On World of Warcraft’s Chromie Time

Although the official name of this mechanic frequently forces me to resist the urge to make a joke combining it with the title of MC Hammer’s most famous song, I think it constitutes a wonderful addition to World of Warcraft. I’m referring to Chromie Time, of course. If you’ll indulge me for a while, I’d like to share a few of my thoughts on this relatively new character leveling system.

For those who might not be aware of what Chromie Time is and the purpose it serves, allow me to explain. Chromie Time is a gameplay mechanic available to most characters whose levels lie between 10 and 50. This system allows eligible characters to travel back in time to the events of any previous expansion set with the aid of the Bronze Dragonflight’s emissary, Chronormu, better known as Chromie.

I say this mechanic is available to most characters between levels 10 and 50 rather than all of them due to what I like to call the “veteran’s clause.” If you’re a new (or new-ish) player who didn’t have at least one level 120 character on your account before the level squish that accompanied the Shadowlands expansion, World of Warcraft will likely consider you a non-veteran player. This means that in order to become eligible to utilize Chromie Time on any of your characters, you must first reach level 50 on at least one character by questing through the Battle for Azeroth expansion.

However, you can’t begin questing through Battle for Azeroth content until you’ve reached at least level 10. Non-veteran players must go about attaining this level by initially completing a new starting zone known as Exile’s Reach. This zone serves as a fairly in-depth tutorial to help new and returning players alike acclimate to the various updates made to the game world throughout World of Warcraft’s existence.

For example, it will teach you the basics of combat based on your chosen class along with such things as the Dungeon Finder tool. Then it offers an optional tour of useful facilities contained within your faction’s capital city. I should note that you don’t have to be a new player to take a new character through Exile’s Reach. Veteran players will have the option of starting a new character there or in their normal starting zone. In fact, I would argue that going through Exile’s Reach is a quicker way to get from level 1 to 10 and is a great replacement if you don’t like any given race’s original starting zone.

Anyway, I’ll assume all your characters have access to Chromie Time from this point forward. You can find Chromie sitting on her giant hourglass outside the established embassies in both Stormwind and Orgrimmar. By talking to her, you can select which previous expansion you’d like to experience. Chromie Time enables you to choose between the events of The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm, Mists of Pandaria, Warlords of Draenor, and Legion.

Should you wish to quest through Battle for Azeroth content on a new character, that expansion is currently not considered part of Chromie Time. Battle for Azeroth’s story can be initiated by accepting the relevant quest from a guard near either a Hero’s Call Board or Warchief’s Command Board within your faction’s capital city. Once you’ve selected your preferred timeline with Chromie’s help, she’ll point you to one of the various NPCs or methods of transportation that can help you get to where you need to be.

For example, suppose you’ve chosen to quest through Warlords of Draenor content. Upon informing Chromie of your decision, she’ll give you a quest to go talk to a nearby mage NPC who can teleport you to a location near the Dark Portal in the Blasted Lands. Once there, all you need to do is get to the Dark Portal and speak with Archmage Khadgar to kick things off. Alternatively, you can abandon that quest once you’ve been teleported, ignore Khadgar completely, and go directly through the Dark Portal with an empty quest log if you wish to skip Warlords of Draenor’s introductory quest chain.

It is important to keep in mind that Chromie Time does not lock you into whichever timeline you initially choose. Have you reached a point you dislike in Mists of Pandaria and decide you would rather quest in Wrath of the Lich King content instead? No problem! Simply make your way back to Chromie in your faction’s capital and tell her you want to select a different timeline. Thankfully, it really is that simple and straightforward.

Another handy aspect of Chromie Time is the fact that no matter your level, any quests you complete in any expansion’s timeline will scale in such a way that the rewards you get from them (both money and items) are appropriate for you. That will remain the case until you reach level 50, at which point you are considered to have “leveled out” of Chromie Time. When this happens, you’ll be forcibly teleported back to your faction’s capital city so that you may begin Shadowlands content.

The primary reason I think Chromie Time is such a great gameplay mechanic is deeply intertwined with my own personal experiences with World of Warcraft. Due to ongoing technical difficulties when I first started playing, I never really got to experience any new content when any of the earlier expansions before Warlords of Draenor were current. At the very least, I didn’t get the chance to do so before the permanent, sweeping changes to the game world that heralded the Cataclysm expansion.

Thanks to this system, I can now experience everything I missed out on at my own pace without fear of leveling too quickly to see my chosen expansion’s entire storyline. I can take a leisurely stroll through the largely peaceful wilds of Pandaria whenever I desire without having to be anywhere near max level, or I can focus on getting to level 50 as efficiently as humanly possible. The latter of these strategies is possible because there now seems to be a way to, in effect, “speed run” the process of getting from level 10 to 50 by questing through certain expansions.

There’s a reason I keep bringing up Warlords of Draenor. Due to the prevalence of Chromie Time, that particular expansion has become a favorite among those who wish to get to a level appropriate for Shadowlands content sooner rather than later. In a fairly amusing twist of fate, one of the most disliked expansions has now seen a rather significant rise in popularity. Considering I’ve used Warlords of Draenor content to level up to max level several times myself by this point and fully intend to continue doing so, I definitely don’t consider that to be a bad thing.

I’d like to leave today’s final word to you. If you’re a World of Warcraft player, have you made use of the Chromie Time system to level up quickly or experience anything you missed from past expansions? Which expansions are your favorite to level through at your own pace, and why are they your favorites? Alternatively, do you feel that Chromie Time shouldn’t have been added to the game, or perhaps should’ve been implemented differently? If so, why might that be? Do feel free to share your thoughts with me in this article’s comments!