With just a month left to go before the much-anticipated eighth expansion for World of Warcraft, Shadowlands, drops, players may be wondering what they can do to prepare for what comes next. Shadowlands promises to bring players into the realm of the dead to save the souls of their friends and allies from an eternal torment. Following the events of the previous expansion, Battle for Azeroth, Sylvanas Windrunner confronts the Lich King and tears the veil between the living world and the world of the dead in two. This, combined with the warping of the Shadowlands to begin with, has led to all souls regardless of behavior in life being absorbed into The Maw, which was once reserved for the worst souls.
Blizzard has announced that Shadowlands will contain a level reduction, which developers and fans call a "level squish." Rather than capping characters at 120, they will now be capped at level 50. This has led some players to do their best to finish leveling their alternate characters as high as they can go and maxing out their careers to make exploration of the Shadowlands easier and more fun. Players can also take advantage of some bonuses before the game's pre-patch and the new expansion's official release. In addition, there are some achievements, mounts, and other goodies players will no longer be able to earn once the pre-patch for Shadowlands arrives. Here are the things players should be sure to do before the release of World of Warcraft: Shadowlands.
Everything Players Need to Prepare for World of Warcraft: Shadowlands
As preparation for most expansions, players will want to level their characters up as much as possible, gather materials and gold for their new journey, and make sure they have the inventory and bank space for all the new goodies they'll be able to collect. Additionally, players will want to be sure to complete any outstanding quests, especially if they are looking to earn certain achievements or collect mounts and other items. Players can complete many of these activities with friends to make them easier and more rewarding.
Level Mains and Prepare Alts
Alt accounts are powerful, as players can use them to amass more wealth, unlock more gear and achievements, and master other combat styles and professions to make achieving goals far easier. Players should take advantage of the ability to level up to 120 and try to level up as many of their mains and alts as possible. Players can also make and level alts of different classes to better round out their abilities and create a reinforced team once they enter the realm of the dead. Players should be sure not to neglect maxing out professions for these characters as well.
Once the level squish takes place, having characters who reached the maximum level will make it easier to complete tasks in the new expansion and accomplish goals. Now is a good time to complete the leveling process, as players will earn 100% more XP until Shadowlands goes live.
Stock Up on Tomes and Gold
Part of character preparation might involve picking up talent-changing tomes and scribes before the price increases, as demand is likely to increase once Shadowlands releases. This way, if players find they need to respec a character, they won't be spending so much Gold doing so.
It's also a good idea to gather as much Gold as possible, either from selling inventory items, making potions as an herbalist or alchemist, or farming old raids. This way, when the new content comes out, the player doesn't have to spend as much time farming gold and can take advantage of all the new items from the start. Players should try to earn gold using all their alts as well to have a deeper pool from which they can pull during Shadowlands.
Manage and Clean Inventory and Banks
With any new expansion, players can expect an influx of new weapons, gear, and other loot. If they have been neglecting to make space for things, now would be a good time to do so. Players can sell what they don't need, rearrange items for easy access, and enter the new expansion with plenty of space to pick up new items.
Kill N'Zoth on Heroic Mode or Mythic
Players should take the time to finish the current Raid in the game, killing N'Zoth, on Heroic mode. This has to be done prior to the pre-patch for Shadowlands if players have not completed it already, as the mission will no longer be available once the update arrives. After they complete this Raid, they will earn the Ahead of the Curve Achievement and the Voidwing mount.
Players can also kill N'Zoth on Mythic difficulty to unlock the Cutting Edge Achievement and Uncorrupted title. Beating Mythic N'Zoth will also cause him to drop a Ny'alotha Allseer mount.
Get the Caravan Brutosaur Mount
Blizzard announced players will no longer be able to purchase the epic Brutosaur Mount once Shadowlands pre-patch releases. It costs 5 million Gold to get one, so if players have been saving for it or can farm Gold quickly, this might be one Mount to grab. While it won't be available in the game, players may still have access to it through the Black Market Auction, but it will likely be far more expensive there than it is now.
Create a Demon Hunter or Death Knight Character
Players wanting to experience the game as a Demon Hunter or Death Knight once Shadowlands comes out should consider creating the character now. While leveling the character is not important, Demon Hunters start the game just under level 100, and Death Knights start around level 55. When the level squish takes place, both classes start at level 8. Players who make these characters now will start at a higher level than they would making a new Demon Hunter or Death Knight alt in Shadowlands, giving themselves a head start.
World of Warcraft is available for PC. The Shadowlands expansion is set to release on October 27, 2020.