Here’s some tips for those who might want to do Legacy Content in WoW

 

Legacy Content is the official term for older dungeons and raids from past expansions. Clearing older content solo has been a thing since Vanilla WoW. Clearing Raids solo started becoming a thing starting in Wrath of the Lich King: At the time, it was quickly discovered a level 58-60 Death Knight could easily solo the level 60 version of Onyxia (!). In the years since then, it’s become easier for high-level players to solo Raids and Dungeons you needed a party of 5 to 40 to clear when they were current.

Of course, some encounters are easier to do with some classes than others. That’s what this article is for. Any Heroic Raid or Dungeon Cataclysm-era and below can be soloed no problem at level 40 and up though obviously it will take longer for some classes than others.  I can confirm most classes level 50 and below can do most Mythic Dungeons Legion and below no problem. Enrage Timers were removed so with a few unique exceptions, you can take your time doing them. For the most part, Plate-wearing classes (Paladin, Warrior or Death Knight) and classes with Pets (Hunter, Warlock or Death Knight) tend to have the easiest time more often than not across the board.

Eventually, I’ll add add this to the tips section and expand upon it. For those who are Transmog, Mount and general Achievement hunting, keep in mind Raids have a weekly lockout. Once you full clear a raid, you can’t do it again until the reset the following Tuesday for the most part. A way around this would be to use two or more characters per raid lockout and if you’re Transmog Hunting, you’ll need to use one class per armor type (Plate, Mail, Leather or Cloth) for a total of four per week anyways.

I typically mix and match Hunter and Shaman for the Mail Armor type as well as Priest and Warlock for Cloth. I use a Paladin or Death Knight for Plate and a Druid or Monk for Leather. I am relatively proficient with most classes except Rogue and Demon Hunter on that note. Of course, I am WELL aware that most raid tiers have class-exclusive armor sets on that note. That brings me back to the workaround I mentioned before: Level two (or more) characters of the same class to 50 or 60 (soon 70!), then do a raid twice in the same weekly lockout period. That’s if you don’t mind waiting until the next week of course.

 

Before I continue, go here to see the level breakdown by expansion post-level squish. It should prove to be helpful in figuring out what legacy content you can solo when.

Classic/Vanilla-Era Dungeons and Raids

 

Ok so let’s dive right in starting with content from the base game, all of which were upgraded in Cataclysm and later expansions. All of these dungeons and raids can be soloed with any class. You can 1-shot everything at level 40+ with all classes. A few instances do have Mechanics to be mindful of that ignore your level, one of which can be fatal if ignored.

 

• The Heroic version of Deadmines includes an additional boss: Vanessa VanCleef. When she comes out she will hit you with a Neurotoxin that forces you to run through an obstacle course, part of which can insta-kill you. When you get back to the ship to fight her properly, there will be times when she attempts to set off explosives. You must use the ropes on the side of the ship when the warning message pops up to evade or you will instantly die.
• Molten Core still has the attunement quest if you want to save time having to go through Upper Blackrock Spire or Blackrock Depths. There’s a LOT of backtracking so if you don’t have a mount with vendors, plan to have to leave every 2 or 3 bosses to empty your bags. The attunement quest is option as there is an NPC in Blackrock Mountain you can talk to who will teleport you in.
• Remember to CC control the first Raid Boss in Blackwing Lair if you don’t want to have to deal with Adds during the fight!

That’s basically it.

I almost forgot to include this but Group quests are now soloable at level. The relevant mobs were nerfed so you can make short work of them alone.

 

Burning Crusade Era Dungeons and Raids

All raid encounters are soloable by any class from level 40+. There’s just a lot of walking especially in Black Temple, Tempest Keep, Serpentshrine Cavern and the Sunwell. If you don’t have a mount with vendors, you’ll have to leave and come back. Vendors will appear in Black Temple after you defeat the Shade of Akama though.

Originally Raids, Escape from Durnholde Keep and the Black Morass are both now Dungeons. Both along with the Mt. Hyjal Raid can be found within the Caverns of Time in Tanaris. Stormwind and Orgrimmar both have a portal to the Caverns of Time and a return portal for your convenience.

 

Wrath of the Lich King Era Dungeons and Raids

 

Ok, now we’re getting to an expansion that has Raid encounters with special conditions including one with a skippable encounter! All of these are easily doable at level 40+ on Heroic diffiulty 10M or 25M. I referenced this above but it’s STRONGLY advised you have a mount with Vendors. The two most common you’ve probably seen other players with are the Traveller’s Tundra Mammoth (16,000 to 20,000G, Northrend – Dalaran) and the Grand Expedition Yak (120,000G, Kun Lai Summit).

The Yak has a vendor with Repairs and a Transmogrifier. As a reminder, most mounts including these are Accountwide meaning you only need to buy them ONCE. The Brutosaur mount costs 5,000,000G–that’s not a joke, it really costs THAT much Gold and no I don’t have it myself–is probably cost prohibited for most but you can sell a WoW Token for the other two if need be. Once you have a mount with a vendor, it saves you having to go to the nearest quest hub to empty your bags. Very handy for Raids and Dungeons where you can mount up, allowing you to do housecleaning without leaving the instance.

