Shadowlands Patch 9.2.5 Release Date!
The Shadowlands patch 9.2.5 release date will be on May 31st for North American players, and the day after, June 1st for European players. There isn’t much content in this patch, hence the prompt release.
What’s New?
However, the most significant improvement coming in Shadowlands Patch 9.2.5 is Cross-Faction gameplay. This addition is great news for unbalanced populated realms that are heavily one-sided, or maybe you have battle.net friends that play on the opposite faction.
Overall, the Cross-Faction gameplay will benefit many casual players, who maybe don’t have Guilds, Raid, and can join PUGs with a lot more players available at their disposal.
Continue reading for more benefits of cross-faction gameplay coming in Shadowlands Patch 9.2.5.
How Does Cross-Faction Gameplay Work?
To play content with a player from an opposing faction, you need to be battle.net friends, RealID friends, or a Cross-Faction community member. If you’re interested in joining a Community, check out the Guild and Communities tab in-game for more information!
Alternatively, via Premade Groups, you can join players of the opposite faction via the Group Finder tool.
Cross-Faction Guilds:
Although there have been some glitches at the hands of Mr. GM on Twitter, the option to create Cross-Faction Guilds will not be possible upon the release of Shadowlands patch 9.2.5!
However, with further testing, this could be a new feature in a future patch or expansion. Blizzard is concerned if they were to introduce Cross-Faction Guilds and it didn’t work, it would be difficult to remove it.
We got Cross-Faction Guilds working on the 9.2.5 PTR (Release Candidate)
Here's my explanation of the bug and how we achieved it.@WarcraftDevs pic.twitter.com/3eIfr4hVfD
— MrGM (@MrGMYT) May 24, 2022
Cross-Faction Raids, Dungeons, and PvP?
Albeit barring some Raids (as mentioned below), most of the Raids, Dungeons, and Rated PvP will be available for Cross-Faction gameplay. The Raids, which focus on faction-based content, will not be available for Cross-Faction gameplay! These include the following.
- Baradin Hold
- Battle of Dazar’alor
- Darkmaul Citadel (via Exile’s Reach)
- Icecrown Citadel
- Siege of Boralus
- Trial of the Champion
- Trial of the Crusader
- Vault of Archavon
To group up for a Raid, Dungeon, or PvP with players of the opposite faction, follow the advice given above under the section: How Does Cross-Faction Gameplay Work?
Cross-Faction Mail and Trading:
Vahdis on Twitter was the first person I saw mention Cross-Faction mailing and Trading. I was excited by the prospect of being able to mail gold and items from my Horde character to my Alliance character and vice-versa.
Sadly, I have many players with gold and items stuck on unbalanced low populated realms, where there’s a heavily one-sided bias to one faction. This new addition means that I can finally transfer my gold and items to the best character/faction.
When the PTR became a release candidate, I quickly logged on and copied a Horde and an Alliance character over and successfully mailed gold and items to each other. However, the PTR is only available on one account, so I couldn’t log both characters simultaneously to try a trade.
Trading between Cross-Faction players appears to be limited to those within the group and in an instance.
In 9.2.5 cross faction mail, and cross faction trading(while in an instance) are enabled for both gold and items
As of now, cross realm trading is still not enabled#Goldmaking #Warcraft pic.twitter.com/pB3zjn8wSg— Vahdis (@RethRethReth) March 22, 2022
Patch Notes for Patch 9.2.5:
For a detailed look at the Shadowlands 9.2.5 patch notes, check out Wowhead.
Season Four Content:
Sadly, for those of you patiently waiting on Season 4, it’s not coming during this patch. Rest assured that Blizzard has revealed a late Summer release!
My Thought’s on Patch 9.2.5:
I’ve always been aware of the faction-based conflict within Azeroth (throughout my time playing World of Warcraft), and I believe it’s an appropriate time for a change. As you’ll be aware, there’s been conflicts where Alliance and Horde have come together to achieve a common goal.
With realms heavily unbalanced, players struggle to play with friends due to them playing on opposite factions; it was only a matter of time before Blizzard introduced Cross-Faction gameplay.
With continued development and the possibility of Cross-Faction Guilds in the future, this could be an excellent opportunity for players currently playing on unbalanced realms. This addition may also relax the calls for more realm connections, but only time will tell.
Overall, I believe this to be a promising start, and I look forward to the new features, especially the ability to transfer gold and items to preferred characters/Factions on unbalanced realms!
Are you looking forward to Cross-Faction Gameplay?!
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