Welcome to the Darklands - a month in World of Warcraft: Shadowlands

Shadowlands Review: Impressions a month later in the Dark Lands

Welcome to the Dark Lands! How nice to see Shadowlands with all the cutscenes, no crashing servers, no queues or bugs. Even small jambs that were encountered during the beta were fixed by the developers. We should commend Blizzard for learning how to prepare for expansion releases.

Diving into Shadowlands started with a prepatch. It came out more boring than in Battle for Azeroth. After completing the quest chain, farming of Marks of Commendation of the Argent Crusade begins. For them, a pet and equipment of level 100 were purchased. In addition, the developers populated Icecrown with bosses of the Wrath of the Lich King expansion, and those players who set foot on the land of Azeroth later could get a closer look at the missed enemies.

In the pre-patch, we, or rather Tyrande, were allowed to kill Nathanos Blightcaller. But something tells me that we will still meet with the faithful subject of the Dark Lady. For sure, Sylvanas Windrunner will get her own raid, where we will face the leader of the Dark Rangers, pulled from the Maw, where he belongs.

However, back to the events of the new addition. You can dive into it from level 48. In the introduction we see how the Jailer's servants kidnap the leaders of the factions. Bolvar Fordragon wakes up on Acherus after the Banshee's visit, and Darion Mograine is sent after us. There are no striking differences from the beta. Unless it became safer in the Womb: if in the previous article I wrote that the local inhabitants are tenacious, strong and aggro them in crowds is more expensive, then on live the Faithful were balanced, and now even rag classes are able to fill up a whole pack. Also, at the time of leveling up to level 60, the scale was removed, indicating how much the players attracted the attention of the Lord of Hell with their actions. There is no need to be afraid that a bounty hunter will fall from above when completing a task and collecting a "steam locomotive" on the tail.

Even in the Womb, the light does not leave the king of the Alliance. Thanks to the created protective dome, we manage to jump into the portal, fleeing the Lord of the Maw and his army, but the Lion's son himself, along with Jaina Proudmoore, Thrall and Bane, remain in their power, and, as we learn later, are imprisoned in Torgast.

In Oribos, the heart of the Dark Lands, we tell the Servants how they got to the Dark Lands and got out of the Womb. By breaking the Helm of Dominance, Sylvanas shattered the balance of the underworld. The Grand Arbiter, who distributed the souls of the dead from all worlds of creatures to the covenants, fell into oblivion, because of which they are now sent straight to the most terrible and gloomy place.

Souls entering the Dark Lands contain a valuable resource necessary for existence in the afterlife - the anima. As they now fall into the Womb, they empower the Jailer - a prisoner traitor, eager to finally destroy the balance between life and death. Therefore, drought becomes the main problem for the inhabitants of the spirit world.

"My eyes are obscured by darkness ..."

The first journey to the Dark Lands begins at Bastion. The Kirii are noblest beings whose task is to transfer souls from mortal worlds to the Arbiter in Oribos. In order to become a guide, aspirants purify their minds of past life memories through ritual. Since strict order and hierarchy reign in the Bastion, the Kyrians unquestioningly obey the leader - Archon Kirestia the Firstborn.

In the first video "Other Worlds: Bastion" we see the story of Uther the Lightbringer, who fell into the refuge of the pure. The jailer poisoned his soul with the runeblade of the Lich King Frostmourne. The curse spread to other Kyrians as well, transforming them into schismatics. Devia's ideal of Allegiance transformed a paladin who had served the Light too early, making him take the path of revenge rather than justice.

The plot in the Bastion is based on the confrontation between the Kyrians and the schismatics. The latter consider the path of the Archon to be incorrect, the Kirians need to abandon the ancient traditions and stop taking away memories of the past life from the reincarnated. The Kiriyas are doing their duty unconditionally. Cleansing from memories allows the reincarnated not to sue the soul. Only the Arbitrator has the right to issue a verdict. The Kirii decide if the soul is ready to leave the mortal world and bring it to Oribos for judgment.

Following the storyline of the quest chain, we meet with the Ideal of Doubt Lysonia, who sends the dissenters to attack the temples of the Kirii. She uses Uther, who will have to be saved if we choose Bastion as our covenant.

