Garrison A garrison is a location / feature introduced with the expansion . Garrisons are Blizz ard ' s response to player housing . Players build outposts in several zones on Draenor , though their primary , personal garrison is located at Lunarfall in Shadowmoon Valley ( Alliance ) or Frostwall in Frostfire Ridge ( Horde ) . followers of the base can go on missions to earn gear , gold , experience and other upgrades . Players also get limited access to professions . The facilities are customizable and include resource - gathering areas . There are also areas where players can put monuments and trophies on display . Garrisons can be upgraded to level 3 , with each Garrison level improving the fortifications and look of the garrison , as well as unlocking additional features . Buildings . Building functions . Buildings are the individual “ pieces ” of your Garrison — Stables , Farms , Mines , Armories , and more . They improve your ability to recruit , use , and train followers ; to craft ; to complete missions ; and to run missions more quickly by reducing your followers ' downtime . Each building in your garrison can be upgraded , which amplifies its mechanical effect and visuals . For example , an upgraded Barracks will grow bigger and more impressive , but it ' ll also increase the number of followers you are able to house in your garrison . Building arrangement . Buildings in your Garrison can be placed in a number of configurations . Where you can put your building is based on the plot size and where it is located . You can only place small - sized buildings ( primarily crafting - related ) on small plot s ; a larger building , like a Barracks , won ' t fit . Bigger buildings can be constructed early on — even a “ starting ” Garrison has room for a large structure . As your Garrison increases in level , you ' ll get access to more and larger building plots , and increase the versatility and power of your holdings . The amount of plots available to a player depend upon a number of factors ; Player level , quests , achievements and your general activity at the garrison all affect its physical extents . All garrisons start with 4 special plots : a Mine plot ( medium ) + a Fishing hut plot ( small ) + a Farm plot ( medium ) + a Pet menagerie plot ( small ) . Garrisons are visually distinct depending on whether you ' re a Horde or Alliance player . Players specify their Garrison ' s layout ( the physical location of buildings within your Garrison ' s walls ) , and select the buildings you ' d like to include . Choosing to “ spec ” your buildings ( more on that below ) will also change cosmetic aspects of those buildings , like furniture types and decorations , in addition to imparting different gameplay effects . Garrisons can be shown off to same - faction players in your party , who can walk around your base , converse with your NPCs , and appraise your layout . You ' ll have a reason to show your Garrison off , too : trading resources . For example , if you have extra building resources , you ' ll be able to bring them to a friend ' s Garrison and exchange them for materials that you need . As players begin building up their Garrison , they interact with it quite a bit . However , over time it is expected that interaction will become more casual . At lower levels , missions are on shorter time cycles ( minutes , hours or days ) ; once your followers have reached high levels , they can be sent off on longer raid missions . Blizzard has stated that they want garrisons to be important , but the goal is a system that ' s easy to enjoy without being extremely intensive . Professions players are not trained in . Several buildings can provide you with limited access to professions that your character hasn ' t mastered , though you won ' t have enough plots to put one down for every profession . Size . The physical extents of a player garrison grow each time it is upgraded , unlocking space for additional plots . The Town hall ' s size and looks are also improved for each garrison level . Individual placed buildings grow in size and look each time they are upgraded to the next level as well . " For a list of buildings which can be placed on various sizes of plots , see Garrison building " Followers . Followers are NPCs ( non - player characters ) that you recruit to join your Garrison . You ' ll send them on missions to improve your Garrison and earn loot for your character . You can also allocate them to complete tasks — things like crafting or gathering resources , which they ' ll do whether you ' re online or offline . Followers have a character level , an item level , and traits that affect missions and tasks . For example , if they have the Mining trait , you ' ll be able to assign them to a Mine in your Garrison to gather resources for you . There are common , uncommon , rare , and epic followers , and their rarity affects the number of traits they can have . Recruiting followers . To run an effective Garrison , you ' ll first need to recruit followers . Some will make their own way to your base , but you can also upgrade your Inn to attract more followers . You can also win followers to your cause as you progress through the game ' s story , when completing quests , or simply by coughing up the right sum of gold to hire mercenaries . When they ' re not away on missions , your followers hold down posts at your Garrison , where you can visit them at any time . A major goal for the Garrison system is for followers to be dynamic and interesting — for example , if a follower fails a mission that takes place in a local dungeon , they might be taken prisoner ; the next time you adventure in that dungeon , you ' ll be able to rescue them . Follower progression . Followers grow in power in a way that mirrors players ' progression . From levels 90 – 100 , followers will gain character levels , which have a significant impact on their abilities and mission success chance . They ' ll also increase their item level as you equip them with follower - specific gear ; once they ' ve reached level 100 , equipment will have a larger role to play in their overall effectiveness . Missions . Mission objectives . You ' ll send your followers on missions for varied purposes . Successful missions will give you the resources you need to keep developing your Garrison , but you ' ll also have the chance to acquire powerful loot for your character , and your followers will gain experience for each mission they run . The length of mission depends on the type of mission chosen , ranging from a few hours to a week . Missions can also be run while the player is offline . The resources you ' ll acquire during missions include both existing crafting reagents and Garrison - specific materials . For example , if you assign a follower to a mining mission , you could receive ore , but you might also unearth stone , a new kind of resource used to construct and upgrade buildings . Though followers are great for solo play , the system also has multiplayer elements . When you dispatch a party of your followers on certain missions , you ' ll also be able to join forces with your guildmates ' followers , even if your guildmate is offline . Blizzcon 2013 Q + A . This section contains questions and answers from the Q & A session ( About Almost Everything ) at BlizzCon 2013 .