Midnight 12.X Patches & World Soul Saga Speculation Thread

[Teriz]

It may be as @Hitei stated, that the raid icon is indicative of the trinket that drops from the Ethereal boss - but if K’aresh is indeed a patch zone in The War Within, then Undermine is absolutely getting shafted in the sense that it’s not being given a zone but a raid instead. Because we’re most assuredly getting Rootlands as it’s own zone, which means (IF K’aresh is the end zone of TWW) that the Rootlands and Goblin theme is being merged together as @Sondrelk theorised before.

If so, Undermine is a huge case of wasted potential and it’s something I genuinely will Blizz Bad over.

I would love to hear the logic behind why you would devote 11.1 to Rootlands instead of Undermine. Especially with Gazlowe being pushed as a major character in the expansion. Further it would be rather odd to have a patch devoted to Rootlands, but the Raid take place in Undermine. That's not really how raids work. Typically the raid follows the theme of the patch. So if you're having a patch taking place in Rootlands, then you're also having a raid taking place in Rootlands. That said, I highly doubt Blizzard is doing yet another raid where someone is trying to destroy a tree and some roots.

[Grazrug]

You wont get a big city in a content patch anyways. Either expansion hub or a small place. Unless they turn it into entire zone.

Mechagon says hello

[Lady Atia]

Mechagon says hello

Yeah but tbf, the cool part of Mechagon (the underground city) was only available in the Dungeon. :/

[Santandame]

I would love to hear the logic behind why you would devote 11.1 to Rootlands instead of Undermine. Especially with Gazlowe being pushed as a major character in the expansion. Further it would be rather odd to have a patch devoted to Rootlands, but the Raid take place in Undermine. That's not really how raids work. Typically the raid follows the theme of the patch. So if you're having a patch taking place in Rootlands, then you're also having a raid taking place in Rootlands. That said, I highly doubt Blizzard is doing yet another raid where someone is trying to destroy a tree and some roots.

It’s not from any desire on my part, believe me. But all evidence points towards us getting a Rootlands zone. So if we’re going off the assumption that K’aresh is patch content for TWW then our schedule is looking like:

11.0 - Khaz Algar
11.1 - Rootlands
11.2 - K’aresh

Which means Undermine is shit out of luck unless Rootlands is a small Forbidden Reach styled zone.

I want Undermine to be its own zone. I already think it’s been shafted in the sense it’s seemingly been relegated to patch content. The etherealraid nugget has given me pause, though.

There’s a fairly decent chance that if we do go off the above assumption, that the Goblins are invading the Rootlands and we head to the city to stop them in the raid. We know the Venture Co have built a tunnel.

[Xilurm]

Not sure if srss.

I am.

[Teriz]

It’s not from any desire on my part, believe me. But all evidence points towards us getting a Rootlands zone. So if we’re going off the assumption that K’aresh is patch content for TWW then our schedule is looking like:

11.0 - Khaz Algar
11.1 - Rootlands
11.2 - K’aresh

Which means Undermine is shit out of luck unless Rootlands is a small Forbidden Reach styled zone.

I want Undermine to be its own zone. I already think it’s been shafted in the sense it’s seemingly been relegated to patch content. The etherealraid nugget has given me pause, though.

There’s a fairly decent chance that if we do go off the above assumption, that the Goblins are invading the Rootlands and we head to the city to stop them in the raid. We know the Venture Co have built a tunnel.

Where's the evidence for Rootlands? I've searched everywhere for info about it and I'm coming up with zilch.

[Jolly Roger]

I’m sure it’s been confirmed somewhere that Xal isn’t an Old God. Which means she is either a completely different Void entity all together, a Void Lord itself or possibly a fragment/essence/avatar of Dimensius himself. Though I’m of the opinion that Locus Walker is the last option I listed.

it has only been confirmed via youtubers

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Azshara? Doubt she will be a a boss again, I don't even think she will be a full villain if she reappears. We did save her tentacled ass in BfA and she also ate a massive humble pie (she took that much better than I thought). Of course we wont have a full 180°, but all of this might give her a pause.

if you paid attention after we freed her she essentially just said "yeah im out but im gonna be back"
and we are dealing with Xal who is her buddy

they also have our enemies set up as like 3 for this saga
Xal is TWW
iridikron has talked about fighting the titans so i imagine he will be TLT
and what better enemy to fight during an expansion about elf unification than the biggest elf enemy with void ties

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what will the mega dungeon this expansion be?

I think it has to be connected to the arathi and maybe the scarlet crusade because we are moving closer and closer to the "BIG REVEAL" of Bolver and Taelia being the lost family of Calia because the story of "oh i lost my husband who was a soldier and our daughter in a scourge attack in this region" and "we lost my wife and mother to my daughter in a scourge attack in that same region" along with the scarlet leader saying "we have the true heir of the menethil throne and HE will be our king" is not a coincidence and will definitely be a big story point.

