Shadowlands Preview: Venthyr Covenant

The venthyr are aristocratic overseers of souls burdened with excessive pride and wickedness. They guide troubled souls upon the rigorous path to atonement, harvesting anima to keep their realm strong.

If you’re seeking a bit of grace wrapped in a bit of sin, then look no further than the aristocratic and elegant Venthyr Covenant. Every day among them brings punishment and reward—though telling the two apart can get a bit fuzzy. But beneath the polish and refinement, the seeds of rebellion against the master of the realm, Sire Denathrius, lie planted. . . .

If you’re a master of discretion and keen on intrigue, then the Venthyr Covenant is waiting for you to join them.

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Covenant Campaign (Spoilers Inside!)

Even if Sire Denathrius is defeated in combat, there is no guarantee he would not return given enough time, and his allies and plans are vast and far reaching. To counter this, Prince Renathal has a plan to bargain, bluff, or steal the seven medallions given to each member of the Court of Harvesters. In the right hands they could be used to seize control of the very soul of Revendreth, whether Denathrius still rules or not.

RENOWN REWARDS

As you’re put through your paces and prove your mettle to the Venthyr through their Covenant Campaign, you’ll build Renown. Increasing Renown will provide you access to unique rewards from your Covenant. Learn more about Renown in our Covenant Systems article.

In your pursuit to earn Renown, you’ll go into the Maw to recover wayward souls and bring them to your Covenant Sanctum; some will even embark on Adventures on your behalf.

COVENANT SANCTUM: SINFALL

Each of the four Covenants have features that they share among them, but they also have a feature that is uniquely their own. For the Venthyr Covenant, it’s in the form of an elaborate party within the Ember Court.

THE EMBER COURT

The venthyr are a people who embrace the finer things. Their elegance and aristocratic air is most prominently on display in the Ember Court, where grand galas are hosted. Receiving an invitation—let alone being seen—is paramount to a venthyr’s reputation. Prince Renethal is seeking to establish a new order—with your help.

You’ll be tasked to invite guests, arrange for some refreshments, fend off party crashers, and in general play host or hostess with the most-est. You’ll get to live the full experience of the venthyr and witness more of their larger-than-afterlife personalities—while getting some loot for making the event a success.

TRAVEL SYSTEM: BLOOD MIRRORS

As you seek to restore Sinfall to its peak glory, you’ll focus on upgrading different aspects of the Sanctum. One of these is a transportation network that makes it easier to get around—especially within the Venthyr Covenant’s own dominion of Revendreth.

True to their nature, the Venthyr have their own distinctive way of traveling using Blood Mirrors. With the aid of a master mirror maker, several mirrors can be altered or reconstructed throughout Revendreth to provide an investing individual with shortcuts and quick access across the landscape.

VENTHYR ADVENTURES

In Adventures, you’ll put your tactical skills to the test by sending your allies into the Shadowlands and lending aid to the Venthyr Covenant. While this feature is available to each Covenant, the allies you recruit and the missions you assign them will be unique to the Covenant. You’ll need to get to know the strength and weaknesses of the adventurers you send out with the scouting map.

ANIMA CONDUCTOR

Players can enable additional content with their Covenant’s realm by investing Anima into specific areas in Revendreth. When you restore Anima to a location, it revitalizes the area, allowing you to access new quests, make it easier for you to unearth wondrous treasures, or lure out powerful foes you can slay for rewards. Different areas are tied to different content unlocks.

• Crypt of the Forgotten – Find a unique Covenant treasure.
• Wanecrypt Hill – Fight an enemy champion.
• Dominance Gate – Access a Covenant World Quest.
• Pridefall Hamlet – Access a set of Covenant daily quests.
• The Shrouded Asylum – Get access to powerful venthyr enhancements.
• Dominance Keep – Fight an elite enemy champion.

MEET YOUR VENTHYR SOULBINDS

Once you’ve proven your worth, you’ll unlock the ability to Soulbind with one of several select characters in the Covenant, who will share their distinctive powers with you in the form of a variety of traits and bonuses.

The proud venthyr you befriended in Revendreth will form a special bond with you if you join their Covenant. Below are descriptions of each, along with a few example powers they can bestow upon you.

Nadjia the Mistblade is the self-proclaimed greatest duelist to ever wield a blade, who rebels at stagnation and longs for the next new experience. Wherever there is trouble, you can expect to find Nadjia there at the heart of it. She is ready to turn her skills to the defense of Revendreth at your command, and her entertainment.

Agent of Chaos: Door of Shadows disorients all nearby enemies at the target location for a few seconds when you appear.

Thrill Seeker: While in combat, you gain a stack of Thrill Seeker every couple of seconds, or some stacks upon killing an enemy. When stacks reach their limit, Thrill Seeker is consumed to grant you Euphoria, speeding up everything you do moderately for several seconds. Thrill Seeker decays rapidly while you are not in combat.

