World of Warcraft game director Ion Hazzikostas let loose on players today in his Developer Livestream on the official Warcraft Twitch channel, revealing a new raid, details on Kul Tiran and Zandalari allied races, the next Warfront, new Island Expeditions, and more.
All of these new features, quests, and systems updates will be included in Tides of Vengeance, the first official content update for Battle for Azeroth. It all should arrive on the Public Test Realm by the end of this week.
Siege of Zuldazar
[Deleted Tweet]
The new raid, called the Siege of Zuldazar, will be a launching point for a lot more content in Tides of Vengeance. The raid itself will be something unique in that both the Horde and Alliance will go through totally different experiences. The Alliance will be assaulting the city, storming the pyramid for the first time, and confronting King Rastakhan. The Horde will respond to the attack, defend the king, and then make their way to the beaches to push back the Alliance while confronting Jaina Proudmoore.
After the raid is finished, new quest lines and story content will open up to welcome the Zandalari kingdom into the Horde, or the Kul Tirans into the Alliance. You know what that means…
Allied races
Both the Kul Tiran humans and the Zandalari trolls will be recruitable and playable allied races in the events following the raid. Hazzikostas didn’t explain the specifics around the recruitment scenario, like when it would be available, but he did say that following the raid the bonds between the factions and these kingdoms would be strong enough.
For those of us that don’t like extra grinding, there won’t be any new faction or long process to follow to begin the recruitment quest. Just as long as you’re already exalted with either the Zandalaris or the Kul Tirans and completed the raid.
Saurfang, Tyrande, and more protagonist stories
Stepping away from the character stories that the beginning of Battle for Azeroth focused on, like Jaina and Rastakhan, this update will shift the focus to other characters that we haven’t heard from in a bit. The Horde’s High Overlord Saurfang was last seen locked in an Alliance cell, Tyrande Whisperwind escaped the burning of Teldrassil with Malfurion barely alive, and we were briefly given a glimpse into the spirit of Vol’jin.
This content update will focus on these three characters who players have been waiting to hear from for quite a long time now. Saurfang’s reappearance is largely a mystery, but with the new Warfront focusing heavily on the Night Elves, it wouldn’t be too surprising to see Tyrande involved in it somehow.
New Warfront: The Battle for Darkshore
The next Warfront, Battle for Darkshore, was announced today as well. It will follow the first Warfront introduced at the start of the expansion in the Arathi Highlands. This Warfront will be different. Instead of the first faction vying for control of the region, Darkshore is already in the sole possession of the Horde. The Alliance will begin the Warfront by attempting to take back the land, and the Horde will come in after.
Two factions will be heavily-featured in this Warfront—the Night Elves and the Forsaken. The Forsaken took over the area after Teldrassil was burned, and the Night Elves want it back—straightforward stuff. This is obviously significant, because it would mean the Alliance would be within spitting distance of Orgrimmar.
This content update is large, undoubtedly, but it isn’t quite on the same scale as some content updates in Legion, such as the Broken Shore update. Either way, hearing so many details about it mere weeks after the expansion launched means that it likely isn’t too far away. We expect a launch date within the next few months.
For full details on the announcement today, you can check out the VOD of the broadcast.
