World of Warcraft Dragonflight - New Zones and Features Panel
The Waking Shores
The Waking Shores is wild and untamed land. It is literally waking up around you after thousands of years.
The elements in The Waking Shores are going crazy.
The Waking Shores will feature lava mountains coming in from the beach and proto dragons swooping down to gobble up members of your expedition.
Players will take a boat to the Dragon Isles from their capital city. these boats will float through the Dragon spires and be right next to each other to the point that you can jump between them.
Arriving at the Dragon Isle will be a great opportunity for War Mode, but there is an Innkeeper on the beach if you want to opt out.
The Horde and Alliance Explorer's League/Reliquary are sending a joint expedition to the isles. These are scientists and settlers, not warriors.
The Red Dragonflight will be there to welcome and guide the expedition on the Waking Shores.
The Waking Shores also houses the ancestral home of the Black Dragonflight, which has fallen on tough times since Deathwing's descent into madness. There are a few loyalist draconoids, but this part of the story will delve into the future of the flight if it is just Wrathion.
The Jorudin are half giant-half elementals that are also returning to the Dragon Isles. They are the ancient enemies of the dragons and were slumbering until the Warden called the dragons back.
The Jorudin ride magma mammoths and control lava.
The Red Dragonflight protect life and don't want to destroy the Jorudin, but they also want to make sure they can't affect the expedition.
Ducks are finally being introduced in The Waking Shores.
Ohn'ahran Plains
These are wide open, where the player will be constricted at first until they open up to a cinematic shot.
There is a giant proto dragon in the center and the first thing you do is go help take it down.
Ohn'ahra is the wild god of the wind. She is a spirit eagle that guided the centaur to the Dragon Isles.
We will dive into the history of the Centaurs and their battles with the Green Dragonflight. We make peace between them.
The Centaur control the wide open plains, but the Green dragons control the groves.
The view distance is increased in this zone because you can see so far into the Horizon.
The Azure Span
The Azure Span is the third zone and one of the biggest ever made for WoW.
The zone is heavily inspired by the Grizzly Hills.
There is a heavy coastal fog here too.
The zone breaks open into a wide-open Tundra once you get through the forest.
The Tundra increases in elevation and has a lot of snow and ice.
Knolls will be a big part of this area. There are also snow Knolls.
The Tuskarr will also be heavily involved in this area. There are also female Tuskarr and children.
The Blue dragons will also be involved in this area. We will help Kalecgos explore Sindragosa's archives.
Thaldraszus
Thaldraszus is the fourth zone and the most intact of the group.
A lot of the ruins you see on the Isles will culminate here.
This is the seat of power for all 5 flights.
There are a lot of vertical mountains and caves.
The bronze dragon has a unique area here involving time that will feature unique story hooks and gameplay options.
The main hub of Valdraken will also be featured here. This is a culmination of the dragons' efforts to create a city.
The Blue flight houses a library while the red and green have their own gardens.
This hub will have an auction house.
The city will have a lot of aqueducts and feature the Tyrhold structure.
This is the location where Tyr built a facility after helping the dragons fight Galakrond.
Tyr is gone, but the history will be explored as the dragons return.
The Forbidden Reach
Located off the coast of the Dragon Isles, the Forbidden Reach was fashioned by Neltharion the Earth-Warder to serve as a training ground for his ultimate soldiers, the Dracthyr.
In the aftermath of a terrible battle, the island has lain dormant and abandoned for ages--until the return of an ancient enemy causes the Dracthyr to stir.
World of Warcraft: Dragonflight - Talent System Changes
World of Warcraft: Dragonflight brings some of the largest changes to the talent system since Mists of Pandaria!
The team wanted to give players more choice over what their character has
As you level, you get a new spell or ability that makes you stronger, but that is determined by the designers
There is now a Class tree and a Spec tree
The Class tree offers class utility and the Spec tree offers things that help you to perform your role
Picking a spec is an important part of your World of Warcraft character
The Class tree will have some abilities granted for free to start you off in the spec you've chosen and you'll have a point to spend somewhere else in that tree
The team wants to encourage players to make combinations that they've never been able to see before
This is an opportunity to put a lot more art and fantasy into the Talent UI itself
You'll be able to change talents at the same frequency that you do right now
You'll be able to make your talent build, save it, name it, and load it up again later quickly
World of Warcraft Dragonflight Story Panel
Teron Gregory and Steve Danuser talked about the lore and story for Dragonflight.
The Dragon Isle are the broodlands for all dragonflights.
The Sundering during the War of the Ancients split the land and caused the magic of the Dragon Isles to go dormant, causing the dragons to leave the isles.
