The War Within 11.X Patches & World Soul Saga Speculation Thread

[CasualFilth]

Only thing I care about for 11.0 is seeing either Azshara, Xal'atath, or Iridikron (preferably a variation of all of them). Love these characters!

See, I'm on the opposite camp - cannot stand the 'scheming'/'mystery box' characters that WoW's so obsessed with over the last couple of years (Sylvanas anyone? Jailer?). I don't want to wait for 3 expansions to know what the 'grand scheme' was all along.

[Nymrohd]

See, I'm on the opposite camp - cannot stand the 'scheming'/'mystery box' characters that WoW's so obsessed with over the last couple of years (Sylvanas anyone? Jailer?). I don't want to wait for 3 expansions to know what the 'grand scheme' was all along.

The thing is, we know what ALL of the above are after.

- - - Updated - - -

ah yes i see.

when you mentioned drustvar, it triggered me because i really hated it at BfA. Then i had to endure maldraxxus and the venthyr zone (whose name i've forgotten) and a bit of ardenweald because everything was so dark...

i'm glad there aren't any in DF, and i hope the next expansion doesn't have any either!

Maybe you could readjust your alpha settings?

[Kiivar86]

Zone-wise, the fissure idea lodged in my head and gave me an idea I'd love to see. Set in a narrow fissure, caves and structures on either side, perhaps even a city. A real vertical situation.

I used to play Starsiege Tribes (the original, not Tribes Ascend) and the maps were highly modifiable. What was really neat was you didn't even need to download them ahead of time, just connect to the server and you'd get it. Anyway, there was one modded map I remember loving, where basically the modder took the ground and flipped it on its side, and then did the same a few hundred feet away. They terminated at an angle together so it was like a really narrow V shape. And they put in buildings and the like into the sides. It was really neat.

I'd love something like that.

And also since Avaloren is likely involved, I want something based on Avalon or Arthurian lore of course.

[Hitei]

Only thing I care about for 11.0 is seeing either Azshara, Xal'atath, or Iridikron (preferably a variation of all of them). Love these characters!

I think you're likely to Xal and Iridikron towards the tail end.

People seem to think that 11.0 is either going to be a revamp or it's going to be conclusive in nature. But like Dragonflight, I expect it to build out additional lore and breathing room for the decade to come. People also seem to think 11.0 will be Void or Light stuff, but imo with Iridikron absconding, I think that has realistically been set to 12.0. All signs point to Azshara having gone up the chain to the Void itself, and Azshara's current plan seems to be making her move after Iridikron's whole thing plays out.

I don't think they're going to consign Void!Azshara to showing up in an X.3 patch and dying. Not after they bothered to save her from Nazjatar, elevate her cosmic status and hold on to her for 2 expansions. Which means that Iridikron will probably do whatever his plan is as part of 11.0 (a strong setup for him as last boss) and when it works, Azshara and the void proper will make their move in 12.0.

[Santandame]

I think a patch zone should be welcoming since you often have to stay there for a longer time, especially the final zone added in an expansion. But the zones at release should have variety.
Imo TI is still the best final patch zone exactly because of how it looked and how it sounded (and for many other reasons)

It’s TI or Nazjatar for me. I say Nazjatar as Uldum and Vale weren’t new.

[Dismayxz]

Just FYI, it's entirely possible that the heroic mount for the expansion looks something like this;



That NPC is called Stormrider, and it is located in the Storm Peaks near Ulduar. So it is entirely possible that the Algerian Stormrider is actually an elemental.

Also it resembles this elemental mount used to talk about more surprises coming at BlizzCon 2023;



Just saying....

It's a fair point all in all, but I wouldn't take the Blizzcon Elemental into the equation. It's way too different, the Armor Pieces on it are more in-line with the themes behind internal Blizzard service rewards and the elemental itself is not a Storm Elemental at all, in fact - it uses the Head of the Snow Elementals in Azure Span, the one that looks very protoss-y.

I'm following you on the Stormrider Elemental line of thinking, as far as that goes. Though that Gryphon Texture still has relevance and there's plenty more going down the Stormrider = Dwarf path. But that Second one is 100% a Snow Elemental with a Blizzard theme, the usual on the nose Blizzard Bcon Pet/Mount thing, like the Polar Bear.

