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Blizzard Entertainment has announced the new patch for World of Warcraft: Shadowlands called Eternity's End. This is the first major story update to the game since patch 9.1, which came out on June 29 2021. Earlier this month, the developer released patch 9.1.5, which was a smaller update mainly featuring quality of life improvements. It also brought back some popular features like the Mage Tower challenges. Releases of new content for the game have been slowed down over the past several months due to the pending Activision Blizzard lawsuit and subsequent fallout. With the recent announcement of the new patch, Blizzard is likely hoping to renew interest in World of Warcraft, which is facing stiff competition from successful MMORPGs like Final Fantasy XIV.
WoW's current story update, Chains of Domination, ended at a cliff-hanger when the champions of Azeroth were unable to defeat the expansion's main antagonist, The Jailer. With victory at hand, the villain stepped through a mysterious portal at the end of the final encounter, leaving Sylvanas Windrunner at the mercy of the Azeroth champions. However, before departing, he infused her with a soul shard, prompting fans to speculate over Sylvanas' possible redemption. This was also the last raid content added to the game, leaving hardcore players with little to do over the past several months.
Today, in a developer preview posted to the World of Warcraft YouTube channel, Blizzard Entertainment revealed the next major update to the expansion – Eternity's End. As further detailed in a post on the World of Warcraft website, this picks up the story right after the events of patch 9.1 as champions pursue The Jailer into the primordial and mystical realm of the First Ones. Zereth Mortis is an ethereal land created by the progenitor race that shaped the cosmos to be used as their workshop. There, players will encounter an ancient race of automata serving as protectors of this world, as well as a long-lost group of the familiar Brokers. The raid dungeon Sepulcher of The First Ones will also come as part of the update. This will see players face off against the corrupted prince Anduin Wrynn as well as The Jailer himself. As such, many are speculating that this will lead the story of the expansion to a close.
Watch the developer preview of World of Warcraft: Eternity's End on YouTube here.
The preview also detailed some additional features that will be coming with the update. These include the return of class-specific tiered armor sets. While not a new idea, they were scrapped during the Battle for Azeroth expansion in favor of sets separated only by armor type. Season 3 for both World of Warcraft PvP and Mythic+ dungeons will also be starting alongside the new raid. Professions, Conduits, and Soulbinds will be updated as players progress further into the story, while smaller additions include new mounts, pets, and a dancing mini-game coming to the Darkmoon Fair.
In recent months, World of Warcraft's development team has been much more active on social media. Patch 9.1.5 made numerous changes to WoW based on player suggestions and feedback. Meanwhile, key developers have started the "Community Council" program to encourage greater transparency and interaction with players. This new approach is very reminiscent of the one taken by the team behind Final Fantasy XIV, which has enjoyed great success due to its good community outreach. The video ends by likening Shadowlands to "the final chapter of the Warcraft saga," with another book coming down the line. This is yet another similarity with FFXIV, where the upcoming Endwalker expansion will conclude the current story arc.
World of Warcraft is available on PC and Mac.