IMO it will be a lead up to a black dragon infusing themselves with the holy flame so that they have both light and void powers. "i didnt go mad with the whispers because i controlled it" and then we see Anduin finally put down the scarlets who have plagued his kingdom for so long and come into his own before going to town on talia and making a new heir.

[Eldryth]

if you paid attention after we freed her she essentially just said "yeah im out but im gonna be back"
and we are dealing with Xal who is her buddy

Sure, she clearly had some scheme in mind when we last saw her, but it'd be completely out of character for her to show up serving the Void again. She only joined N'Zoth to save her own life, and she hated it and was scheming to kill him to free herself- and that was before he had her tortured for doing exactly what he wanted. And there's never been anything to suggest that she and Xal'atath are "buddies"- she just used the knife after Xal'atath had already left it (and it changed hands several times before it reached her).

The only way I could see her actually working with the Void again here is if she's scheming to hijack the whole plan so that she alone controls the Worldsoul. She should absolutely not be a servant again, and should be successful enough to be the final boss of an expansion.

[Sondrelk]

Where's the evidence for Rootlands? I've searched everywhere for info about it and I'm coming up with zilch.

The Harronir are from somewhere we are not currently seeing, but which is evidently close if not literally bordering the areas we do have.
There are Freysworn earthen who confirm that Elun'ahir used to be where the Isle of Dorn is now.
There is an area in the tunnels between Hallowfall and Azj'kahet where you can see giant roots covering an entrance that would in theory lead to a zone conveniently perfectly situated in the currently unused space on the world map.

All these unsubtle hints points to a patch zone that we refer to as the Rootlands, seeing as that is a name that has been floating around TWW datamining.

Personally I think we are going to see the Rootlands invaded by the Venture company or some other Goblin faction led by Gallywix. This will then lead us to an Undermine raid.
I base this on the combination of Rootlands as a zone, along with the heavy hints towards Goblins and their polluting ways.

[Lady Atia]

it has only been confirmed via youtubers

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if you paid attention after we freed her she essentially just said "yeah im out but im gonna be back"
and we are dealing with Xal who is her buddy

they also have our enemies set up as like 3 for this saga
Xal is TWW
iridikron has talked about fighting the titans so i imagine he will be TLT
and what better enemy to fight during an expansion about elf unification than the biggest elf enemy with void ties

- - - Updated - - -

what will the mega dungeon this expansion be?

I think it has to be connected to the arathi and maybe the scarlet crusade because we are moving closer and closer to the "BIG REVEAL" of Bolver and Taelia being the lost family of Calia because the story of "oh i lost my husband who was a soldier and our daughter in a scourge attack in this region" and "we lost my wife and mother to my daughter in a scourge attack in that same region" along with the scarlet leader saying "we have the true heir of the menethil throne and HE will be our king" is not a coincidence and will definitely be a big story point.

IMO it will be a lead up to a black dragon infusing themselves with the holy flame so that they have both light and void powers. "i didnt go mad with the whispers because i controlled it" and then we see Anduin finally put down the scarlets who have plagued his kingdom for so long and come into his own before going to town on talia and making a new heir.

What are you even talking about? If they wanted to ship Anduin x Taelia they would have done that in Shadowlands ... it's far more likely that they will set him up with the Lothar girl and unify both Stormwind and the Empire in the next Saga once we go to Avaloren.

[Makabreska]

I am.

Yeee, can't wait for a redemption of a character who was cruel vanity incarnate and literally invited Sarg to Azeroth and sold her peeps to BL for power.

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What are you even talking about? If they wanted to ship Anduin x Taelia they would have done that in Shadowlands ... it's far more likely that they will set him up with the Lothar girl and unify both Stormwind and the Empire in the next Saga once we go to Avaloren.

For many expansions, literally any time some young, prominent female character appears, peeps try to ship her with Anduin. Yrel (and Draenei in general cuz he once said he likes them, or something), Taelia, Faerin. And, of course, Wrathion.

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Mechagon says hello

Mechagon? The island with green hills and occasional scrapyards and small towns here and there and with an underground city only accessible as a megadungeon? You just said you don't want them to turn Undermine into a raid.

[Teriz]

The Harronir are from somewhere we are not currently seeing, but which is evidently close if not literally bordering the areas we do have.
There are Freysworn earthen who confirm that Elun'ahir used to be where the Isle of Dorn is now.
There is an area in the tunnels between Hallowfall and Azj'kahet where you can see giant roots covering an entrance that would in theory lead to a zone conveniently perfectly situated in the currently unused space on the world map.

All these unsubtle hints points to a patch zone that we refer to as the Rootlands, seeing as that is a name that has been floating around TWW datamining.

