Congratulations, you’ve reached the Battle for Azeroth level cap of 120, and now the real fun begins. If you’re wondering what players are up to once the end-game is reached, the answer is the same as it always have been: grind. With that in mind, what are the current grinds and treadmills to focus on for Battle for Azeroth? Below are the most important ones if you plan on running end-game content such as Mythic+ dungeons and raids.
Item Level & Gear
Just like Legion, the Battle for Azeroth expansion lets players progress their characters by equiping gear with item level. This stat is the tally of the total item level gear score that your character has equipped, and you can easily see what your current score is by opening your character sheet (C). At 120, running Normal dungeons for gear drops or crafting your own should yield item level 300 to 310 gear of rare and epic quality. Having that score on each of your equipment slots should bring your total to 305 or 310, which is what you will need to start running Heroic Dungeons. These are slightly more difficult that normal and mechanics start to matter more.
Mythic dungeons only unlock after 305 as well, but players want to at least be item level 320 before attempting any, especially for pick up groups. Guild runs will usually take guild members with even lower scores since it’s a controlled environment. Therefore, getting your item level up through gear is the most important grind for newly capped players, and keep in mind the Uldir raid will probably require players to be in the region of 340 item level.
Reputation
Reputation grinding has always been a part of World of Warcraft and the Battle for Azeroth expansion is no different. Both Alliance and Horde have brand new factions to earn rep with, and for starters, each of the new questing zones will have a faction for rep. In addition to that, there will be two neutral factions shared by both sides which are the Champions of Azeroth and the Tortollans. Finally, the War Campaign for both factions have their own rep too in the 7th Legion and the Honorbound.
The most important reputation grind to focus on for newly cap players are the War Campaign factions (7th or Honorbound) and Champions of Azeroth. Gaining rep with your War Campaign factions can be done easily via daily World Quests and are important as more campaign chapters are gated behind reputation. For instance, the second last chapter for the campaign which unlocks the Kings Rest Dungeon will require you to have hit Revered with the 7th Legion or Honorbound. Champions of Azeroth on the other hand, is a slightly longer grind as World Quests for it come a few at a time. This faction is important as every new rep tier you hit, you get to visit Magni Bronzebeard in Silithus to increase your Heart of Azeroth by 15 item levels, which is a big boost.
Azerite Power & The Heart of Azeroth
And last but not least, we come to the mechanic that replaced Artifact Weapons, the Azerite Power system. Players will earn AP for their Heart of Azeroth by completing World Quests, doing Island Expeditions and much more. Each bar you fill gains a new level for the Heart of Azeroth necklace, and that’s important because the new Azerite Armor – Head, Shoulders and Chests – that you pick up will require a certain level to unlock more Traits. And the more traits you have, the better your character can perform in end-game content.
The grind for AP has been reduced slightly this week as Blizzard has implemented the catch up mechanic for new players already. But now with the raid almost out, you’ll want to aim for level 20 or so for your Heart of Azeroth, in addition to being item level 340 or higher to be ready for the raid.
