WoW: Shadowlands - Kyrian Covenant Abilities, Website Update, WoW Board Game

[Stoy]

Covenant Abilities - Kyrian
Sloot was streaming from BlizzCon and previewed most of the Kyrian Covenant Abilities.

Paladin

• Divine Toll - Instantly cast Holy Shock, Avenger's Shield, or Judgement on all valid targets within 30 yds (based on your current specializtion.) 1 minute cooldown. 30 yard range. Instant Cast.

Warrior

• Spear of Bastion - Throw a Kyrian spear ar the target location, dealing 11,050 Arcane damage instantly and an additional 11, 936 damage over 4 sec. Enemies hit are tethered to a Spear of Bastion's location for the duration. Generate 25 rage. 1 minute cooldown. 25 yard range. Instant Cast.

Hunter

• Resonance Trap - Hurls a resonance trap to the target location that fills the area with echoing anima for 10 sec when the first enemy approaches it. The effect causes your attacks to ignore line of sight to enemies in the area, and you have 30% increased critical strike chance against them. Trap will exist for 1 min. 1 minute cooldown. 40 yard range. Instant Cast.

Death Knight

• Shackle the Unworthy - Admonish your target for their past transgressions, reducing the damage they deal to you by 5% and dealing 12,060 Arcane damage over 14 sec. Shackle the Unworthy's cooldown is reduced by 4 sec when you damage an enemy with a Rune spending attack. 1 minute cooldown. Instant Cast. 30 yard range.

Demon Hunter

• Elysian Decree - Carve runes into the ground in front of you, which detonate to deal 7,004 Arcane damage and shatter 3 Lesser Soul Fragments from enemies. 1 minute cooldown. Instant Cast.

Druid

• Purity's Vale (Balance) - Fill the target area with anima for 16 sec. Within the vale your Intellect and Stamina are increased by 20%, and you gain Solar Empowerment every 4 sec. 2 min cooldown. 20 yard range. Instant cast.
• Purity's Vale (Feral) - Fill the target area with anima for 16 sec. Within the vale your Intellect and Stamina are increased by 20%, and you gain Clearcasting every 4 sec. 2 min cooldown. 18 yard range. Instant cast.
• Purity's Vale (Guardian) - Fill the target area with anima for 16 sec. Within the vale your Intellect and Stamina are increased by 20%, and you gain Gore every 4 sec. 2 min cooldown. 18 yard range. Instant cast.
• Purity's Vale (Restoration) - Fill the target area with anima for 16 sec. Within the vale your Intellect and Stamina are increased by 20%, and you gain Clearcasting every 4 sec. 2 min cooldown. 20 yard range. Instant cast.

Mage

• Radiant Spark - Conjure a radiant spark the causes 3,257 Arcane damage instantly, and an additional 1,404 damage over 8 seconds. The target takes 25% increased damage from your direct damage spells, stacking each time they are struck. This effect ends after 4 spells. 2,000 Mana. 30 sec cooldown. 40 Yard range. 1.4 sec cast.

Monk

• Weapons of Order (Windwalker) - For the next 30 sec, your Mastery is increased by 15%. Additionally, Rising Sun Kick cooldown is reset instantly and your Rising Sun Kick reduces the cost of your Chi abilities by 1 for 5 sec. Instant cast. 2 min cooldown.
• Weapons of Order (Mistweaver) - For the next 30 sec, your Mastery is increased by 15%. Additionally, Essence Font cooldown is reset instantly and heals nearby allies for 12,091 health on channel start and end. 10,000 Mana. Instant cast. 2 min cooldown.
• Weapons of Order (Brewmaster) - For the next 30 sec, your Mastery is increased by 15%. Additionally, your Keg Smash cooldown is reset instantly and enemies hit by your Keg Smash take 5% increased damage from you for 8 sec, stacking up to 5 times.. Instant cast. 2 min cooldown.

