Everything we know about World of Warcraft: Shadowlands' Chains of Domination update

Want to know what's new with the Shadowlands 9.1 update? The first major patch for WoW's latest expansion is here and introduces a new raid, a mega-dungeon, and sub-zones in the Maw. While the Sanctum of Domination raid doesn't open until next week, there's still plenty to do in the meantime.

You should make sure you're prepared for the new Shards of Domination system, and you'll be able to learn Shadowlands flying as soon as you reach Renown level 44 with your chosen Covenant. So make sure you keep up with those weekly quests so you can take to the skies as soon as you can. There's a lot to go over, so here's everything you need to know about the WoW Shadowlands 9.1 update.

When is the Chains of Domination 9.1 release date?

World of Warcraft's Shadowlands 9.1 update is live now for US regions and will launch after the weekly reset on June 30 for the EU

So what's the big deal with Chains of Domination? 

Being the first big patch of Shadowlands, Chains of Domination rolls out a bunch of new activities and systems for players to explore. When it was revealed at BlizzCon 2021, game director Ion Hazzikostas and principal game designer Jeremy Feasel didn't have much to say about specific progression systems or nitty-gritty details. Instead, we got a general overview of the big new features. Here's what they are: 

  • A new subzone in The Maw is opening up called Korthia, City of Secrets.
  • The Maw is becoming a lot friendlier as the four Covenants are invading it and establishing a permanent foothold. Players will be able to use their mounts and, though we don't know how, disable the Eye of the Jailer so they can spend more time exploring the zone each day.
  • A new raid, the Sanctum of Domination, will have 10 bosses including Kel'Thuzad, the Terragrue (the big monster from Torghast), the Eye of the Jailer, and Sylvanas Windrunner herself.
  • There'll be new story quests and a Covenant campaign to complete, though it sounds like the Covenant campaign will be the same regardless of which Covenant you're in.
  • A new eight-boss mega-dungeon called Tazavesh, the Veiled Market will take players on an interdimensional heist through a mysterious Broker bazaar filled with strange mysteries and, oh yeah, a pirate dragon.
  • A bunch of smaller additions too, like more Covenant Renown levels and rewards, improvements to Torghast to make it less punishing, and a new season for PvP and Mythic+ dungeons.

Tell me more about the Sanctum of Domination 

Yes, master. So the Sanctum of Domination is the big new raid and Blizzard is saying it's going to have one of the most dramatic conclusions in WoW history. That's because, after being the main villain of World of Warcraft for the past few years, we'll finally get to fight Slyvanas Windrunner. We don't yet know what the outcome of this fight will be—will she die? Will she suddenly turn good at the last moment?—But we do know that the stakes are high.

Sylvanas is working alongside the enigmatic Jailer, a kind of god of the Shadowlands who was sealed away by the other four gods for being a huge dick. He and Sylvanas want to tear down the entire institution of death and the afterlife and build something new, which is why they worked together to tear a huge hole in the fabric separating the living world from that of the dead. Now, Sylvanas and the Jailer have conspired to abduct King Anduin Wrynn and have used nefarious magic to dominate his mind and make him a thrall, and during the cinematic trailer for Chains of Domination slave Anduin attacked the angels of Bastion and stole a key from them. We don't really know what that key is for or what Anduin's fate will be—and Sylvanas is clearly having second thoughts about this whole plan, too. All of these hanging threads are expected to be tied up in the Sanctum of Domination.

Beyond that, we don't know too much. The Sanctum of Domination is the highest floors of Torghast, Tower of the Damned. It's the big tower looming over the Maw, where the Jailer rules, and it houses the most evil and nefarious souls in the galaxy. Players are going to fight not only Slyvanas, but other minor villains like Kel'Thuzad too. Blizzard has yet to reveal the entire 10-boss roster.

How is the Maw changing? 

Love it or hate it, we'll be spending a lot more time in the Maw in Chains of Domination. As part of the ongoing story, the four Covenants that players have aligned with are going to be uniting and launching a full offensive into the Jailer's territory to stop him from furthering his mysterious plans.

Again, Blizzard didn't have much to say on the specifics. But we do know that the Maw is going to be a lot less harrowing to explore and players will finally be able to use their mounts to get around. With the Covenant invasion in full swing, the Maw will be getting a total makeover to reflect the ongoing battle and new world quests and events will be swapped in to replace the old ones.

In addition to that, the Maw is being expanded with a new subzone called Korthia, City of Secrets. If you watched the Chains of Domination trailer, that's the giant landmass that the Jailer was pulling into the Maw using enormous, magic chains. Korthia will be the focus of the new campaign, with players exploring its ruins and meeting the few surviving citizens to discover more of the Jailer's plans. Players will also uncover a system to counter the Eye of the Jailer, the Grand Theft Auto-esque 'Wanted' levels that eventually force you to flee the Maw after causing too much trouble.

(Image credit: Blizzard)

What's about Tazavesh, the new mega-dungeon? 