[Hitei]

Zone-wise, the fissure idea lodged in my head and gave me an idea I'd love to see. Set in a narrow fissure, caves and structures on either side, perhaps even a city. A real vertical situation.

I used to play Starsiege Tribes (the original, not Tribes Ascend) and the maps were highly modifiable. What was really neat was you didn't even need to download them ahead of time, just connect to the server and you'd get it. Anyway, there was one modded map I remember loving, where basically the modder took the ground and flipped it on its side, and then did the same a few hundred feet away. They terminated at an angle together so it was like a really narrow V shape. And they put in buildings and the like into the sides. It was really neat.

I'd love something like that.

And also since Avaloren is likely involved, I want something based on Avalon or Arthurian lore of course.

I think at this point we can work backwards from what is confirmed and get in some pretty good guesses:


The new location has Khaz Algar in it, be it just a city or zone or subzone. That's pretty obviously the "Algarian" of the mount's name. Unless the achievement list is fake and literally no one has bothered to corroborate its existence, I think this is safely a 100% known.


Khaz Algar is probably in "Alvaloren". It's a bit too coincidental that the two books were both added to Uldaman, and that the Algar book has earthen going to investigate a thing, being altered by the anomaly and starting to take on a life of their own; while the Alvaloren book talks about a group of heretics (i.e. Titan forces not doing or believing what they are supposed to) in some place that is difficult to reach.

Alvaloren is likely west of Kalimdor, and is at least partially an island of some sort. The failed attempts to reach it by Odyn's forces all end up washed up on the shores of (at that time, probably pre-sundered) Kalimdor (the Observation report cites the Khaz Algar situation as something that should be searched in 'records' and that is isolated from the dwarven emergence from Uldaman by "vast swaths of time"). Regardless of sundering or not, the wreckage report clearly suggests that Alvaloren is reached by sea and that successfully getting there is a hurdle, regardless of what is on it, the expeditions aren't just going missing, they're getting destroyed still in the water. I don't think it's coincidence that Nightsquall was added this expansion and talks about seemingly perpetual storms and monsters preventing anything from getting to some location west of Kalimdor. These unnatural storms and monsters also match up with Odyn's forces being killed before they could reach Alvaloren.

The structural nature of Alvaloren is more questionable. As above, it's at least partially an island. It's someplace you can reach by sea, and someplace that pirates (probably) found by sailing to. It's possible it also contains an underground element, we at least know there is an anomalous fissure involving some sort of magic or energy there, but there's also not much to suggest there must be an underground part of it, since it could very literally just be some sort of magical font-pit with something below (ripe for a patch zone). We have no idea if the fissure is a Deepholm or Underdark sized entire realm or just a singular contained gap a la CoT Well of Eternity.

The Dwearthen of Khaz Algar seem to have picked up (probably) gryphons, and if that is indeed the texture for the Stormrider, we have a few additional bits of evidence: The gryphon has likely also been altered by whatever anomaly the fissure contains (I'd expect the Dwearthen to look similar, dark teal-purple skin and teal glowy effects). And they are stormriders; this would check out with the above conclusions--Khaz Algar being located in Alvaloren, and Alvaloren having perpetual unnatural storms surrounding/covering it. Since they are called stormriders, they are probably not a society that wholly (chiefly?) stays contained in an underground space, they spend at least part of their time out in the open (in the storms), though again, this doesn't suggest there can't possibly be an underground space, just that they don't exist solely in one.

[Revamp Man]

I like this discussion. So, what types of "biomes" would everyone like to see in 11.0 (can be related to a theme/fanfiction "hope").

Give me Arthurian villages
A bog
True desert

[Mecheon]

Y'know, speaking of deserts, we don't have any desert dwarves in-game and that'd certainly give them a more unique enviroment

but of course we don't just have desert dwarves. We make the desert.... The outback. Because there's a distinct lack of Australian enviroments

[Dismayxz]

I take back my previous comment. This conversation is insane. Are people seriously losing their minds over a “single” data-mined name?

Not exactly, they are just loosing their mind about Teriz. Which is... fair.

