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

[Jaggler]

Imagine a "Race to the World Core" between three forces: The heroes of Azeroth, Xal'Athath and the Ethereals.

What if the Ethereals want to use the Dark Heart to drain the power of Azeroth and use it to resotre K'aresh/their real forms, while Xalathath want to use the Heart to corrupt the World Soul

[Lahis]

Still to bad Undermine isnt an actual capital city in the end.

Dunno. City zones that have gameplay content feel more relevant than yet another abandoned racial capital.

- - - Updated - - -

Place your bets! 11.1.7 - 11.2 will be about...

A. Orweyna, Haranir, "Rootlands"

B. Ethereals, K'aresh, Dark Heart

C. Earthen, Coreway, Uldaz

D. 5th Old God, Undersea

E. A mix of the above

F. Something else entirely

At this point it is pretty much confirmed to be B..

Haranir and Rootlands were probably planned to be relevant in early development when TWW was standalone expansion. When the pivot to WSS trilogy happened they got cut and the Midnight pivoting Ethereals took their place as the final content patch.

[Enrif]

Dunno. City zones that have gameplay content feel more relevant than yet another abandoned racial capital.

city zones feels claustrophobic and busy were you can't take two steps without pulling another mob, getting into another WQ or some other stuff happens.

Same problem as Suramar. It was not a city, it was a obstacle parkour.

Boralus and Zuldazar made it much better.

[Mackud]

So the part where Ethereals stole the Dark Heart without Xal'atath's knowledge was just a big ball of nothing then? Because it sure seemed like a big plot moment and forward momentum to me.

Here's where it becomes obvious that people are here without actually playing the game.

Xala'tath literally turns up in person and Gallywix tells her he gave it to someone else thinking they were sent on her behalf.

[Sondrelk]

Here's where it becomes obvious that people are here without actually playing the game.

Xala'tath literally turns up in person and Gallywix tells her he gave it to someone else thinking they were sent on her behalf.

People also generally overestimate how much actual plot is in each patch. Usually the vast majority is just local stuff going down, with maybe a hanfdul of big moments with repercussions for the overarching story.
Undermine had two big plot moments with implications for the overarching story. Kaja'mite somehow containing Black Blood, which implies it's important somehow. And the Dark Heart being taken by Ethereals, which was stretched out over two big moments, the actual theft, and Xal'ataths reaction.

The only reason this patch feels more like filler is because it deals with Goblins, and not with Arathi or whatever.

[Alanar]

Dunno. City zones that have gameplay content feel more relevant than yet another abandoned racial capital.
.

Ye the problem of capitals feeling empty is a thing. I would love to see blizz doing something about that. Let people hang out where they want to.

Anyway, that aside tho. I agree, but Undermine just feels like a city that belongs in the list of racial capitals, next to Silvermoon, Ogrimmar or Suramar. It just feels like a city, but used as a zone. Suramar had the same feel, but still ended up with a section to be for horde only. I know Undermine is a neutral area, always was, but would be cool to see.

Hopefully Undermine gets a revisit in the future or Bilgewater port. My wish would be, to let capitals in wow feel relevant. Worldquest, destructive buildings etc.. anyway thats an entirely differnt topic.

- - - Updated - - -

city zones feels claustrophobic and busy were you can't take two steps without pulling another mob, getting into another WQ or some other stuff happens.

Same problem as Suramar. It was not a city, it was a obstacle parkour.

Boralus and Zuldazar made it much better.

The disquise made it easier and afterwards the palace itself is a horde only area. Just no AH or any other functions. But are easy to add.

Capitals in wow just need more attention, atleast I would love to see that. Until that, It would just be a waste of time, since OG and SW are still were the focus is in that sense.

Hopefully Midnight doesnt make Silvermoon just a huge (relevant) quest zone like Undermine for example.

[Darkarath]

Place your bets! 11.1.7 - 11.2 will be about...

A. Orweyna, Haranir, "Rootlands"

B. Ethereals, K'aresh, Dark Heart

C. Earthen, Coreway, Uldaz

D. 5th Old God, Undersea

E. A mix of the above

F. Something else entirely

A - Pretty much done for TWW. The experiments of the Goblins with the Black Blood are controlled, and we will deal with the rest of the Nerubians forces in 11.1.5. I guess that Orweyna will return with the Harranir in 11.1.7 or even 11.1.5, and we might not see her again until TLT.

