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

[Joshuaj]

As others have pointed out, the Shadowguard were working with Xal'atath during the Harbinger questline at the end of Dragonflight. The Ethereals we've met in TWW clearly are not- if they were on the same side, Ky'veza wouldn't have needed to infiltrate the palace in secret, and Azir clearly stole the Dark Heart from her. Therefore, they're clearly a different faction. And the secret tie unlock tied to her trinket all but states that they're the Ethereum (since an Ethereum Void Reaper sometimes spawns and attacks you if you use her Treacherous Transmitter in the open world), who were previously obsessed with destroying Dimensius.



On another note, that recent talk about Xal'atath reminded me of something that could be important later on in the Saga. I'd assumed that we'd deal with the Void in Midnight and have to fight the Titans in TLT for diverging from their plans, but Xal'atath had a pretty ominous interaction with the Pantheon back in Legion.

When you bring her knife into the Seat of the Pantheon, she said this:


So because we used Xal'atath against the Legion, she gained access to the Seat of the Pantheon. She considered this an enormous victory for the Void, and even said that the Void has a foothold there because of us. So, unless this turns out to be completely unimportant... what has the Void been doing there for all those years since Legion? As much as I'd like to interact their true selves, I'm starting to wonder if we might find them corrupted when they finally return- we think we're succeeding in pushing back the Void, and that the Pantheon is coming to our aid, only for a twisted version of them to join the invasion.

I guess even in that scenario we could still learn about their past at least, maybe speak to memory backups or something at least. Not sure what a twist like that would mean for their big conspiracy that's been getting built up though.

I think she meant "a foothold" as in "The Titans have been dealt with, the Light's been pushed back, and the Legion's been defeated? This is perfect! Now we have a foothold to build from in claiming Azeroth, all we have to do now is free N'Zoth".

After N'Zoth's defeat, the Void had to try and regain a proper foothold on Azeroth, which is why: A. Xal'atath is doing her thing in TWW. And B. Azshara is seemingly with the Void Lords (Likely for Midnight tbh).

[Black Rider]

11.2 on PTR next week maybe?

[Dracullus]

11.2 on PTR next week maybe?

11.1.7 - small patch with intro to next tier. It's possible it could be little sooner, but expect 11.2 PTR in 8 weeks.

[Nymrohd]

11.1.7 - small patch with intro to next tier. It's possible it could be little sooner, but expect 11.2 PTR in 8 weeks.

Roadmap says there will be some new content so beyond the storyline there will probably be some kind of event to source the catch up gear for 11.2

[Black Rider]

11.1.7 latest update was almost two weeks ago
https://x.com/algalon_ghost/status/1910759750318326144

[Jaggler]

Roadmap says there will be some new content so beyond the storyline there will probably be some kind of event to source the catch up gear for 11.2

Depending on where 11.2 goes, I could totally see some kind of Ethereal/Void Incursion events for catch up gear and to tie in thematically with the next patch. Kind alike dream surges in 10.1.7

[Scyth]

Roadmap says there will be some new content so beyond the storyline there will probably be some kind of event to source the catch up gear for 11.2

There will be another turbulent timeawys which will act as catch up I guess.

[huth]

There will be another turbulent timeawys which will act as catch up I guess.

Don't forget the new event in Hallowfall which offers Champion gear as well.

[Ersula]

No, but 11.1.7 is likely.

I think 11.2 announcement is likely for end of June/early July.

they're probably waiting on the 11.1.7 ptr till they fix 11.1.5- because its still broken

maybe they should give players some sort of insentive to play on the ptr to get a bigger testing base. For example Everquest never does character wipes so some guilds play entirely on the test server.

nothing in Azirs getup marks him as a Shadowguard. Ky'veza, sure she shares the same void model that the shadowguard uses. But Azir is not having the look of a shadowuard: that being the solid shadow energies inside the bandages. Azir has the classic etheral energy, not shadow

He uses a void portal....which means he's a shadowguard or former shadowguard. There's a chance he's one of the former shadowguard who are allied with the Void Elves, but narratively speaking that's extremely unlikely.

I guess there is a slim chance Azir is friendly to the players but that doesn't really give us much intrigue into the next storyline, and it feels like a continuity error to give him a void portal rather than any of the many other kinds of magical transportation.

We do though. Go replay the Harbinger questline.

You hunt for the lost riftwalker. You find she defected to Xal'atath. The Shadowguard are helping her try to break into Ulduar. Later they invade Telogrus which you stop. The Shadowguard are aligned with Xal. We don't know where the other Ethereals stand.

It seems to me that the Etherium fractured at some point after TBC. There are probably some who are became Shadowguard and loyal to Dimensius. And there are others who probably resist them and will become our allies in the future.

Some Shadowguard joined Xal, but based on Xalatath's reaction to Azir taking the Void Heart he's not affiliated with her. So there's three factions;
The Etherium (enemy of the void)
Xalatath
The Shadowguard (loyal to dimensius)
(And also the ones allied to Locus Walker & the void elves, but they & the Etherium are both our allies so we might as well group them together.)