Priest

• Blind Faith - Your cast time spells become instant, and your channel time is reduced by 50%. Lasts 8 sec. Upon expiring your cast and channeling speed is slowed by 20% for 4 secs. 3,000 Mana. 1 minute cooldown. 1 sec cast.

Rogue

• Echoing Reprimand - Deal 4,058 Arcane damage to an enemy, gathering some of their anima. Awards 1 Anima charged combo point, which lasts for 12 sec and is not expended when you use a finishing move. 30 Energy. 1 minute cooldown. Melee range. Instant Cast.

Shaman

• Vesper Totem - Summon a totem at the target location for 12 sec that grants 20% Mastery to the closest ally within 8 yards. The totem prefers to empower you, if you are within range. 1,000 Mana. 1 minute cooldown. 40 Yard range. Instant Cast.

Warlock

• Scouring Tithe - Deal 5,106 Arcane damage instantly, and 8,228 over 18 sec. If the enemy dies while affected by Scouring Tithe, you generate 5 Soul Shards. If they survive, Scouring Tithe's cooldown is refreshed. 2,000 Mana. 40 sec cooldown. 40 yard range. 1.8 sec cast.

Shadowlands Website Update
Blizzard updated the Shadowlands website today, adding some more details.

Leveled-Up Leveling

World of Warcraft: Shadowlands will smooth out the leveling experience and better prepare new adventurers for what’s to come. Players will level up to 50 before heading to the Shadowlands (new level cap: 60).

We’ve adjusted the experience curve to make it faster than ever to prepare for the newest challenges, and each level along the way will provide more meaningful increases in progress and power. All expansion zones are getting more flexible, too; they’ll be able* to scale to you and your friends while you level to 50, so it’s easy to try a zone you’ve never played.

*You can still outlevel dungeons and crush them for transmogs or fulfillment.


Levels 1-10: A New Journey for New Players
New characters will embark on an introductory voyage to learn about everything there is to do in Azeroth, including your first mini-dungeon.

Levels 10-50: Pick Your Era
Play the latest expansion, Battle for Azeroth, or follow Chromie back in time and tackle any other expansion you choose, with challenges that scale to characters level 10–50.

Levels 50-60: Enter the Shadowlands
Step into Azeroth’s afterlife, and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with legends of the past as you fight to preserve the universe.

Torghast, Tower of the Damned

Once, the Jailer kept only the most dangerous souls in the cosmos confined in this eternal prison. Now, some of Azeroth’s greatest heroes are trapped here, and you’ll need to rescue them from the Jailer’s tower before he expends their very souls.

Torghast is an endlessly replayable, ever-changing dungeon that you can challenge alone or in a group. Your runs will differ each time, but you’ll need to explore cautiously. Death comes at a terrible cost. Defeat enough of Torghast’s unpredictable challenges, and you’ll be rewarded with unique abilities and items to ensure your present survival or bolster your next run. The further you progress, the greater your likelihood of retrieving materials to craft the legendary weapons and armor that will help you restore balance to the Shadowlands.

Other secrets lie within the tower… but they’re yet to be revealed.

New Feature - Covenants

Align yourself with one of four Covenants—mysterious sects, each with their own ambition for the Shadowlands—to restore balance to the hereafter.

You’ll gain access to your Covenant’s Sanctum, where you’ll accept unique quests, undertake a sprawling covenant campaign, and call upon your allies to embark on important missions. You‘ll also earn unique abilities based on your Covenant and class, acquire a unique mount and visual appearance, and forge bonds with powerful souls, drawing on their essence to further customize your skills.

Kyrian - Zone: Bastion
Steadfast guardians who carry the souls of the dead.

Living beings have wished to become something greater than themselves since time immemorial. Souls deemed noble enough can prove themselves in Bastion, land of pristine spires and crystalline skies, where those who surpass their trials earn the honor of ascension to a higher calling beside the Archon, first among the winged kyrians.

