The new World of Warcraft expansion has been announced (last Friday) and by golly gee wiz was it amazing!
Legion
The Tomb of Sargeras has been reopened, and the demons of the Burning Legion pour nto our world. Their full, terrifying might be fixed on summoning the Dark Titan to Azeroth - and they've already located the key to his return.
With the Alliance and Horde devastated, only you can take up Warcraft's most legendary artifacts, scour the ancient Broken Isles for relics of the Titans, and challenge the Legion before Azeroth's last hope die.
Steel yourself, champion. Extinction is imminent.
A giant invasion of demons heading our way into Azoroth, and we're seeking help in one direction....
Demon Hunters
Blood Elves and Night Elves only. And boy do they look freaking intimidating. Choose what kinds of tattoos you want them to wear. Horns or no horns. You can also choose whether you want the typical Illidan bandana or go with something else.
Their abilities are:
Spectral Sight
The Demon Hunters' apparent blindness belies their true powers of perception. They rely on magically augmented sight to detect enemies, even those that hide behind obstacles.
Melee Damage
The chaotic energy that flows within Demon Hunters empowers their physical and magical strikes to devastating effect.
Unrivaled Mobility
Demon Hunters can double jump vault in and out of combat, and even unfold their monstrous wings to perform gliding descents and surprise enemies from above.
Metamorphosis
Demon Hunters transform into hellish forms, enhancing their chose role; damage-focused Illidari can teleport into combat, while those who prize defense can grant powerful supportive Auras.
What else about them?
* There are many different horn styles to choose from, along with the option to have no horns.
* Demon Hunters can also have tattoos, which will be shown off with the Demon Hunter class specific armor.
* There are different skin variations. Some are scaly and demonic and some are more normal.
* There are different types of eyewear as well. The Illidan style, a veil, or other blindfolds are available.
* Demon Hunters are a Hero Class, meaning the have a unique starting experience, similar to what Death Knights got. They will also start at a very high level, allowing you to immediately flow into the Legion content.
* The Demon Hunter is awoken in the Vault of the Wardens. The Wardens are desperate for their help when the Legion invades.
* Before you do that, you will get to take part in the events that take place ten years back in the time at the Black Temple. You, as a member of the Illidari, are sent off by Illidan on a cruical mission to the world of Mar'duun.
* Demon Hunters only have two specs, as a healer didn't make sense and another DPS spec would water down the identity of the class.
* Havok is the DPS spec, and Vengeance is the Tank Spec.
* Double Jump allows you to get over obstacles that other classes cannot!
* Demon Hunters transform into hellish forms, enhancing their chose role: damage-focused Illidari can teleport into combat, while those who prize defense can grant powerful supportive Auras.
* Demon Hunters can double jump, vault in and out of combat, and even unfold their monstrous wings to perform gliding descents and surprise enemies from above.
* Only Night Elves and Blood Elves can be a Demon Hunter.
Artifacts
Maw of the Damaned
Death Knight Two-Handed Axe
For eons, the demon known as Gorelix the Fleshripper used this massive axe to steal the life force of his enemies and replenish his own. The Maw will bleed dry anything it touches - eating is all it knows.
Ebonchill, Greatstaff of Aldoi
Mage Staff
The staff of the first Guardian of Tirisfal exudes unnatural iciness, allowing its wielder to keep a cold, sharp, and collected mind even in the face of overwhelming odds.
Sheilun, Staff of the Mists
Monk Staff
This legendary staff was used by the last emperor of Pandaria to shroud his homeland in mist, and it resonates with his everlasting legacy of wisdom and perseverance.
Thas'Dorah, Legacy of the Windrunners
Hunter Bow
Legend has it that this elven family heirloom - once wielded by an infamous Ranger-General- can turn a mediocre archer into a master marksman... and make a master truly peerless.
Ashbringer
Paladin Two-Handed Sword
It is said that this sword, forged by Magni Bronzebeard, bestows the glory of the Light upon its wielder, empowering them to render enemies into ash.
The Broken Isles
Brave the epicenter of the demon invasion-the Broken Isles, a land rich with ancient wonders. Explore lush forests, colossal mountain rangers, and night elven cities older than human civilization. But native dangers lurk here too: twisted satyrs, savage drogbar, and cursed Kvaldir prowl the Isles alongside the Legion's marauding army. To overcome these threats, you will claim an Order Hall unique to your character class and lead your followers on a hunt for the Pillars of Creation- the secret to Azeroth's salvation.
