There are some immutable facts that we know about World of Warcraft as we sit here today. Antorus is the final raid in the Legion expansion. Battle for Azeroth has been revealed as the next chapter in the ongoing story. We have NO idea when it’s coming our way. What this means, dear readers, is that we are now officially in the doldrums when it comes to WoW. However, it can never be said that there’s “nothing to do in WoW” -- it wasn’t true a decade ago and it’s even less so today. For those who are likely to keep playing throughout the intervening months between now and the release of BfA, what can you do to occupy your time?
Let’s get this one out of the way straight out the gate:
Unsubscribe
Of course, the first people who charge into an article like this one usually say one of two things: 1) I don’t play this @#$&@* game any more; or 2) UNSUB! As per the norm, we can pass over #1 pretty quickly and move on to #2.
Unsubscribing to WoW is always a choice. If you’re bored or simply don’t want to keep your nose to the grindstone for what’s likely to be the better part of 2018, just stop paying the monthly subscription. It’s as simple as that.
Now that we’re done with that little PSA, let’s move on, shall we? We have a few suggestions about how you can occupy your time in WoW. Sure, some are the same ones we always give at this same stage before every expansion, but there are some new things to do too that will have you sitting pretty when the Battle for Azeroth finally arrives.
Get Your Pixel Ducks in a Row to Unlock Allied Races
In Battle for Azeroth, six new Allied Races will be joining the fight. Horde will see Nightborne, Zandalari Trolls and Highmountain Tauren arrive, while the Alliance will have Lightforged Draenei, Void Elves and Dark Iron Dwarves come into the fold. However, to be able to create one of these Allied Races, several things need to be accomplished first. The good news is that all races unlock for your account if ONE character completes the tasks irrespective of faction.
)
To unlock Allied Races, here’s what you’ll need to tick off your to-do list:
- Purchase Battle for Azeroth
- Earn Exalted status with the Nightfallen to unlock Nightborne. Become exalted with Highmountain Tauren. For Void Elves, you’ll need to be exalted with Argussian Reach and for Lightforged Draenei, you’ll need exalted status with the Army of the Light. We don’t know what the requirements for Zandalari and Dark Iron as they will not be joining the fight until the launch of BfA.
- Complete a quest requirement for each of the above: Insurrection for Nightborne, You are Now Prepared for Void Elves and Lightforged Draenei and Ain’t No Mountain High Enough for Highmountain Tauren.
Lucky for us, WoWHead has a handy guide to read as well as an “attunement” tool that allows you to see a character’s progress towards the unlock.
Check On and Complete Content / Achievements That are Going Away in BfA
As per Blizzard’s norm, there is a variety of Legion content that is going to be retired once BfA hits. Considering the existence of Artifact system, the Legion must-do list is a bit longer than usual:
- Mage Tower Challenge Artifact Appearances. Broken Shore’s Mage Tower provides players with a solo scenario designed to test their skills in one way or another. Completing this task grants a special Artifact Appearance that will be unobtainable once Legion ends (however, once you’ve unlocked the basic appearance, the tints can be acquired at any point). That means 36 appearances with 3 extra tints each! With Veiled Argunite currency from Argus, it is possible to quickly gear your alts to 910+ and tackle the challenge after some careful studying of guides and videos.
- Mythic +15 Dungeon Artifact tint will also be retiring once it is time for BfA to shine. Finishing +15 on time unlocks an Artifact recolor for all specializations of the character who has done the deed. So if you want to use those extra recolors in the next expansion on the other characters, you need to do this on them as well.
- Brawler’s Guild achievements and Basilisk mount. Brawler’s guild has triumphantly returned after a long hiatus and brought a variety of goodies with it varying from Brawler’s Basilisk mount to a number of shirts for specific challenges. As it happened before, all of this will be going away with the new expansion. So grab your Brawler's Pass and step into the arena before it is too late.
