Flights
With Patch 9.1, Chains of Domination, players will be able to earn flying in Shadowlands. However, this time around, you will not need to complete a Pathfinder achievement to earn Shadowlands flying – Instead, Shadowlands flying is learned directly from the item Memories of Sunless Skies! Using the Memories of Sunless skies item will unlock account-wide flying in the Shadowlands.
Completing the Covenant Campaign in Patch 9.1, Chains of Domination, will not only award you flying in the Shadowlands – You will also earn an all-new Covenant-themed flying mount! Kyrians will earn an Aquilon mount, Necrolords will earn a Corpsefly mount, Night Fae will earn a Wilderling mount, and Venthyr will earn a Gravewing mount.
Additional Soulbind Tiers with Extra Conduit Slots and New Abilities
Patch 9.1 is increasing player power, with each Soulbind gaining four additional tiers including extra conduit slots and brand new abilities!
Like previous Soulbind tiers, these appear to be unlocked as you progress through the new levels of renown with your chosen covenant.
New PvP items system
With the latest PTR build, we datamined a set of around 100 new PvP items that have lower item level normally, but gain 13 ilvl when the player is engaged in PvP combat.
Note that all these PvP pieces aren’t marked as Chained Gladiator, which means they are just prototypes added to the game data and not yet available for testing. In the table below we show the current item level differences, but note that this is highly unfinished and very likely subject to changes. The items seem to be using the same base item level from Season 1 currently.
| Normal ilvl | PvP ilvl | |
| Unranked | 200 | 213 |
| Combatant | 207 | 220 |
| Challenger | 213 | 226 |
| Rival | 220 | 233 |
| Duelist | 226 | 239 |
| Elite | 200 | 213 |
These changes make PvP gear significantly worse in PvE scenarios, as the best item level possible to be acquired will now be equivalent to Heroic instead of Mythic, which will likely have an impact in the PvP participation in Season 2. If this gearing change philosophy makes it to live, Mythic Raiders and High-end M+ players will have little incentive to reach high PVP ratings, as it won’t provide them with an almost free Mythic endboss weapon early in the Season.
Special Raid Enchant – Raid Gear Best for Raid?
These Shards of Domination seem very similar to the Sha-Touched Gems from Mists of Pandaria which had very special bonuses but you could only equip one in a special Sha-Touched Weapon.
Thorghast changes
Torghast is going through a revamp in Patch 9.1 as Blizzard is replacing the Tarragrue and death counter failure state. Instead, Blizzard is moving towards a score-based system in Torghast with factors such as speed and deaths. We’ve datamined some other score-related spells that have been included in this build!
It’s unclear at the moment exactly how the rewards will be doled out in Patch 9.1. It should be based on the score, and higher scores will probably award more rewards. In order to get high scores, you’ll need to clear Torghast fast and also have as few deaths as possible.
New mounts
Raid mount
Sanctum of Domination will feature a Mythic difficulty mount, with Sylvanas Windrunner dropping her jet black Dragonhawk Vengeance! While not every tier features a raid mount, historically they tend to leapfrog, with (almost) every other tier including one.
List of all other mounts
Patch 9.1, Chains of Domination adds many new mounts ranging from Covenant-specific flying mounts to creepy mounts from the Maw. Here is a list of all known mounts from Chains of Domination, including their flavor text, sources, and models.
Harnesed Lord of the Corpseflies
Unchained Gladiator’s Soul Eater
Soulbound Gloomcharger’s Reins
New dungeon
New Mega-Dungeon: Tazavesh, The Veiled Market
A new Broker Meda-Dungeon awaits in Chains of Domination. It comes with hard modes and will be split into two dungeons with Heroic difficulty added in Patch 9.2.
Gather your party and discover exotic wares and strange creatures in the new eight-boss Mythic mega-dungeon; Tazavesh: the Veiled Market. Set in a bazaar of the mysterious brokers, you will face off against dastardly assassins, four-armed broker guards, an infinite pirate dragon, and other enemies as you chase down a wayward broker before she can unleash the might of a stolen artifact to realize her own designs.
This Mythic-only instance can reward players with loot coveted by broker society—including a dazzling assortment of weaponry, otherworldly pets, and a mount.
