Logging into World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor for my first time I had a general idea of what I was getting myself into. I knew that there was a new world to be explored, a new level cap to work toward, and a few new features to make things feel fresh and exciting. What I didn’t know was just how big of an impact Garrisons would have on my experience.
Garrisons are Blizzard’s solution for player housing in World of Warcraft, something players have been asking for since 2004. While it took a long time to find its way into the game, it’s everything I hoped it would be and then some. I would go as far as to say that it’s the single best feature addition I have seen in a World of Warcraft expansion.
Also See: Warlords of Draenor First Impressions – The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
There are many reasons I love Garrisons, and I’ve highlighted 10 of them in the gallery below.
10 Reasons I love Garrisons in WoW: Warlords of Draenor
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Meaningful decisions are to be made
The choice of which buildings to plot is an important one. These buildings provide new side missions, crafting options, perks, and unique unlockables. There are a limited number of plots, so I've thought long and hard about what I think would benefit me the most. Making that decision and then seeing the building erected over the course of the next few hours before finishing makes me feel like my decisions have impact.
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Follower Missions are tactical and fun
As someone who loves strategy games, the Garrison Follower Missions are right up my alley.
I'm able to send my army out on missions that can succeed or fail. To promote success, using Followers that counter the strengths of the enemy forces is necessary. Thinking about where to allocate my army given the currently available missions has been a real joy.
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A place to call my own
The dedicated Garrison Hearthstone makes it easy to travel to my Garrison. It's a place to go when I need a break, want to hang out with friends, or log out.
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Target dummies
Target dummies are a necessity for practicing ability rotations and testing item upgrades, so I find myself visiting them often. In the past I had to make a trip to Orgrimmar to use one. Now, I can just go to my Garrison and train alongside my army.
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Building an army
There's something addictive about collecting Followers and using them for Follower Missions. As with Companions, there are dozens of them to collect, and they all vary in attributes. They also each have unique personalities resulting in some favoritism when choosing who to level up.
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A living world
The inhabitants of my Garrison aren't just there to make it appear populated. They actually go about their daily lives, walking around and interacting with one another. It makes it feel like the army I'm raising is real.
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Gathering nodes add convenience
As a Miner, it's a huge convenience to be able to head into my Garrison's mine and collect some ore each day.
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A reason to explore
There are supplies hidden around Draenor begging to be found. For example, in Gorgrond there are supplies guarded by vines, which require a Lumber Mill to collect (a shredder is summoned that cuts away the vines). There are also supplies hidden in caves, encouraging me to head to places I normally wouldn't.
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Perks that I can't ignore
Yesterday I plotted a Tavern that unlocks daily dungeon quests that reward me with bonus gold and a mystery box. This one building alone has made running dungeons more enjoyable, and I have several more that I will be building in the coming days.
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Something worth investing time and money into
Although everyone is handed a free Garrison early on, it takes time to build it up into something substantial.
I've found myself teleporting to my Garrison on an hourly basis to check up on Follower missions, supplies, and see if anything has changed (Garrison's are dynamic). In addition, to upgrade the Garrison to level 3, which is a big deal, 5000 gold and thousands of supplies are needed. This gives me something to look forward to, and work toward.
