Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[Fahrad Wagner]

The end of the cycle draws near and while the season of leaks is not yet upon us... the winds of change are blowing once again upon these forums.

Assemble the Brotherhood, @Shadochi! It's speculating time!

Hi everyone!

In the spirit of previous expansion speculation threads (Warlords of Draenor, Legion, BfA, Shadowlands) it's time to start our traditional speculation and hype thread, this time with a 9.X & 10.0 flair to it. This thread is for everyone who would like to discuss the future patches but most importantly the next expansion, what you would want to see in it or simply what you're expecting to see.

Is it too early for a 10.0 Speculation Thread? Probably. Should we care? Definitely not!

As usual, this will also be the place to post leaks when the time comes, to sh*tpost a little (but reasonably, you know, don't be like me ), and to generally have fun discussing this game we all love.

Speculation before Shadowlands was announced was rather fun, and even though it appears clear to us now that the story in BfA was building up to something related to the realm of Death, it was not always the case, and that's the beauty of speculation threads: until proven otherwise, all possibilities remain open. So please be mindful of that, and be respectful of one another at all times!

All right, time to have fun now!

As always and without any surprise... I am for a world revamp and I am hoping for a time skip next expansion when we come back from the Shadowlands (even though this has been mildly dismissed by Ion). I think the efforts made to revamp leveling are great, but to me it's a band-aid and nothing more. Bringing back Azeroth in it's whole glory would be fantastic, even though as many will point out, it will require a tremendous amount of work. But eh, third time is the charm right? And 10.0 would be the perfect number for a soft reboot of World of Warcraft.

Many other leads include: the other side of Azeroth, the Cosmic Forces realms (Void/Light), K'aresh, the Titans homeworld, an Underground/Nerubian expansion,, etc.

There was a recent interview of Danuser by French community members Malganyr and Sam Volstok, from which I have selected a few points that I found particularly interesting:

Does the Shadowlands transcend time and space like the Twisting Nether?
Time is a concept of Order, not Death. Time has little meaning for existences that never end.

This could justify a time skip, if you read in-between lines.

Death had influence in Azeroth long before Ner'zhul became the Lich King. Perhaps one day we will learn more about the Nerubians and their origins.

This is extremely interesting as it directly links Shadowlands to Nerubians, a point that was raised by many lore-enthusiasts who were trying to figure out which came first: Maldraxxus or the Nerubians? This could lead us to the undergrounds of the Nerubian Kingdom and neatly tie the next expansion with Shadowlands and the plot of the Last Titan: after all, Azeroth IS the core of the planet.

The Light that we encounter at the Ember Ward in Revendreth, that is used to torture souls and tried to attack the zone is the same Light that we encounter in Azeroth. Just like the Shadowlands is the plane of Death, there exists a plane of Light.

Nothing brand new here, but it's still a neat confirmation. The fact that a plane of Light does exist upon the same level as the Shadowlands implies we may one day access it, and that an expansion based on the Light going cray-cray and trying to take over is likely as well at this point.

Would we be able to access the Shadowlands had Sylvanas not shattered the veil?
Possibly, but it would require a considerable amount of effort.

Again, reading between lines here implies that all planes are accessible to anyone who is willing to put in the effort, or break the rules, and nothing is out of reach. Someone trying to force their way in, will eventually get in: it does not mean they should be there... but they can. And this opens up a ton of possibilities, just like Shadowlands did!

So, lasses and laddies what's your take on next expansion? Where will the next patches and 10.0 take us? What is, according to you, the next chapter of this Azerothian journey we've all signed up for? Let me know below!

Active Thread Warnings:
We have plenty of threads already devoted to talking about possible future classes, let's not make this thread yet another battleground for comparing and contrasting ideas or arguing about what is or isn't possible class-wise.

[Fawkess]

My thoughts are we will get a Maldraxxus/Naxxramas 2.0 for 9.1 as typically they don't release a new zone in the first patch and all signs seem to point to big K as being the big villain next patch

I also think 9.2 will revolve in some way around the Drust, They have an interesting story and aesthetic that I think would be cool to see explored further.

9.3 I don't really have any thoughts on other than I think the final raid will be in the maw


For my hopes for patches really hope we see more heritage armor in patches as Ion talked about. Would love to see Troll/Draenei and Pandaren heritage sets

[Fahrad Wagner]

My thoughts are we will get a Maldraxxus/Naxxramas 2.0 for 9.1 as typically they don't release a new zone in the first patch and all signs seem to point to big K as being the big villain next patch

I also think 9.2 will revolve in some way around the Drust, They have an interesting story and aesthetic that I think would be cool to see explored further.