As Brokers are lucrative traders who enjoy displaying their collection of luxurious wares, Tazavesh is unsurprisingly filled with lavish decorations and piles of stuff! This dungeon is also highly-reminiscent of Suramar, another area with narrow streets, luxury merchants, and a bazaar-type environment. Definitely click on the images to enlarge them, as there are many fun details on the tables and walls!
List of all bosses:
Zo’phex the Sentinel
To gain entry into the cosmic wonders hidden beyond the gilded gates of Broker City, all must pass through Zo’phex, the security overseer responsible for ensuring travelers are disarmed of their weapons, knowledge, and freedoms at the door.
- Section 1
- Damage Dealers:
Destroying a [Containment Cell] interrupts [Interrogation].
While disarmed from [Impound Contraband] players are silenced and disarmed until retrieving their weapon from the battlefield.
[Body Armor] absorbs all damage taken if attacked from the front. - Healer:
[Whirling Arms] move dangerously around the battlefield.
While disarmed from [Impound Contraband] players are silenced until retrieving their weapon from the battlefield.
[Security Measure] inflicts heavy damage to the party when a [Containment Cell] is destroyed. - Tank:
Zo’phex can be positioned during the cast of [Interrogation] before players are trapped at their current location within a [Containment Cell].
[Rearm] increases attack speed temporarily.
[Whirling Arms] move dangerously around the battlefield.
- Damage Dealers:
The Bazaar
The Xy cartel “acquired” rare and valuable items to sell. Their current items for sale include Alcruux, a devourer captured in the forest of Ardenweald, Achillite, a centurion “borrowed” from Bastion, and the Edge of Annihilation, which is an Artifact wholesale to Sire Denathrias had recently fallen through.
- Overview: At the start of the encounter Alcruux will cast [Gluttonous Feast] which will remain until the end of the encounter, transfering to the closest player upon expiration.
When Alcruux reaches 20% health, Achillite will be activated and after starting up will enter the encounter. Achillite will occasionally channel [Venting Protocol], releasing anima orbs that explode upon contact. The player with [Gluttonous Feast] can consume the anima orbs, gaining a stack of [Devoured Anima].
When Achillite reaches 20% health, Venza will attempt to steal the Edge of Annihilation and after being corrupted will enter the encounter.- Damage Dealers:
Use Alcruux’s [Gluttonous Feast] to protect allies by consuming anima orbs.
Pass [Gluttonous Feast] to other damage dealers to maximize [Devoured Anima] bonus.
Venza’s [Whirling Annihilation] pull intensifies over time, quick reactions are required if you lack movement abilities.
Quickly focus damage upon [Grasp of the Dead] to clear the debuff before [Whirling Annihilation]. - Healer:
Use Alcruux’s [Gluttonous Feast] to protect allies by consuming anima orbs.
Achillite’s [Flagellation Protocol] inflict heavy Physical damage, save cooldowns incase your party is unable to break or dispel the shield.
Venza’s [Whirling Annihilation] pull intensifies over time, quick reactions are required if you lack movement abilities. - Tank:
Achillite’s [Flagellation Protocol] inflict heavy Physical damage, save cooldowns incase your party is unable to break or dispel the shield.
Venza’s [Whirling Annihilation] pull intensifies over time, quick reactions are required if you lack movement abilities.
- Damage Dealers:
Mailroom Mayhem
Something has gone terribly wrong in the Broker’s Primary Office for Sending Things (P.O.S.T). Players must assist the postmaster in getting everything back under control.
- Overview: Postmaster Pain summons both Alchemical and Volatile Packages through [Mail Drop], which must be dealt with accordingly. While delivering the Volatile packages, Postmaster Pain tries to thwart your efforts at a successful delivery.
- Damage Dealers:
Assist in delivering Volatile Packages to currently active portals.
Catch Alchemical Packages to stop them from becoming [Alchemical Mixture].
Group up for [Money Order]. - Healers:
Assist in delivering Volatile Packages to currently active portals.
Catch Alchemical Packages to stop them from becoming [Alchemical Mixture].
Group up for [Money Order]. - Tanks:
Assist in delivering Volatile Packages to currently active portals.
Catch Alchemical Packages to stop them from becoming [Alchemical Mixture].
Group up for [Money Order].
- Damage Dealers:
Au’myza’s Oasis
Deep in the bazaar of Taravesh, creatures from across the Shadowlands meet to discuss underhanded schemes and shady deals at Au’myza’s Oasis. Like any good club – the draw is the live entertainment!
