WoW Classic: Season of Discovery currently has one phase available, limiting content to a Level Cap of 25. However, the new roadmap shows that the next phase is quickly approaching in Winter 2024. So, here are the 10 best ways to prep for Season of Discovery Phase 2!
10 Best Things to Do Before WoW Classic SoD Phase 2
These preparations include a mixture of activities that’ll make leveling to 40 easier, but also ways to pass the time while waiting for Phase 2.
Reach Level 25
Level 25 is the cap for Phase 1. So, naturally, getting to Level 25 should be on your list of things to do to prepare for the next phase. That way, you can jump right into the next area and work towards Level 40. While I don’t feel like it takes too long to reach Level 25 if you have the time, I understand that between life and the holidays, this task can take longer than expected. Nonetheless, it’s the best thing you can do to prepare for Phase 2.
Gather Your Class Runes
Runes are one of the biggest differences between regular Classic and Season of Discovery. They let you use abilities for your class from Retail WoW that normally wouldn’t be available in vanilla content. Right now, each class can learn 12 runes. However, you can only use three at a time because you apply them like enchantments on your legs, hands, and chest. The nice part is you can swap them out at any time, so having the full selection can help you tailor your runes to different situations you encounter while leveling.
Level Alts
Right now, the Level Cap is only 25. That means that it’s the perfect chance to level more characters of different classes to find what suits you before moving into the next phase. Also, you can use alts to fill in future raid positions when raids are added, such as having a healer, DPS, and tank character all ready to go so that you can have a place no matter what. And you can then learn other professions so that you can create anything you might end up needing, like potions or larger inventory bags, which will save you quite a bit of gold in the long run.
Level Professions
As mentioned, professions are so useful in WoW Classic! Not only are they great sources of gold income, but they provide a lot of utility that’s easy to overlook if you’ve only played Dragonflight. Even secondary professions have a lot of use because food buffs are great for leveling or doing dungeons.
And if you aren’t playing a Mage, buying all your food and drink can get expensive, especially in this version of the game where it’s hard to build a good sum of gold. I went for Tailoring first because bags always sell well on the Auction House, but I definitely make a lot of trades with my Alchemist friends. I think that we both win by trading potions for cooked food and cloth bags.
Collect Rare Recipes
Not every crafting recipe is learned from a trainer. Instead, you’ll have some that you have to pick up from enemies, usually dungeon bosses like the Shredder Autosalvage Unit recipe. Since there’s quite a bit of time before Phase 2, gathering what rare recipes you can for crafting in the meantime is beneficial and helps prevent boredom. Then, you can use the recipes for yourself or sell your work for gold. Or both. There’s no reason not to capitalize on both!
Gear Up
With a Level Cap of 25, gearing up isn’t a necessity for Phase 2. It’s kind of hard to gear up at Level 25, but getting what you can for gear will make it easier to level when the cap is raised. I know it sometimes feels like gear doesn’t make a difference, but when you have better gear equipped, you do more damage and can generally take more damage. For casters, that can also mean faster mana regeneration when you aren’t casting as well.
Farm Gold
Farming gold ahead of Phase 2 will be particularly useful for one big reason: mounts. With the Level Cap rising to 40, you’ll finally be able to purchase a mount. That means you’ll need gold for the mount, riding lessons, and 15 levels of class training. While it might not seem like a lot when you think about the gold economy from Dragonflight, it’s much harder to get the amount of gold you need for all these lessons and a mount when it comes to Classic.
Participate in PvP
With a Level Cap of 25 for at least a couple of months, why not head into battlegrounds? It’s a fun way to pass the time while waiting. Plus, you can build reputation with the battleground factions to later use at the quartermasters for items! At Level 25, you know that nobody will be at a higher level than you, so it’s the perfect time to head into battlegrounds and get a bit competitive.
Join/Start A Guild
A lot of guilds are setting up for future phases by running dungeons, doing battlegrounds, and just helping out each other with whatever might be needed. I prefer joining a guild to starting one, but you might be the opposite and prefer to have the control and planning responsibilities that come with being the leader. Either way, having a network of people who can help you with various tasks in Classic is definitely a positive thing.
Convince Your Friends to Play
Classic doesn’t have the Looking for Group feature that you have in Retail. That means you either need a guild, friends, or strangers found in general chat to fill up your party for dungeons and tough quests. If you have friends who game but aren’t playing yet, invite them to join you! I always found my best WoW experiences have been when friends are playing with me, and Classic has been no different in that regard.
And those are the 10 best ways to prep for WoW Classic: Season of Discovery Phase 2. The Level 25 cap might feel limiting, but there’s plenty to do before the next phase to make your experience easier or just to pass the time. For now, check out our Classic guides hub and our Season of Discovery guides hub for more topics!
