After the WoW developers set Brann Bronzebeard’s maximum level to 15 via hotfix until the start of Season 1, there is now another update. Brann is receiving a conditional reset.
If you leveled Brann Bronzebeard above level 15 shortly after the Early Access release of The War Within, you might face an unpleasant surprise with your companion. It appears that the developers have reset Brann’s level before the start of the first season of The War Within. This change is currently causing confusion among the community.
WoW: Brann Bronzebeard Stays at Level 15 for All Players Until Season 1
What exactly happened? When The War Within was released in early access, there was no level cap for Brann Bronzebeard beyond the maximum level of 60. As a result, players could quickly level up their deep companion by using multiboxing or purchasing XP items in the auction house. To create a level playing field for all players, the developers decided to limit Brann’s maximum level to 15 before the start of Season 1.
The reason for this hotfix is clear: when the first season of The War Within begins, the difficulty level of the depths will increase to level 8, making the new feature significantly more challenging. Players whose Brann had already reached a high level would have had a clear advantage. To ensure fairness and equal starting conditions for all players at the start of Season 1, the developers introduced a level limit for Brann via hotfix.
The problem is that some players had already leveled Brann much higher by this time. To balance this advantage, the developers have apparently reset Brann Bronzebeard’s level for all players. This means that if you had leveled your deep companion beyond level 15 before the hotfix, you will lose that progress.
It’s understandable that this measure has caused frustration among some fans, as shown in a Reddit post. The lack of information from the developers about this change or its mention in the patch notes for current hotfixes also seems unfortunate. However, not downgrading Brann would have been unfair to players who could not catch up to others with high-level Branns after the first hotfix.
Source: WowHead