Dragonflight 10.X Patches & World Soul Saga Speculation Thread

[Le Conceptuel]

Looking at some of the Trading Post rewards, I certainly can't say I'm displeased. I'm a little suspicious of this feature eventually being monetized, but until then I feel this is a really good addition that creates a nice win-win for Blizzard and the players—it allows players to get new appearances that Blizzard wouldn't otherwise have much reason to add, and it allows Blizzard to incentivize players to drive up engagement metrics and consequently allow Blizzard to reap the monetary rewards. This kind of mutually-symbiotic marketing is highly appreciated and I hope it will become the baseline for their decision-making moving forward.

- - - Updated - - -

Immediately upon logging in on the PTR, I get greeted by a Jailer cutscene taking place in the dragon isles.

We cannot escape him! It's impossible!

[Chickat]

Thats what i am expecting too. Maybe new renown levels for dragonscale expedition to unlock story content, maybe a daylie quest hub. Also more ways to get the upgrade items for the primalist gear, but nothing on the scale i expect 10.1 will have to offer.

Maybe even a light version of 7.2. Broken shore levels of content but with no mage tower, or class mount quests, dungeon, or raid. I feel like thats feasible.

- - - Updated - - -

I realize it’s early on but what’s the speculation? Any ideas?

I don't think anyone has any kind of realistic clue yet. The most viable thing imo is Cata 2.0. The narrative jumped ahead 5 years, Dragon isles is open again because Azeroth is healing. Dragons prob get their powers back so Alex might even be able to speed up healing with full powers again. She hasn't had her full power since before the War of the ancients. The seed for a new nelf tree. Devs saying they wanted to revisit Gilneas etc. All the updates models and creatures over the years. Its a likely next xpac, but a lot of work so who knows. Maybe we go to Karesh for void lord boogaloo.

[Nymrohd]

Looking at some of the Trading Post rewards, I certainly can't say I'm displeased. I'm a little suspicious of this feature eventually being monetized, but until then I feel this is a really good addition that creates a nice win-win for Blizzard and the players—it allows players to get new appearances that Blizzard wouldn't otherwise have much reason to add, and it allows Blizzard to incentivize players to drive up engagement metrics and consequently allow Blizzard to reap the monetary rewards. This kind of mutually-symbiotic marketing is highly appreciated and I hope it will become the baseline for their decision-making moving forward.

Honestly the fact that once a month we will get a post about what will be in the trading post in the next month will definitely feel so much like all the cash shops in other games. And it's not for cash but I cannot help but make the association because the format is inevitably the same.

[ImTheMizAwesome]

Since im a mainly 2h axe user, Im sad that we didn't get datamined any 2h axes for trading post..

High res gorehowl from WoD would be the best fit and then the frostwolf axes that Durotan and many npc's are using but still aren't available.

Also i hope the new datamined orc banners aren't only for green orcs but also mag'har.

[Nymrohd]

I still don't get why they did not use Gorehowl as an Artifact. Especially given how Alliance-heavy artifacts were.

- - - Updated - - -

Maybe even a light version of 7.2. Broken shore levels of content but with no mage tower, or class mount quests, dungeon, or raid. I feel like thats feasible.

- - - Updated - - -



I don't think anyone has any kind of realistic clue yet. The most viable thing imo is Cata 2.0. The narrative jumped ahead 5 years, Dragon isles is open again because Azeroth is healing. Dragons prob get their powers back so Alex might even be able to speed up healing with full powers again. She hasn't had her full power since before the War of the ancients. The seed for a new nelf tree. Devs saying they wanted to revisit Gilneas etc. All the updates models and creatures over the years. Its a likely next xpac, but a lot of work so who knows. Maybe we go to Karesh for void lord boogaloo.

The Aspects DID have their full power after Day of the Dragon when the main universe's Demon Soul got destroyed.

[ImTheMizAwesome]

I still don't get why they did not use Gorehowl as an Artifact. Especially given how Alliance-heavy artifacts were.

Me too. It's very weird that arms warriors got a sword as artifact weapon when most-known warriors were using 2h axes, grom, saurfang, garrosh, broxigar, durotan.

[Super Dickmann]

I much appreciate how the new orc priest lore stems from the MU Mag'har, possibly the one interesting thing outside Garrosh (pbuh) to have ever spawned from them.

@Nymrohd

It took me too long to realize that even Ohn'ara was actually associated with the Highmountain story. The whole centaur thing is baffling.