B- Obviously what we are getting. Everything is pointing in that direction. I just watched Ion's interview and he clearly says that we will see were we go next in 11.1. Add that to the datamined Ethereal models and raid and there is not much else to discuss.

C- Pretty much done too. We know that the Earthen will take years to restore the Coreway, so I guess that we will go there in TLT. It is obvious that Blizzard wouldn't make the Earthen say that if this was not going to be the case.

D- The Undersea is a tricky one. We might get some extra lore about it, but it does not seem that it will be a zone in TWW. My big concern is that they abandon the Beledar for the rest of the expansion, which would be a big mistake.

E- Hard to mix these themes if 11.2 is K'aresh. Even if we were going to the Rootlands in 11.2, there is no chance that we are getting an Ethereal raid there now that we know that we are getting K'aresh at some point. K'aresh will have the Ethereal raid. We might get some other Ethereal raid boss, but the datamined Ethereal raid won't be in the Rootlands.

F - No chance.

[Enrif]

The disquise made it easier and afterwards the palace itself is a horde only area. Just no AH or any other functions. But are easy to add.

Capitals in wow just need more attention, atleast I would love to see that. Until that, It would just be a waste of time, since OG and SW are still were the focus is in that sense.

Hopefully Midnight doesnt make Silvermoon just a huge (relevant) quest zone like Undermine for example.

If Silvermoon becomes another Surama/Ahn'Kahet/Undermine, it would be the worst decission, just after not using Karabor/Shattrath in WoD.

Silvermoon in Mindight has to be more like Boralus/Zuldazar, a big core that is a city and hub, and a outer or side area that can be for adventure stuff.

[Alanar]

If Silvermoon becomes another Surama/Ahn'Kahet/Undermine, it would be the worst decission, just after not using Karabor/Shattrath in WoD.

Silvermoon in Mindight has to be more like Boralus/Zuldazar, a big core that is a city and hub, and a outer or side area that can be for adventure stuff.

Ye I agree, it would be the worst option. Subsections of questing areas seems most likely, but I hope Silvermoon will stay a city.

[Limayria]

Ye I agree, it would be the worst option. Subsections of questing areas seems most likely, but I hope Silvermoon will stay a city.

I think we will be able to toggle the city and out door zone of silvermoon like how during the undermine MSQ you can "pause" the riot state to go back to doing daily activities and stuff but rather than a quest phase and an open world phase it'll be a peaceful capital phase and some kind of invasion/adventure phase

[Viridiel]

I suppose my main point is, we've been shown in multiple cinematics the Darkheart doing the big succ, so that's building up to something bigger. We could assume that Xal'atath is taking the light from Beledar to give the void control. But the Ethereals want that big purple mass in the centre of their destroyed planet gone. Its almost clear cut.
- On re-watching, she actually looks to be taking the void out.. which is unusual. But I guess maybe the crystals aren't as intrinsically linked to the planet as we're supposed to think. Otherwise she'd probably not be removing void energy from it.

Definitely. The crystals seem to just be resonating with the world soul, I don't think they themselves connect directly to it in a particularly meaningful way. I do think she might've been draining all of the energy from Beledar and it only looked like Void because it was in the Void phase, but either way she was definitely draining it rather than trying to turn it permanently.

I really think the core is being saved for the Last Titan at this point. It's hard to tell what's going to happen when we don't even know what happens in Midnight, but I can't see this being the World Soul Saga if we visit the core and get it over and done with before the end (even if we reveal titan abuse of the world soul). I don't think the Void is going to take us there, I think either Iridikron or something to do with the reveal of the titans' machinations takes us there. That could be the titans themselves locking down their control or something to do with Sargeras, too soon to tell.

I don't want to derail this into Shadowlands talk again, but I will always bring up how they should of just connected the two. They introduced the Forge of Afterlives which amounted to a set piece. They should of shown in an in-game cinematic that when K'aresh was destroyed an influx of Ethereal Souls arrived in the Shadowlands and the Forge of Afterlives created Taz'avesh to house them, and then afterwards other beings could be sent there. I don't understand why they didn't.

