World of Warcraft: Shadowlands completely changes the Maw

The Maw is World of Warcraft: Shadowlands most polarizing feature. It gets harder to survive within The Maw as players spend more time there, and Eye of the Jailer debuff of the zone eventually forces the heroes of Azeroth to retreat to the next day.

On the one hand, The Maw does an excellent job of making players feel oppressed in an unfriendly area – after all, it’s the hellish version of World of Warcraftsee hell. But it’s not everyone’s favorite feature. “One of the nicest things about sending The Maw feels as oppressive as it feels is that it was a bit polarizing in terms of how players feel about it,” said Jeremy Feasel, one of World of Warcraft‘s most important game designers.

In an interview with Polygon before the opening of BlizzConline, Feasel and Frank Kowalkowski, World of Warcraft‘s technical director, spoke about how The Maw will expand and develop World of Warcraft: Shadowlands‘upcoming 9.1 patch, Chains of Domination. The Maw is on the verge of becoming a war zone, which ironically makes it a much safer place for the Champions of Azeroth.

Image: Blizzard Entertainment

At the beginning of Chains of Domination, The Jailer drags the brokerage site, Korthia, to The Maw. This fundamentally changes portions of the zone as the Jailer implants this new realm on the side of playable space so players can explore a whole new realm.

“We want it to feel like an adjacent space,” Feasel said. ‘So [The Maw and Korthia] will now all be one seamless zone. ”

The 9.1 Maw will be a mix of new and familiar – although Kowalkowski has confirmed that there will still be a pre-Korthia example of the Maw for new characters. Players will invade these new lands along with their Covenants, which will establish safe zone in the hostile area.

This base is just a few players. An attack in this area, and actually brings everything with it [the Covenants] forcing to carry, pushes back much of that oppression, ”Feasel said of The Maw’s current limitations. ‘The presence of the covenants and a home base there, will facilitate the consequences of the jailer. This allows you to spend a lot more time in The Maw. ”

Players can expand their allies’ powers through quests, such as one that focuses on the Eye of the Jailer. Not only will this quest teach players why the debuff exists and the history of this mysterious entity, but it will also enable them to cleanse themselves of the debuff over time.

Players can also not use their own containers in The Maw, except for two very specific containers that are difficult to obtain. This makes The Maw especially boring for slow classes like Paladins, Death Knights and Warlocks. The war against the jailer will also solve the problem.

Image: Blizzard Entertainment

“Having the covenants down in the space will also allow you to answer your calls again,” Feasel said. However, Blizzard has confirmed that while the flight is coming to the Shadowlands in 9.1 players will never be able to fly in The Maw.

Feasel and Kowalkowski want this new war in The Maw to make players feel liberated, as if their Covenants are making a difference in the harsh world they have come to know over the past few months. “This sense of the covenant that has this impact would not have been possible without things feeling a little difficult to deal with before,” Feasel said.

While The Maw has frustrated us and a legion of other players at times, Feasel certainly makes a good point. Players will have to wait and see how influential these changes are when Chains of Domination launches later this year.