World of Warcraft`s upcoming major update, set for August 5th, will not only bring new content and a new season but also two unexpected yet much-needed quality-of-life improvements: a significant overhaul of the banking system and changes to Valorstones.
As announced in a forum post, with the release of the `Ghosts of K`aresh` update, WoW`s banking system will undergo substantial changes. For two decades, players have had to purchase bag slots and then place bags within them to expand their storage. Update 11.2 will end this practice, replacing bag slots with purchasable storage tabs, similar to those found in Blizzard`s Diablo series.
Additionally, the reagent bank and Void Storage—two previously available but more restrictive storage options—will be removed from the game. While this initially caused some concern among players about losing space, as explained by Reddit user SpartanG01 (and highlighted by Icy Veins), the new storage system appears to be a clear upgrade.
Purchasing new tabs will be cheaper than buying bag slots, and players will generally gain an additional 50 slots without any of the previous restrictions associated with Void Storage or the reagent bank. Now, any tab can be used for reagents or other items, offering much greater convenience. The new system unifies storage, eliminating the confusion of separate access to Void Storage via a different NPC solely for specific items. Interestingly, this bank overhaul, which removes Void Storage, marks the first significant change to item storage since its introduction in 2011 with the Cataclysm expansion.
However, that`s not Blizzard`s only surprise. In the 11.2 public test realm patch notes, it was quietly announced that Valorstones, WoW`s primary gear upgrade currency, will no longer reset between seasons.
Blizzard did not elaborate on this change in philosophy, but it`s a major shift, as previously at the start of each new season, players had to re-grind Valorstones to upgrade their gear. Now, players can accumulate Valorstones in advance without worrying about them disappearing after a few months, significantly simplifying preparation for future updates.
While this is an excellent change allowing players to get a head start on gear upgrades, Valorstones appear to remain capped at 2,000 units, meaning only a certain amount can be stockpiled. Perhaps this will change in the future, but for now, Blizzard is at least making Valorstones a non-seasonal currency.
WoW`s `Ghosts of K`aresh` update will transport players to the shattered homeworld of the Ethereals to stop the Void Lord Dimensius. In addition to new content and the quality-of-life improvements mentioned above, the update will also finally add a highly-requested emote. Meanwhile, Blizzard continues to share information about WoW`s upcoming housing system and is preparing to fully announce the next expansion, `Midnight,` at Gamescom in August.