World of Warcraft: Dragonflight’s first major content patch Embers of Neltharion, due some time in May, will bring a new raid, dragonriding talents, cross-faction guilds, 🎉a new zone called Zarelek Cavern, and a Mythic+ dungeon rotation as Season 2 kicks off. Fortunately, players won’t need to wait months for a significant update, as this week’s 10.0.7 update brought a lot more to World of Warcraft than you might have expected. We sat down with director Ion Hazzikostas to talk about everything new in the patch, how smaller updates are helping keep WoW fresh, and what players can expect in the future.
10.0.7 will bring players back to the Forbidden Reach, the starting zone of the Dracthyr Evokers, to explore the mysteries of th♎eir origins and investigate Neltherion’s past. Hazzikostas says including smaller updates between major patches has improved the team’s ability to tell richer stories. “With more frequent updates we have the ability to tell stories♌ with more granularity,” Hazzikostas says. “In this case, to have a prologue to our next major update that can easily take place after the events of the shipping game players played through a couple of months ago.” He says the team is excited about the “size, frequency, and general shape” of these smaller content updates, which will serve as epilogues and prologues for each major chapter.
Hazzikostas says the secrets we will uncover in the vaults of the Forbidden Rജeach will directly set up where the story is going next in 10.1. “Return to the Forbidden Reach gives us a chance to foreshadow and really build that up fully in the game world before players are going to get to go there.” Those mysteries will be explored ⛦through a storyline connected to the Zskera Vault, a new solo and small group activity. Though the Zskera Vault has some similarities to Shadowland’s Tower of Torghast activity, Hazzikostas says the inspiration for it is actually rooted in the Troves of the Thunder King scenario from Mists of Pandaria’s Isle of Thunder update.
It sounds like a deep cut, but it’s easy to see the connection. In Troves of the Thunder King, players need a Key to the Palace of Lei Shen in order to access the Thunder King’s 𒅌Citadel and run the five-minute solo activity, which involved navigating a trap-filled dungeon and grabbing as much loot as possible before time runs out. The Zskera Vault is similar. Players need to farm keys in the Forbidden Reach in♎ order to access the Vault. As they solve puzzles and collect more keys, they’ll be able to venture deeper and deeper in the vault for greater rewards.
The WoW team wanted the Zskera Vault to be an activity designed for solo players and small groups because it fills a gap in Dragonflight’s content selection. “Something that we’ve heard from a lot of our players that they’ve missed since Torghast rotated out is that feeling of something with a bit more purpose, focus, and some challenges to overcome that they could do on their own or with one or two buddies,” he says. Hazzikostas believes it’s important to have gameplay for all playstyles, including solo players, but also that the vault is a thematically good fit for this kind of activity. “We’re returning to this place that was just a treasure trove of untold secrets, there’s all kinds of chambers that we can uncover, so it’s a chance to give players varied gameplay to complement what they’re doing in the outdoor w🍰orld.”
The main gameplay incentive for exploring the vault is a new gear piece called the Onyx Annulet Ring, which comes with three sockets that can be e♌quipped to give your character unique and powerful abilities. Unlike large scale ‘borrowed power’ systems from the past, like Legion’s Artifacts and the Heart of Azeroth, the Onyx Annulet Ring is only meant to be useful until the next season begins, at which it will be replaced by new raid gear. Hazzikostas says the team has consciously moved away from what the community calls borrowed power systems in Dragonflight and instead invested in permanent systems like overhauling talents and professions, but that the Onyx ring shouldn’t be cause for concern.
“Within the moment, it’s powerful and interesting and has more depth to it than a standard item that just has some crit and haste or whatever,” he explains. “Which is really what we were goi꧂ng for. I understand players may [have some] initial trepidation when they see something that looks like a big system. But at the end of the day, this is a cool item. I think it’s fun seeing players as they come to better understand it and look forward to engaging with it, and we look forward to seeing them wield it in the𝕴 weeks to come.”
Patch 10.0.7 Return to the Forbidden Reach launched Tuesday, March 21. 🐷Aside from the new activities, players will also be able to finally roll Goblins, Lightforged Draeni, a💛nd Worgen as Monks, as well as earn new heritage armor for Humans and Orcs. for more information on the update.