Battle for Azeroth has launched, and most of us by now will have at least one character levelled to the new level cap of 120.
So how did I find my first run levelling experience in BfA? Well…
The actual launch was, for me at least, very smooth. The quest to obtain the Heart of Azeroth, the new artifact for this expansion, automatically popped 5 minutes early, and off we went.
As for the levelling process itself, I took my time levelling with my Alliance Hunter. I wanted to get the full story as I was levelling through, and so my first time through took around 22-24 hours.
I’ve begun levelling my Paladin, and already the first level took about a quarter of the length of time it took my Hunter, so levelling additional characters should be about 6 hours or so each.
Except for my Horde Hunter, where I’ll want to take my time and pay attention to the Horde side of the levelling experience. She’ll be my only Horde character in BfA, so I’ll be making sure I enjoy it as I go through Zandalar.
I’ve installed Azeroth Auto-Pilot for the alt run throughs, which helps speed up the levelling process by doing various things automatically:
- Sells greys/junk
- Auto-accepts and turns in quests (except where a choice of reward is on offer)
- Auto-runs through the “gossip” options
- Uses a tom-tom navigation pointer directing you to quest objectives
- Uses an optimised quest flow to minimise travel time
It’s a handy thing to have, but I do notice some chugginess when it’s running, which is unfortunate.
One thing I have enjoyed is the collection of new BfA pets!
So far I’ve collected a Bee, Scalehide, Parrot, Gryphon, Crab, Sabretusk Lizard and a Horse. However there are no new Spirit Beasts just yet, maybe in a later patch.
So far my favourites are my Bee (above) and my scalehide ankylosaurus, which I’ve named Turbo, as he brings Bloodlust/Heroism as well as a defensive CD and 15% leech!
I’ve enjoyed Battle for Azeroth so far, but without any immediate prospect of raiding when Uldir opens in a week, my impetus to play has been dimmed ever so slightly.
Raiding has been the main activity I’ve played the game for over the past 9½ years since resubscribing in March 2009. To be going into an expansion without that to look forward to feels weird, and like a huge chunk of the game is now missing for me.
So for the main part I’ve been rounding out the achievements needed for Pathfinder part one, and have done all the necessary exploration and questing parts. I just now have to work on rep grinding, which will also eventually reward me with the ability to create Dark Iron dwarves!
On the plus side, recruitment has now begun in Boogie Knights, and we’ve got a good dozen or so bodies in so far. Nothing likely to see raids getting off the ground any time soon, but at least there’s a bit of activity now in /g which is a nice change.
I’ve also established an in-game Community as promised. Named Peeps, we’re now sitting at around 120 users:
It’s been a great success so far, but we’re still looking to grow the community ever more, so if you’re an EU player on the Blue side of the house, then feel free to join us!
How have you guys found the expansion so far? Let me know either in the comments below or on Twitter!