Content and suggestions for a returning WOW

[xraptorx]

Hi All,

I left WOW after completing the Outlands stuff. That was awhile ago and not sure how long ago it was
I used to the the PVE and Battle ground stuff and it was awesome but consumed my life and I was younger then.

Now I wanted to return as a casual player. I have a DH and hit 100 with him today.

I would love some suggestions regarding content to explore. The game has changed a lot since Outlands and I am not sure where to start, what to focus on and where to go.

Questions:

1. I see I have the flying and ground riding skills already. Does this give me riding in Outlands and all other areas?
2. How can I get faster land and flying mounts?
3. I am getting Blue gear as part of the DH quests and the Item level is 690. Where should I go to get better gear for solo dungeons, raids, and Solo exploration of the world?
4. Do the old school battle grounds still exist or has all that changed? How can I get started as a casual pvpper and where can I get decent starting pvp gear?


What lands and areas should I go explore?

Where can I get some good quests?

Do reputations matter and are they worth it...given the long grinding times I might not want to do them.

Any other advice for someone who wants to enjoy the game and get back into it?

[Emilia]

Oh boy, things have definitely changed since the Burning Crusade!

Well, mounts are different from what they used to be back then. Right now, all land mounts are able to go at 100% speed if you have learnt the right riding skill at the riding trainer. This is the same for flying mounts, they can all reach 380% speed. So basically: you can use whatever land or flying mount you like You can now see all mounts in the game in the shift+P tab under mounts, so you can check them all out and there's a short description on how to obtain them.

To fly in Outland, you just need the 3rd riding skill (forgot the name) that would allow you to fly at a 60% speed. Other areas have their own riding skill, basically. Cold Weather Flying for Northrend and so on. However, for Draenor and the Broken Isles, it's a bit different. You'll have to complete the Pathfinder achievements in order to unlock flying there.

Now on the topic of gear. You can get gear in numerous ways. Since you are level 100, the first thing you want to do, is make sure you do your class quests to obtain your artifact weapons. After that, you can do more class quests and you can pick what zone to level in. You will get better gear through quests. Eventually, you can unlock World Quests, which are basically quests visable on your map and they'll be available for a set amount of time. These can reward you with gear and Artifact Power, which you'll need to power up your weapons. After all, you will be using these weapons for the whole expansion. Besides World Quests, there's dungeons. Normal, Heroic, Mythic and Mythic+. The higher the difficulty, the better the gear. You can also use the Dungeon Finder Tool for Raids, this difficulty for raids will be easier than the Normal mode.

As for PvP, I'm not really a PvP player, so I'll leave this to someone with more knowledge. However, BGs like Warsong Gulch are still around!



As for zones to explore, I suggest just visiting everything. After the Cataclysm, Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdom have changed. Outland is still the same, but you can revisit for nostalgia


On quests: the Legion zones are set up in a way that you follow one big story line - they are much more story driven. At lvl110, you'll be able to unlock Suramar, which is a very nice zone with a nice story line to follow (It even rewards you with a mount at the end, but it's quite long and relies on your reputation level and some dungeon quests.)

As for reputations, they are definitely worth it. You can buy recipes for professions, gear upgrades and more. At exalted with the Legion factions, you'll be able to continue earning reputations. For every 10k rep you get after Exalted, you'll be able to get a Paragon chest, which contains a piece of gear, Artifact Power and more. As for older reputations... you might want to gain exalted for achievements, if you're into getting titles, bragging rights or cosmetic stuff like mounts. (100 reputations at exalted in the upcoming Battle for Azeroth expanion, which launches on the 16th next week, will reward you with a title and mount)


As for my advice besides all of this: Don't sweat too much about gear right now, since the upcoming expansion is right around the corner. Enjoy the new content, do some exploring, take a look at new things, get a feel for World Quest (since they are coming back in BfA) and try out different classes (you can easily do this with Trial Characters). And honestly, don't worry about Artifact Power - you won't be using your Artifact Weapon next expansion.

The game has changed quite a bit since TBC, so just take it easy and get a feel for the game again

[xraptorx]

Thanks you for the feedback and guidance. Quick question for end game....is Vengeance or Havoc DH better and more demanded for raids and solo play?

[Emilia]

Well, Havoc is DPS and Vengeance is the tank spec. And generally speaking, there are more DPS than tanks... But I suggest just trying both specs and picking whatever you like more. Do keep in mind tactics will be different for either role.

[xraptorx]

Well now confused. Heard that the Vengence Artifact weapons are not scripted and no one plays vengence on the server. So there goes the solo vengence build. Havoc does not seem as survivable or simple to play.

For a casual gamer then if DH vengence does not work on the server, should I look at Blood DK or BM Hunter? I do want to do raids and battlegrounds as well. Therefore I do like the BM ranged DPS idea but can they really solo Mythic like a DH Vengence player?

[Emilia]

As far as I know, all specs work. You'll have to do the Havoc DH artifact quest but it will reward you with both weapons. I also have seen numerous Vengeance DHs. But you can always try out a different class to see if it's something you enjoy!