World of Warcraft: Legion expansion adds new Demon Hunter class
Artifact weapons, The Broken Isles, new level cap of 110, more.
Blizzard has revealed the sixth expansion for World of Warcraft, titled Legion.
Legion is set on the new continent of The Broken Isles, the ruins of a Night Elf civilisation that's comprised of eight new zones. Players will quest through these regions towards a new maximum level cap of 110.
Legion also introduces Artifact weapons to the game. There are 36 such Artifacts to be hunted down - one for each class specialisation in the game. As you begin the expansion, you'll start a personal adventure that sends you on a journey to gain and enhance your Artifact.
You'll also earn something called Artifact Power as you level up through the game, completing major quest lines, beating dungeon bosses, and winning PVP battlegrounds. You can then spend this currency to unlock new traits for your weapon - a bit like a new talent tree. These traits either unlock new powers or enhance existing ones, and you'll be able to change the cosmetic appearance of your weapon as well.
The new Class Order feature puts you in the position of leader of your chosen class. Each class will have its own Order Hall, which represents a base of operations exclusive to that class. Shamans have a conclave overlooking the Maelstrom, for example, while the Paladin Order Hall exists beneath Light's Hope Chapel.
Warlords of Draenor's Follower system is also being updated as part of the Class Order system. Instead of Followers, you'll now have to manage a team of so-called Champions. There'll be fewer to manage this time around, but they'll have a more meaningful role in the world, and have a deeper level of customisation.
Three dungeons were discussed in some details at the reveal event. Halls of Valor is a levelling-up dungeon set above the Stormheim region of the new continent, Black Rook Hold is an ancient elven fortress in the Val'Sharah region, and Vault of the Wardens has a Demon Hunter flavour. The other named dungeons are Eye of Azshara, Darkheart Thicket, Nelfarion's Lair, Helheim, Suramar City and Violet Hold.
A handful of raids were revealed too. The Emerald Nightmare will feature seven bosses and represent a nightmarish version of the Emerald Dream where you pursue Cenarius. Suramar Palace includes 10 bosses, and it's here that you'll face off against Gul'dan.
World of Warcraft is getting a new Demon Hunter Hero class too, positioned similarly to Wrath of the Lich King's Death Knight. The Demon Hunter starts at a higher level and within its own special zone in order to set the scene for the character's arrival in the world.
The Demon Hunter will have two talent specialisations: Havoc, which focuses on DPS, and Vengeance for those who prefer to tank. Some spells and abilities add to the Demon Hunter's Demonic Fury resource system, while others spend the resource. You'll also be able to see through walls and obstacles, and perform mid-air jumps with the character - a first for WOW.
There are changes coming to the game's player-versus-player (PVP) Honor system too. PVP will be less dependant on gear quality in the new expansion, and there'll be PVP talents which you unlock as you gain Honor points in the game. This allows the team to develop PVP independently of other aspects of the game.
Some examples of the new talents include Mind Quickness, which increases Spell Haste, Blood and Soil which reduces the cooldown of the Shaman's Bloodlust spell, and Initiation which increases a character's critical strike chance against targets who are above 80% health.
A new Prestige system allows you to reset your Honor system once you reach the maximum level of 50, and then re-level it again in order to gain new cosmetic rewards for your character: new portraits, mounts and PVP Artifact weapon variants. These weapon looks will only be available through the PVP system.
Finally, you'll be able to use a paid-for option to boost characters to Level 100 so you can get stuck into the new expansion content straight away. A beta for Legion will begin later this year.