Heroes and Villians
Maiev Shadowsong
If the Watchers are infamous among the night elves, Maiev Shadowsong is a legend. Famed for her uncanny ability to capture any enemy, Maiev tracked Illidan Stormage, the Betrayer, all the way to the Black Temple in Outland. After his demise, she imprisoned his surviving followers, the Illidari, vowing never to allow the fel-touched demon hunters to roam free ever again.
Xavius
Xavius once terrorized Azeroth with an affliction that almost obliterated the walls between relaity and dream. His machinations ended in defeat, but he has been given another chance at vengeance. Now, Xavius leads the conquest of Val'sharah, where the tainted World Tree Shaladrassil spreads the Emerald Nightmare's corruption. With an army of vile satyrs at his command, Xavius will stop at nothing to vanquish all who oppose the Burning Legion.
Anduin Wrynn
Heir to the throne of Stormwind, Anduin is wise beyond his years. Time and again, he was used diplomacy to end conflict, inspiring even his warrior father to lay down arms in puruit of peace. But his diplomacy has its limits, and some villains can't be reasoned with. As the Burning Legion threatens to annihilate Azeroth, Anduin will lean the true cost of peace... and whether he's willing to pay it.
Tidemistress Athissa
Queen Azshara, former leader of the ancient night elves, rules the naga with supreme authority. Her servants are many, but few can match the fanatical devotion of Athissa. At her queen's command, she is poised to lead a massive naga army into Azsuna, a region rumored to hold a long-lost titan relic of power. Nothing will stand between Athissa and this prize-not the cursed night elf spirits who haunt the land nor the Horde and Alliance forces that are gathering on the Broke Isles.
Gen Greymane
In recent years, the grizzled rule of Gilneas has suffered many hardships: his son and his nation fell to the Banshee Queen Sylvanas and her Forsaken, and he nearly lost his humanity to the worgen curse. Yet from these tragedies, Genn has found new strength and courage. His is determined to fight tooth and claw against any enemy that threatens the safety of the Alliance.
Dargrul the Underking
For centuries, the tauren and the drogbar tribes of Hightmountain lived in peace. But soon after the Legion's arrival, a drogbar leader named Dargurl the Underking destroyed their unity and stole the Hammer of Khaz'goroth, a powerful artifact protected by the Hightmountain tauren. Using the terrible power of the Hammer, the Underking intends to take control of the Highmountain.
Khadgar
thought he was unable to stop Gul'dan from opening the Tomb of Sargeras, allowing the Legion to flood into Azeroth once more, Khadgar is determined to find the means to reseal the portal and foil the Legion's invasion. He knows that the combined forces of the greatest champions of Azeroth are necessary to suvveed, even as dissenting voices speak against the coalition and risk ultimate destruction by the demons.
Gul'Dan
Gul'dan owes allegiance to no one save his Burning Legion masters. On Draenor, the power-hungry orc warlock nearly had his entire race enslaved to demons. Though his plans failed, Gul'dan survived. Under the Legion's command, he was banished to Azeroth to open a gateway for a monstrous invasion force unlike anything the Horde and the Alliance have ever faced.
Sylvanas Windrunner
The Forsaken's ruthless leader is a formidable champion of her people. But with the Burning Legion's invasion, the stakes for the Dark Lady have never been higher. Should Sylvanas perish, her demise will be the beginning of her eternal damnation. All that stand between her and this doom are her Val'kyr, yet a few of these spirit guardians remain. As her fate edges closer to the abyss, Sylvanas must decided how far she'll go to protect her people... and whether they're more precious to her than her soul.
Illidan Stormrage
After the fall of the Black Temple, the corpse of the lord of Outland, Illidan Stormrage, disappeared. No one knows the true fate of Illidan's remains, but legend holds that Warden Maiev Shadowsong took his broken body to the Vault of the Wardens so that Illidan's dark, lingering soul could suffer the rest of his eternal sentence-along with his followers, the feared Illidari. Justice to be forever served...
And now, MMO Champion notes!
Main Features:
* New Hero Class - Demon Hunter!
* New Continent - Broken Isles (No word yet on where it is placed)
* Artifact Weapons
* Class Order Halls
* Adventure to Level 110
* New Dungeons and Raids
* New Honor System
* Level 100 Character Boost
* New World Bosses
* Improved Transmogrification System, allowing you to collect item appearances and save your favorite outfits without sacrificing precious bag space
* Improved support for in-game communities: Create social circles with friends that have shared interests, and form the perfect group to play your way.
