It’s gotta be weird to think that to a certain degree, World of Warcraft upstaged itself at this year’s BlizzCon. The current expansion,Midnight, isn’t nearly as exciting as the upcomingWorld of Warcraft: Forever. But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t new stuff coming up forMidnight, and the What’s Next panel for the expansion had plenty to show off for people who are eager to see exactly what’s coming with the next major patch beyond what was already teased during the opening ceremonies.
The panel kicked off with the introduction of Jake Miller, lead content designer, heading to new content starting with 12.1.5 (already on the PTR) which contains a mini raid and the like. But before going into that, he noted that back during PAX East, they had alluded to a new experiment. That’s coming out now with the new game mode, Talebound, introduced via a gameplay trailer alluding to a new tale and ever-growing abilities with each run. It’s a roguelite action RPG within the game, but taking place in its own world with solo or multiplayer options.
Players get snatched by a storyteller who will tell new horror stories and use the player as the protagonist. The storyteller likes horror stories in particular, with each one containing potions and treasures with each run. Quillgrave is your resting place between various runs, and players will have access to new classes. Each one double-jumps, rolls, and moves around. Slayers are physical attackers, the Inquisitor uses light magic to burn away evil, and the Witch inflicts nature damage and summons plagues of frogs and poisons. There are four stories to be told, with players gathering different abilities through new talents and items, and cosmetic rewards to unlock. This new feature will be available on the PTR in October.
Next up is Paul Kubit, associate game director, to talk about patch 12.2. Eclipse is the final major patch ofMidnightand contains the Midnight Vault, a new zone that’s half Azerite crystal and half Titan facility. This will turn into a final confrontation between the Devouring Host and the light, with players teaming up with the Thraegar (we’re told stills don’t do them justice) and a group of Deepskar, underground malcontents who are just handling their own stuff and don’t want the players around at all. There’s also a new dungeon, Thraegar’s Stand, with three bosses (including a Titan construct named Stenvarg the Inevitable), and the new Worldcore raid with eight bosses. And yes, at the end of it, Xal’atath will indeed be the final boss.
Oh, and she’ll drop a new legendary weapon, Midnight’s Edge, a caster dagger. (The tooltip was briefly shown, but heavily redacted.)
Season 3 will start shortly after Eclipse launches, with a new Mythic+ dungeon pool containing Thraegar’s Stand, The Underrot, Iron Docks, Sanguine Depths, The Stonecore, Uldaman: Legacy of Tyr, Magisters’ Terrace, and Maisara Cavern. All the old dungeons (including theMidnight dungeons) will be getting a polish pass and updates. There will be a new top 5% reward for Mythic+, and top rewards will be calculated against other players of your spec, not all other players. There are also new Delves, with a new Nemesis of Astalor Bloodsworn. This will also bring in some modifiers similar to the Prey system, obviously.
Oh, and yes, there are new Prey features with new Torments and the new difficulty level, Agony. Another new outdoor feature are the Radiant Screams, which are stronger forms of visions fromThe War Within. What will they include? Not ready for prime time yet. Kubit also mentioned that Paladins are now expanding their ranks with Forsaken members. But that’s not all; Darkpear Trolls get Paladin as well as Night Elves (the latter having been teased all the way back inLegion.)
A new housing mode, Showcase, is being added to show off cool houses along with themed events. The designers are also adding mannequins you can equip with gear you’ve unlocked (lots of body styles and poses, obviously). You can now copy-paste and multi-select decor items (something that has been requested extensively), and you can buy more of decor that you already own from your home. No more traveling back and forth to vendors! There are four new housing endeavors and a new Calibration Chamber to test your rotations with advanced features like raid buffs. There’s a new PvP journey for rewards, and there is a new transmog feature coming in 12.2.5 – transmog across all armor types without restriction.
Last, but not least, the next remix event is going to beWrath of the Lich King. No further details were given; it’s a bit of a shorter presentation, but more is promised for next week. For now, it’s just a matter of watching the rest of BlizzCon and seeing what else is coming next.
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