Blizzard originally shared that it designed the random Legendary drop system of World of Warcraft: Legion to reward players for simply "playing the game" by providing drops across all content. While this is true to some degree, there is a strong bias towards certain types of content. If you're a player who wants to get an item level 895 legendary as quickly as possible, knowing this information is pivotal.
A survey of a sample size of 4,295 players with legendaries has revealed that daily Emissary Quests are the number one way to acquire a legendary. More specifically, the legendary is granted from opening the treasure box rewarded from completing an Emissary Quest. This method of acquisition makes up for more than 50% of drops.
Coming in at number two are mythic dungeons and raids with only a slightly lower rate of acquisition versus Emissary Quests. Third is World Quests, which come in all varieties.
With this in-mind, here is how each type of content ranked in terms of obtaining a legendary:
- 1. Emissary Quest Treasure
- 2. Mythic Dungeons/Raids
- 3. World Quests
- 4. Heroic Dungeons/Raids
- 5. Normal Dungeons/Raids
- 6. Treasures
- 7. Other
Blizzard states that there is a "catch-up" mechanic baked into the system that ensures all players will be provided a legendary over time. Keep this in mind if you have bad luck.

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These Are the Oldest Known Screenshots of World of Warcraft
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Cairne Gone Crazy
It was Cairne Bloodhoof's birthday. -
Early Level
An early level without textures. Notice the character name. -
The Birth of Human
The biggest difference is that nobody uses polearms anymore. -
Atari Map
"The Atari Map", an early layout of Arathi Basin. -
Warcraft 3 Engine
This is the earliest existing screenshot of WoW using the Warcraft 3 engine. -
Deadmines
The Juggernaut from Deadmines was originally outside. -
Westfall
This is what Westfall looked like in early 2000. -
Female Troll
Female Trolls were much more horrifying back then. -
Equipment Menu
It almost looks like a mobile game. -
Spellbook
The Spellbook has gone through many iterations. This is just one of them. -
Arathi Layout
After the Atari Map was completed for Arathi Basin, Jim Chadwick began laying out the level in WoW edit. -
Circa 1999
World of Warcraft was unrecognizable in 1999. -
Races in 2000
Why does everyone have a six pack? -
Login Screen
Classic. -
Character Creation
It's not much different than now, although the menu elements are on opposite sides. -
Wyvern
A flight path test from the early days. -
Westfall #2
The player almost looks like a Vrykul. -
The Dark Portal
I dare you to walk through it. -
The Oldest Known Vanilla WoW Screenshots