World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth is landing in a couple of weeks, bringing some major changes to the way we play the world’s most famous MMORPG.

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From exploring new lands and the stranger faces within to new ways to play with and against your fellow heroes, there’s a lot to catch up on before setting foot on the shores of Kul Tiras and Zandalar.

Many of these changes are already well underway – but for the unprepared, here are some pointers to catch you up on World of Warcraft’s seventh expansion.

Gearing Up for Uldir in WoW:BfA. We’re here in the third week of the Battle for Azeroth, and Uldir (OOL-deer) opens next week. First is World Quests. By far the best thing about world quests is that you can pick and choose. And to get that you’re going to need to open up World Quests. Also, finishing the initial quest hubs will get. World of Warcraft‘s latest expansion Battle of Azeroth has dialed the warfare between the Horde and the Alliance up to an all-time high. Part of that is the new WoW BfA Island Expeditions that.

World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth story

Last time we caught up with the gang, the Horde and the Alliance had just teamed up to take down Sargeras. So what’s all this about war? Despite a cooperative effort against the Burning Legion, there’s always been a seething hatred between the Horde and the Alliance.

When nasty old Sargeras struck the world with a sword so large that some (not me) might say he’s overcompensating, a sparkling, explosive substance named Azerite began spilling out across the world. Both factions are keen to take advantage of this miracle-grow-for-bombs, and key players began shifting gears towards war. This set in motion events already underway in the BfA pre-patch.

Right now, players are fighting the war that will see the Night Elves’ home of Teldrassil go up in flames. On launch, the Alliance will retaliate by laying siege to the Undercity, leaving the city a blight-stricken ruin and leaving the landscape a burning waste.

New lands, new friends

You can’t fight a war without soldiers. Players of both factions are tasked with travelling to new lands, seeking the aid of long-lost societies who might not be so keen on spilling blood for your cause.

World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth Alliance story: Kul Tiras

The seafaring island nation of Kul Tiras is the homeland of Alliance leading-lady Jaina Proudmoore, but they’re not particularly happy to have her – or you – back.

Alliance players find themselves drawn into the internal machinations of noble houses, as well as unravelling dark conspiracies wracking the isles. From Boralus, the center of power in Tiragarde Sound, we’ll help Jaina reconcile with her ruling mother Katherine, and foil a dark plot to snatch power from the Proudmoore line.

House Wayfarer, rulers of the grim realm of Drustvar has gone silent, with rumours of witchcraft and ancient evil attributed to their absence. And in Stormsong Valley, the Alliance must figure out the mystery of Kul Tiras’ vanishing fleet by investigating the mysterious water magic of the Tidecasters.

World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth Horde story: Zandalar

The Zandalari Empire has been around for millennia, but only in the background as far as the games are concerned. BfA brings us to the island home of the ancient Troll empire.

Zandalar promises to aid the horde, should they fix its little problems with cannibals and conniving politicians. Zuldazar acts as your first stop, where the Horde’s quest to recruit the Zandalar to the war effort begins.

In Voldun, a desert land where exiles are sent to live in servitude, an advisor to the throne plots and schemes with the Empire’s enemies. The swamps of Nazmir, meanwhile, has been left to stew for too long, and bloodthirsty cults plot their vengeance against the vulnerable Zandalari.

How To Open Up World Quests Bfa

Nazmir also contains Uldir – the expansion’s first endgame raid location.

Allied Races

We saw the start of this as Legion wrapped up, but Battle for Azeroth will see a further drive towards Blizzard’s new approach to new races in World of Warcraft. Expect Dark Iron dwarves and Mag’Har Orcs to start populating each faction, alongside the native Zandalari Trolls and Kul Tiran Humans of each new continent. More allied races are likely to arrive as the expansion develops.

World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth new missions and quests

Battle for Azeroth is coming with the usual suite of new content. Of course, we’ll be getting a slew of new dungeons and a gradually evolving endgame built around raids.

But a Battle for Azeroth would be nothing if we didn’t battle over… er, Azeroth. There’s a host of new modes coming to help bring the fiction of the vast, world-spanning conflict to life.

Island Expeditions

A quick-fire race to collect the most Azerite sees two teams of three sail to one of Azeroth’s many uncharted islands. Expeditions can be played against another team of players, or three AI opponents of increasing difficulty.

You’ll race across the shore and explore hidden coves to collect resources through mining or – more reliably – killing monsters. As rounds go on, the situation spirals out of control. In one, for example, volcanoes erupt across the sands, spilling elementals all over and revealing a tough boss hidden beneath the battlefield.

Warfronts

Not strictly PvP in itself, Warfronts still bring the idea of battlegrounds to a whole new scale. Pegged as “Warcraft 3 from the ground-level”, a team of players have to gather materials, build up their base, grow an army and take down the opposing team’s stronghold for control of the region.

At launch, Warfronts bring players to the hotly-contested Arathi Highlands, as Alliance and Horde duke it out over the fortified ruins of Stromgarde. However, Blizzard has confirmed that we’ll see more fronts open up before the Battle for Azeroth reaches its conclusion

War Campaigns

For the most part, Alliance players will stay on Kul Tiras, far apart from their Zandalar-bound Horde foes. But it’s no good building up allies while the enemy does the same unhindered, and War Campaigns give players the chance to strike at their opponents’ heart.

