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Greetings everyone !

This is it, Firestorm's next expansion: Shadowlands will be released on Monday, December 20th 10:00AM server time on its realm Oribos !
After a month of Beta realm (OBTR) where you could discover in advance the new features of this 8th World of Warcraft Expansion and give us feedback, it is now time to get the real thing started ! We really wanted to have it ready before Christmas, as a 'gift' to you all: you've been really patient, now it's time for you to get rewarded for it !

Our OBTR will remain opened until Sunday, December 19th when it'll then be shut down. As we mentioned in our previous announcement, any progress made on it won't carry over onto Oribos (the "real" realm): this was a bound-to-disappear realm only meant for testing purposes. In the meantime you can obviously keep on playing it as much as you'd like !

To be able to play right on the 20th, you will need to have your Firestorm Shadowlands client downloaded in advance: many other players will want to join in at the same time, therefore we strongly advise you to prepare yourself right now ! It's easy, all you need to do is either access our regular download page or visit our dedicated guide here: http://fstorm.cc/EN-SL-Download. Please note that our Launcher is now updated to include Shadowlands, yet we advise you to download the full client via torrent if possible.

Two days prior to Oribos' opening, we will be copying every character from Sethraliss so you can resume your progression where you left it. A few things of importance to note:

• Each character's gold will be capped to 10000
• Every item in inventories will be bound to your character meaning you won't be able to sell in the AH nor trade them anymore
• Guild banks are gonna be wiped (items deleted gold set to 0) on Oribos (your guild bank won't be affected on Sethraliss, don't worry)
• Finally, character's level and their gear's ilvl will be scaled down to Shadowlands (120 characters will become level 50, with this expansion's max level being 60)
  
   

Now that we have covered all the preliminary explanations, let's dive in to see what awaits you on Oribos, our Shadowlands realm !
NB: Even though our client is a 9.1.5 one, we will release at 9.0 patch first ! Every system will be scripted in 9.0 fashion, except the class balancing which will be 9.1.5.

SPECIAL LAUNCH REWARDS

As a token of appreciation (and because you guys waited a long time while we were working hard on that new expansion !) we wanted to give a little something to those of you who join the adventure the very first week following the release ! Those who will log on Oribos before Monday December 27th will receive on their account:

• The Ensorcelled Everwyrm mount
• The Anima Wyrmling pet
• The Wraithchill cosmetic weapon effect
• The Eternal Traveler's Hearthstone toy
• The Vestments of the Eternal Traveler

That's kind of a nice timing, with Christmas right in the middle don't you think ? Thank you for your support !

NEW LEVELING EXPERIENCE

For the first time in the history of World of Warcraft, a heavy rework was made in regards to leveling, and learning the game.
Before Shadowlands, every new expansion meant a higher max level and therefore a longer grind to get there, starting with a fairly unfriendly first step into the world of Azeroth: it all changes here !
On Shadowlands, the maximum level has been scaled down from 120 to 60:

• From levels 1-10, you will be learning the ropes of the game in a beautiful new zone called Exile's Reach. This place will be common to all races (when before each one had its own starting zone), and will feature a whole new questline designed to help new players learn the mecanisms of WoW much better, and faster. Even if you already have all of your characters above level 10, this new experience is gonna be refreshing, and could also help some friends of yours who never picked the game get into it much more easily.
   
• From levels 10-50, you will be leveling doing the Battle for Azeroth main storyline, which is fully scripted (its first quest will automatically be given to you). No more changing zones every 10 levels, battling to find working quests or killing monsters endlessly ! It's possible that in the future we will allow for different storylines (like the one from Legion for instance), but our main goal was that everyone doesn't feel bad creating a new character because they are dreading the leveling: it will now be a smooth and nice experience for newcomers and die-hard players alike !
   
• Finally from levels 50-60, you will be making your way into the Shadowlands for the first time ever in World of Warcraft, to experience the wonder and horrors of the afterlife accross five new zones: the gleaming fields of Bastion, the scarred battlefields of Maldraxxus, the eternal twilight of Ardenweald, the opulent keeps of Revendreth, and the horrific Maw. NB: The "Thread of Fate" mecanism allowing you to skip the main storyline to level from 50-60 by other means is not yet implemented (we plan to add it further down the line), so for each character you will have to run the questline for now !

