World of Warcraft: Shadowlands Ray Tracing settings spotted

With World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, gamers with RTX graphics cards, or cards capable of brute-forcing the feature, will be able to turn on Ray Tracing.

The World of Warcraft: Shadowlands Ray Tracing options have been spotted in the form of Ray Traced shadows. Don't worry, this isn't World of Warcraft Fake News. 

• Read more: In World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, most NPCs will finally acknowledge your presence

World of Warcraft: Shadowlands Ray Tracing

The World of Warcraft Ray Tracing options were added to the Shadowlands alpha in the latest update, but at the time of writing, players cannot enable the settings just yet.

When these Ray Tracing settings do become available, players with NVIDIA RTX graphics cards will be able to enjoy more realistic shadows, while some other high-end graphics cards might be able to run the options, but expect a significant frame-rate drop, if you attempt such madness. 

The World of Warcraft: Shadowlands Ray Tracing shadow options include three levels, namely Fair, Good, and High. WoWHead user Jaydaa provided a screenshot of the settings, which you can check out below.

Ray Tracing settings in WoW: Shadowlands alpha (Picture: WoWHead)

Multiple Global Strings have also been found in the Shadowlands Alpha code, namely:

• RT_SHADOW_QUALITY - Ray Traced Shadows
• VIDEO_OPTIONS_RT_SHADOW_QUALITY_FAIR - Ray Traced Shadows from directional light sources at reduced resolution.
• OPTION_TOOLTIP_RT_SHADOW_QUALITY - Improves shadow quality with ray tracing, which produces shadows with more natural softness, greatly increased precision, and from additional light sources.
• VIDEO_OPTIONS_RT_SHADOW_QUALITY_HIGH - Ray Traced Shadows from directional and local light sources at full resolution.
• VIDEO_OPTIONS_RT_SHADOW_QUALITY_MEDIUM - Ray Traced Shadows from directional and local light sources at reduced resolution.

It remains to be seen when exactly Blizzard plans to enable these Ray Traced shadow options in World of Warcraft. We can definitely expect it to be released with the Shadowlands expansion.

• Read more about Shadowlands: Torghast Tower gives World of Warcraft veterans a reason to be excited for Shadowlands

Got nothing to do while you wait for Shadowlands to release? We've got you covered with the latest gaming news in our Lockdown video series.

Lockdown: Assassin's Creed Valhalla and free games for the NHS

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!

For more World of Warcraft news, be sure to check out our dedicated section or some of our WoW Guides & Tutorials below:

Dragonflight Guides - Primal Storms Event| Content Roadmap| Play On Steam Deck| Raid Schedule| Dracthyr Evoker Class| Dragon Isles Zones| Max Level & Progression Path| Crafting Orders| Dragonriding| Editions & Bonuses|Dracthyr Evoker|Twitch Drops & Rewards|Maintenance Schedule US & EU|Check Server Status|Performance & Stuttering Fix|DPS Tier List|Mythic+ Affix Rotation Season 1|Reset Talents | Transfer Aborted & World Down Issues | Tangled Dreamweaver Mount | Stuck on Loading Screen Error Fix | Vault of the Incarnates Loot | Wrathion or Sabellian? | 

Dragonflight Tier Lists - Best DPS Class & Build | Best Healer Class & Build | Best Tank Class & Build

Dungeon Guides - Nokhud Offensive | Neltharus | The Azure Vault | Brackenhide Hollow | Ruby Life Pools | 

WotLK Classic Guides - Best Death Knight Builds| Retribution Paladin PVE| Herbalism Leveling| PvE Beast Mastery Hunter DPS| Shadows of Doom| Cold Weather Flying| Fire Mage PvE| Flying Carpet 

Holiday Events - Hallow's End| Feast of Winter Veil  

Featured image courtesy of Blizzard.