 

Here’s info for just Ulduar:

 

• Talk to Brann Bronzebeard in Ulduar to start the run to the other end of the corridor. You do not need to use any of the siege vehicles. Just mount up and ride to where the Flame Leviathan emerges. If you talk to Norgannon instead of Brann, the Flame Leviathan will take much longer to beat due to additional abilities BUT in exchange, you will get additional Achievements. It will take even longer if you’re using a Caster (Mage, Priest, Warlock, Balance Druid or Ele Shaman) due to frequent knockbacks so keep that in mind.
• The Iron Council in Ulduar must be beaten three different times because you will get an achievement depending on who the last one you beat is.
• You can challenge Algalon after the Iron Council if you want. The door will be unlocked even if you never did the prerequisite quests that required beating four of the other Raid Bosses.
• I assume most already know this but even if you’re going for the Alone in the Darkness Achievement, you still need to first beat the four Keepers–Mimiron, Thorim, Hodir and Freya–to unlock the way to where Yogg-Saron is. To get the achievement, do not talk to ANY of the Keepers when they move to the courtyard and beat Yogg-Saron. Keep in mind you will ALSO need to have 3 or less keepers on 25M Ulduar to have a chance for Mimiron’s Head (Flying mount) to drop after you down Yogg-Saron. If you choose to have just one of the Keepers, pick Freya (restores Sanity during the encounter).
• Yogg-Saron has four phases. The first Phase requires you to kill adds next to Sara until her health is zero. She then turns into Yogg-Saron after an epic intro to start Phase 2. If the Keepers are present, their buffs will be marginal since you’re overleveled. The Mind Control and getting snared IS annoying though. You’ll notice Yogg-Saron is shielded and can’t be damaged but you’ll be able to deal with that in Phase 3. Phase 3 begins when portals into Yogg-Saron’s mind opens (“MADNESS WILL CONSUME YOU!”). Click a portal and start mentally counting to 60 in your head because that’s how long you will have before your Insanity level instantly drops to zero if don’t do what you need to do while in there. You will be inside one of three rooms and you will notice Yellow mobs. It’e STRONGLY advised you save your speed boosts specifically for this phase. QUICKLY KILL ALL OF THE ADDS to open the door to the Mind’s Eye. Go into the new room and nuke Yogg-Saron’s brain. You know you got it in time because you will be back in Yogg-Saron’s room and his shield is now down (And he’ll let rip a laughter of insanity), starting Phase 4. I forgot to say this before but if your Insanity count drops to 0, the encounter ends in failure (“YOUR WILL IS NO LONGER YOUR OWN.”). You used to have to manually exit via portal but I’ve noticed you automatically exit when you kill the brain in recent runs.
• As an aside, two of the three possible rooms the Mind’s Eye drops you in recounts a moment from history. The one in Stormwind forbodes King Ilane Wrynn’s (Varian’s father and Anduin’s grandfather) assassination by Garona (“A thousand deaths…or one murder?”). The one with dragons actually points to the expansion that follows (“His brood learned their place before long! Soon, you will too!”). The third accurately foretells Arthas’ fate (“He will learn. No king rules forever. Only death is eternal!”).
• Nuke the Old God and you will be treated to one of the coolest/wierdest death quotes ever: “Your fate is sealed. The end of days is finally upon you and ALL who inhabit this miserable little seedling. Uulwi ifis halahs gag erh’ongg w’ssh. (“The shadow of my corpse will choke this land for all eternity.”).

 

Ok now here’s info on Icecrown Citadel:

 

• The Ashen Verdict has vendors for every class except Monk, Demon Hunter and Dracthyr (all introduced after Wrath was current) and they are conveniently located at the beginning of the instance. Those three classes can still run the instance but they don’t have Class-exclusive gear for it.
• If you are using a class that doesn’t have a pet, burn Marrowgar on 25M QUICKLY to avoid being impaled during the encounter. If you are using a class that has a pet (Warlock, Hunter or Unholy Death Knight), have your pet target the spike when you’re impaled.
• You do not need to board the other gunship during the Gunship Encounter. Just damage it from yours and you’ll be credited with victory automatically almost instantly along with the relevant achievement.
• The Emerald Dragon encounter is skippable if you are not using a class with Heals. Just walk around the Emerald Dragon without touching one of the liches and go to the platform at the back. Alternatively, you can trigger the encounter and let it end automatically. Or bring a friend to heal the dragon for you.
• When doing the Lich King on 25M Heroic, keep in mind you need to watch for orbs on Phase 2 and the grey traps intermittently dropped. If you touch them, you will be instantly punted off the platform and die. If you’re using a Melee class, use ranged abilities or pets to dispatch the orbs as they pop up while also damaging the Lich King. It might be tricky with a Warrior or Rogue but it’s not impossible.
• Once you drop the Lich King’s health to 25% or less, he’ll monologue and you know you won the encounter. Kill any remaining adds and just wait for the scripted dialogue to finish and the ending cinematic to play. If you played Legion and obviously Shadowlands, you know Bolvar’s secret doesn’t last for very long (LOL!).

