Patch 10.0.7 continues to build Dragonflight‘s budding triumph.
After a few rocky years with World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, Blizzard Entertainment seems to be returning to better times -and it’s cause for celebration. World of Warcraft: Dragonflight started on a high note with a very successful launch on November 28, 2022, and was followed shortly after by one of the franchise’s fastest patch releases. Now, with Patch 10.0.7, the content seems on track to continue Dragonflight’s upward trajectory. The patch, launching on March 21st, 2023, will focus on new content and upgrades to existing systems. These updates will have players surging forward into the remarkable expedition on the Dragon Isles and ascending beyond.
Homecoming
The Vault of the Incarnates, Dragonflight’s first raid, saw the proto-drake Raszageth defeated; the storms she created to cover the Forbidden Reach have now dissipated. Following this, Patch. 10.0.7 will see players exploring the new Forbidden Reach zone. While the Forbidden Reach is the dracthyr starting zone, other races will be experiencing the island for the first time.
Upon arrival, characters are taken to Morqut Village, settled on a small spot named Morqut Isle. New quest givers dot the village, waiting to send players onto the next step of their journeys.
The Forbidden Reach is also teeming with new objectives, treasures, and rare enemies to enjoy. Six new dragon races are scattered about the Forbidden Reach, inviting players to test their flight skills in the area. A reputation increase -the envoy system- will also be available. Players can choose a faction daily and receive a 10% increase in their selected reputation.
Occasionally, the factions’ envoys will offer quests rewarding additional reputation alongside the elemental overflow currency. Envoy-based vendors will also have new dragon riding customizations, battle pets, and even the new noble bruffalon mount.
Open Sesame
One of the main content-related intrigues of Patch 10.07 will be the all-new Zskera Vaults. These vaults will function as a randomized treasure room with puzzles, monsters, and other oddities for players to encounter. They will reset weekly, with the black dragon Voraxion offering new quests weekly. These quests focus on helping heroes uncover some lost history as they go.
Pathfinders Jeb and Tacha will give players their first six Zskera Vault keys, but additional keys will require some searching. Keys can drop from rares, treasures, or similar activities within the Forbidden Reach. While each vault door requires a key, these keys are account bound rather than soulbound. This means alternate characters (alts) won’t have to grind the keys out as well, and it keeps the game from feeling too repetitive for players.
Upon first entering the Zskera Vaults, players will encounter a ring that begins the quest “Unusual Ring.” Players deliver said ring to Researcher Imareth in Morqut Village and receive the Onyx Annulet -an experimental ring Neltharion created long ago. The piece can be socketed with up to three Primordial Stones. These stones, found during vault excursions, can be broken down for upgrade materials for other stones or to purchase items from Researcher Imareth.
One Journey, Many Adventures
Despite Raszageth’s defeat, storms around the proto- drake’s former prison continue to rage. As a result, Patch 10.0.7 is adding the Mega-Storm, an event meant to function similarly to the current storms. By completing the event, players can receive upgraded storm gear and elemental overflow. Drops for the currency will be at an all-time high with increased availability from multiple sources across the Forbidden Reach. This is pleasant news for players that want to farm the elemental overflow, for they will find the task less tedious.
Another exciting addition coming in Patch 10.0.7 centers around the six new dragon-riding races. The races have proven popular in the past, and that seems unlikely to change in 10.0.7. Now, as players soar through the Forbidden Reach, the races will feature unique threats that characters must be on the lookout to avoid. Completing all variations of the races -standard, advanced, and reverse- will earn the account-wide Forbidden Reach Racer title.
Patch 10.0.7 also offers another faction, the Winterpelt Furbolg, for players to earn a reputation. While doing so, players will be learning the furbolgs’ language alongside Sonova Snowden. The journey to unravel this new tongue will begin with the quest for “Academic Assistance,” which begins one of two ways. For those that completed the Rustpine Den and Winterpelt Hollow stories, the quest is in the players’ Adventure Guide (Shift+J). Players that complete the questlines after the patch launches receive a letter from Sonova Snowden. The letter requests that their character meets with him to see the progress he has made with the language.
Old History, New Stories
For the Alliance!
Patch 10.0.7 comes with many callbacks to previous Warcraft lore. In addition to rares and events throughout the Forbidden Reach, there will be three crucial questlines for players to enjoy. The first two questlines go hand in hand with one another and are dedicated to heritage armor for the humans and the orcs. Then the third questline centers around a longtime Warcraft favorite, Baine Bloodhoof.
The human heritage quest begins with Mathias Shaw, head of SI:7, summoning the player to Stormwind. He declares that the Drakefire Amulet has been stolen, and an old enemy -the Defias Brotherhood- has reared its head. This item should ring bells for classic World of Warcraft players, for it was once required to enter Onyxia’s layer.
After initially meeting Mathias in Stormwind, the spymaster urges players to rendezvous with him in the Lion’s Pride Inn basement in Goldshire. There, a familiar face comes to join the game -Vanessa VanCleef. Vanessa was last seen during World of Warcraft: Legion when she and her Defias joined Uncrowned, the rogue order hall, to join the rest of Azeroth in their efforts to thwart the Burning Legion’s third invasion.
From the basement of Lion’s Pride Inn, the quest takes players through a breadcrumb of their initial questing zones as they trail the Defias Brotherhood to retrieve the amulet. Upon completing the questline, players are rewarded with the human-exclusive, account-wide title Lionguard and heritage armor in three stunning colors with pants and robe variants.