9.3 I don't really have any thoughts on other than I think the final raid will be in the maw


For my hopes for patches really hope we see more heritage armor in patches as Ion talked about. Would love to see Troll/Draenei and Pandaren heritage sets

I'd be living for draenei heritage armor! As for the patches, I have roughly the same layout for patch 9.1, it would be nice to have it turn around Kel'Thuzad, but again there is this whole thing about Brokers and their mysterious plans, but that might be a side plot like Mechagon was!

[Xilurm]

Just as long as they don't try to fit an entire expansion concept into a patch again I'll be glad.

[Fahrad Wagner]

Just as long as they don't try to fit an entire expansion concept into a patch again I'll be glad.

What happened in 8.3 was truly a shame... Even 8.2 to be honest. Oh and 7.3.

What is crazy is how they have turned patch material into expansions (Broken Isles, Kul Tiras, Zandalar) and expansion material into patches... I really hope we will find a more natural cycle of things with Shadowlands. One good thing is, the Shadowlands are brand new lore: anything could be built up from scratch as they see fit.

[Varodoc]

My speculation:

9.1: Raid that takes place in the realm where the machine of Death is located. Kel'Thuzad will be defeated in that raid, and the machine of Death will be fixed.
9.2: Raid that takes place in the revamped Maw (akin to revamped Tanaan Jungle and Broken Shore), as all the covenants take the fight to the weakened forces of the Jailer (who no longer has a constant influx of souls). Sylvanas is the final boss, she gives her sob monologue, then the Jailer backstabs the crazy psycho and she's gone.
9.3: Raid that takes place in the mysterious Sepulcher mentioned by the Primus, somehow the Jailer finds a way into that realm. The Arbiter will re-awaken and take us there, the final boss is obviously the Jailer. At the end the Jailer is destroyed/sealed again and the rift between Azeroth and the Shadowlands is fixed.
A small raid, either in patch 9.1.5 or 9.2.5, will involve the Light/Void messing with the Shadowlands and build-up 10.0.

10.0: It will be an expansion about Light and Void, as Blizzard already said at last Blizzcon that they find this concept very interesting. Alleria, Turalyon, Calia, and Yrel will obviously be main characters of this expansion. I am also 99.9% sure that Alleria will be the poster girl of this expansion, simply because Windrunner girls sell videogames (the 0.1% has Calia or Yrel as poster girls instead). That's as far as my main theorycrafting for 10.0 goes.

[Sondrelk]

I am still firmly on of the belief that we are due a raid per covenant, with 9.1 being the Necrolord covenant. It will be that mostly by virtue of dealing with Kel'thuzad.
While I was initially of the belief that we would get Naxxramas 3.0 transmog sets I have now changed my view to it being more leaning on the Maw aspect, with the datamined Maw Raid armor currently used for Legendaries being what will be given in the raid.

9.2 I still believe will be the big Ardenweald/Drust patch, taking a break from the Maw to deal with this sideshow.

For the final patch I still wonder whether we will go back to Azeroth, though given the lore interview mentioning the "in-between" I am more willing to believe it might be set there, where we would learn of the origin of the Shadowlands. This would also give Blizzard free reign to have whatever time shenanigans going into 10.0.


For a big twist I imagine we are looking at a ressurection of Galakrond, leading more organically into a Dragon theme for 10.0, fitting the foreshadowing since Legion of the Dragonflights being important.

For the 9.X.5 patches I would imagine we will get the remaining heritage armors. There are no Allied Races which I imagine took a lot of artist work in BfA, leaving a void that will likely be used both for the return of Class-specific armor, as well as Heritage armor for the remaining 5 races not counting Humans and Orcs, which I still imagine will come at the earliest in 9.3.5, if not in 10.1.5.

Class sets I imagine will return in the 9.2 raid.