- Overview: Select an instrument and hit notes to increase the crowd’s excitement and defeat enemies. Bring down the house and you may gain access to Au’myza herself!
- Tanks:
Hit notes as the singer to disrupt enemies and defend your allies.
Get the crowd’s excitement to 100 by hitting notes and defeating enemies. - Damage Dealers:
Hit notes with the Guitar, Saxophone, or Trumpet to increase the crowd’s excitement and defeat enemies.
Get the crowd’s excitement to 100 by hitting notes and defeating enemies. - Healers:
Hit notes with the Drumset to increase the crowd’s excitement and heal your allies.
Get the crowd’s excitement to 100 by hitting notes and defeating enemies.
- Tanks:
So’azmi
- Overview: Players must use So’azmi’s reloctaors to teleport around the playspace in order to avoid the damage of his Shuri ability and to chase down So’azmi after he divides the playspace with his Division ability in order to stop his Triple Technique.
- Tanks:
Use relocators to avoid the damage of [Shuri].
So’azmi will relocate himself away from the area with the most players after [dividing] the playspace.
[Triple Technique] must be interrupted multiple times to prevent its damage. - Damage Dealers:
Use relocators to avoid the damage of [Shuri].
So’azmi will relocate himself away from the area with the most players after [dividing] the playspace.
[Triple Technique] must be interrupted multiple times to prevent its damage. - Healers:
Use relocators to avoid the damage of [Shuri].
So’azmi will relocate himself away from the area with the most players after [dividing] the playspace.
Targets of [Quickblade] will take significant damage over time.
- Tanks:
Hylbrande
The Broker’s theft of an ancient Titan artifact has awoken the guardian Hylbrande, the Sword of the Keepers. Players must deal with this security construct and the Titan safety measures he commands.
- Overview: Hylbrande attacks players with physical strikes that cleave in front of him, and summons Vault Purifiers to bolster his defenses. Once Hylbrande reaches full energy, he will start a Sanitizing Cycle to cleanse the room.
- Damage Dealers:
Purged by Fire leaves behind purging fields that limit the playspace and can make it dangerous to access panels.
Vault Purifiers reduce the amount of damage that Hylbrande takes when they are allowed to channel, and restrict the ability to input bypass codes if left alive during Sanitizing Cycle. - Healers:
Purged by Fire will focus damage on a player.
Players are likely to be very spread out during Sanitizing Cycle. - Tanks:
Shearing Swings and Titanic Crash both hit all players in front of Hylbrande.
Vault Purifiers reduce the amount of damage that Hylbrande takes when they are allowed to channel, and restrict the ability to input bypass codes if left alive during Sanitizing Cycle.
- Damage Dealers:
Timecap’n Hooktail
Pirate Dragon
- Overview: Timecap’n Hooktail commands the infamous pirate ship, the Sea Cucumber, crewed by fearsome corsairs. More dangerous, however, is Hooktail’s command over infinite magics, and her ability to [Time Warp] her allies.
Corsair Cannoneers barrage the beach with [Cannon Barrage] and [Anchor Cannon], while a Corsair Brutes continually join the fight from the ship.- Damage Dealers:
Stay away from Corsair Brutes and try to kite them into Hooktail’s [Infinite Breath] or [Cannon Barrage]
Kill Corsair Brutes quickly while they are stunned by [Infinite Breath]
Stay away from the boat to avoid being pulled into the water by [Anchor Cannon] - Healers:
Stay away from Corsair Brutes and try to kite them into Hooktail’s [Infinite Breath] or [Cannon Barrage]
Stay away from the boat to avoid being pulled into the water by [Anchor Cannon] - Tanks:
Aim Timecap’n Hooktail’s [Infinite Breath] at Corsair Brutes
Try not to turn Timecap’n Hooktail’s tail towards your allies
- Damage Dealers:
So’leah
- Overview
- Tanks:
[Collapsing Star] fires in the direction of So’leah’s target and must be discharged before reaching its destination.
Coordinate with allies to disrupt So’leah’s [Power Overwhelming] utilizing [Hyperlight Jolt]. - Damage Dealers:
Coordinate with allies to disrupt So’leah’s [Power Overwhelming] utilizing [Hyperlight Jolt].
