Speculating on the Story of Rise of Azshara, Patch 8.2, with Nobbel87

Live Publié 18/11/2018 à 16:25 par perculia

Nobbel87Spoiler warnings.Queen Azshara

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Leading up to BlizzCon 2018, we speculated on how N'Zoth and Azshara would make an appearance in the Battle for Azeroth story. Every time we've fought an Old God in the past, it has been as a unified Alliance and Horde. The Old Gods could be trying to divide us, so we cannot stop N'Zoth.
The Crucible of Storms raid also links Azshara to the Circle of Stars prophecy:
When she struck her bargain with N'Zoth ten thousand years ago, Queen Azshara offered one of her most devoted followers into the Old God's service. Now Uu'nat and the crawling masses he commands herald the coming of their master, as foretold by the stars.

Back when "Warbringers: Azshara" was released, we analyzed all the visuals linking the cinematic to the Circle of Stars prophecy. Eyeballs, rings, and lighting in the shape of circles plays a prominent role in the cinematic. You can read our analysis of the cinematic and see examples of the imagery in Warbringers: Azshara Cinematic Analysis - N'Zoth, Ny'alotha, Circle of Stars, Old God Whispers.The artifact book for Sharas'dal, Scepter of Tides describes the fate of Queen Azshara, hinting at her pact with N'Zoth that is dramatized in the cinematic.In our analysis, we also describe how some whispers of Xal'atath and the Boîte à secret de Yogg-Saron are referenced in the cinematic, such as "In the sunken city, he lays dreaming"We've also documented Queen Azshara's involvement in Battle for Azeroth, which includes stealing the Kul Tiras fleet and working together with Zul. She appears to be destabilizing both the Alliance and Horde forces--perhaps knowing that we're weaker when we don't work together.We learned in a BlizzCon Interview that the Crucible of Storms is an exposed piece of N'Zoth--this is bound to play a role in later patches.Exploring Nazjatar

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Patch 8.2 Rise of Azshara was revealed at the BlizzCon 2018 WoW What's Next Panel. Check out our recap as well as panel screenshots!
There are many new creatures in Nazjatar, including Gilblin and Sea Giants we can befriend--as well as creatures with interesting new models, like a crab that walks sideways, and a baby naga.
In a Wowhead Interview with Ion Hazzikostas and Chris Robinson, we were told that "Rise of Azshara" was not just a turn of phrase, it could be related to actual changes to the environment of Nazjatar. Could this be related to some of the prophecies? Will Azshara raise Nazjatar, uncovering N'Zoth's prison and regaining strength?
Xal'atath whispers: Almost completely gone, as if it never existed. But the rift is deep and vast, and somewhere down there it stirs. Something has changed, the last prison weakens. We must prepare.
Xal'atath whispers: The God of the Deep writhes in his prison, breaking free ever so slowly. You should hurry and defeat the fallen titan... there are greater battles yet to fight.

The Starting Zone learned many details about Nazjatar in their BlizzCon 2018 interview, specifically about building friendships with NPCs and innovative World Quests.
The aesthetics of Patch 8.2 Rise of Azshara were inspired by the naga--but with a twist, so players wouldn't visit the zone and think everything looked reused. Blizzard took a deep sea approach to the zone and wanted to be creative in the types of creatures present. For example, there is a new fantastical crab woman unlike anything you've seen before.Nazjatar is a mix of underwater and ground areas. The team had ideas that you'd have the ability to swim in some parts, pull mobs onto dry land, then fight them in the water...this was a bit complex and they're still working on the zone. The fantasy is that this is a unique underwater zone with water and walls rising out of the sea, and they are trying to build tech to sell that fantasy for players.Nazjatar is a good place to evolve the World Quest system - they want the World Quests to feel unique and different. This could include multi-stage quests, group quests, or even bosses that spawn across the entire region, and whoever gets to spawn it gets a special zone-wide yell.In Nazjatar you can also recruit assistants on a daily basis, who have a friendship bar (similar to Mists of Pandaria Tillers). You can take these friends out to adventure for the day, and as they gain friendship, they unlock new abilities and perks like accessing more dailies.Some of these friends, like the Gilbin for the Horde (a goblin with fins), have extra perks. Using the Gilbin as an example, you'll be able to see new hidden treasures using the Gilbin as a friend, and some of these treasures contain items which start quests that further the Gilbin's personal storyline.Nazjatar is a zone that should be a place for "everything from A to Z." Comparisons to the Timeless Isle were made, like how Golganarr was really "mean" to players since he dropped a special toy and could take up to 48 hours to respawn.Mechagon