- - - Updated - - -

My speculation:

9.1: Raid that takes place in the realm where the machine of Death is located. Kel'Thuzad will be defeated in that raid, and the machine of Death will be fixed.
9.2: Raid that takes place in the revamped Maw (akin to revamped Tanaan Jungle and Broken Shore), as all the covenants take the fight to the weakened forces of the Jailer (who no longer has a constant influx of souls). Sylvanas is the final boss, she gives her sob monologue, then the Jailer backstabs the crazy psycho and she's gone.
9.3: Raid that takes place in the mysterious Sepulcher mentioned by the Primus, somehow the Jailer finds a way into that realm. The Arbiter will re-awaken and take us there, the final boss is obviously the Jailer. At the end the Jailer is destroyed/sealed again and the rift between Azeroth and the Shadowlands is fixed.
A small raid, either in patch 9.1.5 or 9.2.5, will involve the Light/Void messing with the Shadowlands and build-up 10.0.

10.0: It will be an expansion about Light and Void, as Blizzard already said at last Blizzcon that they find this concept very interesting. Alleria, Turalyon, Calia, and Yrel will obviously be main characters of this expansion. I am also 99.9% sure that Alleria will be the poster girl of this expansion, simply because Windrunner girls sell videogames (the 0.1% has Calia or Yrel as poster girls instead). That's as far as my main theorycrafting for 10.0 goes.

I completely forgot about the Sepulcher.
Kel'thuzad
My predicction would in that case be more specifically 9.1 being a Maw raid with Kel'thuzad. A common defining factor of the second raid is that the main problem fo the expansion is fixed, in the case of Shadowlands that would be the Machine of death being broken, leading to an Anima scarcity. The "twist" will be that the Jailer has gotten all the power he needs to ensure the next step of his plan mostly unhindered.

The Sepulcher will be the 9.3 raid taking place in the in-between, or perhaps more specifically the "core" of the Shadowlands, or the place where it all began.

- - - Updated - - -

Speaking of new discussion, I guess it is time to retire my current signature seeing as it is no longer relevant.

Does anyone have a working link to the #TeamWorldRevamp signature?

[Teriz]

My prediction is that we do our thing in Shadowlands, and 10.0 is a complete tonal shift. I'm really hoping for a "break" expansion like Mists of Pandaria.

[LostSinclair]

9.1 is usually the first 'real lore' raid that ties into the expansion theme so I'm guessing it'll have to deal with either the anima drought fuckery that Denathrius caused or 'fixing' death so souls stop constantly pouring into the Maw, maybe this will be where we wake up the arbiter(I'm still betting that she gets killed/attacked before the expansion is done and that means she needs to be awake for maximum drama).

9.2 always seems to be the raid that we 'win' but also unleash the big bad or worsen the situation in the end this will have to involve the Maw and Sylvanas, since she has become the new Gul'dan/Azshara of the expac. We'll battle our way through some Torghast esq like raid possibly see Nathanos again and then after months of wiping to mythic Sylv when we finally kill her Tyrande will pop out of nowhere and steal the kill in a cinematic, Sylvy dying will unleash the jailor and unlock the new daily zone. guaranteed.

9.3 Will be us dealing with the Jailor and his endless army of undead, can only imagine what this raid will look like.

somewhere in the middle of all of this there will be a mini raid possibly back on Azeroth to break up the pace of doom and death. I'm kinda hoping for dragons but a light vs shadow set up could be there too.

10. I don't see us travelling to another dimension again right after we just had an expansion dedicated to that so my money is something on Azeroth. As cool as an Emerald Dream, Light, Void, Arcane realm based expansion could be. I'm going to hope for Dragon Isles.

[FlemmMinis]

It is time. Early this expansion, but... I brought some snacks.

[Xilurm]

What happened in 8.3 was truly a shame... Even 8.2 to be honest. Oh and 7.3.

What is crazy is how they have turned patch material into expansions (Broken Isles, Kul Tiras, Zandalar) and expansion material into patches... I really hope we will find a more natural cycle of things with Shadowlands. One good thing is, the Shadowlands are brand new lore: anything could be built up from scratch as they see fit.

I really liked Rise of Azshara too. Zin-Azshari is one of the best music pieces in the game for me. I was always hoping to go to the Emerald Dream aswell but I guess that ain't happening now with the Emerald Nightmare and all.

