Which Covenant should I choose in WoW Shadowlands?

In Legion, we gained our story by being part of a class Order, and each class had a different path through the expansion due to this overarching storyline unique to the individual Order Halls. A Priest played through a different series of events than a Mage, who had a different storyline than a Warlock. Battle for Azeroth replaced this with the War Campaign, which meant that Alliance and Horde players each played a unique storyline that the other faction did not. In both cases there was no real choice at hand — you showed up as a Warrior, you got to be Odyn’s favorite Pokemon and that was that. You’re Horde, so you played the Horde War Campaign.

In Shadowlands, the unique endgame storyline progression will come from one of four Covenants. The difference here is that these Covenants — the Necrolords of Maldraxxus, the Venthyr of Revendreth, the Kyrian of Bastion and the Night Fae of Ardenweald — are available to all classes and racial factions. You decide which one you join and play through the end game of the expansion, and that level of decision is unique compared to its predecessors. No two Warriors need have the same story experience or the same endgame benefits.

But how do you pick? How do you decide which Covenant is a good fit for you?

What governs your Covenant decision?

Each of the Covenants has a unique story which goes with its look and feel. The Venthyr are vampire-inspired, for example, while the Necrolords of Maldraxxus should feel familiar to long-time Warcraft 3 Scourge players — and if you’re a Forsaken or Death Knight I’m sure they won’t feel out of place either. The Kyrian Covenant is rooted in gold and gleaming perfection, taking elements from the Spirit Healers and the Holy Light, while the Night Fae are drawn from the life and death cycle of Nature as it goes into its autumnal phase, dying so it can be reborn.

But if you’re not a roleplayer and are looking for a more concrete reason why you’d choose a Covenant, each one offers a unique series of abilities to augment your gameplay. We don’t know every class ability for every Covenant yet, but as an example there are the four options for the Mage class above, showing how the one class will benefit from each Covenant specifically. The Night Fae grant your mage Shifting Power, allowing you to channel raw natural power from the very ground and use it to damage your enemies and increase your own Haste. Meanwhile, the Kyrians grant a different power, Brilliant Spark, which both damages and debuffs your targets. This means that each Covenant allows you to customize your character in some way beyond just the aesthetic.

Similarly, each Covenant grants a movement ability unique to that Covenant — the Night Fae grant Soulshape, which allows 30% movement speed and for you to be unnoticed by enemies for 10 seconds, while the Kyrians grant Unburden which increases your movement speed by 300% for four seconds and moves you forward for that time — basically it turns you into a ghost and shoots you forward.

Each Covenant will also allow Soulbinding. There will be choices between NPCs of these Covenants for you to Soulbind with and gain abilities by so joining yourself to them. We don’t know who the Kyrians will allow you to Soulbind with, nor the Night Fae or Necrolords, with only the Venthyr having been revealed as yet. For a complete breakdown of all the Covenants, we have guides to the Venthyr, Kyrian, Necrolord and Night Fae Covenants.

You have time to make your choice

Keep in mind, you won’t have to make this decision as soon as you start playing Shadowlands. Unlike Legion and Battle for Azeroth, you won’t immediately start the expansion joined to one of the four Covenants the way you were always going to be your class Order Hall’s leader or your faction’s big hero. Instead, you’ll level from 50 to 60 in Shadowlands and get to explore each of the Covenant’s starting zones and see the place for yourself, and then after seeing the Necrolords or Venthyr in action you may choose to ally with them.

If you’re purely in it for the cosmetic angle, there are some signs of what you’ll look like once you choose a Covenant. The Necrolords have a plate armor set we can look at, for example.

We don’t know what the mail, leather and cloth sets will look like, but that gives us an idea of what we’re dealing with when it comes to the Necrolords and their fashion — a lot of bone spikes and plague mottled green and black. Compared to the Venthyr aesthetic, it’s a big difference, much less the Kyrian’s gold and gleaming white winged look, or the Night Fae with their autumal browns and vivid purples.

However, the decision on which Covenant to choice is only an endgame decision on your first character to 60. Subsequent characters will be able to choose a Covenant as soon as they arrive in the Shadowlands, and thus will be able to level up with their Covenant powers and abilities.

We’ll learn more about each Covenant as time progresses. For now, remember that the decision is in your hands.