The upcoming patch 9.1 for World of Warcraft is finally playable on the Public Test Realm (PTR). One of the biggest changes in the patch are new Legendaries that some classes have already received. The twist is that they can make your Covenant choice even more important.
What are these Legendaries? With patch 9.1, classes are getting new Legendaries that enhance the effects of their Covenant abilities. Covenants are a new feature in Shadowlands and players receive two abilities when they join a Covenant:
- a general ability that every member of the Covenant receives
- as well as a unique ability that the Covenant has specifically for that class
- you can read more about this in our overview of the Covenants of Shadowlands
If Blizzard introduces a Legendary for each class and each Covenant, it means you will receive at least 48 new effects by 9.1. However, there are still no such effects for every class.
The new Legendaries enhance the class abilities of the Covenants. Currently, on the PTR, four classes have already received some Legendaries:
New Legendaries of Death Knights
- Nekrolords – “Abomination Frenzy”: Increases the duration of Monstrous Limb by 4 seconds and grants the specialization’s corresponding passive ability more frequently. Additionally, enemies pulled by the arms take 10% more damage from you for 12 seconds.
- Venthyr – “Insatiable Hunger”: After the end of Swarming Mist, you deal damage to up to 5 nearby targets and heal for 25% of the damage. The damage increases by 2% for each Rune Power spent during the swarm.
- Kyrianer – “Final Sentence”: When Chains of the Unworthy spread, you gain a Rune and your damage increases by 2%, stacking up to 10%. Lasts for 10 seconds.
- Nachtfae – “Rampant Transference” – The strength granted by Death’s Right is increased by 1% and lasts 2 seconds longer. While you are under the effect, Rune generation is increased by 20%.
New Legendaries of Warriors
- Nekrolords – “Glory”: The Banner of Conquest affects one additional ally and the duration increases by 0.5 seconds for every 20 rage spent.
- Venthyr – “Sinful Surge”: Condemn extends the duration of Recklessness, Colossal Smash, or Last Stand by 3 seconds.
- Kyrianer (missing so far)
- Nachtfae: The duration of Aftershocks of the Ancients is increased by 3 seconds and hit enemies take damage over 6 seconds. Stacks up to 6 times.
New Legendaries of Druids
- Nekrolords – “Wrathful Swarm”: Adaptive Swarm has a 30% chance to split into two swarms when it jumps.
- Venthyr – “Sinful Hysteria”: Each time Insatiable Fury stacks, the duration of the ability increases by 0.2 seconds.
- Kyrianer – “Kindred Affinity”: When you strengthen your Soulbond, the benefits for you and your partner increase by 50% (unconfirmed, via wowhead).
- Nachtfae: The ability is also not currently present on the PTR, but data miners have already found a hint. The effect is said to be “Celestial Spirits” and is supposed to halve both the cooldown and duration of Convoke the Spirits. Certain spells are expected to occur more frequently (via wowhead).
New Legendaries of Mages
- Nekrolords – “Death’s Fathom”: Fireball, Frostbolt, and Arcane Blast have a chance to grant you Deathborne for 8 seconds. As a skeletal mage, your damage increases by 1% for each target hit by Fireball, Frostbolt, or Arcane Blast.
- Venthyr – “Sinful Delight”: Consuming Brain Freeze, Fire Blast, or Freezing Traps reduces the cooldown of Mirror of Torment by 3 seconds. If the ability is dispelled, the cooldown is reduced by 45 seconds.
- Kyrianer – “Harmonic Echo”: Damage dealt to targets of Radiant Spark spreads to four other nearby targets for 25% of the damage done.
- Nachtfae (missing so far)
How strong are the Legendaries? Right now, it’s difficult to assess whether the new effects can replace the currently best Legendaries for each class or even change the best Covenant for the classes.
The strongest effects currently benefit greatly from the combination with talents and abilities, and the effects will likely be adjusted once more before the release of 9.1, making it hard to make a statement at this point.
It is possible, for example, for classes like the Druid, where the Covenant ability (the Night Fae) is responsible for a large part of the damage. However, the corresponding Legendary is still missing.
Additional Glory Levels Further Empower Covenants
This is why Covenants will become even more important: Along with the Legendaries, the Covenants receive 40 more Glory levels – for a total of 80, which is double. In the 40 new levels, you can earn back some rewards:
- improved World Quest rewards (Anima and items)
- the continuation of the Covenant campaigns
- Adventure upgrades
- cosmetics and a title
- improved Medium slots
Here, the slots are especially important. With almost every new Glory level, you enhance a Medium slot in your Soulbond, thereby strengthening the Medium used there. Mediums are crucial for many classes’ playstyle and damage, making these enhancements particularly important.
Additionally, each Soulbond receives three more rows for two Mediums each and one from two abilities that you can choose. However, how this will affect which Covenant is best for which class remains to be seen.
When is patch 9.1 released? The patch has only been playable on the PTR since April 14, and raid tests start on April 16 with the first two bosses. The new raid Sanctum of Domination comes with 10 bosses, and the new dungeon Tazavesh with 8 more.
Due to the many changes and new content, it may take some time until everything is adequately tested and adjusted. So don’t expect a release for about 6-8 weeks (roughly mid-June), possibly even later.
Even now, however, some players have strong opinions about the new patch. After all, we finally face Sylvanas Windrunner as the final boss in the new raid. However, that raises concerns among players:
Some WoW players are already mocking the new patch 9.1, saying they aren’t excited about it
