Depending on what kind of player you are and what is important to you, there are 3 points in time when a subscription renewal makes sense.
World of Warcraft will launch a new expansion on November 24th. In Shadowlands, you will enter the realm of the dead in the WoW world and try to stop Sylvanna’s Windrunner and her new ally.
If you’d like to take another look at WoW with the new expansion, you’re currently wondering when is the best time to reactivate your WoW subscription of 13 euros a month to get the most out of it.
First of all: There is no generally valid answer to the reactivation question. Every player has different priorities when playing, so we would like to suggest three convenient times to reactivate your subscription.
Option 1: Reactivate your subscription before Shadowlands starts
Reactivate from: now
Worthwhile for: Players who do not want to miss the unique event with success and reward
Advantage: Pre-Event-Gear farms give you a good start for Shadowlands
There is not much time left until November 24. However, it is already worth reactivating your subscription now if you want to take the unique pre-event with you. There you will receive Argent Commendations as a quest reward, which you can exchange for equipment. This equipment is great for getting started in Shadowlands. Especially if you haven’t played Battle for Azeroth or haven’t seen raid gear there.
Apart from the item benefits of the pre-event, it’s also worth reactivating before Shadowlands to familiarize yourself with the new changes that have already been applied with the pre-patch. These include the level quish, with which the new maximum level is currently level 50 (and with Shadowlands then level 60) and the relief of unlocking allied races without reputation grind.
Even more reasons why you should start playing before Shadowlands, we have summarized in this special:
Option 2: Reactivate subscription with the start of Shadowlands
Reactivate from: 24 November 2020
Worthwhile for: Players who have a max-level character & don’t want to be left behind in the endgame
Advantage: You start with all others in the extension
Probably the most used variant is the reactivation at the beginning of the extension. This is especially worthwhile for all players who already have a character at maximum level (formerly 120, now 50), so they can start directly into the new addon content.
The advantage is, of course, that you will arrive in the endgame at about the same time as most of the players and thus have little trouble finding instance groups or getting help with multiplayer quests.
But be careful: Even though the early bird is known to lay the final boss the fastest, you can only start the first raid on December 9th and start into the 1st PvP season. Until then you have enough time to get good equipment and find a guild if necessary.
All information about the 1st raid in WoW Shadowlands can be found here:
Option 3: Reactivate the subscription a few weeks after Shadowlands start
Reactivate off: Mid December or later
Worthwhile for: Players who want to play WoW in peace and without time pressure
Advantage: Less crowding of quest mobs, less crowded areas
If you are not interested in one-time events or the big race for world-first and endgame content, you should reactivate your subscription later to escape the stress and rush.
This will allow you to quest in peace and quiet without other players constantly snatching the quest opponents from under your nose, and it should also fix the biggest bugs that are likely to be present at the beginning of the expansion.
So if you can wait and maybe play other games on the side (for example Assassin’s Creed Valhalla or Cyberpunk, which will be released on December 10th), a later start is definitely the best choice.