 

Here’s info on other Raids to know:

 

• Want a 100% guaranteed mount drop in Obsidian Sanctum? kill the big dragon without touching his assistants. Keep in mind you can only loot the 20-slot bag from killing the boss ONCE (It’s Unique-Soulbound). The problem is its automatically mailed to you and you can’t even delete it. Yes, it’s a bug.
• To keep the Kel’Thuzad encounter from resetting, stay in the green circle and let the adds come to you. Eventually, Kel’Thuzad himself will engage.
• You used to have to get a quest item from Sapphiron to access The Eye but it’s no longer required to do that raid. The quest item does still drop though.
• The Culling of Stratholme is in the Caverns of Time. You play through Arthas’ most imfamous act before getting Frostmourne (and it’s also in Warcaft III/Warcraft III: Reforged) on that note. On the Heroic version, there is an additional optional boss.
• As a reminder, you must clear Normal Trial of the Grand Crusader before you can do the Heroic version.

 

Starting in Mists of Pandaria, legacy tokens were retired. Gear from vendors that previously required tokens could now be purchased with Gold. Wrath of the Lich King was also the expansion in which Heirlooms were introduced. Before the Gold Vendor was added to Ironforge/Undercity in Cataclysm, there were Champions’ Seals vendors on the Argent Tournament grounds. You will find one in the Argent Crusade’s tent and a second one in each faction’s tent.

On related note. Quartermasters for the Primary Races (Stormwind, Orgrimmar, Ironforge, Silvermoon, etc.) were added in WotLK. They sell tabards and a few other things. While wearing the tabards, you will gain reputation with that faction while doing dungeons. The same is true for the Northrend factions on that note. The Undercity Quartermaster moves to Orgrimmar after the BFA intro quest. You will find him on the rampart above the Gates of Orgrimmar and for your convenience, the Horde’s Heirloom vendor is next to him. It’s much easier to get to them with a flying mount. The Darnassus and Gilneas Quartermasters move to Stormwind after BFA’s intro quest and they can be found to the right of the Stormwind Embassy.

 

 

Cataclysm-era Dungeons and Raids

Not only was every dungeon redone, you also had the new dungeons and raids. Believe it or not, Cataclysm added more content than any other expansion to date. That’s excluding the revamped zones to be clear.

 

• Twilight Bastion has an additional boss on Heroic: Sinestra. After you beat Cho’Gall, the floor will give way to a chamber where Sinestra awaits. You will need to destroy the Twilight Eggs that are powering her shield and kill the adds that pop up during the encounter.
• The revamped Zul’Gurub and Zul’Aman dungeons–previously raids–are Heroic only. This is something to keep in mind and more so when farming them.
• Starting in Cataclysm, Blackrock Spire was formally split into Upper Blackrock Spire and Lower Blackrock Spire. They would be split into two different instances starting in Warlords of Draenor.
• Ragnaros in Firelands has an additional phase in the Heroic version of the raid. Druids can gain Majordomo Staghelm’s unique Druids of the Flame Bear and Cat appearances after defeating him (Can be done with any class).
• I’ve never been able to do it myself but the Spine of Deathwing encounter in the Hour of Twlight raid is apparently soloable. To stay on Deathwing’s back, stand in the open wounds after killing the adds. Otherwise, it’s instant death when Deathwing rolls you off.
• The entrances to Hour of Twlight Raid as well as the related Dungeons–War of the Ancients, End of Time and Assault on Wyrmcrest Temple–are all located in the Caverns of Time.
• The entrance to Blackwing Descent is actually outside of Blackrock Mountain and requires a flying mount to reach. From the Burning Steppes, fly up from the entrance to Blackrock Mountain and veer right. Do the same thing from the Searing Gorge entrance but veer left. Either way, you will see Nefarian’s throne room from the Blackwing Lair raid. Head to the back of the room to find the entrance to Blackwing Descent.
• Stratholme (Eastern Plaguelands) and Maradon (in Desolace) were split into two 5-man dungeons via Dungeon Finder. Likewise, Dire Maul (Feralas) was also split into three separate dungeons.
• The Sunken Temple dungeon (Swamp of Sorrows) was greatly shortened and most of the puzzles were removed as of Cataclysm.

 

If you started playing WoW after Cataclysm was released, you can disregard the last two things above.

I forgot to mention this before but there are additional Heirlooms you can earn for being in a guild. Once they are unlocked, see the Guild Vendor in any capital city or major quest hub elsewhere. The Vendor that sells Heirlooms for Gold–they have the same stock as the one in Northrend–can be found in Ironforge’s Hall of Explorers for Alliance and until you do the Battle for Azeroth intro quest, The Undercity for Horde. After you do the BFA intro quest on a character, the Undercity’s Heirloom Vendor will have relocated to the ramparts above the gates of Orgrimmar along with The Undercity’s Quartermaster.

 

Mists of Pandaria-era Dungeons and Raids

The only three raids I’ve actually been able to complete are Heart of Fear, Throne of Thunder and Siege of Orgrimmar. The others I was not able to progress due to mechanics. I can confirm the MoP raids can be done between levels 40 and 45 at the earliest.

