Patch 8.2 of World of Warcraft is live. But is WoW worth it again now? Do the contents convince if one didn’t enjoy Battle for Azeroth?
The Patch 8.2 Rise of Azshara has been live in World of Warcraft for a few days now. But how are the new contents? Is WoW worth it again for those who have already turned their backs on the game? Or should one rather wait for the next expansion? We take a look at the content of Patch 8.2 and draw an initial interim conclusion.
Nazjatar – The new main area
The majority of the action takes place in Nazjatar, the large new story area of Rise of Azshara. In this ancient area (which is explicitly not an “underwater area”), the story revolves around Azshara and thus the old god N’Zoth. Those who enjoy the story of Queen Azshara and her naga will find happiness here. Lore enthusiasts will even be pleased with a lot of little details and will learn, for example, where the snapdragons come from, which are already known from Warcraft 3.
Although many story missions are hidden behind barriers, such as reaching a certain reputation level or completing another “time-consuming” quest that takes several days, the stay in Nazjatar is still worthwhile.
Nazjatar is tougher because you have help: Overall, the enemies in Nazjatar are significantly more resilient than in other areas of Battle for Azeroth. Frequently, enemies knock cloth wearers down with just a few hits, or even some normal opponents come in with 300,000 hit points. This is because you can choose a permanent companion every day in Nazjatar to accompany you on missions.
This is not only useful in combat, but is also part of the progression system in Nazjatar. Some quests require that your companions have first collected a certain amount of XP before progressing. Essentially, a different form of “reputation bar,” which also provides advantages in combat.
Bonus loot in war mode is fun: Finally, in war mode every 3 hours (that is, at 9:00 am, 12:00 pm, 3:00 pm, etc.) there is a PvP event that occurs throughout the area. Here, the goal is to capture multiple control points and defend them against the other faction. This rewards not only with resources and item upgrades but is also part of a lucrative quest that grants extra reputation. Those who can warm up to PvP and do not shy away from occasional attacks from enemies should definitely experience Nazjatar in war mode.
Mechagon – The chaos paradise for grind enthusiasts
Mechagon is the second area of Patch 8.2 and is comparable to the Timeless Isle from Mists of Pandaria. It is a gigantic playground where there are at least two things to discover at every corner.
Mechagon automatically promotes teamwork: Especially cool is that in Mechagon teamwork is naturally encouraged again. In some places, there are larger construction projects that require many thousands of parts of junk. This ensures that several players must participate in the undertaking. Over a few minutes, more and more players gather and call for friends and acquaintances to complete the construction project and experience what happens next.
In our example, it was a large facility that calls forth several waves of enemies after activation, which had to be defeated. Although it was not particularly difficult, it rewarded a lot of junk parts and some random drops. In the end, all players felt that they had received back their donated junk parts double or even triple. It was a nice experience of “when everyone works together, everything turns out better in the end”.
A huge grind area with its own target selection: Ultimately, Mechagon is something very specific, and it makes no secret of it: a massive grind. Every player chooses their own goal here and works towards it to gather thousands of parts of junk and craft their desired items. Do you want that cool cyber cat mount? Or would you rather unlock a toy? Are you building the key to instantly defeat that one tough rare mob?
Mechagon offers dozens of individual long-term and medium-term goals, without anything really being necessary. Most of it is just for fun, although there are also a few potential upgrades for the character. However, nothing here is really “mandatory.” This is exactly what makes Mechagon particularly interesting for some players – or extremely unimportant.
The negative sides of Patch 8.2
However, one should not overlook that a patch in World of Warcraft does not only bring improvements.
Devaluation of the old areas: For example, a large part of Battle for Azeroth has been trivialized and has now become unimportant. World quests in the “old areas” of Zandalar and Kul Tiras are hardly worthwhile anymore.
The action takes place almost exclusively in Nazjatar and Mechagon. This naturally ensures that the two areas are well populated and that it is easy to find allies and opponents, but it is unfortunate for the two large continents that are now completely abandoned.
It would have been nice if Blizzard had found a way to connect new and old content. This has explicitly not happened and probably was not even the developers’ intention.
The party is happening in the two new areas and only there. Those who have no problem with that will find much joy in Mechagon and Nazjatar. However, those who now mourn the “uselessness” of the other areas will have to struggle with it.
The grind remains: Although the developers have removed the need to unlock new Azerite traits in chest, head, and shoulder armor laboriously, the grind around the Heart of Azeroth has not disappeared completely. Farming artifact power is still important to reach new levels of the Heart.
In addition, there are new essences that can be inserted into the Heart. They provide a new active ability. The problem: Many of these essences are also associated with a long grind or can only be unlocked through specific game content. If someone reads in a guide that their favorite essence can only be unlocked through PvP, even though they find no joy in that content, they may be immediately demotivated.
Conclusion: Is it worth returning to WoW with Patch 8.2?
Currently, there is a lot of new content in Patch 8.2 that is definitely worth a look. Both Mechagon and Nazjatar are brimming with many contents, some of which are even hidden. Those willing to solve little puzzles or explore will be rewarded with a little gimmick at almost every corner.
However, there is also the risk that Patch 8.2 is just a gigantic flash in the pan that burns bright for 2-3 weeks and motivates. But whether the content remains exciting beyond the initial visits to Azshara’s Eternal Palace and the Mechagon dungeon remains difficult to say.
For a month, returning to World of Warcraft is definitely worth it – one should think very carefully about a 6-month subscription, however. Unless, of course, one is planning to play WoW Classic anyway, which is included in the regular subscription.
Are you checking back into World of Warcraft with Patch 8.2?
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