WoW Classic Endgame Guide - What to Do After Level 60?

WOW CLASSIC ENDGAME

Getting to level 60 will take a long time (even months) for a casual player. As I’m writing these words, some hardcore players are already getting really close in just a couple of days from the release. Some players, however, will rather pay for power leveling, instead of grinding. That being said, if you have other responsibilities than just playing a video game or don’t feel like a speedrunning Classic World of Warcraft, it will take you much longer.

WHAT TO DO AFTER LEVEL 60?

That being said, with enough consistency and sturdiness, you will get there eventually. What to do in WoW Classic after hitting 60? Isn’t it more about the journey than the destination? Not exactly, Vanilla WoW is just a great example of an old school MMORPG and the principles that came into designing this genre.

The early game is slow, challenging, and grindy. Of course, it has its advantages, especially in the current online gaming world – weirdly enough, going back to the roots feels like a breath of fresh air. It also serves a particular purpose. When WoW Classic endgame content is not easily accessible to everyone, raiding seems even more epic. This slow (at least for modern standards) progression system is sort of an in-game gatekeeping mechanic that makes sure that everyone earns their spot, before embarking on the most challenging adventures. The leveling process is a considerable portion of the Classic WoW experience, but for many competitive players, it’s just an appetizer before the main course.

ENDGAME ACTIVITIES

In general, the main Classic endgame activities revolve around open-world PvP and raiding. The whole thing is about chasing the best equipment at all times. First, it’s the pre-raid gear, then trying to collect the stronger tier armor sets.

Of course on your way there, you’re going to have to complete a lot of quests, clear dungeons and do plenty of other stuff. First, we’re going to take a look at the start of the end game, how to gear up quickly and what to do in order to find a good raiding guild. After all, no matter how good you are, you won’t be able to clear Molten Core all by yourself.  

GETTING INTO ENDGAME

First, let’s talk about all the things you need to do before raiding. Probably the most critical part of this equation is collecting gear. Don’t get too hung up on the absolute Best in Slot pre-raid items, a lot of them have excellent substitutes that you can use, at least temporarily. It’s not like the first Molten Core runs will have the luxury of only taking people with the perfectly composed gear. You will get the best pre-raid items from high-level dungeons and quests.  

QUESTING

High level quests are the most consistent way of getting items. Of course, you can’t get your whole equipment from questing, but it’s a great idea to do them, as they can provide you with some upgrades. There’s no way of getting the hours of your time wasted due to unlucky RNG. You know exactly what you’re going to get for completing the task.

PLAGUELANDS QUESTS

In Dreams is a quest given by Highlord Taelan Fordring in Western Plaguelands. The reward includes choosing an item out of 5 available ones. Some of them are really worthwhile. Mark of Fordring is Best in Slot for any physical DPS, Fordring’s Seal is great for healers and Orante Adamantium Breastplate, while not Best in Slot, can make a good placeholder for tanks.

Hidden Treasures is another Plaguelands quest that provides decent rewards. It’s the last quest in a line that also consists of Marauders of Darrowshire, Return to Chromie and The Battle of Darrowshire. Hidden Treasures reward you with some decent jewelry pieces. They’re not Best in Slot by any means, but there’s not that many good rings and necklaces in WoW Classic.

Order Must Be Restored is an Alliance-exclusive quest that requires killing Nathanos Blightcaller in Eastern Plaguelands. You can choose one of three items as a reward. There are a decent bow and wand, as well as the Sacred Protector – a shield that provides +10 Intellect.

Horde has its equivalent of this quest with identical rewards. This one also ends in killing an elite enemy in Eastern Plaguelands. The quest is called The Scarlet Oracle Demetria. It requires killing Demetria of the Scarlet Crusade faction.

OTHER QUESTS

You’re Rakh’Likh Demon is a neutral quest given by Fallen Hero of the Horde in Swamp of Sorrows. The objective of this quest is killing Razelikh the Defiler. You’ll be rewarded with three items. The necklace and trinket are not that great, but you might use them temporarily. The real prize is the Demon Hide Sack. It’s a 16 slot bag that will definitely come in handy. To even get this quest, you will have to finish a whole chain. One of the earlier links in it is the Heroes of Old quest that provides a trinket with mana and health regeneration (excellent for Holy Priests and Resto Shamans).

