Very soon, you can earn really good gear in World of Warcraft all on your own. However, it will take a little while…
Every few days, Blizzard reveals upcoming content from Patch 9.1 Chains of Domination in World of Warcraft. Still, every new PTR version brings more items and content, giving us a clearer view of the future of Shadowlands.
One point should excite fans of twinks and solo players: There is really strong gear available without having to rely on other players.
What’s happening? In Patch 9.1, there is a new vendor in Korthia, the new mini-area in the Maw. There, you can buy account-bound gear tokens. These turn into an item with item level 200 upon use. This corresponds – at the current stage – to raid loot from the normal Castle Nathria. However, these items can still be upgraded further.
Particularly cool: You can buy the tokens for this gear with Stygia and send them to your twinks. So if you have a lot of unused Stygia on your main character, you can spend it in the upcoming update for solid upgrades to your secondary characters.
How does the upgrading work? To further upgrade the items, you first need to gain reputation with the new faction “The Archivist’s Codex.” Gradually, you will unlock new upgrade levels through the questline and associated reputation.
The upgrades cost (in increasing amounts) “Cataloged Research.” These are basically secrets from Korthia – a new currency from Patch 9.1. Gradually, it is possible to upgrade items up to item level 233.
How strong is the gear? Simply put: Quite strong. For being able to farm the gear solo, it is quite powerful. The final item level corresponds to the loot available from the last boss in the Sanctum of Domination, the new raid, namely level 233. It’s quite strong when you keep in mind that you can earn it entirely on your own.
You just need to complete the daily and weekly content in Korthia to gather the necessary resources.
Is there even better gear? Yes. Even though item level 233 sounds high at first glance, there will be better gear from heroic and mythic raids, as well as PvP and “Mythic+.”
However, there will likely be no gear that can be earned without the help of other players and has such a high item level. Anyone who understands World of Warcraft more as a solo game and prefers to experience adventures alone will find this gear quite suitable.
All others can at least use it to get their second and third characters into a starting position, to make it easier in Torghast, Korthia, dungeons, and raids.
Please note that the information is still from the PTR. Details may change before the release.
Are there any downsides? Yes, some. On one hand, the highest levels of this gear will only be unlocked further along in Patch 9.1. They require Renown level 61 (item level 226) and Renown level 75 (item level 233). Since you can only earn 2-3 Renown levels per week, it will take weeks and months until the items can be upgraded to the maximum.
Additionally, you cannot specifically purchase items, but must only acquire a token that grants a piece of gear for a random slot. Targeted purchases of gear are therefore virtually impossible.
What do you think of this gear for solo players? Good that they can gear up solidly? Or is it too easy to get good gear?
