Tips for Maximizing Character Movement Speed in Old Content and The War Within

Overview

From the very first moments of The War Within, the developers seemed to aim at reducing the overall movement speed in the game, which is not related to the current expansion. The Azerite talent Longstrider was noticeably nerfed, the Heart of Azeroth effects partially stopped working, and various consumables for movement speed in The War Within were weakened shortly after the expansion’s release. In this guide, we have gathered all the known information on the remaining ways to boost your character’s speed, both in old content and in current zones, dungeons, and raids of the latest expansion.

Movement speed in World of Warcraft can be divided into several categories, and each value mentioned in this guide will use the corresponding color scheme:

• Movement Speed Rating (green) – typically found on items as a tertiary stat, enchantments for boots/wrist/cloaks, various consumables, and accessories. The main feature of this movement speed category is its hard cap at +49%, and the value of this rating depends directly on the character’s level: for example, at level 80, the maximum movement speed boost from the rating can be achieved by reaching about ~15,600 rating, but at level 70, only about ~2,930 rating is required.
  • Regarding the value of the rating at different levels: this does not mean that you can develop a low-level character’s movement speed higher than a max-level character – it simply means that on a lower-level character, it will be easier to reach the maximum movement speed (+49%) by using buffs from high-level content. For example, a level 70 Dragonflight character can use The War Within enchants, which have a higher rating.
  • Important: the rating is affected by the so-called “diminishing returns,” meaning that the more rating you stack, the less valuable each additional point becomes; this works the same way as secondary stats.
• Movement Speed Modifier (red) – usually found in the form of class abilities and talents, unique item properties (such as gear and gems with old enchants), and special accessory effects. The main value of this modifier is that it has no upper limit and can be stacked infinitely with other speed modifiers, though there are exceptions: strict movement speed caps (for example, the ground Travel Form for druids) and mutually exclusive effects that say “does not stack with similar effects.”
  • Overall, the Red modifier is generally considered more valuable than the Green rating, but there are exceptions: for example, when trying to speed up a low-level character before reaching the maximum rating cap.

General Movement Speed Bonuses Applicable in All WoW Content

First, let’s go over all the movement speed bonuses that apply in any WoW content for characters level 70+ and are unquestionably the best of their type or specific slot (each item listed below can be crafted or purchased from the auction house):

• Enchant for Wrist: Song of Armor and Speed (usable from level 70) – grants up to +1000 movement speed, which equals +5.9% at level 80 or +17.9% at level 70; lower values if using a lower rank enchant, and it’s important to account for the diminishing returns of the rating.
• Enchant for Cloak: “Song of the Dying Sunset” – provides +250 movement speed, which is quite low… but better than nothing.
• Enchant for Chest:
  • Agility of the Stormwanderer (TWW) – in addition to agility, it provides a bonus of +250 movement speed.
  • Enhanced Agility (DF) – a cheaper version of the above enchants that provides the same +250 movement speed. If agility doesn’t matter to you, it’s better to use these.
• Enchant for Boots:
  • Speed – old enchant that still works, providing a massive +10% movement speed. The only downside is that it can’t be used on items higher than level 320, with the best boots being: Cloth/Leather/Mail/Plate
  • Scout’s Stride – If you’re gearing for movement speed in current content, use this enchant which provides +250 movement speed.
• Gems:
  • Profane of Elusiveness – grants a pure +2% for each Algari gem of unique color; the Profane itself doesn’t give a speed boost, and the movement speed bonus doesn’t change based on gem rank. The maximum bonus from this Profane can be developed up to +10%.
  • There are five colors of Algari gems in the game (the cheapest examples listed below): Amber, Emerald, Sapphire, Onyx of Death, and Ruby.
  • Players can create up to 6 sockets in any rings and necklaces from The War Within by using the consumable Grand Jeweler’s Setting – it creates an additional socket in each jewelry piece, up to two.
  • If your necklace is from the Dragonflight expansion, you can use the Complex Setting for Medallion to create up to three sockets – the rank of the setting directly affects the number of sockets; use two 2-rank settings for the first two sockets, and then the 3rd rank for the third socket.
• Consumable Flask: Charged Flask of Agility (DF) – Provides up to +744 movement speed for 30-90 minutes.
• Consumable Potion: Potion of the Revived Cheetah – grants a pure +60% movement speed for 12-20 seconds with a 5-minute cooldown. Notable downsides: “Dizziness” when taking damage, and this effect doesn’t stack with other speed boosts like “Windrush” and similar effects.
• Food (Cooking): Finely Sliced Muscle – an excellent way to speed up your character, providing +582 movement speed for 1 hour; double the effect for Pandaren.