It’s Dangerous to Go Alone is a quest given by Linken in Un’Goro Crater. It’s objective is tracking and killing the Blazerunner. As a reward you can choose either Linken Sword of Mastery that’s a great main hand weapon for melee classes or Spirit of Aquemantas – really nice off-hand for casters and healers. Additionally, everyone gets Linken’s Boomerang, a trinket that can be used as a ranged damage spell. It can be useful for pulling monsters. 

RAID ATTUNEMENT QUESTS

These quests are necessary to start raiding (theoretically the Molten Core one is not obligatory, but in reality, it will be one of the requirements for every raid group). That being said, some of these quests can also provide you with really nice items.

The Molten Core quest - Attunement to the Core, doesn’t reward you with any items. It requires going to Blackrock Depths. This dungeon is considered to be one of the best, or even the best dungeon in terms of getting the pre-raid BiS items.

The Onyxia Raid Attunement questline is much more interesting and also much longer. There are two separate chains for Alliance and Horde. It’s also necessary for every raid member to complete them in order to enter Onyxia’s Lair.

For Alliance, it starts with Dragonkin Menace given by Helendis Riverhorn. It later goes through multiple subsequent quests, including Drakefire Amulet. Its rewards provide a great choice of one from three available trinkets. Eye of the Beast is Best in Slot for caster DPS classes, while Blackhand’s Breadth is the same for physical DPS. Both of those trinkets will retain their status for a long portion of Vanilla WoW.

Horde players also can get these great trinkets by completing an equivalent quest. It’s called For The Horde! And it’s the third task in their Onyxia Attunement questline. Both of these quests are great for 50-60 level players. Besides the exceptional reward, they also put you closer to raiding, by being part of the raid attunement chain. They also feature slaying specific bosses inside the Blackrock Depths and Lower as well as Upper Blackrock Spire. 

Check out out Raid Attunement Guide to learn more about it!

DUNGEON RUNS

We already talked about some essential quests that will send you to dungeons. But the truth is that you should not need any particular tasks as an incentive to clear some of those instances. Dungeon runs are the primary source of pre-raid Best in Slot gear.

Some of the best ones for that purpose are Blackrock Depths, Scholomance, Stratholme, Lower Blackrock Spire and Upper Blackrock Spire. The most systematic way of gearing up would be looking at a list of BiS items for your class in Vanilla (if you don’t know it already) and checking how you can get them. Some of the lists will also include the second-best options or suitable alternatives. You can always go for them if they’re easier to acquire.

If you’re not looking for any specific item, running through Blackrock Depths or Scholomance will pretty much always be a good idea. A lot of BiS equipment for multiple classes drops there. 

PROFESSIONS

Professions are vital for every player that’s planning to join a raiding guild. Before we even go into the direct benefits that each profession can provide, we have to address one thing. Professions help with the economy. Even if you’re not exactly bringing a ton of consumables to a raid or crafting the best equipment, the chances are that thanks to these extra activities you’re going to be rich. Gold can’t buy you everything in Classic WoW, but there are many exceptional crafted items as well as world drops that can be traded through the Auction House.

You should think about picking the right gathering and crafting profession. As for the first category, the two worth considering are Herbalism and Mining. The first one is definitely a safe bet. Herbalism is an excellent choice for every player. This profession allows you to gather materials for multiple great raiding consumables. It will always have a good value for raiding guilds (but probably a lot of people will level it).

Mining is a bit more conditional because to make use of it you’re also going to need Blacksmithing or Engineering. Of course, there’s money to be made by merely extracting Thorium and selling it through the Auction House. In the long run, though, you probably want your professions to synergize well since it can get you additional value. That being said, both Blacksmithing and Engineering are really great for raiding tanks (which basically means only Prot Warrior in Vanilla), so you can go with these professions if that’s your class choice. The fire resistance Dark Iron Set won’t craft itself.

