Torghast in WoW is quite good. But how can Blizzard create reasonable long-term motivation? Cortyn from MeinMMO has some ideas on how that could be easily achieved.
For several weeks now, the Tower of Torghast has been fully accessible. This means that one of the core features of WoW: Shadowlands is complete and can be fully mastered.
Even though there are mixed opinions about Torghast in the community, I am still completely thrilled by the feature.
Torghast was announced as one of the major features of World of Warcraft Shadowlands. For a while, the Tower of the Jailor is also virtually mandatory for every player. After all, there were important resources for the crafting of legendary items here. However, once enough Soul Ash has been collected to craft all desired Legendaries, the usefulness of Torghast becomes almost completely negligible.
On the one hand, this is good because Torghast does not become a tedious obligation for anyone who does not want to participate. On the other hand, it’s a shame because the tower provides a lot of fun for many players but does not offer enough incentives to lure them beyond mere entertainment. The Twisted Corridors, in particular, hold promise and could provide plenty of long-term goals and rewards.
I want to mention some possibilities for how Torghast could continue to bring joy for a long time.
Yes, I admit it. I was one of the “crazy” ones who tortured themselves through the Twisted Corridors in the very first days after they opened. I’m not proud that my final run took a whopping 5 hours on level 8 and went until 6:30 in the morning. But hey, I had vacation and had to make use of it. (Okay, I’m a little proud).
In total, there were 4 rewards, namely a pet, a title, a toy, and a mount that even obeys in the Maw. Once obtained, there is nothing left in the Twisted Corridors that justifies a trip there – except for sheer amusement.
Torghast rewards must not be “meaningful”
Even though I know this will not make me many friends: Torghast, especially the Twisted Corridors, must remain free from rewards that have a real benefit for the character. This means: Gear with good stats is an absolute taboo. Once Torghast provides actual gear, it competes with other activities such as “Mythic+”, PvP, or raids. From then on, Torghast would have to be subjected to strict balancing to ensure that the rewards match the performance level of each player.
Currently, Torghast does not have to do that. Torghast can exist outside all balancing rules and be completely crazy. It can swing to both extremes:
- There are Torghast runs where I can basically one-hit everything and melt bosses in 20 seconds.
- In other runs, I joyfully arrive at level 13, only to find that a single melee hit immediately wipes me out, whereas levels 11 and 12 were no problem at all.
The beauty here is: Both are irrelevant. I “gain” nothing if I breeze through the 18 levels, and I “lose” nothing if I find out after 2 hours that I can’t progress and have to give up.
What incentives could Torghast still offer?
However, it’s clear that Torghast will quickly lose its appeal without rewards, even for players who do not want “improvements” for their character.
I personally believe that Blizzard intentionally equipped Torghast with few cosmetic rewards at launch. Although I find 4 rewards (plus a handful of pets) to be significantly too few, it is easy to guess why that was the case.
With the island expeditions, Blizzard really “fell on its face”. These became extremely unpopular among a large portion of players in no time. It’s all the more unfortunate that the islands are actually full of cool cosmetic rewards. Several hundred different transmog items, unique sets, weapons, mounts, and toys wait on the islands – hidden behind a feature that hardly anyone likes.
I suspect that Blizzard wanted to avoid this problem with Torghast. Here, it is better to start with fewer rewards and see how the feature is received.
Now, after it’s clear that a certain portion of players is having a lot of fun in Torghast and wants incentives, the system can be expanded.
Old rewards in the new Torghast
If it were up to me, Blizzard could simply put all the transmog items from the islands into Torghast for a start. Because let’s be honest: Compared to the islands, Torghast is miles better and offers much more fun – in addition to the option to tackle it completely solo and at your own pace.
This could just be the beginning. Blizzard doesn’t even need to develop many new items to make Torghast particularly appealing. A handful more pets, toys, and mounts would suffice if Torghast is simply enriched with “old” transmogs.
After all, there is a whole range of items that are no longer available in the game. These are quest rewards from the game world prior to the Cataclysm expansion or transmog items from the original Naxxramas or other now outdated content.
If Blizzard wants to be particularly generous, they could even incorporate a small chance for one of the black market chests that could be obtained at the end of a run.
From a story perspective, a simple reason could surely be found for that. After all, we are rescuing many souls from Torghast who have unjustly ended up there – surely there is a former island inhabitant or NPC among them who has corresponding items and shows gratitude.
That’s enough for me. The prospect of getting another template for some outfit not yet obtained in Torghast would be enough incentive to plunge into the 18 levels of the Twisted Corridors again and again.
Anima as a reward? Yes, but …
A demand often heard in the forums or the WoW subreddit is the wish for Anima as a reward for Torghast.
Anima serves only a very small purpose in the actual progression of the character. Yes, it can be used to upgrade the covenant set to item level 197, which is solid gear for twinks or players who do not enjoy raiding or completing mythic dungeons.
Otherwise, Anima is a resource that is almost exclusively needed for cosmetic upgrades. Whether it’s mounts, transmogs, or the upgrades of various stations in the covenant hall – everything is basically cosmetic, unlocked through the use of Anima (and souls).
However, it would be important that Torghast does not represent a “too good” source of Anima. If a run over 6 levels yields nearly 100 Anima or a run over 18 levels (Twisted Corridors) yields nearly 250 Anima, that would be more than enough to create a small, additional incentive. Then Torghast would still not feel like a duty, but would have at least a small reward that brings a cosmetic goal a bit closer.
The goal here should be an Anima value that feels rewarding, yet does not make Torghast the best Anima source in the game. Because then many critics would come crawling out of their holes again, demanding that Torghast be made easier, faster, or irrelevant.
How Blizzard will exactly handle Torghast, we will probably find out in the next few weeks. Because in just under a month, BlizzConline will take place, where patch 9.1 will very likely be announced. Information about the future of Torghast will probably be included.
What would you wish for Torghast? How should Blizzard change or expand the feature?
Our author Benedict Grothaus also loves Torghast – especially the Twisted Corridors.
