How about a gaming update! We are waiting for Rise of Azshara, the 8.2 patch for the Battle for Azeroth expansion. We know this patch is on the PTR, and Blizzard is teasing us with a plethora of details (some containing spoilers). While I am avoiding the spoilers, I do read about some of the new content including the new zones, encounters and, of course, the new mounts! However, this isn’t about those details. What is there to do while we wait??!
Raiding and AOTC
Ahead of the Curve (AOTC) is an achievement for defeating the final boss of the current raid tier before the release of the next tier. It’s a goal many guilds use as a guideline for remaining in sync with the expansion storyline.
This patch will remove the AOTC achievement for Battle of Dazar’alor. Therefore raid teams are feverishly trying to defeat Jaina on heroic difficulty before the patch drops. Our raid team, however, has already accomplished that (huge props to everyone that made it possible). While we wait for 8.2 we are working on AOTC for Crucible of Storms, which only consists of two bosses and, therefore, shouldn’t be too difficult.
Non-Raid Goals (i.e. ALTS)
We only raid two nights a week and, since a release date hasn’t been announced, we are not in a hurry to bring down Uu’nat. If your only in-game goals are related to raiding then you’re probably pretty bored right now. Me, on the other hand, have 13 other toons that I would like to get to 120.
Currently I have 9 alts at max level (meaning I have 10 characters at 120). I made it a goal to try to get all of them to 120 before 8.2 drops. My main purpose for this is that I neglected my alts during most of the previous expansion. I waited until the final patch to diligently level the alts. I did not accomplish everything I had hoped to do before the expansion ended. Hence my reasons for more proactively leveling my alts.
Leveling Is A Science
I can usually reach level 120 in about two weeks, a little over one week if the Darkmoon Faire is active. I’ve learned there is a science to leveling in Battle for Azeroth. Before you begin leveling an alt, I would highly recommend picking up the 7th Legion Scouting Map (or Honorbound Scouting Map) from the Emissary. This is a Bind on Account item that will discover all the flight points on Kul Tiras and Zandalar on each character it’s used.
Basically I begin by picking one of the zones and I focus on the main storyline for the zone. I will do a couple of side quests along the way, but I keep doing the main quests until I have the quest for the dungeon (which marks the end of the story). Once you have all three storylines completed then you have a choice.
If you focus specifically on the storyline quest chain, you will not hit 120. Depending on how many side quests you do you will still need about 1-2 more levels. I would highly suggest you work on the three war campaigns next. You can wait until 119 if you want, since you will get an item from the first one you complete. I suggest completing these before 120 because you will want the waypoints out to your faction’s respective camps when you unlock World Quests and Faction Assaults.
If you still haven’t hit 120 by the time you complete all three war campaigns then its more side quests or dungeon grinding. And more waiting for Rise of Azshara.
Happy Leveling!
If zombies attack the world, everyone will run and hide. Except for us gamers, of course. We’ve been waiting for this all our lives!
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
The concepts in this post will be fairly esoteric if you are not familiar with many of the game features in World of Warcraft. Also, this will likely be a bit of a soapbox as I’ve grown weary of the emphasis put on Mythic+ dungeons. Sorry Blizzard, I just don’t care for the Mythic+ system, in fact I think Mythic+ dungeons are obnoxious.
For example, my gear score on my raid toon is 360. If I want ilevel 360 gear to drop I have to get a keystone for a Mythic+7 or higher. Which means I have to do at least 2 or 3 dungeons before I even get the appropriate keystone, then I have to complete that dungeon. You also only have a week to do this (as all Mythic+ dungeons and keystones reset every Tuesday). Of course what gear you get is completely random so there is a chance, that after enduring all of that, you could get a piece that you can’t even use. As your gear score increases, so do the number of Mythic+ dungeons you have to complete within a week.
We are about six weeks into the eighth World of Warcraft expansion. The Battle for Azeroth has begun; the Horde and Alliance are engaged in fierce warfare to control the Azerite. The first raid, Uldir, is available and Blizzard has already announced the first content patch, 
As much as I do like that Queen Azshara is mentioned a lot, I’m still not as into the story as I was in Legion. Granted, I don’t think it’s as weak as the story for Warlords of Draenor but the whole “Horde vs Alliance” feels a bit cliche. Perhaps the reason I’m not as into the story is that I actually like Sylvanas and the fact that she’s lost her mind is fantastic. Unfortunately, 98% of the community disagrees and they all hope she dies (btw, I even play Alliance). I’m sure I will be labeled a traitor when I say, I really hope we don’t kill her; in fact I think she’s under the influence of Queen Azshara. While I don’t think she makes a good war chief, I would rather over throw her than kill her (thus killing another Horde leader).
The two new world mechanics in Battle for Azeroth are Island Expeditions and War Fronts. These are essentially the evolution of scenarios. Island Expeditions is a race to farm Azerite; that’s it. They developed an algorithm so each time you enter an Island Expedition it’s different, however its only different in terms of terrain and mobs. The objective is still ALWAYS the same. Island Expeditions feel so lackluster that I’ve been renaming them to “Island Adventures”. There is good news. I believe Blizzard has plans to make some changes so they are not so terribly bland.
Quite a while ago I 