 

• The entrance to the Siege of Orgrimmar Raid is in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. The first four bosses of the raid are there before things move to Orgrimmar. The first encounter requires you to kill the black adds after the boss explodes outward. It’s quicker to do on some classes than others. To start the first encounter in Durotar, destroy the seven cannons. After that, the boss will make themselves known. Talk to Varian (Alliance) or Lorthe’mar (Horde) to begin the encounter. You will have to multitask for the Galakras encounter as your attention will be split between the siege towers and the adds who attack the landing party. You will need to defend the engineers trying to breach the door to the towers. If one dies, both die. If you have a class with Heals, you can heal them and the landing party. Once a tower has been opened, fight your way to the top and kill everything. At the top you will find a cannon with which to hit Galakras. When Warlord Zaela is knocked off, head back down because the boss will land very shortly. When a tower’s doors are breeched a demolisher will be deployed to destroy the tower. Head back down and destroy it to buy yourself time with the cannon.
• Before you fight the Dark Shaman, go into the bank (first big building on the left if you’re Alliance) and kill the guy in there for his key. Also take out an overseer and open a cage for your faction. After you do that, go in Grommash Hold and take care of the bosses there. If you rescue captives first, you will get the Rescue Raiders achievement after downing the bosses. Head from here to the Cleft of Shadow to the Ragefire Chasm entrance. If you’re Alliance, head right from Grommash Hold. Fight your way to the end where General Nazgrim awaits. What he says is depends on if you’re Alliance or Horde.
• After you beat Malkorok and make your way to the back end of the furnace, open the gates and reinforcements from your faction will come pouring in. Repairs, a Vendor and a Portal from the instance will be added. Come back here to empty your bags as needed. In the Underhold, the room forks in three. You will need to go left and right before the center door is opened to you though. Siegecrafter Blackfuse is Left while the Spoils of Pandaria and Thok the Bloodthirsty are Right.
• After you kill all of Blackfuse’s adds, jump into the pipe to engage Blackfuse directly. For the Spoils of Pandaria encounter, SPEED is the name of the game: If you do not complete the encounter before time expires, you will automatically die. Pop your speed boosts while breaking boxes or even better, bring a friend or two. Once you complete the encounter, return to where you started to get loot.
• Remember helping the Klaxxi in their Civil War back in the Dread Wastes? Well, it turns out they and the other Mantid serve a much higher–and darker–power: The Old God Y’Shaarj. They followed Garrosh, who uncovered Y’Shaarj’s Heart all the way to Orgrimmar. They know you’re there to stop him and so they’re here to stop you. You will have to fight all nine members of the Klaxxi’s Paragons three at a time. I’ve seen people say don’t kill the first three too fast to avoid glitching the encounter but I didn’t run into any problems personally.
• The third Phase of the fight with Garrosh takes you inside of Y’Shaarj’s heart. move quickly to complete this phase of the encounter and return to the boss room. If you are Horde, you will have an additional phase that takes places in a phased version of Stormwind. Moments after the fight, a cinematic will play and part of it will be slightly different depending on your faction. After the Cinematic, Varian tells Alliance players his reasoning for ending the war at that point: A lot of blood has been spilled so far and more would needlessly be spilled if the fighting continued. A certain Horde leader reaches the same conclusion when the Fourth War breaks out 3 expansions later.
• When you burn Lei Shen’s HP down to under 50%, that will start phase 2. Position yourself so that the Southern Pillar is directly behind you. Do that unless you’re cool with falling over the side, dying and THEN having to exit and reenter the instance to properly reset the encounter. On Heroic, there will be an additional boss after Lei Shen.
• The outdoor Raid bosses on Pandaria (isle of Giants, Timeless Isle and Isle of Thunder included) are all soloable at 50+ BUT keep in mind you will likely be competing with other players who will be stalking their spawn locations at any given time. Oondasta is on the Isle of Giants north of Kun Lai Summit which itself is filled with Elite Mobs. It was originally intended to be done in a group is why. MoP was also the first expansion that gave credit to World Boss kills to everyone who damaged the boss even if not in the same group.
• Talk to Lorewalker Cho in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms to manually cue for Scenarios. You can do them solo.

It’s worth noting MoP was the last expansion to not have a scripted intro quest chain you were required to do before you could freely travel between the new expansion area and everywhere else. Accountwide Achievements were also introduced in MoP. Do certain achievements once and you don’t have to do them again on other characters. For example if you bought the Yak or Traveler’s Tundra Mammoth on one character, all current and future characters could use them. The same is obviously true for Heirlooms with the addition of an Heirlooms tab.

The farm in Halfhill (Valley of Four Winds) is quite the pet project and it is the main way you get vegetables for Pandaria Cooking among other things as your reputation with The Tillers increases. If it’s not obvious, it was inspired by the Harvest Moon series. On that note. Catch up mechanics were introduced in MoP for all professions when that expansion was current. No longer did you have to first level your professions through all previous expansions worth of content.

