Sup guys, its that time of year again. As usual I post, you call bullshit, its all confirmed at blizzcon. So buckle up.
World of Warcraft: The Dark Below
>covers levels 90 to 100
That would be interesting...a return to a 10 level expansion. Would mean that they are very focused on the late game experience this time around then.
>The primary antagonist’s are Azshara and her naga, N’zoth and his faceless ones and the kvaldir clashing with the zandalari
Azshara and N'zoth I understand. I'm not sure if I would place the Kvaldir/Zandalari on the same ranking as them though. Then again we ALWAYS have to have a troll raid.
>No new character models planned at launch as they are getting sub race options which require more animation time
Sub race options makes sense I suppose...a good example I suppose would be the Dark Iron Dwarves being a true part of the Alliance now.
>Zones will be connected to other locations in the game and can be accessed from above in their lore respective zones, however they can also be accessed by underground tunnels called the “Webway”, ancient aqir carved deep roads that act as deeprun tram style shortcuts to keep everything feeling connected.
That sounds cool! It solves the problem they mention in the Cata Post Mortem where they had the Cata zones all spread out and disconnected. Still makes it all feel like a giant interconnected underground. I could see them learning from that experience and putting this in.
>Locations are split between underwater, underground and island based.
To satisfy the people who hated Vash'jir I imagine.
>no new level of flying, climbing arachnid mounts for underground, some new aquatic mounts including a ship take their place.
Makes sense...we've kind of already pushed the limits of air travel I'm thinking. Aquatic mounts make sense for this kind of expansion anyway. And it gives them more variety in making the mounts.
Zones:
>lvl. 90-92 Azjol-Nerub, The New Kingdom: In the wake of wrath of the lich king the remaining nerubians not cursed to a life of undeath have thrived in a far less predatory environment and the hive city is once again alive with activity. However they have unearthed an artefact related to “The Final Titan” which has lead to the city nation coming under siege from Nzoth’s faceless army. They have sent envoys to both Alliance and Horde to come to the aid. The zone is an underground city complex based off the instances in wrath of the lich king
Makes sense in a way...Azjol Nerub is really one of the best connections we could get to this underground labyrinth. It would be a good way for us to introduce the new setting by going somewhere we're familiar with first. And let's be honest...they've wanted to make that a leveling zone since WotLK. I can see that being legit.
>lvl. 90-92 Kul Tiras: The results of the end of the siege of Orgimmar have lead jaina on a journey of rediscovering what life and family means to her. Using the magical assets of dalaran she has relocated her home island nation just in time to discover the once peaceful port she called home is under siege by naga in unprecedented numbers. Jainas brother has located something called “The heart of neptulon” which both naga and for some reason the forsaken are seeking.
Jaina probably COULD use a vacation. It would be nice to see Kul Tiras finally represented in game. Also...would that mean she moves the island back where it should be? That would be entertaining. Where is Dalaran gonna end up after all
>lvl. 92-94 The Maelstrom: Thanks to the efforts of thrall and the earthen ring, aided by the begrudging earth mother Therazane to heal the wounds caused by Deathwings cataclysm, the once furiously churning Maelstrom has quieted. Both the explorers guild and the reliquary seek to explore the littered ring of uncharted islands around the former engine of chaos and destruction that has left a graveyard of half destroyed galleons littered around the islets that mark its outer edge. Who knows what long lost relics have come to rest on these shores?
Makes sense as well...we know that things are finally calming down out there after all the work that Thrall put forth. Tomb of Sargeras anyone?
>lvl. 93-95 World’s Heart: At the centre of the aqir web way lies the centre of the colossal titan world engine. A massive installation known as the worlds heart. Once left to gather dust and lie forgotten it is now the focus of N’zoths second attempt to reorigionate the entire world in his own image. Fortunately the engine has been under the watch of an unexpected protector, Magni Bronzebeard the Diamond king of the Earthen has awoken ready to call heros to the halls below the Iron Forge to save the Worlds Heart from the old gods.
Magni's back? Oh please let that be true! It does make sense as well...Thrall has noticed that Magni's not quite as dead as we were first led to believe. It would be nice to see a zone that gave the Dwarves some good love as a race instead of just individuals again.
>lvl. 94-96 Ruins of Tel’dranash: Deep below darkshore waits a labyrinthine maze of Kaldorei ruins. Spirits of long dead and long tormented Highborne roam these dead halls where the minions of the old gods seek both the original moonwell “The tear of Elune” and to poison the roots of Teldrassil to fell the great treetop home of the Night Elves. Players are sent to explore the newly discovered entrance to the ruins in Remtravel’s Excavation by both Malfurion Stormrage and Warchief Lor’themar to stop the corruption of Kalimdors forests from the roots – and to make sure the other faction doesn’t obtain any possible long lost Highborne relics of power that may remain in the ruins.
That sounds almost as if Malfurion is back to being an Alliance leader as opposed to a neutral leader. That would be nice. This sounds a bit off to me though. The original moonwell is underground? I can understand the poisoning of Teldrassil though, the Old Gods just LOVE corrupting those big trees.
>lvl 95-97 Gishan Caverns: Taking the fight to the Naga a coalition of Goblins and Gnomes have, when not breaking out into fights over which is the better explosive the use, have excavated a series of caverns from one of the larger islands surrounding the maelstrom into deep volcanic caverns filled with giant creatures. Players will be cut off from their escape and discover why even the Naga fear to tread here.
