The next expansion of World of Warcraft could be called “Shadowlands”. We reveal what it is supposed to contain and whether it could really be true.
The big “leak season” around World of Warcraft has begun again. On Reddit or in forums like 4chan, there is almost a new leak every day that supposedly reveals the upcoming expansion of World of Warcraft. If you search for it now, you will likely find a good dozen of “leaks” that claim to know exactly what will happen next in World of Warcraft. Obviously, most of them are just the figment of a fan’s imagination, but some ideas are so convincing that they could indeed be true.
That’s why we want to talk about the leak of “Shadowlands” today, as it sounds quite plausible. However, keep in mind that all information in this article is not confirmed content. Like all leaks, it could also just be made up.
This is World of Warcraft Shadowlands
Where does the leak come from? The leak first appeared in the 4chan forum. A user posed as an employee of Blizzard and explained that during a “Show&Tell” meeting, upcoming projects of Blizzard were presented to each other. Accordingly, the next expansion of World of Warcraft will be called “Shadowlands” and will lead to the eponymous Shadowlands.
What are the Shadowlands? The Shadowlands are the realm of the dead in World of Warcraft. When beings die, their souls are transported to the Shadowlands. Each race has a different name for the Shadowlands (such as “Spirit World”, “The Other Side” or “Realm of the Dead”), but they always mean the same thing. This is where the souls of the dead end up.
What is Shadowlands about? The expansion is supposed to focus on the souls in the Shadowlands. These are currently led over rivers to Ny’alotha and feed the old gods, who thus regain strength. Players have to cooperate with various entities of death (such as Elune and Helya) to fight back the Void, which is advancing in the Shadowlands.
This is what was leaked: Before we go into individual details, here is a list of the major points that were leaked. These are the current main features of the expansion and rough points of the framework:
- Two new continents: Shadowlands and Dragon Isles
- Bolvar (Lich King) brings the players to the Shadowlands.
- New class: Tinkerer, who can fulfill all 3 roles (DPS, Healer, Tank). Uses heavy armor with intelligence as the main stat.
- Remnants of Power as a secondary talent system (similar to artifact weapons or the essences for the Heart of Azeroth)
- New scaling technique, through which item level and attributes don’t need to be shrunk again and again (“Stat-Squish”).
- Champion system: We meet the spirits of fallen heroes, including Uther, Cairne, Vol’Jin, Varian, Saurfang, and Rhonin. But we will also meet some villains.
- 9 dungeons, 5 in the Shadowlands and 4 on the Dragon Isles.
- The Old Gods are not dead, but they sleep in Ny’alotha. N’Zoth has redirected the souls of the dead from the war (Battle for Azeroth) to nourish the Old Gods.
- On the Dragon Isles, you help all 4 dragon flights, especially the Black Flight, to be rebuilt. At the same time, you fight strange “Void Dragons”.
Additionally, here are things that explicitly will not be coming:
- No overhaul of the old world.
- The “Level Squish” has been postponed and will come later.
- There will still be no raid tier sets.
The Vanguard of Death: The leak reveals a bit more about the story in the Shadowlands:
- Story-wise, everything in the Shadowlands revolves around the souls of the fallen.
- Elune, Helya, and “others” work together to stop the incursions of the Void into the Shadowlands.
- Sylvanas has kept her pact with Helya and has been collecting souls for her.
- The Night Warriors of Elune also bring souls to the Shadowlands.
- Many of the fallen are met again in the Shadowlands.
- Bwonsamdi works for Hakkar the Soulflayer, who just wants to consume souls to become more powerful.
- The Old Gods exploited the death of the titan Argus to gain access to the Shadowlands.
- N’Zoth ignited the war (Battle for Azeroth) to cause more death and be able to devour more souls.
- Sylvanas has pushed the war forward to gather souls for Helya and not for Ny’alotha.
These are the new areas of Shadowlands
Some insights into the new zones of the Shadowlands were also revealed in the leak.
This is the Darkfront: At the Darkfront, there are three smaller factions, the Night Elves, the Death Knights, and Helya (with Sylvanas). Helya is allegedly now supposed to be “friendlier and prettier”. The main goal of this zone is to prevent Ny’alotha from consuming the souls of the deceased. As in all areas, this one is also permeated with “soul streams” that transport souls.
This is Morbara: The slain Blood Trolls from Nazmir have ended up in Morbara. Bwonsamdi works for Hakkar the Soulflayer and must procure souls for him. Players help to defeat Hakkar and restore Bwonsamdi as the Loa of Death.
This is the Alnir Riftlands: Little is known about the Alnir Riftlands. It is supposed to be a “cauldron of original elements that shape the structure for all realities” and has a portal to each reality (such as the Emerald Dream). Here is supposed to lie the source of the Void incursions that fall into the Emerald Dream and the Dragon Isles.
This is Xiros: Xiros is a relatively peaceful area where spirits find their rest. The capital of the expansion will be located here. Many Astrals are active in this zone. The entire area is said to be inspired by Greece and Greek mythology.
No information has been leaked about the Dragon Isles and the individual zones.
A few explanations regarding the Shadowlands leaks
At first glance, much of “Shadowlands” may sound far-fetched, but once you delve into the details, the picture becomes clearer and more logical. Therefore, we have a few notes and speculations on how the story could logically connect.
The deal with souls: Shadowlands would explain what kind of pact Sylvanas made with Helya back then, which is quite simple: Sylvanas is waging a war for Helya. Because when Sylvanas and her troops kill soldiers, the souls are brought to the Shadowlands and fall under the dominion of the being to whom the “murderer” has pledged.