Story
* The Legion CGI cinematic is coming soon
* The Broken Isles is a land at the heart of Azeroth that is long forgotten. 10,000 years ago, before the Great Sundering, the whole area was a vast Night Elf civilization. What remains after the world was destroyed is the bones of that civilization. The entire continent is a graveyard of sorts.
* The Broken Isles has the Tomb of Sargeras, a gateway to endless Legion worlds.
* A demonic invasion bigger than the War of the Ancients is currently underway. It is the biggest demonic invasion of Azeroth ever.
* We are going to track down the source of this invasion at the Broken Shore and take the fight directly to Gul'dan and his demonic armies. After a glorious battle at the Tomb of Sargeras our story will begin. This will all take place before the expansion officially launches.
* The Broken Shore experience is like the Assault on the Dark Portal for Warlords, but structured completely differently to help tell the story better. Every single person that has played World of Warcraft is going to be surprised and shocked.
* After the Broken Shore, we wake up to a world on fire and need to save the world.
* We will wield Artifact weapons such as Ashbringer and Doomhammer to attempt to restore peace to a world on the brink of annihilation.
* To help restore peace, we are going to form Class Orders, or renew old ones, such as the Silver Hand.
* We are going to need all of the help we can get to fight the Burning Legion, so Demon Hunters are key.
* We will see the story of the Illidari through Illidna's eyes. We will go back to the moment during the siege of the Black Temple where we see Illidan send the Illidari back on a special mission.
* We see the prison world of Mar'duun. This is the world Sargeras created when he was a good Titan to hold of the demons that he captured When he went bad this is the world he shattered to release the Burning Legion.
* We also go through the secret halls of the Vault of the Wardens.
* We search the Broken Isles for the Pillars of Creation. These are Titan relics that were sused to shape the world when it was young. Using them we can close the gateway in the Tomb of Sargeras.
* Alleria and Turalyon will finally make an appearance.
Zones
* Dalaran and the Kirin Tor will be joining us in the Broken Isles, becoming the main hub for this expansion.
* Val'Sharah was once the pinnacle of druidism on Azeroth, but it is now a forgotten druid refuge on the Broken Isles. This is the place Malfurion became the first Druid under Cenarius. Here we face Xavius, the Nightmare Lord and his massive Satyr army. They are trying to unleash the Emerald Nightmare into our world. We will meet up with Ysera to help fight back the Nightmare. We will also enter Black Rook Hold.
* We are going into the Emerald Nightmare, where will get glimpses into the Emerald Dream.
* Stormheim has the Vrykul that left Northrend thousands of years ago in search of their holy land. We will discover the Halls of Valor and Hellheim, home to two Titan keepers that have been at war for thousands of years. We will learn about origins of the Val'kyr and Kvaldir as we ride the Ship of Souls into the Maw of Hell. We will also be fighting the Vrykul God King and his minions, who are now minions of the Burning Legion.
* Azsuna represents the bones of the ancient Night Eld civilization. It has ghosts of ancient Night Elces, a dying breed of the Blue Dragonflight, and the Nightfallen. This Nightfallen are exiled royalty from Suramar that have been left to die outside the walls of their city. We will be racing Queen Azshara and her minions for controll of the Pillar of Creation in the zone.
* Highmountain is the home of the Highmountain Tauren, who are the keepers o the Relic of Kazgoroth. Only the biggest and strongest creatures can survive here. We will visit the lair of the Earth-Warder to get some answers. Neltharion is dead, but there are other things there Nessingway will also appear here.
* Suramar has a new race of elves made from an old race of elves. They have lived here for 10,000 years and have flourished thanks to their use of their magical ability. They have become pawns of the Burning Legion and have the last relic we need. We have to kill them all, as well as their guard and Gul'dan to secure the last relic.
Artifacts
* The Legion represents the greatest threat to our world that we have ever faced, so wield weapons with greater power than we have ever had before to stand a chance.
* There are 36 Artifacts, one for each class and specialization.
* After the Broken Shore, you will seek out the Artifact for your spec.
* Where you go to find your artifact will vary depending on your class and spec.
* Retribution Paladins will be returning to the Broken Shore to look for Ashbringer where it fell in battle and was lost so that you can wield it.
