[TRANSCRIPT]
Welcome to What to Expect in Phase 1 of Season of Discovery. I am so hyped to be making this video because I used to make these for every content phase of WoW Classic. And now, I am happy I get to create this for Season of Discovery.
Phase 1 of SoD will cap players at level 25, feature new spells through the rune system, enter a Blackfathom Deeps 10-player raid, an Ashenvale zone-wide PVP event, and much more. So, let’s talk about what you can expect between the lines of all of that.
Level 25 Content
In WoW Classic, the main character is the world. No, it’s not you, champion, the sole savior of Azeroth. Well, you and a million other players who also did. The fact that in Classic, you pretty much start out as a nobody is so captivating. Lending a hand to farmers in need. Saving crops, defeating local pests. The world is so large and you feel so small. Every single item, stat point, buff matters. And to me, that’s key. The WoW Classic team recognizes this and it’s the main reason they created level-banded content for Season of Discovery. It allows them to focus on various parts of the world that sometimes may get overlooked and then create new content around it.
The dev team stated that parts of the world will not be unlocked, although being capped at level 25 may prove a challenge when venturing into higher level zones. An interesting thing I saw brought up was probably the highest level cloth players will realistically acquire in Phase 1 is Mageweave, and even that will be a challenge since it starts to drop off mobs level 38+.
I can already see large groups finding level 38-40+ spots to farm Mageweave at level 25. Dangerous? Yes. Fun and adventurous? Absolutely. How many level 25 players would it take to kill a level 38? Is that gonna be like when people do level 1 Hogger raids? And late 30 mobs will have less of a chance to drop Mageweave than say a mid level 40 mob. So the challenge is real. And I can totally see players finding ways to farm Runecloth, too.
Something like this is a prime example of why the devs are creating level banded content. It creates new situations for players to challenge themselves, think outside the meta, and find ways to pioneer things never done before. I for one am super excited to see how far players will be able to stretch just how much content they can do at level 25.
Speaking of moving around the world, a reminder that player mounts aren’t available until level 40, so you won’t be able to mount up until Phase 2 UNLESS you acquire the special mounts from the open-world Ashenvale PVP event. However, remember that these mounts will only be usable in the Ashenvale zone. What’s cool about these mounts is that they’re the original unarmored mount models from vanilla WoW that were removed early on. I remember a demand for these mounts to make a comeback throughout Classic. So to me, this is another nod to the community from the Classic team. Well done. The two mounts are:Trainee’s Sentinel Nightsaber for Alliance, and Trainee’s Outrider Wolf for Horde.
And besides that, in terms of transportation, I can see Warlocks being pretty popular in guilds once they hit level 20 and have their summon ability ready to go, especially seeing as mages can’t open portals for other players at that level yet.
Rune Engraving & Discoveries
In the Season of Discovery, Blizzard will be introducing Rune Engraving. Players are encouraged to venture into the open world to uncover class-specific Runes, which can enhance your current abilities and spells, and in some cases, introduce entirely new ones! To summarize, rune engraving allows players to apply new abilities to their equipment. We’ll have 3 slots at level 25: chest, legs, and hands, but additional slots will unlock over time. Some of them will provide even faction-specific buffs like Horde getting Blessing of Kings, or Alliance gaining Windfury. So players will have to discover runes through exploration, and again, this really encourages you to get out into that open world – the main character of WoW Classic.
Blackfathom Deeps Raid
For Phase 1, the main “endgame” raid for level 25 players is Blackfathom Deeps. It will be newly remixed into a 10-player raid, with seven bosses, new loot, and a 3-day lockout, similar to Zul’gurub. In BFD, players will be able to obtain the new world buff, Boon of Blackfathom:
Increasing critical chance of spells, melee, and ranged by 2%, grants 20 attack power, and increases movement speed by 20%. 120 minute duration.
The way this is acquired looks to be similar to a Head of Rend, Onyxia, Nefarian or Heart of Hakkar. When these heads are turned in, all players in the area are granted a special buff. We also got a sneak peak at some new loot drops, but again, this is always subject to change, and not finalized yet. Any clamweave tunic enjoyers?
PvP
Two battlegrounds are available at level 25: Warsong Gulch and Arathi Basin, and there’s gonna be a new open-world PvP event in Ashenvale. Simply enough, this event will be triggered by PvP kills in the zone. The event will begin, with a zone wide notification, and a leader will spawn for each faction: Felore Moonray, Priestess of the Moon, for Alliance, and Kazragore, Far Seer, for the Horde. Similar to Alterac Valley, there will be smaller camps and outposts set up around the zone where battlefield leaders will guard.
For alliance, these leaders are called Keepers of the Grove: Ceredwyn, Centrius, and Larodar.
For horde, these leaders are called Blademasters: Jubei, Moogul the Sly, and Tojara
When in 40 yards of your battlefield lieutenants, players will gain a buff called Battlefield Inspiration.
And, when you’re within 40 yards of your faction’s leader, you’ll gain an even more powerful buff: Battlefield Genius.
Not only will players gain Honor points participating in the event, but also reputation with their Warsong Gulch faction: Silverwing Sentinels for Alliance and Warsong Outriders for Horde. New noteworthy gear will be available from each faction’s quartermaster, contributing to a level 25 player’s BiS set. These are the items that have been data mined so far, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they will be implemented, so again, keep that in mind that nothing is final.
As for other items, spells, and more not listed, I just published a video on what we know so far about world buffs, consumables and new profession recipes that was based on my first Season of Discovery WoWhead guide. So feel free to check that out if interested!
Wrapping up
To wrap things up, I want to say: at the end of the day, you can do as much prep and research you want before launch. But the spirit of Season of Discovery is to explore, interact with the world, find new things, try different rune combos with your class, and just enjoy yourself. So try not to stress too much about what class to play, how quickly you’re going to hit level 25, etc. If you find you aren’t happy with the first class you make, leveling back up to 25 isn’t too crazy of a time commitment. So don’t feel the pressure of being locked in to something, because you’re not. Take your time, enjoy it. This is NEW Classic content for us. Remember to try to soak it in and enjoy it!
And before this video ends, for those who didn’t hear, I will be live streaming my Season of Discovery gameplay on Saturday, December 2nd starting at 4pm eastern time, 1pm pacific, 9pm GMT for those across the pond from me over at twitch.tv/QuissyTV. So be sure to mark your calendars and give a follow. You’re not gonna want to miss it!
And that wraps up my What to Expect in Phase 1 of Season of Discovery. Expect a Phase 2 video when the time comes! Be sure to subscribe to this YouTube channel so you can stay in the know!
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Thanks for watching this video! I’d love to hear what you think in the comment section below. Be sure to give it a thumbs up and most importantly, please subscribe to my channel for more WoW Classic news, updates, and to show your support. Socials are also listed in the description below, so keep in touch! Thanks again, have a great day, and I’ll see you in Ashenvale.