I agree, something like that. Sometimes two races simply fitting similar roles makes enough sense (ogres and hobgoblins), but ethereals and brokers are almost the exact same thing. I guess there's still time to write new lore connecting them.

Given their tusks I wouldn't be suprised if they were a part of the whole "primordial troll" story they hinted at when DF was revealed. Essentially making trolls Azeroth's version of ogres. And haranir fitting somewhere in the mix. I think it probably has a high chance of not getting elaborated on though.

That's definitely a strong possibility and it was my first thought when they were introduced, but something about making the trolls come from a titan race bothers me. That would instantly make 6 races descended from the titans that are currently understood to be native to Azeroth without direct titan influence.

[Foolicious]

I don't even know why the Sureki still exist. I hate when people throw the word around but this smells like delayed content from launch Hallowfall that didn't make it in.

I agree. The nerubian story should continue with telling us what happens to the ascended now that they have no place to go and whats up with Neferess. Sure some sureki still exist. We never kill every single member of an enemy faction, but it seems weird to me.
The nerubians attacked the arathi on suicide missions because of xal. Now xal is gone and they don't have the number advantage they used to have, but they still climb up there to get killed? Doesn't seem like the best idea.

[Joshuaj]

Imagine a "Race to the World Core" between three forces: The heroes of Azeroth, Xal'Athath and the Ethereals.

What if the Ethereals want to use the Dark Heart to drain the power of Azeroth and use it to resotre K'aresh/their real forms, while Xalathath want to use the Heart to corrupt the World Soul

That's what I've been saying.

- - - Updated - - -

Place your bets! 11.1.7 - 11.2 will be about...

A. Orweyna, Haranir, "Rootlands"

B. Ethereals, K'aresh, Dark Heart

C. Earthen, Coreway, Uldaz

D. 5th Old God, Undersea

E. A mix of the above

F. Something else entirely

Most likely the first 3. Dunno about Uldaz specifically tho, but it's possible.

[Cheezits]

Damn, just missed this concept art.. from entering and the second floor of Gallywix just seemed way cooler.. shame we didnt gor this.

https://warcraft.wiki.gg/wiki/Underm...oncept-map.jpg

A couple things on this:

-I like the idea of there being a Kezan port and lift/roller coaster down to the city, but it's kind of repetitive of the coreway and Kezan looks fairly boring.

-Really glad they didn't go with the Underkeep vibe for Gallywix's labs, the Gallagio is a lot more inspired IMO.

-This looks a lot like Crash Twinsanity.



I am really happy with the final output being the "nightless city" concept that is permanently stuck in night and day (if you haven't noticed before, there's a sun AND moon tacked up on the ceiling at all times). I only wish that it got a little darker at night- the zone looks incredible with the Inky Black Potion.

Also the existence of another focal point in the city besides the Gallagio, that being the Incontinental.

[Sondrelk]

I am really happy with the final output being the "nightless city" concept that is permanently stuck in night and day (if you haven't noticed before, there's a sun AND moon tacked up on the ceiling at all times). I only wish that it got a little darker at night- the zone looks incredible with the Inky Black Potion.

Also the existence of another focal point in the city besides the Gallagio, that being the Incontinental.

All Undermine lacks to be top tier for me, are more places to go with the transport rockets. Booty Bay would be great. And so would a version of the Goblin starting zone.
Generally I feel the transport rocekts are a bit of a missed opportunity. Just one extra sub area in an old zone is a bit lacking when there are so many great Goblin areas.

[Cheezits]

All Undermine lacks to be top tier for me, are more places to go with the transport rockets. Booty Bay would be great. And so would a version of the Goblin starting zone.
Generally I feel the transport rocekts are a bit of a missed opportunity. Just one extra sub area in an old zone is a bit lacking when there are so many great Goblin areas.

It's just because they don't want to make any premiere new content be in places that don't look good graphically and are waiting to update them. When it's content reusing old zones (Visions etc) or something in the capitals they don't seem to mind, but I would expect the rockets to open up when they update old Goblin zones. Cata was their baseline for a while but now it seems more like they pushed it up to Mists and beyond- hence why they added a station to Zandalar instead of one of the many existing goblin areas in the old world.

