allows them to obtain the quest mentioned above
• 
  
• 
  
• Then they go to the NPC to skip the Maw intro, which puts them right in Oribos - the same location you are at.
• 
  
• 
  
• Invite them to your party and enable Party sync. This will stun you in place, just like before, and Fatescribe will approve you providing you with this quest.
• 
  

Now you're free to skip Shadowland's storyline and continue on like before!