Covenant Campaigns Ranked! The Best & Worst Shadowlands Stories: A Critical Analysis
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- Опубликовано: 17 сен 2024
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The Covenant Campaigns in World of Warcraft: Shadowlands are on of the main Renown features of the expansion, and as 9.1 Chains of Domination promises to continue the story of the Kyrian, Necro Lords, Night Fae and Venthyr, now is the perfect time to look back on each adventure and ask... which was the best? Which didn't work? What makes a great campaign? and, uh, what was even going on? Join Taliesin for a lore, story and gameplay analysis.
02:14 Venthyr
17:17 Night Fae
27:56 Necro Lord
40:16 Intermission
41:59 Kyrian
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begging your pardon, the best line in WoW is
"hey... hey YOU... those our OUR flying... beer monsters?"
Right dungeon, but wrong line:
Uncle Gao yells: Yes, yes, yes...no, no, no no no! Yes! No! Peppers!
@@Nathanyel "What is that thing"? Chen: "the brewery is on fire.." Gao: "yes, yes, that happens". Man that dungeon is one long ridiculous joke and I am here for it.
@@Nathanyel from the very first time I here Gramma Stormstout mention Esme's turnips, Ive been convinced it's a euphemism for boobs Bwwahahahah
@@Nathanyel >Right dungeon, but wrong line:
"A Paladin once offered me eternal salvation."
"What did you tell him?"
"Kings, please!"
"Thrall's balls, they're everywhere!"
Idk my favorite line is still said by Nazgrim, "Thrall's balls! They're everywhere..."
While the Venthyr campaign is undoubtedly being carried by Kael’thas by the end, Renethal has an underappreciated storyline going on here.
Him leading a frontal assault against the castle only to get humiliated by Denathrius, him failing to bring up convincing arguments to make the medallion wearers change sides, him being ultimately useless and the player character doing all the work - that’s the point!
Renethal is a naive and skill-less leader, but also a righteous and selfless one. He’s the polar opposite of Denathrius.
Whereas the Sire is arrogant, Renethal is not. Whereas the Sire has charisma, Renethal lacks it.
At the very end, we can see that Denathrius craves power and political influence, whereas Renethal does absolutely not. In fact, he reject’s Denathrius’ corruption and listens to his allies. Meanwhile, Denathrius’ “ally” has no intention of freeing him.
So far, we saw how Revendreth was shaped by Denathrius’ influence. Patch 9.1 will hopefully show how things are different now that Renethal’s influence is becoming more apparent.
During the campaign general draven reveals their position on revandreth and denathrius.
Stonewright: “So draven, you continue to serve prince renethal, despite his many failures.”
Draven: “Mother of stone I serve revandreth. At this time, the dark prince is the only one who has a plan to best do that. With this maw walker’s help, we may undo the master’s blind devotion to the jailer and the maw.”
Interesting to see that denathrius may be brought back after the jailer is gone.
Honestly you should rename this “catch up on all the covenant campaigns you missed!” Because this actually really helped me do just that. I only played nightfae and had no clue what happened elsewhere.
u should do venthir, so much sass
you all prolly dont care but does someone know of a way to log back into an Instagram account??
I stupidly lost the password. I would love any tips you can offer me.
@Roman Duncan Instablaster ;)
@Finnegan Cassius thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site through google and im in the hacking process atm.
Seems to take a while so I will get back to you later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
@Finnegan Cassius it did the trick and I now got access to my account again. I'm so happy:D
Thanks so much, you saved my account :D
Night Fae felt like only the beginning of a massive story where as the rest of them felt like one complete story. Needless to say I'm significantly more excited when I think of what's to come in the Night Fae covenant than any of the others.
it is because the Winter Queen is still there knowing shit and we are also not done with the Night Warrior stuff. Meanwhile the Kyrian's key was taken already, Revendreth got saved and they key was most likely in the hands of the Jailor already and Maldraxxus- honestly, it feels like they do their shit unseen by all.
Totally, I think that there will be a lot more to the Night fae storyline in the future and, as Taliesin said in a past video, maybe (hopefully) we will have an entire patch in Ardenweald. This is out there, but can you imagine Ardenweald being pulled into the Maw?!
Thank you for saying this - whereas everybody else mostly solved their problems, Ardenweald still has a LOT to solve, all braided together.
