Has the new World of Warcraft expansion’s endless questing got you down? Why not take a break from killing things for a fast-paced, team-based treasure hunt? Battle for Azeroth’s Island Expeditions are just the thing to break up the basic grind.
Unlocked as players adventure through the expansion’s new story areas, Island Expeditions are a fluffy bit of quick fun for three to six players. It’s a mad dash for Azerite, the new element introduced in Battle for Azeroth (it’s the planet’s blood), which powers players’ special artifact armor.
A random trio of players is set loose on an uncharted island and tasked with collecting 6,000 Azerite before the opposing team. In Basic, Heroic and Mythic modes, the opposing team is comprised of NPCs, while PVP mode matches players against real opponents.
Once teams are formed, players are transported via boat to an island that’s brimming with Azerite. There are nodes to mine and treasure chests to open. Monsters drop Azerite when killed, with more powerful monsters dropping more of the precious material.
And should you encounter players or NPCs of the opposing faction, killing them also yields Azerite. It’s an Azerite party up in here, and everybody is invited (though higher difficulties and PVP mode require higher level players).
How does it play? If your team isn’t communicating, it’s a blissful sort of chaos. Folks running about, getting into massive battles with powerful creatures, hoping the other two people on their team have their backs. You never know which creatures are going to spawn, or when special scripted events will be triggered, giving players a shot at big Azerite gains for maximum effort.
It’s fast, it’s fun, and a round only takes around 15 minutes. Best of all, it’s not running from quest to quest for hours on end. I don’t mind the questing, but I like to change things up. Island Expeditions are the perfect means for doing so.
DISCUSSION
The problem is that once you do the weekly quest, there’s almost no reason to do them. The only guaranteed reward is AP, which you get by doing most other activities, except those other activities allow you to progress in ilvl, honor ranking, etc.
It would be one thing if you could buy the pets/mounts/transmogs with coins you get, but you can’t - all the good stuff is a random drop, and the coins only let you buy buffs for the expeditions.