Blizzard Reveals Worldsoul Saga: Three-Expansion WoW Arc
Blizzcon 2023 Announces World of Warcraft's Next Three Expansions as the World Soul Saga: The War Within, Midnight and The Last Titan
- At Blizzcon 2023 the next three World of Warcraft expansions were announced as the Worldsoul Saga.
- The next three World of Warcraft Expansions include; The War Within, Midnight and The Last Titan.
- World of Warcraft Expansions 10, 11 and 12 will wrap up the last 20 years of story-telling and lay the foundation for the next 20th.
Contents
- World of Warcraft: The Worldsoul Saga
- The War Within (10th Expansion)
- Midnight (11th Expansion)
- The Last Titan (12th Expansion)
- What's Next in World of Warcraft?
- The War Within: Old Friends
- The Factions Khaz Algar
- The Zones of Khaz Algar
- The War Within Dungeons & Raid
- New Systems in World of Warcraft: The War Within
Fans were ready for a lackluster reveal at Blizzcon 2023 with leaks having already revealed the likely name of the next expansion. Instead, Blizzard blew everyone away by announcing the next three expansions and revealing a mega story arc — The Worldsoul Saga.
World of Warcraft: The Worldsoul Saga
Several story hooks and many more will be explored in the Worldsoul Saga; what was Magni Bronzebeard warning us about all those years ago? What have the Titans of Azeroth been doing? What is the purpose of their installations around Azeroth? What are their real intentions?
The Worldsoul Saga will answer these questions and create many more. But the intent of the Wouldsoul Saga in World of Warcraft is to wrap up 20 years of storytelling over three different expansion sets; The War Within, Midnight and The Last Titan.
This story is set to play out over the next few years and is being designed in a new way to deliver the narrative to the players in the best way possible.
The War Within (10th Expansion)
The opening cinematic shows Anduin and Thrall meeting in a desert and discussing visions that people all over Azeroth are seeing. Something is trying to speak to them and they believe it has something to do with the massive Titan sword embedded in Silithus.
The expansion will take place in Azeroth’s heart in subterranean lands that will see players meeting with the Earthen Dwarves and the Nerubians. New zones include Azj-Kahet, Isle of Dorn, The Ring Depths and Hallowfall.
Players can look forward to new content such as Delves which feature gameplay for 1-5 Players and will earn End Game Rewards. The new Warband feature will allow players to finally share banks, reputation and more between their alternative characters.
New Hero Talents will bring another layer of customization to classes. The Earthen Dwarves will be featured as a new Allied Race.
Midnight (11th Expansion)
Very little is known about World of Warcraft: Midnight, but the few hints we got were around the story. Players can look forward to returning to the Old World in the lands of the Sun Elves at Quel’thalas.
Forces of the Void have invaded Azeroth, hoping to snuff out the light of the Sunwell. Players will get the chance to reunify the broken and scattered tribes of the Sun Elves and banish the Void forever. But things may not go according to plan…
The Last Titan (12th Expansion)
The final expansion of The Worldsoul Saga is World of Warcraft: The Last Titan and will see players returning to one of the most legendary raids in the game, Ulduar.
There players will bear witness to the return of the Titans to Azeroth. They will uncover a vast conspiracy that will challenge everything fans think they know about World of Warcraft. Here the Titans true intentions will be uncovered as players are shown the true nature of Azeroth.
Looks like #Warcraft is getting their own Infinity Saga✊🏻 Introducing: Worldsoul Saga! #BlizzCon23 https://t.co/wZX3LwP8X9 pic.twitter.com/z1lkIVk1uA
— Esports Illustrated (@EsportsIllus) November 3, 2023
What's Next in World of Warcraft?
World of Warcraft fans were hit with a lot of information today and it's a lot to process. Here's everything you need to know about what is coming next in the first of three expansions, World of Warcraft: The War Within.
The story starts with the Radiant Song Calling...something is compelling heroes to investigate it's origins. This is where Thrall and Anduin, among others, are receiving visions.
Meanwhile, a darkness has been gathering, Alleria Windrunner is receiving visions of her own. Xal'atath, once the Blade of the Black Empire, has returned as the Harbinger of the Void. She seeks to set in motion a new power in alliance with the Nerubians. Xal'atath offers to help the Nerubian Queen and her people rise even higher. These are not the Undead Nerubians players may remember from the Wrath of the Lich King days.
Xal'atath has given them new powers and transformed the Nerubians into something more. Blizzard also revealed that as of World of Warcraft: The War Within, the Old Gods are dead and the Black Empire has failed. But that doesn't mean their influence has ended.
The War Within: Old Friends
Every expansion of World of Warcraft features major lore figures and characters who travel and fight alongside the players. World of Warcraft: The War Within is no different. Who are some of the major figures players can expect to see?
The first, as seen in the trailer is Daddy. Sorry. Daddy? Sorry! Anduin Wrynn! After wandering for years in despair following his previous experiences, he no longer feels worthy of the light.
Thrall will also be joining players as he is seeking a connection to the visions he's been having and searching for his new place in the world and with the Horde.
Magni Bronzebeard will be looking to explore and confront his responsibility to Azeoth.
