Gold will play a smaller role in the next World First Race in WoW . This is because there are significantly fewer BoE items to assist the pros.
Even though Patch 9.1 Chains of Domination does not yet have a fixed release date, many players are already looking forward to the new raid. And even those who are not actively playing World of Warcraft Shadowlands may have an interest in the great “World First” race, where the best guilds in the world attempt to be the first to defeat Sylvanas Windrunner in the Sanctum of Dominion.
This time, the race could be even more exciting, as there is less equipment available for purchase beforehand.
What has been the problem so far? To have the best starting positions possible, the professional guilds use all kinds of tricks and techniques to optimally prepare their characters. The best possible equipment often comes from the raids currently being tackled. In addition to the loot from bosses, there are also the so-called “BoE” items in every raid, which are bound when equipped but are as strong as boss loot in terms of item level.
These BoE items drop from trash mobs in the respective raid. This means that mythic raids are lucrative sources of income. Players enter the raid, kill all the trash mobs, and repeat this over and over to acquire the coveted items, which can then be sold for a lot of gold – often several million.
Often, a long chain of supporting guilds or second characters is attached to this, which are only used to farm the corresponding BoE items.
Especially in the first days of Mythic progress, these items can be the deciding factor.
What is different this time? In the Sanctum of Dominion, there are significantly fewer BoE items. For each armor class, there are only 2 instead of 3-4 as in Castle Nathria. There, there were 2 items for each armor class, plus rings and necklaces. With gold, it is only possible in Patch 9.1 to fill 2 of the total 15 (or 16) slots with BoE items. The rest of the equipment must therefore come from other sources or be earned in the raid itself.
What impact does this have? This mainly affects the expenditures of the large professional guilds. With fewer BoE items, less gold needs to be spent to acquire the coveted items. At the same time, it also creates more equality of opportunity. Because large guilds like Limit, Echo, or Method can often borrow millions of gold from other players, which they pay back only in the weeks and months after the “World First” race.
This is an advantage that many of the slightly smaller guilds find it difficult to counterbalance if they do not want to resort to illegal offers.
Gold will therefore be a slightly lesser factor in the World First race. This brings a bit more fairness, even though inequalities are inherently present in this event – such as the different launch dates of the raids depending on the region.
When does the World First race start? There is still no specific date. But even after the release of Patch 9.1 Chains of Domination, it will likely take a few weeks, as raids usually open with a delay. By the time we can actually get excited along with the professional players again, it will probably be high summer.
Are you excited for the next World First race?
