Key Takeaways
- Brann will be the only Delve companion in WoW’s The War Within, staying until the next expansion.
- Players keep Brann to maintain progress and avoid resetting the companion each season.
- Additional Delves and boss instances with rewards are coming in Patch 11.1, where Brann can be a tank.
World of Warcraft has officially confirmed that Brann will be the only Delve companion players will get in The War Within. Though it originally planned to add a new character to Delves each season, World of Warcraft will now be keeping Brann around until the Midnight expansion.
Delves are a new kind of instance introduced in The War Within that can be completed solo or in groups alongside an NPC companion. At launch, the companion was Brann Bronzebeard, explorer extraordinaire and younger brother to Magni and Muradin, though it previously stated plans to swap to a new companion in each season of the expansion.
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Now, it seems World of Warcraft has changed its mind about that particular feature of Delves. During an interview with WoW content creators The Comeback Kids, World of Warcraft game director Ion Hazzikostas confirmed Brann was sticking around not only in World of Warcraft Patch 11.1, but in all of The War Within. “The big [challenge with changing companions] is that players have leveled up Brann, they have him fully upgraded and spec’d out. If you replace him, are we just taking all of that away?” Hazzikostas feared resetting progress with their Delve companion each season would feel bad for fans, so to avoid this, players will keep Brann as their partner until Midnight.
Brann Is the Only Delve Companion in World of Warcraft: The War Within
From a logistics standpoint, this makes sense. While adding new Delve companions would add variety, replacing all the hard work players have done leveling Brann after a few short months wouldn’t feel great. Some fans suggest keeping both characters or sharing progress between them, but it seems these solutions did not fit with Blizzard’s idea for how additional Delve companions would work. It may come as a disappointment to players, but it seems World of Warcraft will only get one Delve companion every couple of years for the foreseeable future.
“The big [challenge with changing companions] is that players have leveled up Brann, they have him fully upgraded and spec’d out. If you replace him, are we just taking all of that away?”
That said, there is still some good news about Delves in Patch 11.1. Three new instances – two additional Delves and a final boss Delve similar to the WoW: The War Within Season 1 Zevkir encounter – are coming, featuring achievements, rewards, and goblin-themed curios. Brann will also be able to become a tank, allowing the Delve companion to fill any role.
It remains to be seen exactly how additional Delve companions will work in World of Warcraft: Midnight, or which characters might accompany players in the expansion’s instances. Given it takes place in Quel’thalas, fans might be able to team up with iconic Elven explorers, such as Naleidea Rivergleam or Elise Starseeker. Until then, players can only speculate on how the system will change throughout the Worldsoul Saga and beyond.
In this opening chapter of The Worldsoul Saga, you’ll journey through never-before-seen subterranean worlds filled with hidden wonders and lurking perils, down to the dark depths of the Nerubian empire, where the inscrutable Harbinger of the Void has gathered her arachnid forces to bring Azeroth to its knees.