@@freefrag1910 The pre-covenant campaign of both Ardenweald and Bastion play on the much of same tones. Both covenants are completely clueless to what is going on apart from the drought and the dearth of souls, and both covenants have clear-cut enemies taking advantage of the drought in one way or another. It baffles me how little people care about what was being set up for the Drust, and only wanted to see night elf lore. Let alone the whole Bwonsamdi bit that, while delightful, was actually shoehorned in unorganically. In the end, Blizzard made a campaign to play the tune of fan service with part Tyrande, part Bwonsamdi, no conclusion or resolution of any plot except the one that should matter as it was the actual threat facing the realm, that is then rushed into conclusion. Worst possible use of Tyrande and Bwonsamdi both. And I'll bet the whole Tyrande arc will be made public - not Night Fae only, and Bwonsamdi will barely be touched on agagain.
I was just glad to see Ysera again after her heartbreaking death. Made the whole covenant for me :)
after spending considerable time AFK in all 4 zones, I feel like no zone's music/score holds a candle to Ardenweald. I used to sit in Boralus in BFA and say to myself "how will they ever top this" but the soaring score in the heart of the forest is such a lovely yet epic place to while away the hours.
oh great video by the way :)
IMHO the Kyrian covenant suffers from time frame. Many of us kill Davos before we even see her in the covenant campaign. It makes it hard to figure out where in the timeline of Shadowlands it takes place, ya know?
The whole thing was already spoiled if you took a peek at the dungeon journal during prepatch before you ever even stepped foot into the Shadowlands. Lysondre should have been the boss of Spires and Devos should have remained the mysterious leader until the end of the campaign.
@@llgxz I felt it really hurt the campaign since I had to try and keep in mind the timeline because the world of warcraft I was playing in wasnt the same as the quest line which was back in time. It was immersion breaking
Super agreed. Davos has a very nice history, should be more important than a last dungeon boss.
@@pedronascimento6692 it's almost as bad as making Nurzul a dungeon boss. Like, who would do that...
@@ternel Or making Anub'Arak a dungeon boss....
Calling Sapphiron just a death dragon. smh
THIS
I was going to say the same thing, he clearly didn't see the name
I was just thinking that....whaaaaaat XD
It's funny that. I knew when he's summoning a dragon it should be Sapphiron.
Cause they are together 2 times already. Why not 3
Remember Tali is a wrath baby.
Taliesin talks like he could talk for another hour. Loved it
Your breakdown of Night Fae explained to me exactly why i was having such a hard time following wtf my campaign was about. There were good bits but the overall arc was really confusing to follow.
100% this! The Night Fae campaign for me was a hot mess that substituted name recognition for any sort of cohesion. It made no sense, and it's also the only campaign that doesn't acknowledge the three other covenants in Shadowlands
@@TheJoffgraham See, I loved that about Night Fae. It hit my ADHD brain in such a great way. Being thrust from one storyline to another to another just .. it kept up with my brain, lol. It was like a buffet; yeah, my plate is full of egg rolls and crab legs and chicken nuggets and ribs and salmon. What of it?
@@drudle Multithreading!
I felt the same way about levelling in Revendreth... and looking at the dungeon journal. I mean... yeah... we're working for the bad guys for 50% of the time.
@@TheJoffgraham Not to mention that the Drust were being set up quite heavily throughout the pre-campaign levelling quests. That finale where you square off against the Drust while having to secure the Wildseed that by then quite clearly is Ysera was a very fitting end to the zone questline. But even Taliesin was bamboozled with the shiny big names and thought Nightfae was about that, really.
50 minutes video from T&E... Alright i guess can forgive the last 2 weeks of not having videos
that opening Kyrian chapter in Lakeshire was so good, it really did drive home the consequences to normal people in Azeroth when the helm was shattered ;_;
My only gripe is there's no phasing applied to the town to support this storyline for Kyrian players. The daughter is still there in the garden but I found no other evidence of that character's living in that house or signs of the scourge attack, which felt like a missed opportunity for continuity.
Oh you sneaky bastard! Putting up Wilfred Mott the true unsung hero of Doctor Who like that with the awesome music and dialog of sacrifice.. I got goosebumps and a tingling all over my body from pure nostalgia
WE’LL NEVER FORGET YOU WILLOW BLOSSOM!!!
legit cried at that part, i most certainly did NOT see it coming
I was genuinely expecting Tali to ask Evi if she could add MORE Idris Elba to the website.
I was hoping for it :( missed opportunity for an April fools joke
No mention that the Death Dragon is Sapphiron from Naxx? sad day for the OG undead drake from WC3
Sapphiron from Naxx? Sapphiron from The Frozen Throne, you unwittingly pedantic and simplistic peasant. The great Blue Wyrm that dared annoy Arthas as he was pressed for time to reach the Frozen Throne on behalf of the Lich King, that he got killed then raised into undeath.
