AP Grind, WQ/Faction grind, Gear grind...Is It Too Late To Get Back Into WoW

[FreshieFresh]

I've been away from WoW since about 3 months after the release of Legion. I got my undead DK to 110, reached around 870 ilvl (IIRC), and then just lost interest. I want to come back and level up my alliance warrior the rest of the way, but I've heard bad things about the current AP grind. I've also been told/read WoW is now harder than ever when it comes to keeping up with the current meta.

I'm not really all that concerned with being the best of the best on my server, but if I am hopelessly behind I don't even want to bother attempting to catch up. I don't have a lot of time in the first place, so if the AP grind and everything else are just too much stop me now before I get myself in and end up being disappointed. I am basically going to be a fresh 110 starting late in the expac, so give it too me straight. How much dedication and time will it take to reach the meta and be considered "caught up" gear and AP wise?

[Dracullus]

I recommend this Preach video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y736nZuh-t0

Short version: no, it isn't, there are tons way to catch up and AP cost grow is exponential - it take far less time (literally you can earn in few hours what used to take months in 7.0). Also in 7.2, that is 1-2 weeks away, there is soft "reset", they are refunding AP for paragon points, but in the same time new AK levels are coming. For example current Artifact Knowledge system gives you 250x more AP that you got on launch - next 26 level give you 1000x more, and you will get to AK 50 in 7.2. So with this huge AP inflation this few millions that we earned between 7.1 and 7.2 means nothing.

Only major problem is legendary - you will get your first two veery fast, but you could get two bad ones (in 6.2 they try to even out all legendaries).

And remember - this are problems only for mythic raiders. You will get to heroic groups with no problem just playing the game.

[Deleted]

How much dedication and time will it take to reach the meta and be considered "caught up" gear and AP wise?

125 days for new max AK if you're at current max AK and keep the research going. That's how long it will take. The rest you can easily gain during that time.

[Deleted]

It's never too late. If you play a lot you should be in an okay position in ~2 months.

I think you missed this bit of information...

I don't have a lot of time in the first place

[Lastlivingsoul]

125 days for new max AK if you're at current max AK and keep the research going. That's how long it will take. The rest you can easily gain during that time.

That is friggin hilarious. 125 days before you can actually begin to play the game. They should put that on the box. So ... several months later ... would you even consider an alt?

[clevin]

OP can come back and be up to speed in 1-2 weeks (by 7.2 or soon after) if by up to speed we mean ~850ish level, 35 traits in one artifact and close to that in another AS LONG AS they have AK 25 or so on their main. How? Buy the AK tome on their main and send it to the alt.

I did that on my lock and it popped me to AK20 instantly which trivializes AP for the first 35 traits. Then it's just gearing and that will be fairly easy if you can find some friends to help run some mythics. Once you get to 835, run NH LFR, and the WQs also will give better gear at that point.

[Deleted]

I've been away from WoW since about 3 months after the release of Legion. I got my undead DK to 110, reached around 870 ilvl (IIRC), and then just lost interest. I want to come back and level up my alliance warrior the rest of the way, but I've heard bad things about the current AP grind. I've also been told/read WoW is now harder than ever when it comes to keeping up with the current meta.

I'm not really all that concerned with being the best of the best on my server, but if I am hopelessly behind I don't even want to bother attempting to catch up. I don't have a lot of time in the first place, so if the AP grind and everything else are just too much stop me now before I get myself in and end up being disappointed. I am basically going to be a fresh 110 starting late in the expac, so give it too me straight. How much dedication and time will it take to reach the meta and be considered "caught up" gear and AP wise?

dont mind the AP, catch up is ez with Daily Chest, 1-2 NH Runs, maxing M+Key, Suramar Questline @AK25.
also ezier cuz 7.2 resets paragon traits (Arte lvl 35+) and introduces more exponential Artefact progression (after lvl35), so catch-up will be even eazier than now.

since u already have DK (3 months, must be AK16-18?), alt wont start at AK1, but 15...
there r always some nice pugs, that dont mind carry 1-2 lowbies (cuz we outgear content heavily, y not be generous?), there r also low M+ 24/7.

hf :D

[Deleted]

That is friggin hilarious. 125 days before you can actually begin to play the game.

No, that's 125 to get from current max AK to new max AK while you are playing the game and getting better gear and AP. Don't make it sound worse than it is.

[MasterHamster]

Do you need to be cutting edge to enjoy the game?

WoW isn't a moba. Players that have been in from the start of a release will, and should be, ahead of the new/returning player that can't be arsed to spend more than 2 weeks before giving up.

That said, Legion has catchup mechanics to get alts relatively quickly up to the point where they can join their guilds alt-runs, but some people think it's unfriendly to alts unless those alts are on par with their mains in a few afternoons.