[Collapsing Star] should be carefully discharged before it reaches its destination. - Healers:
Coordinate with allies to disrupt So’leah’s [Power Overwhelming] utilizing [Hyperlight Jolt].
[Collapsing Star] inflicts substantial damage to all party members when discharged.
- Tanks:
New zone Korthia
Korthia is an extension of The Maw rather than a completely new zone.
The Jailer is searching for the key to fulfill his twisted vision for the afterlives, and he has pulled a fragment of a long-lost domain into the Maw itself to find it. Dragged from the hidden byways of the In-Between, this landmass has its own strange creatures and brims with mysteries the likes of which the Shadowlands has never seen. It is these obscurities that the Jailer is truly after, the secrets of an enigmatic group known as the First Ones.
In Korthia, you will be able to earn new rewards including a spectral steed bound in spiked barding and a severed hand mount that will fearlessly crawl wherever you command.
New faction
Death’s Advance is a new reputation coming in Patch 9.1 and we have an early look at the rewards which include mounts and new covenant armor sets.
Currently the reputation seems to be a WIP as not all datamined items have been found on the vendors, and players feel the rep grind is a bit slow. Reputation is currently obtained through a weekly quest ( Shaping Fate), Covenant Assaults twice a week, and Korthia dailies.
One tint of every new covenant armor set is available at Exalted with Death’s Advance.
Domestic Aunian is a new pet available at Honored.
Maw-Touched Enhancements
There appears to be a new gearing system in Korthia, with reputation items to enhance the stats on these Maw-Touched items.
Reinforced Item Ehancement Matrix (Honored): “Complete the matrix to create an item that will increase the primary stat of a Maw-Touched Helm, Shoulder, Chest or Leg item by 20%.”
Armament Ehancement Matrix (Revered): Complete the matrix to create an item that will increase the primary stat of a Maw-Touched weapon by 20%.”
Other Items
Contract: Death’s Advance (Friendly): Enter a contract with the Death’s Advance that allows you to gain reputation with them every time you complete a world quest in the Shadowlands.
Vault Anima Tracker (Honored): Allows you to track and locate Stolen Anima Vessels while on assaults into the Maw.
Recipe: Crafter’s Mark III (Honored): Teaches you how to craft a Crafter’s Mark III, a powerful Optional Reagent that sets the required level and item level of the item.
Technique: Contract: Death’s Advance (Revered): Teaches you how to craft a Contract: Death’s Advance.
New legendaries
Rogue
- Kyrian – Resounding Clarity: Echoing Reprimand now animacharges 4 combo points.
Inventory Type: Shoulder, Waist - Night Fae – Toxic Onslaught: Your ability used from Stealth while Sepsis is active grants you one of Shadow Blades, Adrenaline Rush, or applies Vendettato your current target for 8 sec.
Inventory Type: Chest, Feet - Necrolord Deathspike: Serrated Bone Spike has 2 additional charges and hits 2 additional nearby enemies.
Inventory Type: Wrist, Hands - Venthyr Obedience: Flagellation now also increases your Versatility by 1%. Each combo point spent while Flagellation is active and decreases it’s cooldown by 1 sec.
Inventory Type: Head, Back
Paladin
All of these Paladin Legendaries are unconfirmed as they are not listed in the same location as other Legendaries. However, while some of them may change, they may become official in a future build.
- Kyrian – Divine Resonance[/b] Every 10 seconds after casting Divine Toll you cast it again at 60% effectiveness. This effect lasts 30 seconds.
- Night Fae – Seasons of Plenty Casting Blessing of Summer or Blessing of Winter grants Solstice to you and up to 4 allies, increasing Haste by 5% and increasing cooldown recovery by 10%.
- Necrolord – Duty-Bound Gavel Vanquisher’s Hammer now has 2 charges and empowers an additional cast of [ Templar’s Verdict/ Word of Glory/ Word of Glory].
- Venthyr: unknown
Shaman
- Kyrian: unknown
- Night Fae: unknown
- Necrolord: Splintered Elements Each additional generated by Primordial Wave increases your Haste by 5% for 10 sec.
Inventory Type: Neck, Waist - Venthyr: unknown
Death Knight
- Kyrian: Final Sentence – When Shackle the Unworthy spreads, instantly gain a Rune and your damage is increased by 2%, stacking up to 10% for 10 sec.