Willowblossom and Ysera were the toughest moments.
I dunno, the part of the unlock quest for the Kul Tirans where you deal with that woman's dog was pretty heart-wrenching. The dog got cursed and turned into one of those wicker pups and still maintained it's purity, love, and loyalty for it's owner despite all that had been done to it.
Tali thanks for making this! I haven’t been able to make through all the covenants to get their side of the story! I really appreciate it and you ranking them!
I take major issue with the Kyrian campaign and its effects on the overall story. They ferry the new souls to be judged by the Arbiter. Right now the Arbiter is inactive and the souls are going straight to the Maw to fuel the Jailers army. They _know_ this. And yet they do it anyway. And then they have the balls to ask you to go to the Maw every week to retrieve 20 souls for them.
Kreia questions why they're doing that if souls are going straight to the Maw for all of 10 seconds before shrugging it off. But you know, instead of suggesting they just do that thing they had you do when you first arrived in Bastion, that being jotting down your name and details, but doing that on a bigger scale with new souls to not only hold temporarily in Bastion and get to their appropriate realms when the crisis is over, but also to gain anima from them just being there. But noooo, this cycle that they're not even hard locked and/or brain washed into doing us just... questionable in doing, but not questionable enough to stop doing apparently
*_YOU ARE LITERALLY FUELING YOUR ENEMIES ARMY! YOU ARE A SOLID 80% OF THE REASON EVERYTHING IS SO MESSED UP RIGHT NOW!_*
Kyrian are the worst for that reason alone.
Kyrians have a broom stuck so far up their asses that you can see the handle when they speak. I wouldnt be surprised if they kept ferrying souls to the arbiter simply because thats what their purpose has always been, new circumstances be damned. Still stupid, but matches how they operate.
Besides, what would happen if they stopped? Would the world be overrun by lost souls that cannot pass onto ANY afterlife whatsoever to the point it negatively impacts the living?
You know I’m glad you pointed out how much the story lines jump around. I had the problem of once I got into a story line and was excited for the next part we are doing something else with someone else not related.
I was disappointed that Kael'thas and Lady Vashj didn't react with a single line to them both now being in the afterlife, fighting on the same side again
She mentions it during the Necrolord campaign if you do it and it's like her first dialogue with the player too. It was rather funny when I heard it to be honest lol
@@gaymer559 Vashj reacts differerntly based on whether your character killed her in the raid at any point or not. She can either tell you who she is, and rue the fact that her name was forgotten by Azeroth at large, or claim familiarity in a friendly mannere even though you're part of the reason she's dead xD
I still don't understand how the Drust managed to invade Ardenweald, what they were really trying to do, and why they were really a threat. I'm guessing the Jailer was using them to try and take down the Winter Queen because Ardenweald is key to the Shadowlands, somehow? I think they said something to that effect. Yeah, the biggest issue with Ardenweald is always being lost as to what exactly is going on.
Just makes you think "well... that was a fuc**** waste of time wasn't it?" honestly love the way Talesin describes things hahahahaha
Throughout the whole Night Fae experience, as whiplash as it was, my only true disappointment was the lack of any interaction with our Soulbinds. Like none. Zero. Other covenants get as much interaction with our Soulbinds as we do. I was jealous hearing about the cool character moments from campaigns like the Necrolords and Kyrian. I hope that changes in 9.1!
This is an excellent point I hadn't even considered. It's probably because they had so many _other_ characters they needed to introduce/explore given all the stories they started but definitely something that could have been better.
I love that you hit on the Morgraine moment. It was such a moment for me when I played through it and put sooo much more perspective into everything.
yep sure makes Bastion seem way less messed up than the main campaign makes it seem. Removing the memories of people is bad, but i the only ones sent here are people that will be better off forgetting, it changes a lot.
Idris Elba cameo ftw.
This video is an absolutely Shakespearean rollercoaster of critique, praise, emotion and snarky comedy. Hats off, standing ovation!!!!
Personally had the most fun during necro campaigns.
I personally had the most fun during legion.
@@jmalin77 buddy, there's no going back now, enjoy SL while it lasts too
I actually liked the night fae the most. I like how non stop all the lore bombs were. And being that I did it last i was ecstatic that it didn't have any crossover quests with the others.
Kel thuzad doesn't simply summon a death dragon.
