Old content is currently very difficult in World of Warcraft and often impossible to complete solo. But what is the reason for this?
In World of Warcraft, many players still face the challenges that Shadowlands has to offer. However, many enjoy collecting transmog sets from old raid content. The frustrating part is that it is currently very hard to do so. Many outdated contents are still nearly impossible for solo players to master. The usual reduction in difficulty is not applied.
What is the reason for this? Several factors are to blame. There are multiple things that have ensured that the power gain from level 50 to 60 – or rather from level 120 to 60 – is not as significant. These factors are:
- The removal of powerful Corruption effects that accounted for up to 50% of player damage.
- The removal of the Heart of Azeroth, which brought powerful passive bonuses and active abilities.
- The level squish, which has changed the relationship of all opponents to one another.
- The still relatively poor equipment from Shadowlands with an item level of around 200. (plus/minus 20)
Especially the last point is currently causing players to have significantly lower percentages in secondary stats (Critical Strike, Mastery, Haste, Versatility). This also results in reduced damage.
Players are frustrated: Many players who enjoy visiting old raids are frustrated about this. This can also be observed on Reddit, where a thread with new criticism arises almost every day.
Especially aggravating is that many contents that could be completed solo at level 120 – such as the Night Hold – can hardly be managed solo with many classes or take much more time to complete. Contents that could once be finished alone now require a whole group. For some players, such an important activity in WoW has temporarily disappeared.
Will Blizzard address this? That is uncertain. Actually, Blizzard wanted to ensure with Shadowlands and the pre-patch 9.0 that old content, which could previously be completed solo, can still be managed alone. At worst, it should only take a little longer. However, since that is not the case, many players hope that Blizzard will make improvements here.
However, there is still need for adjustments to the balance in current Shadowlands content. Just a few days ago, 4 of the 8 dungeons were massively nerfed. As long as such changes are pending, old content will likely remain lower on the priority list.
Until then, it seems that waiting or finding enough like-minded individuals from the guild or the LFG tool will be necessary if one wants to play the old content for transmogs.