I assume everyone already knows this but newly created Pandaren start Neutral. At the end of their starting zone you will be prompted to join the Alliance or the Horde and when you make a Pandaren Dearth Knight, you’re prompted to pick a faction during that process.

 

Warlords of Draenor-Era Dungeons and Raids

I personally confirmed all Heroic and Normal WoD Raids and Dungeons are soloable at level 50. I used a Paladin when I did them all for the first time over the span of about 3 days. WoD is imfamous for the fact a LOT of content announced or promised was cut from the finished product. WoD stands as the only expansion with just two raid tiers: Highmaul and Blackrock Foundry launched with the expansion while Hellfire Citadel was the Endgame raid. There was supposed to be another content zone added to WoD I’ll just put it like that. Karabor and Bladefist Fortress were also originally planned to be the Alliance and Horde hubs on Draenor and that’s why they are so huge.

When WoD was released to when the Tanaan Jungle patch dropped, most people just holed up in their garrisons. The reason? You could make hundreds of Gold with literally no effort. Blizz nerfed it hard though. After you upgrade your Garrison to Tier 3, you will be able to do a short quest to unlock the Shipyard. From there, you can go (back) to Tanaan Jungle as well as do Shipyard-related Missions.

 

• Remember Warlord Zaela from the Siege of Orgrimmar raid? She’s the final boss of the revamped Upper Blackrock Spire dungeon. If you go to UBRS for two certain Garrison quest, you will find the items in the corridor before you face her.
• Blackrock Foundry is a MASSIVE Raid with a LOT of walking and backtracking involved. Be prepared to have to leave to empty your bags a lot. There is a quest-giver somewhere in the raid who will greatly shorten future runs if the final boss if you do the quest starting with your next attempt.
• The Heart of the Furnace encounter took a VERY long time for me to complete because I needed to figure out how to do it properly. I did it right on the first attempt though. What you need to do is blow off the valve doors on the left and right sides of the blast furnace. Carry the bombs dropped by the adds and yes this will take a VERY long time for each side. Once they are blown off, the boss for this encounter will emerge for you to deal with.
• The final two bosses of Highmaul are quite repetative and due to mechanics. They will take a while to beat but they should pose no real threat to you at level 50.
• The very first encounter in Hellfire Citadel requires killing ALL of the mobs to provoke the start of the actual encounter. Keep killing adds as phases change and do it quickly.
• Shadow Priest Iskar was quite the ally in the Spires of Arak. Having given in to the Dark Side, he’s a powerful enemy now. If you are not using a ranged or caster class, you will need to wait until his lands on the platform to damage him and thus, this fight will take a while.
• Archimonde is easy to nuke but this is a bit of a heads up to be mindful the ending Cinematic will play moments after you take him out.

 

Again, don’t attempt to solo the Raids unless you’re level 50+ OR you’re level 45+ and have some BFA or Shadowlands Gear with abilities activated. Mobs can hit surprisingly hard otherwise is why.

 

Legion-Era Dungeons and Raids

I’ll be attempting at level 60 soon but I can personally confirm NONE of the Raids are solable at 50. The dungeons CAN be done on Normal at level 50 though. What that means is you can complete your Order Hall campaign for your class at level 50.

 

A few things of note and fair warning, MAJOR Lore Spoilers if you didn’t know already:

 

• As part of their Order Hall campaign, Death Knights will raise a new squad of Four Horsemen. The last squad was wiped out in Northrend so a new team is needed. Lich King Bolvar personally selects Nazgrim, Thoras Trollbane, Sally Whitemane and a fourth you will need to play through to find out for yourself.
• Lorewise, all of the Artifact Weapons’ Innate Power was sacrificed to stabilize the wound in Silithus post-Legion. You can obviously still use them but their unique abilities are no longer usable. You can also no longer research artifact power to strengthen them either. You CAN still attach accessories to strengthen them though. Once you move on from questing in Legion, feel free to put your Artifact Weapons in storage. They won’t be needed in Battle for Azeroth and later. If you miss how they look or any appearances you unlocked, they are available via Transmog.
• The Hidden Appearances for Artifact Weapons are no longer obtainable post-Legion. If you missed getting them when Legion was current, they’re lost to you forever.
• There is some overlap with the Paladin and Priest Order Hall Campaigns. You will even see a Night Elf Priestess decide to become a Paladin!
• Looking to unlock Highmountain Tauren as a playable race? Just do the ENTIRE Highmountain story quest chain until you get the story Achievement for it. After that, you only have to do the recruit quest chain on an existing level 50+ Horde character.
• Obtaining the Insurrection Achievement for Nightborne in Suramar will take QUITE a while and in fact, don’t expect to do them all in a few days. Seriously, pace yourself. Once you get the achivement, do the recruit quest chain on an existing level 50+ Horde character.
• The Argus questline achievement You Are Now Prepared is required to unlock both Lightforged Draenei and Void Elves as playable races for the Alliance. You WILL have to do some of the Legion Invasion portals on Argus but it’s doable solo at 50+. Once you get the achievement, you can do the recruit quest chains on an existing level 50+ Alliance character.

