World of Warcraft Shadowlands is likely still months away, though a specific release date hasn’t been confirmed, but players are already started to debate what choices they will make when the iconic MMO’s next expansion finally arrives. Players have always had agency to make choices related to their own talent trees, equipment, and skill progressions – but historically the game hasn’t provided a ton of plot choices that impact the way things play out. That began to change with Battle for Azeroth’s War Campaign and the trend seems like it will continue and evolve with the important Covenant feature in Shadowlands.
Covenants are one of the major features of Shadowlands and players will interact with them throughout the entire expansion. Early on in the main narrative players will have a chance to interact with each of the four covenants and learn a bit about their values, aesthetics, politics, and particular skill set. Eventually each player will select one Covenant to align with throughout the rest of the expansion (though there will be a way to switch Covenants). This is a big decision that will impact which NPCs World of Warcraft players interact with most, where their home base might be, and what special abilities they will gain access to.
In addition to each Covenant providing special bonus abilities based on each player’s unique class, the feature will also offer a Covenant ability that every member receives. These are general abilities that could, in theory, be useful to players regardless of their class or typical role (damage, healer, or tank). Each Covenant has a single ability that is meant to represent the values and philosophy of that particular group.
Before we dive into exactly what each Covenant has to offer, it’s important to make note that Shadowlands is still in beta testing and all of the features are being balanced and carefully considered as the testing progresses. It’s very likely some powers and abilities could be tweaked in the coming months and WoW fans should be prepared to adjust to changes. Even after Shadowlands goes live, there’s always the chance that future patches could tweak any ability if the devs decide a bit of rebalancing is necessary to buff or nerf a particular option.
That said, let’s dive into each of the four options…
Summon Steward – Call your steward to bring you a Phial of Serenity that can be consumed to restore some of your health and remove all Curse, Disease, Poison, and Bleed Effects. Your Steward additionally offers access to a selection of useful amenities, each once per day.
The Kyrian offer a very useful practical skill that will be helpful while questing and leveling up, but could likely also be useful at the end game as well. This seems like the sort of quality of life convenience that will be used frequently while players are out working on gathering resources for professions or grinding through World Quests for reputation or other resources.
Door of Shadows – Wend through the shadows, appearing at the targeted location.
This vampiric inspired power is incredibly flavorful and very in-line aesthetically with the Venthyr of Revendreth. The extend of the range on this ability and in which situations it can be used will make a big difference in exactly how useful it is and how frequently players end up relying on it while exploring the Shadowlands content. At first glance, it seems like another fantastic utility power that could easily be put to good use by any class.
Fleshcraft – Form a shield of flesh and bone that prevents damage equal to a portion of your maximum health. Standing near the corpse of a defeated enemy when the ability is cast will create a larger shield.
Again, this is another ability that perfectly matches the style and mentality of the accompanying Covenant. The Necrolord Covenant is made up of liches, warlocks, and spies and the idea of summoning a Fleshcraft shield feels very in-theme with their approach. Although damage mitigation is useful for any class, obviously this ability seems like it may be a bit more useful for classes who could use another damage reduction cooldown. During leveling, that may mean cloth wearers who want to avoid getting into trouble, but once players move in to end of expansion content and stick to their assigned roles, the ability may be a nice additional cooldown for a tank.
Soulshape – Turn into a Vulpin, increasing movement speed. You may reactivate Soulshape to teleport a short distance forward. Additional cosmetic forms can be earned and collected through a variety of gameplay. While out in the world, this effect has a short duration before it wears off, but lasts indefinitely while in a rest area.
The Night Fae bring another mobility ability to the table that is going to be very tempting for some of the classes who are a bit limited in this particular important area. The option to increase movement speed and teleport forward a short distance is very powerful for select classes. Obviously some classes like Demon Hunters who have their sprint and Druids who can already take on a speedy catform may find this ability to be a bit of a duplicate. Classes who feel like they are lacking a strong mobility boost in and out of combat though will likely be drawn to this ability and put it to good use throughout the expansion.
When it comes to selecting a Covenant, players should take the time to consider more than just the core ability that each of the four options bring to the table. This is a faction that players are going to spend a lot of time with, so be sure to think carefully and select the one that is most interesting and coolest looking to you. Many players will likely level through the Shadowlands content on multiple alts, so hopefully there will be enough time to experience each of the covenants through the eyes of a handful of characters.
Be sure to check back in the coming weeks as more details about Shadowlands emerge. Until then, For the Horde!
World of Warcraft is available now for PC. At this point, World of Warcraft Shadowlands does not have a confirmed release date.
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