Another one of those now traditional points of transition between expansion. I purchased Battle for Azeroth a while back, so I am wondering what I ought to do with that level 110 boost that comes with it.
Soon…
With Warlords of Draenor I boost a death knight to level 90 and with Legion I eventually ended up boosting a mage to level 100.
The death knight was a success and is one of the character that stands ready at level 110.
The mage… was less successful.
I mean, I guess it depends on how you define success. Said mage is also level 110, so clearly got some play time. But I found playing the mage not very fun and, while I got in there and got him his artifact weapon and all that, I eventually just used him for pet battles for a while until he hit level 110.
I also did that with both druids and my rogue. I played them more than the mage, but I found the druids under powered as feral and the combat spec rogue a little too squishy. The latter was a bit of a surprise as I had played him up to 100 towards the end of Warlords of Draenor, using the pre-Legion events to get him lined up for that expansion. (Remember that one time when pre-expansion events gave good experience?)
I mean, it may be just how the classes played out in Legion, but I really only enjoyed playing the heavily armored melee classes. Just jumping into the fray and beating on baddies was clearly my thing. The retribution pally was my main for the expansion, while I also did quite a bit with the death knight and a warrior.
The main exception to that was my hunter, always my primary alt. But hunters are special.
So given my experiences in Legion, what I enjoy, and that my ret pally seems even more badass in 8.0 than I expected (at least up until today’s patch nerf), my predilection is to boost something that is similar, or possibly the same, as the classes I enjoyed in Legion.
The first one I am thinking about is a monk. I have a 60-ish Panderan monk sitting around from back when we all made pandas because we could, but I never really got into it. I think he is only past 60 because of the Legion pre-expansion events. The upside of the monk is its paladin-like “be all the things” three specs. I would likely only go DPS, but that I could be a healer or a tank is something of a draw.
The downside is that by this point I really don’t have a good feel for monks as a class and, having felt let down by the way feral druids played in Legion, I do worry a bit about expending a boost on another leather wearing melee class.
The monk fits the model from the past, bringing a new class into the mix on the Alliance side. But with Battle for Azeroth I wonder if having a class I like on the Horde side of things might be a better plan.
For all the angst about the Horde vs. Alliance aspect of Battle for Azeroth, It does sound like there might be significantly different paths for players on either side of the divide. One of the disappointments with playing the opposite faction is discovering just how quickly both sides merge into essentially the same quest line. It sounds like my Alliance characters will be heading to Kul Tiras, while the Horde side will be headed to Zandalar, and I don’t want to miss out on the Zandalari trolls.
Battle for Azeroth map with the new islands
The trolls have the best architecture… “more spikes dammit!” is not their primary design philosophy… so I don’t want to miss out on that side of things. So a Horde character seems like a good option for a boost.
While I already have a 110 druid there, I have been down on the druid thing for most of Legion. So another class is probably in order.
The primary one would be a Horde paladin. If a pally is/stays hot to trot for the Alliance, then it ought to be likewise for the Horde. That just leaves the question of which race? A blood elf feels like the right answer, but I also like tauren and could go either regular or Highmountain on that front. Alas, the Nightborne don’t do the pally thing.
I could also go with a deathknight or a warrior on the Horde side to boost. The DK would have the advantage of starting at level 55, so I could just get up to 60 quickly enough, select a trade skill, then boost and get both the level and the trade skill up to 110. On the warrior side, I already have a Highmountain tauren warrior. I could boost him I suppose.
Moose on moose action outside Orgrimmar
An alternate Horde plan could be to go with a hunter. Again, a special class, and I have an Orc hunter that has been slowly leveling up over the years. I managed to get him to level 40 back in 2007 so he could have a mount.
Wolf mount doesn’t look happy
Things were different back then. He sat neglected for quite a while and was likely the last hunter I had on my account that still had a quiver with ammunition in his inventory. I have dragged him out every so often just to do things on the Horde side. He is level 61 now, so would have the trade skill thing going for him like the DK. He even holds the Horde guild we put together back in 2005 or so.
But I have never really had a lot of affection for the Orcs, aside for that quest where you beat the napping peons in the starter area. I think I would be happier with another race. Or at least the upright Orc model that has been promised. That might help.
Anyway, I don’t need to get the boost decision set right away. While Battle for Azeroth is just over six days away, since it launches in the US at 3pm Pacific Time on August 13th as part of the world-wide launch, I suspect that it will be a few days before things settle down and, once that happens, my Alliance paladin will be first over the top and into the new content.
Eventually though I will want to start in on alts and will want to see Zandalar, so it would be good to start getting any potential alt up to 60 for the trade skill boost benefit… if that is still a thing. Given how much trade skills have changed, I had best read up on that to see if it is worth the effort.
The Ancient Gaming Noob 