CHOOSING BEST PROFESSIONS

Picking up a crafting profession that can make the armor type that your class uses is always a decent idea. Leatherworking allows Rogues, Hunters and Fury Warriors to make the two-piece Devilsaur Set. It is pre-raid Best in Slot and arguably even better than Tier 1 and some later items. However, crafting it requires Devilsaur Leather that can be difficult to get, as the only farming spot in Un’Goro Crater tends to be heavily contested.

Cloth-wearing classes can choose Tailoring. Their best crafted set is probably the three-piece Bloodvine Garb. It packs a lot of spell hit chance that makes it extremely useful. It’s perhaps not that great compared to the raid armor sets, but it’s still going to remain viable for a long time.

Engineering might not be the best option in terms of direct money-making, but a lot of its products are instrumental both in PvE and PvP. It can often accelerate clearing raids and/or dungeons as well as make the difference in PvP skirmishes (extra stuns from bombs come a long way here).

Enchanting can also be really useful in Classic WoW. The difference between non-enchanted and fully enchanted gear is massive, what comes into play if you want to start raiding. If you get lucky and find some good recipes relatively early on, you will also be able to make a lot of gold with this profession. At the same time, the recipe-dependency, as well as the slow and challenging progression, makes Enchanting probably the least consistent of all the professions.

Alchemy is also an excellent option for endgame content. It works well with Fishing and Herbalism as it can provide powerful consumables. Flasks, in general, are extremely useful in raids, specifically Flask of the Titans. However, crafting flasks requires recipes that are rare drops in endgame dungeons (Upper Blackrock Spire, Scholomance and Stratholme). It’s just another addition to the long list of reasons why you should be clearing these instances.

Secondary professions also really worth leveling and since they’re not limited in any way, there’s simply no reason not to. First Aid can be useful in raids and dungeons. Cooking provides more worthwhile consumables. Fishing is an awesome source of ingredients for Alchemy and Cooking.

RAIDING AND CONTENT SCHEDULE

Of course, raiding is a massive portion of the Vanilla WoW endgame. All the things that we described before – quests, dungeons, professions – all lead to this goal. Only two raids are available to players from day one. More of them will be added in future updates. Usually, the newest raid will be the most popular one. Gear progression is real in WoW Classic – barring a few exceptions, the later raids offer better items as rewards. That being said, the phase 1 raids should remain relevant for the whole Classic, since gearing up will be challenging and full raid sets will take some time to collect. Of course, there's also the skill factor. You're going to have to learn the raid mechanics and perfect your ability-rotation to succeed. No matter if it's for threat generation, shredding through bosses or healing allies - that of course depends on how you build and spec your character. 

PHASE 1 RAIDS  

ONYXIA’S LAIR

Onyxia’s Lair is one of the two raids available from the beginning of WoW Classic. To even enter this 40-man instance, each player needs to have a Drakefire Amulet in their inventory. You can only get them by completing the attunement questline, which is mandatory in this case. The raid consists of some trash mobs and only one boss – Onyxia. Alongside some mighty weapons, jewelry, and trinkets, Onyxia also drops Tier 2 headpieces for all classes.

MOLTEN CORE

Molten Core is the bigger one of the two Phase 1 raids. It features ten boss encounters, the last one being Ragnaros the Firelord. This instance is considered more demanding and difficult than Onyxia’s Lair. It also usually takes more time, due to the higher number of bosses (at least for similarly skilled groups of players).

The boss encounters happen in this succession: Lucifron, Magmadar, Gehennas, Garr, Baron Geddon, Shazzrah, Golemagg the Incinerator, Sulfuron Harbinger, Majordomo Executus and the Ragnaros himself. While this number of bosses translates into longer clear time, it also means more valuable loot. The whole Tier 1 sets for every class drop in Molten Core. Most of the items can be looted from specific bosses (Garr drops helmets, while Golemagg drops chest pieces et cetera), but some parts of Tier 1 can be looted from trash mobs in Molten Core.

Ragnaros also drops Tier 2 leg pieces and two items needed to create the only two legendaries in phase 1. Eye of Sulfuras is required to craft Sulfuras, Hand of Ragnaros. The Essence of the Firelord is a quest item necessary to complete the chain that rewards the player with Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker.