He summons Sapphion... You know naxx dragon boss? Quite the strong implications there
Wow, what a wrong take that I will now correct you on. Swap Kyrian and Venthyr and it's fine, Bastion was the best leveling zone and the Forsworn were the best enemies in the Shadowlands, I was really excited to deal with them and see how Uther switches (because like duh, he obviously would) and how the majority of the Kyrian react to a character like Devos, the Paragon of LOYALTY, making these points to the Archon and uhhhhh yeah instead we run around and fix up their wing making machine, oh also we kill Devos literally right away and deal with the less interesting and much more overtly evil Lysonnia. You also literally have two companions throughout the story, Pelagos and Kleia, and instead of one of them going "Well wow, maybe the Forsworn are kinda right" and joining up with them, giving us a real personal connection with a Forsworn and what that means (Uther doesn't count, we meet him like once before the Maw and there's nobody like Jaina or anyone there to go "Well we can't kill him, he's our friend!" the only reason we can't and DON'T kill him is because of the game)
On the flipside, Ventyr have interesting characters outside of the main Azerothian lore figures and guess what? They aren't killed off in the first chapter! Renethal and the supporting characters like The Accuser, The Curator, and General Draven as well as even Theotar are genuinely just fun or interesting to be around and they each feel like they have a spotlight and place in the campaign. Kael'thas comes in and all of that is a highlight, but it never upstages the original Shadowlands characters.
I'm 100% sure everyone knew Willowblossom was gonna hit the sacrificial bucket. The winter queen emphasised "THIS IS A SUPER DUPER IMPORTANT TASK ARE YOU SURE YOU WISH TO CONTINUE WILLOWBLOOM?" and then we spent the next 7 quests just ... bonding. Classic move
I did not realize it at first.
absolutely not clear. in all honesty this is bulshittery at its finest.
Taliesin: "WHAT IS PELAGOS DOING?!?"
HIS BEST, OKAY? Granted, it's not good but he's trying
But... but Pelagos is BEAUTIFUL!
(and likely, weirdly even more beautiful if and when we ever see him cry)
May I remind you the hood ?
"It's been ages since I laid hands on a living mortal. Are you in a rush?" is the best line when asked by a male Venthyr. Makes me laugh. Every. Single. Time. 😆
I was like, great! New T&E video to watch before sleep. The video: 58:30.. Fine. I'll watch it twice
Great video, worth the wait! Also, I think that's the only time a RUclipsr has made a made a promo segment that's funny enough to not skip through 😂
I feel like once the storylines from the ardenwield campain finally play out then it will move to the top of the list, but until then that sense of being left hanging on so many storylines is bad.
Unfortunately you'd be wrong, you're left with a bunch of questions and it bounces around to much
@@A2ndVoice let's hope
@@davidlafond1906 the story of the campaign will progress, they aren't done.
This. Ardenweald campaign feels like we have only played the first few chapters of three different campaigns.
I'm hoping to god Vol'jin gets brought back during this expansion because he's my second favorite faction leader and it's only a small margin between him and Sylvanas.
I never thought about the storyline as a whole because I experienced it week to week for 3 of them, so when you put it all in one place, it does feel pretty disjointed for Night Fae vs the cohesiveness of Necrolord. Great job doing a quick recap for every story, that was helpful!
The Horned Hunter Huln Highmountain. Come on Tali, this is easy! :D
Why do I feel the most joy was during "and burn a man in his house?" what are you hiding prison boy?
Going to get the token from Alexstraza is _incredibly_ awkward if you're a Death Knight, and there's special quest text to emphasize this.
What does the special text say? I'm not sure I'll ever do it as a dk so I'm curious
The main issue I have with the Kyrian campaign, is that Lysonia don't feel like a threat... ever.
Every move she tries fails in one way or the other.
"hey lets corrupt a paragon!" *FAIL*
"Lets stop the Mawwalker with a maw-elemental!" *FAIL*
"Lets lead them away from the hold so we can kill the Archon! *FAIL*
She was never intimidating or interesting. She was barely a footnote.
Found it odd that during the Necrolord campaign here was never a "So...you know, your kid is here too." type moment with Draka. Given that all throughout the entire stories there are crazy coincidences everywhere, someone not pointing out that Thrall is here is weird. I guess it could be that you can literally do the entire campaign quest and not free Thrall from Torghast if you choose not to do those Torghast quests for the 4th time, but it's still weird.
