World of Warcraft: Legion! The expansion that has no other weapon drops but your artifact weapon! The expansion that turns Survival Hunters into a melee class and Marksman fight at range with NO PET! The expansion where Warlocks lose Metamorphosis because that is Demon Hunter only! Let’s…jump into this.
Blizzard announced the new expansion at Gamescom. World of Warcraft: Legion. No release date was announced and they expect beta to start later this year. Features of the expansion include:
Main Features
- New Hero Class – Demon Hunter!
- New Continent – The Broken Isles
- Adventure to Level 110
- Artifact Weapons
- Class Order Halls
- New World Bosses
- New Dungeons and Raids
- New Honor System
- Level 100 Character Boost
- A transmog system – collect item appearances and save your favorite outfits without without using up inventory space.
- Ability to create social circles with friends.
New Story
Azeroth faces a demonic invasion bigger than the War of the Ancients. It is the biggest demonic threat to date. Players will go to the Broken Shore and fight Gul’dan and his demonic army at the Tomb of Sargeras. This takes place before the expansion officially starts.
We are going to track down the source of this invasion at the Broken Shore and take the fight directly to Gul’dan and his demonic armies. Our story starts after a battle at the Tomb of Sargeras that takes place before the expansion launches similar to the assault on the Dark Portal for Draenor.
After the Broken Shore event, the player wakes up with the world on fire. We have the save the world! To do that, we need weapons and that is where the artifact weapons come in. Players will receive artifact weapons like Ashbringer and Doomhammer early in the expansion. While completing quests, dungeons, battlegrounds, etc. the player will earn artifact power used to unlock traits on the weapon, giving the weapon a distinct look and make it more powerful (some traits can change your rotation as well). Each class spec has their own unique artifact weapon and their own story on how to obtain their artifact weapon. For example, Frost Death Knights will find the Frostmourne’s shards in Icecrown Citadel to reforge them into a pair of runeblades. Ret. Paladins go to the Broken Shore to retrieve the Ashbringer. There will be NO other weapon drops in Legion.
Back to the story, to help restore peace, there will be Class Orders, and the classes will work together to fight the Burning Legion. Order Halls, shared with other players of the same class, will be the player’s base of operations for the expansion. Order Halls will be located in different areas based on the theme of the class, for example, Paladins will have a hidden templar sanctum under Light’s Hope Chapel. Order Halls are similar to the Death Knight’s area – where the player will customize and upgrade their weapon, do special quests and missions, etc. Instead of followers we will have small elite group of Champions (that will work along with you) who will have more relevance. You can send them on scouting missions or have them discover a new area for you to investigate. If they are sent to a zone, the player will receive a bonus for completing objectives there.
Returning to the story, to defeat the Burning Legion, we need Demon Hunters – the hero new class. They have a unique starting experience and start at a higher level. Demon Hunters wake up in the Vault of Wardens, who are desperate for their help. You will see the story through Illidan’s eyes. Surprise! They get to go back in time 10 years to take part in the events that happen 10 years ago at the Black Temple. As a member of the Illidari, we are sent on a mission by Illidan to the prison world of Mar’duun Sargeras created. Demon Hunters will have a DPS (Havok) and Tank (Vengeance) spec. They didn’t want to create a 3rd spec like healing that didn’t fit or water down a 3rd spec. DHs will have horn, eye wear, tattoos and skin variation customization options. Only the elf classes can be DHs. Metamorphosis will be a DH ability only – Warlocks will lose it. Demon Hunters wear leather and use Daggers, Fist Weapons, One-Handed Axes, One-Handed Maces and One-Handed Swords. A conflicting report had them using Glaives only.
Dungeons
Dungeons will important – I hope this means they won’t be mandatory. They want to ensure there are more dungeons with challenging re-playability. You can see the different dungeons and how they look on the screen. There will only be two raids. The final fight will be with Gul’Dan. I’m not saying more about this now because I hope to bring more information from the Q&A.
PvP
PvP is getting being revamped. They want to resolve the imbalance of gear dependency. The new system is like the talent system. As you earn honor, you move through the 50 ranks. Each rank gives perks and bonuses. PvP will be independent of PvE as the abilities will ONLY work with PvP. For those that earn a lot of honor, you can gain Prestige Ranks by resetting your honor rank and leveling it up again. This gives these players something to do with their honor without giving them more power. Players can also earn a badge for their unit frame and shows the Prestige Rank, special mounts and PvP only artifact variants. They did not mention much else about PvP so if you love PvP…start praying.
My thoughts:
- They said in a separate interview that they do not focus on subscriber numbers.
- Will dungeons be mandatory to unlock traits on the artifact weapon? They keep stressing how essential dungeons are.
- Will weapons feel epic if everyone has one? It’s not the customization of it, it’s the weapon – for many people.
- How can they say “I” lead the class order when other players are there – and I can see them? I get the focus on getting players to play together but what kind on immersion is that?
- Are weapons dropped by heroes or are they wounded so they can’t fight or do they die? With the world in trouble, I can’t imagine Thrall not wanting to fight?
- The Hunter changes are cool – shows a lot of diversity with the classes. The Warlocks losing metamorphosis – it is not a spec I played but I could see players being salty.
- Honestly, I’ll probably use my Garrison as my main hub. I like it.
- Professions are getting more stuff than ever, which is good.
- I’m not feeling the loss of weapon drops. I don’t like being bound to one weapon.
- I might use my Garrison as my main hub. The Order Halls don’t have a bank or AH. I hope I don’t find it tedious to go there JUST to deal with Champion stuff. I hope they have a separate hearthstone with a VERY SHORT cooldown.
There will be a Q&A on the 9th and I will bring more information. What do you think about the expansion? I am not emotional so I’m not hyped nor irked. I’ll see as more information is released. I do not necessarily believe all that was announced will make it into the expansion.
