WoW Shadowlands Patch 9.2 Will Ditch Shards Of Domination System

World of Warcraft: Shadowlands upcoming patch 9.2 will drop the unpopular Shards of Domination system introduced just one patch prior.

The news comes via a forum post from WoW community manager Kaivax, who states that the current plan for Shards of Domination is to disable the system in new patch 9.2 content, as well as in all PvP and dungeons.

"In this scenario, Shards of Domination would still work as before in previous Shadowlands zones, the Maw, the Sanctum of Domination raid, and Torghast," Kaivax writes.

Shards of Domination was not a popular system when it was announced, as it caused many players who wanted to remain competitive to rebuild their costly legendary items so that they didn't conflict with gear slots that could use Shards of Domination. Gear with Domination slots drop from the game's latest raid, the Sanctum of Domination, and players can equip up to five pieces of Domination socket gear. Those pieces can then be equipped with Shards of Domination that grant powerful passive effects.

After just one content patch, it seems like players who rebuilt their legendaries to make room for Domination socket gear or battled to equip their characters with the best Shards of Domination will only be able to apply those items in a select few scenarios.

The fact that the system is already being largely forgotten is yet another example of recent WoW expansions and patches relying on new systems that rarely last. Many of these systems give players what many in the community refer to as "borrowed power", i.e. power that comes not from a player's class or talents, but from temporary systems that, once obsolete, result in player characters feeling less powerful. Examples of this include the Legion expansion's artifact weapon system, Battle for Azeroth's Azerite gear, and, most recently, Shards of Domination.

WoW patch 9.2 does not currently have a release date, but has been undergoing testing on the game's public-test-realm. Patch 9.2 will bring an end to the Jailer's plans and has been described as the final chapter in the Shadowlands saga . When it arrives, it will bring a new zone to explore called Zereth Mortis, the Sepulcher of the First Ones raid, and more.