The Titan watchers left behind were supposed to call back the dragons if the elemental energy every recovered. In the cinematic, this is why we see the watcher activate the beacon. The dragons are returning to cultivate their homeland.
The expansion will focus on exploring the culture of dragons in Azeroth.
The Dragon Isle have changed quite a bit in the past 10,000 years.
Most of the dragonflights used their powers for good, but the Black Dragonflight became corrupted.
Much of the story will revolve around Wrathion learning to regain the power and respect of his flight. But is he the right leader to take over?
This is an opportunity for the dragons to regain their legacy as protectors, but the players must join them to help with the challenges of the Dragon Isles.
There is an ancient half-giant elemental race prominent on the Isles that are enemies of the dragons.
The Tuskar and their history will feature prominently on the Dragon Isles.
There is a race of Centaur that predate the ones in Eastern Kingdom found on the Dragon Isles/
Before Deathwing was corrupt, he saw these elemental forces breaking from the aspects, and his first experiments combined draconic power with the mortal races to create the Dracthyr.
The main theme of the Dragon Isle is exploration. There will many hidden secrets.
The theme of this expansion is reclaiming legacy and rediscovering who you were before everything went awry.
It is our turn to help the dragons regain their legacy since they helped us so much.
We will explore history that only the dragons know.
Wrath of the Lich King Classic Coming Later This Year
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
The heroes of the Alliance and Horde have fought against the evils in Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms, against the demons of the Burning Legion in Outland, and against each other—unaware that an imminent threat was looming in the vast and icy continent of Northrend.
The Lich King, Arthas Menethil, sits in the ominous Icecrown Citadel scheming to claim the world as his own—a plan that threatens all life on Azeroth. Heroes of the Alliance and Horde must stand against the malevolent being who dares to declare himself the one true king of Azeroth...and seeks to scour all life from the world.
Later this year, you will again get to explore bone-chilling lands, storm Icecrown Citadel, and halt the Lich King’s baleful efforts. Only the most stalwart can challenge the Lich King and end his reign of terror in this rerelease of the 2008 expansion.
Just like it shook up WoW® during its original release, Wrath of the Lich King Classic™ will thrill both veterans and newcomers with a host of improved features and content to explore:
The Grim Frozen North – Heroes will begin their journey in one of two zones in Northrend—Borean Tundra or Howling Fjord—and adventure through some of the most epic vistas and beloved storylines in all of Warcraft before breaching the seat of the Lich King’s power in Icecrown.
The Rise of Death Knights – Available to both factions and starting at level 55, Death Knights—World of Warcraft’s first hero class—harness the powers of darkness to help combat the evil that threatens Azeroth. While Death Knights are limited to one per server and require a level 55 character on that server to create, in Wrath Classic, we will be bypassing that requirement for a player’s first Death Knight.
New Profession—Inscription – This new profession allows players to scribe mystical glyphs that modify the properties of spells and abilities (cooldowns, damage, etc.), and craft powerful trinkets and off-hand items.
Achievements Unlocked – Achievements are coming to WoW Classic, giving players new rewards for their exploits and accomplishments.
Dungeons & Raids – Relive seminal 5-player dungeons like Azjol-Nerub and the Culling of Stratholme, and lay siege to Naxxramas as a 25- or 10-player raid—an update of its original iteration as a 40-player raid in pre-expansion World of Warcraft.
Included With Existing World of Warcraft Subscriptions – As with previous WoW Classic releases, anyone who subscribes to World of Warcraft can also play Wrath of the Lich King Classic at no additional cost.
Additionally, we want to provide a better experience for our new and existing Classic players with the following changes:
Level 70 Boost – The level cap will be increased to 80, and we’re introducing a Level 70 Boost so those who didn’t play Burning Crusade Classic but wish to play Wrath with their friends or explore Northrend can do so right away. This boost will be available one per account and can be used on any class except Death Knights.
No Dungeon Finder – Players rediscovering Wrath of the Lich King Classic won’t find the Looking for Dungeon feature originally added in Patch 3.3.5. We’ve heard from our Classic community that the importance of social bonds is a big part of what makes Classic their game of choice, and we agree.
Personal Arena Rating– Throughout Burning Crusade Classic, our PvP community has made it clear that they’d prefer the flexibility of rating being personal rather than tied to a fixed team, so we will be removing Arena Teams in Wrath Classic.
Barber Shop Improvements – In the years since the Barber Shop was first added in Wrath, World of Warcraft has added additional customization options, including some that originally were only available as paid services. We’re going to incorporate all of those improvements in Wrath Classic rather than reverting to the authentic 2008 behavior.
We’re excited to be able to bring this classic adventure to you, so don’t forget to sign up for the Beta. And, for the latest information and updates, keep checking WorldofWarcraft.com, and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.