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.