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Chromie Time is World of Warcraft’s Timewalking Campaign system: after the introductory requirement, speak with Chromie, choose an expansion, and play that campaign with level scaling, appropriate rewards and a matching Dungeon Finder pool. For a release-order tour, work through The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm, Mists of Pandaria, Warlords of Draenor, Legion, Battle for Azeroth, Shadowlands and Dragonflight.
That order is an expansion-level route, not a guarantee that every quest inside each expansion unlocks as one perfectly linear sequence. Faction campaigns, parallel zones, optional stories, dungeons, raids and endgame chapters can overlap. Use Chromie Time to select the era, then use the map, campaign tracker and quest prerequisites to impose the finer order you want.
What Chromie Time actually does
Chromie Time lets a leveling character temporarily adopt an older expansion as its campaign timeline. The selected expansion’s quests and outdoor enemies scale to the character, so the content remains suitable for leveling instead of becoming trivial as you gain levels. Blizzard describes the system as a way to immerse yourself in an expansion’s questlines while earning level-appropriate experience and loot.
The choice also affects group content. While a timeline is active, Dungeon Finder offers dungeons associated with that era, keeping random dungeon runs broadly aligned with the story you are playing. This does not turn every dungeon into a required chapter, but it makes queues a useful supplement to the zone campaign.
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Chromie Time is therefore best understood as two systems working together:
- An expansion selector: it chooses which historical campaign you want to level through.
- A scaling and matchmaking framework: it keeps outdoor content, rewards and the Dungeon Finder pool appropriate to that campaign.
It is not a complete chronology engine. It does not automatically arrange every quest, side story, raid or faction chapter into one universal checklist.
Requirements and how to start
New characters and returning characters
Blizzard’s original Timewalking Campaign announcement says Chromie Time is available at level 10 or after completing Exile’s Reach. New players are normally guided through Exile’s Reach and the current expansion path first. Existing or returning players can bypass Exile’s Reach and use Chromie to choose an older campaign once the requirement is met.
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If your character does not see the expected option, finish the introductory route currently shown in the client, reach level 10, and check Chromie again. Blizzard has changed onboarding and expansion rules in patches, so an older guide may describe a requirement or menu that no longer matches your account.
Select a timeline
- Travel to Chromie in your faction’s capital and start the Chromie Time conversation.
- Review the expansion timelines shown in the interface. Blizzard’s newer interface can suggest timelines and show opening cinematics.
- Choose the expansion you want to play and accept its opening quest.
- Follow that quest to the expansion’s starting zone or introduction. The campaign quest usually provides the intended first destination and unlocks the next hub.
- Open Dungeon Finder after the timeline is active. The available random-dungeon list should correspond to the selected era.
The live Chromie interface is authoritative. If an expansion is missing, a level rule has changed, or the current expansion is handled through the normal leveling path, follow what the client offers rather than relying on a static web list.
Change timelines or return to the present
Speak with Chromie again whenever you want to change direction. She can offer another expansion timeline or return your character to the present-day timeline. Switching is useful if a queue is unusually slow, you want to compare two campaigns, or you have finished the story you intended to play. Before switching, record your current quest and campaign progress so you can resume without hunting for the next objective.
A release-order route through the expansion stories
The following sequence follows original expansion release order. It gives a coherent historical tour while acknowledging where the game presents several arcs in parallel.
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Choose The Burning Crusade timeline and follow the post–Dark Portal introduction into Outland. The opening establishes the renewed Burning Legion threat and introduces the expansion’s major regions. Let your faction’s quest hubs determine the practical route; Outland contains multiple zone arcs that can be started in overlapping ways.
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Complete the principal hub chains before treating optional objectives as detours. Dungeon Finder can add era-appropriate instances, but you do not need to force every dungeon into the zone sequence to understand the campaign. The goal is to experience Outland’s central conflict and its major quest conclusions before moving to the next expansion.
2. Wrath of the Lich King: Northrend and the Lich King campaign
Move to Northrend and begin with the expansion’s arrival sequence. Wrath of the Lich King presents a continent-wide campaign against the Lich King, with faction and zone stories running alongside one another.
For a readable order, choose one starting zone, finish its main arc, then continue through the remaining Northrend zones. You will encounter parallel introductions and optional chains; that is normal rather than a sign that Chromie has placed quests incorrectly. Treat the major zone conclusions and the campaign’s central confrontation as the spine of your tour.
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3. Cataclysm: the post-Shattering old world
Cataclysm is the timeline for the reshaped Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor as well as the expansion’s dedicated leveling zones. Retail World of Warcraft does not offer the original pre-Cataclysm “vanilla” world as a separate Chromie campaign. The old-world quests in this timeline represent the post-Shattering state created by Deathwing’s return.