I guess there's a chance Azir is on our side, but Ky'veza isn't on our side or Xalatath's. Which is the biggest clue Xal & Dimensius are not allies.

[Nymrohd]

they're probably waiting on the 11.1.7 ptr till they fix 11.1.5- because its still broken

maybe they should give players some sort of insentive to play on the ptr to get a bigger testing base. For example Everquest never does character wipes so some guilds play entirely on the test server.

The thing is, I did the event a couple of times in the PTR and it worked just fine. They'd need to get enough people to stress test, not just test.

[Enrif]

maybe they should give players some sort of insentive to play on the ptr to get a bigger testing base. For example Everquest never does character wipes so some guilds play entirely on the test server.He uses a void portal....which means he's a shadowguard or former shadowguard. There's a chance he's one of the former shadowguard who are allied with the Void Elves, but narratively speaking that's extremely unlikely.

The use of a void portal can be any thing, and has not rely to the shadowguard. Locus-Walker, Alleria, the Void Elves all already use void rifts. The Ethereum seems to be also in that direction. In the end, we have no idea whats up with the ethereals. Which is actually quite exciting.

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I just want Midnight at this point. The War Within hasn't felt like The War Within since I finished the campaign.

That depends on what "the war within" means to you. Undermine was actually quite fitting with Gazlowes "war within", where he had to come to terms with goblin kind and do things. In the 11.0. story this was mostly about Magni, Moira and Alleria. The question is, who is next to deal with their "war within"? Jaina and Thrall are still there, Faerin has no real struggle, but the Arathi as a group might get one if something happens to Beledar. The nerubians are certainly also a group that needs to sort out their issues.

[Mackud]

this patch is a mess + there seems to be a lack of news/content. might be a good time to take a break

Honestly feels like they just don't care.

The raid was the worst they've ever released quality wise to the point bosses were getting 1 shotted by Plunderstorm scripts, they can't even make a cooldown manager function properly. Imagine what housing will be like.

The game needs some care and passion urgently, just look at Heroes of the Storm, it's being maintained by what it appears to be overly-exuberant interns who actually enjoyed the game and it's actually seeing a player resurgence as a result

[Enrif]

All I know is that internal struggles do not make for a very compelling narrative in an MMORPG. Bring me swords and forests, not feelings.

for someone called worldshaper, this is a quite disappointing reply. Arthas is still the gold standard for Warcraft in that regard. And we saw time and time again that blizzard tries to do something with this. Be it Garrosh coming to terms with Grommash actions, which led Garrosh down his route. Anduins struggles, Thrall, Lilian Voss, Jaina, Varian, Genn, Baine, Alleria, Saurfang. Warcraft is build on characters with internal struggles.

[doledippers]

Except back then, it was cool.

"What are you doing, my son?!"
"Succeeding you, father!"

Now it's just endless dialogues of how much we've come to understand each other because of our struggles. Warcraft as a medium is inherently silly and childish, it doesn't handle mature themes well.

It should be bombastic, stupid, and fun.

Massive villains throwing out cheesy one-liners like "Tremble mortals and despair, doom has come to this world" fits the medium just right.

Turalyon in TWW:

"I... cannot bring myself to trust the Void, or the power it promises. But I trust Alleria with every fiber of my being."

frankly it just sounds like you arent interested in more mature storylines, which is fine. its just a preference. even though the lich king was cool, it was extremely cheesy. theres a place for both imo

[Khaza-R]

I disagree that WoW's story should be shalllow just because its an MMO. Simple sure, but not shallow.

Stay awhile and listen in TWW has been solid way to expand upon individual characterizations without making it exhausting like Dragonflight's narrations were.

[Joshuaj]

Honestly feels like they just don't care.

The raid was the worst they've ever released quality wise to the point bosses were getting 1 shotted by Plunderstorm scripts, they can't even make a cooldown manager function properly. Imagine what housing will be like.

The game needs some care and passion urgently, just look at Heroes of the Storm, it's being maintained by what it appears to be overly-exuberant interns who actually enjoyed the game and it's actually seeing a player resurgence as a result

Housing is a different team entirely btw.

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"Take up a new weekly quest to defeat 4 raid bosses from Liberation of Undermine. Earn 1 Puzzling Cartel Chip per week, with a maximum of 6 Puzzling Cartel Chips per character."

Lmao this is actually disgusting

[Dracullus]

Undermine worst quality wise raid evah? WoW needs passion like Heroes of the Storm?

Oh yeah, patch week, time for some quality posts.

[Joshuaj]

Nah, if 11.2 sucks or summ, TWW actually fell off

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"Liberation of Undermine was the worst raid quality wise"

Lol????????????

Boss tuning might've sucked, sure. But the quality of the raid was amazing.

[Darkarath]

Huh.

New raven shop mounts.

An interesting nod to Medivh.

[Joshuaj]

Oh cool, a Raven mount. How badass-

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