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Back before BlizzCon, we wrote a speculation article that Mechagnomes would be an upcoming Allied Race. That didn't come to pass at BlizzCon, but lots of the referenced details set up the Mechagnome story in 8.2, such as the scrapyard!
You can visit the mysterious junk heap for yourself in the Gadget inspecteur quest series.
In Borean Tundra, Maître des rouages Mécazod forcibly tries to turn regular gnomes into Mechagnomes, granting them immortality. We also see Mechagnomes in Storm Peaks, serving the Old Gods and later the Keepers, such as Mimiron.
Patch 8.1 adds Gobelin non identifié and Gnome non identifiée, as references to Grizzek Fizzwrench and Sapphronetta Flivvers, the Goblin and Gnome couple from Before the Storm. Perhaps they'll play a role in the upcoming 8.2 story as they are highly-inventive characters.
We've also datamined a mechanical parrot mount and pet, which could tie in nicely to the inventions coming in 8.2.
You can read the full Mechagon announcement in our Patch 8.2 Recap.

Lore of the Gnomes

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Yogg-Saron was the most challenging Old God for the Titan-Forged to subdue. World of Warcraft Chronicle describes the C’Thraxxi, monstrous generals unleashed by Yogg-Saron, that were so powerful they could mind-control the Titan-Forged. Once defeated, Yogg-Saron was sealed inside Ulduar (later a raid zone).
As part of Yogg-Saron's plan to corrupt Loken and turn him against the other keepers, Yogg-Saron took the form of Sif's spirit. Loken killed Sif when she wanted to end their affair, and was susceptible to Yogg's illusion claiming she had forgiven him and that he should start a war with her husband, the keeper Thorim. Loken then used the Forge of Wills to create an army, but Yogg-Saron corrupted the core mechanism so the army would become mortal.
Loken's army traveled to Uldum to investigate Ra--he thought Ra would have noticed the strife in Ulduar. In traveling to Uldum, the army infected the Tol'vir with the Curse of Flesh. In Cataclysm, the Neferset tribe of the Tol'vir has reversed the curse by striking a deal with Siamat (Traîtres !), and you defeat them in La chute de Neferset.
In the battle between the Winterskorn and the keepers, the vrykul soldiers began to exhibit signs of weaknesses. The Dragon Aspects sealed away the defeated vrykul soldiers and when they awoke thousands of years later, they had turned into mortals.
The Dragonflayer vrykul, led by Roi Ymiron, started to notice the Curse of Flesh in their children. King Ymiron believed the keepers were responsible for this and told the Vrykul to renounce the keepers. He demanded that all weak infants be murdered. Some vrykul could not bring themselves to do this (Angoisse à Nifflevar), and instead escaped to journey to Tirisfal Glades--where Tyr, Archaeda, and Ironaya had travelled to fight the C'Thraxxi.
The Earthen and Mechagnomes, noticing the effects of the Curse of Flesh, asked to be sealed away in Uldaman until a cure could be found. Over time, these races developed into the Dwaves and Gnomes.
The Mogu, keepers of the Val de l’Éternel printemps, lost their faith in Highkeeper Ra when the Curse of Flesh hit them. Their culture drastically changed into one of bloodshed. The Mogu king Lei Shen captured Highkeeper Ra and used the Engine of Nalak'sha to reverse the Curse of Flesh. You can find this content in-game with the bosses Elegon, Lei Shen and Ra Den.
To prevent further chaos in Azeroth, Tyr, one of the watchers that resisted Loken, prepared to overthrow Loken by stealing the Discs of Norgannon. These relics recorded the history of everything in Azeroth, and studying them would provide key information about Loken’s betrayal. When Loken discovered the Discs were missing, he sent several C’Thraxxi to fight Tyr. You can play through the follow-up for this story in several Artifact quests--Arms Warrior, Shadow Priest, and Holy Paladin.