Next stop is Maldraxus. Before getting there, we repel the attack of the House of Cadavrs on the Temple of Courage. Xandrius's Ideal of Courage sends us to the lands of war to find a commander and demand an explanation, because the Maldraxians are called to defend the worlds of the Dark Lands, not attack them.

We arrive at the Theater of Pain. This is definitely the name that speaks, especially if you are playing on a densely populated server with varmod enabled. Here we meet Thrall's mother Dreku. A great warrior during her lifetime, she ended up in the House of Eyes, where she was turned into a kind of robber with their invisibility and hidden attacks. Later she had to change the ruling House, she was in the ranks of the Chosen. The Baroness says that two of the five ruling powerful Houses have been destroyed, and the remaining three are trying to seize the Primate's Throne, because whoever owns the Citadel controls the armies of the Dark Lands.

In order to open the Tomb, we get five runes available only to the worthy. We prove that this is us, having obtained the legendary sword of the Primate, which we will imbue with these runes. Not only Draka accompanies us in the kingdom of necromancy, the old acquaintance Lady Vashj will more than once reproach us for her new habitat, and the chain of Alexandros Mograine will help identify the traitor. If you join the Necrolords, you will find out why another Great Paladin ended up in Maldraxus and not Bastion.

In Oribos, Alexandros reunites with his son, after which we open the Throne of the Primate to hear a message from the leader of the Necrolords. The worlds of the Dark Lands are in danger. The only way to prevent the Jailer from breaking free is to unite the forces of the Archon, the Queen of Winter and Sira, so that they save their covenants, and to protect the Arbiter at all costs, because she is the key to a certain tomb.

We deliver this message to the last two locations: Ardenveld and Revendreth.

In Beta, Maldraxus and Revendreth generated more interest than Bastion and Ardenveld. On live, the first two covenants were nerfed. Therefore, you should not be surprised at the fairy warlock or death knight with sparkling wings, because the abilities of the Kyrians and the night folk are much more effective and profitable than the abilities of venti and necrolords for dungeons and raids. However, I chose the covenant by topic, not by bonuses.

Ardenveld is the most important location in the Dark Lands, why you will understand from the plot. Spirits who have dedicated themselves to serving nature during their lifetime live here. The plot of this zone revolves around a mysterious seed and a terrible drought that destroys the groves. We demand to meet with the Queen of Winter to convey the Primate's message, but she constantly avoids us.

Nightmares of the mysterious seed terrorize nearby groves and attract enemies, so we immerse ourselves in his visions. In the Legion, the first satyr, Xavius, used Elune's tainted tears to slay the green dragon aspect of Ysera. After her death, she ended up in Ardenveld. In her nightmares, we see the fears that the Queen of Dreams was subjected to, including the Death of Azeroth. We rid her of nightmares, but we cannot help to be reborn. We seek an audience with the Queen of Winter, where we find out why without the Heart of the Forest of Ardenweald, the existence of other covenants is threatened.

The last covenant awaits us - Revendreth. Here it is necessary to support the uprising against Ser Denatrius. With the help of new allies, we find out who is behind the lack of anima in this covenant, and understand the true reason for the uprising. When rescuing the leader of the uprising, Prince Renatal, we meet Torgast. The tower from beta has undergone one change - it is no longer infinite. This is still a fun add-on innovation with interesting self-selectable mechanics and cool rewards.

After choosing a covenant, access to the monastery opens, which, according to the traditions of the Legion, can be improved. The Covenant interface looks the same, except for the last ability, which is individual for each of them. It is necessary to pump the transport network, which opens additional points of movement on the map, the anima guide, directing the resource to a certain point, activating the bonus there, and the command table - the table of companions, roaming from the supplement to the supplement. The task has a base cost, which increases with the addition of a squad. If the companions die or are injured, they need time to recover, the troops are inexhaustible. The resource around which the new addition revolves is anima. But not only it will be needed for construction. A new material appears - a purified soul. We get it for completing the weekly quest. The more famous we become in our covenant, the more souls we get. As I wrote above, the abilities of Maldraxus and Revendreth were nerfed, and therefore Bastion and Ardenveld should be the first to pump their individual mechanics. I advise you not to abandon the command table, and get unique rewards from the pumped up transport networks.