- The Chosen title for Mythic Trial of Valor. We do not know for sure if this title is going away, but the general consensus is that it will due to the similarities with Naxxramas’ Immortal / Undying titles from WotLK. To acquire this title, you must defeat Mythic Helya without dying at any point in the instance prior to the kill.
- Ahead of the Curve / Cutting Edge achievements for Heroic / Mythic Antorus, the Burning Throne.
- Violet Spellwing mount for defeating Heroic Argus the Unmaker (also awards Ahead of the Curve). The Legion’s version of the Grove Warden and Kor’kron War Wolf mounts.
- Mythic Raid mounts that currently drop with 100% chance will become much rarer of a drop once Legion goes away.
)
Mounts, Pets, Transmog & Achievements
Sure, this one is always there. There are a lot of little things to do for the collector in you that can fill the gaps in current content. With the transmog system now firmly in place, it’s never a bad idea to head into old dungeons and raids on all of your alts to collect armor and weapon appearances to keep you looking sharp.
Pets are always there to be collected and raised with eager pet trainers ready to challenge your pets’ skills. Don’t forget, too, that the Hunter class can also collect companion pets to fight alongside them, with Beast Masters also able to find and tame Exotics, like Spirit Beasts.
While running old dungeons and raids, you have a chance to get hold of mounts like Invincible from Arthas in Icecrown Citadel. Of course, most have abysmal drop rates so it’s likely that you’ll be back every week to try again. But there isn’t much that beats the feeling you get when one finally drops. As mentioned above, don’t forget that mounts that currently can be obtained from bosses in Legion will have the drop rates drastically reduced so the time for them is now.
It’s a great time to look at your achievement list because it’s just going to get longer when BfA launches. Perhaps it’s time to finally complete the Glory of the Ulduar Raider or Commander of Argus, the latter to get much more difficult once Legion ends. A lot of these have unique mounts or appearances awarded to those who finish them.
Patch 7.3.5
The next patch is already on the PTR and is shaping up nicely with some new or overhauled content coming into the game. Most notably, you’ll be able to check out the new Zone Scaling feature where zones will have a range of level appropriate content that can be completed in just about any order you wish.
)
Sargeras’s sword plunged into Silithus and a new series of faction-specific events and quests take place there. These, of course, lead the ramp up to the faction war that will ignite in Battle for Azeroth. There are new pets, rares and toys ready for collection too and near the end of this patch cycle, players will also find out what happens to the Artifacts that have been so carefully tended in Legion.
Ulduar Timewalking will also makes its debut in 7.3.5. Players will be able to experience the raid “as it was in the day” (sorta…) and to collect level-appropriate gear for alts as well as transmog appearances.
While not 100% sure, it is generally thought that the new Seething Shore Battleground may arrive in 7.3.5, though likely not until very late in the cycle. It's the first new battleground in what feels like ages so it's a good opportunity to take out your frustrations on the opposing faction.
Lastly, let’s not forget that Trial of Style Season 2 arrives with 7.3.5 along with the ability to upgrade your S.E.L.F.I.E. camera with special filters.
Collect Wakening Essence to Buy Legendaries
As everyone know, legendary items became more akin to “Legion-dary” in that there are so many available, so many that are BiS, that they almost lost their appeal altogether.
Blizzard let us know this week that players will actually be able to buy legendaries from a vendor using Wakening Essence. These drop from Emissary Caches, Mythic + reward chests, raid bosses, daily Heroic Legion dungeons, weekly PvP rewards and when 7.3.5 launches, as a reward for the first battleground win of the day.
You’ll definitely want to start collecting them now as each legendary will cost 1000 Wakening Essence to buy. You can target your spec and which slot it will fit into as well. Blizzard has said that the Titanic Effort quest will no longer need to be in your log and that you can start stockpiling them now.
)
That should be enough to keep you happily occupied for many months. Let’s hope that Blizzard surprises us all and releases BfA sooner than later!
What will you tackle first?
