Everything We Know About Chains of Domination, Patch 9.1 Shadowlands, from BlizzConline

PTR Опубликовано 21.02.2021 в 12:10 RenataKane

CINEMATIC SPOILER ALERT:Release Date

Patch 9.0.5 will be released sometime in March. Shortly thereafter, 9.1 will hit the PTR.

What We Don't Know: There is no projected release date yet for 9.1. Typically, for major patches within expansions, PTRs last from 4-6 weeks, but these can be both shorter and longer. We may get a better idea when 9.0.5 releases.

Dungeons and RaidsRaid: Sanctum of Domination

This is a 10-boss raid, culminating in a fight against Sylvanas Windrunner.

Other familiar bosses will include The Tarragrue, The Eye of the Jailer, and Kel'Thuzad.

Domination-themed armor and weapon sets will be available, but this will not be Tier Sets - Link to news item with screenshots.

News item with screenshots: Patch 9.1 Chains of Domination Raid is the Sanctum of Domination

What We Don't Know: There is much speculation about whether Sylvanas's role as the end boss of this raid -- will players actually kill her or won't they? We're only told that this will be one of the most epic fights ever created. As to the rest, Blizzard isn't giving away the ending.

Megadungeon: Tazavesh, the Veiled Market

This is an 8-boss Megadungeon with a Broker Trading City theme.

Will launch as Mythic only, without a Mythic+ version, similar to Operation: Mechagon.

Will be presented in two parts, also like Operation: Mechagon. Second part will feature a heist by a broker who has stolen an artifact through a number of portals, locations, and bosses, including a Pirate Dragon of the Infinite Dragonflight.

News item with screenshots: Shadowlands 9.1 Adds Broker Megadungeon Tazavesh, the Veiled Market

Torghast

Tarragrue death counter will be gone, since he is now a boss in Sanctum of Domination.

New layers and/or rewards for Twisting Corridors are being explored, but nothing is ready to announce.

New layers and a completely new aesthetic wing will be added.

Mentioned that there may be a new rating or score system that would give you partial credit/rewards for completing floors, even if you don't complete the Torghast run, but no specifics are available at this time.

New anima powers will be added in 9.1.

What We Don't Know: Will there will be any catch-up mechanisms for Soul Ash implemented by 9.1? Blizzard says they are looking into options.

General Dungeon and Zone Questions

Raid itemization is still in the works. There will be a new reward mechanic that will make the activity more rewarding, but the details have not yet been released.

Tier sets are planned, but not until after 9.1.

ZonesNew Zone: Korthia, the City of Secrets

New outdoor zone pulled in from the In -Between by The Jailer. This area was once inhabited by the ancient caretakers and protectors of The Shadowlands.

Race between The Jailer and the Covenants to reveal the ancient secrets, origins, and workings of The Shadowlands.

The story lines and quests in Korthia will be at least partly opened by building Renown with your Covenant.

New Korthia dailies will appear, focused either on thwarting the Jailer or discovering new secrets in Korthia.

The Dreadlords will play a role in Korthia. During Korthia activities unlocked by Renown, we will learn more about their story, what they are doing in Korthia, and who they are working for.

What We Don't Know: We know that there will be many quest lines, including Daily Quests, that may be at least partly tied to Renown. We don't know what other activities might be involved. It was implied that the dailies would not be available right away, but we don't know what will trigger them yet.

Will there be a new reputation associated with Korthia? Traditionally, opening new outdoor content like this usually implies at least one new reputation faction.

We also don't know if Korthia will also introduce new resources such as a herbs, ore, fish, or ingredients for other professions. This may also signal new recipes for professions as well.

The Maw

Ve'nari will be getting a new currency in 9.1, so feel free to spend your Stygia. You will be able to continue purchasing Season 1 items with Stygia, but new 9.1 items such as new Conduits and powers will require the new currency.

All players will be able to summon any mounts in The Maw in 9.1, once they have unlocked the ability to do so. Special Maw-specific mounts will no longer be required. Flying mounts will remain grounded, however.

Forces of the Jailer called Tormenters of Torghast will show up periodically, creating extra-hard areas of The Maw.

New questlines associated with the Eye of the Jailer, revealing its story and lore.

Increased presence of Covenants in The Maw will, through questlines and Covenant-specific activities, will open The Maw as a safer, less oppressive, more playable space in endgame.

What We Don't Know: It isn't clear now how riding in the Maw will be unlocked, but Blizzard hinted that this would either be via the Covenant Campaign or Renown. Will there be extra rewards or quests associated with the Tormenters of Torghast events? What will Ve'nari's new currency be, and how will this be acquired? We also have no data on what Ve'nari's new powers or items on offer will be, but we will update players as soon as we know!

Shadowlands Season 2

Increased item levels and season-specific items.