"Remember this lesson"

After the events of the final quest in Revendreth, the Pilgrim's first priority is to stop the flow of anima into the Womb. Therefore, we are going to storm the Nafriya Castle.

In the lobby, Sir Denatrius is warmly welcomed. After the opening speeches, Screech's bat bursts in. She finds us using echolocation. Interestingly, Blizzard didn’t make her a sneaker-throwing boss. It has its own mechanic, for non-observance of which one player can easily substitute a raid. Hunter Altimore with three bear dogs: Margor, Bargast and Gekutis awaits at the kennel. Hounds are replaced after the death of the previous one. Of greatest interest is Bargast, summoning his shadow, capable of stacking a negative effect, a one-shot raid.

We go down into the sewers, the Hungering Destroyer lives here. The mechanic of this boss is based on the exchange of health among players. After the victory, we run to Lady Inerva Darkwine, who controls the flow of anima. Her abilities depend on gradually filling resource containers. Having dealt with the Lady, General Draven accompanies us to the weapons room, where the greedy Inventor Zi'Mox is looking for what to get his hands on from the property of Syrah Denatrius. The meeting with this boss is interesting due to the movement of the raiders through the portals.

We get down to the fallen prince Kael'thas. Unlike Garrosh, who, as we know, is also kept in the castle and siphoned off the anima, the Sunstrider is pumped with the sins of other souls. Denatrius tries to win him over to his side, but the elf's spirit is strong, despite the fact that the soul is exhausted. After being rescued in the chain of the covenant, we help the elven prince free himself from unnecessary sins and teach him humility.

Not a single raid without the Council. There are three bosses here: Castellan Niklaus, Lord Stavros and Baroness Frida. They must be killed at the same time, otherwise the first victim will restore health to his allies and strengthen them. Gryazeshmyak is a simple boss that you need to run away from in time. The penultimate ones are met by the generals of the Stone Legion Kaal and Grashaal, a student and teacher of General Draven.

The cherry on this ventra cake is Sir Denatrius. He attacks along with his sword Remornia. After defeating the last boss of the Castle of Nafriya, we watch a video where the former lord of Revendreth is punished in the same way as he once tortured other venti.

Legion in the underworld

I do not believe that the new addition parasitizes on the nostalgic feelings of the players, giving away Arthas, Kael'thas, Uther and other great heroes. They fit organically into the continuation of the story. Or rather, a new concept of the world of World of Warcraft. The quests are interesting and exciting, the Ardenweald line is catchy, and of course, Revendreth is epic with its intrigues, vents, and gothic architecture. The main message is at a glance, without intrigue and pianos in the bushes. I didn’t like the fact that during pumping they stop them from completing the storyline and force them to gain experience on additional quests even with the included varmod: in Bastion at level 53, in Ardenveld at 58 and in Revendreth at 60.

Throughout the addition, the feeling of being led by the handle does not leave. First Darion, then Kleia and other representatives of the Covenant. Why have we become so often hiding behind the backs of our faction leaders? Should Thrall drive away from us the Faithful to the Maw, or shield Anduin with a shield so that the Jailer's minions don't snatch us? The feeling that it is me who will correct the crown and take the post of leader of the Horde or climb the throne in Stormwind. Where to do a well-coordinated group game when we were protecting our rulers and ourselves? Even in Deadly Trizna, the Kirii carry us on handles from boss to boss.

Dungeons have not changed since beta. There is a lot of trash, but the bosses are not loaded with mechanics. With the release of Castle Nafriya, we see one complete storyline, unlike BfA, where the content was cut off in the middle until the next expansion. I liked the new raid, this is a huge atmospheric vampire castle with entertaining bosses, which even at the normal level of difficulty requires attentiveness and well-coordinated teamwork. One feels that the developers did not cheat, thinking over the design, mechanics and bosses. Of the pioneering raids of the new additions, Castle Nafria is one of the best.

In summary, Shadowlands is a great addition. It reminds of the Legion in the underworld: new locations, diverse in design and atmosphere, with a restrained list of activities that will not let you get bored, interesting gameplay ideas, easy questing and fast leveling of new characters, a promising plot that reveals the essence of stay in the Dark Lands, the return of long-forgotten abilities classes, improved customization and availability for new players. In Shadowlands, Blizzard has definitely done a lot of bug work that will not only help new gamers get into the MMO, but also attract older players.