Why WoW: Shadowlands’ biggest feature could make or break this expansion
A lot of the greatest choices in World of Warcraft take place during character creation. I have actually spent hours debating myself over which class or race to play, however couple of other choices in World of Warcraft, like what gear to use, is as meaningful because the response is frequently so obvious. It’s a consequence of Blizzard having to continuously trim features to stop its 16-year-old MMO from collapsing in on itself, and despite efforts to inject interesting choices into how you personalize your character at endgame, WoW simply always feels a little too straight forward. However Shadowlands, the upcoming expansion, might be Blizzard’s most concerted effort to bring real, game-changing character personalization back to its MMO– but not everyone is persuaded it’ll work.
Deal with the Devil
When gamers hit level 60 in Shadowlands, they’ll have to make a crucial choice to employ with one of 4 Covenants. Each represents one of Shadowlands’ primary factions: The vampiric Venthyr, the Necrolords of Maldaxxus, the whimsical Night Fae, or the divine Kyrians. These Covenants are almost as essential as choosing whether you’re in the Alliance or the Horde, as each has an unique aesthetic and tons of distinct possibilities both in how you look and play.
It’s a lot to take in, however by the time gamers are required to make that choice they’ll have already finished Shadowlands’ main campaign and spent hours in each Covenant’s zone, completing quests, meeting their chief characters, and explore the powerful abilities each one offers.
Likely the most crucial thing to think about is that each Covenant grants players a special ability based on their class and a 2nd ability shared by all game players of that Covenant. My Demon Hunter, for example, learns Sinful Brand which slows an opponent’s melee and casting speeds and deals some extra damage, but any Venthyr player will also get access to Door of Shadows, which lets you teleport 35 yards– a ridiculously effective ability we’ll discuss later.
Each Covenant likewise offers you access to Soulbinds, a type of skill tree full of passive buffs that you’ll unlock slowly as you play. Each Covenant has three Soulbinds to pick from, each geared towards a different play style. That basically corresponds to having 12 skill trees to select, with the choice of having the ability to level and turn between three. However there’s much more depth, as each tree has empty sockets that can be slotted with gems that give their own passive buffs.
Suddenly, World of Warcraft is beginning to sound a little bit more like Path of Exile. That’s a good idea, and I haven’t even touched on the unique endgame activity each Covenant has, like being able to throw posh vampire parties as the Venthyr, tending a spirit garden as the Night Fae, or constructing your own Abominations as the Necrolords.
(Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment)
The option doesn’t have to be simply driven by stats, though. Covenants gain from Blizzard’s exceptional worldbuilding, too. The Shadowlands is uncharted territory as far as the original lore goes, but I like how different it feels to anything else I’ve seen in Azeroth. Each location I travel to quickly becomes my new favorite. The sinister red sky above the Venthyr’s falling apart gothic architecture is terrific, however I’m equally as interested by Prince Renathal and his host of Victorian-era vampires who are preparing a revolution just so they can get back to hosting formal galas and drinking blood.
If you’ve played Legion, you’ll right away recognize a little bit of the DNA from its class Order Halls in Covenants. Like Order Halls, every one has a sprawling endgame quest campaign that will, gradually, see you rebuild your Covenant’s stronghold, disposing resources into building structures that open features like additional fast travel alternatives and special cosmetic rewards like armor styled after your selected faction.
What I love, however, is that Covenants are a choice independent of everything else. In Legion, Class Order halls were simply a reflection of whatever class I picked, and Battle For Azeroth’s war campaign was a result of being either an Alliance or Horde-aligned race. It made these features seem like implicit repercussions instead of real choices. Picking a Covenant, by comparison, feels so significant it borders on frightening– particularly since changing to a new one resets your progress and Blizzard has said switching back will be even harder. It’s like I’m the transfer student in a high school comedy: Do I hang out with the goths, the theater nerds, the hippies, or the bible club?
(Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment)
Choice and consequence
On paper, this all sounds wonderful, however Covenants are a hotly debated subject in the WoW community. The problem centers on each Covenant’s main ability and how powerful they are in certain scenarios. The Venthyr, in particular, are where gamers are most concerned because Door of Shadows could be utilized to teleport past specific fights in dungeons and raids or used in all sorts of wacky ways in PvP. On the other hand, Kyrians’ huge ability calls an owlman butler to provide you a health potion. It’s a little unbalanced.
For a casual player who simply appreciates running dungeons sometimes and looking badass, that might not affect which Covenant they pick. However if you’re the only person in a Mythic+ dungeon group without Door of Shadows and you’re avoiding everybody from skipping a fight encounter that could save them valuable seconds needed to earn that little additional loot? No one wishes to be that person, so there’s going to be a lot of pressure to pick whichever Covenant game players decide is best.
” What can quickly be dismissed as an issue for only like the top fraction of one percent of players has a way of trickling down through guides and player understanding into the behavior of a broader range of players,” game director Ion Hazzikostas told me in an interview the other day. “And I believe, at the core of a lot of these issues is the anxiety that someone is going to choose the Covenant that they think is coolest and then get told that they’re being declined for a Mythic+ group, or pick-up group raid or whatever, because they remain in the wrong Covenant. That’s an extremely valid issue.”
