WoW Blog/Ardenweald and the Night Fae Covenant

This article is a copy of "Shadowlands Preview: Ardenweald and the Night Fae Covenant", an official blog by Blizzard Entertainment. It's about the Ardenweald zone.

A twilight-tinged afterlife for those closely connected to the wild, Ardenweald is a domain of restoration tended by the mystic night fae. Within this eternal forest, massive dream trees draw in precious anima—the essence of souls that flows through the Shadowlands—to feed the spirits of nature awaiting rebirth into the cycle.

The ethereal umbral forests of Ardenweald are where wild spirits return after their time on the mortal plane come to an end so that they can again be reborn. However, this lush afterlife paradise has suffered greatly from the mysterious anima drought plaguing the Shadowlands. Everything that grows here has begun to wither, and the cycle of reincarnation is in peril unless things change—and swiftly.

First things first, you must seek out the Winter Queen—ruler of Ardenweald and the Night Fae Covenant—to deliver urgent news.

• Deep within Ardenweald, wildseeds nurturing slumbering nature spirits are restored until they are ready to be awakened.

Meet the denizens of Ardenweald.

These are but a few of the entities you’ll encounter in Ardenweald. While adventuring, it's best to stay vigilant—you might even cross paths with long-passed heroes of Azeroth who now wander this world.

When players reach maximum level and have explored the first four zones, they’ll be able to pledge themselves to a Covenant, like the Night Fae. Each Covenant offers its champions abilities, along with other powers and cosmetic rewards that can be unlocked through a Covenant Campaign—an epic storyline unique to the faction. This alliance also gives the player access to a Covenant Sanctum, a hall only open to players who have forged a pact with its rulers.

• Power of the Night Fae

• If you choose to join the Night Fae Covenant, you’ll gain two unique abilities—one class ability used in combat, as well as a signature ability to explore the world in a new way.

• Here is the signature ability that the Night Fae bestow upon their champions:

• Soulshape: Turn into a Vulpin, increasing movement speed. You may reactivate Soulshape to teleport a short distance forward.
• Additional cosmetic forms can be earned and collected through a variety of gameplay.
• While out in the world, this effect has a short duration before it wears off, but lasts indefinitely while in a rest area.

To give you an idea of what to expect, you can view a list of the Covenant signature and class abilities Please keep in mind that all these are a work in progress and may have additional changes during the course of development and testing, so all abilities shown are subject to change.

• Soulbinding

• When you join a Covenant, you’ll be able to undergo an ancient rite to bind your soul to some of its most powerful members. By doing so, your character harnesses their power, gaining access to powerful bonuses. Over time, you can unlock new tiers of power and even switch Soulbinds when strategy demands it.

• Night Fae Covenant Spoils

• For your contributions to the Night Fae Covenant’s cause, you’ll be rewarded with several cosmetic rewards including: a mount, a pet, Night Fae-forged armor, and back attachments that will capture the Night Fae's attention.

• Armor Up

• Don specially crafted armor forged within the heart of Ardenweald.

We look forward to sharing more information as development continues, and we hope this preview prepares you for Ardenweald and perhaps selecting the Night Fae Covenant!

Will you be joining the Night Fae Covenant? Join the discussion on the forums.

Rewards and abilities are still in development and subject to change, so be sure check back for periodic updates on worldofwarcraft.com as we approach the release of Shadowlands.

• Official Site
• Archive Link