In the WoWCast podcast, the developers talk about working on patch 10.1 for Dragonflight and how much fun it should be for all fans of WoW.
What is the WoWCast? This is a new podcast format in which developers talk about their work on WoW and its new content. The current episode was about the special features of Patch 10.1.
Here, developers Maria Hamilton (Lead Game Design World), Morgan Day (Associate Game Director), and Bethany Stout (Community Manager) talk about the update’s accessibility, cute moles, and snail races.
More content for everyone
Ideal for (re)beginners: The basis of Patch 10.1 – and Dragonflight in general – is accessibility and beginner-friendliness. The developers don’t want you as a player to have to overcome long hurdles before you can jump into the exciting elements of the update. Instead, you’ll be able to descend into the depths of the Zaralek Cave right away.
On top of that, the process of updating equipment has been simplified and you won’t have to grind for many different resources to upgrade gear. All of this will benefit returners and newcomers in particular.
An exciting new storyline: the new zone under the ground holds a terrible secret, butrus the old laboratory of the long-dead arch-villain Deathwing. There he fell for the whispers of the Old Gods, and his forgotten experiments still roam the caverns and haunt the lab itself. But the mysteries of Aberrus do not only lure your heroes.
The remaining incarnations are already there, and the renegade Dracthyr of the Shardflame under their leader Sarkareth also want to annex the lab as their birthright. In addition, the black dragons are also involved, after all Deathwing was once their aspect.
New World Activities: In the raid “Aberrus, Crucible of Shadows,” you can take on 9 bosses in Neltharion’s lab. In the cave itself, there are new public events, as the fiery incarnation Fyrakk wants to forge an alliance with the giant Djaradin people.
Therefore, there are regular battles with the primordial dragon and its colossal allies. On top of that, two particularly large specimens roam the botany of the cave as world bosses. Keyword huge: The cavern is so big that you can sail around in it with your dragons. So if you’re expecting claustrophobic tunnels, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Putzige Maulwürfe: Besides epic battles against fiery giants, there are also peaceful fellows in the underground realms. The Niffen are cute mole creatures that appear here for the first time in WoW. According to the devs, the development of the Niffen was largely influenced by the rat pets of one of the staff members involved.
Since the Niffen live underground and have poor eyesight, they rely on scents. This, in turn, comes out prominently in a new mini-game. For there you control your own little Niffen buddy as he sniffs his way through the underground, exploring previously inaccessible places.
Also funny: In the caves the Drogbar organize exciting races: with giant snails! So that you can get the cozy mollusks to the finish line on time, you can drive the slimy creatures with food and thus speed them up. But beware, all kinds of nasty creatures are also attracted by the snail food and you have to protect yourself and your snail from danger.
More cooperation: After Dragonflight has already established cross-faction raids, now comes the logical next step: cross-faction guilds. You can now open your guild to all factions and enjoy benefits like guild chat and bank with all your heroes. Another step towards accessibility and openness in WoW.
New Dungeon Pool: Many fans of WoW recently demanded a change to the Mythic+ system. Therefore, the developers have reacted and created a completely new dungeon pool. In addition, the system of affixes has been reworked.
Now there are new affixes and they appear differently distributed in the instances. This makes the system overall fairer and especially new players are not overwhelmed too early by the power of the affixes.
Finally, the developers gave a small preview of future updates. Among other things, they will deal with the bronze dragons and their entanglements. So it remains exciting in World of Warcraft. If you also want to get into the game and the exciting story, then get it here (Dragonflight)!