 

Legion also introduced the ability to skip certain quests or quest chains such as the Broken Shore intro quest. Do it once and you can skip having to go to the Broken Shore on other chars if you want afterward. Given the Broken Shore scenario is actually a cross-faction scenario–Horde and Alliance players do it at the same time–it makes sense to give players the option of skipping it.

 

Battle For Azeroth-Era Dungeons and Raids

From what I’ve heard, none of the raids are soloable at 60 (!). Many frustrated players are hoping that changes with the launch of Dragonflight so we’ll see. The Dungeons are soloable at 60 though I did 3-man Freehold Normal via dungeon finder on the fly recently (I used a level 50 Paladin). I am actually playing through BFA’s content for the very first time as of this summer. Yes, really.

I recently finished the Alliance side of the Fourth War and have unlocked all three BFA-era allied races (Dark Iron Dwarves, Mechagnomes and Kul Tiran Humans). After you complete the Ready for War Achievement, head to Stormwind or Orgrimmar to start the unlock quest for Dark Iron Dwarves or Mag’har Orcs respectively. Mechagnomes can be unlocked by doing the Operation Mechagon achievement (dungeon parts skippable) first. A Nation United is needed for the Kul Tiran Human unlock quest chain. The unlock quest chain takes you to all three zones as part of the chain in which you help build a ship for Anduin.

On the Horde side, I’ve now unlocked all three BFA-era allied races (Mag’har Orc, Vulpera and Zandalari Troll). The good thing is since I unlocked BFA World Quests on one character, that will make rep and War Resource grinding a bit easier moving forward. Once you’ve done gotten the Two Sides to Every Tale achievement–the Alliance and Horde versions of the Fourth War–you will get two faction-exclusive mounts: A Frostwolf wearing Alliance armor and a Warhorse wearing Horde armor. Not a bad reward to say the least!

 

A few things to know for those who may not have progressed far into BFA content for whatever reason:

• After you do the Kul Tiras or Zandalar intro quest chain once, you will be able to skip it on other characters. You can go to Kul Tiras/Zandalar starting at level 10+ on that note. The Kul Tiras intro quest involves breaking out of prison while the Zandalar intro quest involves breaking into prison. Yes, really.
• I’m assuming this is from doing it for the first time but you must be level 50+ to unlock Nazjatar and Mechagon as quest hubs. Mechagon is unlocked as a quest hub after you progress in Nazjatar to a certain point.
• After you rescue Baine from Orgrimmar as Alliance, you will see him and Mayla Highmountain in Stormwind City’s Throne Room until you do the Shadowlands intro quest.
• The quest chains that make up the Alliance version of the Ready For War Achievement involves the prepwork ahead of the Battle of Dazal’alor, which is the raid to kill King Rastakhan. In the Horde version of the Raid, Jaina Proudmoore is the final boss (but obviously she doesn’t die).
• Gelbin Mekkatorque (leader of the Gnomes), who participated in the Battle of Dazar’alor is a Boss for the Horde version of the Raid and is severely injured to the point his machine puts him in stasis. Tink Master Overspark assumes leadership of the Gnomes after that. The Mechagnome unlock quest chain involves reviving Mekatorque, who also becomes leader of the Mechagnomes.
• Varok Saurfang challenges Sylvanas to Mak’gora outside Orgrimmar knowing he wouldn’t survive. He did achieve his goal of making Sylvanas publicly admit the Horde meant nothing to her. Sylvanas realized that was Saurfang’s real intention after the fact and that’s why she fled after killing him.
• Imfamously, Horde players are given a choice during the events of BFA: Side with Sylvanas or Saurfang. If you choose to pledge your alligiance to Saurfang, you will help keep Sylvanas’ agents from finding him until the finale outside Orgrimmar. The quest chain is unlocked after you get the Tides of Vengeance on a Horde character. Nathanos will direct you to Orgrimmar for a mission regarding Saurfang, who recently escaped from custody in Stormwind and is on the run. When you pick up Saurfang’s trail, Zekhan will approach you and you’re given a choice. If you choose to stay loyal to Sylvanas, you will feign alligiance to Saurfang and act as a double agent. If you choose to help Saurfang, he will tell you to feign loyalty to Sylvanas for the time being. After Saurfang dies, those who pledged loyalty to Sylvanas will get an epilogue quest in the Ghostlands in which she thanks you for your loyalty and promises you she will not forget it.
• There are additional Footholds you can unlock after you complete the Ready for War achievement per faction. Some require being Revered (200 War Resources each) or Exalted (500 War Resources each) with the 7th Legion (Alliance) or Honorbound (Horde) but they each come with a flight path to make quickly getting around Kul Tiras (Horde) or Zandalar (Alliance) a bit easier. See the Quartermaster for the 7th Legion/Honorbound to buy the corresponding Outpost item, then complete the corresponding Mission (6 hour missions each). Most Mission Footholds are also upgradeable for an additional 100 War Resources on that note, adding something to the outpost for you to make use of. That makes them worth the effort so…yeah.
• After you’ve leveled a character to 50 and unlocked World Quests, it will be unlocked accountwide. Further, current and future characters under level 50 will be able to do World Quests as well. World quests make getting War Resources a little easier similar to Legion and Order Hall Resources.
• Island Expeditions are tedious if you are not able to do them in a group. It’s strongly advised you wait until you’re 60+ to attempt them solo.