- Night Fae: Rampant Transference – The strength gained from Death’s Due is increased by 1% and persists for 2 sec longer. While standing within your Death’s Due your Runic Power generation is increased by 20%.
- Necrolord: Abomination’s Frenzy – Abomination Limb‘s duration is increased by 4 sec and the frequency it grants Bone Shield (Blood) / Rime (Frost) / Runic Corruption (Unholy) is increased by 2 sec. Additionally enemies pulled by Abomination Limb take 10% increased damage from you for 12 sec. (Unconfirmed)
- Venthyr: Insatiable Hunger – When Swarming Mist ends it deals 1,346 Shadow damage to 5 nearby enemies, healing you for 25% of the damage dealt. The damage is increased by 2% for every 1 Runic Power spent while Swarming Mist is active.
Druid
- Night Fae: Celestial Spirits – Convoke the Spirits‘ cooldown is reduced by 1 minute and will use an exceptional spell more often. The number of spells cast by Convoke are halved and occur over half the original channel duration. (Unconfirmed)
- Necrolord Locust Swarm – Adaptive Swarm has a 30% chance to split into two Swarms each time it jumps.
- Venthyr Sinful Hysteria – Each time Ravenous Frenzy is applied and its duration is increased by 0.2 seconds.
Mage
- Kyrian: Harmonic Echo – Damage dealt to enemies affected by Radiant Spark‘s vulnerability echo to 4 nearby enemies for 25% of the damage dealt.
- Night Fae: unknown
- Necrolord: Death’s Fathom – Your Fireball, Frostbolt, and Arcane Blast have a chance to grant Deathbornefor 8 sec. While in the form of a skeletal mage the spell damage granted is increased by 1% for each enemy hit by Fireball, Frostbolt, and Arcane Blast.
- Venthyr: Sinful Delight – Consuming Brain Freeze, a Fire Blast charge, Clearcasting reduces Mirrors of Torment cooldown by 3 sec. If Mirrors of Torment is dispelled, the cooldown is reduced by 45 sec.
Warrior
- Kyrian: unknown
- Night Fae: Nature’s Fury – Ancient Aftershock‘s duration is increased by 3 sec and enemies hit take 835 nature damage over 6 sec, stacking 6 times.
- Necrolord: Glory – Conqueror’s Banner affects 1 additional ally and every 10 (Prot), 20 (Fury/Arms) Rage you spend while its active increases the duration of your banner by 0.5 sec.
- Venthyr: Sinful Surge – Condemn extends the duration of Last Stand by 4 sec, Colossus Smash by 1.5 sec, Recklessness by 3 sec.
Legendaries for other classes are yet to be added on PTR server.
Separate shoulder transmog
With patch 9.1, Chains of Domination, the hugely anticipated option to transmog each of your shoulders separately is finally available!
On the transmog menu, you will see an option to transmog shoulders separately – When selected, you will have transmog options for both left and right shoulders.
Official mythic+ score
Raider.IO recently released a blog post revealing that Blizzard will be adding their own Mythic+ score feature in Patch 9.1. They mention that Blizzard has been in contact with them and that Blizzard has designed their Mythic+ score in a similar way to how the current Raider.IO score works.
Raider.IO Score has been a popular and integral mechanic for Mythic+ groups over the years to more easily be able to track and identify the experience of players in Mythic+ dungeons. From Raider.IO’s support site:
Our system is designed to reward players for running higher and higher Mythic+ keys and completing them on time. We built the system with two primary motivations:
- We wanted to reward players for successfully running higher and higher keys, so we made the base value of a dungeon increase exponentially — just like the difficulty of the dungeons themselves.
- We wanted to more heavily reward those that are completing dungeons on time, so we also added a penalty system that reduces the value of a run as it goes further and further over time.
We can expect that the Blizzard Mythic+ Score will work in a similar way.
Read the full article by Raider.IO here.
With Blizzard taking on an in-game Mythic+ score, this will probably make it a lot easier for Blizzard to support high-end Mythic+. This score could lead to a Mythic+ leaderboard, and could lead to increased rewards such as mounts, titles, transmogs or other rewards (such as CM Ports). Mythic+ players have been asking for rewards similar to completing high-end Mythic+ for a while, similar to Gladiator rewards from PvP.