Follow your faction’s starting quests through the redesigned zones, then use the map to identify the expansion’s principal arcs. Some areas can be entered in more than one order, and the original-world setting is much larger than a single linear chain. Keep the Cataclysm timeline active if you want its scaling and dungeon pool while moving between regions.
4. Mists of Pandaria: arrival in Pandaria
Begin with the arrival in Pandaria and follow the major zone campaigns from the first landing through the continent’s escalating conflict. Alliance and Horde stories share the expansion’s themes but contain faction-specific questing, so two characters can experience different scenes and objectives while still following the same broad narrative.
Prioritize the principal zone arcs and the quests that advance the central conflict. Side stories, reputation activities and endgame chapters can be completed later if you want a tighter first pass through the expansion’s main plot.
5. Warlords of Draenor: an alternate-timeline detour
Use the Dark Portal introduction to enter Draenor, then follow the garrison and zone campaigns. Warlords of Draenor is deliberately an alternate-timeline story: it revisits Draenor in a different historical branch rather than continuing the original timeline in a straightforward way.
Consider the opening invasion and your garrison’s development the connective tissue between zones. The game presents several regional campaigns, and the order in which you select them can vary. Completing their main arcs gives you the expansion’s intended account of the alternate Draenor without requiring every optional garrison objective.
6. Legion: the Broken Isles and class-specific stories
After Draenor, select Legion and follow the Broken Isles campaign. The expansion combines continent-wide objectives with class-hall campaigns. Your class determines which class story, followers and missions you see, so one character cannot represent every class campaign.
Complete the main Broken Isles zone arcs, then treat class-hall chapters as character-specific context. If you want the broadest view, repeat selected portions on characters from other classes rather than assuming one character’s class campaign is universal.
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Choose the continent associated with your faction: Kul Tiras for the Alliance or Zandalar for the Horde. These routes are complementary, not identical. Each faction receives its own zone stories and presentation of the escalating conflict.
Follow your faction’s principal continent campaign first, then continue into the war campaign when it becomes available to your character. War-campaign chapters connect the two perspectives, but they may unlock alongside other quests rather than in one uninterrupted chain. Use the campaign tracker to distinguish main chapters from optional island, reputation and side content.
8. Shadowlands: a self-contained afterlife chapter
Shadowlands follows Battle for Azeroth with a journey into the afterlife. Its zones are distinct realms, each with a separate narrative identity. Play the opening campaign, then complete the realm arcs in the order presented by your quest log and campaign tracker.
The setting makes Shadowlands feel more self-contained than the faction-continent expansions. Optional covenant, side and endgame chapters can run in parallel, so keep the principal campaign selected when you want the clearest route through the expansion’s central story.
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For the main Dragonflight campaign, Blizzard lists this zone order: The Waking Shores, Ohn’ahran Plains, The Azure Span and Thaldraszus. Follow those four regions in that sequence for the most direct presentation of the campaign’s progression.
After a main character completes the required campaign milestones, Adventure Mode gives alternate characters more freedom to explore the zones in a less restricted order. That flexibility is useful for leveling alts, but use the listed four-zone sequence if your priority is the intended first-character story path.
Timeline comparison at a glance
| Timeline | Primary setting | Faction divergence | How linear it feels | Story-order note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Burning Crusade | Outland | Faction hub routes differ | Several zones can overlap | Start after the Dark Portal and follow your faction’s hub sequence. |
| Wrath of the Lich King | Northrend | Faction and zone arcs run in parallel | Moderately guided, with multiple starts | Finish one major zone arc before moving through the others. |
| Cataclysm | Reshaped Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor, plus expansion zones | Varies by zone | Open-ended old-world routing | This is the post-Shattering world, not a separate pre-Cataclysm campaign. |
| Mists of Pandaria | Pandaria | Alliance and Horde quests differ | Principal arcs with side branches | Follow arrival and major zone campaigns before optional content. |
| Warlords of Draenor | Alternate-timeline Draenor | Faction introductions differ | Zone campaigns can be selected in varied order | Keep the alternate-history premise in mind. |
| Legion | The Broken Isles | Class campaigns add divergence | Main zones plus class-hall branches | One character shows only one class story. |
| Battle for Azeroth | Kul Tiras or Zandalar | Strong faction split | Faction campaign and war campaign overlap | Play your faction continent, then use the war campaign as the connective route. |
| Shadowlands | Separate afterlife realms | Less centered on the old faction split | Realm arcs branch from the main campaign | Use the campaign tracker to separate core and optional chapters. |
| Dragonflight | The Dragon Isles | Opening is broadly shared | Guided sequence for a main character; freer for alts later | Blizzard’s listed order is Waking Shores, Ohn’ahran Plains, Azure Span, Thaldraszus. |
How to keep a campaign coherent when quests overlap
Use the map and campaign tracker as your local checklist
Chromie selects an expansion, but the client’s map and quest journal provide the practical sequencing. Keep the campaign filter enabled, identify the zone’s main campaign marker, and finish that chain before accepting large numbers of unrelated side quests. If several main objectives are available, choose one zone arc and complete its conclusion before starting another.