PHASE 2

While no new raids are going to be added in phase 2, there will be quite a few things to keep in mind. The Dire Maul dungeon will provide some sweet loot. This update will also introduce two world bosses: Azuregos in Azshara and Kazzak in Blasted Lands. 

What is probably even more important, especially for PvP servers, phase 2 will provide rankings and honor system. It is a great additional incentive to fight members of the enemy faction, as you will not only get respect from other players but also some items and discounts.

PHASE 3

At this point, one raid will be added to the World of Warcraft Classic. It’s another one that’s located on the Blackrock Mountain. It’s definitely much harder than the Phase 1 raids. It also provides better rewards (at least for most classes and specs).

The Blackwing Lair raid features eight bosses: 

- Razorgore the Untamed, 

- Vaelastrasz the Corrupt, 

- Bloodlord Lashlayer, 

- Firemaw, 

- Ebonroc, 

- Flamegor, 

- Chromaggus,

- Nefarian.

The bosses drop pieces of Tier 2 armor sets (all the parts besides helmets and leg pieces that are dropped respectively by Onyxia and Ragnaros). There are also plenty of other valuable drops in Blackwing Lair (weapons, jewelry, trinkets, etc.). You can be sure that multiple raiding guilds are going to try their hand at it.

PHASE 4

This update will mark the arrival of four new world bosses, called Dragons of Nightmare. They spawn in Twilight Grove, Seradane, Dream Bough and Bough Shadow. All four of these green dragons (Lethon, Emeriss, Ysondre, and Taerar) offer valuable loot. They have a shared pool of items that they can drop, but each one also has some unique ones. If you’re looking for a specific piece of gear, you might be interested in killing only one of these bosses. 

ZUL’GURUB

It’s the first more casual, 20 people raid in Classic WoW. It doesn’t mean that it’s not challenging at all. It’s just a bit easier to set up a raid group when you only need half of the regular amount of members. The raid features ten boss encounters, but only six of them are considered to be mandatory.   

You obviously have to defeat the final boss – Hakkar the Soulflayer, but if you don’t kill the High Priests along the way, they will grant him additional powers, making the encounter more difficult. These extra bosses are: 

- High Priestess Jekllik, 

- High Priest Venoxis, 

- High Priestess Mar’li, 

- High Priest Thekal,

- High Priestess Arlokk.

Additionally, players can also fight Bloodlord Mandokir, Jin’do the Hexxer, Gahz’ranka, and one of the four bosses that randomly spawn in Edge of Madness (Gri’lek, Renataki, Hazza’rah, and Wushoolay). These extra encounters are usually worth going for, due to the valuable loot that you can get from them especially if you want to get the powerful Zul’Gurub trinkets.

PHASE 5

Phase 5 is probably the most anticipated major update in Classic WoW. It started a massive event called Ahn’Qiraj War Effort that forced both factions to cooperate for the first time. Finishing this epic world event unlocks two new raids.

RUINS OF AHN’QIRAJ

Ruins of Ahn’Qiraj are the second 20-man raid in Vanilla. It features eight boss encounters: 

- Kurinnaxx, 

- General Rajaxx, 

- Moam, 

- Buru the Gorger, 

- Ayamiss the Hunter,

- Ossirian the Unscarred. 

Being an instance designed for 20 people, it provides a raiding possibility for more casual players. You’re not going to get as fantastic loot as you would in the 40-man raid, but it’s still worthwhile. Some items are even temporarily Best in Slot or at least in contention for that status.

TEMPLE OF AHN’QIRAJ

The second Ahn’Qiraj raid is designed for 40 players. It consists of six mandatory and three optional boss encounters. The final enemy is the Old God C’Thun. The loot that can be obtained in this instance includes the 5-piece Tier 2.5 armor sets for all classes.

The full list of the bosses that you have to kill is: 

- The Prophet Skeram, 

- Battleguard Sartura, 

- Fankriss the Unyielding, 

- Princess Huhuran, 

- twin emperors Vek’lor and Vek’nilash,

- end boss C’Thun himself. The optional ones are the bug family of Vem, Lord Kri and Princess Yauj, as well as Viscidus and Ouro. As usual, the extra encounters are worth going for, due to additional unique loot.