The mission table returns from Warlords of Draenor and Legion, this time for hiring heroes and troops to fling at your foes. But on top of that, a series of quests sees you establish footholds on enemy land, strike at their population, and eventually lay siege to either Boralus or Dazar’alor in one of BfA’s two Mythic-only dungeons

World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth gameplay changes

Okay, so we know where we’re going, why, and what we’re doing, but what about that down-and-dirty gameplay? Battle for Azeroth is bringing a few key changes to the way we mash our action-buttons this August.

Artifact? Never heard of it.

Artifacts as we know them have gone, but Blizzard hasn’t given up on the idea of upgradeable equipment. In their place comes the Heart of Azeroth – a shiny necklace that absorbs Azerite and makes special pieces of gear better.

Like artifacts, the Heart collects artifact power through Azerite. But instead of a dry, flat upgrade tree, increasing Heart levels unlocks the option to imbue special pieces of armour with new traits. Each piece has three tiers of upgrades, that allow you to pick from one of three special traits to gift the item.

As a result, gaining power feels less grindy than before – there’s a real sense of being able to customise items more than the linear artifact tree ever gave, and equipment can still be replaced by exciting new loot.

One size fits all

With the loss on unique, spec-specific weapons, there’s been a general focus on returning class identity through other means. Older abilities have returned, active-buffing is a thing again, and roles have generally seen tinkering to improve the sense of class-fantasy.

That is, except for armour sets. Say goodbye to class-centric armour – each category of armour (mail, plate, cloth and leather) will get one intricately-designed set per raid tier, with associated difficulty-based variations. While they’re quite good looking, it’s a shame to see Blizzard scale back on the range of looks.

World of Warcraft expansion Battle for Azeroth injects a lot of new content into the 14-years-and-running MMORPG, but few additions are as exciting as the new Allied Races feature. If you've already hit level cap and are looking for things to do, unlocking these new player options is a worthwhile use of your time. So it is that we present to you this guide on how to unlock every Allied Race. Of course, some of you may be wondering just what an Allied Race even is. Here's a quick primer before we dive into the nitty gritty:

Whenever Blizzard announces a new World of Warcraft expansion, one question always seems to pop up: 'Will it introduce new playable races?' So it was with BfA. But this time, instead of giving Horde and Alliance wholly new races, complete with starting areas and introductory questlines, Blizzard introduced the concept of Allied Races - species and tribes which takes an already-existing framework and tweaks it ever so slightly. Highmountain Tauren, for example, are pretty much just regular Tauren but with antlers instead of cattle horns.

How do I unlock Allied Races?

There are three major steps to unlocking an Allied Race: Story, Reputation, and Recruitment.

Story simply refers to how far you've gotten in the faction's storyline. These groups have problems of their own, and you'll need to take care of them before they'll join your team. WoW tracks story via in-game Achievements, which you can check at any time by pressing the 'Y' key (assuming default controls). To quickly find the Achievement you're looking for, you can type it in the search bar in the upper-right, or navigate using the tabs on the left. You'll find the Achievements tied to Allied Races under the Quests tab.

If you're not familiar with Reputation (often shortened to 'rep' by players), think of it kind of like a second XP bar - only instead of watching your level get higher, you get access to more and more stuff. Some of the game's best and rarest rewards and even some quests and content are gated behind your Reputation ratings, so boosting them is always a good idea. For Allied Races specifically, you'll want to focus on the faction, tribe, or organization that represents the race you want to play as. To check your Reputation at any time, simply pull up the Reputation tab for your character with the 'U' key (assuming default keybindings).

Lastly, once you've met all other requirements, you'll need to undertake a Recruitment Quest to formally bring the Allied Race into the fold. Regardless of which Allied Race you're hoping to unlock, you'll need to head to either the Stormwind Embassy or Orgrimmar Embassy once you've met all other criteria. There you'll be able to start a new quest chain that shows exactly why and how the Allied Race has joined up with your faction.

What are the Horde Allied Races?

Currently, the list of Horde Allied Races includes Highmountain Tauren, Nightborne, Mag'har Orcs, and Zandalari Trolls.

How to unlock Highmountain Tauren: Reach Exalted with the Highmountain Tribe and complete Ain't No Mountain High Enough.

Although you'll need to own Battle for Azeroth to unlock them, the Highmountain Tauren are tied to content from the previous expansion, Legion. Head to Highmountain and start the quest Keepers of the Hammer - this will get you started on the path to completing Ain't No Mountain High Enough.

To earn Reputation with Highmountain Tribe, take up any quests you can in the Highmountain zone. World Quests are a huge help here, and you should keep an eye out for when the Highmountain emissary is active. When that happens (emissaries change every day, so check in frequently), completing four quests for the Highmountain Tribe will earn you an extra-large bonus of Reputation. You should also do World Quests for the Kirin Tor when that group's emissary is active, as it will likewise net you a big rep boost (and you get to pick which faction it goes toward).

