Shadowlands Devblog

[Pantoufle]

 

 

Greetings everyone !

Yes, Shadowlands is coming soon. We've been working on it for the past months, and things are improving day by day on almost every aspect of the game ! It's not ready yet, but we'll soon be able to open a PTR like we did for Battle for Azeroth: a closed-access realm with invites being granted at an increasing rate.

This will happen in November, so we're close ! It's planned to have it going for around a month with some content being added, switched with others to make sure everything gets reviewed so that the actual release of our realm happens as smoothly as possible ! When the time comes, another announcement will be made with details on how to download the client, what content will be available to test etc.
Important thing to note: we'll release the client in 9.1 directly (but starting with 9.0 content, as usual) to allow for smoother updates and get the 9.1 class balance.

We still have a month to make sure we're ready for that PTR release (and we'll be working as hard as ever !) but we wanted to share the current state of affairs with you to give you a better idea of what you can expect ! We're gonna remain focused on the state of each feature rather than a thorough explanation of what they are, but we'll include links so you can read about them if you' want to know more about the Shadowlands specifics

We're really excited for this as we're sure most of you also are, so without further ado:

• Exile's Reach: This is the new level 1-10 zone where every race will make their baby steps. Much more "casual friendly" than what we currently had up until BFA, everyone will have to go through there first. It's gonna be finished in a few days and then our QA will test it so it's been properly tested before it ends up on the PTR. If you want more info, you can check this guide
   
• Chromie Time: This feature allows every player reaching level 11 to chose on which expansion they want to level up, scaling every creature & quests up to level 50. At first, we'll force everyone to chose for BFA since this is our best-scripted expansion (which has already been fully retested on SL). This means that alongside Exile's Reach, all of the leveling should be smooth & without any bugs ! In the future, we'll script Legion, and then eventually other expansions choices. If you want more info, you can check this guide
   
• Shadowlands' Intro: Starting automatically once you reach level 50, you'll go to ICC to begin your new journey, then to The Maw for some quests which then leads to Oribos, the expansion's main city. Already tested, it's working really well.
   
• Shadowlands' new zones: Bastion (level 50-52) - Madraxxus (level 52-54) - Ardenweald (level 54-57) - Revendreth (level 57 - 60) are all fully scripted including the World Quests, excepted for Bastion which should be finished in the following weeks. All 4 of them will be available on the PTR. The Maw (level 60+) while you'll be getting in and out of it during your leveling, the zone itself at max level hasn't been worked on yet, but since it's not much (short questline + a few dailies / weeklys / rares) it might be available for the PTR, albeit not right away. It's supposed to be the prerequisite to access Thorgast, but we will remove that condition on PTR if needed ! If you want more info, you can check this guide
   
• Torghast: 3 Wings (out of 6) are currently working, and almost all anima powers are scripted. The intro questline will be worked on soon, which includes some scenarios inside of Thorgast so you can get a grasp of its functioning. If you want more info, you can check this guide
   
• Covenants: Those 4 families (linked to the first 4 zones of Shadowlands) will have enough chapters scripted so you can access their spells, conduits, soulbinds, followers, missions & callings. They aren't ready yet, but should be for the PTR (maybe not right away, but during its time). If you want more info, you can check this guide
   
• Dungeons: All 8 should be available for the release, most during the PTR. Some are in a more advanced state than others (3 of them aren't fully scripted yet but should be soon). Affixes have been scripted & updated, and the rewards as well (including the new weekly chest, which has been redesigned entirely !) If you want more info, you can check this guide
   
• Raid: Castle Nathria: Every bosses are scripted in all difficulties, and testings have started progressively (first wings having received more feedback than last ones). It will be fully available on the PTR so you can check it thoroughly ! If you want more info, you can check this guide
   
• Legendaries: The crafting system has been scripted for a while, and so were most of the spells but because of their complex nature some are still in need of a review. They should be available for the PTR. If you want more info, you can check this guide
   
• Classes: As mentioned it will be 9.1 balancing, and their scripting has begun recently. Everything will be fully ready for the actual release, with the finishing touches applied during PTR time.

 

This pretty much does it ! As you can see, most of the new systems are at least almost finished for the dev part, and testings have started for a while now.
We haven't gone in depth of their core functioning because this would be fairly long, but we advise you to read the linked guides, which contain every information you may need ! Shadowlands brings a lot of new things that you will (re)discover soon, so having a bit of information beforehand can't hurt !

When the PTR opening date is set, we will provide more detailed guides of the available systems, as well as how you can help improving their quality for the release: we'll first invite our most active players, while steadily expanding the filter.

There isn't much more to wait, and with the new PVP season & the MDI on Sethraliss you should have plenty of things to do while increasing your chances to be selected first for the PTR ! While all this happens, our developers and Quality Assurance members are giving their best

We'll see you in a few weeks for more information regarding Shadowlands, in the meantime we wish you a nice experience on Firestorm !
Thank you for your time and fidelity,
The Firestorm Team