For the last briefing of Gamescom 2015, it's a big one; World of Warcraft is getting a new expansion. With a roaring crowd and a big stage, we're told of the steps that this briefing will take. It all kicks off with an introduction and a video recapping the events of the last expansion, Warlords of Draenor. After the trailer, the Game Director and VP of Blizzard Tom Chilton steps out to talk about how excited he is to be revealing the new expansion and debuts a trailer that is meant to breach the time gap between Warlords of Draenor and the new expansions, in this we see Gul'dan approaching a crystal with a being (Illidan probably) trapped inside.
Now the trailer that everyone has been waiting for, as we see the reveal for the next expansion. The trailer tells us that the Iron Hordes that we have been facing are merely servents to the true, darker, foe the Burning Legion who has returned once again. This trailer also detailed that the new expansion will be set in The Broken Isles, raise the level cap to 110, introduce new dungeons and raids, upgrade the PvP honor system, introduce artifact weapons, give you class order halls, and let you play as the new Demon Hunter class. This is World of Warcraft: Legion.
The Broken Isles is a land at the heart of Azeroth and is now a graveyard of sorts where you will find the Tomb of Sargeras. This tomb is a gateway to endless legion worlds and is how the legion will come back to launch the biggest demonic invasion of Azeroth (bigger than during War of the Ancients). Aid in the fight against the Burning Legion will come in the form of artifact weapons and the Demon Hunters. The places that you will visit in this expansion include Dalaran, Val'Sharah, Stormheim, Azsuna, Highmountain and Suramar. The two raids will be encountered in Val'Sharah and Suramar.
The Artifact Weapons are 36 special weapons that are tied into the lore of Warcraft and have a relation to each of the different individual specs. You will begin in Legion by seeking out the spec artifact for your character; each of these hunts will lead you to a different location relevant to the history of the weapon you're collecting. All of these weapons act as an extension of your character, and they will grow as you progress through the expansion. The weapons each have their own set of trait trees that you can put points into nodes by spending the artifact power that you gain as you progress. Each of these weapons can also be aesthetically customized so that even while the name of the weapon won't be rare, you can change the look and color to make it your own. For classes where the weapon is based on your changed form, such as the feral druid, the customized look on the weapon will change your forms' look.
The Allience and Horde are too deep in their disputes with one another, so this war needs to be fought by the Class Orders. After collecting your Artifact Weapon, you will become the leader of an Order Hall, a location that only your class can get to. You don't want to be fighting this war alone though, so as well as all of the other class members, there is a new Champion system where you will recruit others to become the knights of your round table.
Some dungeons that are detailed include the Halls of Valor, a sky dungeon based on the Norse legend of Valhalla, and Black Rook Hold, a max level dungeon that takes place in a military Elven stronghold that has been built into a giant rock. To learn more of the Demon Hunters and to search out Illidan, you will also be traveling to the Vault of the Wardens. There were other dungeons that only had their name revealed including Eye of Azshara, Darkheart Thicket, Neltharion's Lair, Helheim, Suramar City, and Violet Hold.
For the Raids, Blizzard was happy with the way that they worked in Warlords of Draenor so they want the raids in Legion to work similarly. The first of the raids will be called Emerald Nightmare and will have you facing 7 bosses, where you head into the now distorted Emerald Dream after Cenarius and eventually face off against Xavius. The second raid will take place in Suramar Palace, the home to the source of Suramar's power, the Nightwell. The second raid will end with your character taking on Gul'dan.
To give more information about the Demon Hunter, we got to see the character creation where you will get unique options, such as the ability to customize horns, tattoos, eye wear and even the skin of your Demon Hunter. The Demon Hunter will start high level so that players don't need to replay through earlier areas to get back to Legion, and their starting world will be the demon prison world. The two specs that will be available are Havoc and Vengeance that will be a DPS and tank respectively, and both have Demon Hunter specific skills, such as the ability to see through walls or having eruptions of Demon Hunter energy. The Demon Hunter will also have the ability to double jump, allowing them to access areas no other class is able to reach.
Lastly, the new PvP honor system will comprise of you ranking yourself up from level 1 to 50, where as you level you will gain perks and talents that you can only use in PvP. Once you hit level 50, you will also be able to reset your honor level and prestige for the purpose of getting cosmetic rewards. Some of these cosmetic awards include a special mount and PvP skins for your artifact weapon that are only unlockable via this method.
With that the Blizzard conference is over, and we know all about World of Warcraft: Legion. Now all that is missing is a launch date, but at least we know to keep an eye out for information on the beta that will be coming out this year. If you were hoping to learn more about the lore behind the weapons and locations then you should watch the stream.
What did you think of the new World of Warcraft Expansion? What parts are you most excited for? Is there something you wish they had announced?