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In the quest Le destin des titans, you investigate the abandoned Titan temples in Storm Peaks, learning about the fate of the keepers. Freya, Mimiron, and Hodir were captured while Tyr at the Temple of Order escaped:
Mechanical servants appear to have turned against each other. Several attendants have been piled together in an unorganized manner.
Remaining mechagnome guardians corrupted by unknown source.

Temple guardians verified to be deceased. Sulfurous odor suggests that death resulted from a fire-base entity.
Previously established cold weather patterns at the temple have ceased.

Evidence indicates a significant battle. The opponent of Watcher Freya estimated to be of similar size and strength to Watcher Freya.
Temple guardians are no longer present. Plant forms associated with temple are deceased.

Temple of Order verified to be in-tact.
No indications of struggle are present. No guardians are present.

For the Mimiron encounter in Ulduar, you fight several of his creations: Leviathan MK II, VX-001, Aerial Command Unit, V0-L7R-0N. This was considered to be one of the most difficult encounters in Ulduar, yet also the most fun to start—you pressed a big red button.

Mimiron yells: It would appear that I've made a slight miscalculation. I allowed my mind to be corrupted by the fiend in the prison, overriding my primary directive. All systems seem to be functional now. Clear.
Mimiron yells: Now, why would you go and do something like that? Didn't you see the sign that said, "DO NOT PUSH THIS BUTTON!"? How will we finish testing with the self-destruct mechanism active?

Mimiron makes a reappearance in Legion. He made the gun Titanstrike for Thorim, which has since gone missing. In the Beast Mastery Artifact Questline, Mimiron helps you track down the missing artifact from his now-functional workshop in Ulduar. This questline also involves hitting the big red button.Mimiron created the mechagnomes, which transformed into the playable gnome race. In Les mécagnomes, Fizzcrank states “He greeted us warmly and explained that he was one of the first gnomes ever to be created by something he called "The Grand Architect", a Titan keeper from within the halls of fabled Ulduar.”You fight Freya in Ulduar in a lush conservatory, filled with so much trash there was an achievement for speed-clearing it (Le jardin de la Vie-tesse (10 joueurs)). She is guarded by three Elders; keeping them alive will activate hard mode. Throughout the fight, she summons waves of nature adds and also heals herself by calling upon the power of Eonar (Cadeau d'Eonar).Hodir in Ulduar is found in the Temple of Winter. His attacks are frost-themed: he’s frozen explorers that buff you when freed (Puissance de la tempête), he drops icicles from the ceiling, and he freezes the entire raid. High stacks of Froid mordant active while being frozen was deadly.More on Mekkatorque:

If you'd like to learn more about Mekkatorque's history, we have an article dedicated to explaining his presence in every expansion. Click here to read it!

Mekkatorque plays a big role in the Alliance War Campaign, trading barbs with Gallywix on the power of Gnomish engineering.

Mekkatorque is then a boss in the Battle of Dazar'alor raid. While he survives, his mech-suit encases him in a protective ice block, that nobody can break him out of--so he's essentially in stasis. He drops interesting items such as:
Canon désintégrant à double affût: Your attacks have a chance to fire a Buster Shot dealing 3552 Nature damage.

Cape du Grand Bricoleur: Increases your Kul Tiran or Zandalari Engineering by 5.

Poignes de jockey mécanique: You move 20% faster while piloting a mount created by an Engineer. This does not stack with other movement speed increasing effects.

