Shadowlands July 8th Reveal Livestream Overview
This is a brief overview of the Shadowlands July 8th Reveal Livestream. A lot of content was covered in great depth, so more in depth coverage of the new content with screenshots will be linked as its completed, so keep checking back!
- The stream starts discussing how COVID-19 has impacted everyone around the world, and made working difficult at first for the team. The team felt motivated by helping others to connect in Azeroth during this difficult time for many.
- The team is committed to launching Shadowlands this Fall.
- A brief reminder was given that Ahn’Qiraj is launching in WoW Classic on July 28th
- The Shadowlands Collector Edition was revealed, and went up for pre-order immediately following the stream. It includes an art book, pin set, mousepad, digital soundtrack, and a Shadowlands Epic Edition game code.
- Beta will be launching next week, and invites will go out in waves.
- A short recap of stats from Alpha was provided.
- Torghast will now have no form of time gating or currency of any kind to access. You will be able to run it as much as you wish, and the team is looking for ways to balance how you get rewards to reflect that.
- Beta will be feature complete, with a level cap of 60. Endgame content will be available.
- The Covenant selection screen in Oribos was shown.
- The Soulbinding system was show, which will act as a secondary talent tree allowing you to bind your soul to a powerful denizen of your Covenant’s zone to access new powers. You will add Conduits, which were described as being similar to Legion Artifact Relics, which will be class specific and allow you to customize your build further.
- After joining a Covenant, you will start gaining Renown with your Covenant for weekly tasks revolving around gathering Anima and and rescuing prisoners from the Maw. This is a time gating system and there will be catch up mechanics available immediately.
- Each Covenant will have a Sanctum, which was described as being similar to a Garrison from WoD or a Class Hall from Legion. You’ll be able to make upgrades and restore features of your Covenant’s Sanctum.
- Sanctums will also provide a transportation network within the Covenant’s zone, allowing you to travel quickly throughout your zone.
- You will work to restore the flow of Anima to your Covenant’s zone with the Anima Conductor. You’ll be able to unlock quests and events through this and be able to work towards permanently restoring the zone.
- The Scouting Map is the new Mission Table, with completely new mechanics and more depth. The new system will be based around forming a party of your followers who will engage in turn based combat. This will still be an offline system and will be available on mobile the same way previous mission tables have been at launch in the WoW Companion App.
- Each Sanctum will have a structure unique to that Covenant, providing you with a unique secondary gameplay experience depending on the Covenant you chose.
- The Venthyr will have the Ember Court, where you will throw parties and galas to increase your Covenant’s influence. You’ll have to gather guests, foil party crashers, and will receive gifts from grateful party-goers.
- The Kyrian will get the Path of Ascension, which will let you use a Soul Mirror to take the form of one of your Soulbinds. You’ll gather creatures to fight and then participate in gladitorial combat against them.
- The Necrolords get the Abomination Factory, where you will practice necromancy to craft the perfect host for souls. Each soul has certain preferences, so you’ll need to have to create the right form for them.
- The Night Fae will have the Queen’s Conservatory, which was described as being similar to the farm in MoP. You’ll nurture souls as they grow.
- The Theatre of Pain will be unlocked on the Beta, which is the dungeon in the Necrolord’s zone. In this non-linear dungeon, you’ll be able to choose to ally yourself with a great Necrolord house, and then fight as their champions through encounters.
- The Maw zone was covered, and will be available in beta. After escaping from the Maw in the starting questline for Shadowlands, you’ll be able to return there at level 60 with the backing of your Covenant. You’ll meet a broker called Vanari (spelling was not shown) who will help you.
- There will be no World Quests in the Maw. It will be discoverable gameplay.
- The Maw will not have flight paths.
- If you draw too much attention to yourself in the Maw, you’ll draw the eye of the Jailer upon you, who will send powerful enemies after you. You’ll have to beat a hasty retreat to escape with your life and your loot.
- Castle Nathria, the first raid of Shadowlands, will be available for testing in late July on the beta. This will be a 10 boss raid.
- Mythic Plus will also be available for testing in late July.
- Legendary Crafting through the Runesmith you discover in Torghast, will be available for testing soon. The Runesmith crafts things in the same way Frostmourne and the Helm of Domination were crafted.
- Max level Covenant Campaign quest lines will be available soon as well, and will allow you to learn more about your chosen Covenant, their zone, and their worldview.
- An emphasis was placed on the importance of focused PvP testing to get tuning right.
- Character copies will be available on beta by the end of July. Current template characters will be wiped. The goal is end to end testing with your own characters.
- An emphasis was also placed on tuning and polish passes that will be ongoing throughout the beta.
- The stream closed with acknowledgement that the stream was previously delayed because important conversations about injustice and the BLM movement were happening, and that they are still happening.
