Coming back to WoW right before an expansion feels like showing up to a raid mid-pull. Everyone has systems, currencies, acronyms, and a UI that looks like a spaceship cockpit.
Good news: you don’t need to “finish the expansion” to be ready for Midnight. You need to get comfortable again and build a baseline.
TL;DR
- Fix your UI/addons first (or you’ll hate every minute).
- Pick a main and a role.
- Get “good enough” gear through the easiest repeatable content.
- Stop farming perfection—Midnight will reset the treadmill.
Step 1: Do the boring reset (it saves hours later)
Update addons (then be ruthless)
If your UI is broken, your motivation dies immediately.
- Update everything.
- Disable anything that throws errors.
- Keep only what you actually notice in combat.
Re-bind your keys like you’re re-learning the class
Your hands forgot your old setup. That’s normal.
- Put core buttons on easy keys.
- Don’t copy a streamer layout if it doesn’t match your brain.
Step 2: Pick a goal for “pre-Midnight”
Choose one:
- “I want to be raid-ready”
- “I want to be Mythic+-ready”
- “I want to PvP without being a free kill”
- “I just want to chill and be ready for story”
If you don’t pick, you’ll do random chores until you burn out again.
Step 3: Get baseline gear the lazy way
Gear comes from a few repeatable sources. Pick the one you enjoy and spam it a bit.
- Dungeons if you like structure
- World content if you’re solo
- PvP if you like controlled chaos
Your target is “good enough to not get deleted,” not “BiS in every slot.”
Step 4: Use your warband/alts to reduce friction
If you have multiple characters, don’t treat it like 2012.
- Consolidate consumables/materials so you’re not constantly swapping mail and banks.
- Keep one character as your “main push” and let the others support it.
Step 5: Catch up on systems… but only the ones you touch daily
This is where returning players get trapped.
Rule of thumb:
- If it helps you every session, learn it.
- If it’s a one-time unlock you don’t care about, skip it.
Step 6: Social catch-up beats gear catch-up
The fastest “returning player buff” is a guild that doesn’t make you feel stupid for asking questions.
- Join a guild that matches your pace.
- Ask what their plan is for Midnight (raid schedule, M+, casual).
Step 7: The week-before-Midnight checklist
- UI stable, keybinds comfortable
- One main decided (and you’ve played it enough to remember the buttons)
- A baseline gear set you’re not embarrassed by
- A group of people to queue with
If you want a launch-night “don’t forget the obvious stuff” list, use this: Midnight Release Checklist.
That’s the whole catch-up.
If you tell me what patch/expansion you last played, I can suggest the cleanest “do this, skip that” path for your specific situation.