Lok’tar Ogar!
Across the Great Sea, on the continent of Kalimdor, Eitrigg summons the players to Orgrimmar. The aging warrior shares his desire to revive an ancient orc tradition that died out on Draenor. This tradition, the Kosh’harg, was a biannual meeting where all the orc clans would gather to celebrate their people and heritage.
The quest takes players to Alterac Valley next, where they will meet with Farseer Drek’Thar to discuss resurrecting the Kosh’harg. Before the old orc agrees to the tradition, he challenges the players to see if they are truly worthy of the Kosh’harg. Once the players overcome Drek’Thar’s challenge, the aged Farseer requests that Aggralan, Thrall’s mate, become the new Farseer and lead the Kosh’harg in his stead.
The players’ next task is to reunite the many orc clans -such as the Forstwolf, Warsong, and Bleeding Hollow- at the Kosh’harg. Characters from previous adventures in Azeroth and Draenor, such as Garona Halforcen, General Nazgrim, and even Rexxar, also join the celebration. Then, once the questline is complete, players receive the new heritage armor. Like the human heritage armor, the orcs’ armor also comes in three colors, each representing different orc clans. Completing the quest line also rewards an orc clan banner toy. The banner reflects the clan its player supports, but visiting Envoy Korg in Razor Hill will change it at any point.
Echoes of Blood and Thunder
However, the most significant questline in Patch 10.0.7 follows the Tauren High Chieftain Baine Bloodhoof as he searches for an old friend named Bovan Windtotem. Players from Warcraft III will likely recognize the missing tauren’s name, for he helped rescue a young Baine from centaurs during the real-time strategy game. Now it seems Baine has a chance to return the favor.
The quest begins in Valdrakken when Mayla Highmountain expresses her concern for Baine. The tauren chieftain traveled into the Ohn’ahran Plains, and Mayla hoped the champion’s presence would ease tensions with the centaur. She also asks that they follow Baine and keep watch over him during this self-assigned task.
Completing the quest rewards a new toy, Display of Strength, to all players and the Ancestral Bloodhoof Totem -a cosmetic transmog back piece- to tauren and Highmountain Tauren players. Tauren classes capable of wielding two-handed maces will also receive the totem Ancestor’s Might.
Eternally a Work in Progress
Of course, a patch must come with updates to some facet of World of Warcraft, and Patch 10.0.7 has one of the most extensive reworks for classes a quarter patch has ever seen. At the beginning of Dragonflight, many players felt the early talent rework left the retribution (ret) paladin far behind the other damage specializations (specs) in mobility, durability, damage, and survivability. Now Patch 10.0.7 is revamping the class side of the talent tree to adjust the spec’s damage output and overall survivability. Ret paladins are also getting mobility adjustments and slightly increased range for some abilities. Additionally, the updates are reducing the number of active buttons on a retribution paladin’s hotbar. Time will tell how well the reworks function, but initial reports suggest improvement in the spec’s performance.
The Recruit-a-Friend reward system is refreshing, meaning the previous explorers-based reward track has ended. The new rewards revolve around a mechanical theme and will feature a new helmet transmog and an exclusive mount. This new cycle also includes accounts inactive for a year or more, whereas it used to be two or more. The most exciting thing for those previously on the Recruit-a-Friend track is that they can still purchase the things they missed. However, new subscribers will be put on the fresh cycle instead.
The best refinements are -perhaps- the simplest ones and Patch 10.0.7 is bringing several quality-of-life improvements that players have been asking for.
The first is the ability to fly in Battle for Azeroth zones without previously completing the Battle for Azeroth: Pathfinder, Parts One and Two. However, players can still complete the achievement to earn the Wonderwing 2.0 mount.
Another highly requested feature deals with content from World of Warcraft: Legion. As of Patch 10.0.7, the Balance of Power questline, which rewarded special appearances for the artifact weapons, is now account-wide. Only one character must complete the long, arduous questline to gain the Balance of Power appearances for all classes across the account.
To the Clouds and Beyond
Though World of Warcraft: Dragonflight has been out for less than a year, the continued flow of content has been an incredible contrast to the drought players experienced in Shadowlands. Blizzard Entertainment made several promises about rectifying the cadence of mistakes they made with the past expansion, and the two patches to follow Dragonflight’s initial launch have followed through thus far.
And, with Patch 10.1 live on May 2nd, 2023, it seems Blizzard will continue to follow through on their promise. Here’s to hoping for a skyward ascent as Dragonflight flies on.
To further enjoy Baine’s quest in the Ohn’ahran Plains, follow the provided link to experience his history with the centaur.
Baine Bloofhoof: Honor and Legacies (Part I): https://vibethenook.com/baine-bloodhoof-honor-and-legacies-part-i/
To learn more about Warcraft‘s dragons, follow the link below. Dive into Azeroth’s ancient history and the terror of the mad proto-drake Galakrond. This novel can be purchased at your nearest bookstore or through various sites online.
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/world-of-warcraft-knaak/1139700796?ean=9781950366842
I’m a Wonder Woman fanatic -married to my Superman- with a mild addiction to tea and World of Warcraft. One day I hope to write a book that history recognizes as a classic; it will most likely involve dragons.