The kyrians are eternal beings who draw only the most accomplished, principled, and pure into their ranks. But, as souls plunge into the Maw and upheaval rocks the Shadowlands, scores of aspiring kyrians find that they are unable to continue their journey to ascension. With the number of kyrians dwindling, their charge to ferry souls to eternity is in jeopardy. Will the Archon’s devoted stand together, or will this test of faith sunder their shining kingdom?

Venthyr - Zone: Revendreth
Eaters of sin who harvest anima from wicked souls.

The venthyr have a good thing going. They lord over Revendreth’s castles and ceaseless twilight while arrogant souls are delivered to their tables. The harvesters’ otherworldly punishments strip the pride from their thralls, sparing them an even worse fate: eternal torment in the Maw.

But souls thus drained can’t just leave Revendreth for a better place. They have years of penance to slog through while they reflect on the precarity of their afterlives. And, after eons of service, the venthyr are increasingly ruled by their decadence and pride. The very purpose of the plane may be flawed… and those who were once accusers have become gluttonous and corrupt.

Revendreth must always have a master, and rumor suggests that Denathrius, foremost among the venthyr, may no longer be fit for the role. Crowning a new Sire could return the plane to its former glory… or leave Revendreth mired in the same decadence and sin it is charged with cleansing.

Night Fae - Zone: Ardenweald
Defenders of nature who uphold the cycle of rebirth.

If the Emerald Dream mirrors the spring and summer of life, then the star-hued plane of Ardenweald reflects life in its twilight.

Those who pass on with a deep connection to nature are tended here by the mystic night fae, who retrieve anima from mortal souls and infuse it into slumbering spirits, rejuvenating their lives with the remnants of the old.

Ardenweald has suffered more keenly from soul-drought than any other realm in the Shadowlands. For the first time in endless ages, the night fae's Winter Queen must choose which of the land’s formerly lush groves—and which souls—will be fed the last precious drops of anima… and which will fade away forever.

Necrolord - Zone: Maldraxxus
Necrotic soldiers who wage war throughout the cosmos.

In the skull-and-bone laboratories of Maldraxxus, strength is rewarded, and weakness cast aside. Necromancers experiment on the souls of the ambitious and contentious, reforming only the greatest into undead soldiers who protect the Shadowlands. Those who are determined rise to positions of power. The less-promising become fuel for Maldraxxus’ malign weapons.

Maldraxxus’ brutal selection process has built a vast and capable militia… but its hierarchy is wobbling. The longtime leader of the realm has vanished. In his absence, five of the most eminent necrolords vie for the position, and the responsibility to advance the cause of death throughout the cosmos. Each bids on newly-arrived souls, filling their personal guard with capable soldiers and building armies larger than any yet known.

When they march, will it be towards one another… or the realms they swore to defend?

World of Warcraft Board Game
Blizzard is teaming up with Asmodee, one of the leading international board game publishers, to create a World of Warcraft board game! It looks to release in Spring 2020. Thanks to @Skelextorr for tweeting the photos!

[Dystemper]

Meh. Very meh and you can tell already done if these documentaries will get nerfed. More borrowed talents that we will lose . Blizzard really dropped the ball on this.

[JansenGaming]

Meh. Very meh and you can tell already done if these documentaries will get nerfed. More borrowed talents that we will loose . Blizzard really dropped the ball on this.

You really expect the world from a 15 year old game?
Beneath everything that is world of warcraft, there is just one thing, and one thing alone, grinding.
This may not interest you, but some will.
Alsom, this is the reveal, there is, hopefully, more to come.

And dont forget, Wow is also a live service game. More comes with time. (More grind that is).

Ps: It is lose, not loose. (I win, you lose. The dogs are loose)

[Dystemper]

You really expect the world from a 15 year old game?
Beneath everything that is world of warcraft, there is just one thing, and one thing alone, grinding.
This may not interest you, but some will.
Alsom, this is the reveal, there is, hopefully, more to come.