[Pury]

I think and hope that with Shadowlands several things will come to end.
Every 3 expansion is an "era" of WoW.
Current era has started in Legion.
Lore-wise 3 expansions long Sylvanas' ark will end and we will time-skip back into Azeroth into something different.
System-wise era of borrowed power (started with artifact weapons) and world quests as we knew them will end as well and game will move towards different design-philosophy.
At least I hope so, for some reason I find this 3-expansion-long eras of wow idea very interesting

[Fawkess]

Also what are all your thoughts on when we will hear more about 9.1 and 9.1.5? I was thinking Blizzcononline but I could also see them doing a teaser in January

[Archmage Alodi]

9.1 will be in a Maldraxxus raid with Kel'thuzad, basically Naxx 3.0.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

Somebody quote me next November when I'm wrong again but my way too early 10.0 speculation is:

- Dragon Isles continent 60-70
- EK/Kalimdor revamped 1-60
- Some form of cross faction PvE. Probably just Mercenary Mode working for it.
- Total revamp of the Talent system.

- - - Updated - - -

Also what are all your thoughts on when we will hear more about 9.1 and 9.1.5? I was thinking Blizzcononline but I could also see them doing a teaser in January

Blizzconline for sure. Probably with PTR starting the next week.

[Shadochi]

Reporting for duty @Fahrad Wagner

[Fahrad Wagner]

My speculation:

9.1: Raid that takes place in the realm where the machine of Death is located. Kel'Thuzad will be defeated in that raid, and the machine of Death will be fixed.
9.2: Raid that takes place in the revamped Maw (akin to revamped Tanaan Jungle and Broken Shore), as all the covenants take the fight to the weakened forces of the Jailer (who no longer has a constant influx of souls). Sylvanas is the final boss, she gives her sob monologue, then the Jailer backstabs the crazy psycho and she's gone.
9.3: Raid that takes place in the mysterious Sepulcher mentioned by the Primus, somehow the Jailer finds a way into that realm. The Arbiter will re-awaken and take us there, the final boss is obviously the Jailer. At the end the Jailer is destroyed/sealed again and the rift between Azeroth and the Shadowlands is fixed.
A small raid, either in patch 9.1.5 or 9.2.5, will involve the Light/Void messing with the Shadowlands and build-up 10.0.

10.0: It will be an expansion about Light and Void, as Blizzard already said at last Blizzcon that they find this concept very interesting. Alleria, Turalyon, Calia, and Yrel will obviously be main characters of this expansion. I am also 99.9% sure that Alleria will be the poster girl of this expansion, simply because Windrunner girls sell videogames (the 0.1% has Calia or Yrel as poster girls instead). That's as far as my main theorycrafting for 10.0 goes.

I really like your take on it! I look forward to the Machine of Death being fixed. This whole crap took my boy Ursoc away, and I'm still mad about it...

I am still firmly on of the belief that we are due a raid per covenant, with 9.1 being the Necrolord covenant. It will be that mostly by virtue of dealing with Kel'thuzad.
While I was initially of the belief that we would get Naxxramas 3.0 transmog sets I have now changed my view to it being more leaning on the Maw aspect, with the datamined Maw Raid armor currently used for Legendaries being what will be given in the raid.

9.2 I still believe will be the big Ardenweald/Drust patch, taking a break from the Maw to deal with this sideshow.

For the final patch I still wonder whether we will go back to Azeroth, though given the lore interview mentioning the "in-between" I am more willing to believe it might be set there, where we would learn of the origin of the Shadowlands. This would also give Blizzard free reign to have whatever time shenanigans going into 10.0.


For a big twist I imagine we are looking at a ressurection of Galakrond, leading more organically into a Dragon theme for 10.0, fitting the foreshadowing since Legion of the Dragonflights being important.

For the 9.X.5 patches I would imagine we will get the remaining heritage armors. There are no Allied Races which I imagine took a lot of artist work in BfA, leaving a void that will likely be used both for the return of Class-specific armor, as well as Heritage armor for the remaining 5 races not counting Humans and Orcs, which I still imagine will come at the earliest in 9.3.5, if not in 10.1.5.

Class sets I imagine will return in the 9.2 raid.

- - - Updated - - -

I completely forgot about the Sepulcher.
Kel'thuzad
My predicction would in that case be more specifically 9.1 being a Maw raid with Kel'thuzad. A common defining factor of the second raid is that the main problem fo the expansion is fixed, in the case of Shadowlands that would be the Machine of death being broken, leading to an Anima scarcity. The "twist" will be that the Jailer has gotten all the power he needs to ensure the next step of his plan mostly unhindered.

The Sepulcher will be the 9.3 raid taking place in the in-between, or perhaps more specifically the "core" of the Shadowlands, or the place where it all began.

