MeinMMO demon Cortyn has fallen in love again with World of Warcraft. Blizzard seems to be doing many things right – you just have to embrace it.
Patch 10.1 Glut von Neltharion has been live for nearly 2 weeks now. I admit, I was skeptical at first. There were some problems, and with some ideas I thought beforehand: Is this really healthy for the game?
In the meantime, my opinion has gradually changed, and the more time I spend in Patch 10.1, the more positively surprised I am by how well everything fits together.
The gearing system is the foundation for the future
Even though I still think that the new gearing system is overwhelming and complex for newcomers and returnees, it’s actually pretty good after an adjustment period.
The times are gone when you get a weapon from the raid, enchant it, and then roll your eyes in the next “Mythic+” because a weapon just dropped that is 3 item levels better and thus replaces the previous one.
Even if I only get a single item from a whole run in “Aberrus, the Shadow Crucible”, every boss kill feels like progress. Because you are raining emblem fragments that are needed for upgrades.
To put it another way: Even if I don’t get any direct gear throughout the whole raid, I can still upgrade my existing gear 6-8 times and squeeze out a level or two from my armor.
It doesn’t matter where I got the gear from. Whether from the raid, from Mythic+, from world quests, or from rare mobs.
Sure – the system will lose its appeal later in the season. Once all equipped gear is upgraded to the maximum, the only thing left is to find higher-level gear again.
But the way there is much more pleasant and rewarding.
Above all, this can now be the “new standard” upon which World of Warcraft is built. Rarely has collecting gear felt so good and fulfilling. I can hardly imagine that anyone will ever part ways with this system. And Blizzard has already revealed that the system will likely continue in a slightly modified form in Season 3.
Mythic+ is more fun than ever
I am also amazed at how much fun “Mythic+” is for me again. It’s not just because of the completely “new” set of dungeons (and with Freehold also one of my favorites).
The reduction, overhaul, and wider distribution of affixes, which only activate at levels 7 and 14 now, simply feels better.
Some might think that dungeons are significantly easier now – but that’s not the case. Visit the Brackenfell Cave on Mythic+19 (Tyrannical) and see what happens with the first and last boss.
“Easier” only means that now one can focus much more on the mechanics of the boss fight and the dungeon itself. At the end of Season 1, I was really tired of “Thundering” and as a caster with particularly low mobility, I often had the impression: WoW wants to keep me from playing. It was intentionally made so annoying that I just couldn’t keep up with my Shadow Priest.
This feeling has completely disappeared.
The whole world remains relevant
However, there is one more novelty in Patch 10.1. So far, it has been the case in every expansion that with the introduction of a new area, the “old world” has lost its significance.
That is, with the introduction of Naz’jatar and Mechagon, no one was out in Tiragarde Sound anymore. With the introduction of Korthia, no one was in Ardenweald anymore.
This is not the case with Patch 10.1 – and for good reasons. Because all the “old” content from Dragonflight has also been updated. The items for upgrading, like flight stones and emblem fragments, can also be obtained in the original areas from 10.0. So if you’re not in the mood for the Zaralek Caves, you can simply complete world quests in the Ohn’ahra plains and obtain relevant currency for character progress.
In the first few days, I was really skeptical, but now Patch 10.1 Glut von Neltharion has completely convinced me. If you enjoy all forms of content, there is really a lot to do – and at the same time, none of it is mandatory because you could get pretty much everything you need from other sources.
It has been a long time since World of Warcraft felt so rounded as a whole. Even if I am dissatisfied with the Shadow Priest.
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