World of Warcraft: Shadowlands players have been waiting for more than 200 days for new content to be released, but this expansion’s 9.1 patch, also known as Chains of Domination , has finally been released this week.
In the last few days we have told you about some of the new features that have been included in this great update, such as its new area, the new dungeons, the final bosses that will have to be faced and much more. Even so, those who have been able to tell us much better about everything that will await us in this patch have been Morgan Day and Steve Danuser .
They are both chief designers for World of Warcraft, and recently they were able to answer our questions and those of other press partners in an interview we have been able to do with them . This has left us with some very interesting statements about some of the decisions that have been made thus far and going forward.
The importance of the main characters
One of the most important details of Shadowlands is the fact that in the Shadowlands there are many heroes and villains who have died in previous expansions . This has allowed players to remember old times by allying again with those champions they knew in the past, just as the most powerful foes continue to do their thing even in the afterlife.
To this end, during the interview they were able to mention if this aspect will be deepened even more in the near future for the next patches:
Yes, as Shadowlands developed in the afterlife of Azeroth we could have many characters. Not only the living who could accompany you but those who had already passed away. However, we didn’t want to go overboard with the characters that we put into the story; we wanted to be a bit selective so that it didn’t seem like we were doing it for pure fanservice like “oh we’re going to put this character and this one in there.” We think of characters that could represent the different areas: for example, in Bastion, which represents duty and honor, we immediately think of Uther the Enlightened, and in Maldraxxus, which is a very violent place, we think of Draka, who in life gave everything she had to save her son and now she might have a second chance.
Then, as we entered the Chains of Domination, we had established the characters that we had introduced and wanted to delve more into the villains, such as Kel’Thuzad, who had already appeared in the Maldraxxus campaign but who now works for the Jailer. The battle against him in the gang has several nods to the original battle of Naxxramas.
We thought of iconic characters that we had already met to get into bands. For example, Kael’thas, we did not want to redeem you, but we did help you. Above all we try not to go overboard with the characters we add.
As a result of this, a concern arose, such as the fact that there were some characters in Warlords of Draenor that we did not see again later, so the two developers got wet about whether this situation will repeat with Shadowlands .
In Shadowlands we have teamed up with the Curiae, replenishing their anima reserves and fixing the things that were going wrong in their realms, and now that they are recovering we will go for the Jailer. However, the history of the Curias is something that we will continue to explore in the following patches. We will see the forces of the Curias enter the Maw, we will see Uther deal with the Frostmourne wound, and Draka fight side by side with his son Thrall … the characters we have met in Shadowlands will have a very important role in Chains of Domination and in Shadowlands in general.
The Shrine of Domination and the battle against Sylvanas
When choosing one of the most important novelties of this latest patch, it could be said that the Sanctuary of Domination is undoubtedly one of them. The new 25-player party raid promises to deliver memorable, exciting and challenging battles when it opens on July 7.
At the end of this fearsome place, after defeating nine final bosses, the raid will culminate in a fight against Sylvanas . Mind you, will it be the end for the Banshee Queen?
Sylvanas is a character that has evolved a lot since the game began. After many years of trying to keep his motivations a secret he has finally been able to show his cards in Shadowlands, he has removed his mask and revealed that all this time he has been working for something greater. He teams up with the Jailer to remake the universe in a fairer place, and tries to convince Anduin of it. But Anduin’s words begin to take a toll on his facade.
In the Sanctuary of Domination we will see the next step of the Jailer’s plan, and there Sylvanas will have to decide to whom she offers her allegiance. We are very excited about the battle because we will see all the facets of her life: we will see her fight as the Ranger General, also as the Banshee Queen… You will have to see her in person to see how the conclusion of her story affects the future of Shadowlands.
In the Battle of Sylvanas we wanted to be inspired by various moments in his life and some cinematics, such as when he confronts Bolvar and literally throws pieces of Icecrown at him. Without going into spoilers, we will say that the battle takes place at the top of Torghast, but that does not mean that it ends there.
Regardless, as epic as the showdown against Sylvanas is going to be, its developers are clear that there will be other final bosses that we will love to face during our tour of the Sanctuary of Domination.