[Marlamin]

It's a fair point all in all, but I wouldn't take the Blizzcon Elemental into the equation. It's way too different, the Armor Pieces on it are more in-line with the themes behind internal Blizzard service rewards and the elemental itself is not a Storm Elemental at all, in fact - it uses the Head of the Snow Elementals in Azure Span, the one that looks very protoss-y.

I'm following you on the Stormrider Elemental line of thinking, as far as that goes. Though that Gryphon Texture still has relevance and there's plenty more going down the Stormrider = Dwarf path. But that Second one is 100% a Snow Elemental with a Blizzard theme, the usual on the nose Blizzard Bcon Pet/Mount thing, like the Polar Bear.

Yeah, I have a feeling it's not related either, it was added in 9.2 (with the key having an ID older than lot of 9.1 keys even) and was likely a reward for BlizzCon 2022, which wouldn't have had a 11.0 announcement anyways. 9.2 was far too soon for them to add encrypted content relating to 11.0 as they added the pre-order rewards for Dragonflight in the same patch (e.g. Murkastrasza which might also have been a BlizzCon reward and ended up being shipped with the DF Deluxe).

[Grimbold21]

Y'know, speaking of deserts, we don't have any desert dwarves in-game and that'd certainly give them a more unique enviroment

but of course we don't just have desert dwarves. We make the desert.... The outback. Because there's a distinct lack of Australian enviroments

I mean.... I'm not that familiar with the Australian outback, but that sounds like the Badlands, at least the pre cata version.

[Mecheon]

The Dwearthen of Khaz Algar seem to have picked up (probably) gryphons, and if that is indeed the texture for the Stormrider, we have a few additional bits of evidence: The gryphon has likely also been altered by whatever anomaly the fissure contains (I'd expect the Dwearthen to look similar, dark teal-purple skin and teal glowy effects). And they are stormriders; this would check out with the above conclusions--Khaz Algar being located in Alvaloren, and Alvaloren having perpetual unnatural storms surrounding/covering it. Since they are called stormriders, they are probably not a society that wholly (chiefly?) stays contained in an underground space, they spend at least part of their time out in the open (in the storms), though again, this doesn't suggest there can't possibly be an underground space, just that they don't exist solely in one.

Don't forget one other thing: Gryphons, of all mounts, got dragonriding animations added to them recently. Not just reusing existing ones like the other dragonriding animation pass, but entirely new animations just for gryphons

I think at the time speculation was that it was so the iconic Alliance mount that you get for free in the campaign could dragonride, given that both wyverns and pterodax (The iconic Horde flier, and the mount you get for free respectively) share skeletons of dragonriding mounts, so its a simple transfer for them. But the skin plus this leak makes it look like its a gryphon that may have dragon-riding. Plus the comments up-thread about customisations.

[Ebonn]

oh yeah, that area which gave you a headache because it was so dark and oppressive...



i don't doubt that the zone may have been appreciated by a few people, but i highly doubt that the majority of people really liked it

Yeah, speak for yourself, personal opinion does not equal fact or rule. There’s a big difference between you not liking something and it being a failure. From my personal experience, almost everyone I’ve talked to about it enjoyed that area to some degree. So it’s not a rule at all but it’s very different from your opinion that it was a failure.

The Maw sucked. Thematic, dark areas, spooky places, they can still be exciting and engaging and a large portion of the player base would disagree with you.

[Jakkresh]

So, a friend of mine at Blizzard shared a feature that I’m super excited about, and I figure it’s close enough to Blizzcon to share, especially since this thread is over 1000 pages long! LoL

The major new feature of the next expansion that they're excited about is “Class Alignments”. This gives your class the choice to “align” with different sources of power, doing two things: (1) changing the visuals of class spells and abilities, (2) granting a choice of usable world bonuses, none of which are available in raid or PvP (unlike Shadowlands' borrowed power systems).

It is similar to the oft requested “class skins”. The re-branding as “alignments” emphasizes that it’s an intentional choice and fleshes out class fantasy purposefully. It is intended to be a permanent feature that they will build upon as we meet new ways of wielding the cosmic forces.

The expansion will begin with quests to embrace an alignment given a handful of starter choices. It’s reminiscent of the Legion choice to pursue an artifact weapon. You can pursue multiple alignments, have a chosen alignment affixed to each of your specs, and switch alignments when you'd like.

