Pass The Taters

Phil’s been bugging me for a while to write an article for his website, so here I am in all my geeky glory about to bring you an informative preview of the new expansion for the world’s largest MMORPG, World of Warcraft.

 

If you’re not familiar with World of Warcraft, then you don’t play computer games enough to care, or you’re Amish. For those interested though, World of Warcraft (commonly known as WoW) was originally released in November 2004 and has become the most popular and most successful Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game ever. It has set the standard for how these games should be produced, marketed, and run overall. The game involves you and thousands of other players embarking on quests through the fantasy world of Azeroth.

 

Wrath of Lich King opens up a new continent called Northrend located of all places, in the Northern reaches of Azeroth. It is ruled by the evil and powerful Lich King, who was once the prince of Lordaeron, Arthas who through a lust for power, retrieved the demonic sword Frostmourn and eventually became the Lich King. Players will travel to Northrend to eventually face off and defeat Arthas.

 

So far the expansion looks wonderful. While the Burning Crusade expansion added two new races, Wrath of the Lich King is adding the first of the Hero Classes, the Death Knight. Death Knights will be a Tank/DPS hybrid and depending on your talent spec, you’ll focus on one of those roles. You’ll also be able to control your own small army of Ghouls. The class so far looks very powerful and many on the beta forums are concerned that the class is still way overpowered but let’s also remember this is Beta. Warriors were nerfed into nothingness in the WoW Classic beta before release after being extremely over powered so I would expect the same thing to happen to Death Knights sometime before release although not to the degree that Warriors were

 

Players will be able to level to 80, up 10 levels from the current cap of 70. New skills, talents, and abilities are becoming available. The most talked about one is the new Warrior talent Titan’s Grip, which allows a warrior to wield two handed swords, maces, and axes in one hand. A lot of warriors wanted this as it has been a general feeling that the WoW warrior was the spiritual descendant of Diablo 2’s Barbarian class, and now more than ever, it does appear that way.

 

All classes are getting seemingly overpowering abilities though some of been changed or removed all together. Demonologist Warlocks are getting Metamorphosis which changes them into a demon (commonly known as Illidan form). This demon form provides increased abilities and specific spells and attacks. Hunters are getting Camouflage which is basically a limited stealth. Paladins have also seen some major changes as well. Several of the Blessings like Blessing of Protection and Blessing of Freedom have been changed to Hands so they do not remove current blessing buffs. The Judgment system has been revamped. Activate any seal, and all 3 judgments become available. Casting a judgment also does not consume the active Seal..

 

PVP itself is getting a lot of nice additions. The most noticeable of which is the LakeWintersgrasp zone located in Northrend. This entire zone is PVP based. Players will even be able to destroy the other faction’s buildings and outposts with the use of new siege weapons. Players will gain ranks and achievements (another new feature) by competing against the opposite faction. Two new Arenas are being made available as well that include moving obstacles. I can see the LOS QQs already.

 

Another crafting profession in for form of Inscription is being added as well. Using herbs for milling to create inks and dyes, players will be able to create scrolls and glyphs that allow you to enhance your skills and abilities themselves. Some examples of these glyphs are as follows, with the class in parenthesis:

 

(Warrior) Glyph of Thunder Clap – Increases the radius of your Thunder Clap ability by x yards.

(Rogue) Glyph of Blurred Speed – You gain the ability to walk on water while your Sprint ability is active.

(Druid) Glyph of the Red Lynx - You appear as a red lynx in your Cat Form.

 

There are hundreds more, several dozen for each class, and allows for more customization.

 

Some of the old professions are getting some interesting changes. Each of the three gathering skills is getting some new abilities. Skinning will now increase your critical strike rating, mining increases your stamina, and herbalism is providing a Heal over Time ability that you can use. Blacksmithing and Leatherworking will be more viable as a way to make money by providing more items to craft that are worth selling. Engineering is getting more fun tools and items available, including the Hog, WoW’s version of a motorcycle. I can just hear Steppenwolf in my head already.

 

The Barbershop is a new feature that gives you the ability to change your hair and color, facial hair, change piercings and other features of your character. If you wondered if Night Elf males were getting the Mohawk from the Mr. T. WoW commercial, then rejoice as it will be available, though if you’re Horde like me, you shudder at the idea. While there are more new hairstyles and facial hair available, a lot are being recycled from the other races as well. Many of the Blood Elf hair styles are being made available to humans. Some of the undead hairstyles are being made available to the Orcs. Blizzard has essentially mixed and matched many of the existing styles and while I feel that they could have added more new styles as well, that change is still nice perk. You may find yourself mistaking someone you see to be someone in your own faction though.

 

Achievements are another wonderful addition. If you’ve played a little bit of Lord of the Rings Online then you may be familiar with the Deed system where you complete certain tasks and obtain new titles. This new achievement system for WoW is very much similar to LOTRO deed system but much vaster from initial impressions. You gain achievement points from various things as downing specific bosses in dungeons and raids, exploring entire continents, killing a specific number of players, and even getting a shave and a haircut from a barbershop is an achievement

 

Wrath of the Lich King is shaping up to be an awesome addition so far, I just wish I could get a Beta key to get in myself so I can provide more in-depth coverage. What I like most though is the art direction. While Classic WoW and Burning Crusade had more high fantasy, Wrath of the Lich King is showing a much darker and Gothic Fantasy style which I think is a welcome addition.

Props to Blizzard for giving us what appears to be an even better expansion to an awesome game. I’ll be providing more articles regarding WoW in the coming weeks. Blizzard has recently posted that they will be releasing the WOTLK content patch in the coming weeks and I’ll be sure to provide initial reviews once it is released.

Official Site: www.worldofwarcraft.com/wrath

Additional Sources:

www.wotlkwiki.info