Like previous mega-dungeons, Tazavesh is more like two dungeons crammed together with one unifying theme. This time around, players are exploring a market exclusively used by the Brokers, the mysterious and shady merchants of the Shadowlands. The first five bosses will be focused on exploring the bazaar itself and learning more about life as a Broker—oh, and one of the boss encounters is actually a dysfunctional mailroom that players have to fix so everyone in the Shadowlands can get their mail on time. Weird.

During the final three bosses of Tazavesh, players will be chasing the leader of a corrupt Broker cartel who is looking to secure a powerful and mysterious item for some reason. Again, Blizzard didn't elaborate much. What we do know, though, is that players will be traversing a series of portals to different locations around Azeroth like Boralus, and will get to fight a pirate dragon. 

World of Warcraft: Shadowlands BlizzCon 2021

(Image credit: Blizzard)

What else do I need to know about Chains of Domination? 

Tons of smaller features are coming with Chains of Domination, including fixes and overhauls to different progression systems. Here's a quick rundown of what we know so far: 

  • Torghast's reward system is being overhauled so that you can still get some loot even if you fail a run. The death counter and the Terragrue are likely going away altogether and being replaced by a different kind of scoring system.
  • Torghast is also getting a new wing to explore.
  • Raid loot is being overhauled in Sanctum of Domination to make raiders feel a bit more special because, well, raiding is really hard and they deserve a little something extra.
  • 40 new Covenant Renown levels are being added along with new cosmetic rewards, conduits, and soulbinds.
  • You'll be able to unlock the ability to use flying mounts in the four Covenant zones of Maldraxxus, Revendreth, Ardenweald, and Bastion.
  • Expect a ton of new mounts, pets, armor, and world quests, too.
Steven Messner

With over 7 years of experience with in-depth feature reporting, Steven's mission is to chronicle the fascinating ways that games intersect our lives. Whether it's colossal in-game wars in an MMO, or long-haul truckers who turn to games to protect them from the loneliness of the open road, Steven tries to unearth PC gaming's greatest untold stories. His love of PC gaming started extremely early. Without money to spend, he spent an entire day watching the progress bar on a 25mb download of the Heroes of Might and Magic 2 demo that he then played for at least a hundred hours. It was a good demo.

Read more
World of Warcraft's most recent patch soars with fun additions that last just long enough
Two goblins go for a joyride via the D.R.I.V.E system in World of Warcraft: The War Within.
WoW next big patch, Undermine(d), gets a release date, starting the countdown clock until my gaming time is entirely consumed with doing donuts in my new ride
World of Warcraft The War Within screenshots
Dragonflight got WoW back on its feet, now we get to see if Blizzard can make the Worldsoul Saga run
World of Warcraft Mythic Plus screenshot
World of Warcraft's competitive dungeon mode is struggling
An image displaying a Warband in World of Warcraft: Dragonflight - several adventurers stand ready for action in front of a campfire.
WoW's Warband system is getting a facelift soon, with new campsite backgrounds and the ability to sort your alts into cute little themed groups
World of Warcraft The War Within screenshots
Delves have given WoW's devs the confidence to put mandatory grinds firmly in the rear-view, says game director Ion Hazzikostas
Latest in World of Warcraft
Concept art of WoW's upcoming player housing system, showing a warm homestead with a welcoming figure in shade.
WoW flexes its MMO player housing system in a new blog post, and it really might just beat FF14's dated furniture placement into the dirt
Gallywix wears an uneasy smile as he's confronted by Xal'atath in WoW: The War Within.
World of Warcraft guild uses exploits to get world 'first' on the game's new raid, gets banned, puts its name backwards and does it again
A World of Warcraft dwarf and human character standing in front of the entrance to a delve dungeon
WoW's nerfed its poor Delve companion into a dwarf-shaped crater after his tank spec made them too easy, and people aren't happy
Three goblins from the goblin cartels smile confidently in WoW: The War Within's Undermine(d) patch.
WoW's new Undermine(d) patch had a live jazz ensemble recording its big-band bangers, and they got to improvise: 'Usually those were the takes that ended up in the final version'
Two goblins go for a joyride via the D.R.I.V.E system in World of Warcraft: The War Within.
WoW's new DRIVE system probably won't be used outside of its GTA-style goblin zone, but devs are 'going to think about' recycling its parts elsewhere
World of Warcraft The War Within screenshots
Delves have given WoW's devs the confidence to put mandatory grinds firmly in the rear-view, says game director Ion Hazzikostas
Latest in Features
Screenshots from Half-Life 2 RTX, showing the various new effects delivered by full ray tracing and enhanced assets.
I just played Half-Life 2 RTX, a fully ray-traced overhaul of the original, and its meaty headcrabs have me hankering for more
In a world of WoW Classics and Old School RuneScapes… could Final Fantasy 14 ever do the same?
Honey B Lovely
The state of Final Fantasy 14 in 2025: It's in a weird spot, huh?
Monster Hunter Wilds palico
One of the biggest victories of Monster Hunter Wilds' streamlining is I don't have to deal with those awful gimmick fights anymore
A vampire with a dark castle and swarms of bats in the background.
We need to decide on a genre name for Vampire Survivors-like games before a really terrible one sticks
Olivia, Alma and a palico
I wish Monster Hunter Wilds wasn't so afraid of letting me play Monster Hunter