World of Warcraft News and Raiding Strategies

Play through the Midnight campaign to earn the trust of a new allied race, the Haranir. You’ll learn about their history along the way and explore the wilds of their home in Harandar.

Quick Facts:

• Home: Harandar, a dangerous fungal jungle aglow with bioluminescence nestled amidst the roots of the World Trees.
• Unlockable Allied Race through the level-up campaign
• Available Factions: Horde or Alliance
• Classes: Druid, Hunter, Mage, Monk, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warlock, or Warrior

Met during The War Within, the haranir story comes to light in Midnight. Serving as ancient guardians of the rootways, they are led by a council of elders. Ferocious, watchful guardians, the haranir keep an ever-present vigil over the wild domains of their long-absent goddess, in hopes that she might one day return. Some haranir choose to break their lingering connection to join the Shul’ka—defenders against horrors within Harandar. A young haranir, known as Orweyna, is one of those with a very strong connection to her goddess, leading her beyond the bounds of her home and against the haranir traditions of seclusion.

Orweyna: A young haranir, Orweyna was first introduced in The War Within. Her race is little known and has remained reclusive deep under the roots of the world trees. She will be pivotal in introducing us to her people, their culture, and what they are about. Despite being young, she answers the call of her goddess to go where she’s led—even if it means incurring the ire of her people.


An unfamiliar people from a forgotten time, Haranir will arrive with a variety of customizations available to them. They can be adorned with bioluminescent paint on their face and bodies in a variety of patterns that can be selected when customizing your character.

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Stay tuned here for more information in the weeks to come!

We’re taking the transmogrification system to a new level with an overhaul to its functionality. Save to gear slots, style multiple outfits, and dress for the moment anywhere your adventures take you in Azeroth.

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Apply Appearances to Gear Slots

We’re making some significant changes to the way the transmog system works. Currently, when you acquire new gear and equip it, you have to transmogrify that gear back to the appearance you had before. With the new system, we’ve changed this so that you can apply and save an appearance to a specific gear slot instead of the gear itself. So, if you have an appearance set for your shoulders, equipping new shoulders won’t overwrite the transmog appearance you previously set. The new gear will simply inherit the look defined for that slot. You’ll still need to pay a gold cost any time you update an outfit to a specific style, but you won’t have to visit a transmog vendor to fix your look whenever you collect and equip new gear, saving you both time and gold when out on your adventures.

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Dress for Every Situation

The updated transmog system also provides an additional opportunity for adding more customization and self-expression. You’ll be able to unlock and save dozens of outfits. Unlocking outfit slots will cost gold, but once they are unlocked, switching between saved outfits is free. Each outfit can be added to your action bar, allowing you to manually update your look any time you want without having to visit a transmog vendor.

You’ll also be able to switch outfits automatically for different situations in the game. Each outfit allows you to define a set of situation options. This means that if you have a particular look you want to wear, whether you’re going to town, diving into a dungeon, changing your specialization, or returning to your home after a long day of adventuring, you can map that outfit to that activity and it will switch automatically.

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As with many of our systems, this is just the beginning, and we plan to build on this foundation in the months—and years—ahead.

In Midnight, we’re adding the Slayer’s Rise battleground, outdoor World PvP objectives in the Voidstorm, and Training Grounds to help you get your PvP legs underneath you.

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Slayer’s Rise Battleground

In Midnight, we’re introducing a major new PvP feature called the Slayer’s Rise battleground. Set in the Voidstorm, it is a 40 vs 40 epic battleground inspired by the large-scale battles that can be found in Alterac Valley and Isle of Conquest battlegrounds.

Setting: There is a conflict afoot between two powerful domanaar warlords fighting for control. Alliance and Horde forces will find themselves thrust in the middle of this conflict and aligned with one of these opposing domanaar.

Players will begin on opposite sides of the map and initially make their way to the middle where a 40 vs 40 brawl will take place over an initial control point that will give the controlling party an early advantage in the map.

Each side will then push down a lane toward the opposing base, destroying defenses and killing key NPCs along the way, in an attempt to ultimately defeat the opposing domanaar. Players will also need to break off to recruit neutral NPC forces to aid their side and help push through their lane. You and your team will need to balance a mix of attacking, defending, and recruiting as you progress through the battleground to claim victory.

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Take Your PvP Outside

The Slayer’s Rise battleground will also have an accessible outdoor section of the Voidstorm zone, setting the stage for some epic world PvP. It is designed with points of conflict throughout and includes locations with PvP vendors and more.

Key Points of Interest:

• Horde Keep: Local Stories, Faction NPCs, and Guards
• Alliance Keep: Local Stories, Faction NPCs, and Guards
• Neutral PvP Hub: Dueling Area, PvP Vendors, Portals to PvP Areas

The area will also have regular World Quests for those who choose not to use War Mode, but greater rewards will be available to those who take part in the world PvP that the area supports.

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Training Grounds

For players new to PvP, you can learn the PvP ropes in the Training Grounds. Expanding and revamping the idea found in Comp Stomp, players will join a battle against smarter game-controlled opponents in Arathi Basin, Silvershard Mines, and Battle for Gilneas. You’ll become more comfortable with how these battlegrounds work and how classes can work within them, gaining confidence and opening the door to more PvP experiences in the game. While players can expect winrates higher than 50%, the game-controlled opponents will not be pushovers. Skill and coordination will be required to achieve victory!

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We look forward to seeing you in the fields of battle!