Finally, Alleria Windrunner will be central to the themes and events of World of Warcraft: The War Within. As a a void hunter, it's her duty to hunt down the Harbinger, Xal'atath. Alleria, torn between her own nature and the call of the void will have a unique rivalry with Xal'atath.
The Factions Khaz Algar
The next expansion for World of Warcraft: The War Within will take place on a brand new continent to the far south called Khaz Algar. It's home to the Earthen Dwarves, which players will recognize from UIduar in Northrend. But there are a few differences since these Earthen have been cut off from the rest of the world for so long.
The Earthen are guided by the edicts of the Titans, but they've gone so long without hearing from the Titans their factions have fractured.
There are the Oathsworn who ttill uphold the Titans edicts. They're city wwellers and guard the Coreway, a path to the Core of Azeroth. There are the Unbound, those who are considered rebellious by the Oathsworn. They're located in more rural locations and are responsible for gathering materials and doing harder work according to the Titans edicts. Finally, there are the Machine Speakers. They have strayed from the Titan's Edicts, but still keep to their responsibilities.
Players will soon learn that new Earthen cannot exist until three factions are re-united. This quest line will unlock the Earthen as an allied race joining, allowing players to join the Horde or the Alliance.
The Arathi are a faction of humans that serve as Bastions of Light against the darkness. They are holy fire wielders in an unrelenting struggle against the Nerubians.
The Nerubians are ancient survivors of the Black Empire, the last kingdom of the evolved Nerubians.
The Zones of Khaz Algar
The World of Warcraft: The War Within will feature four new zones in the first expansion of the Worldsoul Saga; they include the Isle of Dorn, the Ringing Deeps, Hallowfall and Azj-kahet
The first zone players will visit is the surface level Isle of Dorn in Khaz Algar. It's described as an untouched paradise where the Earthen Oathsworn reside. The developers made mention of Fire Bees and Molten Honey Mead! It's also the location of a Capitol City where players would expect to find all of the usual amenities.
The second zone the players will travel to is the Ringing Deeps. The Earthen here are the Machine Speakers and are engaged in their work according to the Titans edicts. Hard working industry meets natural beauty in the design of this zone. Players will also run into familiar factions and enemies such as Kobolds who have overtaken several areas of the zone. They've become a force to be reckoned with under the leadership of one known as the Candle King.
In the third zone, Hallowfall, the bright light of an enormous crystal lights the deepest parts of this subterranean area. Like a full sun it provides warmth and light which allows plants to grow here.
But the crystal and its light has changed, randomly plunging the Arathi who dwell here, into darkness. This allows other creatures to emerge and rage across the land which adds more danger to the Arathi people who are already engaged in a constant battle with the Nerubians.
The fourth and final zone is Azj-kahet, where the Nerubian City of Threads is built upon ruins of itself. Areas such as the Umbral Bazaar, a trading hub, exist in the zone alongside the Nerubians. Players must find ways to fit in with the Nerubians to explore this area. The Nerubians are also gathering the black blood of the Old Gods, no doubt for something sinister that needs to be put to an end.
Additionally, all zones in the expansion are connected with a seamless transitions, which means no loading screens.
The War Within Dungeons & Raid
World of Warcraft: The War Within features eight new dungeons. Players will find four of these during the level up grind with one per zone. They'll find the final four once they hit maximum level, again with one per zone.
The four leveling dungeons consists of The Rookery, The Stonevault, the Priory of Sacred Flame and the City of Threads.
The maximum level dungeons are the Cinderbrew Meadery, the Darkflame Cleft, the Dwanbreaker and the Old City.
The First Raid Tier of the expansion is called the Nerub'ar Palace and consists of 8 bosses. The story of the raid will be the conclusion of the Nerubian Queen's machinations with Harbinger and the Nerubian Queen will serve as the final boss. The developers mentioned that verticality is a major element of the raid and expect to explore it and it's mechanics using spider webs for several mechanics.
New Systems in World of Warcraft: The War Within
The final leg of the World of Warcraft: The War Within panel featured a systems overview for the expansion.
A great deal of focus was given to extending the philosophies of Dragonflight. They want to focus on evergreen additions to content and refurbishing systems. The plan is to add something for everyone and invest in World of Warcrafts foundation in order to make it better forever. There's also a major guiding principle to focus on respecting players time and not just the accomplishments of individual characters.
Delves. One of the new pieces of content will have players joining the Dragonscale Expedition. This is one example of an evergreen feature that will become a new pillar of outdoor exploration (likened to when World Quests were introduced). Delves will launch with 13 unique experiences which be role agnostic and be completed with 1 to 5 players.
Each season of the Delves will feature a new NPC companion to work alongside. Season 1 will start Brann Bronzebeard.
Warbands. Building on the idea of respecting players times and not just individual characters, Warbands will bring together all of your achievements, resources, renown, reputation and more across all of your characters. They're also reviewing transmog rules so players can share those across all characters and eliminate the need to run dungeons on multiple characters.
Hero Talents. Brings an all new level of customization to players and their classes. Each class has three talent trees and each specialization will have access to two additional trees per specialization. These trees are said to have evergreen choices and were likened to the Artifact upgrade trees in Legion.
