The hype surrounding one of the most popular gaming titles in the history of the industry is in full effect once again. On April 19, 2024, the newest, ninth expansion for World of Warcraft is going to be revealed and the gaming world is more than ready for it. The trailer and expansion reveal cannot get here soon enough and we have our calendars marked for tonight. However, once this is done, it is back to Shadowlands and the current content for everyone since the new expansion is still months away. Some say that playing the current content is the most boring and that it makes the least amount of sense in the last months, leading up to the new expansion drop. It may be true, but that does not mean that you should not keep enjoying the game you absolutely love.
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Preparing for the Future and Having Fun Now
World of Warcraft is immensely rich in content and features and it can basically be played whenever. There is so much stuff to do, both to prepare for the future and to enjoy your time now. Getting ready for the apparent Dragonflight theme of the patch 10.0 can come in many ways. From obtaining as much gold as you can right now to completing all of the Shadowlands content for those sweet achievements, there is not a shortage of fun times to be had. And who can forget about PvP? Player versus player modes are always relevant, regardless of when you log in. However, the true bread and butter of WoW have always been raids, large-scale battles against the strongest bosses in the game. The same is going to be the case in the future, but right now you should still be going through Shadowlands (and previous) raids to practice and prepare.
Raiding and Gear
The most important reason to do the raids, apart from enjoying the story and saving the in-game world of course, is to obtain the strongest gear the game has to offer. Gear is the most sacred thing in the game because it makes your character more powerful. It also gives them some bling and serves as a trophy of sorts, but player power is always the most important thing in MMORPG titles. Therefore, raiding to get gear is as normal as playing basketball to score points. There is no question about it. However, it is also rather challenging and often impossible to get the gear, especially that elusive piece you desperately need.
It is crucial that you understand that gearing up in raids is not really a thing. You can only gear up for raids and then hope for the best once the raiding starts. Therefore, in order to allow you to progress faster and become better at the game, we assembled a list of tips for gearing up in WoW raids. Read this guide in its entirety and you will surely become a better raider. If you ever need help along the way or some boosting by the best players in the game until you learn the ropes, make sure to check out WoW Boost service.
1. Completing All Difficulties
The most basic (and practically the only) thing you can do to gear up while actually raiding is to go through all the difficulty levels. Perhaps you do not need the LFR for all of your item slots, as it only gives ilvl 195, but you will still benefit from learning the raid inside and out as well as the bosses. Then you move to Normal and do it for a bit until you get enough ilvl 200-2017 gear, and then you go Heroic. Heroic difficulty is where things really start to get tough, but you are handsomely rewarded with 213-220 item level gear. Then, finally, you can move onto Mythic and hope to down a few bosses that will drop 239-246 ilvl gear.
2. Mythic BOE Gear Farm
BOE gear stands for Bind on Equip, and it means that the gear item is only bound to you when you equip it, as opposed to Bind on Pickup (BOP). In every raid difficulty, therefore Mythic included, there is gear that drops from mobs that it highly powerful and with a high ilvl. You can either buy that gear from the auction house, provided that you have hundreds of thousands of gold to spare, or you can do farm runs. You can easily find raiding groups that are farming BOE gear and it is one of the most effective ways to actually gear up well while raiding. Of course, you will not be downing bosses, only the trash along the way, but the items do have nice drop rates and it should not take long for you to find the ones you need.
3. Do Older Raids
Doing the latest raid in the patch is always the most difficult. In order to complete it or even be eligible for it in terms of your healing or damage output, you have to have already completed most of the things that came before it. For example, to do well in Sanctum of Domination, you had to have obtained the top gear from Castle Nathria. Do be strong enough for The Sepulcher of the First Ones, you need gear from Sanctum of Domination. Do you see the pattern? Of course, Mythic+ gear and certain PvP items can help, but the best of the best comes from Mythic raiding. You should not focus on raiding to gear up in the latest patch unless you have most of the gear that came before it. Only then can you actually be useful for your raid group and actually contribute in downing the bosses.
4. Play with Friends or Guild Mates
Last but not least, you should try to play with as many people as you know and trust as you can find. Guild raids are always the most effective in raiding because you can cooperate and do more in less time. Then, at the end of the week, you get to choose form more items in the Great Vault. The more raid bosses you down, the more items become available for selection. Picking up what you need or simply going with the highest item level will allow you to be stronger. Playing with people with whom you can optimally communicate with equals more success, and more success equals more rewards. Friends and guildies FTW!