In total, by using consumable items, gems, and enchants, you can achieve up to +2826 (+3076 with current boots) +20% (+10% without boots) movement speed. This rating should be enough for maximum movement speed on a level 70 character, but will only provide about ~15% on level 80 characters. Although achieving the maximum movement speed rating on level 80 characters is currently impossible due to the low number of stats, even on 639-item-level gear, and the limited rating provided by enchants, you still have the chance to gain an additional ~7000-8000 rating from the tertiary stat “+X Movement Speed” on all 580-level slots; more with good luck. Here are two options for you:

• Play the game and hope for luck in getting the most current gear with the tertiary stat;
• Head to the auction house and purchase items of level 558-564 with the “Explorer” rank, which can later be upgraded to 580 level using Valor Stones. Before buying, make sure you are purchasing an item with the line “+X Movement Speed!”

Movement speed bonuses that apply only in old content

And now we return to Azerite items. As mentioned at the beginning of this article, Azerite items and even the Heart of Azeroth received two significant nerfs:

• The effectiveness of “Longstrider” for any item level has been capped at +8.6% movement speed per Azerite item, up to a total of +25.8% from all three;
• Any Azerite Essences from the Heart of Azeroth, including the previously useful “Spatial Ripple“, no longer work outside of Battle for Azeroth locations, dungeons, and raids (they used to work across all content from the original WoW up to BfA).

On one hand, these changes now make it easier to not worry about things like “where do I find ‘Longstrider’, at which difficulty level” and so on – if you get any Azerite item with “Longstrider,” you have already completed 1/3 of your task for increasing movement speed. On the other hand… your potential movement speed from Azerite items has dropped by about ~31% compared to Dragonflight, not to mention the insane speed in the pre-update The War Within, which is why Blizzard intervened with “Longstrider” in the first place.

Speaking of the choice between four items from the current expansion and Azerite gear + Heart of Azeroth from Battle for Azeroth, there are a few things to consider: first, by choosing the latter, you will lose movement speed rating in four(!) slots; second, the loss of this rating is still worth it for traveling through old content, as you will gain approximately +18.5% (with the maximum value of your best secondary stat!) movement speed. To maximize your movement speed potential in any situation, it is recommended to have both sets.

As for obtaining Azerite items with “Longstrider,” let’s revisit our previous note, as it hasn’t changed at all (except for the fact that it no longer matters which difficulty these items are obtained from):

• Cloth:

• Leather:

• Mail:

• Plate:

Considering all these factors, we face an unpromising picture: yes, in the current World of Warcraft, it is still possible to increase your character’s walking speed to 180-200%+ (depending on the class) even in current zones, but compared to previous expansions, it is somewhat more difficult to achieve. With each season, the movement speed rating on items will increase thanks to higher-level “green” gear, but the significant reduction in the effectiveness of “Longstrider” compared to previous values, along with the removal of Azerite Essences outside of Battle for Azeroth zones, noticeably limits the potential for movement speed builds in old content.

Let’s hope the developers will introduce some interesting features in the future that allow players to move just a little faster based purely on movement speed stats, rather than ratings… because it’s unrealistic to expect the +49% rating cap to be lifted, which is already certainly achievable in update 11.1 due to the sharp rise in item levels in the current season.