Covenants are one of the main features of Shadowlands’ expansion. There are four covenants and each has its own progression, max level campaign, and set of player power (in the form of soul binds and covenant abilities). Covenant is your base of operations in Shadowlands. A player gets abilities depending on chosen covenant. Soul Binds are sets of powers and this will be unlocked at max level and unlocks character progress. Each soul bind has a conduit slot which grants you character power. Main goal is to earn renown levels and there are 40 renown levels in this expansion.
Joining and Leaving Covenants
- Once max level is hit and the leveling campaign of Raven draft zone is completed, covenant NPCs will be introduced and this is where you choose a covenant. Change of covenant is possible but will require re-earn of lost power.
- Leaving the covenant is feasible, with zero penalty.
- If in case you want to rejoin a covenant you previously left, you will be asked to do two sets of weekly quests first before you can be part of the covenant again.
Renown
- Renown is one of the two primary methods of progressing your covenant. The other one is called the covenant sanctum upgrades.
- Renown dictates what soul binds are available and how much of each soul bind you have unlocked. It is tied to upgrade cap, unranked PVP gear and item level of world quest gear rewards. It also controls how much of the covenant campaign you are able to do.
- You get two renown levels per week by doing each of two weekly quests (these are available in your covenant sanctum). One of the quests is to gather 1500 Anima for your covenant and the other one is to free souls from the Maw.
- One must get 1500 of Anima a week to get a renown level. More Anima is available from other types of content such as dungeons and PVP. Anima is also used to upgrade your covenant sanctum, to purchase covenant cosmetic rewards and both purchase and upgrade the covenant gear set.
- Covenant campaign is another source to get renown in the game. You will get one renown level after doing each leg of the covenant campaign. Each leg of the campaign corresponds to a renown level.
- Shadowlands’ renown games walkthrough:
Week One – Do the first chapter of your covenant campaign and you’ll be given one renown level. Then do your two weekly quests which will give you two renown levels. At level one, you will earn three levels and at the end of week one you will be at renown level four. Getting to renown level four rewards are two percent stamina boost, an upgrade to your first soul bind and adventurer for your covenants command table.
Week Two – Two weekly quests will bring you to renown level six and the campaign quest will bring you to renown level seven. Upgrades will be available along the way.
By the time you are in week seven, you will have completed the entire covenant campaign and will be in renown level twenty-two. Week 16 at renown level 40 and so on. As you go up renown level, you will unlock more soul binds, rows, player power, covenant vendor items to purchase, companions for the command table and many more. A catch up system is also in place for those who are behind the levels.
Upgrading your sanctum
- All four covenants have a transport network, anima conductor, and a command table. Each covenant has its own unique feature.
- Kyrian covenant – unique feature of this covenant is path of ascension
- Venthyr covenant – unique feature is the Ember Court Party mini game
- Necrolords covenant – unique feature is abomination factory
- Night Fae covenant – unique feature is Winter Queen’s Conservatory
- Transportation System offers faster travel around your covenant’s home zone. As your level upgrades, transport locations will be unlocked as well as other benefits.
- Anima Conductor allows you to activate content in different parts of your covenant’s home zone and this can be done once a day for minimal anima cost. To activate content means to activate a rare mob fight and to activate a special treasure in a region.
- Cosmetic covenant rewards can be purchased after you work on and upgrade your anima conductor and its associated content. As you upgrade the anima conductor, you’ll be able to activate more areas and you get to earn grateful offerings thus you will be able to afford cosmetic rewards.
- Command Table is Shadowlands’ version of the mission table. Unlike Legion and BFA (Battle for Azeroth), it is more tactical and interactive for its auto battler feature. There are two upgrades for the command table- (1) decreases the amount of time it takes for your companion to heal and (2) reduces time taken to do missions.
Covenant Rewards
- Each building has unique rewards for each covenant, examples are the tint of armor set, extra cloak, weapon transmogs etc. Aside from covenant specific rewards, there are also rewards shared by all covenants. Each mini game has its own gameplay, progression and upgrades.
- Building Upgrades
- Anima and souls are used for building upgrades. At renown level 15, you will receive an upgrade to your soul keeper. This means you will be able to rescue more souls each week. Thus you will get more souls per week building upgrades.
TL;DR Renown
- Do your weekly quests and covenant campaign quests to get your renown levels. However, with anima in Shadowlands’ expansion, you will not be able to use artifact power to make your character more powerful. You need 1500 anima per week, extra anima will only get you cosmetic rewards.
Video chapters:
0:00 Intro
3:03 Joining & Leaving Covenants
4:53 Renown & Anima
10:59 Upgrading Your Sanctum
16:10 Covenant Rewards
18:44 TL;DR – What You Need To Do