World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
- October 29, 2005 11:12 AM PST
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More details emerge for the company's feverishly popular MMORPG.
Blizzard has officially unveiled details about the first expansion to World of Warcraft, called World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. With the introduction of the new Blood Elf Horde race, expect faction ratios to finally balance out--and lots more guys playing bouncy female alts.
For the Horde!
The new Blood Elf race is based in a new region of Quel'Thalas with areas for level 1-10 and 11-20 characters. Although originally the noble High Elves, the Blood Elves became corrupt in their insatiable hunger for arcane power. This is reflected in their racial attributes, which gives the race two exclusive abilities: Mana Tap and Arcane Torrent. Mana Tap (20 yard range, 10 second cooldown) is a stackable ability similar to Rogue's combo points that drains 50 mana from the target, which is then converted into arcane energy. Stackable three times, the power then can be unleashed with Arcane Torrent (8 yard range, 2 minute cooldown), which converts the energy into 5 Rage per "combo point," or 140 mana per point. The known class choices so far for Blood Elves are Warriors, Warlocks, Mages and Priests. Will there be Blood Elf Rogues that can convert mana into energy? Blizzard has yet to finalize the class choices, so that remains to be seen.
Using the two abilities in the new and vibrant Sunwell region, it does indeed feel a bit overpowered. But don't cry "imba!" just yet--according to producer Shane Dibiri, the playable demo was meant to highlight the ability, and will be toned down as needed. Balancing tweaks aside, the Blood Elves are an awesome addition to World of Warcraft that WoW addicts wouldn't want to miss out on. Why Blood Elves for Horde? "We really wanted an attractive race on Horde," Associate Designer Jeff Kaplan straightforwardly admits.
Itemize This
How else will the World of Warcraft, as you know it, change? Not only will the level cap increase to 70, but Blizzard will also add new talents to the talent trees, potentially meaning there will be an uber 41-point talent ability. Although no hero classes or new classes will be introduced, Blizzard promises to add new spells--not only to levels 60 and up, but starting from the 40s. "Currently we're not planning any new classes," says Kaplan. The company is focused to, "Develop existing classes post-40." In short, expect raid strategies to change--Kaplan says there will be "new gameplay mechanics for every class."
With the increased level cap, expect harder and grander instances--eventually leading to Illidan in the Black Temple and Medivh's Tower. The post-60 content will be centered in the murky Outlands continent, accessible through the Dark Portal. In addition, there will be quests in the level 50s range that will allow those who don't live in Molten Core and Blackwing Lair to gear up for new content. And for the casual audience, producer Dibiri promises, "Lowering raid caps a lot more," with more 10 to 20-man raids. Does this mean trivialized MC gear? Possibly, but the hardcore playerbase will likely forget MC when seeing new level 70 epic and legendary gear. According to Dibiri, there will be, "More opportunities [for current raid gear] to those who weren't [uber], but also, possibly re-itemizing them." It's probably safe to say that we won't have all 60s running around with Sulfuras then.
Confirming earlier leaks, the new Outlands will open up the option for flyable epic mounts, which unfortunately, are only usable in that area. And while the company has been vague on the topic of cross-factional quests, there will likely be similar Outland events to those of the Ahn'Qiraj of Silithus. Smaller upgrades include added weather effects of rain, snow and sandstorms, and linked Auction Houses in every major city.
For the lore-obsessed, there will be new Caverns of Time instances that allow players to participate in famous Warcraft moments. Venture to Hillsbrad before the Scourge devastation, or see young Thrall as a rising figurehead amongst the Orcs. There are four currently being planned, but it can be expanded--and given how awesome the idea sounds, there probably will be more down the line.
"LF Jeweler PST"
With the expansion, Blizzard will also be introducing a new profession: Jewelcrafting. Similar to enchanting, Jewelcrafters can give bonuses to items by placing special gems into sockets. Will only certain items have sockets? "Initially we're trying the Diablo approach where certain items come with sockets," says Rob Pardo, Lead Designer of World of Warcraft. Will the socket buffs be interchangeable? Nothing seems set in stone (no pun intended) as of yet.
On the immediate horizon, there are the new Silithus instances for patch 1.9, which were hard to judge due to the difficulty of organizing raids on the show floor. And no--Blizzard has yet to reveal changes for the Paladin class. In addition, Blizzard is planning future updates to have Auction Houses in every major city.
Will the expansion be worth it when it comes out "sometime in 2006"? Even if you do hold out, the sight of Blood Elves doing spinning jumps with new epic gear in Orgrimmar, should sell you to dish out the extra bucks.
Finally, a Horde race that's easy on the eyes.
