After a month and a half of conquering quests, leveling alternate characters, and exploring every inch of the World of Warcraft beyond, my whirlwind of romance with the Shadowlands expansion is beginning to fade. Now that my main dwarf, Stu, has completed his pact history campaign, I don’t find much motivation to keep playing.
To understand why I feel like I’ve come to an end in my adventure in Shadowlands, you have to know what kind of World of Warcraft player I am. I’m not a mugger, I have little patience or desire to go through online gaming equivalent to military training to get the best gear and / or the right to brag. The heroic and mythical system, in which players progress through increasingly difficult versions of dungeons, does not help me. Having played World of Warcraft since its launch, I’ve seen expansions appear and make my old gear obsolete too many times to care about equipment levels. I enjoy dabbling in player vs. player content from time to time, but more for a change of pace than any serious aspiration to be a competitive gamer.
I play World of Warcraft for history. I can’t wait to see what the characters I’ve been following since 1994’s Warcraft: Orcs & Humans are doing. I enjoy the game’s ever-expanding narrative and love that my characters are a part of its story. I’m here for that sweet, sweet tradition. Shadowlands has many interesting stories that I can participate in. In its current form, it also has a pretty definite stopping point.
Once a player character reaches level 60 and completes the initial quest journey through the four areas of the Shadowlands beyond, they join one of the expansion’s four pacts: the angelic Kyrians, the squishy and foul Necrolords. , the Night Fae that hug the so-goth-are-dead goblins Venthyr. Each pact has its own multi-act story campaign, which is slowly unlocked as the player gains renown with their chosen cabal.
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Stu chose the Kyrian Pact at level 60. By completing daily and weekly quests, he gained levels of renown with the great blue angels. Every pair of renown levels a new campaign mission is unlocked. Completing these story missions earns covenant-themed gear, which is why poor Stu looks like a cutting edge statue now.
Acquiring a reputation is a slow process. Aside from a couple of tasks that can only be completed once a week, the quests that reward renown upgrades are few and far between. That’s why Stu, who swore his sword to the Kyrian in mid-December, didn’t reach the end of his pact story until last week.
The final chapter in the story of a pact is unlocked at Renown level 22. In Stu’s case, the quest involved a final showdown between the White-winged Kyrian and the Black-Winged Forsaken, a sect of corrupt angels who sought to take over Bastion. Stu played a pivotal role in the triumph of the Kirians, cementing his place among their heavenly hosts.
Now the story is over. Earned the achievement “Pact Campaign”. The remaining 18 Renown levels (there are 40 in total) reward things like mounts and pets that can be purchased, new armor cosmetics, more powerful world quest rewards, and new companions for the expansion’s adventure feature, in which players Players send NPCs to complete timed missions for various rewards. Not feeling the need to pick up those things, I think I’ve come to a good stopping point.
Technically, there is more to do once the story of the pact is over. Players who wish to can raid or conquer dungeons. If I didn’t find the atmosphere so oppressive, I could continue to explore The Maw, the sinister center of evil from the afterlife, with its Grand Theft Auto-style notoriety system sending out increasingly powerful deterrents to impede my progress. There’s also Torghast, the expansion’s randomly generated dungeon, which grants player characters unique temporary powers and abilities as they explore its depths.
But no, I think Stu is good here, at least until new content is added in future game updates. I may connect to him from time to time to do the odd search of the world; it’s a lot of fun to play it, but otherwise you will stay in Bastion, enjoying those endless skies.
That is not to say that you are completely done playing World of Warcraft just yet. I’m still juggling a couple of alternate characters, guiding them through the remaining three stories of the pact. He’s probably a good week away from finishing the Night Fae, Venthyr, and Necrolord campaigns. After that though, I could hang my MMO mouse for a month or two.
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