With Shadowlands, World of Warcraft will change some things in the game. We present you the biggest innovations and reveal what impact they will have.
In a few days, the long wait for the new WoW expansion will finally come to an end. Shadowlands will be released on November 24, and with it come some important innovations and changes. But what has actually changed? What distinguishes Shadowlands from Battle for Azeroth, and what adjustments should you definitely be informed about?
We present you the 5 most important changes that will make their way into World of Warcraft with Shadowlands.
The leveling path is predefined
In WoW, it is common for players to choose between two starting areas at the beginning of an expansion or just freely choose from all areas. However, with Shadowlands, that is not the case. Every player must take exactly the path set by Blizzard.
You start along with everyone else in Bastion, fight your way through Maldraxxus, and then be sent from Ardenweald to Revendreth. By the way, Bastion is much more exciting than we initially thought.
This has the clear advantage that Blizzard can tell a cohesive story that spans all areas. The narrative is therefore “consistent,” and the adventures in Bastion seamlessly transition into the adventures of Maldraxxus. This ensures an immersive story and will likely please fans of the WoW narrative.
However, in each area, there are a number of “side quests” that you do not have to complete. They are not part of the main story and can be completed later or simply not at all. If you just want to “rush through the story,” stick to the main quest line and ignore everything else.
But don’t worry: If you’ve played the main story with one character, your alts can completely skip the story. You can then directly join one of the Covenants and level through other methods (dungeons, PvP, bonus areas, world quests).
New endgame in Torghast
With Shadowlands, the developers are bringing a completely new game mode, namely the tower Torghast. It is an endgame activity that will keep collectors of toys, pets, and cosmetic rewards entertained for a long time.
The halls of Torghast change a little with each visit and come with new dangers but also interesting buffs. Because every few steps, you can choose a new anima bonus, which can sometimes be really crazy. For instance, the damage of a specific ability can increase by 500% if you haven’t used it for a long time. Or your attacks deal 50% of the target’s maximum health as damage – regardless of its size – but heal it after a short while if you don’t kill the opponent fast enough.
There are countless absurd combinations, which also differ for each class.
Aside from the sheer fun of these bonuses, Torghast is also at least a temporary must. After all, you will receive valuable resources here that you can use to work on your legendary items…
Legendary items for everyone
With Shadowlands, there will be a small inflation of legendary items that every character can obtain. Unlike in Legion, the items will not be distributed through a frustrating random principle, but you can specifically work towards exactly the legendary item that you want.
This is made possible by the crafting system and the option to unlock different legendary bonuses – this can be done through almost all game content. You can see in advance which effects can be earned where by checking with the vendors and unlocks so that your goal is always clear. You can then select the equipment slot and equip it with the desired bonus. Thus, everyone can create their own desired legendary.
However, there will also be a cap on the maximum equipped legendary items in Shadowlands. So you won’t be able to walk around completely in orange gear.
Decision: The choice of a Covenant
No feature of Shadowlands has been discussed as extensively beforehand as the choice of a Covenant. After all, it is one of the biggest decisions that you have ever had to make in World of Warcraft.
There are a total of 4 Covenants to choose from, which you will get to know in the different regions of the Shadowlands. You will encounter the Covenants while questing through the areas and learn about their advantages and strengths. The 4 Covenants are:
- Kyrian (Bastion)
- Nekrolords (Maldraxxus)
- Night Fae (Ardenweald)
- Venthyr (Revendreth)
Depending on which Covenant you choose, there is a wealth of new features and abilities. These include two abilities, soul binds with passive bonuses, but also a standalone storyline and other features that are only accessible to each Covenant. We have detailed all Covenant advantages and bonuses here.
However, with this decision, you also don’t have to struggle too much. If you really made a “wrong” choice, you can later choose a different Covenant. That will just be a bit more complicated.
The weekly chest will be really good
One of the best innovations is likely the weekly chest, which players already know from Battle for Azeroth and Legion. Those who have achieved high performance in “Mythic+” will receive a random strong item from the weekly chest the following week. The system basically remains the same in Shadowlands but has been significantly expanded.
New in Shadowlands is that you can fill the vault with multiple items, from which you can then choose one at the beginning of the next week (on Wednesday). Those who take down particularly many raid bosses or consistently complete “Mythic+” will have the choice of several items.
The number of items and their quality will therefore depend on the amount and difficulty of content that you tackled in the previous week. For instance, if you only completed five dungeons on “Mythic+3”, you will receive worse and fewer loot offerings than a player who has completed ten dungeons on “Mythic+15”, six raid bosses on heroic, and has shown solid performance in PvP. Therefore, it pays off to play content more excessively – however, it is not mandatory. If you just want a single item without any choice, you can still do the minimum effort.
This minimizes frustration over continually receiving an item for the same slot. Gone are the days when you would pull the ninth pair of pants in a row from the chest!
Is there more? Of course. Although the points mentioned above are the five biggest innovations in Shadowlands, there are many more small and large improvements. You can find a complete overview of all innovations in our comprehensive overview article.
What do you think about the ideas of the developers? Are these good and meaningful additions? Or does it not keep you engaged?
Still not sure if Shadowlands is for you? Our 5 things you should know before purchasing can help you.