This is confirmed by current lore in “Battle for Azeroth”. There, players make a pact with Bwonsamdi and fight in his name. By merely entering into this pact, trolls killed by the player are sent to Bwonsamdi after death.
The same is said to apply to Night Elves and their Night Warriors, according to Shadowlands. When Night Warriors slay other beings in battle, the souls land in the Shadowlands with Elune.
How does the Tinkerer fit in? Particularly conspicuous is the Tinkerer in the list of features. He seems like a foreign body that doesn’t fit at all. Even if the leak were fake, this detail would be too obvious and stands in stark contrast to the rest of the leak, which is coherent and logical.
However, this could be easily explained if the Tinkerer is not “part of Shadowlands”, but could instead be played as a pre-order bonus, similar to the Demon Hunter in Legion. That would fit well with the conclusion of Battle for Azeroth, where Horde and Alliance learned a lot from the Mechagnomes in Mechagon. A Tinkerer would make more sense than ever.
Argus was the Titan of Death: That the Shadowlands are now accessible to the Void has already been hinted at in Legion. There, the priest weapon Xal’atath thanked the player for giving the Void “access” to something, when they entered the room with the Titans.
The Titans each have a fixed role in the pantheon, with Eonar standing for Life, for instance. However, the Titan Argus presumably stood for Death and was thus also the “guardian” over Death, namely the Shadowlands. We know this because Argus is referred to as “Deathtitan” in the game files and has many abilities that allude to it. Historically, this would fit perfectly.
The map is fitting: The design of the leaked map is quite good and contains many details that seem logical. For instance, there is a camp of the Shirakess in the “Alnir Riftlands”. The Shirakess are Naga who wield Void magic, which we’ve already seen in Nazjatar. Alnir Riftlands as such is also fitting, since the “Rift of Aln” has previously held great significance, where the final battle against Xavius occurred in the Emerald Nightmare. Other locations, such as Acherus in the north, are also coherent and fitting.
Another detail supporting the possible “authenticity” of the map is the black bar in the lower left corner. It probably contained a code that scrolls across the displayed image, which could have identified the leaker (such as the time and location of the presentation).
This speaks for “Shadowlands”
Many points support this leak. On one hand, Shadowlands would pick up many story threads that are still a bit up in the air. It is hard to deny that Death and the Realms of the Dead currently hold great significance in World of Warcraft. There are many examples:
- The quest line about Vol’jin revolves around his death and why he did not end up in the realm of spirits.
- Bwonsamdi, the Loa of Death, plays a significant role in Battle for Azeroth.
- Sylvanas has an unclear pact with Helya, a ruler over souls. Helya herself is still alive, as we know from the island expedition quests.
- The Lich King Bolvar has pursued his own goals since at least Legion, which are still unclear. He recruits new heroes, such as the Death Knight hero (Order Hall questline).
- The quest line for the legacy equipment of the Tauren also speaks of problems in the spirit world, which are becoming increasingly threatening.
A reunion with old heroes in the Shadowlands also makes sense. For instance, popular characters from the Warcraft universe could be encountered again. This would also explain why Uther’s tomb was renovated in the Western Plaguelands. So far, there has been no reason or explanation for this. Naturally, that changes if Uther is one of the heroes from whom you can learn in the Shadowlands.
Another detail might sound “very far-fetched” to some, but for others, it is all the more convincing. One of the regions is called Xiros. This region is more or less peaceful and is somewhat like “the paradise” for souls. Here, their journey ends, and they find peace. The naming is a bit suspicious, as the Game Director of World of Warcraft mentioned in an interview that Greece greatly inspired him to venture into creating fantasy worlds. This is also because he has Greek roots.
He specifically mentioned the island of Syros – which is nearly pronounced the same as the region Xiros in English. It fits well that this particular region is supposed to be the “recreational area” of Shadowlands because the Game Director might have certainly had a hand in naming it.
Whether these arguments convince you is up to you.
This speaks against “Shadowlands”
As with all leaks, there are also some details that seem strange upon closer examination. We want to address these as well.
While the map is quite well made, the logo in the upper right corner raises suspicion. On one hand, it lies exactly over a part of the map, and why would one want to cover a section of the map when there is still enough space in the other corners?
Furthermore, the logo of “Shadowlands” looks very similar to that of Legion, featuring lighting that shines “from behind” World of Warcraft. So far, every logo has been unique, and motifs have not been reused. It is, of course, possible that this is still a “Work in Progress” and the logo is just a placeholder at this stage.
Additionally, the leak story seems a bit unrealistic. While it makes sense that Blizzard holds such meetings where the team shows each other what they are currently working on, it seems improbable that there would be no control over whether someone films something with a smartphone, or that smartphones would not be confiscated at the door. This does not fit with the otherwise strict secrecy Blizzard usually exercises. Some explain this by suggesting that Blizzard intentionally created this leak to generate hype.
Finally, there is the argument that the Shadowlands cannot actually be an independent place with its own continent. The Shadowlands are supposed to simply be another dimension of Azeroth that looks visually similar to Azeroth. Players experience them every time they die and have to run back to their corpse or speak with a spirit healer.
What you think of these counterarguments is up to you.
When will there be certainty? Whether the leak is really “legit” will only be revealed at the beginning of November. Because then the BlizzCon will take place, at which the reveal of the next expansion of World of Warcraft is expected. Until then, we have to wait and can speculate about leaks or ponder our own thoughts.
Finally, we recommend a long video from the colleagues at Vanion, who have also dealt with the topic in detail and have spun some other thoughts:
What do you think of “Shadowlands”? Does it sound realistic as a new expansion? Or is it too improbable?
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