This week I found out about two people in my social circle who have gotten invites to the beta. One, a good friend that is in a top 200 world raiding guild and has been, prior to this expansion, typically between top 100 to top 10 in his raiding progression. However, a friend of a friends mom got in and that player is very casual. So, perhaps they are starting to let in a little more diverse group. You can read more about my thoughts on who they invite in my last post HERE. In this, I’m going to talk a little about what I hope to accomplish when(if) I eventually get into the beta. Maybe you’ll get some ideas for things to focus on, or maybe you can suggest something I’m missing.
There’s a few reasons someone might participate in a beta test. The most obvious one, the main reasons the developers are doing it, is to test. Duh. People checking stuff out, seeing if it works, reporting bugs, etc. Another common reason, at least for me (not including WoW), is to see if the game is even worth playing. While, that can be a poor experiment given the game is in a beta state, it at least is possible to get a general feel for a new game. Of course, this can still be useful feedback for a developer – “I’m not going to play this game, because”.
However, with Shadowlands, I have something a little more specific focus. See, I pre-ordered (well, a pre-order was a gift, anyway) it already. So, it’s not really a question of if I’m going to play it. And, of course I’ll provide feedback for the devs, my personal goal is to find out what I’m going to play. In BFA, I’ve gotten every class to max level, decent gear, +15 keys, etc. This has resulted in none of them getting much attention. I’m okay in 12 classes and great on none of them.
In Shadowlands, I intend to focus on 2-3 characters. However, right now, I enjoy like… 10 of them. Which ones should I be playing then? Given that all the borrowed power of BFA is going away (corruption, essences, azerite), and that greatly defines many of the classes. Will DH still be fun with the massive haste loss from their azerite? Will I still enjoy a warlock if I can’t be over 50% haste from corruptions?
Some people worry about how powerful a class or spec might be in a beta, but I’m not terribly concerned about that. Blizzard tends to adjust numbers throughout beta, into the expansion, and randomly thereafter. I want to know what is the most fun. And of what’s the most fun, does it have more than one spec that I enjoy? I would love to end up playing a hybrid, such as my paladin, a pure dps, such as my mage, and… something. I’ve been reading updates and watching videos and streams of the current state of the beta, but, it just isn’t the same as getting into it. So far, my main considerations for what to play in SL are:
- Ret/Holy Paladin
- Mage (I’ll probably switch between what I enjoy most and what does the most dps)
- Havoc Demon Hunter with a very lazy tank OS.
- Unholy Death Knight
Maybe I’ll make a post about what and why… Anything I’m missing?