And dont forget, Wow is also a live service game. More comes with time. (More grind that is).

Ps: It is lose, not loose. (I win, you lose. The dogs are loose)

Phone auto corrected. The word is also, not alsom.

[Lucetia]

Divine Toll - Instantly cast Holy Shock, Avenger's Shield, or Judgement on all valid targets within 30 yds (based on your current specializtion.) 1 minute cooldown. 30 yard range. Instant Cast.

This has me worried. All are already instant casts so are they changing them to cast spells or it means instead of them currently hitting one target they hit every single target in radius. For instance instead of judging one mob it judges say 5? If so, then that'd be interesting to see Avenger's Shield ricochet and hit that many mobs.

[Dystemper]

This has me worried. All are already instant casts so are they changing them to cast spells or it means instead of them currently hitting one target they hit every single target in radius. For instance instead of judging one mob it judges say 5? If so, then that'd be interesting to see Avenger's Shield ricochet and hit that many mobs.

These just appear to be essences reskinned to me. I can already see people getting booted from a raid for not being the right covenant

[Lucetia]

These just appear to be essences realigned to me. I can already see people getting booted from a raid for not being the right covenant

You mean current Heart essences? The few that I know offhand I don't see anything similar in essences. I'm just worried that they are now adding cast times to all the current instant abilities and stuff if it goes by the way it sounds. Which would be terrible for tanking, healing/dps it isn't as bad.

[Dystemper]

You mean current Heart essences? The few that I know offhand I don't see anything similar in essences. I'm just worried that they are now adding cast times to all the current instant abilities and stuff if it goes by the way it sounds. Which would be terrible for tanking, healing/dps it isn't as bad.

I think this system will need heavy heavy testing. Like you said it looks to cause issues with take and healers and there is already new shortage of these. My concern is one covenant being op , everyone picking that and others get punished for not having it. Then when balancing is made another covenant gets too billing and it just causes anger , frustration and confusion. This has the makings of the mandatory legion legendaries again

[Theoris]

Revendreth gives me a Bloodborne vibe. Already a big fan.

[Lucetia]

I think this system will need heavy heavy testing. Like you said it looks to cause issues with take and healers and there is already new shortage of these. My concern is one covenant being op , everyone picking that and others get punished for not having it. Then when balancing is made another covenant gets too billing and it just causes anger , frustration and confusion. This has the makings of the mandatory legion legendaries again

Yeah, that's my fear too is that each class is pigeonholed into each type. I'm figuring that transmog, mounts, etc are going to have the requirement of that covenant so you can't use 4 toons and unlock it for all your classes which would be fine as based on the sets they shown I figured which ones I wanted on my toons (a few anyway). Being required to be certain ones for abilities would suck and cause issues with that plan.

The other thing is they haven't once said you could "reroll" covenants which so far sounds like once you pick it for that toon that's it. Which again is fine in theory, but when they rebalance things it'll definitely suck if you were on the wrong side again.

Now granted overall I'm holding judgement on when Beta/Launch comes out and not going to get upset. I'm just thinking of possible concerns, but the wording of "instantly cast" sounds like they are moving into making current instant cast abilities into casting types in the usual class revamp. That's my main current concern in that regard.

[ForrestAnthony]

Does this mean hero classes will start at 1 also and then exit their respective intro zones by level 10? And will allied races start at level 10 by default? What about allied race DK's? Will they skip the starting zone and just start off outside the embassy at 10?

- - - Updated - - -

Revendreth gives me a Bloodborne vibe. Already a big fan.

Castlevania vibe for me. Am so on board with that.

[Dystemper]

And are they keeping the ridiculous God changes. Do these talents share a God timer with others abilities

[Lucetia]

Does this mean hero classes will start at 1 also and then exit their respective intro zones by level 10? And will allied races start at level 10 by default? What about allied race DK's? Will they skip the starting zone and just start off outside the embassy at 10?