It's pretty much similar in vein to why when Kleia is shocked that Ben is sucked immediately into the Maw and we as players are like... "so....like two minutes after arriving in Bastion and Kleia figured out we're not just a newly arrived soul and asks us why we're really there our character DIDN'T bother to say "oh yeah the Arbiter is shut down and every soul is going directly into the Maw un-judged...we're trying to fix that?" >__> Likewise....our Horde characters meet Draka who as opposed to the skeletons/aboms/liches etc is clearly an orc named Draka who tells her (via her cinematic) that she died protecting her son. We DON'T have an option to go "oh wow....my first warchief is an orc who's mother was named Draka and was killed trying to protect him when he was a baby...what are the odds?" They HAVE hinted there's going to be a reunion between the two of them later on, so hopefully that's fixed.
@@margisama arriving in Ardenweld is frustrating too. Take me to the queen, I’m here from the Archon and with news of her missing friend, the Primus...no, I won’t play pranks on your friends.
32:12 Yes, Aroms’ Strand, is also my favorite area in Bastion.
please don't make us wait this long for the next one
love your work
I have to admit, I liked the Venthir campaign. I liked the decadence and plotting and intrigue. Which is difficult to translate to a video game. Because these zones were already active, and working and they had their afterlives before we showed up. I actually felt like "hey, I'm in a new town so I'm OK being someone's step and fetch it". It definitely had the most "we failed" sentiment than the other covenants. The others (even the night fae as disjointed as it was) you felt like a hero. But in the Venthir campaign I felt like you had to earn your worth to them until that end of campaign Kael thing where they welcome you in as one of them and now you're doing Venthir things. You're holding courts, you're making souls attone, and yes, they're decadent, they're lazy, and yah they're probably quite a bit oblivious. But I think that gave them charm. Necrolords they're very aware of their situation. Bastion has their own inner turmoil, and Night Fae's chaos definitely made it feel wild.
I dunno, I just liked feeling like I was foiling plots and throwing parties. Even if as a hero, is throwing parties really the best way to quell uprisings? Is being beautiful and vain and probably the most oblivious of the covenants rewarding and exciting? No. But that's the kind of player I am. I care more about transmogs than I am about a mismatched pair of pants that sims at .00001% more in a raid. I like the social aspect of WoW even more than the fighting aspect. Which made Venthir feel actually comfortable to me.
I love that you guys made the sponsored content funny in true T&E style. One of the many reasons I love you guys
Pretty sure that was the best youtuber sponsor segment I have ever seen ever!
"Create the website of your dreams. I did." had me rolling.
Really well done!!! Honestly this is the first video I have not skimmed in a while watched it from beginning to end. Thanks for all the hard work and effort put into it!
"But actually makes you think 'Well that was a fucking waste of time, wasn't it.'" Yes! Word for word, almost EXACTLY what went through my head when I finished that bunch of quests >_< Love you guys. Thanks for another awesome vid :D
You sir, are a treasure. I quit playing in February because I was so bored. Now I'm all caught up with a few chuckles to boot. Thank you.
That's a really nice statue of the Primus that we get to dress up in Maldraxxus. So interesting how the Primus has only four fingers on each hand (three and a thumb). It must be a mistake, since everyone knows the Runecarver is probably the Primus, and the Runecarver has five fingers ...
Thanks for the excellent video - love the coverage!
You.. named them Hayven? I... My eyes teared up, not gonna lie.
My ranking:
1. Venthyr: This has a lot to do with my fandom of the Castlevania series, and the fact that we're redeeming Kael'thas. This is also my main character's covenant.
2. Night Fae: This one has the best intro, big lore characters, and powerful emotional moments. From saving the Teldrassil victims, to losing Ara'lon near the end.
3. Kyrian: While Devos was a kinda wasted character, this campaign did a wonderful job with its character development. Our actions inspire the Kyrian to improve.
4. Necrolord: The start is weak, and it has 3 crossovers with the other covenants, but the payoff is good. The one part I really liked was with Alexandros in Bastion.
Hell... I would go so far as to say (even as a Horde player) that Ysera's rebirth has been the single-most highlight of this expansion so far... with the Night Fae play as part of the introduction into the covenant one of the best quest series ever.
I actually liked the cycling of the Night Fae storyline, I feel like it kept each of the topics fresh enough that I was on the edge of my seat wondering what would come next and still kinda am. The finale where the Winter Queen gets pissed and calls the Hunt gave me goosebumps too! Kyrian is my second, but the timing was all off it felt with Davos revealing herself, and good lord Kyrestia stayed getting beat up!