M.E.G.A.: Special mount drop for both factions

8.1 War Campaign and Saurfang

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Catch up on the events of the pre-patch with our Burning of Teldrassil and Battle for Lordaeron story recaps.
We've previewed both the complete Alliance War Campaign and Horde War Campaigns on the PTR, which explain the preparations on each side leading up to the Battle of Dazar'alor. The Abyssal Scepter is used to cause a distraction on the coast of Nazmir, drawing out Talanji and the Horde which then left Dazar'alor unattended.
You can learn more about the clash between the factions in our Battle of Dazar'alor Raid Overview, which seems players facing off against Rastakhan, Mekkatorque, and Jaina Proudmoore.
We've also datamined cutscenes for important events, such as the Alliance retrieving the scepter and Sylvanas reviving Derek Proudmoore. This latter cutscene triggers a backlash among Horde leaders, leading to a special questline with Vol'jin in which we investigate why he appointed Sylvanas Warchief.
Also of importance is the rescue of Lady Ashvane from Tol Dagor as part of the Horde Campaign. Back in the Alpha, some datamined encounter journal lines linked Ashvane to Lady Azshara. What could Sylvanas want with Lady Ashvane? Also interesting to note that with this escape, the two major triumphs for each faction in 8.0--the stealing of the Abyssal Scepter for the Horde and the defeat of Ashvane for the Alliance, have been unravelled.
Saurfang's story continues after the "Lost Honor" cinematic with a special questline that strongly hints at the Alliance's involvement in his escape, as well as the introduction of Zek'han. Much has been made of the special player choice added late in the PTR, to either help Saurfang or warn Sylvanas of his rebellion, and there's also a funny datamined third option--J’ai déjà donné.

Xal'atath, Blade of the Black Empire

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Xal'atath has received many new NPC entries as part of Patch 8.1 datamining. Some of these models depict her as a female Void Elf. However, Blizzard is hiding the viewable models for other Xal'atath entries (such as Xal'atath NPC ID 147337), implying there is another model in store, likely spoilery.
Xal'atath first appeared in Legion as the Shadow Priest Artifact Weapon. You can still acquire this weapon and learn more about the dark history of it through the Artifact Book Text. In this book, we learn about Xal'atath's many owners as well as the rumor that Xal'atath may be the essence of a lesser, weakened Old God.
While Artifact Traits are a thing of the past, players can still unlock many tints for transmog by completing Legion content. These tints have names referencing the Black Empire like Claw of N'Zoth.
Xal'atath, along with Aluneth and Thal'kiel, talk to their owners. Through the Whispers of Xal'atath, triggered at various locations and bosses, we can learn more about the personality of the weapon and their thoughts on famous characters and events in WoW's history. Xal'atath drops many hints about N'Zoth, such as "It is ironic that the weakest of us may be the ultimate victor. C'Thun, Yogg-Saron, Y'Shaarj, and... well. Only one would remain to consume the world, that was always meant to be."
Xal'atath makes a reappearance as Xal’atath, lame de l’Empire noir in the Patch 8.1 data. There's also lots of datamined broadcast text describing how she regains her strength and escapes from the dagger--with our help. This quest series may be related to the upcoming raid, Crucible of Storms, which is part of N'Zoth.
The upcoming raid Crucible of Storms is a short two-boss raid. The second boss, Uu'nat, is a devoted lieutenant of Azshara.

Sylvanas in Patch 8.2

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We've written our own analysis on the various ways in which Sylvanas could acquire Xal'atath's dagger--and what that means that it's empty.
Besides the "Garrosh was an amateur" quote, the BlizzCom Q&A also brought us a juicy question from Chris Metzen. He asked the current WoW team when the Horde would get their true Warchief back! We also analyzed Blizzard's reply--Thrall might come back as Warchief, but the Horde might still be at risk if Sylvanas has drastic plans.
We also analyzed the Wrathgate interview quote, playing devil's advocate to discuss the effectiveness of the plague against the Lich King, as well as possible scenarios where Sylvanas framed Putress and Varimathras as a backup plan if she failed to kill the Lich King. We don't believe, however, that her end goal was the same as Battle for Azeroth, as she was single-mindedly focused on eradicating the Lich King, and even tried to commit suicide after his defeat.

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