The World of Warcraft: Shadowlands beta is still chugging along as the expansion comes closer and closer. Despite being delayed from its original release time of this year, Blizzard seems confident they can still get the expansion out in 2020.
One of the main reasons behind the delay is simple – the game just isn’t ready yet. On the beta, Blizzard is still applying plenty of fixes to get the game closer to ready.
With the latest beta build, Blizzard brought a considerable amount of tuning to the Covenant system to help bring everything into line. This is mostly balance fixes, with some nerfs and buffs, helping to make sure the Covenant system doesn’t throw everything out of whack too badly.
The Kyrian Covenant saw a change that wasn’t a balance so much as a clarity fix. The description for Bron’s Call to Action specifies that Bron knocks enemies back and then attacks and heals targets for thirty seconds. Combat Meditation through Pelagos also clarified the duration of the ability.
In #Shadowlands, you can no longer change raid difficulties when inside a raid.
This change has a negative impact on mount farmers, as this breaks a popular lockout saving method. #Warcrafthttps://t.co/JbS3d4XsVp pic.twitter.com/uhpt7x5TSw
— Wowhead💙 (@Wowhead) October 15, 2020
General Draven with the Venthyr Covenant has had a pair of nerfs. Built for War now stacks up to three times, down from five, and the Superior Tactics ability now increases critical strike chance by 8% instead of the previous 10%.
Nadjia the Mistblade has had Dauntless Duelist nerfed as well, now causing you to deal 3% more damage instead of 4% against a marked Adversary. Adversaries also now deal 1.5% less damage, down from 2%.
Theotar with the Venthyr has seen the following three changes:
- Refined Palate causes combat potions to last 50-150% longer, buffed from 20-100%
- Token of Appreciation has had its shield absorption multiplier increased from 0.5 to 1.0
- Wasteland Propriety has been nerfed to grant 6% versatility to the player and 3% versatility to allies, down from a respective 10% and 4%
Moving to the Dreamweavers, the Grove Invigoration soulbinding will now consume Redirected Anima. Otherwise, Field of Blossoms has changed to make Flowers bloom more often, removing the mechanic of only one blooming per minute.
Finally, the Necrolords have seen a nerf to Plague Deviser Marileth. Ooz’s Frictionless Coating’s shield is now 15% of maximum health instead of 20%. Ultimate Form now causes players to regenerate 2% health every second. If able to finish the full channel, players now gain 4 seconds of CC immunity and continued 2% health regeneration.
And those are the changes that this beta build has brought to the Covenant system! Most of these changes are decidedly minor, with the slight tuning being aimed at bringing everything into a balanced line. Still, some of these are quite major, so keep an eye towards any soulbindings that you had hoped to lean towards when the expansion finally arrives.