Personally, I feel like Devos and Lysonia should've had their places switched around in the story. It would've been more satisfying to deal with Devos at the end of the Kyrian campaign, rather than just kill her in a dungeon.
I feel like maldraxxus quests having more crossover with other covenants than any other just makes sense: after all, they are the dedicated military of the shadowlands so of course they will interact with other covenants a lot
As a Kyrian player, I will be very disappointed if I don't get a set of actual Kyrian wings as a mount to fly around with! :)
Flying in to talk to Alexstrasza during the Night Fae quests as a Death Knight was the best. I had legit forgot I had took the corpse of one of her children and raised it up to undeath as my mount. The little extra text was just great.
The night fae bit when you rescue the souls of the burning of teldrassil felt a bit weird when you actually opted to be a sylvanas loyalist back in bfa.
I just got to the maldraxxus part of the video, and I have the ranking in the same order as you. I still feel kind of let down so far in the shadowlands. I hope as the expansion goes on it will all make more sense and make me care more. ^^
This is the earliest I've ever been to a video. What a strange feeling. Excited to hear some in depth thoughts on all these quests!
Yay finally a new video on youtube!!! Been missing you both for two weeks. Hope everything is well!
Now imagine how i feel. After playing the starting zones, both my wife and me had most fun in revendreth, so we choose this. After playing and playing i finaly decide to switch to ardenweald, and foun out, that ist much more fun to play. Yust to learn that i choose the worsed fist and replaced it with the second worsed! :-) ah no worries, loved the video and still will remain in ardenweald
Taliesin could sell me ice in the middle of winter hes that dam good.
Taliesin calling Sapphiron some death dragon lol
Not playing WoW anymore, but my main character's name was "Drethnor" (since BC) and I'm getting a chuckle hearing "Revendreth" since "Dreth" was the short name all my friends referred to me as for so long.
Daddy Denny not featuring in the Revendreth story earlier is because all the sweaties had already killed him eight times by the time they arrive at chapter 9. So instead of locking raid access to story progression like they did in the Nighthold, they just kept all four covenant quests as far as possible from Denathrius as they could, even in Revendreth.
How dare you deny us to see this video once it is uploaded by unlisting it?
I disagree with the conclusion that the forsworn are bad/hypocrites. I think it is rather a case of a justifiable protest being co-opted by an insideous party (i.e the Jailer) and controlled by a leadership which does not fully represent it's people and instead seeks to use them to their own ends.
You can see this, as in the process of getting to Lysonia and Helya in the Maw, you find several Forsworn being forcibly converted to Mawsworn, whom you rescue. Some of them tank you, some of them insist that you are still enemies and some decide to leave the Forsworn because of what they have become. I think most of them are justified in feeling some resentment towards the Kyrian and the Path. The issue lies with Lysonia, who takes this resentment to an extreme end.
She is and interesting contrast to Devos. I think Devos simply saw the memory-extraction of the Path as unjust and were tricked into thinking the Jailer would make things better, similar to Sylvanas. Ultimately, I assume her new system would involve giving the Kyrian more freedom, as her dialogue speaks of creating a new path for the Kyrian, as opposed to destroying those who lead them to where they are now. A justifiable protest, co-opted by an insidious force.
Lysonia meanwhile, feels an intense regret and resentment over what the Kyrian did to her, so much that she want to destroy the whole process of extracting memories and kill those who did it to her. This makes her no better than the Archon, as several Kyrians are fine with, even enthusiastic about shedding their mortal burdens. She is not driven by principles as the rest of the forsworn who see themselves as victims, or Devos who sought to help them, but by spite towards an unjust world, only seeking to punish those who wronged her, even if it means sacrificing her own allies.
100% agree with everything Tali said having also played through all four storylines myself. His breakdown is completely accurate. Only thing I'd change is the ranking, because my subjective value of each positive and negative are different. Peligos is an idiot. Nothing lovable about him, he's just a waste of space.
Finding this video after watching your 9.2 video makes all the Pelegos trash talk so much better :)
When I was flying in for the final part of the Kyrian campaign, to confront Lysonia at Elysian Hold, yeah, it was badass. I am very rarely immersed or pumped to do anything in games - especially WoW - but I was totally revved up and ready to finish the fight. I've only completed the Kyrian one - just barely ventured a few chapters into the Night Fae, and only past the intro couple for Necro/Venthyr - however it does not surprise me at all to see Kyrian as #1 here. It was totally awesome.
Just like Pelagos and the torn out heart.
