Shadowlands Covenants: Details, Signature Abilities, rewards and more

With the long-awaited World of Warcraft: Shadowlands expansion now released, players can jump into a brand-new system called Covenants to enjoy, reap the rewards, earn Renown and build their character up through Signature Abilities. Throughout your Shadowlands levelling experience, you will be introduced to all four covenants, and at max level (60) you will be able to join one.

The four Shadowlands Covenants detailed

In World of Warcraft lore, the Afterlife is controlled by one of four powerful groups, aka Covenants. They all have their own purposes and responsibilities in Shadowlands.

The four Covenants are:

• Necrolords
• Kyrian
• Night Fae
• Venthyr.

Each of these Shadowlands Covenants also has their own Heroic Souls. These are characters who you should remember from Warcraft lore.

The four main areas in Shadowlands are controlled by a specific Covenant. Check out which area is controlled by which Covenant, and the Heroic Soul which resides with them.

Necrolords Covenant:

• Primary Realm: Maldraxxus
• Eternal Role: Necrotic soldiers who wage war throughout the cosmos.
• Heroic Soul: Draka, mother of Thrall.

Necrolords overview: In the skull-and-bone laboratories of Maldraxxus, strength is rewarded, and weakness cast aside. Necromancers experiment on the souls of the ambitious and contentious, reforming only the greatest into undead soldiers who protect the Shadowlands. Those who are determined rise to positions of power. The less-promising become fuel for Maldraxxus’ malign weapons.

Kyrian Covenant

• Primary Realm: Bastion
• Eternal Role: Steadfast guardians who carry the souls of the dead.
• Heroic Soul: Uther Lightbringer, murdered by crown prince Arthas Menethi.

(Picture: Blizzard Entertainment)

Kyrian overview: The Kyrians are eternal beings who draw only the most accomplished, principled, and pure into their ranks. But, as souls plunge into the Maw and upheaval rocks the Shadowlands, scores of aspiring Kyrians find that they are unable to continue their journey to ascension. With the number of Kyrians dwindling, their charge to ferry souls to eternity is in jeopardy. Will the Archon’s devoted stand together, or will this test of faith sunder their shining kingdom?

Night Fae Covenant

• Primary Realm: Ardenweald
• Eternal Role: Defenders of nature who uphold the cycle of rebirth.
• Heroic Soul: Cenarius, corrupted by the Nightmare and purified via the Emerald Nightmare.

(Picture: Blizzard Entertainment)

Night Fae overview: If the Emerald Dream mirrors the spring and summer of life, then the star-hued plane of Ardenweald reflects life in its twilight. Those who pass on with a deep connection to nature are tended here by the mystic night fae, who retrieve anima from mortal souls and infuse it into slumbering spirits, rejuvenating their lives with the remnants of the old.

Venthyr Covenant

• Primary Realm: Revendreth
• Eternal Role: Eaters of sin who harvest anima from wicked souls.
• Heroic Soul: Kael'thas Sunstrider, former Lord of the Blood Elves.

(Picture: Blizzard Entertainment)

Venthyr overview: The venthyr have a good thing going. They lord over Revendreth’s castles and ceaseless twilight while arrogant souls are delivered to their tables. The harvesters’ otherworldly punishments strip the pride from their thralls, sparing them an even worse fate: eternal torment in the Maw.

Signature Abilities for Covenants

Each Covenant has a Signature Ability you can unlock, and it is one of the toughest choices you can make in Shadowlands.

• Read more: World of Warcraft: Shadowlands Ray Tracing: How to enable

If you don't know how to decide which Covenant to join due to these Signature Abilities, we've got you covered. Check out the Signature Abilities for each Covenant in Shadowlands below.

Kyrian Covenant: Summon Steward - Call your steward to bring you a Phial of Serenity that can be consumed to restore 20% of your health and remove all Curse, Disease, Poison, and Bleed Effects. Your Steward additionally offers access to a selection of useful amenities for 4 min.

Venthyr Covenant: Door of Shadows - Wend through the shadows, appearing at the targeted location. 35 yd range, 1.5-sec cast, 1 Charge, 1 min recharge.

Necrolord Covenant: Fleshcraft - Form a shield of flesh and bone over 4 sec that prevents damage equal to 20% of your maximum health. Channelling near a corpse claims their essence to grow the shield, up to 50% of your maximum health. This is most effective against powerful enemies.
10 yd range, 4-sec channel, 2 min cooldown.

Night Fae Covenant: Soulshape - Turn into a Vulpin, teleporting 15 yds forward and increasing your movement speed by 50%. You may reactivate Soulshape every few sec to teleport again. Lasts 12 sec, or indefinitely while in a rest area. Instant cast, 1.5 min cooldown.

Covenant Renown & Rewards

Unlike previous expansions, Renown is not an open-ended grind. Instead, it is a metered progression system which players will need to work through.

YouTuber BellularGaming takes you through all the rewards, upgrades and more from Covenant Renown in the video below.

Renown is, in essence, a Covenant progression system in Shadowlands. Players are able to build up their renown with their chosen Covenant. Consider it like a trust system, which influences the connection between your character and Soulbinds, as well as allowing you to repair your Sanctum.

• Read more: WoW Shadowlands Witcher Easter Egg: Where to find

The Renown progression system in Shadowlands allows you to unlock rewards, the ability to rescue more souls from The Maw, unlocking higher Soulbind levels, and much more. Each covenant has its own reward tier to unlock, even pushing the campaign forward.

The image below shows an example of the Necrolord Covenant Renown system.

(Picture: WoWHead)

There are 40 tiers of rewards World of Warcraft players will be able to unlock slowly throughout their journey.

These rewards do contain spoilers for some, and one of the best ways to experience Shadowlands is to work through your Covenant Renown and earn those rewards, so we won't spoil them for you.

Check out our video below, where we dive deep into the lore of the Dragon Aspects in World of Warcraft, discussing all the leaders, their history, and some family drama!

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