World of Warcraft released Housing Early Access for those who have purchased a certain edition of WoW: Midnight. Having arrived as a part of update 11.2.7, The Warning, it offers a number of features that will be improved and expanded upon at a later point. Among them, decor collection, decorating, room layouts, neighborhoods, and more.
But where do you start and what first steps should you make on this journey to unlock as much stuff as possible in a short period of time? Let’s dive right in!
On the arduous journey of a homeowner with taste, you will be aided by two add-ons: Home Bound and Plumber. The first will aid you in acquiring the missing pieces of decor, helpfully pointing out vendors, drops, and achievements that yield them. The second will help with quickly cozying your place up, offering some neat functions not present in the basic Blizzard UI.
First things first, don’t be too hasty about tossing away your Legion Remix characters. A recent update introduced a new vendor that sells some unique Fel-themed decor for Bronze, the Remix currency. Naturally, buying the goods on your alt unlocks them for your account as well. If you play as a Warlock, Demon Hunter or simply an avid appreciator of the spooky theme, those will fit right in.
Even if you haven’t started playing Remix yet, with all the catch-up mechanics and the last content update, Infinite Echoes, now in place, you will be able to get there in no time.
Next, log into the game on all your alts, especially if they have finished their Legion campaigns. While most achievements are Warband-bound, there are qute a few that remain personal, and they also come with their own goodies. Similarly, you want to visit Class Order Hall and reputation vendors to see what they have to offer. This is where Home Bound add-on comes in – with its helpful tabs for Vendors, Drops and Achievements you’ll be able to collect everything in no time.
Say, you have gathered everything you want or need, or at least you think so – and now it’s time to put it to good use by staking your claim on the perfect lot and starting to build. Note that your first character will have an introductory quest and a tutorial that starts with choosing your lot, building your house, talking to vendors, learning about woodworking, and more. However, what the game doesn’t tell you right away is that you can build your house in the territory of the opposing faction, or even build two houses altogether – one in the Razorwind Shores, another in Founder’s Point.
If you play the Horde and want to build a spooky Forsaken-themed house, complete with the surrounding cemetery, dead trees and broken down dilapidated buildings, you’ll find that the Horde territory does not suit your tastes very much. But Alliance’s Duskwood fits your ideas completely! All you have to do is log your Alliance alt – as low as level 10 – and go and claim your lot in the Alliance territory. From then on, even your Hordie will get teleported there when you use the new teleport button.
Vice versa, with the low-level Horde toon claiming a nice, sunny beach to fit your vision of a perfect retirement for your Draenei or Kul Tiran. And if you don’t want the other faction’s neighbors to come sneer at your little abode, go to the settings and limit the visitations to Guildies, Friends or party-only.
But what if you want both? First, complete the introductory questline on your faction of choice, resulting in a nice house. Note that you don’t have to pick a lot in the neighborhood you get dropped in first. You can leave through the same portal you’ve arrived if your perfect house is already taken, and return, phasing into a different neighborhood. You might even get lucky and find one that’s barely starting to settle!
Then, log onto the toon of the other faction. You will no longer get the quest to acquire a new house – but when did that ever stop us? Proceed to the faction’s portal room – either in Stormwind or in Orgrimmar – and go through the portal to the neighborhoods. Despite not being offered to, you will see that you can stake a claim on another plot of land. Hop through a few neighborhoods, and get your second house going!
Note that when you open the housing menu, you will be able to choose which house you want to teleport to. Even if you teleport to Razorwind on your Alliance or Founder’s Point on your Horde, all NPCs will be friendly.
From this point on, just let your creativity flow – just don’t forget that the more decor you collect, the higher your house level will be, and the more goodies you will be able to use. Additionally, house levels don’t apply automatically. When your experience is sufficient, you will need to talk to the select NPC in your neighborhood to advance and reap the benefits of your hard gathering work. Another note, each of your houses has its own level – so check it out when you can!
Travel around, look at the in-game locations and other people’s houses for inspiration, check out the million of insanely creative videos on YouTube, and don’t be afraid to experiment, clip, rotate, levitate, and change the sizes of things.
