World of Warcraft fans are more than anxious to dive into this year’s upcoming expansion The War Within, which features an exciting variety of new gameplay features. Perhaps the most highly-anticipated one is the introduction of Delves, which will invite players into an innovative new type of world content. Here’s our handy guide to explain exactly what Delves will be, and why they might be the most exciting update to the game yet.
What Are Delves in The War Within?
Arriving for the first time in World of Warcraft, Delves are short and sweet “world content” adventures (15 mins or so) found throughout Khaz Algar that players can enter, complete unique objectives, and gain a pile of loot at the end. Designed to run parallel with Raids and Dungeons, they offer an alternate, less competitive form of progression for players that still provides plenty of useful endgame rewards.
Delves are also designed to be incredibly flexible, so you can enter with up to five players, or you can solo it just as easily. You’ll still be accompanied by NPCs who will assist you throughout, and even level up alongside you. They’re often characters relevant to the story as well, so Delves helps make the campaign altogether a more dimensional experience for players.
If you want to focus on grinding Delves whenever possible, you also don’t need to worry about them getting boring or redundant. A Delve’s objectives will change after each reset, so it will be a different experience each time you go in.
Unlike Raids and Dungeons, there are no time limits and the objectives in Delves don’t just involve killing every monster in your path. They also have puzzles and a variety of special mechanics you’ll need to do to get from start to finish.
Also, while they are technically instanced, Blizzard intends for Delves to function as world content with no queues or loading screens. This helps create a seamless experience for the player as they explore the new open worlds in The War Within.
Delves Add a Fantastic New Type of MMO Gameplay
Thanks to the tireless dedication and creativity of the developers behind The War Within, Delves are set to shake up the classic dynamic of WoW’s combat-reward system for the first time in years.
However, by no means does it intend to pull players away from the merits of completing challenging Raids and grinding Dungeons. Rather, it offers an entirely new, fresh alternative for those who don’t necessarily want to pursue the rigors of Mythic difficulty or those who prefer the solo experience while still benefiting in an equal sense.
As discussed at BlizzCon 2023, Blizzard is aiming to continuously evolve World of Warcraft into an MMO that’s more flexible, convenient, and overall more accessible to its community. Delves are a prime example of the developers being able to expand their creativity in entirely new ways and provide players with an exciting new avenue of gameplay that’s just as rewarding.
While the focus right now is on polishing the first iteration of Delves in The War Within and seeing how players respond to them, the door is definitely open for them to return in future expansions. With a reliable, proper balance of rewards and a diverse, ever-changing mixture of creative objectives, we already anticipate that Delves will be here to stay.
That concludes our guide about Delves in World of Warcraft’s The War Within, and how they may be the most exciting update to the game yet. We hope you enjoyed reading, and let us know if you’re excited to try out Delves as well.
Be sure to check out all of our latest news and guides about World of Warcraft, such as how to sign up for The War Within Beta Access.