Sounds more like a dungeon than a zone. However I could see this being an actual place. Blizzard would want to break up the "water" and "underground" themes I'm sure...so a nice volcanic island/zone would make sense.
>lvl 96: The Drowned Reaches: This far below the sea even light may die. Heroes that breach the danger of the Gishan Caverns find an undersea forest of dark coral, luminescent monsters and a midst the ancient Highborne temples and rotten sea vessels the unexpected reveal of the sunken ruins of Zandalar.
Players will finally encounter the Prophet Zul, the avatar of N'zoth who is attempting to turn the imprisoned Zandalari that didn't agree with his zealots into faceless ones for his masters army. A new faction “The Zandalar Court” are interacted with as The dethroned troll king Rastakhan pleads with the heroes of both factions to defeat Zul and restore his people.
Sounds interesting. More trolls though...meh.
>lvl 96-98: Naz'jatar: Capital city of the Naga, seat of Queen Azshara, this ethereal city of lights at the bottom of the ocean has seen better days. The cataclysm rocked the world to its core, the ocean floor did not escape and nor did the city. Players have freed the Kraken from the nagas influence and in their frenzy are crushing the city beneath them.
The naga appear to be on the retreat and the Alliance and Horde move in to end them. Never questioning just what they might be retreating to.
I would imagine that the area looks pretty bad after Deathwing just shot out from the Maelstrom. It's probably looking worse than many places. I do hope we can see some of it's former glory though. We've never seen Naz'jatar in it's full glory. A city at the depths of the sea would be quite a sight.
>lvl 97-99: Nya’lotha, The Dead City: Following the Naga into the rift leads players to a sight that would drive a weaker resolve mad. Neither truly organic or Architecture we see the form of an Old God released. N’zoth does not reside in Ny’alotha, he IS Ny’alotha. An endless city of Madness and Despair twisting and winding in impossible ways in every direction. Players must take down all of N’zoth’s Generals and the remaining Naga before entering the core of N’zoth at the center of the tormented land.
So...N'zoth IS Ny'alotha? That would clarify some of the crazy things that we hear about that place. If that is the case, N'zoth would easily be the largest and most powerful Old God we've faced thus far. Would be a very interesting aesthetic I imagine.
>lvl 100: The Rift of Aln/The Nightmare: Neither part of Azeroth or the Emerald Dream proper, The Rift of Aln is N’zoths pathway into the dream. His attempts to rebuild the world to his liking have failed multiple times in Azeroth. In a last ditch effort he has pushed through the bonds that kept his nightmare echo contained now that the green flight has lost most of its power. If the heros of Azeroth cannot stop N’zoth then he will rewrite the dream and endless darkness will pour from the worlds Emerald portals and drown the lands in eternal shadow.
Oh look...the Emerald Dream finally. It sounds like if this expansion is true, N'zoth is playing all of his cards at once. I'm not sure if that sounds like something he would do though. He's waited all these years putting things in a proper place, would he really just throw it all out at once?
Dungeons:
>Tomb of Sargeras
>Bloodsail Cove
>Mak’ara
>The World Engine
>Zandalar, The Drowned Treasury
>Zandalar, Archive’s of History
>Crypts of the Highborne
>Heroic Blackfathom deeps
>Heroic Azjol Nerub
They all sound legit enough, Azjol would be revisited due to the renewed zone and BFD would make sense in context of The Ruins of Tel'dranash. It's even possible that BFD has an entrance into BFD we weren't aware of our first time. Mak'ara and the Bloodsail Cove are the only ones that strike me as weird or out of place honestly.
Raids:
>The Abyssal Maw
>Palace of the Consort
>The Echoing Darkness
To quote Starcraft 2, "It's about time." I've been waiting for the Abyssal Maw for AGES. (even made a concept for it) I hope they do Neptulon some great justice. Palace of the Consort sounds like it's got Azshara written all over it and the Echoing Darkness just oozes N'zoth. Are these the initial raids or just what we'll see throughout the entire patch cycle?
Scenarios:
>Whispering Woods
>Faceless Invasion (Ironforge)
>Naga Invasion (Silvermoon)
>Too greedily and Too Deep
>A Pirates Wedding Party
>Horns of the Kval’dir
>Blazing Shipyard
>Infiltration
>Tears of Elune
>Battle for Gilneas
>Battle for the Undercity
They mentioned they wanted to do the battles for Gilneas and the Undercity in scenarios before...so that makes sense. The invasions make sense as a possible way of getting our characters interested in the theme of the expansion (ala Scourge Invasion) while not interrupting the flow of regular life for people. A Pirates Wedding Party sounds like nothing but amazing fun times.
Battlegrounds:
>Azshara crater
Yay?
New system: PATH OF THE TITANS
An account wide progression system where all characters on one account earn “Titanic Experience” that increases progression for all characters on the account in the new system. Sharing perks such as mounts at level 10 and +10% honour points in battlegrounds it allows players to enjoy the game on any character without feeling like they are being hindered too much by changing character.
Milestones will also include cosmetic gear, rare cosmetic glyphs and booster packs for Blizzards Hearthstone digital CCG
Oh did we decide to bring this back? Good to know. The milestones sound about right, I figured at some point there would be some Hearthstone crossover. I hope it's a little bit like Rift's Planar Experience.
NO
>new class
>new races
>models at launch
>4th specs across the board
Honestly...I'm glad to hear this. If there is no new class or no new race it means that they are going to focus on all the stuff that happens AFTER the Mists level cap. People can focus on their mains immediately. We don't ALWAYS need a new race or class.