The final update of the latest expansion of World of Warcraft, WoW Shadowlands 9.2 Eternity's End, has finally arrived, and that means Blizzard is ready to move on to the next expansion, WoW 10.0.
Blizzard has announced it will reveal the next WoW expansion on April 19th, but we still have no confirmations for what it will feature outside of many unconfirmed leaks from the last few months.
These WoW expansion leaks come in many different forms, from forum and social media posts to YouTube videos. These kinds of leaks crop up after each retail WoW expansion, and while most all of them are proven wrong in the end, it's always an exciting thing to explore before Blizzard officially reveals what's next.
In this article, we'll be covering some of the latest speculations and unconfirmed leaks for what's next to come in WoW. We'll talk about release dates, new locations, new classes, new races, lore implications, and more. Just remember, don't get too attached, as these are far from confirmed.
LATEST - Next WoW Expansion to be REVEALED soon!
Blizzard will reveal the next World of Warcraft expansion, WoW 10.0, on April 19th according to a newly released schedule!
With just over a month left before we finally know what's next for WoW, let's dive into all the latest unconfirmed leaks claiming to reveal the next chapter.
World of Warcraft 10.0 Release Date
For now, there's no official release date for the next World of Warcraft expansion (WoW 10.0), but based on previous releases the next expansion can be expected towards the second half of the year.
Out of all of the previous expansions, there is only one outlier when it comes to its release date, The Burning Crusade, which was released in January of 2007. Other than that, WoW fans can expect a release date for the newest expansion to range from August to as late as December. If following the usual cycle of two years between expansions that start from Wrath of the Lich King onward, 2022 should be the year of its release.
Coming off of WoW Shadowlands, however, the slowest paced World of Warcraft expansion to date, we may see some timeline shifts.
New Locations
Based on the leaks there are several possibilities when it comes to new locations but they all mainly point to The Dragon Isles.
According to this leak by a forum poster on MMOChampion, citing that the slumbering Dragon Isles "have awoken", the new continent would bring forth five new zones, all in themes of different dragon aspects with the main goal of returning to power.
One zone is fully dedicated to end-game content akin to Legion's Suramar and will follow a Black Dragonflight theme with Wrathion as a central character. This is also the location of Deathwing's Corruption which will be part of the story.
The Dragon Isles are a group of islands that have been hinted at in the past in The Art of World of Warcraft.
But according to another leak also on MMOChampion, The Dragon Isles are set to make their appearance but in a different way. It gives more details on the possible beings players might encounter such as huge tortoises, birds of paradise, a new race of humanoids inspired by giant marine Iguanas, and more.
Being that it is The Dragon Isles, dragons of different kinds will be present but they don't belong to any of the dragonflights. Similar to the previously mentioned leak, Wrathion will also take part in the zone according to this poster.
New Classes & Races
When it comes to classes and races that's where information begins to differ a bit. As it stands the leaks inform of a possibility between two classes and two races with one of the classes being specific to the two new races.
First comes the Tinkerer class, a class that utilizes mail armor and has two specs, a ranged spec that utilizes turrets and other "gimmicks" and a tank spec that uses a mecha suit. WoW fans are no stranger to Tinkerer speculation, though, and we've certainly been burnt before.
Second, comes the Dark Ranger class which seemingly will be specific to the two new races, Red-eyed Elves for Horde and Forsaken Night Elves for Alliance. It'd have two specs, one melee and one ranged, and both would heavily rely on high mobility and simple and fast rotations. On top of that, the class would bring something new to WoW, armor-specific abilities. This means that depending on what type of armor the Dark Ranger is wearing, be it mail or leather, there would be set abilities for each.
Lore Implications
With a new expansion of course comes new lore implications. Following 9.2's end, leaks point towards a sort of "resetting" by The First Ones to Zovaal the Jailer, deactivating him. But in the process Azeroth's World Soul is severely injured, forcing Azeroth's heroes to return to help it. Similar to the location leaks, the leaks give their own approach to possible lore implications.
The first leaks suggest a route that, following Zovaal's defeat, has a questline that involves Tyrande "forgiving" Sylvanas and going on a search for Nathanos. Parallel to this, Anduin ends up being saved but will not be himself. This causes the Stormwind nobles to become skeptical of their king and pledge their loyalty to Turalyon. Remorseful and depressed, Anduin has difficulty coming to terms with his actions in Shadowlands but has Genn Greymane and Matthias Shaw acting on his behalf. Tension in the Alliance begins to grow. Information regarding the lore of this supposed new expansion from this poster ends there.
The other route, although similar in the start to the other one, takes a different turn. Once in the Dragon Isles, numerous new beings pop up, all completely disconnected from the rest of Azeroth. There are dragons aplenty but they don't adhere to a dragonflight, ancient being they refuse to see themselves at the same level as others in the world. They plan to birth the World Soul, which they call "mother", claiming that Azeroth can only be saved by them. Players do get to familiarize themselves with Blood Dragons though, the main flight of the Shattered Peaks.
Other Features
Between the two leaks, there are plenty of new features that would be coming with the new expansion. Here are some highlights:
- Level cap increase to 70
- Lairs - this expansion's Torghast
- Player Housing
- Carpentry - a new profession
- The Shattered Peaks - new raid set in the Blood Dragons zone
- Return to Teldrassil and the Undercity - alongside player housing, players will help rebuild and repopulate these cities.
- Dragonscale Gear - this expansion's max level "progression system", players are given a dragon scale from each of the five dragonflights, and each award a new ability.
These are just a handful of features that were speculated at with the latest wave of unconfirmed leaks. Whether or not the Dragon Isles is the location of the next WoW expansion (update 10.0) remains to be seen, but some of these ideas could be exciting additions to retail World of Warcraft should they be proven true in time.
Ashes of Galakaros new leak
A new leak gives more credence to the Dragon Isles concept, alleging that not only will the new zone make its World of Warcraft debut but there will be a new take on endgame world content.
Ashes of Galakaros is set to bring out the Dragon Isles, a new class in the Tinker, add to the story with Galakrond and Elune and bring on a new form of end game content, The Living World.
For more information on the newest leak, visit here.