Embers of Neltharion is bringing more than fire and flames to World of Warcraft.

World of Warcraft Dragonflight’s 10.1 patch update, Embers of Neltharion, lets us delve deeper into the Dragon Isles once the expansion’s first significant content hits live servers. The hefty update will take players to the Zaralek Cavern, an expanse beneath the Dragon Isles where the Earth Aspect kept his secret laboratories. You have to work to uncover the hidden mysteries that lie within and face off against the Incarnates—elemental villains who have a grudge against the Aspects. Considering that Embers of Neltharion has a lot in store for players, it’s best to stay in the loop as to what you can expect from the update besides more ways to farm WoW gold.

Cross-Faction Guilds Are A Thing Now

In June 2022, Blizzard finally addressed the elephant in the room—that elephant being the addition of cross-faction gameplay. This implementation to the Shadowlands expansion back then allowed Alliance and Horde players to form a party together, participate in some PvP action, and clear most raids and dungeons for World of Warcraft gold. Blizzard’s move was a resounding success, effectively doubling World of Warcraft’s population overnight by simply allowing its users—regardless of which faction they belong to—to team up with one another.

Now, we’re about to get more cross-faction action! Cross-faction activities will reach a new level, with cross-faction guilds slated to come to Embers of Neltharion. Soon, you’ll be able to have Alliance and Horde players in the same guild. The ability to play with friends in World of Warcraft has been addressed in several ways, but this is arguably one of the more extensive changes we’ve seen from Blizzard so far.

Shadowlands enabled players to form a party and do raids together, and for the current expansion, we’re seeing Blizzard pushing the envelope even further by allowing players to share their event, bank, chats, and other functions for guilds—regardless of their faction allegiance.

Word on the street is that the cross-faction guilds are still in testing. The invites, bank access, and chat are entirely functional, but Blizzard stated they have unexpected problems to resolve. One of the most significant issues is that World of Warcraft was not developed with cross-faction guilds in mind. Nevertheless, the developers are looking forward to allowing their community to test the new feature in the Patch 10.1 PTR (Public Test Realm).

Zaralek Cavern

Now, let’s talk about locations. One of the major updates to the game is the Zaralek Cavern. It houses three different biomes. There are vast crystalline stretches with teal lighting and an abundance of stalactites. You’ll also find sulfur pools in the cavern plagued with chemicals, where Neltharion dumped his experiment. Finally, you’ll see pools of lava and natural volcanoes.

The Dragon Isles

The second major update when it comes to locations is the Dragon Isles. Based on how the story goes for Embers of Neltharion, the fire Incarnate Fryakk is assaulting the peaceful locales within Dragon Isles and bathing them with his flame. Quest lines will be open to players here that concern the titan Tyr and the Blue Dragonflight.

What’s great about the Dragon Isles is that it’s connected to the Zaralek Cavern through natural entrances and tunnels, so you don’t have to go through any instanced zones or loading portals. Without dismounting, you can Dragonride through the massive zone by dipping into the cavern in Azure Span, Thaldraszus, or Ohn’ahran Plains.

Aberrus

Since Primal Incarnates will be the major threat for the expansion going forward, what better villain to shine more lore upon than Aberrus? Aberrus—the Shadowed Crucible—is a nine-boss raid in the heart of Neltharion’s laboratory. The game director for WoW, Ion Hazzikostas, commented that players would soon learn about some of the secrets that resulted in the Earth Warder’s corruption and his descent into madness. We don’t know what his movesets are yet or how players can defeat him, but all will be known once we have more details about the boss.

Release Date for Embers of Neltharion

With Patch 10.0.7 releasing on March 21, it’s too early for an official release date for Embers of Neltharion. At the very least, Blizzard stated that World of Warcraft have tight schedules to keep, and they’re dedicated to doing at least six content updates for 2023.

Other additions to expect for the Embers of Neltharion update include new WoW mounts, improvements to upgrading your gear, and special gear drops. Oh, and remember those Storm Essences and Valor currencies? Blizzard will combine them into a single type of currency called Flightstones. Flightstones will be obtainable through almost every PvE activity in the game, and you can use them to upgrade your gear’s item level.