Back on BFA's expansion, its main storyline made you progress from level 110 to 120, while now it will be from level 10 to 50: this shows how much faster your leveling will be on this new expansion, greatly lightening the burden you could feel when when wanting to try out a new class. In 2 simple words: faster & easier ! On top of that, we will add a 50% increase to all exp gains: it used to be higher on older expansions, but with the whole content now fully scripted this will be enough to allow you to reach the necessary level thresholds easily.

On top of that, Allied races will start level 10, meaning they can skip the first part. Death Knights and Demon Hunters will still pursue their starting questline (since it's specific to the class and not the race, by the way DKs got a brand new one !) before rapidly reaching level 10 and starting BFA's storyline.
 

As a reminder, your characters from Sethraliss will be copied onto Oribos, so you won't have to start again. But we're pretty hyped with the idea of having a smooth leveling experience to propose, because this has always been one of Firestorm's weaknesses, as we focus on the end game: not anymore !

THE SHADOWLANDS

Who thought dying was the end ? Welcome to the Shadowlands ! Once you reach level 48, a quest will automatically be given to you, asking you to head to your capital to begin the storyline. Beginning in Icecrown Citadel, it will then bring you to the afterlife's realm ! After a quick stop at the Maw, you will then arrive at your new capital, where Horde and Alliance gather: Oribos, the Eternal City ! (Yes, we took inspiration from it for our realm's name...)
From there on, you will follow the main storyline which will make you travel accross all 5 zones:

• Bastion, (level 50-52) which is ruled by the Kyrian Covenant. Ordered and purposeful, souls sent here seek virtue.
• Maldraxxus, (level 52-54) which is ruled by the Necrolord Covenant. Heart of the Shadowlands' military might, souls sent here survive by the rule of the fittest.
• Ardenweald, (level 54-57) which is ruled by the Night Fae Covenant. Emerald Dreams's dark mirror, it's a place of rest and rebirth.
• Revendreth, (level 57-60) which is ruled by the Venthyr Covenant. Land of dark secrets, prideful souls are atoning there.
• The Maw, (level 60 ) which is ruled by The Jailer and where Torghast, Tower of the Damned is located
   

By visiting all zones, you will learn of the troubles reigning in the Shadowlands and the schemes orchestrated by the Jailer. Each zone will have its own world quests, rares, dungeons and World Bosses !
This will be your central play area, learning the specifics of all 5 (especially the Maw, a tormented land not easy to survive in !) will be key in your adventure. You can find more information around those 5 zones and their questline here.

TORGHAST

The Tower of the Damned is located at the heart of the Maw, and is the place where the Jailer hoards his most precious souls.
This feature offers a brand new type of gameplay: instanced dynamic content featuring new challenges every time you visit it, with changing floor layouts and enemy mob types for 1 to 5 players. Each visit in Thorgast will be a new experience !

This content is central to your Shadowlands experience as it will be your way to gather Soul Ash, a currency needed to create customizable Legendary Armor (yes they are back !) thanks to an important character held in the tower: the Runecarver.

An introduction questline will detail the functionning of Torghast: this has many specific mecanisms, but you will get to know them all rapidly so do not worry ! Here is how things broadly work there:

• Each run you do contains different floors, and you will have a set number of deaths allowed (for the whole group if you're playing with friends). If the "Death counter" reaches zero, The Tarrague will be spawned, meaning your run will probably be over... On the other hand, if you manage to finish it, you will unlock the next "layer" (basically the next difficulty).
   
• To help you in your run, you will find Anima Orbs and Powers: the orbs which you will get after killing certain NPCs allow you to chose between 3 powers that last until the end. Some of them are available to all characters while others are class specific.
   
• Some vendors can also sell you upgrades or perks for Phantasma (a currency gathered during your run), helping you get further. These vendors are present in floor 3 and 6.
   
• Whenever you die in Torghast, you will respawn at the beginning of the floor you are currently on, and will lose any temporary buffs you may have.
   
• There are different wings in Torghast, with only 2 of them available each week and rotating.
   
• On floor 6 of each layer an end boss awaits you: kill him to complete your run !

With a total of 12 different layers, you will have quite a lot to do in Torghast. But do not dread, as you have up to 4 friends to help you ! For more details on Torghast, you can visit this link.

COVENANTS

Briefly named above, there are 4 different covenants that rule the afterlife in the Shadowlands: Kyrian, Necrolords, Night Fae and Venthyr.
During your questing you will learn their traits and particularities before having to chose one at level 60.

