With exactly a week until World of Warcraft: Legion makes its debut as a fully-released expansion to the venerated game, some may be starting to panic as the pre-event that has been running for the past two weeks is drawing to a close.
“Why?” you may be asking yourself.
The reason is quite simple: With the current demonic invasions running at the rate of three per two hours and set to ramp up again today, the experience gains are simply too good to pass up for those who are altoholics. In fact, by Blizzard’s own reckoning, this is the perfect time to bring up those long-neglected or half-forgotten characters just in time for Legion. Once the level 100 boost gained from purchasing the Legion expansion is used up, there are always one or two more characters lurking about waiting for their turn in the sun -- and at max level.
Doing so may yield you an opportunity to earn several achievements and at least one feat of strength in Legion. The Order Campaigns are account wide, so you can complete them on any character on any realm.
- A Glorious Campaign for completing one class Order Campaign
- A Heroic Campaign for completing three different class Order Campaigns
- An Epic Campaign for completing five different class Order Campaigns
The Feat of Strength, A Legendary Campaign is earned for completing all twelve class Order Campaigns. What makes a feat of strength special is that it is an expansion-specific, limited-time achievement that will disappear with the next expansion.
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So, this 1-100 thing. How is it done? It’s as easy 1-2-3:
ONE:
Start your level 1 character and work through the starter zone until reaching level 10 (keep in mind that Pandas, Worgen and Goblins are “locked into” their starter zones until about level 15). If using Recruit-a-Friend, you can ramp experience gains by a whopping 300% which will make that (and the entire 1-100 journey) go that much faster.
It's also worth using heirlooms for head, back, chest, and legs to ramp up experience gains. WoWhead has an excellent guide to heirlooms to help you find where to purchase them. When you get gear rewards in boxes, you can replace bracers, boots, gloves and your belt, but leave the heirlooms on. They should last you to much higher levels, sometimes up to 100.
Weapons and armor gained from boxes have a unique appearance for transmog and are unique to the pre-event. The ability to get this appearance will disappear when it is over at Legion's launch on August 30th.
TWO:
Get to your faction’s capital city. You won’t be able to fly, but most races have a fairly quick way to get to either Orgrimmar or Stormwind. These are key since there are two demon invasion locations near each.
Orgrimmar - Azshara right outside the city gates and Northern Barrens, specifically Crossroads, that is a short run (the first time and then pick up a fly master for the future) from the city
Stormwind - Westfall, specifically Sentinel Hill, a short run from the city (be sure to pick up the fly master for the future) and Dun Morogh near the Dwarf city of Ironforge, a short trip via the underground railway in Stormwind
In each of the zones where invasions are taking place, there should be … wait for it … LEGION players (haha!) around to make it go from stage one to four in about 20 minutes or so. Be sure to tag as many monsters as possible to exponentially ramp up your experience gains. Hit something. Move on. Trust me, everyone else is doing the same thing. Monsters will die and you will see big XP gains even from the smallest ones. Tagging is open and everyone who tags gains XP.
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Another rule of thumb is that the bigger the monster, the bigger the XP gain. Do the same as above by tagging the ones you can and either staying in to fight with your compatriots (grouping is informal and zone-wide, no special joining required, by the way) or move on to the next big bad. There are also so-called lieutenants rumbling around that will give HUGE experience gains so tagging and staying out of harm’s way is paramount.
Stage One:
Monsters appear in the city where the invasion is taking place (see above). Kill monsters to fill the event bar to 100% to get the first lieutenants to spawn. Yield: Decent XP gain for completing this stage.
Stage Two:
Tag and kill the lieutenants with everyone in town (and there will be LOTS!) which will then spawn the captain for even, you guessed it, bigger experience. You will gain a small reward chest for your effort which can contain the event currency (Nethershards that are used to purchase a pet, cosmetic transmog sets), armor or a weapon. The things you get scale with your level. Yield: Great XP for the lieutenants plus good XP gain for completing the stage.
Stage Three:
Roam outside of the city and look for demons to kill. There are a ton of lieutenants but most are a “flight” away. Until level 60 when flying unlocks, they’re tough to get to unless you have a friend with a dual mount to take you around to them. Otherwise, stay close to town and tag / kill everything in sight. At least one lieutenant will appear near town, sometimes two. Again, they’re important so tag, tag, tag and help fill the event bar to 100% that spawns the general. Yield: Great XP gain for completing the stage.
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Stage Four:
Tag the general. Beware, however, these bad ol’ demons are scaled for the highest levels in the area, usually 100s. Let them do the heavy work and tag when you can, at least once, to ensure you get the experience. Yield: A large chest that can contain a couple pieces of armor (can fit into any slot except back) or armor / weapon, shards or coalesced fel that can upgrade weapons. These are usually worth hanging on to until you’re level 100.
THREE:
Keep doing all of the above as often as you have time. Once you have flying, you can head out to the other invasion zones in Tanaris (Gadgetzan) and Hillsbrad Foothills (Tarren Mill). By the time you read this, invasions should be running nearly non-stop making the experience gains even faster.
Easy, right?
TIPS:
Open small boxes at talent tiers (15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90, 100) or at a place where gear ramps up from the expansion that came before, usually talent tier +1 or 2
Save the large chests until you reach level 100. Opening them then can yield a full set of gear + weapon, some of it perhaps even Warforged for additional iLevels
Save at least 250 Nethershards to purchase rings, an amulet, one trinket and a cloak from the special vendors when you hit level 100. These don't scale with your level and are intended for 100s only and are iLevel 700. There is one Demon Hunter camp in every invasion zone and also one in Orgrimmar or Stormwind, though you won't be able to see that one unless you've completed Broken Shore. The other DH camps are usually near the zone where the general spawns.
Use coalesced fel on weapons at level 100 to potentially ramp it to iLevel 725
Buy faster run at level 40, flying at level 60 and faster flying at level 80 to expedite your journey
Use city zeppelins or other transportation means (ie Stormwind’s underground) to get to locations far away
Teleport to the Pandaria Shrine of the (Moon for Horde, Stars for Alliance) to get to capital cities or Dalaran which leads to Caverns of Time to easier access Tanaris.
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That’s pretty much it. After a few times running a Legion demon invasion you’ll be an old hat. It’ll will be a tad repetitive, but, hey...it’s only for a week, right?
Enjoy that shiny new level 100, you hear?
