World of Warcraft News and Raiding Strategies

In the Shadowlands, players will meet the Runecarver, a mysterious figure locked away in the very depths of Torghast. To find the Runecarver, players will need to go through the initial Torghast experience and defeat Warden Skoldus in Skoldus Halls, receiving a mysterious key which starts the questline that unlocks the beginning of the Runecarver’s story. Once unlocked, players will be able to call on the power of the Runecarver to carve ancient runes on their armor and imbue them with Legendary power.

For testing, we plan to add a teleport NPC inside Torghast that will take testers directly to the Runecarver, so they can begin crafting their own Legendary armor almost immediately.

Memories and Legendary Powers
To craft Legendary armor, you’ll first need to retrieve specific memories that contain Legendary powers. These memories can be found all over Shadowlands – from questing, running dungeons with friends, fighting against the enemy faction, or defeating powerful foes in Castle Nathria and the Maw, there will be plenty of work for the bravest of champions to do in order to collect them all.

Once found, players can take these memories back to the Runecarver in Torghast, who will then be able to imbue specific Profession-crafted armor pieces with this power. Not all powers can be applied to all armor slots. For example, some powers can only be applied to Boots and Pants.

The Legendary powers available to players in Shadowlands have strong ties to the history of Azeroth. As they are memories in their base form, these Legendary powers are new interpretations of Set Bonuses, Legendaries, and other powers that players have had access to in World of Warcraft’s history. In addition to these more historic powers, players will also be able to unlock a few Torghast Anima Powers as possible Legendary powers.

Crafting your Legendary
Before you can craft your Legendary, you’ll need to gather a few materials first:

• A Base Item. These items are created by Blacksmiths, Leatherworkers, Tailors and Jewelcrafters and serve as the vessel for Legendary powers. These items are not soulbound, and can be acquired from other players, alts or the Auction House. There’s no requirement that a character has to have a crafting profession to make Legendary armor; crafting Legendaries is open to all players as long as you’ve collected the appropriate reagents.
• The Legendary power of your choosing.
• Two Optional Reagents. These optional reagents dictate the secondary stats (Critical Strike, Haste, Mastery and Versatility) of the crafted Legendary. Unlike normal Profession crafted items, these reagents are necessary for the creation of Legendary armor.
• Carcerus. This raw source of power is used to fuel the Runecarver’s Chamber and is needed to craft Legendary armor. Carcerus is found in Torghast as a reward for completing sections of the Tower. As the item level of the Base Item increases, so does the required fuel to create Legendaries, so players will need more Carcerus as they start crafting higher item level pieces.

Somehow, the friendly Runeataur has found himself stuck inside the Runecarver’s chamber. He’ll be able to supply players with the base armor pieces, legendary powers, optional reagents, and Carcerus required to craft Legendary armor. But he’s not a big fan of being trapped inside the chamber with the Runecarver, so he won’t be around for long.

Additional Information and Updates
Players will only be able to wear one piece of Legendary Armor at a time and Legendary powers cannot be applied to Weapons or Trinkets.

To start, there will be an allotment of 4 Legendary powers for each base class and 4 for each spec. In addition to that, there will be a generic pool of Legendary powers available to all classes.

Not all classes currently have Legendary powers implemented. We expect to get all of the class powers in place over the next few weeks.

In the coming weeks, we’re planning on adding a system to allow players to upgrade the item level of their Legendary armor through the Runecarver. If they’ve imbued a lower item level piece, they’ll be able to collect more materials from Torghast and Professions, instead of having to imbue a brand new piece of armor.

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.

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.

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.

In the realm of Ardenweald, where spirits of nature are reborn, you will help shape the fate of the night fae by protecting their sacred groves against the vile Drust.

If you choose to return to this twilit realm as an ally of the Night Fae Covenant, the friendships you cultivated during your time in Ardenweald will be ready to take the next step.

Night Fae Covenant Campaign
The cycle of rebirth in Ardenweald is teetering on the precipice of no return. Every grove that dies to the anima drought and is left to rot has been twisted by the Drust into a thorned gateway to Ardenweald, and its pestilence fuels their wicked magic. If you are to save these umbral wilds from a doomed afterlife under the Drusts’ blackened thumbs, you’ll need to restore balance in Ardenweald. To succeed, you’ll need Bwonsamdi’s help, which he’ll lend if you agree to a deal with him. Be wary; for the price of power can be ever shifting.

