World of Warcraft: The War Within's Warband System Explained

It has been two decades since the world had its first RTS encounter with orcs and humans throughWarcraft: Orcs & Humans. Now, in the franchise’s 20th anniversary year, fans are getting the 10th expansion of the iconic MMORPG, and it’s calledWorld of Warcraft: The War Within. In addition to a plethora of exciting updates including a new alliance, class-specific hero talent trees, new end-game content called Delves, four new zones, a new landmass called Khaz Algar, and more, fans are finally getting an alt-friendly account-wide progression system, called Warbands.

It’s definitely exciting to have all these expansions coming up, with two more in the pipeline inThe Worldsoul Saga.However, it’s safe to say that a macro progression system in the upcomingWorld of Warcraft:The War Withinexpansion, shared across all the characters is one of the most prominent updates in recent times and was a need of the hour at this point, precisely because it was highly frustrating to go through the same quests with different characters, over and again.

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What Does the Warband System Include?

The War Within’s Warbandwill help players get recognized for their gameplay as aWoWplayer on an account level, instead of just a character level. While it’s just the beginning, and only certain gear is going to be passable between characters, a general account-wide progression is not only convenient, but if successful, it can also possibly pave the way for major gameplay updates moving forward. For now, here’s all that the Warband is initially bringing to the table:

Account-Wide Bank for Crafting Materials and Items

World of Warcraftplayers have long had a need to share some of the resources they’ve owned instantly with another character. However, the process was long, and in-game mailing was outdated at this point. The good news is that banks will now offera shared Warband bankwhich will make it a breeze for all the characters to immediately share items. Better yet, it will now be possible to share reagents and crafting materials as well, making the process all the more conducive for players who are constantly experimenting with their alts and main characters.

Shared Achievements, Transmog Collections, Reputation, and More

Grinding inWorld of Warcraftis part of the fun, but it can get tediouswhen players are trying to earn Renownor the reputation of various factions within the game. Doing the same quests, time and again, for different characters, and never being recognized for it can be frustrating. Thankfully, the new system changes it now and reputation earned in every new area of the game will now be counted across the Warband.

Additionally, transmogs will also be account-wide now, so if one character loots an item that it can’t use, it will still be usable by another class. The same idea goes for flying paths, collections, and achievements. As referred to in theBlizzCon 2023Deep Dive Panel forWoW, the franchise’s goal is to reduce the number of times players have to grind for the same achievement and respect their time behind the keyboard.

Sharable Warbound Items Until Equipped

Certain loot drop items, designated “Warbound Until Equipped” will be shareable on the owner’s Battle.net account until equipped on one of the characters. However, there’s a catch here — these particular items won’t be tradable with other players or atthe in-gameWoWAuction House, and once the item is equipped, it will become soulbound to that particular character.

Maintained Progress for Delves’ Companion Across the Account

Brann Bronzebeard is going to be the first companion, and thanks to Warband,WoWplayers will now be able to tweak its gear and skills as per their playing style for its continual use across the board. As a result, they’ll have a ready-to-tag-along companion for all the characters on one account.

Updated Lobby-Like Character-Select Screen

This is a smaller feature compared to other Warband elements, but it’s instantly noticeable.World of Warcraftplayers will now be able to see all their characters on a single screen, instead of having to jump from one server to another. By extension, the players will also be able to feature their favorite character ensembles from their Warband on the main screen, in a rathertraditional battle-royalelobby-like view.

World of Warcraft: The War Within’s Warband system, therefore, is a powerful enough tool to lure in some of the oldies of the game. At the same time, it’s safe to say that if this macro update finds success, these initial limits can be pushed further. For instance, they might later include the sharing of map exploration and not just flight paths. Profession sharing between different characters and being able to send multiple characters on missions could also be an interesting dynamic for the devs to explore down the line.