Build, decorate, and personalize your home in Azeroth with the new Housing feature. Players can earn their own house and plot of land, move into a neighborhood with other players, or establish a neighborhood with their guild. Boundless self-expression awaits you!

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A House for Everyone

Housing is for everyone in Midnight. If you want a house, you can have a house. No exorbitant requirements or high purchase costs, no lotteries, and no onerous upkeep. Your houses are also shared amongst your Warband with your different characters being able to come and go as you see fit (so your Orc character can hang out in your Alliance house without a problem). Housing rewards are also shared across your Warband allowing you to use your décor collection no matter which character earns it. If you have an Alliance character and a Horde character, both will be able to own one house in either the Horde or Alliance Neighborhood zones as well.


It’s not just Warbands that cross factional lines but friendships as well, so you’ll be able to live in or visit your friends’ or guildmates’ houses and their neighborhoods with minimal restrictions regarding faction.

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Embracing Boundless Self-Expression


To help you create the perfect living space, the Housing feature offers a variety of tools for customization with the option to design in either Basic or Advanced Modes. You’ll also be able to collect a variety of home décor, dye select items, resize them, and place them anywhere in your home.

You’ll be able to create a home that reflects your unique style and achievements in Azeroth. Whether you're looking to make the cover of the Gadgetzan Times or design a space that strikes fear into the hearts of your visitors, the Housing feature offers endless possibilities for customization.

The exterior of your home will be customizable as well, using a similar functionality to the in-game barber shop, with four different themed kits initially available: Blood Elf, Night Elf, Orc, and Human theming. Choose different towers, windows, facades, and more. It’s important to note that while your Horde characters can live in your Alliance house and your Alliance characters can live in your Horde house, you won't be able to use opposite faction exteriors in that neighborhood. This means that an Alliance neighborhood will always feature Alliance architecture, and a Horde neighborhood will always feature Horde architecture. Neutral architecture can appear in either neighborhood type.

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Welcome to the Neighborhood

Homes in World of Warcraft are separated into two Neighborhood zones, Founder’s Point (for the Alliance), and Razorwind Shores (for the Horde). Each Neighborhood is made up of roughly 50 plots of the same size, all of which contain a house.

We want players with different preferences for locations to find a plot that’s perfect for them, be they vibe-based or looking for something for a specific character. Some plots are placed far away from everything for the hermits among us, while others are grouped together in small cul-de-sacs of two to three houses perfect for a small group of friends. Other houses are in larger groupings for folks looking for more hustle and bustle.


Similarly, there’s a variety of biomes in each zone, ranging from Founder’s Point’s spooky forests and autumnal farmland to the lush oases and windswept bluffs in Razorwind Shores. In both Neighborhoods, you’ll find a dynamic central hub area full of both NPC activity and Endeavors.

There are two types of Neighborhoods:

• Public Neighborhoods – These are created as needed by the game servers and anyone can buy a house in them. As they fill up, new instances are created, so players looking for a house shouldn’t see a message about all the neighborhoods being full. Public Neighborhoods are run by the game as well, including naming it (with a semi-procedurally generated name), organizing, and keeping the neighborhood running however is needed.
• Private Neighborhoods – These are created and owned by players, either by Guilds as Guild Neighborhoods, or by arbitrary groups of players as Charter Neighborhoods.

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Undertaking Endeavors

Endeavors are a Neighborhood-wide activity open to anyone who lives in the Neighborhood. Endeavors occur approximately once a month and when a new Endeavor becomes available the Neighborhood is provided with the opportunity to learn from various cultures and factions of Azeroth by completing different tasks. Players in Private Neighborhoods can choose from a selection of Endeavors, though occasionally a set Endeavor appears to highlight things happening in the world. In Public Neighborhoods, the game servers are responsible for choosing which Endeavors are active.

Each Endeavor has a group of tasks that are collectively completed by the Neighborhood. As tasks are completed, more NPCs from that area show up, making various themed decorations available to the neighborhood inhabitants (or even to visiting players from other Neighborhoods), and the Neighborhood changes visually to be decorated in that faction’s fashion. The number of tasks required scales with Neighborhood size, so a 50-player Neighborhood will have to complete more tasks than a 10-player Neighborhood. Similarly, if a Neighborhood is less active, future Endeavors for that Neighborhood will also scale their requirements down to accommodate.


Complete themed Endeavors in your Neighborhoods, adding a unique touch to your home.

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A Very Rewarding Experience

Players can earn rewards through a variety of sources, whether you’re buying from someone on the Auction House, you’ve completed achievements such as defeating Onyxia in her lair, making something using a profession, or just through adventuring; you’ll have plenty of ways to add to your collection.

Decor should come from everywhere and everything! We want you to find decor rewards in all sorts of gameplay, not just a single avenue. For example, while a specific jade-inlaid bookshelf might come from a particular quest in Pandaria, other bookshelves could come from vendors, professions, or other varied forms of content.

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Open House: Take the Housing Tour

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Go Deeper into the design in our previously published development articles:

• Building in Azeroth: A First Look at Housing
• Azeroth Beautiful: A look at Housing Interior Design
• Azeroth Living: A Look at Housing Rewards
• WoW Housing: It’s Only Neighborly

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Begin your journey with the 11.2.7 content update. Players with Midnight will gain early access to Housing, and all players will be able to begin collecting an assortment of starting décor items to prepare for the release of Midnight.

We’ll put out the "Welcome" mat for you!