While everyone else may be clambering on about how 2016 has been such a rough year, any World of Warcraft fan has been counting down the days to finally give reason for the year to press on – A new expansion to close Warlords of Draenor and put that once loved, then loathed Garrison system behind us. Legion is that expansion, and it’s live right now.
But what do you need to know going into the Broken Isles to face the threat we couldn’t prevent over the last few years? Patch 7.0 brings the usual spoonful of changes to the live servers essentially rendering the game anew; at least for those who mastered their trade in the past. Combat is simplified yet again, there’s Demon Hunters setting the world on fire and we’re venturing back to Azeroth to traipse around a new continent and mourn the loss of a few key figures. As usual, we’re putting the war with the Horde behind us and banding together for the greater good; much to Jaina Proudmoore’s disapproval. The Burning Legion returns and Illidan and the Illidari are here to witness it.
Let’s get the harsh part out of the way first. Remember how Blizzard opted to have players take in the sights and sounds of their newly built world rather than fly over it and skip all the quest text in Warlords? Yeah, well they’re doing that again. You won’t be able to fly through the Broken Isles in the launch patch at all. The previous expansion’s eventual promise of exploring the world by foot before being allowed to glide over it has changed to simply being able to traverse it on your mountain goat at a slightly increased speed. Flying will happen eventually… but we don’t know when.
Now, aside from the obvious level cap increase to 110, one of the expansion’s biggest changes comes in the form of how we’ll gear up throughout the next 1-2 years. While we’ll still be increasing our average item level gradually through questing, dungeons, raids and PvP, our weapons will stay relatively the same throughout that entire journey thanks to the Artifact weapon system.
Rather than swapping out weapons every few levels or replacing our arms with each new content update, we’ll complete a story-specific quest-line cantered around our class’ chosen specialization and gradually work toward adding to its power as we complete our usual grinds. Famous weapons like Doomhammer, Ashrbringer and even the fragments of Frostmourne will be attainable to siphon and fuse back into a weapon consistently fit for the task at hand. And you won’t be stuck looking like every other Fury Warrior, either; the artifact weapons can be transmogrified like any other, or purely tinted for a hint of individuality. Shape-shifted druids will have their forms altered to reflect their concealed weapons.
You’ll be upgraded these weapons through your class specific ‘Order Hall’. In a more war-centric fashion, the Legion expansion puts a heavier focus on individual classes as their own unique being. Much like how an army platoon would be strategically pieced together to work with and compliment the strengths and weaknesses of its troops, the Horde and Alliance have opted for a similar system; meaning your character and its role will feel more like an integral part of the bigger picture of the expansion’s plot-line. Make sure to familiarize yourself with your Order Hall, meet up with famous faces sharing your combat choices and send them and their lesser troops out on errands much like the Garrisons of the last expansion. You’ll be coming back here for multiple reasons over the next few years.
Decided on your main class? Here's all the Order Hall locations you'll need!
- Death Knight: Acherus
- Demon Hunter: The Fel Hammer -- Mardum
- Druid: Dreamgrove -- Val'sharah
- Hunter: Trueshot Lodge -- Highmountain
- Mage: Hall of the Guardians -- Dalaran
- Monk: Hall of the Seasons -- Wandering Isle
- Paladin: Sanctum of Light -- Light's Hope Chapel
- Priest: Netherlight Temple -- Accessed solely through Order Hall Teleportation
- Rogue: Hall of Shadows -- Underbelly
- Shaman: The Heart of Azeroth -- Maelstrom
- Warlock: Dreadscar Rift -- Accessed solely through Order Hall Teleportation
- Warrior: Halls of Valor -- Stormheim
Bear in mind, Legion comes with its fair share of class tweaks and changes. Many skills have been reworked or removed to lower the overall difficulty curve of the game’s once ever-growing list of attacks and cooldowns from growing level caps, so be sure to rethink your class specification, talent trees and rotation – it’s likely changed a little.
Anyone using the included Level 100 boost service will be dropped onto their faction’s ship on-route to the initial Broken Shore opening scenario and shown the ropes before the Legion decides to swoop in. If you’ve chosen to re-roll as a Demon Hunter, you’ll go through a separate story scenario as you break out of captivity, choose your faction and use your spooky eyeballs to ruin the days of some more Legion foot-soldiers.
Leveling in Legion
Now, unless you've opted to roll the new Demon Hunter class (or went to town on the pre-expansion invasion event) you're likely already at the previous level cap and ready to roll through Broken Isles. But where do you start? Well... anywhere you want! Arguably one of the best tweaks to the usual leveling meta comes in the form of a more fluid questing experience. We're not all locked to starting and ending our time in the Broken Isles in the same place; so don't think launch day leveling will be all about the multi-mob tagging for the kill claims.
People should be a little more spread out this time around as we're not under the strict rules of the leveling zones of old. Each of the Broken Isles' 4 main zones level sync to match your own -- so don't worry about friends outpacing you or seeing the marvels of the new world before you. Just take your time, pick your favourite scenic locations and get to work. Just make sure to grab your artifact weapon before heading out into the field.
Many of the Legion zones will feel like a throwback to past expansions in a few ways. The Vrykul from Wrath of the Lich King return, the Naga are still slithering around and we're finally given the Emerald Dream we've anticipated for over a decade -- sort of. Pick your poison;
Initial Zones
- Dalaran: Likely your first point of call, you'll see this place more and more until it likely becomes the hub city it was back in Wrath of the Lich King. Remember Violet Hold? We'll be back in there soon.
