Shadowlands launched in a much better state than a lot of the previous World of Warcraft expansions. There was plenty of interesting content to plow through from the get-go, but as it’s often the case, things tend to get repetitive once you’ve experienced them enough times. Luckily for us, Shadowlands 9.1 brings with it a host of new and exciting content ranging from dungeons and raids to a new Arena season and more. There’s a little something for everyone in patch 9.1.
If you’re returning to Shadowlands 9.1 after taking a break from WoW you may find the amount of new content overwhelming at first, but don’t worry because we’ve got your back. In this article we’re going to go over the top 10 most important activities you can do in World of Warcraft Shadowlands 9.1. Just keep in mind that this isn’t an actual ranked list since the importance of these activities largely depends on what sort of content you prefer. With that out of the way and in no particular order, let’s kick things off.
New Zone – Korthia, the City of Secrets
One of the biggest additions from patch 9.1 is a new zone known as Korthia, the City of Secrets. The zone is said to have once been inhabited by the ancient protectors of the Shadowlands and seems to be of particular interest to The Jailer. In fact, it was The Jailer himself who manifested the floating island from the space in-between as a means of uncovering its long-lost secrets. Jailer aside, the four Covenants are also interested in exploring Korthia in Shadowlands 9.1. Meanwhile, questing through the zone reveals important details about the mysterious Dreadlords. Among other things, Korthia is also home to a new world boss known as Mor’geth, Tormentor of the Damned.
New Covenant Campaigns
This ties in somewhat to the previous entry as the new Covenant campaigns focus heavily on Korthia. However, that’s not all that’s noteworthy about them. The campaigns feature an overarching story that involves all four Covenants and their efforts to put their differences aside in order to join forces against The Jailer. Similar to how things worked in patch 9.0, only part of the story will be uncovered by completing the Covenant campaigns, with everything else needing to be revealed via dungeons and raids. But more on that later. Along with the stories themselves, Shadowlands 9.1 also brings with it 40 new levels of Renown, new Conduits, new Soulbind powers, and more.
Flying in the Shadowlands
This announcement was somewhat surprising because flying wasn’t unlocked this quickly in some of the past few expansions. But we’re not ones to look a gift horse in the mouth and we’re definitely happy that Blizzard decided to unlock flying in Shadowlands patch 9.1. There are certain caveats to this, but they’re not too bad. In order to unlock flying, you’ll need to get your hands on an item call Memories of the Sunless Skies, which is a quest reward from the main Chains of Domination campaign.
In past expansions, you were also required to increase your reputation with certain factions, explore zones, and do other tasks. We’re glad Blizzard decided to remove that sort of busy work from Shadowlands. The main downside is that flying is only available in the four main Covenant zones. Namely, Bastion, Maldraxxus, Ardenweald, and Revendreth. Players are not able to fly in Oribos, The Maw, or even the new zone, Korthia. The good news is that Shadowlands 9.1 adds a whole bunch of new flying mounts. Be aware that some of them are pretty expensive so don’t hesitate to buy WoW gold directly if you’re running low at the moment.
New Raid – Sanctum of Domination
One of the biggest highlights of any World of Warcraft patch is the new raid that often accompanies it. In the case of Shadowlands 9.1, that new raid is the Sanctum of Domination. This is a fairly large 10-boss raid with a Torghast theme that features a number of well-known characters. The terrifying Tarragrue, Eye of the Jailer and, the Remnant of Ner’zhul are some of the main highlights going in. Then, towards the end of the raid things really ramp up as you face off against Kel’Thuzad and finally Sylvanas Windrunner herself. The Banshee Queen has been an important character in the Warcraft universe from before WoW was even a thing, so this confrontation is definitely an epic one.
New Dungeon – Tazavesh, the Veiled Market
Complementing the new raid is a new massive dungeon the likes of which we haven’t seen in a while. Tazavesh is so big, in fact, that it’s being referred to as a ‘megadungeon.’ Basically, it’s sort of similar to Return to Karazhan, which was hands-down one of the best pieces of PvE content from Legion. Possibly the best. But back to Tazavesh, the megadungeon features no less than 8 bosses and is available exclusively in Mythic difficulty. You’ll be able to learn more about the mysterious Brokers as you battle your way through a variety of interesting boss encounters, including a pirate dragon that happens to be a member of the Infinite Dragonflight.
Arena Season 2
If you’re an avid fan of PvP you definitely shouldn’t miss out on the new season of the Arena. Shadowlands 9.1 introduces a new system that changes gear in a very significant way. Namely, certain pieces of gear are able to adapt between PvP and PvE situations by changing their item level. Blizzard has stated that this new system is meant to give players more options when gearing their characters, as well as to allow more crossover between PvE and PvP.
Going back to the Arena itself, though, Season 2 brings with it shiny new rewards in the form of mounts and armor sets. The Rated mount is the Vicious War Gorm this time around while the highly coveted Gladiator mount is the Unchained Soul Eater. Meanwhile, the armors are somewhat similar to the ones we’ve seen in Season 1 but there is definitely enough variation to keep players happy.
New Mythic+ Affix
PvE-focused players also have plenty to look forward to like World of Warcraft Shadowlands 9.1 brings with it a new Mythic+ Affix known as Domination. The description of the affix reads as follows: “defeat the Jailer’s forces to gain cool powers!” As of right now, it’s not completely clear what these powers will entail, however, some of them have already been datamined and will likely make it into the final build. The powers are similar to the Anima Powers you get while running Torghast and many of them are expected to also be available in the new raid as well.
The Maw Updates
The Maw felt relatively boring ever since the launch of Shadowlands but that’s changing with patch 9.1. First off, the four Covenants have finally established a foothold in The Maw, meaning players will have an easier time throughout the region. The Jailer’s forces are launching dangerous assaults at a faster rate than before but at least there are more safe spaces we can rely on. Another significant change is the availability of mounts in The Maw. That’s right, you can finally bust out your collection and ride any of your mounts in the region, as opposed to the one or two that were available before. Flying will not be unlocked in The Maw, so it’s just land mounts. At least for now.
New Mounts
Mount collectors will have an absolute field day in Shadowlands 9.1 as the patch introduces a whole bunch of new ones. We already mentioned the PvP mounts but those are just scratching the surface. Every Covenant is getting three unique flying mounts, with the Necrolord versions being the best looking ones in our opinion. In addition to that, you can expect new Dragonhawks, Geargliders, Gravewings, Chargers, Wilderlings, and more. By far the main highlight here is the Hand of Hrestimork, a new mount with a unique giant hand model. The mount is quite difficult to get as it is a reward from the Glory of the Sanctum Raider meta-achievement, but definitely well worth it if you can get your hand on it.
Other Collectibles
We’re bunching all of these into a single category because there are quite a lot of them you can collect. We’re talking new transmogs, pets, toys, cosmetic appearances like glasses and backs, full Covenant cosmetic armor sets, and so much more. Shadowlands patch 9.1 adds literally dozens of new collectibles of all types, which can be acquired from a wide range of activities like PvP, PvE, world encounters, exploration, quests, Covenant campaigns, and achievements. Some of them can even straight-up be bought from vendors. There are definitely plenty of activities to occupy your time within Shadowlands 9.1 and most of them will reward you with a little something. All you need is enough time on your hands to complete all of them.
Keywords: Shadowlands 9.1 (main), World of Warcraft Shadowlands, Shadowlands patch 9.1, WoW Shadowlands, covenant campaigns, new zone, flying, a new raid.