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

[Super Dickmann]

Even if there would have been infighting, they head millenia time to dig deep enough to just get it when the titans arrived, but they didn't. And we know from Yogg-Saron that his Saronite blood was everywhere beneath Northrend. So, the black blood will succed where 4/5 old gods failed for millenia? Even considering infighting, they at last should have been ready the moment the titans arrived, as they had a long time to dig deep into the planet and the war of the titanforged was not a quick one.

They're not a united force except against external threats. The goal of the individual Old God is not to secure a victory for their color of kool-aid's corresponding cosmic power, but to infest that world themselves. They didn't fail in so much as for much of the time they didn't try, having first fought each other, then being in prison. When one of them does get wholly free on-screen and all his competition is dead N'zoth goes for the worldsoul immediately and only narrowly loses out due to overlapping plot devices (Magni being able to arm the laser + the cloak - Xal'atath's container), without any one of which he would've won.

[Joshuaj]

Honestly I wouldn't mind if the "Xal is here the whole saga lol" thing was a straight up lie considering the good twists in TWW so far. It would be fun to see Dimensius eat her at the end of this expansion. Or maybe she is a part of Dimensiis that he needs to absorb to become whole.

But I think she will be a weird ally of some kind in TLT. That or she's just chilling at the World Soul until the very end.

Imagine if Dimensius consumes Xal'atath at the end of TWW, but she is still around within the Void Lord, thus giving players a hint for things to come, like maybe Dimensius is trying to "devour" and become one with the Worldsoul of K'aresh, and it is thus trying to "devour" Azeroth as the endgoal for Midnight.

That would be cool imo, and maybe Dimensius could be defeated not just from its battle with us and the Light, but also from the idea that it devoured too much, ya know? Like all this Worldsoul power is so vast and crazy, that even non existence can't handle it. Would be badass imo.

The final boss of Midnight might just be K'aresh tho ngl, as I'm unsure Blizzard will have us fight Dimensius this soon. However, if they do, I'll be hyped asf.

Regardless, it's either K'aresh or Dimensius for the last boss of Midnight. Anyone else would be a disappointment.

- - - Updated - - -

I'm not talking about BfA. I mean the time the old gods ruled over the planet before the titans arrived. The old gods had millenia time to corrupt the world soul and did not succeed with it. But now, out of nothing, their blood is a threat in a much shorter time frame?

That doesn't add up.

- - - Updated - - -



Even if there would have been infighting, they head millenia time to dig deep enough to just get it when the titans arrived, but they didn't. And we know from Yogg-Saron that his Saronite blood was everywhere beneath Northrend. So, the black blood will succed where 4/5 old gods failed for millenia? Even considering infighting, they at last should have been ready the moment the titans arrived, as they had a long time to dig deep into the planet and the war of the titanforged was not a quick one.

- - - Updated - - -

The black blood is more a threat to the creaatures living there, not so much for the world soul

Tbf here, the Old Gods were fighting amongst themselves a ton, and not just that, Elun'ahir is within Khaz'Algar, and Khaz'Algar houses the Coreway, and the Coreway leads to the Worldcore, and the Worldcore is placed atop, you guessed it, the Worldsoul of Azeroth. So...yeah, things are different here.

- - - Updated - - -

4 of the 5 Old Gods were in relatively unimportant locations. What makes Khaz Algar particularly dangerous in our current time is that there are potentially two separate direct paths to the worldsoul. If we assume that Azeroth is similar in size to the earth and that the worldsoul section or chamber or whatever, is similar in scale to our planets inner core, then the Old Gods during the Black Empire would need to dig/stretch their way several thousand miles downwards and past whatever innate defenses or resistance Azeroth has.

The danger of the blood here and now is that it's a threat to the roots of Elun'ahir, and whatever those roots are connected to, including potentially the worldsoul. The Old Gods were essentially a cancer on Azeroth. Which makes the Roots a vector for metastasis.

W points fr.

[Nymrohd]

The black blood is more a threat to the creaatures living there, not so much for the world soul

Did we forget WHY we went to Khaz Algar? The World Soul is screaming at us. Locus Walker told us what it means.

[Super Dickmann]

Did we forget WHY we went to Khaz Algar? The World Soul is screaming at us. Locus Walker told us what it means.

To be fair we did get sidetracked with the whole spider business and running Nascar. Our only direct link to this plot after Magni's remeatifying is Orweyna and the girl's lived in a cave her whole life so she's both socially inept and uneducated and so can't properly interpret what to do.

[Dracullus]

snip

I did this math few months ago on this thread. Patches don't last "around 8 weeks". They last EXACTLY 8 weeks on average since October 25th '22 when DF pre-patch started until 11.0.7 launch.

Of course I talk about average, pre-patches lasted 5 weeks instead of 8, few patches take few weeks longer - but that's precise too, 10.2 and 11.0.7 lasted 10 weeks and Christmas break take 2 weeks. Shorter 10.0.7 and longer 11.1 was 99% done to make room for Diablo 4 release.

