Patch 8.1: Tides of Vengeance hits live servers today. This patch is the first major content patch for World of Warcraft since the release of Battle for Azeroth. As such, Tides of Vengeance aims to continue the story from the beginning of the expansion, while also addressing some of the major concerns voiced by the community.
The Story Continues
The war between the Horde and Alliance is heating up in Patch 8.1. Players are given a couple of different ways to experience this conflict. First and foremost is through the war campaign, which has received a new chapter.
Additionally, a new set of world quests called Faction Assaults are now available. These Assaults revolve around the idea of one faction attacking the other, and players can earn a variety of rewards for assisting their faction during these events.
Warfronts, which were first introduced at the start of the expansion, are also receiving an update. A new Warfront will now be available, this time set in Darkshore. Furthermore, the aftermath of Warfronts have been changed. World Quests will now be available in both Arathi Highlands and Darkshore when a player’s faction controls it, rather than the one-time quests available previously.
Class Changes
A number of classes are receiving quite a bit of reworking in Tides of Vengeance. Particularly notable are changes coming for Priests, Shamans, and Warriors. The loss of Artifacts from the previous expansion have hit these classes particularly hard, and the changes coming in 8.1 aim to help smooth out the way these classes play.
Players will also be able to unlock new Azerite Traits. The Azerite system has been criticized by players for being a simplified version of the Artifacts from Legion. The new Traits offered in Tides of Vengeance hope to give players more customization.
Island Expedition and Pet Battles
Island Expeditions will also be updated in Tides of Vengeance. This includes two brand new islands for players to explore, Jorundall and Havenswood. Existing islands will also be updated with new foes, rewards, as well as an increase in the rewards given on Mythic and PvP difficulties.
An all new Pet Battle Dungeon is also available for players. Located outside of Gnomergeran this dungeon gives players the opportunity to collect four new pets: Mechanical Cockroach, Leper Rat, Machantula, and Alarm-o-Dog.
An Eye on the Future
Though Tides of Vengeance has a lot of changes coming, the newest tier of raiding will not be immediately available.
The next raid, the Battle of Dazar’alor, is scheduled to be released on January 22, 2019. The second season for both Mythic+ dungeons and Arenas will also start at that time. Regardless, Tides of Vengeance is filled with quite a bit of new content to hold players over until then. Full patch notes are available on the World of Warcraft site.
