TBC Anniversary Attunements Explained: A Clean Raid Access Checklist

The rhythm of the endgame has always been unique: first dungeon loops, then access to the raid, and then the gradual ascending ladder into the weekly raiding. The Burning Crusade TBC Anniversary format revives that beat, only with contemporary quality-of-life options that alter the way the players ought to arrange the initial few weeks.

The ideal attunement plan does not involve finishing all the questlines on the first day. It is about not taking dead-ends: running the wrong dungeons when you are too early, having a critical requirement that you are missing, or going to raid night with half the roster blocked by access requirements.

What is different on TBC Anniversary realms

The initial access system that TBC used was notoriously alt-hostile. The Anniversary edition makes it softer, but does not take out the “first character earns it” feel.

• Heroic keys: the initial character of the player has yet to complete the entire reputation requirements for each dungeon. Following that, the account may buy a bag holding a Bind-on-Battle.net-Account key to send to alts, and they only need to visit Friendly in order to use it.

• Raid attunements: the initial character has to be attuned to every raid, and then the raid is open to all the characters on the Battle.net account.

That changes the mindset. The attunements of the main character are an account investment rather than a single task that is repeated indefinitely.

The first raid gate players should treat seriously

In the case of the initial raid cycle, the “actual” gate is normally Karazhan access. The Lair of Gruul and that of Magtheridon can be entered without the pressure of the attunement chain, and the entrance of Karazhan demands a certain questline to be fulfilled.

Karazhan is also a natural target the first week of raids are available because Karazhan, Gruul Lair, and Magtheridon Lair unlock on the same schedule on the Anniversary schedule.

Karazhan access: the Master’s Key path (without the fluff)

The attunement of Karazhan can be considered to be a routing puzzle. The quests are not difficult, however, the chain presupposes that the players should touch a number of dungeon hubs and access certain instances.

Step 1: Start the chain and clear the local objectives

The player starts outside Karazhan, talking with Archmage Alturus, and then goes through the initial quests which explore the location and set the theme of the chain.

Step 2: Plan the dungeon fragments, do not “wing it”

The Karazhan chain takes the player through a series of dungeon tasks, and one can easily spend hours in case the group decides to go through it randomly.

One of the rules of practical sequencing is:

• Combine the relevant dungeon steps into two or three sessions.

• Better to have one or more players on the chain (fewer detours) with them.

• Avoid re-running an instance due to one of the pre-requisites being missed.

The Karazhan attunement walkthrough of Wowhead is a good point of reference to the precise quest progression and dependencies within the dungeon.

Step 3: Finish with Black Morass and secure the key

The chain ends with the Black Morass step, where success is bound to the defense of Medivh by use of waves instead of just “killing a boss”. Use it as an executing check: a wipe usually implies a re-run.

A simple “attunement routing” checklist for raid-minded players

The majority of time waste occurs due to the fact that the players make their attunements an additional activity. Practically, raid access is included in gearing, since it determines even the location of weekly loot.

A clean checklist avoiding dead-ends:

• Check the requirements of the access to dungeons in advance (keys and unlocks)

• The goals of a stack quest are to be accomplished before entering an instance.

• Have one special session in which the final step (often where groups wipe) is done.

• Intentionally seek to complete the first-character attunement in a clean manner as it is helpful to the alts in the future Anniversary realms.

When time gates collide with real-life schedules

Not all players are equally available and the Anniversary format will most probably focus demand in small intervals, particularly around raid unlock weeks. The very announcement of Blizzard itself makes it obvious that major milestones (pre-patch, launch, raid unlocks) are released on specific dates, which is more likely to squeeze the planning of the players.

Some gamers in that setting think about organized shortcuts. A WoW TBC Anniversary boost is typically packaged as a means to get a character through a specific access point when the calendar is the limiting factor and the practical question is the WoW TBC Anniversary boost price versus the time cost of forming groups over and over again.

Another similar strategy is to compare service formats. A standard WoW TBC Anniversary boost is compared to a WoW Classic TBC Anniversary boost when the player has a particular character or account they would like to have predictable scheduling (where account-wide unlocks alter the long-term worth of a completed attunement).

To players who are more coordination and scope oriented, a WoW TBC Anniversary carry service can be frequently referred to as a “single deliverable”, whereas WoW TBC Anniversary boosting is more of an umbrella term and can be used to refer to routing assistance, pre-requisite dungeons, and access cleanup.

Common bottlenecks that slow groups down

Attunements will hardly fail due to the content being “too hard”. They fail due to lack of planning in group where they reach friction points which can be avoided.

Bottleneck 1: Missing a prerequisite before entering an instance

This is the classic time wastage: the party forms, flies, summons, and then finds a key that has been misplaced, an unopened door, or a chain of links that has not been finished.

Fix: have someone in charge of a pre-run checklist (quest accepted, items required, access to dungeons).

Bottleneck 2: Treating the capstone step like a normal dungeon

The sloppy pacing and low awareness are punished by the Capstone steps (such as Black Morass).

Fix: assign interrupts and defensives as though it is a raid pull, not a “farm dungeon”.

Bottleneck 3: Wasting runs by not stacking objectives

A random route can increase the time by two when two players require different items in their quests in various wings.

Fix: adjust coordinate quest steps, and then make the instance run once with an agreed path.

A lightweight weekly plan that keeps raid access moving

A weekly plan that is good on paper looks boring. It develops progress without having to go on marathon sessions.

Weekly rhythm example:

• 1 session: full attunement chain steps and capstone dungeon.

• 1 sesion: complete target dungeons to fulfill missing requirements.

• 1 short session: clear up chain turns and travel steps outstanding.

Players that adhere to such a rhythm are generally able to get to raid unlock weeks with fewer “last-minute issues” and less roster churn.

Why this matters even more with account-wide unlocks

As it is mentioned in the Anniversary PTR Notes, Blizzard intends that the first character should complete the entire work and then it rewards the account with unlocks that minimize repetition.

That is to say the right attitude is:

• Do it properly once

• Avoid sloppy partial completion

• Classify the first clear as account infrastructure.

In the case of guilds, it also implies a sensible roster policy: assisting mains in the so-called “first unlock” is more important, as it makes them more flexible in the future when alts become relevant.

Closing thought: attunements reward planning more than speed

The access design of TBC Anniversary is not complex but it is highly punitive to improvisation. Intelligent routing of dungeons, stacking of objectives, and respect of capstone steps tend to put players through attunements with minimum frustration, and leave their account in good shape to continue with the remainder of the Anniversary cycle.