So yeah, it's not hard to estimate rough timeline for future expacs (course always something can fuck up), but still it won't give you exact dates. So, assuming Saga expacs both has 10 patches (pre-patch, 3 patches for each season), MD is early March '26, TLT is late September '27.

[Nymrohd]

To be fair we did get sidetracked with the whole spider business and running Nascar. Our only direct link to this plot after Magni's remeatifying is Orweyna and the girl's lived in a cave her whole life so she's both socially inept and uneducated and so can't properly interpret what to do.

I mean it wouldn't be the first time we start an expansion with a real crisis and completely forget about it by the end . . .
"What sword"???

[Super Dickmann]

I mean it wouldn't be the first time we start an expansion with a real crisis and completely forget about it by the end . . .
"What sword"???

It wouldn't even be the first expansion about Azeroth's open woons starting at the sword that does this sidetrack.

[Dracullus]

Worldcore/Rootlands or Karesh, I think it's very safe to assume Ethereals will be main enemies just like nerubians in S1 and goblins in S2, too many stuff point on that.

[Limayria]

I'm still thinking we're going to fight Etherals in the rootlands, and that will be a vector to k'aresh, which will be a zone in midnight and is now being set up some so it feels like less of an ass pull to players who've never heard of it before

[Ersula]

Weirdly enough, TWW could itself be a false start, or rather Khaz Algar is. We end up in Khaz Algar by sheer coincidence, we find out the coreway is in danger...then we find out the bottom of the coreway could be anywhere because of the Sundering. So now there's no guarentee the rootlands or coreway will be delt with this expansion. These places could be relevant at any point in the saga.

If I had to guess Xalatath is running into the same problem. It's becoming more apparent the Sunwell is her backup plan.

[Joshuaj]

Weirdly enough, TWW could itself be a false start, or rather Khaz Algar is. We end up in Khaz Algar by sheer coincidence, we find out the coreway is in danger...then we find out the bottom of the coreway could be anywhere because of the Sundering. So now there's no guarentee the rootlands or coreway will be delt with this expansion. These places could be relevant at any point in the saga.

If I had to guess Xalatath is running into the same problem. It's becoming more apparent the Sunwell is her backup plan.

Wouldn't that just mean K'aresh could appear later then? Namely as a means of trying to connect the Sunwell with the devoured world?

- - - Updated - - -

Azeroth: The Prime World!

Argus: The Twisted World!

Telogrus: The Shattered World!

K'aresh: The Devoured World!

[Cheezits]

So there's a nice development in Undermine where after the raid, the good Venture Co rep (Grimla?) DOESN'T become trade princess but confirms that their cartel doesn't operate that way, foreshadowing that Venture Co still has bad agencies and she wants to deal with. So they may be setting up a future plot with them the same way the Decay Gnolls are out there.

Honestly both of those groups sound like good fodder for a world revamp of leveling questing, along with the Botani and the House of Nobles.

[Joshuaj]

So there's a nice development in Undermine where after the raid, the good Venture Co rep (Grimla?) DOESN'T become trade princess but confirms that their cartel doesn't operate that way, foreshadowing that Venture Co still has bad agencies and she wants to deal with. So they may be setting up a future plot with them the same way the Decay Gnolls are out there.

Honestly both of those groups sound like good fodder for a world revamp of leveling questing, along with the Botani and the House of Nobles.

This actually fits with my Expedition and Nature Saga fan speculations lmaooo

Trading with Goblins on Kezan and other islands + Gadgetzan and Booty Bay, as well as the Decay stuff and how it could end up being a main antagonistic force on Azeroth.

[Golden Yak]

Or she'll simply decide to use it to cut her losses. The nerubians didn't work out, the goblins didn't. Unless she can rally the kobyss and undersea forces, she's largely out of forces in the region. It's possible without the Dark Heart she'll just decide this entire approach is a lost cause, unleash the blood as a final "fuck you", and then leave to go try and get the Heart back or otherwise swap over to the full Void planar invasion angle.

We know that she's still going to be around in Midnight, so 11.2 doesn't necessarily need her around a bunch. She might just leave a mess for us to clean up and then come back in 12.0 with a new, much more cosmic void approach.

Yeeeeah... maybe. I guess. That'd be kind've the least interesting possibility in my view, she just leaves. I didn't anticipate actually killing her this xpac, but I figured we'd get a final showdown with her as last boss, and then she'd show up down the line later, like with Garrosh.

I also got the impression that this whole endeavor was her job, something the Void wanted her to accomplish. She's fails and that could be it for her. Unless she makes some kind of progress towards their cause she's in big trouble. I figured that 11.2 would be the Worldcore raid and she breaks it with the Black Blood, leaving it exposed, and that'll be the setup for Midnight.

I don't know how K'aresh and the ethereals will figure into things now, though.

[Worldshaper]

All those Drust models look sweet!

11.1.7 and 11.2 darker take on the nature theme confirmed! Thorns, vines, roots, quills, autumnal colours, Haranir, Drust, etc.

