How to unlock World of Warcraft Battle for Azeroth World Quests

The World of Warcraft Battle for Azeroth world quests introduce a rotating selection of quests for players to complete that offer loot, gold, artifact power and more that'll go towards making your character into a greater powerhouse adventurer than they already were. But they require unlocking, and that isn't easy - we'll lay out how to unlock world quests for Battle for Azeroth in World of Warcraft below.

Hit level 120

I know, I know. I just said you won't get access to World Quests simply from leveling to the new cap of 120. However, that is one part of the requirements to unlock World Quests. You can focus on this first and power your way through levels 110 - 120 as fast as possible, or you can multitask and earn XP while focusing on the other criteria we're about to dig into. Either way, your screen will need to have that lovely one-two-oh staring back at you. So, what's next?

Reach Friendly status with your faction's three major allies

This will sound old hat to WoW veterans, but if you're new to the game, you might have heard the phrase "rep farming" / "rep grinding". This refers to Reputation, a sort of secondary experience bar for your character.

While the Horde and Alliance are the two main factions in WoW, they aren't the only ones. So for example, doing quests for the Kirin Tor (a powerful assembly of mages) will earn you Reputation with that group. With most factions, you'll start off at Neutral rank. Earning enough Reputation will bring you up to Friendly status, then Honored, then Revered, and finally Exalted. If you ever want to check how far you are with your rep, just open the Reputation tab (default U).

To unlock World Quests in BfA, you'll need to reach Friendly with the three main factions associated with the new areas you'll be exploring. For the Horde, that's the Zandalari Empire, Talanji's Expedition, and the Voldunai. For the Alliance, it's the Proudmoore Admiralty, Storm's Wake, and the Order of Embers.

You should be able to reach Friendly relatively quickly just by doing a handful of quests in each zone. For Zandalari Empire rep, head to Zuldazar; for Talanji's Expedition, head to Nazmir; and for the Voldunai, head to (you guessed it) Vol'dun.

For the Proudmoore Admiralty, focus your efforts on Tiragarde Sound; for Storm's Wake, head north to Stormsong Valley; and for Order of Embers rep travel to Drustvar.

You can run around the world willy-nilly if you like, but the fastest way to reach Friendly with each of these factions is to follow the Battle for Azeroth main story quests. Unfortunately, WoW doesn't clearly mark which quests are main story quests. Still, if you follow instructions and don't wander off the beaten path, it should become clear pretty quickly.

Horde players will need to head to the Great Seal to progress the main story.

Alliance players should meet up with Cyrus Crestfall at the Harbormaster's Office in Boralus for main story progression.

If all else fails, you can download add ons (think of them like quasi-mods) to help you organize your quest log, or follow step-by-step guides at fansite Wowhead. Lastly, you'll need to...

Establish all three footholds as part of the War Campaign

World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth's story is broken into two distinct chunks. There's the main story, full of beautifully-rendered, fully-voiced cutscenes, which tell the story of your faction recruiting either the nation of Kul Tiras if you're Alliance or the Zandalari Empire if you're Horde. Then there's the War Campaign, which is a bit more basic (meaning no cut-scenes, and relatively little voiceover), though no less time-consuming.

You'll get access to War Campaign quests early on, but you should only follow through on them up to the quest War of Shadows. After finishing that quest (it's the one where you send a follower on a mission that takes two hours), hold off on completing them until after you've reached Friendly with the factions listed in the previous section. If you're not sure where to begin, head to Nathanos Blightcaller in the Port of Zandalar if you're Horde, or Mathias Shaw in Boralus Harbor if you roll Alliance.

Head as far south as you can in Zuldazar to find Nathanos waiting on a ship called The Banshee's Wail.

Wind's Redemption, the Alliance ship carrying Mathias Shaw, is docked in the northeast portion of Boralus, near the Tradewind Markets.

Similar to completing each zone's story content, you'll need to progress through the War Campaign missions until you've established a foothold in each of the three new zones. Basically, whatever team you play for, you're going to the other team's base and setting up camp. You can set up your first foothold at level 110, your second at level 114, and the third at level 118. Simply visit the War Campaign headquarters in your respective capital city to choose whichever you'd like to focus on and follow through on the quests you receive.

Enjoy World Quests

Once you've knocked out all three of the above criteria, you should see World Quests start populating your map. You can hover your mouse over a quest to see what you'll get from it, but in general expect artifact power (which unlocks extra traits on your Azerite Armor, essentially granting you access to miniature skill trees) and reputation. That's important because there's some really cool gear gated by your reputation status, and you'll need to be on extra good terms with the new factions if you want to unlock all Allied Races. So go on, get out there and enjoy World Quests!

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