 

If you do both the Alliance and Horde sides of BFA, it’s easy to piece together the order certain events each side experiences happens.

Here’s a few examples and fair warning, there are some MAJOR story spoilers:

• We know after an elite Horde team breaks Talanji out of Stormwind City’s Stockades, an Alliance fleet chased after them. If you pay attention to the Cinematic that plays, only one Alliance ship was able to escape the Zandalar Navy’s attack. When you do the Alliance BFA intro quest, you will peer into the memory of one of the sailors from that ship to see what happened.
• Although the Horde made contact with Zandalar before the Alliance made contact with Kul Tiras, the latter pairing allied wtih each other first. Zandalar likely formally allied with the Horde after the Battle of Dazar’alor.
• An elite Horde team stole the Abyssal Scepter from Stormsong Monastery in Tiragarde Keep. An elite Alliance team stole it back by breaking into a Zandalari treasure vault.
• Thomas Zelling was powerful Tidesage who died from illness and was raised as a Forsaken by Lillian Voss. Brother Pike is a Tidesage who helps restore the honor and prestige of the Tidesages after it’s sullied by Lord Stormsong.
• The Alliance attack via Nazmir on The Blood Gate precedes Zandalar and the Horde’s counterattack from the city. Alliance side, Jaina leads the offensive through Nazmir as the prelude to the planned raid on the city itself. She temporarily withdraws ahead of final preparations for the attack on the heart of the Zandalar Empire. After she withdraws from Nazmir, the full might of the Zandalar Military pours into Nazmir. Though they route the Alliance forces, the Zandalari and Horde Forces are shocked to see no sign of the Kul Tiran fleet. It isn’t until they hear explosions coming from Dazar’alor that they fully realize why the Alliance soldiers they encountered said things like “We already won” and “You’re too late”.
• The Zandalari-Horde forces rush back to the city but are unable to stop an elite Alliance team from killing Rastakhan. They do encounter Jaina but she manages to escape with her life. Gelbin Mekkatorque, who also participated in the Battle of Dazar’alor is badly injured as well.
• After a Horde team led by Nathanos Blightcaller recovers the body of Derek Proudmoore from the bottom of The Great Sea, Sylvanas personally raises him as a Forsaken. She intended to use him to kill the Proudmoore family but Baine and a Horde Champion’s intervention leads to his return to Jaina who accepts him despite him being Undead.
• Sylvanas holds a meeting with all of the leaders of the Horde at Warfang Hold in Stormsong Valley. Baine admits he was the one who broke Derek Proudmoore out of the flagship he was held on and secretly returned him to his family. Although Baine never mentions Zelling or the Horde Champion who both aided him, Nathanos slays Zelling on the spot and Baine is taken away by guards to Orgrimmar. This move invokes outrage from most of other Horde leaders, the leadup to the Siege of Orgrimmar fresh in the minds of those who were there.
• Matthias Shaw, who secretly watched the meeting with an Alliance Champion reports back to Anduin who orders Shaw and Jaina to infiltrate Orgrimmar and recue Baine. Jaina and Shaw run into Thrall and Saurfang, who have also gone in to rescue Baine. The teams decide to work together for their shared interest and manage to get Baine out safely.
• Later, Saurfang sends word to Andiun about a daring plan to end the war. At this point, the events of Nazjatar have happened and both factions are aware that N’zoth has been freed. Anduin wants to end the war with the Horde so that they can focus on N’zoth but Sylvanas doesn’t seem interested. With their forces depleted from the conflict, Anduin and Saurfang throw together the last of their reserves in preparation for what they know will be one shot at assaulting Sylvanas in Orgrimmar. Saurfang challenges Sylvanas to Mak’gora. Sylvanas kills him but not before he makes her admit the Horde means nothing to her.
• Thrall declines Baine’s request to become Warchief again, saying he promised Saurfang he wouldn’t become Warchief a second time. He instead proposes the position be retired and replaced with a Horde Council made up all of the faction’s leaders. He also proposes Gazlowe become the new leader of the Bilgewater Goblins after Jastor Gallywix took off.
• What the Alliance and the Horde weren’t aware of is during the Battle for Dazar’alor, the Lich King ordered the Knights of the Ebon Blade to secretly recover the bodies of the fallen–mostly Pandaren and Allied Races–to be raised as Death Knights. He has sensed great unrest in the Shadowlands and is bolstering the Knights of the Ebon Blade in advance for the next conflict to come.

 

There ya go. You do need to play the Alliance and Horde versions of this story to get the full picture of the Fourth War. I did the Alliance side at level 50 and completed the Horde side in mid-September.

When Nyalotha was announced as the final raid with N’Zoth as the final boss of BFA, the Devs claimed this was always planned and it’s the real reason the expansion was named “Battle FOR Azeroth”. Yeah, no. N’Zoth playing a role in BFA was certainly teased in most of Stormsong Valley’s story but that’s still not enough to set the stage. Same for Nazjatar. Yes, we freed N’Zoth but who’s to say Sylvanas couldn’t have been the final boss of the expansion? That was heavily teased as well.

