BlizzCon 2015: Legion Class Halls
by Magistrate - 8 years ago show comments
In our continuing recap of World of Warcraft: Legion at BlizzCon 2015, we look at lead quest designer Craig Amai’s presentation on Class Halls. Also known as Order Halls, Class Halls provide a space for all members of one class of both factions to meet together, to plot out your adventures in the Broken Isles, to upgrade and customize your Artifacts, and much more.
Creating Class Halls
While there were many places that could have made sense to set Class Halls up for each class, the team wanted to focus on spaces that appealed to the largest possible number of players, races, and class fantasies, while being true to the story of Legion.
Amai used the Warrior as an example of how they looked at planning a Hall:
You think of a place like Fray Island for Warriors, it’s a place that’s very significant to Warriors who’ve been around a while as the place where they got their Berserker Stance originally. […] Ultimately, it’s a desert island with some wooden buildings on it, so it doesn’t quite meet the cut for what we’re trying to achieve with Class Halls. We want you to feel more like a Warrior when you’re in that space.
In addition to being a fulfilling, engaging space for each class’s core fantasy, each Class Hall also needs to appeal to the greatest spectrum of fantasies possible in that class. Amai, using the Warrior again as an example, says that the team wants the grizzled war veteran, the knight fighting for right, and the brawn-over-brains fighter to all feel welcomed and relevant in the Warrior Hall.
Finally, each Hall needs to be relevant to the idea that the Orders are coming together to confront the single greatest threat and largest Legion invasion to ever happen on Azeroth. The space and things in that space need to illustrate an extreme dedication to stopping the destruction of the world.
Druids: The Dreamgrove
Amai was only able to fit in one Class Hall preview due to time constraints, so he showed the Druid Hall. Called the Dreamgrove, the space is based in Val’sharah in the Broken Isles, where Druidism was born millennia ago under Cenarius. It’s the place in Azeroth where the veil between the Dream and the world is at its thinnest.
The team had considered Moonglade, as the zone had functionally once worked much like Class Halls will. However, they found that the zone did not include Feral or Guardian Druids (“cats and bears”) very much, nor did it touch on the Emerald Dream extensively, a core part of Druid lore.
On the other hand, the Dreamgrove illustrates the relationship of the world, Druids, and the Emerald Dream, as well as plays heavily into the fantasy of nature, rather than just Night Elves.
Class Hall Features
Each Class Hall will have the same basic features for engaging with Legion content, but also have some unique class content and functionality. Additionally, Class Halls are not meant to replace interaction in cities–Dalaran will work as the usual hub for auction house transactions, mail, banks, and related activities.
First, Class Halls will allow you to interact with your Artifact. This includes changing its model and color scheme, unlock new traits and abilities, and upgrade it. For more on Artifacts, see our recap from earlier today.
All of these Artifact activities will take place on an anvil or altar which varies by Class Hall. For example, Druids have a tree which grows before their eyes and forms a pool of water that the Artifact is set down on to work. For Shamans, the altar is a stone anvil overlooking the Maelstrom, and when the Artifact is set down it’s stricken with lightning.
Second, Class Halls will be where you interact with your Class Champions. Class Champions are fewer in number and greater in impact than Garrison Followers from Warlords of Draenor, as they will:
- Feature questing
- Be present in the larger world
- Have characters and personalities that develop through backstories
- Generally be leaders in important factions
These will not be minions you send off to do your bidding, but they will guide and assist you on your quests in Draenor.
Last, Class Halls will be where you use your Scouting Map. The Scouting Map will help you pick out your adventure through Broken Isles zones, as the leveling zones (minus Suramar, the max-level zone) scale with your level and can be done in any order. For more information on scaling leveling zones, see our recap.
Also, I have no confirmation for this yet, but this seems to be a similar map to the one that points you to World Quests at max level, so they may be the same system or separate ones. For more information on Legion endgame content and World Quests, see our recap.
There may be other baseline features for Class Halls revealed in the future, but for now these seem to be the biggest factors. Next, we’ll look at some cool ideas for class-specific Hall features coming in Legion.
Class-Specific Content and Features
Each class will also have some unique things to do based from their Class Halls. For instance, there may be flavor quests and objectives, like demon hunting and pickpocketing. Additionally, quests in Class Halls will send you out to unlock different appearances for your Artifacts.
Some other interesting ideas:
- Armor stands may be available for you to show off tier sets acquired in raid content.
- Hunters: have a Highmountain lodge with giant eagles that give them access to a secret flight point network
- Druids: have access to paths through the Emerald Dream that let them travel to different “natural locations” around the world
- Warriors: have an arena where they can battle NPCs and other player Warriors for bragging rights
Getting in and out of Class Halls
To get in and out of Class Halls, players will unlock the ability to instantly transport themselves there from anywhere in the world and return from where they left, similar to Death Knight Death Gates. For instance, Hunters will call giant eagles to pick them up and drop them off in their lodge.
That’s it for Class Halls. Stay tuned for a BlizzCon recap of class revamps next!
