The rewards of the island expeditions in World of Warcraft are a great mystery. Blizzard now clearly reveals how it will change with patch 8.1.
Island expeditions are still one of the major features of World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth. However, there has been a lot of frustration and confusion about how exactly the rewards work and how to farm rewards most effectively.
How has the loot worked on islands so far? Blizzard has confirmed that the community was correct in their assumptions. When certain creatures of a “group” are killed, the chance for loot from that specific group increases.
- So anyone who kills Murlocs has a chance for special Murloc rewards.
- On the other hand, those who kill dragons can receive special dragon items.
This applied to all groups. We explained this in detail in this article.
This is how the island loot will change with patch 8.1: With patch 8.1 Tides of Vengeance, the loot received at the end of an island expedition will be independent of the number of defeated enemies or their group affiliation. Only the existing enemies on an island decide what loot will be left behind.
An example: An island is primarily populated by Naga, and a dragon invasion is also taking place.
Upon completion of the island, all players have a chance for Naga and dragon loot, regardless of whether they primarily killed Naga and dragons.
Which playstyle is most worthwhile with 8.1? Due to these changes, the most rewarding way to complete an island is always the fastest. Those who are particularly quick can complete more islands in a shorter time and should therefore be able to earn more rewards.
This is how the community reacts: The reactions from the community to the change are not only positive.
- While it’s praised that island expeditions can now be completed in the most efficient way to receive rewards
- There are also many negative voices. Because those who now want to “target” farm an item are even more dependent on random factors than before.
So far, players could also kill individually scattered opponents of a specific faction to increase the chance; now they are completely reliant on the RNG of the respective invasion.
Cortyn says: I welcome the changes, as there will now be no discrepancy between players who only want rewards and those who just want to finish quickly. Both will now achieve their goals through the same means. That I have to accept a bit more RNG for that is manageable for me.
What do you think of these changes? Does it make islands more worthwhile? Or is it just a drop in the bucket?
With patch 8.1, the layout and gameplay of island expeditions will also change!
