Soul Bonds in Shadowlands are unlocked shortly after choosing a Covenant, and you'll need to increase your Fame to take full advantage of them.
Soul Bonds are tied to alliances in Shadowlands, so you won't have access to them until you choose one. If you upgrade an alt through the Sons of Fate, you will also need to reach level 60. Soul Bonds are not unlocked immediately after choosing your Covenant, but after completing a few quests in the first chapter of the campaign. of your Covenant. You will be introduced to Fame first, as much of the Soulbind system is locked behind your Fame Rank.
Once you've completed the first handful of quests (like cultivating 1000 Anima for your Covenant's tank), you'll be given a quest to unlock your first Soul Bond. The quest will have you meet your Soulbind's NPC, and after merging the Spirits, you'll have access to the Soulbind Table (AKA the Forge of Souls). It's the blue diamond on your map in your Covenant Sanctuary.
You will notice one of two things when you open the interface for the first time. First, you need to unlock two more Soulbinds, but these are closed behind the Fame Ranks. Second, there are 8 rows for each Soulbind, but you will only have access to the first two of your starting Soulbind. Additional rows are also locked behind your fame rank. If you're looking to make the most of your Soul Bonds in Shadowlands, you'll want to keep your Fame Rank.
I'll post the Fame rankings for unlocks a bit further below, but let's start by removing a few basic concepts. Each Soulbind has unique preset traits, and in between these are slots for Conduits. Conduits are Soul Binding Traits you collect as Equipment, and they can be found in Dungeons, as World Quest rewards, purchased with Honor from PvP vendors, and elsewhere. They have item levels and their stats will increase with each climb up the ladder. Simply interact with your Forge of Souls to store them and use them in your Soulbind. They are permanently unlocked thereafter, and if you take a conduit from a higher item level, it will replace the lower rank.
Ducts fall into one of three categories, represented by icons on your Soulbind tree. Power conduits are roughly related to your damage, Stamina to your survivability, and Finesse conduits provide additional utility. You can only place a duct in a matching location, and it will cost you 1 duct energy per duct you want to install or swap. Conduit Energy is represented by the blue crystals at the bottom right of the Forge interface, and you have ten to spend. You regain one charge per day on the daily reset, so you'll want to think through your changes before you apply them.
Soulbinds have branches that lead to different predefined traits and conduits, and you can only have one active lane at a time. You can freely change this path in any area where you can exchange talents, so rest areas. All you need to do is bring up your Covenant Sanctum UI via the icon at the bottom left of your minimap and select your Soulbind NPC to bring up the Forge of Souls UI.
Below are the Fame Ranks needed to unlock the various Soulbinds and their Tiers in Shadowlands. Soulbinds and Conduits will be tweaked and balanced during major patches, so if you're not at the cutting edge of progression, you shouldn't overemphasize your choice.
- Reputation 1-2: First Soulbind
- Renown 3 - Row 3
- Renown 7 - Row 4
- Renown 10 - Row 5
- Renown 21 - Row 6
- Renown 25 - Row 7
- Renown 30 - Row 8
- Renamed 5 - Second Soulbind (via completing the Covenant Campaign Chapter unlocked at this rank)
- Renown 9 - Row 4
- Renown 13 - Row 5
- Renown 18 - Row 6
- Renown 28 - Row 7
- Renown 34 - Row 8
- Renamed 22 - Third Soulbind (via completing the final chapter of the Covenant Campaign unlocked at this rank)
- Renown 29 - Row 7
- Renown 31 - Row 8
-
