Mists of Pandaria raised World of Warcraft’s level cap to 90. Characters could progress five levels beyond Cataclysm’s previous cap of 85.
The increase followed the expansion’s release in September 2012 and gave players new zones, quests, dungeons, raids, and class abilities to explore while leveling. Reaching level 90 opened access to the expansion’s endgame activities, including level-90 heroic dungeons and raids set across Pandaria.
The number is easy to confuse with other expansions’ caps. Cataclysm ended at 85, while Warlords of Draenor later raised the cap from 90 to 100. Much later, Shadowlands introduced a level squish that reduced the displayed cap to 60, so modern in-game numbers do not reflect the original progression of Mists of Pandaria. In its own historical context, however, 90 is the definitive cap associated with the expansion.