You’ll also work alongside the dragon Ysera, who has a plan to restore Ardenweald—as well as save Tyrande Whisperwind from the grim fate that befalls all who take up the Night Warrior’s mantle. However, changing the course of destiny is neither simple nor quick. Altering the strands of Tyrande’s fate will be an ongoing thread that runs throughout the story of the Shadowlands.


Renown Rewards
As you progress through the Night Fae Covenant Campaign and complete tasks for your new allies, you’ll build Renown. Increasing Renown will provide you access to unique rewards from your Covenant.


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

Learn more about Renown in our Covenant Systems article.

Covenant Sanctum: Heart of the Forest


When you join the Night Fae Covenant, you’ll have access to Heart of the Forest, a unique Sanctum available only to their members. As their seat of power, it’s here that you’ll meet with key figures, take on new quests, and store Anima. As you progress through the Night Fae campaign, you’ll also have the opportunity to work on additional feature upgrades within your Sanctum.

Each of the four Covenants have features that they share among them, but they also have a feature that is patently unique to them. For the Night Fae Covenant, it’s the Queen’s Conservatory.

Queen’s Conservatory


All members of the Night Fae Covenant can access the Queen’s Conservatory, a celestial garden where they will harness the power of rebirth that flows through Ardenweald to help the souls of ancient deities to return to life.

During your adventures in the Shadowlands, you will come across the preserved souls of celestial spirits from across the cosmos. Within the Queen’s Conservatory you will find the power to aid you in restoring those souls to their former glory.

To do so you will work with the Queen’s Warden to nurture the ancient souls back to strength using the magic of the Wildseeds of Ardenweald. Inside the garden of the Queen’s Conservatory you will have access to two types of plots—the Wildseed Pods themselves, and Catalyst Plots. You can plant different catalysts in the plots connected to each Wildseed to infuse that seed with extra strength. Each type of catalyst will provide a different type of bonus to the regrowth process.

One catalyst might reduce the incubation time required to restore a soul, while others may influence the amount or quality of the reward cache you receive from each restored soul. For once restored to their full strength, the restored deity will show their gratitude with a reward cache, which can contain anything from resources to special cosmetics, such as pets and mounts.

Managing the various Wildseeds and plots allows you to try to maximize the efficiency of your garden. Learning the best ways to use and place your catalysts will be the key to unlocking the true potential of the Queen’s Conservatory.

Travel System: Fae Circles

Night Fae players are able to enlist the aid of Marasmius, an ancient and venerable member of the Court of Night who serves as the living transportation network of Ardenweald. As you restore the Sanctum, you’ll help Marasmius repair himself, unlocking new transportation network tiers that grant access to mushroom rings around Ardenweald—including places that can only be accessed by the mushroom network.

There are three tiers of Anima Transport that you’ll unlock over time by increasing your Renown Level. Here are some examples:

Tier 1
Allows travel to Heart of the Forest, Stillglade, The Stalks, Forest’s Edge.
Can be used to reach a unique location: The Ring.

Tier 2
Allows travel to Banks of Life, Elder Stand, and Gormhive.
Can be used to reach travel to unique caves in Ardenweald.

Tier 3
Allows travel to Crumbled Ridge, Eventide Grove, Tirna Scithe.
Can be used to reach certain islands near Ardenweald.

Night Fae Adventures
You’ll put your tactical skills to the test by sending your allies into the Shadowlands and lending aid to the Night Fae Covenant. While this feature is available to each Covenant, the allies you recruit and the missions you send them on will be unique to the Covenant. You’ll need to get to know the strength and weaknesses of those 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 Ardenweald. When you restore Anima to a location, it revitalizes the area, allowing you to access new quests, making it easier for you to unearth wondrous treasures, or luring powerful foes which can be slain for rich rewards. Different areas are tied to different content unlocks.

• Glitterfall Basin – Find a unique Covenant treasure.
  
• Dreamsong Fenn – Fight an enemy champion.
  
• Tirna Vaal – Access a Covenant World Quest.
  
• Hibernal Hollow – Access a set of Covenant daily quests.
  