@Le Conceptuel

In general reinforcing clan identity for MU orcs is something I'm of two minds on. On one hand with the Warchief spot gone and the orcs thoroughly de-orced, you might as well hearken back to an actual font of different identities. On the other hand, it ditches a major social development of the MU orcs as a hodgepodge of three overlapping clan cultures, primarily Frostwolf and Blackrock, but also a bit of Warsong. Given the datamined banners I do think a clan meet is likely so this is a likely direction and I'm not opposed to it, but I'm also afraid that rather than interaction with the AU variants of those cultures the two'd end up merging.

But honestly, this is mostly nitpicking, call me cautiously optimistic that orcish clans are finally coming up again.

[loras]

Since im a mainly 2h axe user, Im sad that we didn't get datamined any 2h axes for trading post..

High res gorehowl from WoD would be the best fit and then the frostwolf axes that Durotan and many npc's are using but still aren't available.

Also i hope the new datamined orc banners aren't only for green orcs but also mag'har.

The axe of Cenarius would've been much better imo.
Wielded by an orc, hurt Sargeras, genuinely powerful.

No offense to Gorehowl but it simply isn't that powerful an axe, it just had a legendary wielder. Especially next to many of the other artefacts.

[Darkarath]

I have to agree with Varodoc regarding K'aresh. It would be perfect for a big content patch as Argus was. Especially given how SL and the cosmic stuff was received. You could argue that SL did not fail for its shitty lore and cosmic theme, and it would be true. But I do not think that Blizzard has the balls to go full cosmic theme again, at least not in the next expansion.

Argus had way more potential as an expansion than K'aresh, but I think that we can all agree that the way in which it was implemented was a successful one. That being said, we know that Blizzard could make an expansion about whatever they feel like. If they want to do one in K'aresh, they could, and it could be interesting if done right. K'aresh would not feel so... unrelated to Warcraft as SL. Meaning that I could not give a shit about the SL and their Covenants and different beings. It is not the Warcraft that we all know and love. But we all know and love Ethereals, and we all remember that jaw-dropping moment when we first saw the eco-domes in Netherstorm.

Nevertheless, I think that if Blizzard plays its cards well, next expansion's world revamp (has to be, they would be stupid beyond comprehension if they miss the chance to do it) would be perfect to reintroduce not only Void and Light themes in Azeroth, but probably every cosmic force in one way or another. We know that every cosmic force wants Azeroth. A world revamp would be perfect to show that:

- VOID with Xal'athat and presumably the Old Gods again. Azshara too, as she might still be allied to N'zoth.
- LIGHT with Yrel and her army.
- DISORDER with the remnants of multiple Legion's invasions in Azeroth. IMO there is so much potential with the story about a Legion post-Sargeras.
- DEATH with Denathrius.
- LIFE with the power of the Dragonflights reinstated and more about Elune.
- ORDER with more Titan-Keepers and Titans. DF would probably end with the Dragons and us breaking up for good with the Titans. How they would react to that?

[loras]

Me too. It's very weird that arms warriors got a sword as artifact weapon when most-known warriors were using 2h axes, grom, saurfang, garrosh, broxigar, durotan.

Saurfang ended up using a sword, Grom is a fair point, Garrosh is well known but not for his weapon, Broxigar isn't well known outside of geek filled places like us over hete and i'm not sure Durotan is even a warrior.
Also those are all orcs.

The dwarven mountain kings were fond of maces and axes, Varian used swords (as both 1h and 2h), Cairne / Baine used totems (closest to a mace i suppose) and so on.

I'm all for the axe of Cenarius but let's not act like only orc warriors exist.

[Super Dickmann]

Saurfang ended up using a sword, Grom is a fair point, Garrosh is well known but not for his weapon, Broxigar isn't well known outside of geek filled places like us over hete and i'm not sure Durotan is even a warrior.
Also those are all orcs.

The dwarven mountain kings were fond of maces and axes, Varian used swords (as both 1h and 2h), Cairne / Baine used totems (closest to a mace i suppose) and so on.

I'm all for the axe of Cenarius but let's not act like only orc warriors exist.

Gorehowl is more iconic than the axe of Cenarius and its new WoD lore of being fed on the blood of Gronn could be extrapolated further to make it artifact-tier. While non-orc warriors exist (For now) orc warriors are the most iconic and besides, there was only one 2H axe artifact.

[loras]

Gorehowl is more iconic than the axe of Cenarius and its new WoD lore of being fed on the blood of Gronn could be extrapolated further to make it artifact-tier. While non-orc warriors exist (For now) orc warriors are the most iconic and besides, there was only one 2H axe artifact.

Honestly after Varian's death his sword made sense moreso than Gorehowl, i mean Grom is nice and all but Warcraft 3 is a very long time ago now. Varian is arguably more well known by that time since WoD's Grom wasn't exactly the reason the character was so memorable.