Separate core quests from side stories
Optional quests can explain local characters, cultures and historical details without advancing the expansion’s central plot. Mark them mentally as enrichment. For a first tour, complete the principal campaign chain, then return for side stories if you want a fuller setting.
Handle faction and class differences deliberately
Do not treat a missing quest on one character as a broken timeline when the story is faction- or class-specific. Kul Tiras and Zandalar are different Battle for Azeroth routes, and Legion class halls are intentionally character-dependent. A release-order tour describes the expansion’s position, not an identical quest list for every character.
Use dungeons as supporting chapters
Queue for the dungeons offered by your selected timeline when you want group content or a change of pace. They provide era-aligned experience and loot, but a random queue is not a strict story requirement. If a dungeon’s narrative assumes events from a zone you have not completed, note it and continue your chosen zone route rather than rearranging the entire campaign around the queue.
Remember raids and endgame chapters
Chromie Time is primarily a leveling and campaign-selection framework. Raids, late-expansion quest chains and other endgame activities may not be presented as mandatory steps in the leveling route. Record them as a separate “after the main campaign” layer if you want to experience them in historical order.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Dungeon queues, parties and slow searches
Blizzard says Dungeon Finder can broaden its search to timelines represented by members of a party when the selected timeline’s queue is slow. This means a group whose characters have different Chromie selections may see a wider pool than a solo player using one timeline.
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For a solo story tour, remain in the chosen timeline while questing and treat queue time as optional downtime. For a party, agree on which expansion’s dungeons best fit your shared story goal; the system may expand the search for availability, so the resulting instance is not always a perfect match for one member’s selected era.
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New-player and returning-player approaches
If you are new to World of Warcraft
Follow the introductory route Blizzard presents, normally Exile’s Reach followed by the current expansion path. This teaches movement, combat, quest tracking and modern systems before you tackle older campaigns. Once eligible, create an alternate character for the release-order tour if you want to preserve your first character’s current-story progression.
If you are returning
After meeting the level requirement, speak with Chromie and select the older expansion you want immediately. Returning players who already understand the interface can start with The Burning Crusade and work forward through the sequence above, switching timelines whenever they intentionally change eras.
Patch-sensitive rules and common problems
The menu does not match an old guide
Blizzard’s Dragonflight: Fractures in Time patch notes state that Chromie can explain the feature, suggest timelines and show opening cinematics; those notes also describe changes to expansion restrictions. As a result, older guides that list a fixed menu or rigid restriction can be stale. Trust the current in-game conversation.
An expansion is unavailable
Check your character’s level, introductory completion and whether the expansion is currently treated as the normal leveling path rather than a Chromie option. If the client directs you elsewhere, follow that route until the requirement is satisfied and then speak with Chromie again.
You cannot find the next quest
- Open the map and campaign tracker and look for the principal campaign marker.
- Return to the last hub and inspect nearby quest givers; a prerequisite may be waiting there.
- Finish the current zone’s main chain before accepting several unrelated side quests.
- Check whether the missing chapter belongs to the other faction or to a different class campaign.
- If you changed timelines, return to Chromie and select the original expansion before searching for its next objective.
The dungeon list is empty or slow
Queue populations vary by time and region. Keep questing while you wait, join a party if appropriate, or continue the campaign without the dungeon. In a party, Dungeon Finder may widen the search to other timelines represented by group members.
What you need to play
Chromie Time is an in-game feature rather than a separate purchase. You need an eligible World of Warcraft character and active access to the game through a subscription or game time. No physical product or special peripheral is required. Because eligibility, level rules and the treatment of the current expansion can change, confirm the options shown by Chromie on the character you intend to use.
Bottom line: use Chromie Time as an era selector, not a perfect chronology
Select an expansion at Chromie, follow its opening campaign, keep the matching dungeon queue available, and use the release-order list to move from The Burning Crusade through Dragonflight. For precise sequencing inside an expansion, rely on the campaign tracker, map markers and prerequisites. Parallel faction zones, class stories, optional quests and endgame content are part of the design, so a coherent tour requires your own tracking rather than expecting Chromie Time to enforce one universal order.
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