With World of Warcraft’s next expansion, Shadowlands, on the way “this fall,” it’s time to wrap up Battle for Azeroth content that will either be going away or getting more difficult after the next expansion and its pre-patch launch.
It’s hard to say exactly when the pre-patch will hit. Blizzard Entertainment has an affection for launching Warcraft “fall” content in late November. The final pre-patch (which typically includes all the new mechanics and takes things away) typically hits four to six weeks before that, but no official date has been announced.
So let’s say that, to be safe, you’ll likely want to complete this content sometime between September 15 and October 1. That only gives you a month or two, so time to get cracking!
Buy that brutosaur
If you’re anywhere in the neighborhood of 5 million in-game gold, you’ll want to finishing saving up for this long-necked bad boy of a mount before he becomes a Black Market Auction House-only item after the pre-patch launches. The biggest gold sink WoW has ever seen, the Reins of the Caravan Brutosaur award you dinosaur-y goodness to ride around, and more importantly, access to an auction house wherever you happen to be.
Raid achievements and mounts: Cutting Edge and Ahead of the Curve
Killing Mythic or Heroic N’Zoth the Corruptor in the large-group raid Ny’alotha, the Waking City, awards you a pile of in-game goodies that aren’t available after the pre-patch. A Mythic difficulty kill gives you the Cutting Edge feat of strength, the Uncorrupted title, a shot at the Rank 4 Formless Void essence, and a shot at the Mythic-only many-eyed octopus Ny’alotha Allseer mount.
Heroic N’Zoth gives you the Ahead of the Curve feat of strength and the very pretty purple Uncorrupted Voidwing dragon mount. Both feats of strength poof after the pre-patch; the Uncorrupted Voidwing will only be available until Shadowlands launch, but the Allseer will continue at a much tinier drop rate (around 1%).
Mythic Lady Jaina Proudmoore in the Battle of Dazar’alor raid still drops two of her Glacial Tidestorm elemental mounts with every kill; that mount will also be a rare drop after Shadowlands launch. While Mythic N’Zoth is still extremely difficult, Mythic Jaina is possible to do in a pickup group.
Meta achievements for dungeons and raids
Technically the collections of achievements that award mounts in Battle for Azeroth raids and dungeons will still be around and achievable after the new expansion launches. Realistically, it’s very difficult to find groups to complete them, so now’s the time. For details, search your Achievements tab for the word “Glory.” There are five in total for the expansion, and each awards a different mount.
While you’re in those dungeons, try and complete the full set on Mythic plus keystone difficulty level 15 or higher for Keystone Master; that achievement and the Awakened Mindborer worm mount will poof when the pre-patch launches.
And finally, the meta-achievement for the Horrific Visions solo or group scenarios will no longer be achievable after pre-patch launches, so get your Mad World achievement by running all objectives in Stormwind and Orgrimmar visions solo with five masks active for the Faceless One title.
The Hertz Locker achievement for doing the normal-Mythic difficulty Operation: Mechagon dungeon on Hard Mode will also be going away.
Serve N’Zoth and kill your friends
Battle for Azeroth includes a fun feat of strength for world PvP battling. To get it, turn on War Mode and kill 10 opposing-faction players without dying. You’ll automatically receive the Servant of N’Zoth quest with a clickable item. Click it, and you’ll now be hostile to both the other faction AND your own. Kill 10 of your own faction players while under the influence of the item (still without dying) and you’ll earn the Servant of N’Zoth title and a permanent toy version of the item.
While you’re out there killing off your fellow players, don’t forget to finish up the Conqueror of Azeroth world PvP meta-achievement for that mount and title.
Battle for Bruce
The Brawler’s Guild disappears and reappears anew in each new expansion, and the Battle for Azeroth version includes a questline that will award you Bruce, the giant crocolisk mount. To start it, kill the beast in the Brawler’s Guild arena (you can buy an invitation, if you haven’t received many already, off the auction house) and start the questline.