Honor talents will be refreshed, as Blizzard examines lesser-used talents.

New Mythic+ Affix for 9.1 called Domination.

What We Don't Know: We don't know much about what Domination affix will entail. We have also been told systems, including changes to any end-game loot systems, were not a focus for Season 2.

Covenants and Covenant Rewards

Covenants will be working together to defeat The Jailer, which will lead to more and different questlines. There will be new 9.1 Covenant Campaign chapters where the stories will cross over more with other Covenants.

40 more Renown levels will be added. These will unlock the new 9.1 Covenant Campaign chapters, as well as other perks, such as Cosmetic Armor sets, flying, flying mounts, and Covenant Pepes.

The Covenant Campaign 9.1 will open accountwide Shadowlands Pathfinder (see Flying and Pathfinder below). These chapters will open like they did in 9.0, triggered by specific Renown levels.

Power levels of lesser-used Covenant/class combinations will be increased.

Blizzard has no firm plans to change how Covenant swapping currently works, but they realize this is a player issue and are looking for feedback. There may be some changes, as they do not want the system to feel too bad for players.

New Cosmetic Covenant Armor sets will be available to purchase at specific Covenant Renown levels. These new sets can be transmogged onto any armor class - Link to news article with screenshots

What We Don't Know: How (or if) Renown levels will be timegated the way they are in 9.0, or what activities will be required to earn Renown. It's currently restricted to 2 Renown levels per week based on the quests to gain 1000 Anima and rescue souls in the Maw, but there is no information if or how this will change.

Soulbinds and Conduits

New Conduits and Soulbind powers within existing Soulbinds will be added.

Empowered Conduits will be added in 9.1, allowing players to empower existing Conduits for extra power or additional effects. This is still in early development, so no examples could be given.

There are no plans to add new Soulbind characters.

SystemsFlying and Pathfinder

Shadowlands Pathfinder will be an accountwide achievement earned through completing new Covenant campaign chapters that will be introduced in 9.1. The first character on your account who completes this achievement on one Covenant will unlock Shadowlands Pathfinder, opening access to flying to all 50+ characters on their account - link to article

Flying will only be possible within the four Covenant zones of Bastion, Maldraxxus, Ardenweald, and Revendreth. You will not be able to fly in Oribos or The Maw.

You will not be able to fly between Covenant zones. You will still be required to use the flight path system to/through the central Oribos hub to change continents.

The Covenant campaign will also open the ability to purchase Covenant-themed flying mounts.

What We Don't Know: We don't know what Renown level will be required to complete the 9.1 campaign. We also don't know how or if Renown will be timegated as it is now. We also don't know if flying will be possible in Korthia. Since Korthia is closely associated with The Maw, it's likely that the no-flying restriction of The Maw will extend to Korthia, but we can't answer that for certain.

Legendaries

Blizzard would make official statement on whether they would be expanding the number of legendaries a player can equip, but we can expect news on that in the "near future."

Class and Player Customizations

No new character customizations planned.

No new class/race combinations planned.

Faction Balancing

Although Blizzard is aware of faction imbalances in regard to high-end raiding, there are no short-term plans to address it. This is something that will be addressed in the future - link to news article on faction imbalance

When asked whether players would ever be able to do dungeons or raids cross-faction, Game Director Ion Hazzikostas stated "never say never", citing examples from competitive arena play and Mercenary Mode as examples of players competing against their own faction in Arena play. This may hint at a possible solution to the problem of cross-faction friends finally being able to play together while maintaining their faction identities.

Leveling

Threads of Fate has been successful. Expect some announcements on how this might be improved or expanded.

Anima

New sources of anima coming in 9.1.

What We Don't Know: What will these sources be? Will here will be catch-up mechanisms for alts, and how much (if any) the anima flow will improve?

CollectiblesMounts, Pets, and Toys

Finishing the new 9.1 Covenant Campaign chapters (in addition to unlocking Shadowlands Pathfinder) will also open the ability to purchase Covenant-specific Flying Mounts. Like with other cosmetic mounts, these can be shared accountwide with alts belonging to the same faction - Link to article with screenshots of the new mounts

The new megadungeon Tazavesh, the Veiled Market will introduce new mounts and pets - Link to article with screenshots

Season 2 will unveil new mounts. PvP Vicious mounts will be Gorms, while Gladiator and Keystone Master mounts will be recolors of Season 1 variants - Link to news article with screenshots

Korthia will reveal new Maw-themed mounts and battle pets, including a severed Hand of Domination mount, a Maw-themed undead horse, and your own Minion of Domination battle pet - Link to news article with screenshots

What We Don't Know: We know that Korthia will have battle pets, but will these only be rewards, or will there be wild battle pets to capture as well? Typically most new outdoor zones include both.