World of Warcraft (WoW): Shadowlands does not have a release date yet, but there has been a considerable buzz about the expansion.
Many exciting things are coming with Shadowlands, including the level shrink that will send players back down to level one, as well as the new customization features for WoW races.
Another new element that’s been introduced is Covenants. During the Shadowlands announcement at Blizzcon, WoW fans learned a bit about the Covenants, and the zones that they’re associated with.
During the World of Warcraft: What’s Next panel at Blizzcon, Game Director Ion Hazzikostas gave a comprehensive overview of Shadowlands, and what his team has developed, including Covenant abilities.
Covenant Ability System:
When a player hits the maximum level of 60, they will be able to choose one of the four Covenants to join. The player will then receive two special abilities for joining the Covenant, one that is universally available to all members of the Covenant, and one ability that is specific to the player’s class.
A nice feature is that the player will be able to test out the abilities before ultimately deciding which Covenant to go with.
This is about all Hazzikostas said about the Covenants’ abilities during the What’s Next panel.
Here is a highlight video of the What’s Next panel:
On the last day of Blizzcon, A Deep Dive panel was formed by Senior Game Designer Paul Kubit, Leader Combat Designer Brian Holinka, and Lead Designer Kevin Martens. During this deep dive panel, they did a swan dive into the ability pool of the Covenants (+2 Jokes.)
Covenant universal abilities
These abilities are for any member of the Covenant, regardless of their race, class, astrological sign, or hairline.
The Deep Dive panel gave some examples of what WoW players can expect for abilities (barring any development changes):
Covenant: Kyrian
Ability – Unburden: The player dissolves into pure anima, increasing their movement speed by 300%, slowing down their falling speed, and propelling them forward for 4 seconds. This ability will also reduce the radius of which enemies can detect the player. The cast time/ cooldown is1 second/ 1 minute, respectively.
Covenant: Night Fae
Ability – Soul Shape: The player turns into a spirit fox, which increases their movement speed by 30%. Enemies will also ignore the character. Cast time/cooldown is instant/1.5 minutes, respectively. The ability lasts 10 seconds or until the player runs into a rest area.
Covenant: Necrolord
Ability – Transcend the Flesh: The player’s soul will be separated from their body for 20 seconds, and the soul will be untouchable, and it cannot be targeted. However, the player’s body will be. If the soul moves more then 60 yards from the body, the ability will end. Once the ability ends, the soul will rejoin the body. Cast time/cooldown is instant/3 minutes, respectively.
Covenant: Venthyr
Ability – Door of Shadows: An instant transmission ability, the player will fly through the shadows, ending up at their targeted location. Door of Shadows has a 40-yard range. Cast time/cooldown is 2 seconds/2 minutes, respectively.
Covenant class-based abilities:
The class-based ability will be a powerful combat attack specific to the class of the player. The only class abilities the Deep Dive panel revealed were for the mage.
For example, joining the Kyrian will give a mage Radiant Spark, a powerful damage-over-time arcane attack. It will also buff the mages next four spells, causing them to do more damage.
As development continues for WoW: Shadowlands, there will be more information that is released about the Covenants.
