The long and short of getting a character geared for the Battle of Dazar’alor

The Battle of Dazar’alor raid launches in just under two weeks! Finally, the Alliance will take the fight to the Horde. With a new raid on the horizon now’s the perfect time to think about what character you want to take into combat and get them battle-ready. If you’re using a character you’ve been raiding Uldir with, you’re probably already in a great position to tackle Dazar’alor alongside Jaina. However, if you’re coming back after a long break or swapping to a newly leveled alt, you might need to quickly get some fresh gear to make sure the first hit doesn’t flatten you.

Quick gear

Professions are a great place to starting point if your character is new to the game. You can quickly get five pieces of the new Sinister Combatant gear at item level 340 for non-Azerite armor slots. Some professions can even make ilevel 340 weapons, like bows and guns for Hunters. Ask around, or check the Auction House for deals. Getting a solid weapon will make the rest of your gearing that much easier. If you’re gearing a new alt, Magni will give you the three upgrades to your Heart of Azeroth right away. That’s an extra 45 ilevel onto your neck just for saying hi!

Once you’ve scoured the AH for deals and bugged your guildmates to use their professions, it’s time to hit the open world. Emissaries, Invasions, and World Quests are a good way to help fill out your ensemble. The gear rewards scale up to ilevel 325, and 370 if you’re doing the daily emissary. There can also be as many as three world bosses available for you, depending on which faction controls the Warfronts. It’s also a good idea to fly around and kill all the rares in the Warfront. Each of them has a chance to drop ilevel 340 gear and weapons, and often fun pets, mounts, and toys! If you’re not interested in collecting the pets, they can even be sold on the AH to help recoup some of the gold you might’ve spent on getting crafted gear. There is a lot of luck involved with this, so don’t get discouraged if your first few kills don’t reward any gear.

Longer group content

Once you’ve done all the world quests that you can stomach, it might be time to head into some group content. Mists of Pandaria Timewalking is available the week of the 22nd which will give you a piece of the normal difficulty raid gear as a reward. The loot from the Timewalking dungeons themselves should also let you jump right into tackling Battle for Azeroth Heroic dungeons, if not Mythic dungeons outright. You should also look into whether or not you can queue into the Warfront scenarios. You’ll get a 370 piece just for winning the first one, and each time you win you’ll also get a guaranteed 340 piece. Plus the Night Elf and Undead themed armor sets look really amazing, even if the two-handed sword looks a little impractical.

Mythic and Mythic+ dungeons are good for getting quick gear. The trade off is that they require more coordination and planning. Remember that if you need help convincing friends of yours to come along, that Freehold, King’s Rest, and The Underrot all have mounts as a possible drop at the end. I’m always looking for an excuse to run those dungeons — Sharkbait is just such a great mount. Getting a Mythic+ cache at the end of the week also rewards Titan Residuum which can help you get a high-level piece of Azerite armor for an armor slot of your choice. The cost of 165 Residuum for a piece of random 385 level gear is a bit steep — but not impossible — over the next couple of weeks. If you’re feeling brave there’s still time to head into Uldir. Ideally, you’re able to go with friends and have a good chance of getting gear that they don’t need, but there are lots of groups forming in the Premade Group Finder all the time — maybe you’ll make some new friends along the way!

In the end, do whatever you feel most comfortable with. The Battle of Dazar’alor will still be raging fiercely in a month. Have fun and take your time. Don’t rush too much and burn yourself out. Good luck, and happy hunting!