July saw another Developer Update for World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, the next expansion for Blizzard Entertainment’s acclaimed MMORPG. You can tune in to the whole presentation below, which also showcased the collector’s edition for the expansion:

Ion Hazzikostas, as game director, talked about the alpha that launched 3 months ago:

• 817,508 quests completed since the alpha launch
• 2,124 veterans of Exile’s Reach (Alliance)
• 62,727 Torghast runs
• 11,218 victims of the Tarrague
• 64,440 in-game bug reports
  • ~1600 unique bugs caught

The beta will be begin next week, with the following features in place:

• Feature complete, “but much work remains”
• Level cap raised to 60
• First look at endgame
  • Max level dungeons, raids, experiences, soulbinds, etc.
• As such, more invites will be going out next week and will continue to be sent out over the summer

Players will be able to try out the Covenants, before deciding which one they will join at level 60. Once you’ve committed, then faction-specific content will unlock for you, opening up a full max-level narrative and specialized features for the Covenants. Soulbinds will be attached to said Covenants to lead to new upgrade paths.

Each Covenant wants Anima, and gathering them will grant you Renown in the relevant faction. They each also have a Sanctum which you can upgrade to unlock even more features, like a transportation network. Restoring an Anima network will unlock quests and rewards too. The Scouting Map will be introduced, as an extension of the existing mission system.

Covenants will have their unique features:

• Venthyr with the Ember Court where you invite guests to a party for the aristocracy
• Kyrian’s Path of Ascension akin to a boss rush arena
• The Necrolords’ Abomination Factory will let you build fleshwork creatures for souls in need of a body
• The Night Fae’s Queen’s Conservatory is a soul garden with farm-like mechanics

The Theater of pain is a non-linear dungeon experience, choosing which faction to engage as you explore the catacombs, so that you can go up against the strongest champions of all Covenants. This is supposed to take place during an “important in-game event”.

The Maw will be closer to a sandbox area with looser structure and general objectives under the watchful eye of the Jailer.

Castle Nathria is a 10-boss raid and Mythic+ dungeons will enter testing this month. There will be Legendary runecrafting, as well as focused PvP testing and character copies for testing.

The level cap will be 60 as part of streamlining game progression, down from 120. The expansion itself will see its full launch sometime 2020.