• Claw’s Edge – Get access to powerful kyrian enhancements.
  
• Tirna Scithe – Fight an elite enemy champion.

Meet Your Night Fae 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 cunning night fae you befriended in Ardenweald will form a special bond with you if you join their Covenant. Below are descriptions of each along with a few example powers they bestow upon you.


Niya is a sylvar who was tasked with guarding and caring for the wildseeds in her grove, whom you met in a time of tragedy as her grove was left to wither so that its anima could be reclaimed. As she journeyed with you, Niya learned the hard truths of survival admidst the drought. An expert hunter and tracker, her skills will aid resolving the drought, and the other threats to Ardenweald.
Sylvari Mantle: When Soulshape ends, you are concealed until you move.
Grove Invigoration: When you use your Night Fae class ability or spell, gain a moderate amount of Mastery, slowly fading over a few minutes.


Dreamweaver is a calm and serene faerie who’s adept at peering into the dreams of nature spirits who slumber within the forest’s wildseeds as they await their rebirth. Dreamweaver helped you form a bond with one particular wildseed whose sleeping spirit reached out. His healing powers provide support as Ardenweald is besieged by outside forces.
Field of Blossoms: When Soulshape ends, you increase the movement speed of nearby allies for a moderate amount of time.
Podtender: When you would take damage that would kill you, instead rejuvenate within a wildseed, regaining a moderate amount of your maximum health over a few seconds. If the pod takes more than a certain amount of damage during this time, you die. This effect may only occur once every several minutes.


Korayn, a huntress of the Wild Hunt, is a strong-willed leader and ferocious fighter. Tasked with protecting the forest from the most dangerous and elusive threats, she will not rest until her quarry is slain and Ardenweald’s safety is secured. When Hibernal Hollow came under attack, it is Korayn’s leadership and resolve that helped win the day.
Wild Hunt’s Charge: While out of combat, your Soulshape’s teleport becomes a charge, stunning your target for a few seconds and ending your Soulshape.
Final Moments: Your healing and damage to targets below at low health is slightly increased. When an ally dies, this benefit is significantly increased for a moderate amount of time. This enhancement may only occur once every few minutes.

Power of the Night Fae
When you join the Night Fae 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.

Soulshape
Turn into a Vulpin, increasing movement speed. You may reactivate Soulshape to teleport a short distance forward.
Additional cosmetic forms can be earned and collected through a variety of gameplay. While out in the world, this effect has a short duration before it wears off, but lasts indefinitely while in a rest area.

Unleash your Soulshape
As you grow in power and help your night fae friends, you’ll unlock new Soulshape forms that you can transform into at any time.

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

Covenant Class Abilities
Death Knight: Death’s Due

• (Replaces Death and Decay)
  
• Corrupts the targeted ground, causing Shadow damage over a duration of time to targets within the area.
  
• Affected enemies deal reduced damage to you (up to a maximum amount) and their power is transferred to you as an equal amount of Strength.
  
• While you remain within the area, your Necrotic Strike and Heart Strike will hit additional targets. Scourge Strike and Clawing Shadows will hit all enemies near the target.

Demon Hunter: The Hunt

• Charge to an enemy, inflicting Nature damage and rooting them. The target is marked for a period of time, increasing your Fury from Demon's Bite and Shear against them. You may reactivate The Hunt every 30 seconds to teleport behind the marked target and ignoring line of sight.

Druid: Convoke the Spirits

• Call upon the Night Fae for an eruption of energy, channeling a rapid flurry of 16 Druid spells and abilities over 4 seconds.
  
  The spells will be cast on applicable nearby targets, and the spells chosen will favor your Shapeshift form.

Hunter: Wild Spirits

• Evoke the energy of Wild Spirits at the target location, applying Wild Mark to all enemies within the areas for 15 seconds and increasing your damage against them by a small amount
  
  While the Wild Spirits are active, each ability you use against a target affected by the Wild Mark calls for a spirit beast to strike your target for Nature damage.

Mage: Shifting Power

• Draw from the ground beneath you for a period of time, dealing Nature damage over time to nearby enemies.
  
  While channeling, your ability cooldowns are reduced.