Personally I think we are going to see the Rootlands invaded by the Venture company or some other Goblin faction led by Gallywix. This will then lead us to an Undermine raid.
I base this on the combination of Rootlands as a zone, along with the heavy hints towards Goblins and their polluting ways.

That sounds more like a 11.05 scenario than something for 11.1. In addition, it simply doesn't make sense to jump from a patch taking place in Rootlands to a raid that takes place in Undermine. Those are two entirely separate areas. If we stop the Venture company from "destroying" the Rootlands without going into Undermine, why would we have a raid in Undermine? Typically a raid is a capstone to the storyline we're involved in.

[Nightshade711]

That sounds more like a 11.05 scenario than something for 11.1. In addition, it simply doesn't make sense to jump from a patch taking place in Rootlands to a raid that takes place in Undermine. Those are two entirely separate areas. If we stop the Venture company from "destroying" the Rootlands without going into Undermine, why would we have a raid in Undermine? Typically a raid is a capstone to the storyline we're involved in.

The rootlands are absolutely major patch content I feel.
Especially with the setup involving the roots coming all the way back to DF.
Would be weird to set something up an xpac in advance just to have it be .5 content.

The theory of the venture co. trying to harvest/exploit the roots for their resources & us having to stop them makes a lot of sense.
Far more sense than going to the Undermine. Story wise why would we need to go to the undermine?

[Xilurm]

Yeee, can't wait for a redemption of a character who was cruel vanity incarnate and literally invited to and sold Azeroth and her peeps to BL for power.

People love redemption arcs of sexy bad guys/gals. Classic anime trope.

[micwini]

Can't wait for undermine to get sucked into void portal for a 11.2 karesh + undermine combo

[KOUNTERPARTS]

Can't wait for undermine to get sucked into void portal for a 11.2 karesh + undermine combo

Void... goblins?

VOID GOBLINS.

[Santandame]

The rootlands are absolutely major patch content I feel.
Especially with the setup involving the roots coming all the way back to DF.
Would be weird to set something up an xpac in advance just to have it be .5 content.

The theory of the venture co. trying to harvest/exploit the roots for their resources & us having to stop them makes a lot of sense.
Far more sense than going to the Undermine. Story wise why would we need to go to the undermine?

The impression I get is that the Venture Co would have seemingly unlimited resources and despite how much we beat them back in the Rootlands, they continue to pump forces, machinery and possibly even some pollution energy through the tunnel they’ve dug under Khaz Algar, meaning we have to cut off the head of snake - Undermine itself.

This isn’t what I want to happen, though. Undermine absolutely should have been the capital city for an underground expansion but alas, here we are.

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Can't wait for undermine to get sucked into void portal for a 11.2 karesh + undermine combo

You say this, but I wouldn’t put it past Gallywix to strike a deal with an antagonistic Ethereal faction.

[Nightshade711]

Can't wait for undermine to get sucked into void portal for a 11.2 karesh + undermine combo

That would be a funny monkey’s paw.
“You get undermine! But it is completely corrupted by the void and practically destroyed by the large void portal in the center.”

[Sondrelk]

That sounds more like a 11.05 scenario than something for 11.1. In addition, it simply doesn't make sense to jump from a patch taking place in Rootlands to a raid that takes place in Undermine. Those are two entirely separate areas. If we stop the Venture company from "destroying" the Rootlands without going into Undermine, why would we have a raid in Undermine? Typically a raid is a capstone to the storyline we're involved in.

There is supposedly a tunnel somewhere that goes straight to Undermine confirmed by some Goblin somewhere.
You probably could argue that the tunnel takes you to the Undermine zone, I think it's more likely the tunnel will be the raid entrance.

Making a Rootlands raid might be derivative of the Emerald Dream patch and raid, and while an Undermine zone might be possible, I think it's more likely it will be more like Mechagon.
Sure, in that case we were literally on top of Mechagon, whereas with my Rootlands prediction we would only see the tunnel there, the point stands that it would be a more varied theme, though with very heavy Goblin influence, with the raid being the pure Goblin theme.

The Venture Co. Storylines have basically always been about exploiting nature. And a zone like Rootlands being invaded by them would be a fairly natural endpoint of such a theme.


Also, I want to stress that I don't necessarily think this is the best idea in terms of showing off Undermine. Just the most likely option given what we are currently seeing in regards to hints, and how we are likely only getting two major patches, where one is almost certainly Rootlands.

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Void... goblins?

VOID GOBLINS.

VOBLINS!!!

[milkmustache]

Can't wait for undermine to get sucked into void portal for a 11.2 karesh + undermine combo

I unironically believe that whatever flavor of Undermine we get will see Gallywix and his group collaborating with Ethereals. It works too well.