And I do love that the Mawsworn/Forsworn have a legitimate point. But they ARE assholes indeed. It makes it a layered thing and really fascinating, I even loved the Bastion leveling experience. These aren't the picturesque perfect blue angels that they look like. They have serious flaws but with good intentions. The campaign was like a wake-up call for them and I was glad to be along for the ride.
Thank you for the fantastic video! I agree with pretty much everything you said here. Only thing I would add is a rewardless system where you could play through each of the other covenants' stories without changing covenants. This way I wouldn't feel so obligated to level 3 other alts or change covenants. Other than that, yep, big pat on the shoulder to Blizz cause I loved the covenant stories!
Ahh, all my thoughts about the Night Fae campaign.... Though this has helped me realize why I dislike it too much. It's like Spiderman 3, sometimes less is more!
fun fact the dragon at 38:15 is also a raid boss in Naxxramas
The moment of Pelegos watching the fairy’s sacrifice has much more meaning after 9.2.
I love you guys. I may not have played the game in a long time (and won’t be returning now since Blizzard cannot stop themselves from continuing to evolve into such greedy soulless corporate monsters), but I still tune in for your wonderful chemistry, energy, enthusiasm, humor and fun.
I just like hearing your voices. I knew or cared nothing for the subject of this video, but watched the whole thing because it was just so damn entertaining. I could listen to Taliesin read “War and Peace” with that great voice.
Playing your videos is like sitting down with old friends. Continued blessings to you all and thank you.
Hi Tali - just checking in here. I watch all the vids on the channel - did not watch this one because I had not finished all the campaigns. I have just finished my last one and am now here to watch the vid. :)
Just finished. One of your best vids - honestly. Amazing
Wow, this was a surprise ranking, and I really enjoyed the video. For me Night Fae pain is the worst (my main is a Night Fae) because you can't tell what is the story about without mashing together many disconnected pieces. Also the drust climax? Come on.
Then on the first place I'd put Necrolords. I love the focus of the story, and the overall progress. You start by being barely settled in the seat of Primus, and you finish the story by eliminating the threat from Maldraxxus (let's ignoramus's Vyraz, shall we?), you collect the armour of the Primus, you redeem Necrolords in front of the other covenants, etc…
When I have to choose between the 2nd and the 3rd place for Kyrian and Venthyr, I enjoyed the Venthyr more. In the Venthyr campaign you learn about all the harvesters and what do they do. You solve some things politically, or you kick someone elses ass. There is just much more variety.
As for Kyrian, the story is well focused same as Necro Lords. But the covenant itself is soooooo boring. (Maybe it's just me, but before the launch I was expecting Kyrians to be those epic angels that obliterate with light everything that get's in their way. On the other hand I thought that Necro lords are going to be a lame joke for kids. And it turned out to be the other way around) Even in this video you spent 30% on the campaign story analysis to sell how stupid Pelagos is. I was expecting that the Archon can will ascended into existence, but no, they need the c
The one thing I struggled with quite a lot during the covenant campaigns is that the big bad enemies rarely felt like a threat or even much more than simply completing a quest. Overall it feels like in general the covenant stories were rushed and had the potential to be a lot more than they turned out. I wish they felt even half as meaningful as Suramar did. They would have been much better served to have a single core story for each that is cohesive throughout then some of the other cool story bits would be separate covenant side story quests instead of interrupting or diluting the main campaign.
I agree with a lot of what Talie says, but I don't agree on his order. For me, it's:
1) Necrolords
2) Revendreth
3) Kyrian
4) Night Fae
So fun to watch this now we know that the main story Campaign has all those missing threads and conclusions from the Covenants end there so we could all see them!
If you get Kael'thas choices wrong you are rewarded with extra voice lines from him, basically saying he didn't do that and you can just proceed to choose another without going back if you fail the next step. Funny how all choices on the last one are right haha
I purposely did a wrong answer my second round of that on another alt just to see what he said. First round I did them all right and was scared on the last one because of the "all correct" I knew they were. I was like "uh they're all right so which one do I pick?". I think it took me 2 minutes to decide lol
@@gaymer559 Usually I go to wowhead instead lol worst case scenario we can always abandon the quest haha
I love this video, it’s great getting to see the other campaigns. If only they were a simple content choice. Thanks for putting it all together, it was worth the wait and a good change of pace from all the speculation and doom and gloom videos Bellular is doing.
TBH NF campaign plays like 1st chapter of covenant campaign for the whole expansion, they've chose the most insignificant thread to end so more lore-important ones can be expanded later... at least I hope they will be
Thanks for this video; now I feel like I am all caught up with the Covenant campaigns without having to actually play them because...I honestly cannot be arsed. (I haven't logged on into the game in over a month now...)
