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

[Khaza-R]

I thought that it was always clear that she is collecting all the Cosmic Powers.

I'm guessing that the Dark Heart already had Shadow or Void when Iridikron took it. Now it also has Decay and Arcane, plus tons of Black Blood and Kaja'mite, which I guess that might represent other powers.

My guess is that they want to create a new entity capable of wielding all those powers.

Galakrond's essence and hunger was necessary to create the Dark Heart. My guess is its what gives it the ability to consume other magic sources and covert them all to void energy. I don't think she cares about the source of magic as long as its powerful enough.

[Cheezits]

Spitballing here, but if Xal was indeed an Old God, she likely had the power to corrupt a world soul (K'aresh, for instance) without needing an artifact.

Now, however, there aren't any nearby Old Gods she could use for Azeroth, and she's in a weakened state. Maybe the Dark Heart is just her replacement for the usual corruption method of a world soul and she's filling it with enough magic to do a corruption blast. Like a "fine I'll do it myself" kind of measure.

This may also be related to her bargain with N'zoth- maybe she wanted to groom him to be the Old God that corrupts and destroys Azeroth for her (and Dimensius) but as we see in BFA he goes off and does his own thing (layering the Black Empire back on Azeroth) instead of destroying it.

[Ersula]

I have, thank you. That changes nothing, though.

The door is open for Blizzard if they want to recover our Garrosh, besides the Lightbound one.

Think about it. Death is "ordered". Presumably by the First Ones. Our characters shouldn't go there when they die. Maybe by freeing himself, Garrosh went to where mortals are truly fated to go.

I think that they would just focus on Lightbound Garrosh, but hey, if they want to have the true Garrosh, they certainly left a way to bring him back.

That is my takeaway. The souls low on anima become transparent. As well as a buildup of anima is what allows souls to take physical form. I think soul ash is just the debris of when the rest of a soul's anima is expelled through violence. The soul can't actually be destroyed, it becomes completely invisible & intangible ...and probably returns to the twisting nether as the original lore explained.

[Vexilius]

Just like they're teasing a better send-off for the Lich King in TLT.

Where do you get that from

[Joshuaj]

I have, thank you. That changes nothing, though.

The door is open for Blizzard if they want to recover our Garrosh, besides the Lightbound one.

Think about it. Death is "ordered". Presumably by the First Ones. Our characters shouldn't go there when they die. Maybe by freeing himself, Garrosh went to where mortals are truly fated to go.

I think that they would just focus on Lightbound Garrosh, but hey, if they want to have the true Garrosh, they certainly left a way to bring him back.

Death is "ordered" because it's a force of structure.

[Eldryth]

I do love the idea. Her being harbinger of Dimensius could literally mean she succeeded in turning the world soul of K'aresh. Like physically got her tendrils in, and as her physical from dies on planetary destruction, she ascends into a new being. She's the perfect middle manager to come and sort out the Azerothian branch. Except she didn't realise they had their own goals separate from the voids here.

It would also be the explanation for why the Old Gods and Her refer to each other as "Us". So I'm starting to think it may be the case.

I think Xal being the one responsible for corrupting K'aresh "properly" for Dimensius (or K'aresh's world soul was made into Dimensius through her) would explain K'aresh's relation to this expansion at all, and also be tied to the perfect time to explain her origin (end of the first act).

Whether she was originally an Old God or not, ever since the Harbinger quests it seemed like a safe assumption that she was the one who brought Dimensius to K'aresh. Locus Walker knew her, after all, and commented on realizing that "Harbinger" (a person or thing that announces or signals the approach of another) was a fitting title as soon as he learned it was referring to her.


For this whole Saga so far Dimensius and Xal'atath have seemed like such a blatant spin on a Marvel thing that I'm surprised it never came up here before. A planet-devouring cosmic god, and the Harbinger who prepares those worlds for his arrival. Just like Galactus and the Silver Surfer. I mean, obviously it was tweaked to fit in with Warcraft's Void lore, but the core dynamic definitely comes across as a homage to that.


Which raises another possible Xal'atath origin if they plan on taking this reference even further. The Silver Surfer became Galactus's Herald in exchange for Galactus sparing his homeworld (which he was about to devour). What if Xal'atath did the same, and is offering Worldsouls to Dimensius to protect her own home?

And if they take this route... it'd make the Light a lot less trustworthy, but maybe she could be Karkoran? If the story about T'uure saving it was at least partially propaganda, and it was actually Xal'atath striking a deal to make Dimensius leave? In hindsight, a single Naaru defeating a Void Lord, manifesting enough to destroy an entire planet, seems like a big stretch even for a Prime Naaru like Xe'ra. If this is the case, maybe T'uure just cleansed the remaining Void or something.

