by JR Cook - 9 years ago     show comments

The sixth expansion for World of Warcraft will be called “LEGION.”

We’ll be providing details here as we get them, with a full write-up to come later.

UPDATES IN PROGRESS

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10:19am PST: and that’s a wrap!

10:18am PST: BETA COMING LATER THIS YEAR.

10:08am PST: Honor System changes

Honor System v1: WoW –> Burning Crusade

The original system had flaws; it was cool for awhile, because when you completed objectives, you’d gain honor, and how much honor you got granted you ranks. The problem was that players could spend a LOT of time to farm honor. Lots of really ridiculous play in order to keep rank. It was too brutal.

Honor System v2: BC –> Warlords of Draenor

It’s a currency system! You get Honor Points, you get Conquest, it made PVP gear a thing, and you could tune gear for PVP content. Worked good, but it’s aged. The result is that gear has too much impact on PVP, where introductory characters face experienced characters who were 80% more powerful.

Honor System v3: Legion –> FOREVER (lul)

It’s a PVP talent system. They’re additional abilities that only work in Battlegrounds and Arenas, giving PVP designers more options for balancing PVP, and as you accumulate honor you’ll unlock new abilities and tiers of abilities.

Examples of abilities (obvs very very early design)

• Abolish Magic is a Disc Priest ability. Replaces Dispel Magic, and dispels all magic every 2 seconds for 6 seconds, 20s cd.
• Blood and Soil: Shaman ability. Bloodlust only has a 45s CD, but only affects you and your friendly target when cast.

Prestige Ranks: If you like the idea of getting cosmetic rewards for PVP, you can reset your honor in order to go up a prestige rank. You’ll be able to unlock portrait badges, mounts, and unique artifact weapon variants.

9:59am PST: Chilton’s second attack, talking about the Demon Hunter class.

Character creation: Demon hunters can sport horns, blindfolds, tattoos, so class-specific character customization, various different looks.

Demon Hunter is a hero class. It’s a similar starting experience to the Death Knight starting experience back in Wrath. The Wardens wake up the Demon Hunters in order to combat the Legion, but this comes after the original mission where Illidan sends the Demon Hunters to Mar’dun. (I guess they get caught by wardens at the end of that?)

Two specs: Havoc (Melee DPS) and Vengeance (Tank). Healing spec didn’t really compute.

Showcasing some the abilities in a video:

• Fel Rush: It’s a movement-based charge.
• Eye Beams: You’re basically Cyclops from X-men for a second.
• Double Jump: Demon Hunters can get over obstacles that no one can get over. It’s a mid-air jump.
• Combat preview video demonstrates that demon hunters are very mobile, more so than many other classes.

9:56am PST: Raid release schedule worked out pretty well, so it seems like they’re going to stick to it.

The Emerald Night is the opening raid. Everyone wants the Dream, now you get your shot. (stream cuts out). 7 Bosses, help Cenarius, stomp Xavius, win loot.

Suramar Palace: The Grand Magistrix of the Nightborn, allied with the legion, home to the Nightwell, center of Suramar’s power. 10 bosses, and we throw down with the Grand Magistrix and Gul’dan. And we get to kill Gul’dan this time. Suramar is going to be super night elf-centric, not HFC 3.0.

9:48am PST: Dungeons and Raids: Dungeons have been short-changed. They want to do more, they want them to be something you do through the expansion.

Halls of Valor: It’s a level-up dungeon in Stormheim. Heavily inspired by Valhalla. You’re contesting the God-King who’s thrown in with the Legion. You must prove yourself worthy in battle and claim the halls. You’re going to get into the history of the val’kyr, and it’s more the purified version of them, not the Scourge-ified versions we’re used to.

Black Rook Hold: Ravencrest’s old crib. It’s a night elf castle like you’ve never seen before.

Vault of the Wardens: This is the Demon Hunter prison that Illidan was kept. And this is where Gul’dan digs out Illidan.

Other dungeons:

• Eye of Azshara: in Aszuna, fight the naga, wonderful glorious name.
• Darkheart Thicket: Heart of the Nightmare corruption in the Emerald Dream, rescue Malfurion from the Nightmare.
• Neltharion’s Lair: In Highmountain, it’s become the center of drogmar society (WTF ARE THE DROGMAR)
• Helheim: wait it’s a boat? (stream cut out)
• Suramar City: The City of Night. The Nightborn live here, and we’re going in to uncover their evil plans.
• Violet Hold: We’re going back, because Dalaran is coming back. And there’s a lot of deep secrets up in this place. We’re awakening some bad stuff in that prison. We’re going to learn more about the origins of Dalaran and the world itself.

9:42am PST: Class Orders. Now it’s classes that band together to fight against the Legion instead of Alliance and Horde throwing down with each. And they look to the player as a leader, since you’re the one who puts together the artifact weapon. There’s a heavy focus on class identity, where paladins and warlords are different from each other, and they’re going to go about it in different ways.

Order Halls are a shared space with other members of the class, similar to how Acherus was a place that only Death Knights could go. Shamans will have a cave next to the Maelstrom, warlocks will have theirs on a Legion portal world, because that’s what warlocks do. The Paladin Order hall is underneath Light’s Hope.

Order Halls will be where you upgrade your artifact, you’ll have class-exclusive quests.

Champions are Followers 2.0: In Draenor you were raising an army, so you picked up everyone you could find. Numbers aren’t going to beat the Legion though. Your Champions (different names for different classes) may be established characters, but they’ll also be more integrated with the world. Instead of champions doing things for you, they’ll enable you to access content, like unlocking quests or providing buffs when you’re questing in particular zones.