And Gronn blood is nice but it does kinda pale to all three options considered so far:
- Strom'kar void-fed and improved over countless years and generations
- Varian's blades heavily enchanted by the elves and used in feats at least as impressive as Grom's, if nit completely outclassing them
- Axe of Cenarius literally empowered by a demigod and capable of injuring Sargeras

Gorehowl really doesn't cut it in several senses of the word.

[Nymrohd]

Saurfang ended up using a sword, Grom is a fair point, Garrosh is well known but not for his weapon, Broxigar isn't well known outside of geek filled places like us over hete and i'm not sure Durotan is even a warrior.
Also those are all orcs.

The dwarven mountain kings were fond of maces and axes, Varian used swords (as both 1h and 2h), Cairne / Baine used totems (closest to a mace i suppose) and so on.

I'm all for the axe of Cenarius but let's not act like only orc warriors exist.

Axe of Cenarius would have worked if they had actually used Brox. One of my complaints about Argus was that there was little sell in for the more traditional races of the Horde; you really only interacted with Draenei, an Elf and a Human. They could have made it so that Brox had been saved by the Krokul and lived among them (Argus is almost in the nether so maybe locals just don't age at the same space; who cares anyway, everyone else in WoW is immortal).

But you don't have to sell Gorehowl short. They could easily expand its lore about how the gronn hearts could have empowered it, heck even linking it to Aggramar.

- - - Updated - - -

I much appreciate how the new orc priest lore stems from the MU Mag'har, possibly the one interesting thing outside Garrosh (pbuh) to have ever spawned from them.

@Nymrohd

It took me too long to realize that even Ohn'ara was actually associated with the Highmountain story. The whole centaur thing is baffling.

If I rewrote the game, Broken Isles would have been just Suramar with some of the areas from the surrounding zones and the rest of the expac would be in revamped Old Zones constantly hitting you in the face with the fact that the Legion is slaughtering civilians across the entire planet (maybe add a raid tier where they sack a couple of faction cities and we keep them busy so the people can evacuate). And ofc I would have had KJ shoot Dalaran down.

But yeah, you could replace the Maruuk with the Highmountain story, have the Bloodtotem in league with the Primalists and it would fit right a glove. You could even have Ebyssian there and in this version he would have ALWAYS hidden in the Dragon Isles, born after they were hidden. Just imagine how much more drama you'd add in the timeline if after the island was shutdown, Deathwing arrived there and had to be defeated by an alliance of the locals. Plus Drogbar and Kobolds to tie us to the underground zone that is happening soon (though if it was me, I'd have made the Drogbar just muscle Dark Trolls).

[Gorsameth]

Artefacts were forgotten lost weapons. Gorehowl wasn't lost just because Garrosh left it in the Vault and everyone had already looted it at some point.

Doesn't matter how iconic it is, it simply didn't fit the profile Blizzard were looking for.

[Nymrohd]

Artefacts were forgotten lost weapons. Gorehowl wasn't lost just because Garrosh left it in the Vault and everyone had already looted it at some point.

Doesn't matter how iconic it is, it simply didn't fit the profile Blizzard were looking for.

Yeah, Doomhammer was very forgotten and Thrall did trip and drop it in the Maelstorm so I guess that makes it lost . . .

[Catastrophy349]

https://twitter.com/soulsobreezy/sta...aKC4TWGcxCJUWA

5th Old God. Love to see it!

[Varodoc]

but the etherals as shown in Netherstorm have hyper advanced tech called biodomes that enable them to protect flora and fauna living on asteroids. Surely they did NOT develop that tech in the Netherstorm. They obviously developed that on K'aresh to protect their own planet chunks. In fact, what we see in Netherstorm is likely just a primitive version. THey probably preserved entire continents or even oceans of K'aresh in biodomes.

So, no, very obviously K'aresh was destroyed as a planet, but astroids / oceans are floating there that contain K'aresh life under biodomes probably connected by space platofrms.

Because people loved so much how Shadowlands was just a bunch of disconnected asteroids floating in a sea of nothingness, right?

K'aresh will not be an expansion. A patch to explore this place will be sufficient, and I envision Alleria Windrunner and the Ren'dorei playing a pivotal role in this. After all, they are the only mortals who ever defied the Shadows' whispers and they are students of Locus-Walker, the last major Ethereal character in the story. As they are the only ones who ever defied the Void Lords, they might be the key to cleansing what is left of K'aresh from Void corruption.

- - - Updated - - -

https://twitter.com/soulsobreezy/sta...aKC4TWGcxCJUWA

5th Old God. Love to see it!