All the said. Once you get the Veteran of the Fourth War Achievement, you’ll then be set up to do the Black Empire quest chain that leads to Uldum and the Vale of Eternal Blossoms as daily quest hubs. Come back at level 60+ if you want an easier and faster time doing them.

 

Shadowlands-Era Dungeons and Raids

The current expansion. Obviously, nothing is soloable right now!

As of this month, my primary and secondary accounts are upgraded to Shadowlands. Until Shadowlands, Pandaren were locked out of the Death Knight Class. This is no longer the case as of Shadowlands. Not only can you now make a Pandaren Death Knight but you can make a Death Knight with all of the Allied Races as well. Lorewise, it’s explained the Knights of the Ebon Blade secretly recovered the bodies of fallen soldiers from every battlefront during the events of BFA on Bolvar’s orders.

The intro sequence for the Pandaren + Allied Race Death Knights is different from the other races: Bolvar simply explains he raised a new generation of Death Knights to bolster their forces in anticipation of a looming threat to come. Go to Stormwind or Orgrimmar at level 48+ for more info!

 

 

 

These be interesting times. I left this out up to now but these two from Mists of Pandaria’s opening cinematic are General Nazgrim and Admiral Taylor. Nazgrim dies during the Siege of Orgrimmar but is raised as one of the new Four Horsemen of the Ebon Blade two expansions later in Legion. Admiral Taylor, meanwhile randomly dies offscreen in the Spires of Arak. You are later able to recruit his ghost but his story abruptly ends in Draenor with no fanfare. A shame given he was a major character in MoP’s storyline opposite General Nazgrim in Jade Forest.

One thing worth noting is in Dragonflight all races will get access to the Priest, Mage and Rogue classes. There are only a small handful of races who do not have access to those three classes on that note. Every race can already be a Warrior, Hunter or Death Knight. Blizzard Devs announced their plan is to eventually give all races access to all classes so…yeah. I assume that will not be true for Evoker and Demon Hunter but I could see the latter class being given to more races. Void Elves and Nightborne make sense for example. Up to now, race lore kept certain classes exclusive to certain races. Until the Burning Crusade, two classes were faction exclusive: The Paladin class was Alliance exclusive while the Shaman class was Horde exclusive. The Draenei brought the Shaman class to the Alliance while the Blood Elves brought the Paladin class to the Horde.

In Cataclysm, new race/class combos were added. Most notably Humans and Forsaken could be Hunters, Night Elves could be Mages, Tauren could be Paladins or Priests and Dwarves could be Shaman. The lore for Human/Forsaken Hunters was always there from the beginning obviously. As Wrath of the Lich King came to a close, an envoy from Eldre’Danas–Night Elven Mages living in exile–paid Teldrassil a visit and convinced Tyrande to allow the open practice of the Arcane. This was a huge shift culturally since it was the wreckless practice of the Arcane that invited the Burning Legion to Azeroth 10,000 years ago.

Dezco, who was a Druid learned a new path and founded the order of the Sunwalkers. Like Zandalari Troll Paladins, they do not draw their powers from the Light lorewise. In-game, the Sunwalkers are Priests and Paladins mechanics-wise. The Wildhammer Clans of the Hinterlands and Twilight Highlands openly practiced Shamanism unlike their cousins in Ironforge. When they formally joined the Alliance, they decided to teach their kin Shamanism as well. If all races will eventually get all classes, it does raise questions about Draenei and Lightforged Draenei getting access to the Warlock class for obvious reasons. I can see Humans getting Shaman and Druid by learning them from Kul Tiran Humans and Gilneans.

 

Things are sure to be interesting for WoW in the years to come to say the least. If you listen to the noise online, Microsoft buying Activision Blizzard–primarily to acquire the Call of Duty franchise–doesn’t bode well for WoW or Blizzard’s other IPs. They point to the fact none of the original staff or Devs are around anymore and instead of having a team of 200 people, Blizzard is now staffed by several thousand people. I ignore the chatter because those whining the most about staff changes and turnover in a video game company heralding the end of said company don’t understand or care about the fact it’s a part of life.

Nothing lasts forever, video games included. Many gamers who played WoW in its early years grew up and moved on with their lives for example. Times change, people change and Blizzard has been doing its best to adapt in kind lately. They’re more in touch with the playerbase than most care to acknowledge. Like I said in my last post, you have a vocal minority who feels they speak for “everyone” or “most” when they only speak for themselves. I speak for myself–and am very open about that of course–through this blog.

Like with streaming services, I have decided to play WoW using prepaid time be it 30, 60 ot 180 days at a time. It takes a lot of the pressure off of feeling like I HAVE to play WoW every single day is why. Not that I ever did of course. I’m a shameless altoholic and will always find something to do when I’m not questing. On that note, I really don’t get those who play WoW but profess hating the leveling experience or rather having to level in general. If you don’t like RPGs or games with RPG Mechanics, go play something like Call of Duty. Like it or not, the meat of WoW IS the leveling experience. Max level content is just the dessert.

 

 

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