General Draven served Revendreth for eons as commander of the Stone Legion. He is on the front line of any battlefield, will fight with honor to the very end, and never leaves a soldier behind.

Enduring Gloom: Door of Shadows grants you a shield that absorbs damage equal to 15% of your maximum health. Lasts 8 seconds.

Call to Action: Using your Venthyr class ability or spell grants some Versatility to you and your nearby allies for a moderate duration of time.

Theotar the Mad Duke knows all too well that insanity is no excuse for bad manners! Exiled from traditional aristocratic circles, he formed his own court of outcasts to gossip with. Whether weaving powerful magic through his favorite teapot or animating dredgers to carry his umbrella for him, Theotar wields the incredible power of Revendreth in his own, eccentric way.

Watch the Shoes!: Door of Shadows frees you from roots and snares.

Soothing Shade: Your spells and abilities have a chance to call Tubbins and Gubbins to your side for a moderate amount of time, parasol in hand. Standing in the shaded area grants you some Mastery.

SHARING IN THE WEALTH

When you join the Venthyr Covenant, you’ll gain two new unique abilities—one signature ability and one class ability.

Signature abilities are available to all Covenant members regardless of class, race, or specialization.

Door of Shadows
Wend through the shadows, appearing at the targeted location.

Covenant class abilities provide additional combat-oriented gameplay options that are tailored to the theme of that Covenant.

Covenant Class Abilities

Death Knight: Swarming Mist

• A heavy mist surrounds you, increasing your chance to dodge.
• Deals Shadow damage over time to enemies within range. Every time it deals damage you gain additional Runic Power, up to a maximum amount.

Demon Hunter: Sinful Brand

• Brand an enemy with the mark of the Venthyr, reducing their melee and casting speeds and inflicting Shadow damage over time.
• Activating Metamorphosis applies Sinful Brand to all nearby enemies.

Druid: Ravenous Frenzy

• For a period of time, Druid spells you cast increase your damage, healing, and haste by a percentage, stacking.
• If you spend a period of time idle, the Frenzy overcomes you, consuming a percentage of your health per stack, stunning you, and then ending.

Hunter: Flayed Shot

• Fire a shot at your enemy, causing them to bleed Shadow damage over a period of time. Each time Flayed Shot deals damage, you have a  chance to gain Flayer’s Mark, causing your next Kill Shot to be usable on any target, regardless of their current health.

Mage: Mirrors of Torment

• Conjure mirrors to torment the enemy for a time. Whenever the target casts a spell or ability, a mirror is consumed to inflict Shadow damage, and their movement and cast speed are slowed.
• The final mirror will instead inflict Shadow damage to the enemy, Rooting and Silencing them for some time.

Monk: Fallen Order

• Opens a mirror for 24 seconds summoning reflections of your order’s Fallen Ox, Crane, and Tiger adepts every 1 second for 6 seconds. Adepts associated with your specialization will fight for a longer duration and cast additional abilities.

Paladin: Ashen Hallow

• Hallow the target area, dealing Shadow damage to enemies and restoring health to allies over time. Within the Hallow, you may use Hammer of Wrath on any target.
• The land remains filled with anima, causing additional Shadow damage to all enemies. You gain the benefits of Consecration while within the area.

Priest: Mindgames

• Assault an enemy’s mind, dealing Shadow damage and briefly reversing their perception of reality. For a short time, the next moderate amount of damage they deal will heal their target, and the next moderate amount of healing they deal will damage their target.

Rogue: Slaughter

• Slaughter the target, causing Physical damage. The target’s anima mixes with your lethal poison, coating your weapons for the next 5 minutes.
• Slaughter Poison deals Shadow damage over time and steals a percentage of healing done to the target.
  This also awards combo points.

Shaman: Chain Harvest

• Send a wave of anima at the target, which then jumps to additional nearby targets. Deals Shadow damage to enemies and restores health to allies.
  For each target critically struck, the cooldown of Chain Harvest is reduced.

Warlock: Impending Catastrophe

• Call forth a cloud of chaotic anima that travels to the target enemy, dealing Shadow damage to enemies in its path. When the anima reaches the target it explodes, inflicting either Curse of Weakness or Curse of Tongues, and dealing Shadow damage over time to all nearby enemies.

Warrior: Condemn (Replaces Execute)

• Condemn a foe to suffer for their sins, causing Shadow damage. Only usable on enemies who are above 80% health or below 20% health.
• The primary target is weakened, preventing a moderate amount of damage they would deal to you.
  If your foe survives, a portion of the Rage spent is refunded.

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We look forward to sharing more information as development continues, and we hope this preview gives you a taste of what the Venthyr Covenant has to offer. Learn more about Revendreth in our previously published article.

Rewards, mechanics, and abilities are still in development and subject to change.