Monk: Faeline Stomp

• Strike the ground fiercely to expose a faeline for 30 seconds, dealing Nature damage and taking an action based on your specialization. Your abilities have a 10% chance of resetting the cooldown of Faeline Stomp while fighting on a faeline.
  
  • Brewmaster: Ignite enemies along the faeline with a Breath of Fire.
    
  • Mistweaver: Heal allies along the faeline with an Essence Font bolt.
    
  • Windwalker: Rip Chi and Energy Spheres out of enemies along the faeline.
    

Paladin: Blessing of Seasons

• We’ve listened to your feedback and are currently iterating on this ability.

Priest: Fae Blessings

• Surround yourself with helpful sprites, causing your next 10 spell casts to aid your target depending on your chosen spell.
  
  • Shadow Mend, Mind Blast, Flash Heal, Heal: Reduces an ally’s damage taken by 10% for 15 seconds.
    
  • Power Word: Shield: Invigorates your target with 2% mana or 20% resource.
    
  • Void Bolt, Prayer of Healing, Power Word: Radiance: Reduces the cooldowns of up to 5 allies’ major abilities by 3 seconds.
    

Rogue: Sepsis

• Infect the target’s blood, dealing Nature damage over 10 seconds. If the target survives its full duration, they suffer additional damage and you Vanish from sight.
  
• Cooldown reduced by 60 seconds if Sepsis does not last its full duration.

Shaman: Fae Transfusion

• Transfers the life force of up to 4 enemies in the targeted area, dealing Nature damage every 0.5 sec for 3 seconds.
  
• Pressing Fae Transfusion again within 20 seconds will release 25% of all damage from Fae Transfusion, healing up to 8 allies near yourself.

Warlock: Soul Rot

• Expend some of your health to wither away all life force from your current target and up to 3 additional targets nearby, causing them to suffer Nature damage over 8 seconds. Additionally, casting Drain Life will also hit any enemy affected by your Soul Rot.

Warrior: Ancient Aftershock

• Slams the ground with your weapon, releasing a shockwave dealing Nature damage and stunning up to 5 enemies for 1.5 seconds. Enemies struck take Nature damage every 2 seconds for 12 seconds and transfer it to you as 6 Rage.

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

Rewards, mechanics, and abilities are still in development and subject to change, so be sure to check back for periodic updates on worldofwarcraft.com as we approach the release of Shadowlands.

Among the necrolords, strength is rewarded and weakness cast aside. The souls of the ambitious and contentious are forged into an immortal army charged with the defense of the Shadowlands.

In the birthplace of necromantic magic, those who master the powers of death turn legions of ambitious souls into relentless armies. Should you join the Necrolords, you will take on the role of protector of the Shadowlands and carry the weight of a divided house upon your shoulders. But are you the one that prophecy has foretold?

If you’re a believer in the power of might? Then the Necrolords Covenant just may be where you place your loyalties within the Shadowlands.

Covenant Campaign (Spoilers Inside!)

The Necrolord Covenant Campaign finds famed warrior Draka and her forces outnumbered at the Seat of the Primus. Their tenuous control hangs in the balance as the combined forces of the House of Rituals, House of Constructs, and the House of the Chosen move against them. With your help, Draka undertakes a bold plan to bolster their forces. You’ll need to take steps to build alliances, steal a necropolis, and construct an army of abominations to face the true enemy behind all of the troubles that plague Maldraxxus.

Renown Rewards

As you’re put through your paces and prove your mettle to the Necrolords 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: The Seat of Primus


When you join the Necrolord Covenant, you’ll gain access to the Seat of Primus, a unique Sanctum available only to their members. As their seat of power, it’s here that you’ll meet with key figures, take on new quests, and store Anima. As you progress through the Necrolord campaign, you’ll also have opportunity to upgrade additional features within your Sanctum.

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 Necrolord Covenant, it’s the Abomination Factory.

Abomination Factory


During the first weeks of the Necrolord Covenant Campaign, you’ll be introduced to Rathan and Emani, who you will work with to establish a small community known as the Butchers Block. It’s here that various constructs loyal to the Seat of the Primus gather and where you’ll unlock a new crafting system—Abominable Stitching.

