Shadowlands Night Fae Questline Complete

Kanter in a not very Dwarven Night Fae get-up

I meant to write this up on Sunday, 5/23, but it didn't happen.  I finished the Night Fae covenant quest line (9.0) last week and wanted to leave some impressions.

Overall, I enjoyed it.  There were a couple of gaps where I had to wait for more renown but it all flowed pretty easily even though them.  Ysera was a good character to bring back for the storyline.  She had a tragic story in Legions and it was good to see her again.  She is also tied to Elune, along with Tyrande Whisperwind, the other main focus of the questline.  It was a little odd how the Tyrande Whisperwind story seemed to get dropped but I'm sure it is waiting for the next set of quests that will come along with the major patches to come.  This was my experience without running any dungeons and I've read it is significantly faster with renown from dungeons.

The armor, as seen above, doesn't seem very appropriate for a dwarf, but I've become attached to it.  I also like the 8 piece bonus where one or two Fae Guardians will show up, increasing my primary stat and periodically healing me and my pet.  The pieces can be upgraded and since I don't plan on raiding I'll try to make do with it and their upgrades.  There are also three other Night Fae armor sets available through different lines, each with a different color.  I'll see how I advance in the those lines and if I can mix them, that might be interesting as well.

It's seems generally people are not happy with the lack of content and I guess I can see that but that is part of the reason why I started four months late.  Hopefullly I'll be starting the Maldraxas quests on my warrior and it'll be interesting to see how they compare.  However, first I want to finish the Torghast questline that will be subject of my next post.

Shadowlands Night Fae Questline

 

Kanter with Night Fae Campaign Armor

I've been progressing in my Night Fae Covenant questline over the last two weeks in World of Warcraft.  So far (Chapter 7 of 9 completed) I've felt the need to grind at all.  I did just have two spots where I needed more Renown to advance the questline but over two days I just had to do a few world quests to be able to advance it.  I like the look of the armor that the questline has offered significantly better than the drops though it doesn't look at all Dwarven.

The Quests in Ardenwaeld have been mixed in with quests in the Maw. The first set of quests in the Maw brought back Baine.  The current set is getting Tyrande Whisperwind back. Jaina was just hinted at and I haven't heard anything from Thrall or Anduin yet.  They also tied in Torghast, World of Warcraft's new randomized dungeon.  So far, I feel a little overpowered which is nice and there have been some interesting Anima powers.  The last time, however, several were based on Disengage which I guess would be primarily used by a Survival hunter.  In any case, the different bonus that are granted do add some interest and it didn't force me to take any that used Disengage.

I've also been gradually opening my Night Fae Sanctum upgrades.  My command table now has 5 companions and I just completed my first rare Adventure there.  I feel so short of Anima (which I guess is part of the plot, but isn't particularly fun) that I've just been doing the ones that reward Anima so I can use it for other things.  Enabling the command table took 500 Anima, the Transportation Network and Anima Conductor took 1000 and the Garden will be 1500 (it will be next).  Upgrade costs start at 5000 Anima go up from there.  There was also a Ardenwaeld Hearthstone available for Anima but, since it is a convenience, it'll probably wait until at least most of the Sanctum upgrades are done.  I just found Armor upgrades, too, but since I'm not doing dungeons or raids, they can wait.  The Anima Conductor just introduced a new currency, Grateful Offerings.  I'm pretty confused by them all except Anima for now.  There have been faction currencies since Vanilla but these seem more general and less optional and therefore are more confusing than many.

I've unlocked Soulbinds as well.  This is another way to adjust your I guess they work for any class but since I'm DPS it seems most of mine seem to be potency and the others seems under used.  Finally, I've done a little with professions.  Herbalism is at 114 out 150 so it'll get to max soon enough.  Cooking and Fishing are in their 20s and I guess I'll focus on them at some point but not yet.  Alchemy is only at 15 and will likely be the last thing I fully upgrade since the most useful potions are always the healing ones and since I'm not doing dungeons or raids, it seems a waste to use the others.

All together, I have been enjoying my time so far but I wonder how much I'll want to do on Kanter besides the Adventures once I complete my Covenant story (I'm on chapter 7 of 9).  I do have another three stories to go so I certainly won't have them all done when 9.1 comes out.

Shadowlands Four Months Late

 

Kanter in Ardenweald

I've discussed previously my dissatisfaction when I get World of Warcraft expansions when they release.  That said, since I've invested so much into World of Warcraft, I do find it worth while to see what Blizzard has to offer next.  I decided to wait for a sale since if I wasn't going to get it at launch and late in March Blizzard offered 20% off and I decided I had some time to play and it would be good time to see the expansion.  This will be a quick overview of my experience finishing the preliminary questline that gets you to max level, more for my reference than anything else.

I enjoyed the questline.  The covenants are very distinct and the characters interesting.  I certainly have a very distinct preference: 1. Night Fae, 2. Necrolords, 3. Kyrian, 4. Venthyr.  That said, even though I'm not into the gothic look of the Venthyr, plot-wise, I think it would be interesting to explore their covenant.  Ardenweald is so much much prettier than the other regions and I like the light-hearted nature of many of the characters even though there is a dark side to story.

I didn't have much rested experience for the Kyrian and I did have to do a few extra quests to get to level 53 that allowed me to advance the plot.  I took a break then and only needed less than 10% to get to level 56 in the Night Fae story so the leveling seemed well matched for my casual advance.  Also, it didn't take too long at all.

I was able to see the introduction to the Night Fae covenant during the beta test but I still really enjoyed it the second time.  I didn't enjoy most of the Night Elf area in Legion, but I did like Ysera and look forward to spending more time with her as well.

I am a little worried about the covenant grind.  My first experience was quite bad, dying repeatedly trying to get to one of the world quests and not being able to find my way.  I probably picked a bad option but it sounds like they are trying to encourage you to open up the transportation network and I could see it getting frustrating.

However, overall my first experience was quite fun.  I don't see any incentive to advance Horde like there was with Battle for Azeroth but I am quite interested in the different covenants and am currently planning to take my warrior through Necrolords, my priest though Kyrian, and my mage through Venthyr.  I really don't care about maxing my character through abilities though I did happen to see that Night Fae is recommended for Hunters, though it wouldn't have changed my choice.