I mean, the page is speaking facts. History is written by the victors, this is true in fiction and in real life as well. History is written by the victors, period. What is perceived as "good" and "evil" is shaped by the victor.

The Black Empire lost the war for Azeroth, the Titans successfully "ordered" Azeroth. As a result, the modern societies of Azeroth moved on with the Titans' vision and saw the Old Gods as villains and the Titans as saviours.

If the Black Empire won the war and kept their power over Azeroth, then the modern societies would instead see the Old Gods as benevolent Gods and the Titans as evil alien invaders.

We already know that the Old Gods have an agenda instilled to them by their creators, the Void Lords. The agenda to corrupt a nascent World-Soul and turn it into the ultimate weapon of the Void. This is no different than the Titans having their own agenda, to bring Order throughout the Cosmos. And both of these agenda can either benefit or endanger mortals. Old Gods endanger mortals because their triumph heralds the Hour of Twilight, the end of all life; simultaneously, did the Old Gods not save Azshara's life when she was drowning, hm? Did they not turn her into a more powerful being than she could have ever imagined to be? And did the Titans not built massive engines specifically purposed to wipe out all life on Azeroth, similar to the Hour of Twilight?

So, even if you wanted to argue that the Old Gods are objectively evil because they want to wipe out all life (Hour of Twilight), then you need to acknowledge that the Titans are evil too, because they have no problem wiping out all life. That's why they built multiple engines scattered throughout the planet (like the Forge of Re-origination) that, once combined, can wipe out all living organisms on Azeroth. And this was exactly what one of their agents, Algalon, they tried to do.

As you can see, history is written by the victors, and there are shades of grey everywhere (except in BfA Sylvanas ofc, she's just pure evil, but we've moved past that flop).

[Super Dickmann]

Honestly after Varian's death his sword made sense moreso than Gorehowl, i mean Grom is nice and all but Warcraft 3 is a very long time ago now. Varian is arguably more well known by that time since WoD's Grom wasn't exactly the reason the character was so memorable.

And Gronn blood is nice but it does kinda pale to all three options considered so far:
- Strom'kar void-fed and improved over countless years and generations
- Varian's blades heavily enchanted by the elves and used in feats at least as impressive as Grom's, if nit completely outclassing them
- Axe of Cenarius literally empowered by a demigod and capable of injuring Sargeras

Gorehowl really doesn't cut it in several senses of the word.

Gorehowl was associated with not just Grom but Garrosh and was prominent throughout. Purely by being in the RTS and being associated with an RTS protagonist elevates Gorehowl, but even foregoing that and just going by game appearances, it took until Wrath for Varian to return with his sword (Which can split into sword making it more of a fury weapon anyway) whereas Gorehowl has been referenced even prior. To know Shalamayne's lore you need to read the atrocious comic book or wowpedia. To know about the axe of Cenarius you need to read the even more atrocious Knaak novels. Gorehowl on the other hand constantly pops up in pivotal moments and what gimmick it does have beyond just recognition, i.e feeding off of those it kills to get better at killing lends itself perfectly to gaining power the more you use it. Also killing a C'thraxx and killing a Pit Lord isn't too much of a rush and that Gorehowl being used to chop down tons of demons elevates it, it's iconic across mediums.

- - - Updated - - -

https://twitter.com/soulsobreezy/sta...aKC4TWGcxCJUWA

5th Old God. Love to see it!

Chance of Knaifu appearance rises.

[Varodoc]

Xal'atath being an Old God is something that was planned since the beginning and that's why it is one of the most popular theories from modern WoW, Blizzard made it obvious through many of her whispers. Such as this one:

It is ironic that the weakest of us may be the ultimate victor. C'Thun, Yogg-Saron, Y'Shaarj, and... well. Only one would remain to consume the world, that was always meant to be

In which Xal'atath directly puts herself in the same field as C'Thun, Yogg-Saron, Y'Shaarj and... (and N'Zoth).

As well, her general knowledge of the many forces and histories of Azeroth and the wider Cosmos made it clear since the start that she was no random servant of the Void, but something more.

What people here are ignoring for some reason (and this truly puzzles me, why people here are ignoring this) is that Xal'atath willingly chose to possess the body of a High elf, which then become a Void elf. Clearly this Old God was interested in having an elven form.

We might have been underestimating the potential of elves all along.

[Darkarath]

https://twitter.com/soulsobreezy/sta...aKC4TWGcxCJUWA

5th Old God. Love to see it!

Interesting... is the fifth Xal'athat or someone else?

Very interesting too is the part where it says that the Titans created one continent, to which the side note says: ''Were they truly ignorant of what lies beyond the waves?''. This could be taken as another continent or continents.