You’ll need to gather a variety of resources to begin your journey into mastering fleshwork and bringing a variety of constructs to life. Each of these constructs will become residents of the Butcher Block, adding their own unique personalities, quests, and (in some cases) companionship on your adventures.

Mixing Pools

We hope you’re not too squeamish, because there’s literal buckets of slime in your future if you choose to join the Necrolord Covenant. You’ll work with other players to convey buckets of colorful slime to a mixing pool, which will summon a repeatable boss event based on which colors you’ve coordinated.

Abominable Transportation

The Necrolords have a truly unique method of traversing around Maldraxxus. With a little elbow grease and a few extra spare parts, you can utilize the Abomination Factory to create a friend to carry you wherever your adventures take you. Whether you want them to carry you on their shoulders (complete with their tiny top hat), or just want to tool around through the immaculately maintained fields of Bastion, you’ll travel in ultimate style.

If staying on the ground isn’t your thing, you may want to set your sights on the Necropolis high above. It makes a circuit around the zone and may inspire a little goblin ingenuity.

Necrolord Adventures

In Adventures, you’ll put your tactical skills to the test by sending your allies into the Shadowlands and lending aid to the Necrolords Covenant. While this feature is available to each Covenant, the allies you recruit and the missions you give them will be unique to the Covenant. You’ll need to get to know the strength and weaknesses of those 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 Maldraxxus. 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 to slay for rewards. Different areas are tied to different content unlocks.

• House of the Chosen – Find a unique Covenant treasure.
  
• House of Constructs – Fight an enemy champion.
  
• House of Plagues – Access a Covenant World Quest.
  
• House of Eyes – Access a set of Covenant daily quests.
  
• House of Rituals – Get access to powerful necrolord enhancements.
  
• Theater of Pain – Fight an elite enemy champion.

The Strongest of 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 warforged necrolords you assisted in Maldraxxus 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.


Plague Deviser Marileth is as eccentric as he is brilliant, and created some of the most efficacious potions in all of Maldraxxus. When the House of Plagues was destroyed, Marileth was driven mad in the aftermath. Marileth’s creative solutions prove vital to the war effort . . . despite the occasional side effect.

Travel with Bloop: While standing still, you slowly build stacks of Bloop’s Wanderlust. At maximum stacks, your movement speed is increased for a couple of minutes.

Ultimate Form: Fleshcraft renders you immune to crowd control.


Emeni, the Slaughter Daughter was assembled in the stitchyards of Maldraxxus. In life, she was a powerful noble who slaughtered hundreds of her siblings to claim the throne. She respects your strength and prowess as you work together to exterminate their mutual enemies. A legend in her own right, her notoriety rises even higher as she binds her soul to the Maw Walker’s.

Emeni’s Magnificent Skin: When you use your Necrolord class ability or spell, gain a stack of Emeni’s Magnficent Skin. Using Fleshcraft consumes your Emeni’s Magnificent Skin to slightly increase your maximum health per stack for a significant duration.

Runescribed Bone: Each enemy you defeat grants you one stack of Runescribed Bone, slightly reducing magic damage taken per stack. At max stacks, your Soulbind traits are empowered for a moderate amount of time.

Emeni’s Magnificent Skin: Releasing stacks deals some Shadow damage to nearby enemies, slightly increased per stack.

Cartilaginous Legs: Shield amount doubled.

Hearth Kidneystone: Cooldown reduction doubled.

Gristled Toes: Movement speed now slightly to moderately increased.

Gnashing Chompers: Haste increase doubled.

Sulfuric Emission: Fear duration increased for a couple of seconds.


Bonesmith Heirmir is the Primus’s apprentice and among the oldest mortal souls in Maldraxxus. With eons of training and practice, she is the foremost expert on forging weapons and armor made of bone and steel. The arsenals she creates keep the House of the Chosen and you fully equipped to face the enemies that surround them.

Resourceful Fleshcrafting: Defeating an enemy slightly reduces Fleshcraft’s cooldown.

Forgeborne Reveries: Upon death, your armor continues to fight, allowing you to fight for an additional amount of time. During these seconds, your damage and healing done is reduced moderately and you cannot receive healing.

Might of the Necrolords

When you join the Necrolord 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.

Fleshcraft

Form a shield of flesh and bone that prevents damage equal to a portion of your maximum health. Standing near the corpse of a defeated enemy when the ability is cast will create a larger shield.

