The Queue: Many whelps, where whelps are a metaphor for life’s problems

It’s been a long day, a long week, a long month, a long year. Many whelps, handle it.

Let’s Queue.

Frustrating. It makes sense, story-wise, for the DMF to not have everything, to need to import some basic goods from outside. And gameplay-wise, it makes sense to require you to do a little more than just show up at the Faire and click a button to get five skill points. But I’ve spent years forgetting to grab my profession materials before I go, and it always feels like a long trip back. But I’m not sure what I’d suggest be done about the problem. Without having you to collect some materials, it’s not much of a quest.

The only thing I’ve figured out over the year is to stick a post-it note to the monitor reminding me to check the vendor before teleporting out. At this point it’s pretty ingrained.

The oddity with catchup Renown drops is that they aren’t guaranteed. You can get them from all current dungeon and raid bosses — not sure about timewalking — as well as by doing Callings and the regular weekly Covenant quests for Souls and Anima. Covenant quests are the only 100% guaranteed Renown, and there are no for sure rules for the rest. A guildmate of mine who has switched Covenants several times now is convinced you’re more likely to get Renown early in the reset.

So… keep doing stuff, and it will eventually appear.

I dreaded this fight before Nathria launched, and while I still dread this fight, it’s not because we have to dance. In fact, I was surprised by how easy the dance was. I’m usually stymied by things with a heavy movement requirement, but during this phase it’s very clear what you need to do and there’s a fair amount of time to do it. You could probably RP walk the steps and be fine.

In fact, this was really the only part of the fight that I got right immediately.

Now I see it as a nice break. This fight is long, complicated, and increasingly hectic. This serves as a sort of chill intermission. Everyone can heal up a bit and let their cooldowns tick down. And the overdramatic voice acting has continued to be amusing even after hearing it a lot.

Without the little pause of the dance, I’d probably run out of mana several times and by the end of the fight my brain would be melting from the frantic scramble of it all. There’s a lot going on here, and being able to stop and spin around the dance floor for a little while is … kind of nice.

And then you get to murder the people who insisted you dance for them or die, so that’s pretty good too.

So in the context of this fight, I think it worked really well. Novel mechanics like this can be hit or miss, fun or frustrating. I think this one hits the fun mark… or at least the not frustrating mark.

Mekkatorque.

I would also accept Sapphronetta and Grizzek.

We know a few things about this, though not enough for a really concrete answer.

There was a bug in the fight with Devos in Spires of Ascension which let you kill the Archon — and she had a unique voice line when she died. “As the Archon perishes, all life in the zone is wiped out!”

Does that literally mean Bastion goes away if the Archon dies? Kyrestia doesn’t seem the sort to lean on hyperbole, and she’s as old as the Shadowlands themselves. Bastion didn’t exist before her, and possibly it won’t exist after her. I don’t think it’s a theory I want to test.

But what about the Primus? He’s gone, seemingly dead, but Maldraxxus continues… and he very clearly had plans in place for its continuation. Does this mean he’s actually alive somewhere — or does it just mean that the realms can exist independently of their rulers? We just don’t know.

For the last half of your question, I do have an answer: death continues independently of the Shadowlands. The Kyrians have a quest where they must fetch the soul of a recently-deceased Azerothian and ferry it to the afterlife. When you arrive, it is chilling out by the Spirit Healer, alone and confused. It is stuck on Azeroth until a Kyrian, called by the Spirit Healer, carries it into the Shadowlands to be judged by the Arbiter and sent on to its final resting place.

If the Archon were killed, if Bastion were destroyed, if the Kyrian ended… there would be no one left to do this task. It seems to me that souls would simply collect and wander with nowhere to go and no way to reach the Shadowlands on their own.

That’s a pretty lousy fate.

April.

Eyes. I’ve never had perfect eyesight, and it’s only worsened. It would be novel to just be able to see, without glasses and without the failing physical components.

Okay, my friends, that’s all for this Queue. Take care of yourselves, remember to wear your masks, and tell your loved ones that you love them.

Oh! And have a good weekend.