Raid locations/new zones speculations?

Sup, so usually we get either new zones, new subzones, or old zone “temporary reworks” as the expansion progresses.

Likewise in the travel floor of oribos, there are 8 spots, of which 5 are currently being used (1 flightmaster, 4 portals)

So what do you think we’ll get this time around?

IMO:

  1. Thros will either be a subzone or a raid properly, there’s a Maw of Thros portal object in Darkreach with an invisible wall that looks very “Raid Entrance”-y, uses some of the N’zoth Visions textures
  2. Brokers Land probably, full zone, using an Oribos portal
  3. HOPEFULLY the Other Side gets a proper zone too and what we saw was just the main entrance, and maybe it can be the Shaman-y afterlife, like the Trolls, Orcs, and Tauren, also Oribos portal
  4. “The Sepulcher” the Primus mentions is probably end-game raid, perhaps
  5. The Devourers come from the In-Between, which is both the mist surrounding each zone, the wormhole space when we travel, and a parallel dimension to each zone (like the Dream/Grey Scale Limbo Shadowlands of Azeroth works); maybe a X.X.5 raid? something small
  6. Something involving the dreadlords?

What do yall think

6 Likes

I think between Thrall and Draka, there’s a high chance of an orc-themed afterlife coming into play and I certainly hope there is – a reskinned Nagrand or Shadowmoon Valley would be great.

Other than the Other Side, which – as you note – is more of a hope, all of your guesses seem pretty good to me. I would also love it if we had something like Legion Invasion Points where we get brief windows into other afterlives altogether that are currently under threat but allow for showcasing a wide variety of alternatives.

I feel Maldraxxus kind of botched its potential by going full Scourge – if it’d focused simply on reanimated corpses without constructs and plagues, I think it could have sold the ‘warrior afterlife’ much better, and I’d love to see something more gloomy and somber in the necromantic fashion, even if only briefly.

4 Likes

Yeah one of the sinstones mentions the “Craftenium” afterlife, which is the engineer/inventor afterlife, ie Gnome/Goblin afterlife

https://wow.gamepedia.com/Archetus_the_Mad_Designer_(sinstone)

wtb goblin-gnome paradise scenario

5 Likes

oh god you have no idea how much i want to see this thank you for bringing this into my life

2 Likes

Bump cuz I wanna hear other people’s ideas :slight_smile:

Thros seems like a good guess. To really, really deal with the Drust, for realsies this time.

Speculatively, I wouldn’t mind seeing some kind of Beastlands-Happy Hunting Grounds for the Tauren and other cultures/individuals inclined that way. And maybe some kind of Endless Sea for the Jinyu/Ankoan, Murlocs, Tortollans, etc. I suppose Tuskarr would fit either one. Though, I suspect it wouldn’t go over well after that one unmentionable Cata zone.

Basically, I’d like to see afterlives that are genuine places of rest and recreation, removed from some grand cosmic duty. Though I have no idea what kind of content you’d put in such a place.

3 Likes

While I do agree with others here that its likely Thros will be a sure-thing, a part of me really would like for there to be some form of representation of spirit worship cultures. And since we have Draka in Maldraxxus, and Garrosh in Revendreth … personally I would like something a bit more reflective of Tauren spirituality. Maybe not something exact, but that sort of “metaphysical overarching spirit of nature” thing their culture is built around.

3 Likes

On one hand, I think that there may be one raid per zone - don’t ask me the order or what they’ll be (in this scenario, anyway) except The Maw raid would probably start in Ardenweald, a la Siege of Orgrimmar starting in the Vale.

On the other hand, I explicitly think we will be having a Light raid (I hate capitalising forces, but they do it ingame so one does what one must), which realistically would be tied to Revendreth, but then there’s a pretty big disparity for the other zones. With that would surely come people complaining that “their” zone gets no raids.

Great this about OC expansions is that there’s not much to suggest any real actual new content, raids or zones - compare to the start of Legion and WoD, where we already knew about The Nighthold (and ToS, let’s be real) and BRF before the expansion even launched. I still get mad about that - robbed me of my excitement. Anyway - I don’t think any new content will disappoint me. There’s a lot of plot threads they could continue with, and I’m here for all of them.

I get this feeling that there will be a raid entrance in Oribos to a Broker Themed zone/raid/dungeon. Something about the bank… I almost felt like if it happened, it would start as an assault on the bank area.

I got the same feeling when I first entered Dazaralor. I remember thinking:

“This place seems like it is designed as a raid zone…”

Sure enough, Dazaralor was a raid. I got a similar vibe when I first entered the Oribos bank. It seems to hint at something.

