Well, maybe not ‘cutting’. But for the first time since WotLK, I am pretty much current with an expansion.

My Protection Paladin main is Covenant maxed, has a nice legendary helmet from Torghast, and our dungeon group has completed all the (normal!) Dungeons. We’re training up a second tank, so theoretically we could start a tentative push into Castle Nathria. We’re well behind most, but for our motley crew of five-to-seven regulars this is quite an achievement, and we’re happily puttering along.

Dungeon group standing in front of Troll-god Bwonsamdi

Bwonsamdi has our back

The Covenant system has been a fun way to have a loyalty to something other than Horde/Alliance or race - our dungeon runs are full of faux-outrage at each other’s picks and how wrong they are. Uptight Kyrian (my choice!) vs Chaos Necrolords, with the Venthyr watching on from the sidelines whilst sipping their tea. The Night Fae miss out, but I’m sure someone will level one just to be able to poke fun at the rest of us.

The Revendreth story was easily the best for me, with Maldraxxus a close second (the arena opening was superb). Ardenweald lacked personality and was only saved right at the end by a good lore-heavy story, and Bastion was just plain dull - as everyone has said, a real misstep as the first zone after the strong Maw opening (as was the sudden slow down in Oribos).

Dungeon group standing in a gothic Revendreth Cathedral

Castle Revendrethloft

I chose Revendreth as my faction at first, but couldn’t stick with it as a Prot Pally. It felt wrong for RP reasons, so I switched to team shiny, which I haven’t regretted. They are ridiculously po-faced, but the armour looks nice and the zone is a peaceful oasis compared to the rest - it feels like a balm returning home there.

Angelic figures flying through blue skies

The character models don’t quite work when being airlifted - especially Tauren

Given the Covenant quests are now done, and Renown is stoppered at Level 40, a content pause is inevitable. I’m only now starting to ponder an Alt. But my Hunter needs one last very rare fish drop (some Wowhead comments have 30,000+ casts to catch it?! I’m only on 1000 - eek) to finish all the pre-Shadowlands fishing, so I’m loath to move her on. And my Rogue is busy catching pets from lower level zones, so she’s also busy.

Patch 9.1 sounds good, I’m looking forward to the story progressing. Sylvanas is super-interesting again - the questions raised by her tiny eye movements in the Chains of Domination trailer was excellent.

Sylvanas side-eyes possessed Anduin

Hmmmmm

Hopefully 9.1 comes sooner rather than later, but in the meantime I’m managing to sneak in some Overwatch (I’m very rusty), and restarting Horizon Zero Dawn (and wondering why I stopped the first time ‘round - it’s excellent). Game alting - one benefit of being up-to-date in an MMO!