With the pre-event for the next World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth hitting live servers by mid-July, now is a good time to get some things squared away for your account to make sure you’re ready to hit the ground running. We’ve come up with a list of some things you can do right now to make sure you’re ship shape ahead of the August 14th release of Battle for Azeroth.
Remember: There’s No Flying at First in BfA
One of the most contentious decisions Blizzard has made in recent years has been to remove flying from the earliest phases of every expansion. Over the course of time, and through gameplay, players can unlock the ability to fly at about the midpoint of the expansion’s lifecycle.
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Knowing that there won’t be any flying for the first several months, it’s wise to start preparing for that fact now by either crafting or buying Goblin Gliders. Engineers can make them using Sumptuous Fur and True Iron Ore from the Warlords of Draenor expansion. For those buying them, they are currently running at about 15-20 gold per glider on average, though that price will begin to rise closer to the expansion. Stock up on enough of them and you can even make a tidy profit selling to the less-prepared.
It’s smart to buy now and buy a lot because there is a lot of dimensionality in BfA and opportunities to approximate the flying experience until it actually happens.
Or...you can just roll a Demon Hunter with built-in wings.
Get Ready for Water Walking
Battle for Azeroth takes place on two sets of islands and one of the expansion’s key features is the addition of the Island Expeditions. Obviously there’s going to be a lot of water so being able to cross without swimming is going to be huge.
Players have several ways to accomplish this: The fishing artifact from Legion has a passive ability that allows walking on water. There are potions that can be purchased or crafted that also provide this ability. Finally, there are the Azure and Crimson Water Strider mounts that are earned through questing and that zip along at a nice pace.
Or...you can just roll a class with an in-built utility: Death Knight, Priest, Hunter (with a specific pet) or Shaman.
Having Zippy Feet Will Be to Your Advantage
Players who engage in the new War Mode and who need to escape a foe quickly or for those who just want to traverse the landscape more quickly will want to start stocking up on the things that can make that happen.
There is the Potion of Swiftness that increase run speed. Chefs can cook up Bear Tartar that provides a short speed boost after killing an enemy or monster (though its duration is being decreased in BfA). Engineers can make a Nitro Boost that permanently attaches to a belt that provides a short-duration speed increase with a 2-minute cooldown. There are also a number of Legion Legendaries that can be both crafted or earned via other mean that provide a speed boost on kill. Legendary items will be viable through level 115 so they will last quite a while into BfA.
Show Your Faction Pride with Your Favorite Transmogs
The big focus in BfA is, of course, the faction war so it’s time to get your Alliance or Horde toons properly suited up in their favorite shades of blue or red.
There are trasmog vendors in most capital cities, but you can also take your transmog on the road if you’re willing to pony up 120,000 gold to a vendor in Pandaria for the Grand Expedition Yak. That way when you score a new (and ugly) piece of gear, you can quickly and efficiently ‘mog into your favorite look.
Collect Artifact Appearances & Do the Mage Tower
Most artifact appearances will remain once BfA launches, but the ones in the Mage Tower on Broken Shore will not. This is a great time to start working to earn the ones you like the best. The Mage Tower is now available at all times to provide as much opportunity to earn those appearances as possible. But once the pre-patch hits in mid-July, the Mage Tower and its appearances will be gone for good!
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For the Achievement-Oriented, Get Busy!
There are a lot of achievements that will be going away once Battle for Azeroth swings open its doors. You’ll definitely want to check out WoWhead’s guide to disappearing achievements and see how many of them you can bang out before they go away for good.
In addition, there are literally a ton of achievements that, while remaining, you can work on getting out of the way before the new set lands with BfA.
Collect as Much Gold as You Can
Lastly, and maybe most importantly, you want to stock up on as much gold as you possibly can. The beginning of any expansion is always expensive, so leverage your mission table every day and get out there and run those gold missions. It’s not overly time consuming and you can make a tidy profit even if you’re not a player on the auction house.
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It’s also worth noting that gold mission table quests will disappear when BfA launches, so take advantage of them while you can!
If you’ve done all of those, you can check out our recent guide on How to Keep Busy Until Battle for Azeroth Launches for a few more tips.
Whew...I’m tired already!
What will you be working on until Battle for Azeroth launches?
PS Be sure to head to the World of Warcraft site to see what things are going away in BfA and Blizzard's hints and tips for getting things done!