We like the meetings of this band a lot. We thought of things that made sense within the Sanctuary and Torghast. Kel’Thuzad, for example, is the penultimate boss: we wanted to delve into the nostalgia of the original combat, so you will see some minions from the Naxxramas combat, but we also wanted to create something original and exciting, like the fact that you can get inside his phylactery.
In Torghast is the Tarragrue, an elite enemy that if you die too many times will expel you from the dungeon, and in the raid it will be the first boss. In fact, before facing him you get several anima powers like when you play in Torghast, but this time there are several new powers that you have not seen before and that will be key to defeating him.
Apart from the encounters themselves, with all their original mechanics, we also like that the Sanctuary is a point where various stories culminate. Aside from Kel’Thuzad and Sylvanas, you will also face the Val’kyr that Sylvanas made a pact with. And there’s room for new characters too, like the Jailer’s lieutenants tasked with searching for Korthia.
An update designed for veteran players and those who decide to return to action
With so much mission, dungeon and content in general, it is normal that those who have not played for a long time find it a bit overwhelming to come across so many new features. This itself can lead to a bit of laziness due to having to carry out too many tasks to access the new content .
To prevent this from occurring, Blizzard has thought of a mechanism to help users who have not played for a long time to catch up in too short a period of time .
There is a mechanism whereby if you have already played a Curia campaign you can gain renown faster with others, but for players who arrive now we are going to improve the flow of the campaign by making some missions, such as the Torghast tutorials, not obligatory.
Our goal is for all players to be able to reach Chains of Domination as quickly as possible, so at one point in the Curia campaign you can go straight to Korthia and continue the campaign later. In addition, renown will also be gained much faster at low levels and any activity, such as PvP or playing in raids, will also earn you renown until you reach a certain level.
With so much challenge and such devastating enemies, perhaps someone would think that Chains of Domination is a patch that is more oriented to the most skilled players, hence a new raid or a mega-dungeon of mythic difficulty has been added. In any case, the team is clear that the more casual players will also be able to participate in all this .
I wouldn’t say Chains of Domination is a patch for the more skilled. There is a campaign steeped in history that you can play from start to finish without making dungeons or raids. We want all players, regardless of skill level, to be able to experience the whole story. We want to make expansion more generally accessible in Chains of Domination.
We also know that some players feel like they can’t progress if they don’t play in dungeons or raids, so at Korthia we’ve added a research system where you can increase your gear level simply by exploring and playing in the zone, to incentivize the content of the game. outside world.
On the other hand, in this patch we also want to help players who have problems communicating, so we have introduced a “text to speech” system. We are always trying to find new systems that help with accessibility.
The other big news in patch 9.1
Much is said about Korthia or the Sanctum of Domination, but the content of Chains of Domination is not limited only to these two sections. Without going any further, the campaigns of the Curias will be expanded to become even more interesting, especially now that all these groups will join forces to defeat the Jailer.
Korthia is known as the city of secrets. It is the area that was hidden by the fog between the other areas of the Shadowlands. The Jailer has been trying to find her and that is why he has thrown the chains until finally he has managed to drag her.
Bringing Korthia through the barrier of the Maw has devastated the area, her buildings now in ruins, as is her land. And the guardians of Korthia, who are like those of Oribos, have also suffered heavy casualties. The Jailer has sent his forces to find something they need, but the Curias, who have overcome their problems and have grown stronger, will face them under the leadership of Bolvar Fordragón. They will create a base there and start counterattacking the Jailer.
At the beginning of Shadowlands you had to choose a Curia and play their campaign, but in Korthia everyone will play the same story, such as helping Uther find the lost fragment of his soul. However, there will also be some additional content relative to your original Curia, to tie up certain loose ends or in the form of Easter eggs.
But Korthia will not be the only outstanding novelty of the Maw , because the kingdom of the Jailer, the most dangerous of the entire expansion, will receive some very important changes so that it does not turn out to be such a lethal area, as it has happened throughout all these months. .