I'm glad you enjoyed all the campaigns. I only played through the Necrolord campaign for my main and it was godawfully boring, so much so that even after watching your recap I'm still not sure what exactly it is we did beyond steal a necropolis and beat up some bad guys. The bit with Mograine in Bastion was actually genuinely cool (though, yeah, I, too, thought it was strange the Necrolords were getting that bit of lore exposition) and the quests where you are disguised and "help" Kel'Thuzad were fun...however, I have issues with stealth / disguise missions. I feel like those are missions that only Rogues should really go on. I mean, that is their specialty. Feels weird sneaking around in a magical disguise as a Paladin.
(Yes, my Paladin went Necrolord, all the way back when it was the worst Covenant for them, because, they have the best plate armor set. And fuck the Kyrian and their toilet bowl plate set. Who the hell makes a plate set where the head and shoulders look like toilet bowls? Honestly.)
I think you're giving the Night Fae too hard of a time. While I haven't personally played through it, I like how each week the quests are varied between several storylines. It makes the zone and the Covenant campaign feel more authentic, like there's actually a bunch of stuff going on, instead of a single, all-encompassing storyline outside of which nothing really happens. Consider that there are a lot more interesting plot threads to continue in the Night Fae campaign than in, say, the Necrolord campaign; I mean, there's really nothing left to do there except round up a couple of villainous straglers.
I enjoyed sneaking around the House of Rituals -- I wanted to read those books too! Having played 3/4 of the convenants (no Venthyr yet), necrolord storyline was def my fave.
I want the runecarver to be the primus. But every statue I see of the primus he has three fingers. The runecarver has five. Art team mistake?
It seems to be an inconsistency. If I recall, there is a statue with 5 fingers somewhere too.
Don't pay much attention to details, Blizzard is awful at it, just remember the jailer's appearance on the trailer and the bald idiot we ended up with. They're deliberately messing things up.
gurl the fact that they kill Devos in a fucking dungeon literally puts kyrian campaign all the way back at 1milionth. and yes i know we just have 4 that's just how horrible it was. it wasn't even part of the campaign but to kill such an important character with so much potential is annoying af. night fae is 1st and venthyr 2nd.
Everyone is going to have their own opinions. This is Taliesin's opinion
Devos had to die early though because Devos actually believed what they preached...you needed to get to the shady Forsworn ASAP in the Covenant Story.
I had the exact same problems with the Night Fae campaign. Surprised to see the Kyrian one so high on the list, but you make a good case for it
Im probably one of the few people who liked Maldraxus the most out of all of them. Guess im an edge lord ...
I have been surprised how much I liked the Necrolord storyline and being in Maldraxxus. I didn't expect that at all going into the expansion
@@ThorfinnGrimhowl Same here. I fully thought I was going to be a Night Fae fanboi, but I ended up playing through with my Warlock first and going Necrolords, and what I thought was going to be one of my least favourite covenants ended up being one of my (if not my overall) favourite.
Mally has an amazing storyline and really good qs but... DAMN MAN, who likes to play arround so much Undead... things?
I must admit my favorite part was Idris. Thank you, Evitel! :) In seriousness, though, this was a great video for me to watch since I'm a very basic casual and might never actually do all these Covenant Campaigns... So thanks, Taliesin too!
When you go to Alexstraza during the Night Fae campaign, if you go to her on a DK while riding the Deathlord's Vilebrood Vanquisher mount, she has a unique emote that you don't get any other way that I've found. She emotes something about looking at you disapprovingly or in disgust due to the mount your riding.
The Grom system of redemption is apparently not just "WoD Grom system of redemption." Even in our timeline, Grom got redeemed way too easily. If he hadn't died during his redemption, I doubt it would be OK to think of him as redeemed. That was just before he cursed the Horde for the second time, both of which he did willingly, and even said before dying that he did that only to free himself. Didn't feel to me like he cared about anyone else that much.
You get a thumbs up before I even watch, just because of the effort that went into it.
Ehhh this comment made my shit green
Necro is hands down having the most relatable characters of them all. I dunno why everyone hates on them. Kyrian are just soo extremist. Necro, even at the beginning shows us that they have characters that are batshit crazy but also characters that are smart, cunning and loving. Kyrian is all about "follow the path" bla bla bla.... wow, boooring.
Night Fae was my second to play and i was sooo fucking confused on what is going on :D Im glad i was not alone.