PHASE 6

The last phase of the Classic World of Warcraft opens up with another vast scale world event – the Scourge Invasion. It was connected to opening Naxxramas.

NAXXRAMAS

The citadel of Naxxramas is the final 40-man raid of WoW Classic. It’s the most challenging piece of PvE content in the whole game. The citadel consists of five wings (or quarters). You have to clear the first four in order to unlock the final one. You can do it in any order that you want. The Naxxramas raid is not linear. The raid is not only really hard, but also time-consuming.

The Arachnid Quarter (or simply Spider Wing) features three boss encounters: Anub’Rekhan, Grand Widow Faerlina, and Maexxna.

In the Plague Quarter, you’ll have to face Noth the Plaguebringer, Heigan the Unclean and Loatheb.

The Military Quarter (also referred to as Deathknight Wing) features Instructor Razuvious, Gothik the Harvester and a particular encounter of The Four Horsemen (Highlord Mograine, Thane Korth’azz, Lady Blaumeux, and Sir Zeliek).  

The Construct Quarter (or Abomination Wing) challenges the raid groups with four bosses: Patchwerk, Grobbulus, Gluth, and Thaddius. Only after killing all the bosses in these four quarters, you’ll be able to enter the final one.

Frostwyrm Lair includes fights against the two last bosses of Naxxramas. The first one is Sapphiron, the Frost Wyrm that guards the entrance to the final enemy – Kel’Thuzad. He’s one of the most important officers in the Lich King’s army.

Due to serious difficulty and a high number of necessary boss fights, Naxxramas is the longest raid in Vanilla WoW. Every major guild will want to clear it as soon as it’s made available. Besides the prestige of finishing the hardest instance in the game, you can also get some pieces of the extremely powerful Tier 3 sets and some other strong items.

WHAT TO DO IN CLASSIC WOW AFTER RAIDING?

Let’s be honest here – raiding is the most important part of endgame content in WoW Classic not only because it’s the only way of getting the most powerful endgame gear. It also lets you play through the most epic, old school content. Emphasizing the communal aspect of MMORPGs and cooperating with your guild to reach the common goal.

Of course, that’s not everything. If you’re playing on a PvP server (and you probably should be, if you’re not a casual player), there’s the whole open-world PvP aspect of the game to explore. Especially if you already did some raiding and you’re starting to gear up nicely, you might have a lot of fun fighting the enemy faction.

It’s probably going to happen a lot even in the early days, but when PvP ranks get introduced in Phase 2, a lot of players will try to get them as soon as possible. Of course, Battlegrounds exist even in the PvE realms and they can be a lot of fun too. However, if you want to see a gank or small skirmish escalate into a full-on brawl between two growing armies, you will have to play on a PvP one.

Besides Battlegrounds, there is no structured PvP in Classic. Being an old school MMORPG, the game revolves around competing for the best farming spots and other resources. Of course, you don’t even need raid gear to engage in such fights. It’s just obviously much safer when you’re stronger.

ENDGAME IN VANILLA WOW

That was our overview of the endgame in World of Warcraft Classic. We hope that it helps both with smoothly transitioning into the later parts of the game, as well as finding the best activities. Early WoW didn’t really have that many developed endgame options. There’s a lot of grind related to gearing up, getting a mount and other aspects of character progression. Then you get to raiding that should become your primary focus because raids are the most challenging and exciting content in Vanilla. When phase 2 hits, you can also start getting your PvP rank up. Whatever you end up choosing, good luck in your Azeroth adventures!  

World of Warcraft Classic is the Blizzard's attempt of returning to the roots of their success in MMORPG genre and resurrecting the original WoW in its early version (patch 1.12). Players can choose their race out of eight options: Human, Dwarf, Gnome, Night Elf, Orc, Tauren, Undead and Troll. They can also pick their class from: Warrior, Priest, Mage, Warlock, Rogue, Druid, Hunter, Paladin and Shaman. With a few exceptions, there's also the classic three-role distribution. Your character will either deal damage, heal or tank. There are hybrid talent builds, but they're not that great in Vanilla, especially if we're talking about the group PvE content.  

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