- Broken Shore: Every broken isle needs its broken shore! A certain famous landmark sits here. You'll know it when you see it. This is where the expansion kicks off. </ul>
- Stormheim: Remember how Northrend had a heavy Norse mythology feel to it in places? Well it's happening again. The winged Vrykul return and bring the Howling Fjord back with them. A welcome sight to see.
- Val'Sharah: We expected the Emerald Dream to span its own expansion some time or another. A corrupt version of Azeroth's pure vision, the Emerald Nightmare, acts as our newest raid scenario. You'll find it here.
- Highmountain: Everyone's favourite world-cracking dragon used to chill here. Deathwing might be a little dead right now, but his former home still looks like a deadly drake's bedroom.
- Azsuna: The Naga did a number on the Night Elves here. You know what to do.
- Suramar: This one technically doesn't sync to your level. They have to leave the best for last, no? Guess what's about to go down here...
- Darkheart Thicket; Somewhere beneth the World Tree, a few druids are having a hard time keeping the Nightmare Lord at bay. You don’t want this lush forest to get any darker, do you?
- Eye of Azshara; We’ve never really seen eye-to-eye with the Naga. They’re trying to summon Azshara’s Wrath on a stormy night over the seas. Please don’t, okay? Too late? Fine.
- Halls of Valor: The Vrykul may have found their holy land and their ‘God King’, but you’re always up for a fight. Time to slap them around a little again!
- Neltharion’s Lair: The crazed Drogbar have decided the former home of Deathwing would be a great place for a new city. They’re getting strong, and we don’t like that.
Leveling Zones;
Come back later;
Whichever route you decide to take, by the time you reach level 102 you'll have the opportunity to switch specializations and begin working on its own version of the artifact weapon; in case your current or old main choice in combat class doesn't quite keep your attention anymore.
Dungeons and Raids
Even the typical dungeon situation follows the fancy new leveling mechanic. So long as you hit the pre-requisite item level, you’re good to push through each zone’s fancy new instanced scenario. While 10 dungeons are available at launch, only 4 of these are available prior to the level cap. While you can delve right in after attaining the average item level requirement, you’ll nab a few extra rewards if you go in after clearing all the story missions associated with its zone.Leveling Dungeons
Each of these dungeons require the same, simple 680 item level average. A point you likely reached during the pre-launch Invasion events; otherwise a goal easy achieved through the early leveling process.
Press on and you’ll get there. They’re all still accessed through the ‘Dungeons and Raids’ tab in-game. We’re not quite back to the early days of having to huddle around the summoning stone, I’m afraid.
PvP in Legion
For those who focus their time making sure the Horde and Alliance properly duke it out, PvP is seeing major changes in Legion. Seasons will be much more frequent with rewards being dished out to the player-base as a whole, rather than those of specific factions to entice more brawlers to stick to their preferred side rather than following the top-tier herd.
Furthermore, the act of buying PvP-specific gear with separately acquired currency has been tossed aside in favor of a separate EXP system unlocking specialize PvP-only talents similar to how PvE leveling works. Gear will now also make little difference in bouts based on the character's average gear level. A character with a 25 point average over one enemy will only have a 2.5% stat difference between them, leaving the battlefield more open to skill rather than time spent gearing.
Of course, players who've reached the max PvP level of 50 will have 5 extra talents to use against a newcomer, but they can opt to reset that in a 'Prestige' system similar to most multiplayer shooters these days choosing to swap out their earned talents for new cosmetic items to show their worth.
Oh. And there's also 2 new arena maps, of course.
Non PvE
If crafting is more your thing, you'll likely find Legion to be a breath of fresh air. At least until the first raid launches your wares should sell like hotcakes as people won't have many other options when it comes to grabbing best-in-slot gear.
Blood of Sargeras will be used in near enough every high-level craft and can be a little hard to come by, whereas you'll be using it to not only craft players new gear, but craft more to destroy and, in turn, use to upgrade already crafted goods.
Things are shaken up a little, though, with recipes being attained through their own lengthy quest lines to compliment the idea of each player's role becoming a more vital aspect of the unraveling story of the expansion this time around. It’s advised to pick one crafting and gathering class to specialize in – at least during the early days.
Grab all those sub-trades too; the Diablo-esque World Events will keep your errands varied and interesting.
Closing Words
For the most part there isn’t too much to wrap your head around this time around. The stat squish of Warlords hasn’t occurred again, yet the average item level is still climbing with our own. Questing is a less linear experience, and there’s typically more reasons for you to take it slow and deviate off the beaten path a little with crafting and gathering goals.
So long as you familiarize yourself with your new talents, you should be good to go – especially if you spend the last few weeks before launch gearing up to 700+ ilvl through the myriad of Legion Invasions. If you’re feeling a little overwhelmed by ability culling, it might be wise to dip heavily into the many passive abilities offered through the talent tree rather than go heavy on the attacks and cooldowns for the time being.
Just make sure to keep on top of your Artifact upgrades and make the most of every opportunity to grab more relics to pump into it. It’s a lengthy step, so it’s best to keep progress smooth and consistent as you go about your adventures.
Mix things up a little by moving onto the next leveling zone once you’ve taken in the story missions. You’ll unlock each zone’s bonus dungeon loot and stop yourself from being burned out by the surrounding landscapes. You can always come back for side-quests later.
Good luck on your climb to Level 110. We’ll see you in the first wing of The Emerald Nightmare soon enough.