It makes sense that the Maw are going to be tweaked for history, as the Curiae have grown stronger and prepare to attack the Jailer. You will gain power in Korthia that will make you resist the influence of the Maw, such as using your own ground mount.
There is also a quest that deals with the Eye of the Jailer and how to minimize its power. We want to give you the impression that by working side by side with the Curiae you can stand up to the power of the Maw, which was originally a place where you could not survive.
And there will not be everything, because Torghast will not be exempt from receiving the most substantial changes with a new mechanism that will make this place more attractive for all players.
Torghast is one of the central points of Chains of Domination. One of the things that I liked the most is that you can enjoy it alone or in a group of up to five people. However, from the beginning we were told that the difficulty was quite high, and there was also no indication of what level of equipment would be optimal. You could reach a very high floor, die several times and be expelled, giving the impression that all the time invested had been for nothing. This is something that will be fixed in Chains of Domination.
If you are familiar with roguelikes, one thing they have in common is that no matter how far you go, because you will always get something that makes your next games a little easier. We’ve added a scoring and progression system whereby you can unlock new talents that will help.
We’ve also added new floors and an exclusive high-score chamber where not only will there be more rewards but also some exclusive cosmetic items.
The biggest surprises hidden in Chains of Domination
As much as the team has talked about the most important news of patch 9.1, it does not mean that it does not hide great surprises that will leave us totally shocked . That is why both Morgan Day and Steve Danuser have wanted to get wet about what they consider to be the most exciting thing about this update.
We have the continuation of the story of the Jailer, where we will learn more about his plans. So far, although we have met him a couple of times, he has been a mysterious figure who has mostly been trying to get Sylvanas to convince Anduin to join his cause, and now we will see why.
We will also witness what risks the Shadowlands and Azeroth take and see what happens to certain characters that we have known for a long time. It is also interesting to learn more about Korthia and the secrets she hides.
And one of the things we haven’t talked about is that we’re going to tweak the PvP talents, so that players can experiment with new combinations regardless of whether they’re playing on battlefields or in arenas.
But if there’s one thing that makes players jump out of their chairs excited or gasp, it’s plot twists . Those totally unexpected moments that will undoubtedly take place in this patch.
We are not going to get into spoilers, but we can say that our cinematics team has worked very hard on Chains of Domination, like the one you will obviously see at the end of the raid, but there are also some that occur at certain times of the campaign.
The team has managed to connect us emotionally with the characters through these cutscenes, and yes, there will be some unexpected moments that will lead to new stories in Shadowlands.
In fact, the cinematics that accompany the raid and campaign have never been shown in the test realms, but there is also a final chapter of the campaign that serves as an epilogue that we have not put in the test realms, since it is full of spoilers.
The future of Shadowlands and what will happen with the next patches
The content of World of Warcraft: Shadowlands is divided into several zones independent of each other. Some consider each kingdom in the Shadowlands to be like a dungeon that the champions of the Alliance and the Hour have had to enter to save Azeroth. Of course, the original world is still in danger, and that is a topic that Blizzard wants to delve into in future patches .
When designing an expansion we think of a general theme. The Shadowlands is obviously a dark and deadly place, but we didn’t want players to feel too oppressed, so we added some more colorful or bright areas to counteract it.
But it is true that it seems that the history of Shadowlands is too contained in the Shadowlands. At the end of Chains of Domination, without getting into spoilers, we will go outside of the Shadowlands to more familiar places. It is good to remember that in Jailer he threatens not only the Shadowlands, but Azeroth as well.
Finally, at this point, many of you may be wondering if again we will have to last half a year to receive the future patch 9.2. Luckily, the team has realized that the wait time has been very long from the launch of the expansion until the arrival of this first patch, so they will do everything possible to avoid repeating the same play.
It is true that the pace of the patches is somewhat slower than in other expansions, but we want to offer a good quality of game while trying not to get too stagnant content.
Next week we have several new things, such as the Sanctuary of Domination raid and a mega-dungeon, which have always been well received. We have the new city in Korthia and the campaign in which the Curias gather. We are aware of the pace of content and it is something we will try to improve.
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