The Anima system in WoW: Shadowlands fluctuates between unnecessary and annoying for many players. Cortyn explains why it is actually a good thing for that reason.
With Shadowlands, World of Warcraft aimed to reduce the necessary grind for players to a minimum. This has basically succeeded, as there is no endless endgame system like Artifact Power. Instead, there is Anima, a resource that can be found primarily in world quests and a few other activities.
One of the biggest features of WoW: Shadowlands is the Anima system. Personally, I find the system quite good and motivating, but I can also understand why it causes frustration and problems for many players. That is exactly what I want to discuss with you a little.
Anima: Optional or not?
Basically, the Anima system is an optional endgame feature of WoW: Shadowlands. Anima is a resource needed to unlock primarily cosmetic rewards. You obtain Anima from world quests, weekly quests, as treasures, from rare enemies, and in small quantities from dungeons and raids.
If you fully exploit the system and play all daily Anima world quests, you can earn about 1,500 – 2,000 Anima per day – sometimes a bit more and sometimes a bit less. This always depends on the available world quests and their active rewards. Occasionally, there are also especially lucrative quests.
While there are a handful of actual improvements that make your character more effective – like upgrading the Covenant sets or a portal to Oribos from the Covenant sanctum – that is the exception. The majority of Anima rewards are of a cosmetic nature and thus completely optional.
There are numerous mounts, pets, toys, several cosmetic armor sets, individual weapons, and cool back items like backpacks, blades, wings, or sin stones. Additionally, there are Covenant-specific items like soul shapes or smaller unlockables.
Alternatively, Anima can also be used in larger quantities to upgrade the Covenant sanctum. The mission table, transport network, and the other buildings and functions of the sanctum require a lot of Anima to unlock their full potential. This, in turn, leads to new rewards in the form of mounts, treasures, or other cosmetic items.
Too much freedom is hindering
This abundance of options and possibilities, however, makes players feel overwhelmed. With nearly 300 different rewards for Anima – a few more or less depending on armor class and Covenant – the system is clearly designed for the long term. If you want to have all cosmetic rewards, you need to farm well over 200,000 Anima, which means you will be occupied with it for at least 100 days.
The complete upgrade of the Covenant sanctum alone consumes just over 90,000 Anima if you want to max out all buildings.
The idea behind it was clearly to give all players as many small goals as possible to work towards. At the same time, there should be no necessity to farm Anima at all. This has also been fundamentally well implemented. Apart from the weekly Anima quest for the Covenant, there is no necessity. Even this weekly quest is fundamentally optional, as in the following week, you can compensate for the missing glory through another activity.
What I think hasn’t worked out so well is making it clear to players that all of this is optional. Over the years and several expansions, many players have been conditioned to want to achieve and get nearly everything in WoW. Even though certain world quests are not fun for them, some players continually “force” themselves to do them and then end up frustrated.
Because if WoW offers nearly 300 rewards in a system, then everyone player should be able to get them, preferably immediately. At least that is the impression I have about the expectations of many of my fellow players.
A bit of peace, calmness, and focus on one or two rewards could greatly assist in relieving the pressure and frustration within the system.
Set small goals, then it’s more relaxing
In conclusion, I want to emphasize that I really like the Anima system. But I am also able to set clear goals and work towards them piece by piece, even if it takes days, weeks, or sometimes even months. The whole system works much better when players pick individual rewards and work towards them.
Feel free to try it out yourself. Choose an Anima reward that particularly interests you. This could be a transmog weapon, a fancy mount, or a new soul shape for the Nightfae. Make a small list of 5-10 items that you definitely want to have and for which you need Anima.
When working through such a list, you will quickly realize that the individual goals are quickly achieved. The great freedom and abundance of rewards lose their significance once you know exactly what you want to have first and what things you can do without for a long time.
Above all, you should not lose sight of the fact that the Anima system exists throughout the entire Shadowlands expansion. So you have – for all intents and purposes – over 18 months to obtain the rewards. Therefore, it is not necessary to want to have everything after just three months. These rewards are designed for the long term. And that is something everyone needs to realize.
But what do you think about it? Can you make use of and enjoy the advantages of the Anima system? Do you find motivation in the system? Or is it all too much, too confusing, and therefore frustrating?
Another system has already been adjusted by Blizzard – Torghast is now easier to access with Twinks.
