WoW Embers of Neltharion: Cross-Faction Guilds Save Dragonflight

The first major patch after Dragonflight's release dropped May 2, 2023, taking us underground to Zaralek Cavern where Neltharion's mad science experiments went wrong. But the real headline? Cross-faction guilds finally arrived, ending 18 years of arbitrary guild segregation.

Welcome to the Underground

Zaralek Cavern proves Blizzard can still design interesting zones. Three biomes packed into one underground space - sulfur pools, volcanic lava flows, and crystal formations that actually look distinct. Despite being underground, Dragonriding works perfectly with enough vertical space for your dragon to spread its wings.

The Loamm Niffen, our new mole-people allies, navigate by smell instead of sight. It's peak WoW weirdness that somehow works. Their Renown track offers the usual rewards, but their quirky dialogue and sniffing animations make the grind less painful.

Aberrus: Where Ethics Went to Die

The Aberrus raid showcases Neltharion's laboratory where he created the Dracthyr and other abominations. Nine bosses culminating in Scalecommander Sarkareth, who's basically what happens when you give a Dracthyr too much power and zero therapy.

Raid launched May 9 (one week after the patch) with the usual difficulty tiers. LFR wings rolled out biweekly through June 20 for the casuals. The fights feel more mechanically interesting than Vault of the Incarnates, though that's a low bar.

The Real MVP: Cross-Faction Guilds

After 18 years, Horde and Alliance can finally guild together. No more maintaining separate guild rosters or missing out on friends who picked the wrong faction in 2004. It only took removing most faction restrictions to realize guilds should've been cross-faction from the start.

Season 2 Shakes Things Up

Mythic+ Season 2 brought a new dungeon rotation mixing Dragonflight dungeons with BFA classics Freehold and Underrot. New affixes replaced the universally hated ones, though the community will find reasons to complain about these too.

Patch 10.1 Embers of Neltharion proved Dragonflight could deliver meaningful content beyond the launch window. Zaralek Cavern feels substantial, Aberrus tells an interesting story, and cross-faction guilds fixed a problem that never should've existed. Now if only they could fix the profession system.