Of all the WoW Dragonflight patch 10.0.5 updates, sometimes tiny quality of life changes are the ones that sate MMORPG fans the most. In this instance, it’s a change to one of World of Warcraft‘s many NPC’s voicelines, which goes on, and on, and on about just how worthy he is.
The man in question is God-King Skovald who, as you can probably guess by his name, is a man who loves to discuss his many, many conquests. Encountered in the Halls of Valor as the penultimate boss, the character’s lengthy speech about how the player character will not lay claim to the Aegis of Aggramar has been slashed by a good few seconds, meaning players can get into the action a lot quicker.
Blizzard’s official hotfix notes state that “God-King Skovald is now less verbose when stating his claim to the Aegis of Aggramar,” and streamer Pete ‘LeakyDonutt’ has gone on to show the clipped version of his speech.
The segment begins in the video below at 1:13:37, where Skovald responds to Odyn’s claims that the Aegis is free for the taking. Where he once responded “No! I, too, have proved my worth, Odyn. I am God-King Skovald! These mortals dare not challenge my claim to the Aegis!” he now only replies “if these false champions will not yield the Aegis by choice… then they will surrender it in death!”
According to the WoW subreddit, this change is “the HoV nerf we’ve all been waiting for.” Given that the character did ramble on quite a bit, I’m inclined to agree.
While I sympathise with concerns that “future newbies will wonder why Skovald just comes in yelling ‘NO!’ without any context,” I can see why Blizzard has chosen to streamline things a little. Waiting while he showered himself with praise certainly seemed like it went on for an eternity – especially when it’s 4am and this is your last dungeon. I just want the Ragnarok Ember, okay (I never got it)?
If God-King Skovald’s decreased “verboseness” has inspired you to pick up WoW again (go on, just for old time’s sake) be sure to check out our WoW Dragonflight review, which breaks down what to expect from the latest Warcraft expansion. We also have a rundown of all the best WoW addons, as well as a WoW Dragonflight tier list to help you choose your new main.