After Honor went live, Azeroth spent ten straight days on fire.
With battlegrounds still locked and the level cap still stuck at 45, players only had two real options: keep farming Maraudon and Zul'Farrak, or go pick fights with the other faction for honor and PvP ranks.
Gabryell's rank had already reached Rank 3, and he had farmed enough honor for the week. According to Blizzard's rank unlock schedule, Honor would be calculated again after tomorrow's official launch, and he should be able to jump straight to Rank 6.
"Need people at Mara! Horde's pushing the entrance again."
"Need backup at ZF! Horde owns the entrance!"
"STV Arena, now! Chest is about to spawn. Don't let Horde take it for free."
In Fearless guild chat, PvP had been the only topic for the past ten days. Everyone was bursting with energy. If they were not fighting, they were on their way to a fight.
Fearless was just one small example of what was happening across the servers. In the final stretch before paid launch, players everywhere had gone completely wild.
"I wonder how many people quit once the sub kicks in tomorrow."
Gabryell did not join the PvP rush. He already had enough honor to reach Rank 6, so he left the kills to everyone else.
Standing on the Ironforge bridge and watching guild chat fly by, he could not help sighing.
"After tomorrow, I wonder how many familiar names are going to go gray and never come back to Azeroth."
Whenever someone quit the game, it always felt a little sad. Especially after fighting side by side for a month, the people who disappeared would eventually become some of the best memories players carried with them.
"Nothing we can do about it," Carlos said. "Blizzard has to make money somehow."
He paused, then added, "A monthly sub is still better than free-to-play cash shop garbage. Those games are the real money sinks."
The words were rough, but the logic was sound. If World of Warcraft ever turned into a game built around cash shop spending, Gabryell would absolutely be the first to quit.
"So how long are you planning to take to hit 60?" Carlos asked.
He knew Gabryell had been preparing for it lately. Everything was for one purpose: keep leveling through AoE farming the moment the cap opened.
For the push to 60, Gabryell had already prepared a brand-new AoE farming set.
His helm was Whitemane's Chapeau, with 14 Intellect, 9 Stamina, and 14 Spirit.
At level 49, he would swap it for Eye of Theradras, which had 20 Intellect, 13 Stamina, and 11 Spirit. Dreamweave Circlet had no Stamina, so it was not suitable for AoE farming.
His necklace was Triune Amulet from Whitemane. Gemshard Heart from Princess Theradras could not be equipped until level 49.
For shoulders and cloak, he was using level 45 "of the Eagle" greens.
His robe was the level 42 BoE epic Robe of Insight, with 25 Intellect and 15 Spirit. It had no Stamina, but its mana-saving effect was excellent. During AoE farming, it could let him squeeze out one more Blizzard.
That Robe of Insight had cost him more than 300 gold, roughly what an ordinary player could scrape together after a month of careful saving. Of course, for Gabryell, whose net worth had already broken 10,000 gold, that amount barely mattered. He bought it without blinking.
His belt was Deathmage Sash from Mordresh Fire Eye in Razorfen Downs. Just from the name, anyone could tell it was perfect Mage AoE gear: 15 Intellect and 6 Stamina.
His pants, boots, and gloves were all level 45 "of the Eagle" greens from the Auction House.
His bracers were Jumanza Grips from Witch Doctor Zum'rah in the Zul'Farrak graveyard.
For rings, one was a Golden Ring of the Eagle, while the other was an Archaedic Stone from Archaedas, the final boss of Uldaman. That ring could roll random stats, and Gabryell had farmed it more than ten times before finally getting one with Intellect and Stamina.
Deadman's Hand was not suitable for AoE farming. If some random mob triggered the freeze effect, it could disrupt the pull and get him killed.
There were no especially strong trinket options right now, so he simply used whatever he had.
His weapon was still Zum'rah's Vexing Cane from the Zul'Farrak graveyard. If someone got a Glowing Brightwood Staff after launch, he would not mind buying it.
For now, this was already the most luxurious AoE farming set available. Unfortunately, even with all his gold, there was not much better gear to buy. All he could do was level quickly and replace this "luxury" sub-45 gear as soon as possible.
"I have to AoE farm," Gabryell said. "That's the only way I hit 60 right away."
He had already planned the route.
He would stay in the Zul'Farrak graveyard until level 48, then leave. After that, the experience there would drop by more than half.
Once he hit 48, he would go straight to Maraudon's purple entrance and farm there until level 52. For that, he had already stockpiled a large number of Nature Protection Potions and Shadow Protection Potions.
Solo farming Maraudon's purple entrance at level 48 would be extremely difficult. If the servers were not this stable right now, Gabryell would not risk it.
"The Maraudon route cannot be exposed."
He would not reveal the solo farming method. It was one of his trump cards. As long as he kept quiet, no Mage in this era would know how to do it. In his previous timeline, the Maraudon purple entrance and waterfall routes had only become common a few months into WoW Classic.
After level 52, he could try the Maraudon purple entrance plus waterfall one-pull route. It was more efficient than AoE farming zombies at the Western Plaguelands farms, and it could carry him all the way to level 55.
After level 55, he would move to a hidden Alliance farming spot.
In this era, Gabryell was probably the only person who knew how to find it. There was no chance anyone would show up to steal his pulls.
That place could only be reached by Mages, Priests, or players with an Engineering parachute. It had plenty of mobs, and they would not attack on sight. For Mages, it was a one-of-a-kind AoE farming paradise, and he could grind there straight to level 60.
After thinking for a moment, he answered Carlos's earlier question.
"Barring anything weird, I can hit 60 within two days."
"Two days?" Carlos stared at him. "There's no way."
Gabryell laughed. "Come on, when have I ever needed to bluff you?"
Once he reached level 60, he planned to start making alts. By the time those alts reached 60, the others should be max level too.
"A few alts?" Carlos was stunned again. "Why that many?"
"A few is already low," Gabryell said. "Later on, I'll probably make even more."
"Do you really need that many?"
"Absolutely."
Two Mages were necessary for double-Mage Stratholme farming.
A Hunter was for casually solo farming Dire Maul tribute runs to pass the time. At level 70, it would become ridiculously strong, even capable of soloing trash in Sunwell Plateau.
A Rogue was for Thunderfury, the level 70 Warglaives of Azzinoth, and Thori'dal, the Stars' Fury.
Of course, none of the alts' gear would be taken through DKP. They would join GDKP runs and buy gear there.
"Then should we make alts too?" Carlos was starting to get interested. Playing Warrior every day could get boring.
"No problem," Gabryell said. "When the time comes, tell me what you want to make, and I'll boost you."
A level 60 Mage could boost alts through dungeons all the way up. One week would be enough to take a character from 1 to 60.
Leveling alts right after hitting 60 was not really a choice either. The others would not be max level yet, and Gabryell could not run the major level-60 dungeons alone. He would finish everything he could solo first, then level alts while waiting for the rest of the guild to catch up.
"Maintenance starts at midnight. Servers reopen tomorrow morning at eight."
That was the schedule Blizzard had announced.
Starting tomorrow morning, World of Warcraft would end open beta and officially enter the vanilla era.
Even if some regions came online a few hours apart, it would not affect the race for raid first kills.
In his previous life, Onyxia had survived 69 days before being killed, and Ragnaros had survived 154 days.
This time, with a global open beta already laying the groundwork, Gabryell had more than enough time to compete for those first kills.