This is my assumption. That current allied races would start at level 10 (skipping tutorial like they do now). Each level in Shadowlands is the equivalent of 2.4 levels currently in WoW. So an allied race now would be 8.3 so I'd assume they'd bump it up. Death Knights start at 55 now and their new equivalent would be 22.92 so I'd assume they'd either start at 20 or be bumped to 25. Demon Hunters is the interesting one since they start at 98 which would be the new 40.8 so either they'd start at 20 also or start at 40.

The one thing I definitely disliked about the announcement is this:

Levels 1-10: A New Journey for New Players
New characters will embark on an introductory voyage to learn about everything there is to do in Azeroth, including your first mini-dungeon.

Levels 10-50: Pick Your Era
Play the latest expansion, Battle for Azeroth, or follow Chromie back in time and tackle any other expansion you choose, with challenges that scale to characters level 10–50.

Levels 50-60: Enter the Shadowlands
Step into Azeroth’s afterlife, and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with legends of the past as you fight to preserve the universe.

Level 1-10 is the equivalent of 1-24 right now. I feel like that is way too long to be doing a tutorial of sorts. I think 1-5 should be the tutorial (equivalent to 1-12 right now) and then at level 5 sets us free to do whatever. If they kept it at 1-10 I'm hoping the tutorial restriction is wiped if you have a character at 50+ similar to how Shadowlands wipes some of the requirements off the table.

[ImpalerEU]

Looks like the 5 soulshard system is remaining for Warlocks. I'm just waiting for a confirmation that stacking UAs will remain for Affliction before finally considering Classic indefinitely. Retail is definitely going down the crapper as far as I'm concerned if that will be the case.

[Dystemper]

Looks like the 5 soulshard system is remaining for Warlocks. I'm just waiting for a confirmation that stacking UAs will remain for Affliction before finally considering Classic indefinitely. Retail is definitely going down the crapper as far as I'm concerned if that will be the case.

I main a lock and just sad at the state of them.

[frozenembers]

Level 1-10 is the equivalent of 1-24 right now. I feel like that is way too long to be doing a tutorial of sorts. I think 1-5 should be the tutorial (equivalent to 1-12 right now) and then at level 5 sets us free to do whatever. If they kept it at 1-10 I'm hoping the tutorial restriction is wiped if you have a character at 50+ similar to how Shadowlands wipes some of the requirements off the table.

It was said that leveling will be faster after the squish, so the equivalents will be a bit off from your comment.

[ImpalerEU]

I main a lock and just sad at the state of them.

I've mained a lock and only my lock since 2007 with zero alts. I never thought I'll see the day when they manage to completely make all specs somewhat the same and equally as boring. Lock was a complex class, you had nearly 6 curses, 3 drains, multiples DoTs, a bolt that actually did damage and an amazing class defining soulshard system. It's hilarious how they managed to gut that down into the meaningless mess that we have today. There's absolutely nothing special about the class nowadays.

It looks more to me that they have a budget development team. The gameplay in general feels cheap.

[Spotnick]

Honestly.. beside for heritage armor, I can't believe the leveling revamp is really worth it... does the game even have new players anymore?

I mean sure it's probably well done, but that is something that the majority of the player base will probably never see at this point.. and what happens if you're level 100? you get squished to 45 and just go do one zone in Pandaria for the sake of it?

[MasterHamster]

I didn't think they could destroy leveling even more, but they somehow managed. I am in a way impressed.
Then again, the game has truly embracced Play-The-Patch, so I suppose it's not that surprising.

[Lucetia]

It was said that leveling will be faster after the squish, so the equivalents will be a bit off from your comment.

Even if that's the case I feel like that's too long of a tutorial. 1-5 still fits better considering you have 8 expansions worth (including Classic) that you can level through. No need to take up an additional 5 levels to go through a tutorial.