Everything we know about the Lorewalking feature coming in 11.1.7

One of the most anticipated features of The War Within’s upcoming patch 11.1.7 update is the addition of Lorewalking, which will allow players to experience some of the most important and influential story arcs in the history of Azeroth in-game. Our narrative-minded Pandaren friend Lorewalker Cho will appear in Stormwind, Orgrimmar, and Dornogal and offer the chance to step into the past and relive storylines you may have missed, or brush up on the backstory of some of the major players involved in Azeroth’s current events.

Lorewalker Cho will offer three series of quests: the backstory of Xal’atath (or at least as much as we know so far), the history of the Ethereal race, and a deep dive into the rise and fall of the Lich King. The first two will be immensely helpful for players wishing to be caught up on the main story as we finish up The War Within and head into Midnight, and the last option can be viewed as a nice throwback for those of us who were there to defeat Arthas or a chance for a younger generation of heroes who may not have even been born at the time to experience it for themselves.

Once you’ve selected a narrative, you’ll be transported to the beginning of that character or race’s tale through the magic of storytelling. For example, with the Lich King option you’ll find yourself playing a young Arthas Menethil right away. The quests involved in Lorewalking are mostly pre-existing quests, but there are some new quests that add more lore or fill in gaps in the story. You’ll be able to choose how much you immerse yourself in the narrative — you can speed through the quest chains to get the rewards, or you can complete optional objectives that include extra dialogue as well as sit and chat with Lorewalker Cho.

One very welcome detail is that Lorewalking will be available to all characters level ten and above. The addition of Chromie Time and Timewalking Campaigns was a huge win for anyone who loves rolling an army of alts, as it allowed players to select nearly any past expansion to spend time leveling up. While you can revisit some of your favorite zones and quests, in most cases the core story is scattered across a whole continent or even across multiple expansions. Lorewalking takes those stories and threads them together, with a helpful Pandaren buddy to give important context.

Each of the three stories that will drop with 11.1.7 will offer a reward for completing the quest chain:

• Xal’atath’s quests reward Echo of the Xal’atath, Blade of the Black Empire, which will activate the creepy whispers of The Harbinger herself when you kill enemies
• The Ethereal story rewards a K’aresh Memory Crystal, which turns you into noted Ethereal Locus Walker
• The Lich King quest chain rewards Royal Visage, which transforms you into a translucent helmetless Lich King version of Arthas Menethil

The addition of the Lorewalking feature is a huge win for those of us who consider the epic story of Azeroth’s heroes to be one of the main reasons we’re still playing World of Warcraft. It should also appeal to newer players who are interested in the lore of the WoW universe but might be a bit overwhelmed and not know where to even start. If this feature proves to be as popular as the reaction to its announcement indicates, it’s likely we will see more stories be added to Lorewalking in the future. Are you excited for these first three chapters, and what others would you like to see added as streamlined questing experiences?