The next major chapter is coming to World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, with the Embers of Neltharion Patch 10.1 revealed to all.
Players have adventured across the Dragon Isles, aiding the dragonflights and eventually defeating the powerful incarnate of the storm – the proto-dragon known as Raszageth. However, with her passing her kin arrive in the form of the other incarnates; Iridikron the Stonescaled, Vyranoth the Frozenheart, and Fyrakk the Blazing.
With this new threat chasing down a concerning macguffin, players will delve deeper into what lies beneath the Dragon Isles – by literally heading underground into the Zaralek Cavern. There they will find familiar faces from across Azeroth, but also the Niffen, a new race of Mole people with truly epic snifflers.
The real highlight of the cavern is the presence of a secret laboratory that was once managed by the fallen Earth-warder Neltharion – that many know by the name Deathwing. His twisted experiments were one of many steps on his road to madness, and within the new Aberrus raid you will look deep into both the creation of the Dracthyr race and the motivations of Neltharion as he fell to madnes.
It is super exciting to be delving into an unexplored chapter of such a major character within the lore – Deathwing is a name that rests heavily on so many facets of Azeroths history, both through direct involvement and subtle influence. And one of the most exciting plot threads within Dragonflight is the exploration of what should really become of his legacy, the Dragons of the Black Dragonflight.
In an interview with Associate Game Director Morgan Day and Lead Narrative Director Steve Danuser, they shared some thoughts on what it takes to fill in such a juicy blank.
Steve: It’s really a tremendous opportunity, because we’ve seen the END of that characters journey and the madness that Deathwing inflicted upon the world before his eventual death and downfall – and what it cost the other Dragonflights to do so. What we didn’t get to see was the beginning of that journey, how he went from being the noble Earthwarder to the Deathwing that we know. Going into the depths of the Dragon Isles and exploring the caverns, we can unravel the mysteries that eventually lead to his experiments.
Morgan: A big aspect with the Embers of Neltharion is exploring the legacy not only of the Black Dragonflight, but also the Dracthyr. You actually get to see the different variants of the Dracthyr, these experiments or prototypes that he was using to develop them. It’s all so cool to dive into and explore.
2023 Roadmap Update:
March 9th: Embers of Neltharion ➡️ PTR
March 21: Return to the Forbidden ReachPreview Season 2 here: https://t.co/U8bVPlJLjZ pic.twitter.com/ubv2tyi2T8
— World of Warcraft (@Warcraft) March 8, 2023
Something that was also mentioned is the exciting strategy that Blizzard is taking to include contiguous storytelling within the world. In the Warcraft days of old, you’d often find that a new content patch would herd all of the active players on to greener pastures, leaving the previous content abandoned. Some special implementations have been considered to keep the player base active in areas that may not be the immediate focus of story – my bringing the story to previous areas.
This is represented within the Embers of Neltharion content by having the fiery incarnate Fyrakk present in previous zones, but way of public events that players can get involved with.
Morgan: One of the really cool features is “Fyrakk Assaults”. There is this idea that the incarnates are going deeper into the caverns, and one of the first things Fyrakk finds is a pool of magma that makes him more empowered. Once he becomes empowered, how would he cause more devastation? So one of the cool things about Zarelek Cavern is that it has many entrances to it from the overworld, there is no load screen – it is seamless. We don’t want people to be graduating away from all this cool content that we have made, so we are expanding the presence of Fyrakk’s threat to these areas that people are familiar with – not just the new spaces.
It is a fantastically clever plot threat to be pulling on, and further cements the ongoing feeling that Dragonflight has been built to really delve into the fantasy elements that players love about the World of Warcraft.
Away from the more dramatic parts of the narrative, there is also some brilliantly fun additions on the horizon with the introduction of the snail racing! The earthbound Drogbar were first introduced in the Legion expansion, and there was a few little tastes of their hobbies – including lifting heavy weights and racing their slimy pals. And now there will be the opportunity to get involved with the art of gastropod competition. There will also be some groovy opportunities to assist our friendly mole friends with quests that are centred around their keen sense of smell – after all, Moles are not known for having stellar eyesight.
All this and more await when Embers of Neltharion goes live as part of the Season 2 content rollout for World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, coming towards the end of March.
Are you enjoying World of Warcraft: Dragonflight? How do you feel about seeing the untold past of Deathwing? Let us know in the comments or on our social media.
