Players have discovered a new disease in WoW Dragonflight that is spreading uncontrollably in the new capital Valdrakken and beyond. Something similar happened in 2005 and was so astonishing at the time that even researchers picked up on the incident.
What kind of plague is this? Some elite enemies in the open world of Dragonflight possess the ability “Contagious Cowardice.” The ability creates a 7-meter radius ring around you and can jump to other players and apparently companions.
As players have seen on reddit and as we have also observed, the plague is currently spreading in Valdrakken. How exactly it entered the city, we do not know yet.
Is the plague dangerous? Contagious Cowardice deals shadow damage to you every 3 seconds over 15 seconds, similar to the infamous plague from WoW Classic. According to reports, the plague can cause up to 25,000 damage per tick, which can be deadly for low-level players.
However, the ability cannot harm you in a refuge like Valdrakken, so you won’t notice anything there. But if you leave the city and enter another area, the plague can indeed become dangerous.
Some players report that heavily populated areas like the Siege of Dragonbane Keep, the area around the Cobalt Conclave, or the Feast of Iskaara can be easily afflicted by the ability. As far as we can observe for now, the player density in most areas – including Valdrakken – is not high enough to keep the plague “alive” permanently.
There was a similar case in 2005 that claimed many virtual lives:
“Corrupted Blood” nearly destroyed WoW 17 years ago
Players are currently comparing Contagious Cowardice to the “Corrupted Blood” from the classic version of WoW. Back then, hunter pets could be affected by an ability from the raid Zul Gurub.
If the pet was then “packed” and summoned again in a capital city, the plague spread incredibly quickly. It took weeks to bring the problem under control and even inspired scientists to research the blood plague and even understand Corona.
The blood plague has become a meme over the years, receiving a homage in other games like Path of Exile, but has also become its own card in Hearthstone. However, the blood in World of Warcraft was originally caused by a bug that should no longer exist in the game.
Whether Contagious Cowardice is actually meant to become as widespread as it currently is remains unclear – as does whether a fix is on the way.
What could currently work to your advantage and help contain the new plague is the attitude of many players, who simply want to log in less often:
