BfA Patch Speculation thread (8.3 and later).

[vertigo12]

Don't forget that Dragon soul also had a final patch with a raid and 3 dungeons, and remember how that panned out. 3 good dungeons and a lackluster raid that really could have benefitted from being those 3 dungeons smashed together.

That being said, i could really see Blizz going for a SoO approach to the potential 8.3 zone, where the zone is almsot completely disconnected from the raid, with the zone instead standing on its own merit and therefore having a "timeless" feel (I will gladly accept any awards i deserve) and having hte raid and accompanying quests instead not feel like it needs to take place in the new zone, and instead can spread its wings, so to speak, bringing in lots of different story threads from different places.

The more i think about it, the more i really hope that the final raid is Stormwind, it would finally allow Blizz to give the city the same updates Orgrimmar got when it was a raid, and it would be interesting if we could have an actual mirror of the SoO patch, and let the Horde see what made that patch so Horde-centric (And no, it was not the raid)

Perhaps that's how it will happen. It ties up with the Goblin cannon being shot in SW conspiracy along with SoO Garrosh mythic-only encounter and his visions.

As to who will be the final raid boss...Magni? Tyrande? Definitely not Anduin but a pawn of N'Zoth...

[Sondrelk]

On the topic of leaks like this, it seems to happen frequently enough that i am starting to wonder whether Blizz intentionally adds stuff like this to create buzz in the community.
With the Iron horde stuff, and the Kul Tiras robe graphic that just so happened to include a map.

Suppose i might be reaching a bit, but i feel this is something that Blizz intentioanlly adds before Blizcon to create a bit of stir, so they have some guaranteed anticipation for what the new expansion will be axactly.

[Dracullus]

It's not a coincidence at this point. It's a pattern. You're sitting there with your hands over your years in lala land lmao.

Also lol @ "BFA wasn't ready" it absolutely was ready, the systems they went with where a bad/meh idea and no amount of delaying it would fix that. That is a failure at the early stages of development and nothing they can do about that without scrapping a lot of work and probably delaying it by a year(obviously was never going to happen).

Oh, BfA obviously wasn't ready, both pre-patch and start of season 1 were VERY buggy (but not launch itself, strange). And it was clear they fucked up many specs (because they only took legendaries and artifact without changing whole rotation) and wake up too late (about 1.5 month before pre-patch) - they manage to revamp some specs (like Fury Warrior) but some were left alone (Shaman DPS).

But you're right they made a pattern with August releases (I think their goal is to release "classic" expansions in odd years and "retail" expacs in even years) and sadly this might be a reason why launch wasn't pushed to September/October.

On the topic of leaks like this, it seems to happen frequently enough that i am starting to wonder whether Blizz intentionally adds stuff like this to create buzz in the community.
With the Iron horde stuff, and the Kul Tiras robe graphic that just so happened to include a map.

Suppose i might be reaching a bit, but i feel this is something that Blizz intentioanlly adds before Blizcon to create a bit of stir, so they have some guaranteed anticipation for what the new expansion will be axactly.

No, it was coincidence. ;D

[Sondrelk]

Perhaps that's how it will happen. It ties up with the Goblin cannon being shot in SW conspiracy along with SoO Garrosh mythic-only encounter and his visions.

As to who will be the final raid boss...Magni? Tyrande? Definitely not Anduin but a pawn of N'Zoth...

Sylvanas or some specific facsimile made to be a Sylvanas stand-in would be my guess. Someone like Nathanos or something Sylvanas spawned. Does not have to be specific, but i am going to go all in on the final raid of BfA having at least 1 boss that will directly reference Sylvanas being evil, either by proxy or directly.

Completely forgot about the Bilgewater cannon, would be a cool setpiece for 8.3 war campaign, as players have to prevent it from being fired before Sylvanas wins the war and gets her mountain of corpses.

- - - Updated - - -

I would, as always, reiterate my oft-repeated point that no final raid so far has deviated massively from the opening premise of the expansion, and perhaps more poignantly, the opening cinematic.
The final raid can have as many twists as it wants in regards to who the final boss is, but i am not going to assume Blizz is going to go against this streak for BfA specifically. The final raid will have something to do with Sylvanas and the faction war.

[vertigo12]

Sylvanas or some specific facsimile made to be a Sylvanas stand-in would be my guess. Someone like Nathanos or something Sylvanas spawned. Does not have to be specific, but i am going to go all in on the final raid of BfA having at least 1 boss that will directly reference Sylvanas being evil, either by proxy or directly.

Completely forgot about the Bilgewater cannon, would be a cool setpiece for 8.3 war campaign, as players have to prevent it from being fired before Sylvanas wins the war and gets her mountain of corpses.

- - - Updated - - -

I would, as always, reiterate my oft-repeated point that no final raid so far has deviated massively from the opening premise of the expansion, and perhaps more poignantly, the opening cinematic.
The final raid can have as many twists as it wants in regards to who the final boss is, but i am not going to assume Blizz is going to go against this streak for BfA specifically. The final raid will have something to do with Sylvanas and the faction war.

But didn't they announce that someone from the Alliance would die, I believe it wasn't meant for Mekkatorque..

[Sondrelk]

But didn't they announce that someone from the Alliance would die, I believe it wasn't meant for Mekkatorque..

They might have, cannot remember them mentioning anything like that though.

If it is correct, then i would assume it did not refer to Mekkatorque seeing as he was very specifically mentioned as being in what is essentially Sci-Fi coma.
Other than that, i cannot really think of a notable Alliance character that could die, Katherine i suppose, but even then.

I could see Tyrande dying though, either by sacrificing herself in an effort to kill Sylvanas, or having her go crazy because of the Night warrior transformation. The new model and weapon is way too cool to just languish in obscure NPC land forever. She has to come back to BfA eventually, or she will never come back with any relevance.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

But didn't they announce that someone from the Alliance would die, I believe it wasn't meant for Mekkatorque..

I don't think they said that at all. Outside of the Derek Proudmoore scenes(Dat camera focusing on his sheathed dagger tho)

[Alga]

I don't think they said that at all. Outside of the Derek Proudmoore scenes(Dat camera focusing on his sheathed dagger tho)

Since we have to wait for 8.2.5 who knows, but it could also be a wanted misleading style element, since the cloth he wears is like a reskin from Daelin's model. Could work like the suggestion of the alliance Broken Shore cinematic, that the Horde lefts the Alliance in their hour of need.

[Sondrelk]

Since we have to wait for 8.2.5 who knows, but it could also be a wanted misleading style element, since the cloth he wears is like a reskin from Daelin's model. Could work like the suggestion of the alliance Broken Shore cinematic, that the Horde lefts the Alliance in their hour of need.

It could also be a complete coincidence. I am fairly confident Kul Tirans can have a custom belt with that dagger hanging from the back (Incidentally, why has Blizz not made the Kul Tiran civilian/Officer transmog available yet?) So when Blizz updated the model, they might just have copied that belt.

The angle and the music seemed to play leads me to believe it was at the very least a red herring though. We will see once 8.2.5 comes out and Blizzard hits the final crossroads to veer the plot into a final direction.

[Alga]

It could also be a complete coincidence. I am fairly confident Kul Tirans can have a custom belt with that dagger hanging from the back (Incidentally, why has Blizz not made the Kul Tiran civilian/Officer transmog available yet?) So when Blizz updated the model, they might just have copied that belt.

The angle and the music seemed to play leads me to believe it was at the very least a red herring though. We will see once 8.2.5 comes out and Blizzard hits the final crossroads to veer the plot into a final direction.

Rewatched some Cinematics, the first Cinematic of Kul Tiras also had a segment direclty showing Daelins back with the dagger at the back, so who knows if they really want to signal something, but if it seems like it would aimed at Jaina, but it will depend on if she is visiting Derek at his place or the trap is like a time bomb and will snap at Calia.

Speculating is fun, but it still bugs me a little bit that we have to wait long time for such plot reveals, which maybe would have fit into 8.2. But yeah we have to see.

[Sondrelk]

Rewatched some Cinematics, the first Cinematic of Kul Tiras also had a segment direclty showing Daelins back with the dagger at the back, so who knows if they really want to signal something, but if it seems like it would aimed at Jaina, but it will depend on if she is visiting Derek at his place or the trap is like a time bomb and will snap at Calia.

Speculating is fun, but it still bugs me a little bit that we have to wait long time for such plot reveals, which maybe would have fit into 8.2. But yeah we have to see.

That is kind of the point. While the angle and music definitely seems to be implying something, it could very easily just be the ideal angle to shoot the cinematic, and given that the dagger is definitely something that is part of the model, and nothing else of note is on the back, your eyes are naturally drawn towards the dagger.

We will wait and see though, if Derek is still brainwashed, then the story is in no rush to get to that point. It hasnt even properly set up where he is going. We know with meta-knowledge, but from a game perspective, he was essentially just written out of the game.

[Nathanyel]

Spoilers from 8.2: [...]

That's Suramar, and only confirms both factions partaking in the actual assault on the Nighthold, not which adventurers helped Thalyssra establish Meredil. And even there it's mentioned that Tyrande only agreed to ally to fight the greater threat. Liadrin and her Blood Elves were more sympathetic, which swung the Thalyssra in the Horde's favor.

My assumption is that Horde adventurers mainly assisted in Meredil and Highmountain, while the Alliance ones helped Tyrande in Val'sharah and foiled Sylvanas' plan in Stormheim (the end cinematic is a win for Genn/the Alliance)

[ImTheMizAwesome]

Did they brought back on ptr, the totem for tauren heritage armor? Or nah

[vertigo12]

They might have, cannot remember them mentioning anything like that though.

If it is correct, then i would assume it did not refer to Mekkatorque seeing as he was very specifically mentioned as being in what is essentially Sci-Fi coma.
Other than that, i cannot really think of a notable Alliance character that could die, Katherine i suppose, but even then.

I could see Tyrande dying though, either by sacrificing herself in an effort to kill Sylvanas, or having her go crazy because of the Night warrior transformation. The new model and weapon is way too cool to just languish in obscure NPC land forever. She has to come back to BfA eventually, or she will never come back with any relevance.

Here' something ominous though correlating Cata Dungeon END TIME and my God! It seems we're heading that way. Baine is involved, Tyrande and Jaina... and of course Sylvanas. Nozdormu missing in the HoA dragonflight quest/scene...And once again it has something to do with the Dargon Soul.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

Here' something ominous though correlating Cata Dungeon END TIME and my God! It seems we're heading that way. Baine is involved, Tyrande and Jaina... and of course Sylvanas. Nozdormu missing in the HoA dragonflight quest/scene...And once again it has something to do with the Dargon Soul.

This forum already told you that your theories are absurd, the Dragon soul is not relevant.

[vertigo12]

This forum already told you that your theories are absurd, the Dragon soul is not relevant.

I did mentioned the Dragon Soul with my speculation about it aside.

The events in BfA right now coincide with the general theme for "End Time" as a dungeon and base on how WoW described it to be in their official page.

It says that you have to face an echo of the major leaders in the future in a dead world. And the only way for them to retrieve the Dragon Soul which would stop Deathwing and preventing them " from traveling back to the past" was Murozond or Nozdormu's transfigured self in future to come.

Why does the Dragon Soul always has been involved in 3 major events: WoE and Azshara Summoning Sargeras leading to the Sundering. Deathwing and his madness along with the Shattering, and the retrieval of Dragon Soul in the preventive measure of the Hour of Twilight. The third, now I am inswrting my speculation that HoE=Dragon Soul, to be the hour of the third death, Azeroth's and a term was coined for that but I completely forgot.

"takes adventurers into one of the many possible futures of Azeroth, revealing what will transpire if Deathwing is not stopped: the Hour of Twilight."
But what if we disn't really killed Deathwing during his madness inside the Maelstrom but only delayed his supposed death to coincide with the Hour of Twilight in which is the exact time of his death?


Description from community site
One of an infinite number of potential outcomes, this timeway depicts the desolate future of Azeroth should its defenders fail to stop Deathwing. In this bleak future, Nozdormu has identified an anomaly that bars access to both the past and the Dragon Soul: a powerful creature from out of time, living alone amid time-twisted echoes of the past.

In order for Nozdormu to provide you the ability to travel back in time to a point before the Dragon Soul was hidden by Malfurion Stormrage from anyone who’d seek its power, you must first go to a distant and desolate future to discover the anomaly blocking the past. You'll find yourself in a very different Dragonblight, stripped of its snowy landscape, with little more than ruins of the once-great dragonshrines. Wyrmrest Temple itself stands only as a reminder of Deathwing's madness—what's left of his scorched remains is impaled atop the structure.

Before you confront the creature disrupting Nozdormu's access to the past, you'll first be called to fight any two of the following four ostensibly familiar leaders, chosen at random each time you play through End Time.

These long-dead heroes are mere echoes of their former glory, further warped by the corruptive force of time. Their presence here is a great mystery, even to Nozdormu. Once these shades have been laid to rest, the maniacal figure blocking Nozdormu's vision will be revealed at the End Time. None of the Dragon Aspects could have predicted what entity would have such power to interrupt the sight of the Timeless One… the ability to create a new and infinite dragonflight. Only by destroying a mysterious dragon known as Murozond will you give Azeroth's protectors the opportunity to avoid the potential outcome to which your eyes bear witness.

[Doffen]

That's Suramar, and only confirms both factions partaking in the actual assault on the Nighthold, not which adventurers helped Thalyssra establish Meredil. And even there it's mentioned that Tyrande only agreed to ally to fight the greater threat. Liadrin and her Blood Elves were more sympathetic, which swung the Thalyssra in the Horde's favor.

My assumption is that Horde adventurers mainly assisted in Meredil and Highmountain, while the Alliance ones helped Tyrande in Val'sharah and foiled Sylvanas' plan in Stormheim (the end cinematic is a win for Genn/the Alliance)

It doesn't confirm one thing or another, it confirms that both factions helped her in Suramar. I would think it includes everything in Suramar.

Why ask for source when you are just going to spin it like it doesn't matter. Your assumption isn't worth anything when it is stated by the main person herself that they both helped her.

[George Costanza]

So my guess for next expansion is that nzoth wins and azeroth dies and we must pull a time heist to revert the damage, new artifact is basically the infinity gauntlet, and stuff.

That is my guess Blizzard loves copying pop culture.


Another guess is well I will just copy this gem:

In the final patch of BFA we have Siege of Orgrimmar 2. That’s literally what the raid is called. It’s just SoO but undead themed. Apothecaries are torturing and experimenting on civilians in the streets. The raid is also the same layout though at the beginning you’re in Tirisfal instead of the Vale.

Sylvanas is arrested instead of killed, because the Zandalari have suffered more than the Alliance and Horde. There’s a trial held in Zandalar by the Loa. This is detailed in the pre-xpac book, “Death Crimes”. Sylvanas is broken out by an Infinite Dragon and is taken to the past of an alternate Lordaeron so he can make an infinite army of Scourge to fight the Void Lords. Sylvanas kills him.

The next xpac is called Generals of Lordaeron. Sylvanas uses the Living Alliance to get revenge, the Generals being heroes such as Arthas, Uther, Jaina, Antonidas, Garithos, members of the Silver Hand, etc. The portal to the present day is powered by necromancy magic fueled by the imprisoned Kel’Thuzad, Dar’khan Drathir, and Darkmaster Gandling, who we have to hunt after freeing them when we invade Lordaeron with Med’an. Arthas is the leader and Sylvanas is killed in a scenario, with Alliance working with Arathi Humans who are against the Living Alliance and the Horde working with High Elves that were enslaved for labor lead by the young Kael’thas (who present day Rommath is in a relationship with during beta) after Anasterian sacrifices himself later on, which paves the way for them to be an Allied Race a couple expansions later. Generals of Lordaeron ends with Kel’Thuzad escaping to our time to invade us with his Undead, that expansion being called “Scourge”.

Also

8.3 isnt the siege of orgrimmar but the burning of orgrimmar.

[vertigo12]

So my guess for next expansion is that nzoth wins and azeroth dies and we must pull a time heist to revert the damage, new artifact is basically the infinity gauntlet, and stuff.

That is my guess Blizzard loves copying pop culture.


Another guess is well I will just copy this gem:

In the final patch of BFA we have Siege of Orgrimmar 2. That’s literally what the raid is called. It’s just SoO but undead themed. Apothecaries are torturing and experimenting on civilians in the streets. The raid is also the same layout though at the beginning you’re in Tirisfal instead of the Vale.

Sylvanas is arrested instead of killed, because the Zandalari have suffered more than the Alliance and Horde. There’s a trial held in Zandalar by the Loa. This is detailed in the pre-xpac book, “Death Crimes”. Sylvanas is broken out by an Infinite Dragon and is taken to the past of an alternate Lordaeron so he can make an infinite army of Scourge to fight the Void Lords. Sylvanas kills him.

The next xpac is called Generals of Lordaeron. Sylvanas uses the Living Alliance to get revenge, the Generals being heroes such as Arthas, Uther, Jaina, Antonidas, Garithos, members of the Silver Hand, etc. The portal to the present day is powered by necromancy magic fueled by the imprisoned Kel’Thuzad, Dar’khan Drathir, and Darkmaster Gandling, who we have to hunt after freeing them when we invade Lordaeron with Med’an. Arthas is the leader and Sylvanas is killed in a scenario, with Alliance working with Arathi Humans who are against the Living Alliance and the Horde working with High Elves that were enslaved for labor lead by the young Kael’thas (who present day Rommath is in a relationship with during beta) after Anasterian sacrifices himself later on, which paves the way for them to be an Allied Race a couple expansions later. Generals of Lordaeron ends with Kel’Thuzad escaping to our time to invade us with his Undead, that expansion being called “Scourge”.

Also

8.3 isnt the siege of orgrimmar but the burning of orgrimmar.

It seems like Malfurion was also at fault why the Sundering had happened. Looking from the other side of things it says that Azshara made a spellwork perfect and should be stable enough to let Sargeras enter Azeroth. During that time, Illidan somewhat also allied himself with Azshara.

Not syre why Malfurion was afraid of going to the Rift of Aln and somehow why N'Zoth and his minions have infiltrated the Dreamworld or if Nyalotha and The Rift are interconnected even be considered as one.

Come to think of it, a druid in a slumbering state not unless awakened can be considered "dead" or "almost dead" at most. Why does N'Zoth always say we have to be awakened? Is everythinf happening in our current timeline and in between just a dream or nightmare? Matrix, anyone?

[DeicideUH]

My bet on next expansion will be "WoW 2"-sort of deal. Legion and BfA were made to set up a clean board for the franchise, leading to a soft reboot for the franchise, with a timeskip of a few years (around 10). "New" continents are Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdom (not revamps, actually new continents in game files) and you'll be able to level entirely on them (but you can travel to other continents or to old versions of Kalimdor and EK if you so wish).

THe longer patch cycle, the Warfront zone remakes, Uther's Tomb remake, the destruction of capital cities (and there will be others, I think) and other stuff are to allow Blizzard enough time and reuse enough resources for the titanic task of remaking Kalimdor and EK.

The new continents will feel fresh. Familiar but different. Some zones will be completely different from what we know today.