[Cheezits]

Whether she was originally an Old God or not, ever since the Harbinger quests it seemed like a safe assumption that she was the one who brought Dimensius to K'aresh. Locus Walker knew her, after all, and commented on realizing that "Harbinger" (a person or thing that announces or signals the approach of another) was a fitting title as soon as he learned it was referring to her.

For this whole Saga so far Dimensius and Xal'atath have seemed like such a blatant spin on a Marvel thing that I'm surprised it never came up here before. A planet-devouring cosmic god, and the Harbinger who prepares those worlds for his arrival. Just like Galactus and the Silver Surfer. I mean, obviously it was tweaked to fit in with Warcraft's Void lore, but the core dynamic definitely comes across as a homage to that.

Funny enough, the patch reveal should come shortly before the release of Fantastic 4 First Steps which features both (a) Silver Surfer and Galactus. I wonder if this was intentional on Blizzard's end, because people are definitely going to be more attuned to the similarities.

Which raises another possible Xal'atath origin if they plan on taking this reference even further. The Silver Surfer became Galactus's Herald in exchange for Galactus sparing his homeworld (which he was about to devour). What if Xal'atath did the same, and is offering Worldsouls to Dimensius to protect her own home?

It would be a nice twist, and Xal could be T'uure itself, but Xal's cruelty and glee at being bad does fly in the face of her having sympathetic origins and noble intentions. Of course you can write in that she just got corrupted over time- or it's all an act.

[Merryck]

Dimensius is a pretty boring name, not going to lie.

[Fiercelord]

What happened to the Shadowy Figure from SoD?

[AOL Instant Messenger]

Dimensius is a pretty boring name, not going to lie.

Kind of, but I think there's a little campy charm to it. It would be interesting if modern Blizzard was willing to put the same kind of Jack Kirby-esque charm into the aesthetic around him, but Blizzard's designs as of late have been immensely hit-or-miss.

[Cheezits]

Kind of, but I think there's a little campy charm to it. It would be interesting if modern Blizzard was willing to put the same kind of Jack Kirby-esque charm into the aesthetic around him, but Blizzard's designs as of late have been immensely hit-or-miss.

I think Dimensius's real design will be something special, if he's not a swirling cloud. Blizzard's villain designs have been very good recently.

[Makabreska]

What happened to the Shadowy Figure from SoD?

It was Xal'atath.

[Fiercelord]

It was Xal'atath.

I know, was just wondering if they actually did something with her in that version. Like what was the purpose? Can she travel trough time?

[Ersula]

I know, was just wondering if they actually did something with her in that version. Like what was the purpose? Can she travel trough time?

It's how she cultivates followers. Just like how she started the war between the aqir & trolls. It's what she's been doing the entire time she's been in the dagger. She manifests as a magical projection.

[Joshuaj]

Dimensius is a pretty boring name, not going to lie.

Ya know how I went from hyping up Sargeras and Argus to hyping up Zovaal?

Imma do the same with Dimensius in Midnight! Never diss the GOATS name again

[Nymrohd]

It's how she cultivates followers. Just like how she started the war between the aqir & trolls. It's what she's been doing the entire time she's been in the dagger. She manifests as a magical projection.

She does? I think she just speaks in the mind of anyone carrying the dagger.

[Merryck]

Was something happening on the 30th of June? That date has been in my head lately. Was it when we were thinking 11.2 would be revealed or come out?

[Nymrohd]

Was something happening on the 30th of June? That date has been in my head lately. Was it when we were thinking 11.2 would be revealed or come out?

June will end?

[Dracullus]

Was something happening on the 30th of June? That date has been in my head lately. Was it when we were thinking 11.2 would be revealed or come out?

You mean May? Nothing I'm aware of.

Next week are 2 conferences where there could be something from Blizzard: Summer Game Fest on Friday 6th and Xbox 8th. Last few years Blizzard always send something, although WoW appeared only once when they revealed TWW date.

If not next week, 11.2 will be revealed just around PTR launch, roughly ~8 weeks before it's launch. It could be before 11.1.7 only if it will be shorter patch, which is not impossible.

I expect all major stuff connected to 11.2 (patch, raid, race) done before Midnight "reveal", which most likely will happen on Gamescom 20th August. If we apply usual "8 week patch" rule, 10.1.7 lands on June 17th and 11.2 on August 12th - so even if raid starts day 1 on all difficulties (VERY unlikely), there is huge risk of race still going on through Gamescom.

So I see chance of current patch or next one being 1-2 week shorter. It would also make up for 11.0.7 being 2 weeks longer - and in DF, despite having slightly longer and shorter patches, averaged exactly on 8 weeks per patch.

[CopyX1982]

What happened to the Shadowy Figure from SoD?

The same thing that happened to the shadowy figure in amongst the Pandaria Remix vendors....