You can also send followers, which you'll unlock over the course of your Class Hall storyline, on missions to earn rep. You can do this in-game, but you can also download the WoW companion app to your phone and manage your followers and missions from there, which is super helpful and time efficient.

How to unlock Nightborne: Reach Exalted with The Nightfallen and complete Insurrection.

As with Highmountain Tauren, you'll need to own BfA in order to play as the Nightborne, though their unlock requirements are tied to Legion. You'll need to head to Suramar and grab the quest Ancient Mana, which becomes available at level 110. This is the first step toward completing Insurrection.

World Quest For Bfa

You'll earn lots of Reputation with The Nightfallen by following their story, but feel free to grab a few World Quests and emissary rewards if you need a little help getting over the hump toward Exalted. Nightfallen also have a quest you can get from First Arcanist Thalyssra every three days called Withered Army Training, and it is a fantastic way to earn rep. And don't forget about those follower missions, which will sometimes have Nightfallen rep as a reward.

How to unlock Mag'har Orc: Reach Exalted with The Honorbound and complete Ready for War.

The Honorbound faction and Ready for War Achievement are both tied to Battle for Azeroth's War Campaign. You'll unlock this quest chain early on (and you can always tell which missions are part of the War Campaign because they'll have a small insignia matching your faction next to them), but need to reach max level and earn Honorbound rep in order to see it through to completion.

Do as many World Quests in Kul Tiras and Zandalar (note: you'll need to unlock them first) and earn as many Honorbound emissary rewards as you can while sending followers out on missions just like you would in Legion. But also make sure to complete the quest Azerite for the Horde, which is available once per week. This quest challenges you to collect 40k Azerite via one of BfA's new features, Island Expeditions. Succeed and you'll earn a huge boost to Honorbound rep.

Another feature new to Battle for Azeroth is Warfronts. Each resource contribution you make to a Warfront will earn you a moderate amount of rep, though Warfronts won't be live until September 4.

How to unlock Zandalari Troll: As of this writing, Zandalari Trolls are not playable. It's suspected that players will need to be Exalted with the Zandalari Empire and earn the The Final Seal Achievement, but this has yet to be confirmed.

What are the Alliance Allied Races?

Right now, the Alliance Allied Races include Lightforged Draenei, Void Elves, Dark Iron Dwarves, and Kul Tiras Humans.

How to unlock Lightforged Draenei: Reach Exalted with the Army of the Light and complete You Are Now Prepared!.

Lightforged Draenei are another case where you'll need to own BfA, but their unlock requirements are tied to Legion. Once you reach level 110 (either by boosting or working your way up), head to Dalaran in the Broken Isles. You should automatically get a quest that will take you to Argus - this is the first step toward completing the Achievement 'You Are Now Prepared!'.

World Quests with Army of the Light rep rewards will only spawn in Krokuun or Antoran Wastes, but rare elite quests (the ones marked in blue with a gold dragon border) from any Argus zone will also grant Army of the Light rep. You can also complete the quests Fuel of a Doomed World and Invasion Onslaught once per week. And again, there's always the follower missions.

How to unlock Void Elf: Reach Exalted with the Argussian Reach and complete You Are Now Prepared!.

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You've got the jist by now; in order to play as a Void Elf, you'll need to own Battle for Azeroth, but complete Legion content. Thankfully, you'll kill two birds with one stone in this case, as the story requirement for Void Elves is the same as Lightforged Draenei. Reach level 110, head to Argus, and follow through on the main quests to complete You Are Now Prepared!.

Reputation for Argussian Reach is also pretty much the same as for the Army of the Light. World Quests with Argussian Reach rep rewards spawn in Mac'Aree and Krokuun, but you can also complete the quests Fuel of a Doomed World and Invasion Onslaught once per week for a major boost, or take on any rare elite quest on Argus. And yep, follower missions are again a big help here.

How to unlock Dark Iron Dwarf: Reach Exalted with the 7th Legion and complete Ready for War.

Both the 7th Legion rep and Ready for War Achievement are tied to Battle for Azeroth's War Campaign. You'll unlock these quests fairly early on, but progress is gated behind level and reputation. Complete the appropriate World Quests in Zandalar and Kul Tiras and earn emissary rewards whenever possible, and send followers out on missions as you would with any of the Legion Allied Races.

You can also take on the quest Azerite for the Alliance once per week. Complete this by collecting 40k Azerite during Island Expeditions and you'll net yourself a big rep bonus. Island Expeditions also have a chance to reward the Rusted Alliance Insignia item, which can be turned in for a decent amount of 7th Legion rep.

Once Warfronts go live on September 4, you'll also be able to contribute to them for 150 Reputation per resource contribution.

How to unlock Kul Tiras Human: As of this writing, Kul Tiras Humans are not playable. It is suspected that players will need to be Exalted with the Proudmoore Admiralty and complete The Pride of Kul Tiras Achievement, but this has yet to be confirmed.

Looking for more tips? Then be sure to check out our World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth - how to unlock World Quests and World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth - how to get secret battle pet Baa'l guides.