On paper, Hazzikostas wants Covenants to seem like asking somebody whether mages or hunters are the better class. “You could ask individuals in the very best raiding guilds in the world, individuals who remained in the [Mythic Dungeon Invitational] which is better, and it’s still not one hundred percent clear. It depends upon a bunch of things. It depends upon a number of scenarios. Both are terrific, but which is more enjoyable, which do you enjoy playing more? That’s in fact a legitimate answer that can drive you, and there’s no wrong choice in between those 2. That’s what we want Covenants to be.”
It’s a noble objective, but a great deal of individuals are doubtful of whether Blizzard can in fact deliver. Back in April, PreachGaming made an outstanding video dissecting why Covenant capabilities were such a frightening issue, focusing specifically on how Venthyr’s Shadow of Doors has a lot potential in dungeons and raids that no other class ability can have. If gamers need to select in between selecting a Covenant that lets them be competitive versus one that simply looks actually cool, possibilities are they’ll take the latter.
It’s an awkward situation right now since Shadowlands is still several months from release and still technically in an alpha state. So much can and will change. However thinking about how Covenants are the central development system in Shadowlands, a lot is riding on whether they’re pleasing. In yesterday’s livestream, Hazzikostas explained that tuning and balancing is something that typically takes place much later in development. It was an appeal for players to rely on Blizzard’s development process. But seeing as how Battle for Azeroth, the current expansion, fizzled on some of its most significant ideas, a little hesitation seems necessary.
As a more casual player, I’m not as worried about min-maxing every bit of my character as I am having a good time and looking cool. However Hazzikostas’ earlier point is very insightful: Much of WoW’s most hardcore are likewise its most noteworthy influencers and streamers– tastemakers who, through guides, tutorials, and podcasts assist specify WoW’s esoteric minutiae for millions of less major players. And even if Covenants are imbalanced in a way that’ll just impact those who care about those small optimizations, it’ll trickle down to typical players, who might be punished for not making ideal options even when in scenarios where it really does not matter. If you have actually ever been kicked from a non-competitive raid group for not having the proper achievements or for making an honest mistake during a fight, you’ll know how aggravating that sort of elitism can be.
(Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment)
What makes me positive about Shadowlands, however, is that these conversations are occurring months before launch instead of months after. Hazzikostas has admitted before that Battle for Azeroth didn’t get as much time in beta as it must have, leading to Blizzard not being able to incorporate feedback from players who then felt extra irritated by problems they ‘d spent months grumbling about. It doesn’t appear like that’ll be the case with Shadowlands.
The obvious answer for lots of players is to make Covenants something you can change between without effect, or to make their abilities easily available regardless of which one you join. That might fix one problem, but then how would they be different from the mountain of less meaningful options that Warcraft already has? Even so, Hazzikostas informed me that player feedback is very important enough that nothing is off the table.
” I think, for us, easily having the ability to change all of these things such that they no longer enter into your character’s identity however are right now another toggle or switch in your loadout … that’s a last resort that we would only turn to if all else has actually failed along the way,” he stated. “I’m not entirely, irrevocably closing the door to that option, however we see it as a last hope.”
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands Release Date
After the Battle for Azeroth, what’s a World of Warcraft-er to do? Wait for the 8th expansion in the MMORPG, Shadowlands, an impressive addition that will open the gates to the realm of the dead and allow gamers to see all that it needs to use. However while the new expansion was announced in November 2019, no strong release date has actually been announced by Blizzard Entertainment. That remains the case, regrettably, but in the current Devs update, they have actually committed to a Fall 2020 release, even if they have to ship it from their homes themselves.
The latest livestream, which you can view below, had already been postponed from its initial June date out of respect to the ongoing #BlackLivesMatter movement. Social change is butting up against the ongoing pandemic and the issues that come with it, casting some doubt regarding just when the Shadowlands expansion might in fact arrive (in addition to throwing just about every other facet of life into turmoil). Executive manufacturer John Hight and the group are aware of this reality and the frustration it triggers, which is why he stated this during the announcement: “You have our commitment that we will be launching Shadowlands this fall, even if we end up shipping it from our homes.”
Furthermore, the feature-complete Beta is anticipated to be available as early as next week, so remain tuned to see how you can get in on the game. If you missed it, you can watch the devs update in its entirety here:
World of Warcraft Executive Producer John Hight and Game Director Ion Hazzikostas sit down at home to share details about Shadowlands, the upcoming expansion, and provide a look at a few of the most recent content now in development.
Brave The Beyond
The veil between life and death is no more.
With a single act of destruction, Sylvanas Windrunner has actually ripped open the way to the afterlife. Azeroth’s staunchest protectors have been dragged into intense darkness. An ancient force of death threatens to break its bonds and unravel truth.
Hidden realms of wonder and horror await any who would pass to the other side. The Shadowlands is home to an entire world of the departed; it is a world between worlds whose delicate balance preserves life and death itself.
As one of Azeroth’s greatest champions, you have been given the power to cross over in body and soul. Now you need to investigate a conspiracy to unmake the cosmos, and help Warcraft legends journey back … or fulfill their ultimate destiny.
Hopefully we’ll quickly get a new look at the expansion instead of watching this cinematic trailer again; it was introduced back in November 2019:
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