9:38am PST:

• Felo’melorn is another weapon (for mages? not sure) that Kael’thas used to wield.
• The Eagle Spear is a legend for the Highmountain tauren, and has different animal-related themes for the different versions, for Survival Hunters. (Wait, hunters are getting melee weapons again?)
• Frost Deathknights get Icebringer/Soulreaper.
• The Doomhammer: Enhancement shamans will get this and pair it with (something)
• Feral Druids: Fangs of the First Nightsaber… wait what? You’ll be able to customize your druid form since you can’t normally see your weapon. (WAIT WHAT)

9:31am PST: Ion Hazzikostas is up to talk about Artifacts and class orders:

Artifacts weapons will be like individualized legendary questchains to quest and craft a powerful weapon, built specifically for your spec. Sounds like it’ll take you all over the world. You’ll also generate artifact power for the weapon, which can be spent to unlock traits, including visual customizations for your weapon. “Choose your path to greatness.” It’s going to involve revisiting new content but also seems to go back to old content as well. (Timewalker content perhaps?)

TL;DR: It’s old-style talent trees for your weapon.

Visual customizations: You can choose variant models, variant color options, and earn these customizations through different kind of gameplay options.

Artists were challenged to go off in different directions about reimagining the fantasy of the sword, so you’ve got fiery Ashbringer, shadowy Ashbringer, shattered Ashbringer, etc.

Mistweaver monk’s weapon will be recreating the staff of Emperor Shaohao, for example.

9:30am PST: One last question, asked often: WHAT ABOUT ALLERIA AND TURALYON? “Their time is here.”

9:29am PST: Suramar: A new race of elves, split off from an old race of elves (like you do). However, they’ve become pawns of the Burning Legion. And they have the last relic that we need. So we’re going to kill EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM. Plus the Legion working with them. Also probably Gul’dan. “I didn’t say it was going to be easy.”

9:28am PST: Highmountain. The Highmountain tauren are protecting the relic of Khazgoroth. (WTF is a drogbar?) The Lair of Neltharion will be found there as well. Nesingwary is up there too because, y’know, big game hunting.

9:27am PST: Azsuna: Race against Queen Azshara through ancient Night Elf territories. (stream cut out again)

9:26am PST: Stormheim: Titan Keepers are at war with each other (?), while learning the origins of the vrykul and the kvaldir.

9:24am PST: Val’sharah is where we’re going to start. It’s where Malfurion learned to druid. We’re going to fight against Xavius, who’s going to try to unleash the Emerald Nightmare into Azeroth, because that’s how Xavius rolls. If we can’t fight back Xavius, we can’t beat the Legion, so we’re going INTO the Emerald Nightmre to dispense justice. Big glimpses into the Emerald Dream while there.

9:22am PST: We’re going to have to work with the Titans in order to defeat the Legion. Find the Pillars of Creation that were used to shape the world, and using them we’ll close the giant gateway in the Tomb of Sargeras.

Khadgar now leads the Kirin Tor, and Dalaran will become the player hub in this expansion by moving to the Broken Isles. (“Can’t say where Jaina went, but she was PISSED OFF when she left.”)

9:19am PST: Creating class orders is part of the process of combating the Legion is a world broken by the invasion.

Demon Hunters are an exciting addition, apparently.

Demon Hunter starting experience will focus on Illidan sending his Illidari demon hunters on a special mission, to a the demonic prison world of Mar’dun, created by Sargeras as a jail for all the demons he caught as a Titan, and then destroyed to create the Legion when he fell from grace.

9:16am PST: The broken isles are a forgotten land at the heard of Azeroth, former night elf civilization. “this continent in it’s entirety is a graveyard of sorts.” On this continent is the Tomb of Sargeras.

“The tomb is an active gateway to endless Legion worlds, thanks to Gul’dan.”

This invasion is greater in scope than the War of the Ancients. “WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO ABOUT IT? WE’RE GONNA FIGHT!”

Broken Shore + Tomb of Sargeras == the pre-expansion event.

9:15am PST: Afrasiabi: I AM NOT CHRIS METZEN

9:13am PST: Alex Afrasiabi and Ion Hazzikostas are up on stage to talk more about the game.

9:09am PST: Announcement trailer in progress: Khadgar is speaking. “The vengeance of the Burning shadow has come.” The Burning Legion is invading

• new continent the broken isles
• level cap to 110
• new dungeons and raids
• new honor system
• artifact weapons ((ASHBRINGER???!!))
• class order halls
• new hero class: demon hunter
• IN-game cinematic of Khadgar speaking to Varian and Anduin.
• “The burning legion has returned”

9:08am: Chilton introduces a connective tissue video that is supposed to link the two expansion’s together. This is definitely a full cinematic, not in-game. It’s Gul’dan, he has a torch, in ruins of some kind. Tomb of Sargeras perhaps? *stream cut out*

9:07am PST: Chilton talks up the excitement in the office about the expansion. No one has guessed what it is.

9:05am PST: Director/VP Tom Chilton on stage now. Not Metzen? End of an era…

9:03am PST: Recap of Warlords of Draenor story, hitting all the major cinematic points…

9:02am PST: Soe Gshcwing-Pensky on the stage to hype the crowd with a teaser.

9:01am PST: Shots of hyped fans in front of the stage at gamescom. Easily hundreds of people in attendance.

9:00am PST: The music loop has dropped!

8:55am PST: Five minutes remain. Some users have noticed that there are some musical cues that are entirely new. It’ll like make sense in… ten minutes.