- - - Updated - - -

Speaking of new discussion, I guess it is time to retire my current signature seeing as it is no longer relevant.

Does anyone have a working link to the #TeamWorldRevamp signature?

The Sepulcher and the In-Between surely sound like patches material to me.
And I sure do brother: https://i.imgur.com/NjlLsyd.png
Welcome to the gang.

My prediction is that we do our thing in Shadowlands, and 10.0 is a complete tonal shift. I'm really hoping for a "break" expansion like Mists of Pandaria.

I'd love that. And again... perfect occasion for a world revamp. Imagine, coming back from the Shadowlands and discovering the world has aged 15 years, hell let's be crazy with it and make it 30 years! Rediscovering the whole of Azeroth in its full HD glory. Boy, what a glorious expansion that would be...

10. I don't see us travelling to another dimension again right after we just had an expansion dedicated to that so my money is something on Azeroth. As cool as an Emerald Dream, Light, Void, Arcane realm based expansion could be. I'm going to hope for Dragon Isles.

Agreed. Dragon Isles are a strong contestant too indeed, and the dragonflights have been constantly around since Legion.

It is time. Early this expansion, but... I brought some snacks.

It's never too early my friend. Our watch begins!

I really liked Rise of Azshara too. Zin-Azshari is one of the best music pieces in the game for me. I was always hoping to go to the Emerald Dream aswell but I guess that ain't happening now with the Emerald Nightmare and all.

Yes, the music was good, but the whole concept of Zin'Azshara was wasted away on that patch, just like N'zoth was in 8.3

Somebody quote me next November when I'm wrong again but my way too early 10.0 speculation is:

- Dragon Isles continent 60-70
- EK/Kalimdor revamped 1-60
- Some form of cross faction PvE. Probably just Mercenary Mode working for it.
- Total revamp of the Talent system.

That's my boyyyyyy!

Reporting for duty @Fahrad Wagner

Brother... *tears up*

[Xilurm]

Somebody quote me next November when I'm wrong again but my way too early 10.0 speculation is:

- Dragon Isles continent 60-70

Ain't the first time I hear this. Why do people think we're getting a Dragon expansion?

- - - Updated - - -

My speculation:

9.1: Raid that takes place in the realm where the machine of Death is located. Kel'Thuzad will be defeated in that raid, and the machine of Death will be fixed.
9.2: Raid that takes place in the revamped Maw (akin to revamped Tanaan Jungle and Broken Shore), as all the covenants take the fight to the weakened forces of the Jailer (who no longer has a constant influx of souls). Sylvanas is the final boss, she gives her sob monologue, then the Jailer backstabs the crazy psycho and she's gone.
9.3: Raid that takes place in the mysterious Sepulcher mentioned by the Primus, somehow the Jailer finds a way into that realm. The Arbiter will re-awaken and take us there, the final boss is obviously the Jailer. At the end the Jailer is destroyed/sealed again and the rift between Azeroth and the Shadowlands is fixed.
A small raid, either in patch 9.1.5 or 9.2.5, will involve the Light/Void messing with the Shadowlands and build-up 10.0.

10.0: It will be an expansion about Light and Void, as Blizzard already said at last Blizzcon that they find this concept very interesting. Alleria, Turalyon, Calia, and Yrel will obviously be main characters of this expansion. I am also 99.9% sure that Alleria will be the poster girl of this expansion, simply because Windrunner girls sell videogames (the 0.1% has Calia or Yrel as poster girls instead). That's as far as my main theorycrafting for 10.0 goes.

Hope Yrel is evil, corrupted by the Light.

[therumblings]

This is where the fun begins

[Nagawithlegs]

Somebody quote me next November when I'm wrong again but my way too early 10.0 speculation is:

- Dragon Isles continent 60-70
- EK/Kalimdor revamped 1-60
- Some form of cross faction PvE. Probably just Mercenary Mode working for it.
- Total revamp of the Talent system.

I agree with this, but I think the Dragon Isles won't be a continent but will be multiple islands off the coasts of both zones. Similar to the Cata zones (and I think 10.0 will have a Cataclysm theme).

Also add Light invading EK for the revamp quests and general expansion theme. Void invading Kalimdor is likely but less likely, there's a LOT of buildup to shit popping off in the EK next expansion. But they could do Azshara vs Night Elves and Horde vs Elementals (like Cata!)