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

Covenant Class Abilities

Death Knight: Abomination Limb

• Sprout an additional limb for a limited time, dealing Shadow damage to nearby enemies. If an enemy is farther away from you, they are pulled to your location.

Demon Hunter: Fodder to the Flame

• Commission a duel to the death against a Condemned Demon from the Theater of Pain. Vanquishing your foe releases its demon soul and creates a pool of demon blood. Fighting within the pool increases your attack speed by 20% and reduces the damage that enemies deal to you by 10%. Fleshcraft treats the Condemned Demon as a powerful enemy.

Druid: Adaptive Swarm

• Command a swarm that heals or deals Shadow damage to a target and increases the effectiveness of your periodic effects on them.
  Upon expiration, travels to a new target within range, alternating between friend and foe up to a set number of times.

Hunter: Death Chakram

• Throw a deadly chakram at your current target which will rapidly deal additional Shadow damage.
  Each time the chakram deals damage, its damage is increased and you generate a small amount of Focus.

Mage: Deathborne

• Transform into a powerful Skeletal Mage for a period of time.
  While in the form of a skeletal mage, your Frostbolt, Fireball, and Arcane Blast hit a few additional enemies near your target, and your spell damage is increased.

Monk: Bonedust Brew

• Hurl a brew created from the bones of your enemies at the ground, coating all targets struck for 10 seconds. Your abilities have an additional 15% chance to affect the target a second time with 25% effectiveness as either Shadow damage or healing.
  
  • Brewmaster: Tiger Palm and Keg Smash reduces the cooldown of your brews by an additional 1 second when striking enemies affected by Bonedust Brew.
    
  • Windwalker: Spinning Crane Kick refunds 1 Chi when striking enemies affected by Bonedust Brew.
    
  • Mistweaver: Gust of Mist provides additional healing to allies affected by Bonedust Brew.
    

Paladin: Vanquisher’s Hammer

• Throw a hammer at your target, dealing Shadow damage and empowering your next Word of Glory or Templar’s Verdict:
  
  • Holy: Word of Glory automatically triggers Light of Dawn.
    
  • Protection: Word of Glory automatically triggers Shield of the Righteous.
    
  • Retribution: Templar’s Verdict automatically triggers Divine Storm.
    

Priest: Unholy Nova

• An explosion of dark energy heals nearby allies and infects nearby enemies with Unholy Transfusion.
  Unholy Transfusion deals Shadow damage over time. Your allies who damage this target receive healing.

Rogue: Serrated Bone Spike

• Embed a bone spike in the target, dealing Physical damage over time until they die. Deals additional damage and generates a Combo Point for each other active bone spike.
  A charge of Serrated Bone Spike is refunded to you when the target dies or is healed to full.

Shaman: Primordial Wave

• Blast your target with a Primordial Wave, healing an ally or dealing Shadow damage and applying Flame Shock to an enemy.
  
  • Elemental: Your next Lava Burst will also hit all targets affected by your Flame Shock.
    
  • Enhancement: Your next Lightning Bolt will also hit all targets affected by your Flame Shock.
    
  • Restoration: While an ally is targeted, Primordial Wave will cast Riptide. Your next Healing Wave will also hit all targets affected by your Riptide.
    

Warlock: Decimating Bolt

• Hurl a bolt of shadow magic at your target, dealing Shadow damage and increasing the damage of your next Incinerates, Drain Souls, or Shadow Bolts.
  Decimation Bolt's damage and the bonus to Incinerate, Drain Soul, or Shadow Bolt both increase as your target's health decreases.

Warrior: Conqueror’s Banner

• Brandish the banner of the Necrolords, increasing your movement speed and causing Mortal Strike, Raging Blow, and Shield Slam to grant you Glory. Killing an enemy grants additional stacks of Glory.
  Reactivating this ability plants the banner in the ground, granting an increased amount of maximum health and additional attack speed to you and your allies within range of the banner. Lasts additional time per Glory, up to a maximum amount.

We look forward to sharing more information as development continues, and we hope this preview gives you some insight on what the Necrolord Covenant has to offer—or what you can offer them. Learn more about Maldraxxus in our previously published article.

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