A new bonus in WoW: Shadowlands is going to be quite powerful. Because soon all characters will be able to use Stealth – if they want to.
Racial bonuses are actually just small advantages in World of Warcraft, which are mostly useful in edge situations and grant minimal benefits. However, a few of these bonuses stand out, such as the Night Elf ability Shadowmeld. This grants all Night Elf players a Stealth as long as they do not move. Apparently, all players can gain this advantage – if they join the Night Fae.
What about the Night Fae? Like all covenants in the upcoming expansion Shadowlands, the Night Fae also offer some exclusive bonuses. In addition to special abilities, cosmetic rewards, and their own campaign, they also provide three soul binds. One of these can grant a quite strong ability, namely Stealth.
If members of the Night Fae choose the soul bind Sylvari Niya, they can select the ability “Mantle of the Sylvari”. This ensures that Night Fae are put into Stealth after using their movement ability Soulshape until they move again. So, this is effectively the racial ability of the Night Elves.
Why is this so important? The Shadowmeld ability of the Night Elves is considered one of the major racial bonuses in World of Warcraft with versatile applications. If the entire group has this ability, many groups of enemies can simply be skipped. Especially in high “Mythic+” dungeons, a group of Night Elves can save a few minutes.
Additionally, with this ability, many spells and abilities from bosses can simply be interrupted. For example, if a boss casts a special ability on a player, that player can often interrupt the attack with Stealth. This completely avoids damage and sometimes skips entire mechanics.
Players are in an uproar: This discovery leads to mixed feelings among players. On one hand, many are excited that soon all races can have a stealth ability. This should make “Mythic+” dungeons significantly fairer, as all players can theoretically rely on such a powerful ability.
At the same time, many players see the danger that the Night Fae could become a “must have” for all non-Night Elves. Some are already imagining horror scenarios where players are no longer invited to dungeons without the right covenant.
How this will ultimately play out remains to be seen. It is also quite possible that Blizzard will significantly tweak the abilities.
However, keep in mind that this information is still from the beta. A lot could change before the release of Shadowlands.
