The Disparity of Preparedness for Low-Level Characters

Allied race characters start at level 20. It is, perhaps, an somewhat arbitrary level to start at, though I think the main reasoning behind it is that, traditionally, races have had two zones that really "start them off," with the actual starting zone (usually with a capital city) and then one more that's heavily themed on that race (think Westfall, Silverpine, or Bloodmyst Isle.)

Allied races don't get new zones - one of the major ways they're allowed to be quick and dirty (and easy to add to the game) is that beyond a reasonably short quest chain, altered versions of existing race models (some more elaborate changes than others - Nightborne and Zandalari Trolls seem the most different from their source races,) new voice lines, new racial abilities, new mounts and one set of cool transmog gear, there's nothing else really required. The only Allied Race added this week that has a truly new zone (not counting the swamp area in the Lightforged scenario) are the Void Elves, and this was clearly cobbled together from Legion assets of the various Fel-blasted worlds like Niskara, only now with lighting and skyboxes themed on the Void rather than Fel.

Anyway, thing about starting at 20 is that some classes and specs feel fairly put-together at that point. For instance, my Nightborne, who is a Marksmanship Hunter, had all of her core abilities the moment I finished the little "new character" cinematic. She had Aimed Shot, Arcane Shot, Marked Shot, and Multishot. While there are tweaks to come over time, she's got everything she needs to feel like a complete MM Hunter.

Meanwhile, a Subtlety Rogue (my Void Elf) has to wait until level 40 to get Shadow Dance, 50 for the Relentless Strikes passive, and doesn't get Shuriken Storm until level 63. That means that you basically can't AoE until you are out of the Old World.

Now, I do appreciate that they've spread abilities out such that you typically get one every two levels, slowing a bit in the 40s and 50s. They've also broken some abilities up - for instance, you get Shadowstrike, with its two combo points and high damage, some time before level 20, but you get the short-range teleport aspect of it later on (at 42.) Abilities have ranks again, though the ranks are real, qualitative changes rather than pure numbers like they were way back when (except for a few exceptions, like Fury's Execute, which gets a 50% damage buff later on.) It's a good way to give players enough buttons to make the spec feel like a real spec and not just two buttons, even if the complexity has not really reached its ultimate state.

Still, I wouldn't mind seeing Blizzard take another pass at evening things out. For instance, giving Subtlety a Rank 1 Shuriken Storm that is more about the damage it deals than the combo points it generates (maybe letting you get just one point regardless of how many targets you hit) would be a good way to give players a sense of what abilities they'll be using without bogging them down in complexity.

To be clear, the level scaling is great, and they've taken a lot of great steps in the right direction. It could just use another polish.