Cortyn can’t stop raving about Mechagon. It’s probably the best zone in WoW: Battle for Azeroth .
When I heard that Mechagon was going to be something like the “Timeless Isle”, I was skeptical. To be honest, I didn’t think the Timeless Isle was half as great as the rest of the World of Warcraft community apparently did. I found it largely monotonous and, apart from a few small puzzles, almost boring.
Accordingly, I was surprised by how much I actually like Mechagon. It’s by far the coolest zone that Battle for Azeroth has brought us so far. Nazjatar completely pales in comparison (for several reasons) and even my previous favorite zone Drustvar just can’t keep up. But why is that? After all, the storyline in Mechagon is thin, and there are only a few story quests. However, Mechagon knows how to impress in other ways.
Secrets galore: Blizzard wasn’t exaggerating when they said that Mechagon has more secrets than any other area. This ranges from hidden fish and related fishing achievements to rare opponents for which you need to collect certain items, and special bosses that can only be summoned when you have a very specific quest in your quest log. Every day there’s something new to discover, and every day you learn new secrets that bring cool rewards or just nice little gimmicks.
I especially like what Blizzard did with the big robot Pascal. You can feed him numerous blueprints and then create a lot of mechanical things there. This ranges from cool mounts to grenades or certain energy cores to summon some rare mobs. There are well over 20 gadgets – some are useful, others are just pure fluff.
Change over several days: Another highlight of Mechagon is that it plays differently every day. This doesn’t only mean small changes like “today there are goblins instead of troggs hanging around,” but really many adjustments. This is mainly due to the different construction projects and quest givers that can be found every day. One day you might find a cool flamethrower to roast enemies by the dozen, while another day you might revive fallen mechs and turn them into your own pets.
Sometimes Chromie even shows up and sends players into a parallel timeline where Mechagon is destroyed and overrun by mechs. That’s like a different island with its own secrets, available only on those days.
My jetpack is the best: But nothing in the world can beat the jetpack. On certain days, there are special support stations where all players can pick up jetpacks. It’s a buff for 20 minutes that has a particularly cool effect. By double jumping, you activate the jetpack and can simply fly over the entire zone, like on a flying mount. However, this is only possible on a few days when the corresponding stations are actually available. Unless you already have the rare recipe that allows you to craft the jetpack yourself.
Spoiler 1: I have it.
Spoiler 2: My Draenei is the damned queen of Mechagon.
On days when the jetpacks are not freely available (and no one has unlocked flying yet), you feel immensely superior when you can just take off with a double jump and explore the island. Two Horde members come running grimly? Double jump, take off, and laugh maniacally. A rare mob is up on a mountain that you would have to awkwardly ride to? Well, I’ll bake cookies up there until you get here!
Kindness and teamwork in Mechagon: At the same time, Mechagon has given me the most social encounters with other players (outside of guild and friend circles) that I’ve had in a long time. To illustrate this, I’d like to tell you about last night. I just wanted to quickly finish my daily quests in Mechagon to gain reputation and unlock flying soon.
Since it was already late, there were only about 10-15 players left on the island, plus maybe a few more from the Horde. Anyone who discovered a rare enemy announced it in the general channel and then waited until all interested parties were there.
In addition, there were certain construction projects scattered all over the plains of Mechagon. For example, you can activate drills that then uncover a tunnel containing particularly thick loot or a rare enemy. However, for the drill to start, players first need to donate resources. Everyone participated, and everyone benefited. It was a great sense of community, even without forming a group or talking much.
Will Mechagon remain so great? Surely it’s only this cool in the initial phase, where every player has different knowledge and can still help each other, without everyone being an expert at everything. But this dynamic and beautiful coordination were wonderful. Not once did anyone pull a rare mob before all interested parties were present. Yes, we even waited for that one totally lost gnome who got lost 7 times over a 30-meter stretch. I haven’t experienced that kind of patience and the kindness implied in it for a long time in WoW. And for that alone, I love Mechagon. I’m sure I’ll spend many, many more nights here – if only because I still need to kill 20 out of 25 horde members…
If Mechagon can maintain its fascination long enough for me to farm all the items I want on the island, then I will remember the island fondly. It’s already a highlight for me from Battle for Azeroth.
But what do you think of Mechagon? Do you like this area as much as I do? Or is everything terrible and awful because nothing is explained clearly?
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