Each of them has its own storyline, divided into chapters. As you're playing you will advance in Renown, a way to show your standing among your chosen family. This is a weekly caped system, unlocking various things such as storyline chapters.

Chosing your covenant is the most character-defining thing in Shadowlands, and changing your mind won't be forgiving ! So you will need to chose carefuly as going back will be time costly.

By alligning yourself with a Covenant, you will unlock various things:

• A signature Ability common to all members of the covenant
• A class ability, common to all members of your class within the covenant
• Soulbinds and conduits, a new system of progression unique to each covenant unlocking various powers through an artifact-like talent tree.
• A sanctum, the base of operation of your covenant, from which you can run missions, quests, world quests and more in order to raise your covenant's power back to its former level
• Several unique rewards !

Each covenant's caimpaign contains 8 chapters. At the release, only the first one will be available (because of the Renown progress cap) but so far the first 2 are scripted, while the others will be released whenever they are ready (Expected ETA is around 2 weeks / chapter) accross all covenants. You can check a more detailed guide about Covenants here.
 

DUNGEONS

The Shadowlands contain 8 different dungeons: 4 of them are accessible during your leveling, while the remaining others will be unlocked once you reach level 60.

At the release, 7 out of those 8 will be available in Normal, Heroic and Mythic Difficulty. A few weeks later we will start the Mythic season, to give us some time to make sure everything is working properly. Here is the list of the dungeons:

• The Necrotic Wake - Bastion - Accessible while leveling
• Plaguefall - Maldraxxus - Accessible while leveling
• Mists of Tirna Scithe - Ardenweald - Accessible while leveling
• Halls of Atonement - Revendreth - Accessible while leveling
• Theater of Pain - Maldraxxus - Accessible level 60
• De Other Side - Ardenweald - Accessible level 60
• Spires of Ascension - Bastion - Accessible level 60 → This one is missing 2 bosses at the moment, but should be ready soon after the release
• Sanguine Depths - Revendreth - Accessible level 60

For more information related to the dungeons, you can read this guide.

RAID: CASTLE NATHRIA

The first raid of Shadowlands, Castle Nathria will be released wing by wing, but unlike our previous raids we will speed up that process, with one wing every 2 weeks (instead of every 4-5 weeks). The first one will open in LFR, Normal, and Heroic difficulties a few weeks after the release alongside the Mythic difficulty for dungeons. Once the 4th and final wing has been released, the full Mythic mode will follow !

Located in Revendreth, here is a list of its bosses with their corresponding wing:

• The Leeching Vaults (1st wing)
  • Huntsman Altimor
  • Hungering Destroyer
  • Lady Inerva Darkvein
     
• Reliquary of Opulence (2nd wing)
  • Artificer Xy'Mox
  • Sun King's Salvation
  • Council of Blood
     
• Blood from Stone (3rd wing)
  • Shriekwing
  • Sludgefist
  • Stone Legion Generals
     
• An Audience with Arrogance (4th wing)
  • Sire Denathrius
     

You can read more about the whole raid here.
 

PLAYER VS PLAYER

With Shadowlands, a highly requested features makes its return in PVP: the vendors !
It has been fairly hard on Legion & BFA to gear up your characters by doing PVP, and vendors are here to fix this: by engaging in PVP activities, you will earn Honor and Conquest, both used to purchase pieces of gear and upgrades for them (caped by Renown for honor gear, and caped by PVP rank for Conquest gear).

Just like the Mythic season, the rated PVP season will start a few weeks after the opening. This time will be crucial for us to make sure everything begins in the smoothest state possible ! In the meantime you can still train in skirmishes and battlegrounds, try out builds and talents !
For more information related to the new PVP System, you can head there.

 

A new expansion release is something really special, and we can't wait to see you log on Oribos, after months of hard work and a pretty successful beta realm ! We detailed the main features, but you can expect many more new things for Shadowlands !
As with every new release, you can expect us to be on the deck to fix every issues hindering your gameplay, your enjoyment being our priority !

If you haven't done it yet, scroll back up and check our guide to download the client, so on the 20th you can be among the first to log, and get our special thank-you rewards !
In the meantime remember that our beta realm is opened to everyone, so you can log there to try the expansion, and give us feedback on our bugtracker which will help us !

Only 10 days to wait for, which we'll spend polishing everything ! See you then
The Firestorm Team