We're almost two weeks in to Warlords of Draenor, and after this past weekend I feel like I've now spent a substantial amount of time with the new content. Queues on high population realms seem to have vanished as fast as your friendly neighborhood rogue and servers seems stable overall. Those facts made it so I was able to reach level 100 in the middle of last week. And that's where the real fun begins: the journey to raid-readiness.
I reached cap about three-quarters of the way through Spires of Arak, prior to setting foot in Nagrand. This is pretty typical of me, as I'll generally complete all of the quests in the zone prior to moving on. In the case of Warlords, it included the main storyline, side storylines and marked bonus objectives. It wasn't until level 100 that I finally replaced gear I'd been carrying with me since the Siege of Orgrimmar (gosh how that seems so long ago).
Garrisons, on the whole, have surprised me. While some of the fun I'm having is likely due to novelty, I think there's more to it than just that. Really, it was this past weekend where I felt I knew enough about my garrison and desired end goals to be able to start making a long-term plan. Once I reached level 3, I added a War Mill and a Frostwolf Tavern to the area. I'd originally had a Storehouse, but replaced that once the Salvage Yard became available, so I brought that back as well. The Lumber Mill doesn't produce lumber quite as fast as I'd like, so I'm keeping it around until I have more resources than I know what to do with.
So far, the Salvage Yard (at least that's where I'm giving the credit) has provided some nice benefits, including this upgraded quest reward---not to mention some decent armor and weapon upgrades for my followers. The Tavern in turn has provided some neat dungeon quests, one of which awarded me a peacock pet...ArWAAARRRK! Between the Inn and the Salvage Yard, and how they can potentially affect rewards reaped from both quests, mobs, and missions, I'm counting on a few more nice upgrades to take into raiding. For now I'm holding on to the Barracks, but not sure how long that will last.
On other ready-for-raiding news. I went through the Proving Grounds as soon as I was able, completing all three levels as damage (and later, bronze and silver while healing---instant dungeon queues for the win). Bronze and silver went off without a hitch; gold proved to be a challenge as I was having issues with generating enough burst during the last three rounds. I also accidentally earned Ready for Raiding: IV last night while in a PuG. So, I'm ready now, right?
I'm planning on some solid playtime this week---holiday weekends don't hurt that one bit. You'll find me:
- Slogging through Vanilla Molten Core (already did the anniversary run---one's more than enough, thank you very much!) with the rogue and the death knight in search of the ever-elusive half of the bindings they each need. Persistence pays off.
- Wrapping up the Nagrand questline. I've heard people whispering about how cool this zone was, with emphasis on the climax. Can't wait, given what I've seen in previous zones.
- Farming Warbringers. Yep, you read me right, but shhhhhh! In the days after launch, Pandaria was a ghost continent and Warbringers were naught but apples hanging from a low-slung branches. Competition has stepped up, but it's still a great time to nab them for their mounts or excess Pandaria profession mats, which can still fetch a decent price.
- If time allows and the main character gets to a place where I can afford to faff around a bit more, I may start Garrisons on additional alts.
What have you got going on this week?
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