Azshara being possibly updated makes me think we'll see a rocket open up to Bilgewater Harbor, and then Gadgetzan whenever that gets updated. However it would be really cool if they added a rocket station to Orgrimmar... though I don't think they will as they have made it a point that Undermine is staunchly neutral.

[Alanar]

A couple things on this:

-I like the idea of there being a Kezan port and lift/roller coaster down to the city, but it's kind of repetitive of the coreway and Kezan looks fairly boring.

-Really glad they didn't go with the Underkeep vibe for Gallywix's labs, the Gallagio is a lot more inspired IMO.

-This looks a lot like Crash Twinsanity.



I am really happy with the final output being the "nightless city" concept that is permanently stuck in night and day (if you haven't noticed before, there's a sun AND moon tacked up on the ceiling at all times). I only wish that it got a little darker at night- the zone looks incredible with the Inky Black Potion.

Also the existence of another focal point in the city besides the Gallagio, that being the Incontinental.

The concept art, does include what it seems like is Kezan and tbh an etrance like that would a lot more fitting then just another portal (hidden, with a cutscene of riding some rocket) to me this always seemed lazy and would have rather had Kezan being involved. Undermine what we got isnt even on the world map, nor is it on Kezan. It has nothing to do that Kezan is boring, that is where Undermine is in lore. I am not getting this feel on live and feels like an instanced area where ever, this could as well be placed somewhere offmap.

Concept you showed is what we got basically. The concept I found just had a way more goblin like feel, some coaster like entrance and even tubed that end in death. So all in all, I have to say I dissagree with ya here. Gotta be honest with ya, I think the concept art I linked is really cool and look a lot bigger.

Outside of uptown and supposed other entrances or places that are there appearntly, the Undermine we got feels like a budget form of what seemed to be planned innitially. The concept art just has way more things to it, this really seems like a time issue.

Idk man Gallywix lab seems ok to me, its hard to compare as that could have had a completely differnt story. The idea of subsections like that or more layers sounds way more fitting.

We just got a single area that can only be reached by portals basically. Never been a fan of these instanced areas, Zin Ashari had the same problem, it feels very dissconnected from the world. You cant fly up and make sense of where you are. Outside of time issues, I dont understand why they keep doing this. This isnt making the world of warcraft bigger imo.

Anyway sorry for the long post, just my extended opinion on why I feel slightly dissappointed with the Undermine we got. I really wanted Kezan to be visitable again in all its glory.

[Telogrus]

Guys, 11.2 is still the Rootlands, though obviously there could be some Ethereal presence there. Unless you think they’re gonna make the Rootlands into an entire expansion, it would make 0 sense for the zone to not feature in TWW. Also, Orweyna and the Haranir wouldn’t be getting so much focus if the Rootlands wasn’t gonna happen in 11.2

[Cheezits]

Guys, 11.2 is still the Rootlands, though obviously there could be some Ethereal presence there. Unless you think they’re gonna make the Rootlands into an entire expansion, it would make 0 sense for the zone to not feature in TWW. Also, Orweyna and the Haranir wouldn’t be getting so much focus if the Rootlands wasn’t gonna happen in 11.2

Rootlands will still likely happen but it certainly isn't worth much fanfare or hype if Blizzard is already marketing the next expansion both story-wise and mechanics-wise.

I really don't have much interest in the 11.1.5 or Rootlands and I think they know that extends to a lot of people. Undermine is a fine finale to TWW for me if the next patch is just the Dream with more roots/bats/dinosaurs.

[Khaza-R]

Guys, 11.2 is still the Rootlands, though obviously there could be some Ethereal presence there. Unless you think they’re gonna make the Rootlands into an entire expansion, it would make 0 sense for the zone to not feature in TWW. Also, Orweyna and the Haranir wouldn’t be getting so much focus if the Rootlands wasn’t gonna happen in 11.2

I don't think they been heavily featured at all tbh. They also seem to be completely absent from 10.1.5, so if they are not a part of 10.1.7 then its not looking good for the rootlands/haranir.