Shadowlands

Shadowlands was the eighth expansion. It was announced at BlizzCon on 1 November 2019 and was first set for 26/27 October 2020; in October the date was pushed back, and it finally launched on November 23/24, 2020. Before launch, a Scourge invasion event called Death Rising swept across Azeroth.

In the story, Sylvanas Windrunner tears open the barrier between Azeroth and the Shadowlands, the realm of death. Every soul is now being sent into the Maw, and players cross over to find out what Sylvanas is planning. It was the third expansion set outside Azeroth, after The Burning Crusade and Warlords of Draenor.

Five zones opened at launch: Bastion, Maldraxxus, Ardenweald, Revendreth and the Maw. Korthia came in 9.1 and Zereth Mortis in 9.2. On Azeroth, the new island of Exile's Reach became the starting area for levels 1 to 10.

Oribos, the Eternal City, sits at the heart of the Shadowlands and was the main player hub. In the lore, every soul arrives here first to be judged by the Arbiter. The city is sacred neutral ground: Alliance and Horde are both welcome but must put their feud aside inside its walls. Portals reach it from Orgrimmar, Stormwind and each Shadowlands zone.

Each player bonded with one of four covenants that rule the new zones. The choice set the tone of the journey with a full Covenant Campaign, a signature ability plus a class-specific ability, and Soulbinds: three per covenant, each slotted with Conduit items.

• Renown ranks 1 to 40 unlocked covenant story, cosmetics and power.
• Covenant Sanctums worked like the Order Halls of Legion, and each covenant had its own teleport network and a unique feature such as the Ember Court or the Queen's Conservatory.

Shadowlands shrank the level range so that every level would feel meaningful. Characters at the old cap of 120 entered the expansion at level 50 and climbed to the new cap of 60.

See Leveling and Experience for how leveling works today. The expansion also let pandaren and every allied race become Death Knights, and gave all races many new customization options.

Torghast, Tower of the Damned, is a prison in the Maw built as an ever-changing, roguelike dungeon for one player or a group of up to five. It has six main wings with eight layers each, plus the Twisting Corridors challenge wing and, from 9.2, the boss-only Jailer's Gauntlet.

There were eight launch Dungeons and Instances, four for leveling and four for max level, then Tazavesh, the Veiled Market, an eight-boss megadungeon, in 9.1. Patch 9.2.5 allowed cross-faction groups in dungeons and raids.