But if you go into WoW again thinking you'll be on par with the guys that have 54/54/54 and i905 by the end of the week you're probably going to be disappointed.

[Lady Dragonheart]

Only if you're a professional hardcore mythic raider. If not, then you're fine. It is actually easier to catch up to everyone else than it ever has been before, mid-expansion.

[taek]

I've also been told/read WoW is now harder than ever when it comes to keeping up with the current meta.

I'm not really all that concerned with being the best of the best on my server, but if I am hopelessly behind I don't even want to bother attempting to catch up.

It's impossible to give a helpful answer without knowing what level of play you want to catch up to.

- LFR? No you're fine. LFRs can carry DPS with 870 ilevel, which you can get by just doing world quests and waiting for your 1st legendary which comes fairly soon.

- Casual Raider for Normal/Heroic who doesn't look at meters? Probably fine...but you will have to grind to get your AP. You obviously won't have the gear or AP of someone who's been playing since launch.

- Top performer for a semi-serious Raiding Guild? Could get iffy here, if you have very little time to play I don't see how you can leapfrog players who have been hardcore since day 1. The math just doesn't work. Any method of catchup (like high level mythic+) requires a lot of time and a high gear level.

If you're asking for a warning if this is the kind of game where grind will impact how well you perform, the answer is Yes.

[joe2887]

My warlock was created last week, hit 110 on Friday... 29 in weapon so far I believe?

Granted I had the 10 AK Boost.

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/characte...e/Beave/simple

[Twistedelmo]

When 7.2 comes out AP will begin to become more of a joke than it already is.

[FreshieFresh]

Thank you to everyone that replied. I think I'll jump back in and play casually to see how it goes. It seems like someone with my playstyle could pretty easily get to a point that they can at least experience the raids in LFR if nothing else. I'd prefer to see them in a normal raid instead of LFR, but if that's where I get I'll still be happy. Maybe I'll try out PvP again too if PVE takes up too much time. Thanks again for everyone's input!

[ribthanwa]

No, that's 125 to get from current max AK to new max AK while you are playing the game and getting better gear and AP. Don't make it sound worse than it is.

It's also not 125 days. This was the time it took if you started at launch, but starting now it will take anywhere from 2-3 days per AK, plus the fact that you can buy straight up to 15 by farming OHRs

[Desperado558]

In terms of how well you can keep up, I think simply showing you a character as an example may be best. I re-rolled mains for 7.1.5, and my demon hunter hit level 110 around January 20th. So approximately 8 weeks/lockouts is what I am working with here.

I know you said that you do not have a significant amount of time, so you and I are not alike in that regard, but this will help you get an idea still of what can be done in 8 weeks worth of lockouts.

My character now:
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/characte...himee/advanced (Havoc weapon maxed at 54 traits, Vengeance weapon at 44 traits)
https://www.wowprogress.com/character/us/hyjal/Chimee

I've put a significant amount of effort in to my character and am now a top performer in my guild and one of the few to have a max level weapon.

All this said, assuming 7.2 was still far off(it isn't just giving an example) and all things remained the same for the next 2 months, even if you put in a quarter of the effort/time played that I have, you could still likely have a character that is around 875-885 ilvl and with a level 45-50 weapon of your choice. That is very respectable and would get you in to heroic nighthold currently.

However since 7.2 is right around the corner, it wont take nearly as much effort to accomplish this even.

TL;DR - No its definitely not too late, even if you can only play an hour or two a day for a few days a week you will likely be prepared for normal mode of the new raid within a couple weeks after it launched (if not immediately)

[Deleted]

It's also not 125 days. This was the time it took if you started at launch, but starting now it will take anywhere from 2-3 days per AK, plus the fact that you can buy straight up to 15 by farming OHRs

If you are NOT at current max AK, yes, it will take less time per level, until you catch up to everyone else. However, as I wrote in both posts I've made so far, it is 125 days if you ARE at current max and want to go to new max, it WILL take 5 days per level and we get 25 new levels, which means 5x25=125 days. Please, it's not that hard to read what I've written.

[Coffeexbean]

You dont really need to catch up to anything. Wow was designed to be played at different levels. You can enjoy the content current players did three months ago and then when the time to do this comes you can enjoy that too.

[Super Kami Dende]

if you aren't going to be playing a lot, you don't exactly need a lot just to do the casual type content in game.

[Lastlivingsoul]

No, that's 125 to get from current max AK to new max AK while you are playing the game and getting better gear and AP. Don't make it sound worse than it is.

Here's the better question, How many hours a day did he play doing Pointless Grinding Daily quests, Begging for a spot in Raid in Trade, Being looked down upon for poor dps/healing, etc? 8 hours a day, 1000 Hours for meaningless lifewasting Bullcrap.

Now ask yourself would it be worth it after 1000+ hours your hps/dps was always at the bottom cause your Lotto-drawn Legendaries never dropped.