1 Like

I agree with many of your predictions.

Thros would really make sense as a potential raid. It could have a very creepy aesthetic and look like “The Upside Down” version of Ardenweald. Plus, it could provide some interesting drust lore and tie up that storyline. Hopefully, it could bring in Ulfar and the Kul Tiran druids (or perhaps their ancestors who ended up in Ardenweald) to give them some representation.

The In-Between could also be a potential raid, maybe a small one like you said. The final boss could be some reality-consuming mega-devourer.

Ever since I heard of Craftenium, I have been hoping that this would be a zone that we get to visit. Not only might it touch on gnome and goblin themes, which haven’t really been present in the Shadowlands, but it sounds like it might appeal to mages, scholars, artificers, architects, and a whole host of alien beings and ideas. It could be a really mind-bending, whimsical zone (like Wonderland) to offset some of the heavier, darker zones of the Shadowlands.

It would also be interesting to visit a more shamanistic afterlife as well, some place that peaceful orcs, tauren, and even Wildhammer dwarves (plus many of the non-playable races) would be drawn to, also to spread out the representation in the Shadowlands. Originally, I was thinking of idyllic plains or steppes, but Bastion already looks like the Elysian Fields. I’m trying to think of a zone-wide look that we haven’t seen yet in Shadowlands–maybe tranquil, mystical snow-covered mountains and valleys with a permanent shimmering Aurora in the sky.

We’ll probably get some more story with the Brokers at some point, but I can’t imagine yet if that would be a zone, raid, or dungeon.

I also wouldn’t be surprised, once we’ve dealt with the main threat to the Shadowlands but the realms are still weakened, if the Light, Void, or other cosmic forces launch an attack. This could be the final raid or final boss that leads into the next expansion.

3 Likes

Some open-plains hunting ground ancestor worship kind of place for people like tauren and more shaman-inclined orcs would be nice. They should have done that from the start instead of retconning the Emerald Dream being the druid afterlife by inventing Ardenweald.

I most want to go to the brokers’ realm.

And what makes you think the In-Between isn’t also the Brokers’ Realm?

Because the brokers wear the same symbol as the portals of Oribos, meaning they too are probably constructs of the First Ones

1 Like

I know goblins and gnome fans will hate me for saying this… but I’m not interested. It will be mechagon 2.0. Nice to know that it exists in lore, but i’ve spent enough time in mechagon, we dont need to dedicate another patch to a ghost mechagon. A scenario there would be fun.

Thros is a place i’d like to see, and an afterlife for shamans/the ancestors they talk about so much would be fitting.

I’d like to see more militant realms. I don’t like how Maldraxxus makes up the “warrior” afterlife. Maybe one centered around an eternal hunt that inspired Odin to make the halls of valor. He stole the idea of val’kyr from the Kyrians so it’d add up.

2 Likes

I remember thinking “why does the Jailer want to go to Silverpine?” quickly reasoning that the Primus had to be talking about something else. It’s likely The Sepulcher of Knowledge in Maldraxxus.

Gallywix has to be somewhere. He’s not dead, but he might have went to the Shadowlands with Sylvanas. The G is probably already in the process of taking over the place.

I expect another First Ones location, one of the brokers hints there is a place that dwarfs Oribos in grandure. Most likely we will be trying to beat Sylvanas/Zovval to some source of power hidden there.

I could also imagine them making the Dragon Isles into the dragon afterlife, and sending us there.

Nah.

I love gnomes. (Goblins, not so much.) All of my mains are gnomes or mechagnomes. I don’t need to see Craftenium and I might even be a little bothered if we do because we just had Mechagon, and Mechagon was fantastic. It was everything I’ve ever wanted in gnome lore, except for being monarchical. Craftenium would be gravy, but like… I don’t need to have it centered right now.

Roughly speaking, my order for ‘cultures that are overdue for some spotlight’ is something like… Tauren (all) > Orc (all) > Pandaren > Draenei (all) > Worgen > Night Elf + Nightborne > Goblin > Dwarf (all) > Gnome + Mechagnome > Blood Elf + Void Elf > Forsaken > Troll > Human > Vulpera

Italics = Ones I hate but out of a sense of fairness
Bold = Ones I’m personally interested in

Totally with you on this.

1 Like

Just from the name, and the blurb we have about it, I’ve been imagining it like Mechanus. A clockwork plane, built on floating gears.
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Mechanus

1 Like