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After the somewhat disappointing and drawn-out second half to Phase 3, manyWoW Classic: Season of Discoveryplayers have been eagerly looking forward to Phase 4, which unlocks almost all base game content up to Molten Core. But after spending so much time in Phase 3, it can be tough to figure out what you should prioritize whenjumping into the new Phase.
This guide goes over some tips to help you get your footing and get started in Phase 4 efficiently, including tips oncollecting newly available Runes, which Attunement questlines you can begin while leveling, which areas are available, and what you can do to make your life easier while getting back into the swing of SoD.
Update Your Addons, Clear Your Quests & Bags
Before even launchingWoW SoDand jumping into Phase 4, make sure toupdate your addons. The vast majority of players use addons inWoW SoDto enhance their UI, make it easier to tell what abilities to use at what time, and otherwise alter the game to suit one’s own needs. Some addons even make it easier to slotnew Runes collected in SoD, as the base interface is a bit lacking. But, if you don’t update your addons to the latest patch, these customizations may not carry over.
To avoid having to jump out of the game and back in, just be sure to check your addon pages for updates, or use an addon manager like Curseforge to easily update your addons all at once.
Once you do load in-game, and have a maxed level 50 character ready to go, the first thing you should do isclear your bags of items that are no longer relevant. Items you don’t want to spend time finishing, like items for theMantle of Nightmaresquestline, and other items that only work in Phase 3 content, can be deleted.
For example, unless your guild plans to run Sunken Temple more than a few times on the way to 60, you can discard any Flasks of Mojo consumables you still have, as these only work within the raid. Any remaining Atal’ai Mojo you have can be sold on the AH, but prices will surely go down as more players out-level ST.
It’s not a bad idea toclear your quest logof anything you don’t want to finish in Phase 4, too. If you never got your Mantle of Nightmares, the item is really not worth getting anymore, and you may Abandon this quest without feeling bad about it. There are some other quests that are only relevant to P3, too, so take a quick look at your log before planning your max-level route.
Level in Dungeons or Zones & Start Attunement Questlines
After clearing your bags and quest log, you can finally play the game – andthere’s so much to doon the journey to max level that it’s hard to know where to start. Theold reliable questing routesthroughout the Plaguelands, Searing Gorge, Blasted Lands, Burning Steppes, and other max level zones are still great for XP and gold thanks to SoD buffs.
But there is likely to be a lot of competition in these zones, at least for the first few weeks. If you want to get to max level faster without worrying about getting the first tag on a mob for quests and XP,join a dungeon group and repeat runs of Blackrock Depthsuntil you reach about Level 55 to 56. After this,head to Lower Blackrock Spire and Upper Blackrock Spireat around 58, which should take you to max level all without ever entering the open world.
Plus, these dungeons and their surrounding areas aretied to the two Raid attunementsin Phase 4: Onyxia, and Molten Core.
If you really want to maximize your leveling early on,consider joining a Sunken Temple group, as this level-up raid will remain worth completing until the mid-50s.Incursionsstill grant a ton of XP and are well worth going out of your way for, even after changes for P4. But because they are now Daily, they serve as just another way to get XP, not your primary level-up method as it was in P3.
Collect New Runes & Locate Specialization Runes
Every class hasat least three new major Runesto try out, but there are also a huge number of shared Skill Specialization Runes that can be used by multiple classes. The new ability-granting Runes in Phase 4 can be slotted onto theCloakslot, while these Skill Specialization Runes can be slotted onto both of yourRings.
The Cloak Slot Runes in P4 follow familiar unlock methods to Runes we’ve found so far – usually tied to short puzzles or unique Class quests. But the Ring Slot Runes are all unlocked by finding specific Class Books out in the world. These can be found all over the place, so spend some time looking up your new Rune locations, and be prepared to write down a few very specific locations to unlock all of your new Class Specialization Runes.
Farm Gold To Buy Your Epic Mount At 60
One of the most highly anticipated aspects of SoD Phase 4 is a massive upgrade to your Mounted speed with max-level Epic Mounts. These grant 100% increased Movement Speed, up from 60% from the Level 40 Mounts, but the cost to train and buy one of these fast mounts can be a bit prohibitive for anyone who didn’t take advantage of Gold-farming methods early in Phase 3.
The journey from 50 to 60 can be relatively long, but with SoD XP buffs and thepowerful new Rune options, you won’t have as much time to save up enough gold to afford the cost of an Epic Mount as you would in Era. As of publication,we don’t know whether the cost of your Epic Mount and training will be reduced from its vanilla total of 1000g– but judging by the cost reduction for mounts in Phase 2, it is more than likely to happen at some point in the phase.
Save up your Gold, avoid frivolous purchases, andconsider holding out for a week or two to see if the cost is reduced. Another 40% extra movement speed might not seem like much, but when you’re the only Level 60 without one, you’ll start to notice the speed difference pretty quickly as others rush by you in the open world (and in PvP).
