It's been the biggest, most recognizable name in PC gaming for almost four years now. With the Wrath of the Lich King expansion next week and 11 million worldwide subscribers, it seems like the World of Warcraft brand is something that can only be strengthened. If you're into PC gaming at all you've more than likely played World of Warcraft at some point, whether only for a few days, months, or years. But just as there are still millions playing, there are plenty that have made their peace with Blizzard's monolithic product and since ducked out.
In case you're curious what the new expansion pack will be adding, we've put together a list of some of the more notable features. Some of these won't be available until the expansion pack servers go live, while some, like the new Inscription profession and achievements system, are already in the live game, added in the recent 3.0.2 patch. If you've been out of the loop for a while, read on for a general overview of things to come when the game ships on November 13.
New Continent: Northrend
There's a brand new continent to explore in Wrath of the Lich King, the frigid realm of Northrend. Also known as %26quot;the roof of the world,%26quot; Northrend is the home of the eponymous Lich King as well as the infamous Scourge. Northrend will provide plenty of high-content between 70 and 80. There are approximately 10 zones in Northrend, one of which (Wintergrasp) is designated for PVP.
Northrend is the new playground.Players start out in either the Borean Tundra or Howling Fjord, then transition into the verdant forests of the Grizzly Hills and desolate wastes of the Dragonblight, a zone filled with, well, dragons. From there it's into the more menacing Icecrown Glacier and Storm Peak. Along the way, in addition to a huge array of new quests, players will also get to tangle with new dungeon and raid content for all sorts of armor, items, and weaponry. So how soon will you be replacing all your gear from Burning Crusade? We'll have to wait and see.
Hero Class: The Death Knight
Wrath of the Lich King will introduce the first hero class to World of Warcraft: the Death Knight. Hero classes are elite, high-level classes that you have to earn; there's no way to create a Death Knight character at level 1 with a new character. Instead, you must have an existing level 55 character or higher in order to create a Death Knight who starts at level 55. Armed with their signature runeswords, Death Knights are essentially front-line tanks, capable of absorbing a lot of damage while also dishing out plenty of hurt in return. Cloaked in dark robes, Death Knights are an ominous sight on the battlefield.
Death Knights rely on a unique resource system that's based on runes rather than mana or rage. They build up runic power as they're in combat, and this lets them use some of their more powerful abilities. They also have access to runes that have different abilities; like skills, these runes have cooldown timers that must reset before they can be used again.
New Profession: Inscription
With The Burning Crusade the new profession was jewelcrafting, and with Wrath of the Lich King comes inscription. Or, to be more accurate, with the 3.0.2 patch comes inscription. Already live in the game, the inscription profession allows for a number of useful tweaks for players. Players can make scrolls, like those that boost agility, intellect, stamina and the like, as well as special ones like a scroll of recall that returns you to Stormwind City. On these particular scrolls there's a warning that they're unpredictable beyond level 40, something we found out first-hand by having a level 70 character use them and winding up in Tanaris.
That's a big bat.The standout feature of inscription are glyphs which can be applied to your character to power up existing abilities. For instance, a Glyph of Rejuvenation can be crafted and applied to a Druid for the effect of healing targets for an additional 50-percent health when targets affected by rejuvenation are below 50-percent health. Applied glyphs aren't permanent; there's a specific glyph interface that pops up that allows for three major and three minor glyphs to be active at any one time. As of right now, only two major glyphs can be active at one time. The third unlocks at level 80, the new level cap with Wrath of the Lich King.