First steps in the endgame area (in beta)

This week the beta test of World of WarCraft: Shadowlands started, in which you can play all areas of the upcoming expansion. The four possible pacts and the soul connections can also be tested. We had the opportunity in advance to look around the Maw endgame area for characters at maximum level 60.

Aside from paying a quick visit to the throat in the Shadowlands prelude quest series, you can return to the area at the maximum level to face the dungeon master who is the expansion’s main opponent.

“Since the judge has become idle and no longer leads souls to their destination in the afterlife, all of them have instead been condemned to eternal pain in the throat. Many of the souls in the throat have already been irretrievably lost. However, some are strong enough to suffer the torments of the throat resist, and can still be saved. (…) Those who are banished into the gullet are condemned to a bleak eternity ancient bel freed, which is imprisoned here, it will devour the whole reality “, writes Blizzard.

In the throat one is observed by the “eye of the jailer”. When you defeat opponents, complete quests and world quests, free souls, collect treasures and carry out other actions, the “observation level” increases, which is somewhat reminiscent of the skill levels from GTA. So far, “neutral” opponents have become “hostile” on the first “threat level”. In the second stage you are attacked by siege streams that cause damage and restrict freedom of movement. On the third and fourth level, an assassin (later elite assassin) also appears in every fight. From level 5 you get more damage and move more slowly. This increases the level of difficulty gradually, the longer you are in the throat. The threat level is reset daily and thus limits the length of stay.

If you defeat enemies in the gullet or complete quests, you get Stygia as a currency with which ciphers can be acquired – from Ve’nari, a “mysterious mediator”. If you die in the throat, you lose half of the stygia. The character reappears at the cemetery (no ghost, no soul healer) and when you return to the place of death, you get back the lost Stygia charge. The ciphers already mentioned can be bought for Stygia. These are strengthening effects for the throat and for torgast. Cosmetic items can also be bought for stygia.

In the gullet you will always find souls that can be freed – you will also come across some very well-known figures such as Baine Bloodhoof (see video above). Liberated souls join the chosen pact as reinforcements or settle in the capital Oribos.