The 5th Old God in Chronicles had skulls and vines and stuff, suggesting a connection to life and death perhaps.

Or rather, the less cutesy version of life. Instead of bucolic little cottages and mischievous fairies à la Emerald Dream, we'll get life in its rawest form. A struggle for survival. Primal. A close connection between all stages of the "cycle".

These items are called "Deathwarder," which seems to fit with that whole theme.

[Khaza-R]

Yeeeeah... maybe. I guess. That'd be kind've the least interesting possibility in my view, she just leaves. I didn't anticipate actually killing her this xpac, but I figured we'd get a final showdown with her as last boss, and then she'd show up down the line later, like with Garrosh.

I also got the impression that this whole endeavor was her job, something the Void wanted her to accomplish. She's fails and that could be it for her. Unless she makes some kind of progress towards their cause she's in big trouble. I figured that 11.2 would be the Worldcore raid and she breaks it with the Black Blood, leaving it exposed, and that'll be the setup for Midnight.

I don't know how K'aresh and the ethereals will figure into things now, though.

There's definitely a void division story happening that most people never accounted for. At the beginning of TWW I was fairly confident that Xal would corrupt or possess Alleria which would bring us the assault on the Sunwell. However, after the latest events maybe this still unfolds but its Locus Walker and the ethereals who do the deed.

[Darkarath]

There's definitely a void division story happening that most people never accounted for. At the beginning of TWW I was fairly confident that Xal would corrupt or possess Alleria which would bring us the assault on the Sunwell. However, after the latest events maybe this still unfolds but its Locus Walker and the ethereals who do the deed.

I believe that we will end up collaborating with Xal'athat, who is probably working for Dimensius, and she is failing him big time.

I think that her plan was to infuse the Dark Heart with enough power to summon Dimensius in Azeroth to consume our planet (did she summon him in K'aresh too?). She might have been doing exactly that through the Beledar when Alleria stopped her.

Now an unknown Ethereal group has the Dark Heart. We really don't know much about them. They might want to summon Dimensius in K'aresh to kill him or to worship him. Either way, Xal'athat fucked up and Dimensius will punish her.

Locus Walker will warn us about what is happening in K'aresh and we go there to stop a Void Lord from phisically manifest in our universe. Xal'athat is obviously also there trying to recover the Dark Heart, and she is the final boss of the raid.

We defeat Xal'athat and stop the summoning of Dimensius. But enough of Dimensius manifests to control Xal'athat / Alleria / Locus Walker, returning to Azeroth to use the Sunwell to start the Void invasion. I think that Alleria is the best choice here for obvious reasons. Locus Walker might be a betrayer, too.

Xal'athat eventually will be abandoned by Dimensius, either in TWW or in Midnight, and we will need her knowledge to what is to come. "Things might spiral out of control" in Midnight, as Metzen said.

WE FAIL. Dimensius is summoned in the Sunwell. Titans immediately come to our aid, but they are not match for a Void Lord in their current state. They do the only thing that they can do. Release Sargeras.

The Titans and Sargeras fight against Dimensius and an empowered Iridikron who was waiting for his revenge. The Titans win, but a weakened Sargeras takes his chance and corrupts the rest of his kin and goes after Azeroth. Iridikron manages to flee.

TLT starts.

Of course pure fan fic but I am bored at work

[Tiradon]

11.5 does look like it's coming in May, I believe shortly after we should get some sort of announcement related to the next season alongside Midnight.

Now the question is, what patch would the Midnight pre-order bonus would fit in?

[Dracullus]

11.5 does look like it's coming in May, I believe shortly after we should get some sort of announcement related to the next season alongside Midnight.

Now the question is, what patch would the Midnight pre-order bonus would fit in?

I don't know why we repeat this discussion every time. They never announce patches in advance without Blizzcon (last year Direct replaced Blizzcon). Time to announce next season will be simply when 11.2 PTR start, before that we have 11.1.7. And Midnight full reveal is even on Roadmap, after 11.2 release of course.

[Worldshaper]

11.2 - The "rootlands," featuring a story of death and decay, but also of life. We meet the Haranir seeking to protect the roots of Elun'ahir, with the involvement of the Deathwatcher Drust-faction.

The zone features an Old God corpse whose rotting carcass causes black blood to seep into the land and twist life into monstrosities over the Void.

We need to stop these monsters from corrupting the worldsoul via the tree's roots, and ensure the Old God's influence ends for good.

12.0 - Quel'thalas and surrounding areas are revamped, in this story of Light against Shadow. The Undead are attempting to corrupt the Eastwald again, while fanatical Scarlet Crusaders do little to distinguish between living and dead on their quest to purge the land.

The Amani, meanwhile, have allied with Xal'atath and assault Thalassian villages from the east.

In the north, the Void had launched its initial siege on Quel'danas, aiming for the Sunwell.

Silvermoon and the Undercity are revamped, while the Draenei gain a new city, and will have an important role as they come to the defense of the elves.

12.1 - K'aresh.