Dragonflight 10.1: Embers of Neltharion Presentation

DRAGONFLIGHT 10.1: EMBERS OF NELTHARION Q&A

Some of the Q&A highlights discussed by Steve Danuser and Morgan Day.

1. There are no new Character Customizations, and no new additional Heritage Armor in Patch 10.1. However, Heritage Armor is an on-going project and Blizzard will share details down the road when ready.
2. Season 2 is part of the 10.1 update, and typically seasons start about a week or two after the content update goes live. The exact date will be announced when the team is ready to announce it down the road.
3. The Blackdragonflight, as represented by its squabbling leaders: Sabellian, Ebyssian, and Wrathion, must grapple with the legacy of Deathwing in a horrific place where he became mad.
4. Simultaneous launch of the Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible raid for Normal, Heroic and Mythic difficulties.
5. New PvP updates.
6. New World Boss in the new Zaralek Cavern zone is a duo of fierce Djaradin Elders who are not pleased with this invasion of their homeland.
7. New Dragon Glyphs scattered throughout the Zaralek Cavern, awaiting to be discovered to upgrade your Dragonriding mount’s talent tree with new traits and passives.
8. Some of the Mythic+ dungeons added to the rotation from previous expansions are themed around beats and implications of the Neltharion story, the Old gods, and the Primalist Incarnates story. It’s no coincidence. Freehold merely because it is a fan-favorite.
9. Mythic+ Affixes – At Mythic+ 10, we won’t have Thundering. There won’t be a replacement for it. Thundering affix is being retired.
10. The PTR 10.1 is probably coming within a week or so after this presentation (as per Morgan Day).
11. Cross-Faction Guild feature will be available in the PTR 10.1 for testing.
12. When the team knew players would be pursuing Neltharion’s secrets in this underground space, they discussed the types of denizens and activities, and decided to give players freedom by allowing dragonriding. But because the space is within a cavern, they decided to add a new trait named Ground Skimming that allows players to regenerate vigor faster while flying close to the ground.
13. Revival Catalyst is returning in 10.1. There will be some changes. There might be a blog to discuss this topic, and the team is open for player feedback.
14. Embers of Neltharion, as the name implies, deals a lot with the legacy that Neltharion left behind in this path from going from this noble protector of the earth-warder of Azeroth as a whole down the path to becoming Deathwing. This is a chance to tell that story in a number of ways: some through Emberthal, and the Dracthyr because this is the place where they were created; also through the Sundered Flame and its leader Sarkareth; and through the eyes of the Black Dragonflight who are looking for leadership (Sabellian and Wrathion who are making their case for why each should be the new leader); and the Blue Dragonflight — their new Dragon Isles 10.1 story that picks up where we left off in Azure Span story chapters and the Vault of the Incarnates.
15. In Patch 10.0.7, Ebyssian will develop a close bond with Scalecommander Emberthal (the Dracthyr leader) and helps her in her quest to find her people’s future.
16. In the new 10.1 Blue Dragonflight story, Kalecgos and the Sindragosa simulacrum will delve into the past of the Blue Dragonflight and set a course for its future. We will meet characters we are familiar with. Steve Danuser hinted at doing some adventuring in “other” places. Feels like he meant outside of the Dragon Isles.
17. Improvements to the Edit Mode UI coming to the PTR 10.1 have been incorporated after player feedback, as well as some changes to the resource bars.
18. Some of the current 10.0 events will be updated. The team doesn’t want you to feel forced to be 24/7 in the new Zaralek Cavern zone. So the other zones will get updates so that you can engage in your favorite activities and public events, as well as add new public events to those post-launch zones.
19. Primal Incarnate Fyrakk will be empowered after he finds the lava pool near Neltharion’s Laboratory (the Raid building). With this newfound power, Fyrakk leaves the Zaralek Cavern to wreck havoc across the Dragon Isles via the new Fyrakk Assault public event that spawns in a random zone (Waking Shores, Ohn’ahran Plains, Azure Span or Thaldraszus).
20. You can fly seamlessly into the Zaralek Cavern zone from Ohn’ahran Plains, or Azure Span, or Thaldraszus without a loading screen.
21. The team loves the idea of bringing Dragonriding to every pre-Dragonflight expansion flying mount, and have heard a lot of feedback, but the team wants to be able to hit the quality bar of current Dragonriding mounts if they ever get to apply the same to all previous expansions’ flying mounts. Nothing to announce on that front.
22. Patch 10.1 will introduce a major update to Professions. The ability to upgrade those crafted items, new recipes, and you have to learn the ability to upgrade those crafted items. Those pre-10.1 crafted items will not automatically upgrade.
23. In addition, there will be a new item upgrade revamp that use a brand-new currency stone and Shadowflame crests. There are actually several types of crests for different higher Tiers. Some of these crests will be available early in the PTR for testing, if not immediately.
24. The team has not forgotten about other Dragonflights without an Aspect that have creeped into the game over the span of several expansions.
25. Ysera and Merithra; and Nozdormu will be featured in future major content patches beyond 10.1. Sit tight. 10.1 is centered around the Blue and Black Dragonflights.
26. The Aberrus, Shadowed Crucible Laboratory’s dark experiments were the blueprint of experiments that later led to Blackwing Lair and the Blackwing Descent.
27. The first raid boss in Aberrus is an Elementium dragon — the prototype for the Elementium plating later grappled into Deathwing’s body.
28. We will encounter failed experiments that served as prototypes for the creation of the Dracthyr.
29. Raid testing will happen later after the PTR 10.1, not immediately.
30. In 10.1 — Nozdormu is certainly present, but this is story that delves into the Black Dragonflight most prominently, and then there are the chapters that deal with the Blue Dragonflight. So we want to parcel the story of the different Dragonflights out throughout the course of this expansion saga. So rest assured that there is more Nozdormu coming in future content updates.
31. Some hair color customizations are coming in 10.0.7 for Orcs and Humans to go along with their Heritage Armor questlines, but there are no character customizations scheduled for 10.1 that Steve Danuser is aware of, but he’ll check with the team.
32. With the new Niffen Renown track, some content that unfolds on a weekly basis, in order to contextualize the opening of the new Aberrus Raid.
33. Demon Hunters will get a new visual spell change in 10.1 where they throw their own weapon instead of the green-arrow glaive that shows up during the spell animation. There are team concerns about how that’s going to be read in PvP. Will it be recognizable?
34. The team will focus on Thrall in the future, but not now. However, Thrall will be involved in the Orc Heritage Armor questling in 10.0.7 but nothing in the foreseeable future. This expansion is about the Dragonflights and the Dragon Isles.

Hope you enjoyed this article. Please, support Blizzplanet via PayPal or Patreon, and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitch for daily Blizzard games news updates.