Hi Zwiifters! With this week’s release of Zwift game version 1.54, we wanted to start this dedicated discussion about the following changes:
Cycling levels have been increased from 60 to 100 with new unlockable rewards along the way.
The Experience Points (XP) curve has been rebalanced with a smoother progression from Level 1 through 100.
Existing Zwifters will receive “XP discounts” based on their XP from the previous leveling curve to reach their equivalent new level in the new system faster. This means that you’ll still get the satisfaction of leveling-up but each level will be faster to earn while you complete the transition to the new XP curve.
On the Pause Menu there are new UI elements indicating how you are being mapped from the existing Level 60 structure to the new Level 100 structure at an accelerated rate:
Wheelie avatar means you were a Zwifter before the change to 100 levels. You’re being advanced through the new level progression at an accelerated rate (will appear for both of the below cases)
2x Chevrons (>>) Means you’re moving from the old 60-level table to the new 100-level table and will end that transition at the level described (e.g. Level 20 >> Level 59 means you’ll end your transition at level 59) and as a result will be receiving up to a 20% discount on the required amount of XP need to earn your next levels until you reach that final level of transition.
3x Chevrons means you have been at level 50+ and have earned XP above and beyond the requirement for that level. You are now getting 2x XP per mile / km applied to your advancement in the level progression (this will revert back to the two chevron version when applicable)**
The Drop Shop has been updated with changes to pricing and unlock criteria to better tie equipment performance to the level they are unlocked.
Increased amount and frequency of Drops you receive as you level up (50,000 Drops at every level), so you’ll be able to buy better items as soon as you unlock them to help you earn even more levels at a faster rate.
Continue to earn rewards after reaching the maximum Level 100 by re-filling the Level 100 progress bar. Once filled completely, you will be rewarded with 50,000 Drops, and the progress bar will then reset allowing you to start earning more XP and Drops again.
New accounts will now start with the Zwift Steel frame and Zwift Classic wheels by default, and will be able to unlock the Carbon, Gravel, and Mountain Bike frames within their first three levels to help introduce them to the Drop Shop. If you already own these frames and wheels, they will remain in your Garage.
Ride Streaks
Introducing Ride Streaks! By riding at least once per week (defined as Monday - Sunday), you’ll increase your ride streak counter and earn bonus XP for your first two rides of each week. The two rides must be on different calendar days to earn bonus XP.
You’ll see this showcased in a new Ride Streak experience after you finish an activity. Rides must be a minimum 2 km in length to qualify towards your weekly streak.
Are there changes/additions to make drops useful for people at a relatively high level with all the best equipment already unlocked and several million drops in the bank?
Wait, does that mean a Zwifter at level 60 is now being accelerated to 100? Or where would a level 60 rider be placed if they haven’t ridden since the update? I’m confused by the rescaling. Are there actually a net increase of levels, or are they just refactored from 1-60 to 1-100? I don’t want to lose my fire socks , I’m at level 52.
BTW the support page you referenced at the bottom still has charts for the 1-60 system.
With the amount of new items will we have an ability at some point to better organize our “Garage” like have a favorites section or quick swap “profiles” (e.g. Race - Flat, Race - Hilly, TTT, Leeroy Jenkins, etc)?
This is fundamentally a refactor of the level curve at the base level - so for all new Zwifters starting today they will have an entirely new leveling up experience that takes them all the way up to level 100.
For current Zwifters we have created a transitioning experience so that we can move you from the previous 60-level experience to the new 100-level experience in a slow and steady way that preserves your current level and progress towards the next level when you first log into this new game release but then will need to earn all additional levels (although you will receive a discount to the amount of XP needed to earn that level to provide that transitioning experience).
As far as rewards for earning each level, all items earned from levels 1-60 have remained the same (including the Fire Socks) and we have added 40 new items to earn from level 61-100.
Don’t dispute that from a dev point of view its a sound strategy.
From a paying customer pov it sucks. (Especially if its the same group of users who are phased in the same way each time)
I bet Eric will be along shortly with a ZI post about it. Would be nice to get this stuff direct from Zwift but oh well. I just looked and some better stuff is more expensive and some less-good stuff is less expensive. Can’t see level requirements though.
Those favourites could then be selected from the game while riding, similarly to the way you can select pace partners. Eh… maybe no point anymore as the rolling resistance is now evened out for all bikes and changing gives no benefit… ah well
, I’m at level 52.