Paladins, for example, can pursue alignment with Holy Light, Astral Light, or Sun’s Light. Aligning with the Holy Light maintains Paladin spell effects as they are now. Astral Light renames spells with “Holy” in them to “Astral” and grants spell effects a silvery blue glow reminiscent of Elune’s light. Sun’s Light adds orange embers and flame effects into existing holy effects... might rename it Solar or Sun's, I forget. After you've made a choice, you can change it at the Sunwell, a Moonwell, or with a Nuuru (for cool RP scenes) or with class trainers in capital cities and major hubs.

Some specs have been renamed to accomodate alignments. As priests can align with Holy, Astral, or Void, Shadow has been renamed “Inquisition” when Holy or Astral-aligned. Holy is renamed "Clericism" when Astral-aligned. Some of the spell effects aren't just recolored, but completely changed... for example Holy Fire becomes Starfall. You cannot align your Holy spec to the void. Some specs have limited choices as such.

The Shadowlands spells (for example, Faeline Stomp) have been recolored to match existing class spells (chi green), so most shadowlands tie-ins are gone from the core classes. Monks can start by aligning with the different Celestials, coloring all chi spells green, light blue, red or yellow. Their new “Chi-line Stomp” is colored after those alignments.

Demon Hunters have had their Shadowlands spells recolored as fel, but they have a choice to become zealots for the Light, for the Void, or for the Arcane. Void Elves and Nightborne, predictably, can now be Demonhunters. The quests to align your DH to Void and Arcane explain this new generation of DH's.

Warlocks can align with Maldraxxus to give them the green & black anima colored spells and undead instead of demons. Although Shadowlands spells are gone and Shadowlands alignments for most classes aren’t coming until MUCH later, classes with an affinity for the Shadowlands do have some starter options with them.

Hunters can align with the Unseen Path for regular spell effects, another power that gives Azerite effects (Mechagon maybe??), or the Loa to give them an array of spells that will supposedly foreshadow both Emerald Dream and Shadowlands involvement in the story. Moving forward, the Loa are intended to be shown as "polyvalent" entities with an emphasis on the idea of trinities being one, so yeah, cool tie-ins with ED and SL. As other classes get alignments with individual Loa entities (like, are we gonna get different kinds of Loa Paladin's, Blizz???), they'll continue to flesh out the SL/ED and Azeroth connection.

I think future planned alignments include the Dragonflights (arcane + elemental magic), the Shadowlands (anima magic), and possibly the Keepers or the Titans themselves. They also plan to introduce a concept for nature magic called “orenda”, produced much like anima but expended to keep the Emerald Dream functioning just like anima keeps the Shadowlands functioning. Not sure if its role will be clear right away, just like anima was kind of a mystery back in MoP. I imagine this has implications for the World Tree well on down the line, or possibly the loa or nature alignments, but we will see what 10.2 and 11.0 offer in terms of fleshing out those ideas.

[Hitei]

I mean.... I'm not that familiar with the Australian outback, but that sounds like the Badlands, at least the pre cata version.

The Badlands are more an analog to the wyoming/dakota badlands. The Austrailian Outback is more of a flat, wide-open scrub brush desert, much like a lot of the Mojave, though much more red in color because of the soil and much flatter.

[Dismayxz]

That's a new mechanic they introduced for the Trading Post, where there are tasks at the end of the Month that give loads of points.

https://news.blizzard.com/en-gb/worl...s-trading-post

Ngl, good addition.

[Cheezits]

So, a friend of mine at Blizzard shared a feature that I’m super excited about, and I figure it’s close enough to Blizzcon to share, especially since this thread is over 1000 pages long! LoL

-cool shit-

This is insanely cool and I pray that you're telling the truth.

[Hitei]

So, a friend of mine at Blizzard shared a feature that I’m super excited about, and I figure it’s close enough to Blizzcon to share, especially since this thread is over 1000 pages long! LoL

-snip-

X to doubt in the extreme, but it's a neat idea I'd like to see.

[Kiria]

So, a friend of mine at Blizzard shared a feature that I’m super excited about, and I figure it’s close enough to Blizzcon to share, especially since this thread is over 1000 pages long! LoL

WoW

I love it YES please!!