In patch 9.1, entitled Chains of Domination, the jailer draws a new domain in Maw – Korthia, a city that has long been lost. Korthia is the stage for new guests and outdoor content in 9.1, as players attempt to unite the four covenants of the Shadowlands to fight the battle for the expansion’s ultimate Big Bad: the jailer.
However, the Jailer has an ally on his side: former Horde leader Sylvanas Windrunner. Sylvanas awaits amid a new ten-man attack in Torghast: the Sanctum of Domination. Players will also encounter ‘the true eye of the jailer’, as well as a ‘terrible new champion’ that Sylvanas has wrought – probably Alliance leader Anduin Wrynn, whom she has tried to corrupt throughout the expansion so far.Other new content will include a new ‘mega-dungeon’ of eight bosses called Tazavesh, the veiled market, featuring the enigmatic brokers we’ve seen so far in Shadowlands. We also see a new season with PvP content, a new seasonal Keystone dungeon, new Covenant cosmetic armor sets, and will be able to unlock the fly over the four covenant areas in Shadowlands.
The press release does not include a Patch 9.1 release window, though Patch 9.0.5 is currently on the game’s Public Test Area and is expected to be released soon, and 9.1 is likely to follow.
Also in the leak was the announcement that World of Warcraft: Classic The Burning Crusade would expand later this year.
Our review of World of Warcraft: Shadowlands when it launched late last year found that the expansion had ‘the most compelling maximum experience WoW has had in many years’.
Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.