* Protection Warriors will follow up on the legends of the ancient Vrykul king that was buried with a sword and shield forged from the scales of the dragon Neltharion. You delve into his tomb and overcome the ancient curses that lay there in order to wield those weapons for yourself.
* Frost Death Knights will seek out Frostmourne's shard in Icecrown Citadel and reforge them into a pair of runeblades.
* You will earn Artifact Power as you accomplish things. Completing quest lines, dungeons, outdoor objectives, battlegrounds, and most major activities. The power is spent to unlock traits that empower your weapon and character, as well as visual customization.
* Ashbring - Echo of the Highlord - When you use Templar's Verdict or Divine Storm, Ashbringer will mimic that action after 2 seconds.
* Each Artifact has a trait tree that is a grid overlaid on the weapons' shape. You choose how you navigate the tree.
* You spend Artifact Power to unlock traits. Once a trait is unlocked, the adjacent nodes unlock. At the far end of the trees are the major impactful abilities.
* Death Knight - Icebringer and Soulrepaer - Arise and Serve - Raise Ally now restores all health and mana. Upon death, the Death Knight now has an option to raise himself.
* Some traits are simple damage increases, some transform your rotation, and some are new utility such as Death Knights being able to resurrect themselves.
* Each weapon has different looks that you can unlock, with different color variants for each look. These are unlocked by leveling your weapon, achievements, raiding, and PvP.
* The base weapons has the look we all know and love. Then there is an upgraded version of the bast style, as well as variants such as an Ashbringer made out of fire, shadow, or lightning.
Weapon Examples:
* Sheilun, Staff of the Mists - Mistweaver Monks will go to Pandaria to seek out the staff of Emperor Shaohao. The variants have Pandaren influences such as the Red Crane, Jade Serpent, or Sha.
* Felo'melorn was a spell sword wielded by Kael'thas against the Lich King at Icecrown Citadel, where it was lost. Fire Mages will seek out the blade.
* The Eagle Spear is new to the lore. Hightmountain Tauren weapon for Survival Hunters. The variants have several animal themes, such as the wolf, bear, and serpent.
*Icebringer and Soulreaper are blades forged out of the shards of Frostmourne. All of the variants have skulls!
* Doomhammer is the weapon for Enhancement Shamans. There are Fel, Fire, Crystal, and other variants.
* Fangs of the First Nightsaber is for Feral and Guardian druids. They can customize the look of their form rather than customizing a weapon. Spectral, Armored, and other variants will be available. The base cat form is also getting an updated model.
Class Orders
* The Alliance and Horde are at each others throats, so classes will have to band together to fight the Burning Legion.
* You lead the Class Order, as you are wielding an Artifact Weapon.
* There will be a heavy focus on class identity in Legion. Every class should feel different.
* Order Halls are a base of operations for your class and you share them with other players of your class.
* Only members of your class can enter the Order Halls, similar to the Death Knight starting area.
* After finding your Artifact, you will establish your Order Hall
* Shamans are in a hollowed out cave overlooking the Maelstrom at a point where all of the elements come together.
* Paladins will discover a hidden templar sanctum under Light's Hope Chapel.
* Warlocks will be on a Legion portal world.
* Order Halls are the place you go to customize and upgrade your Artifact, as well as start special quests and missions.
* Your Hall has Champions, an evolution of followers system from Draenor.
* This time around you aren't raising an army by recruiting just anyone, but a small elite group.
* Some of your champions will be established characters, such as Lady Liadrin.
* These champions will have more customization and more integration with the world.
* Your champions won't do things instead of you, but instead help you accomplish things.
* They may go on a scouting mission and discover an area for you to investigate.
* You may send the to a zone, which gives you bonuses when you are completing objectives there.
* You will work alongside them and with them rather than sending them out on missions to complete with you on earning rewards.
Dungeons and Raids
* Dungeons are essential to the MMO experience.
* The team wants to make sure that there are more dungeons, more varied challenges, and more replay ability, and more of a reason to keep doing dungeons throughout the expansion.
* Halls of Valor
* Located high up in the clouds above Stormheim.
* Level up dungeon
* The art and feel of the dungeon is heavily inspired by Valhalla.
* This is where the greatest warriors of the the Vrykul are called to serve. It is their eternal reward for being the best.
* As you are seeking out the Pillar of Creation in Stormheim, you are contending with the Legion cooperating leader of the Vrykul, the God King. As you race against him through the zone, both of your paths lead you to this dungeon, which is the location of the Pillar. You must prove yourself in battle so that you can claim it.
* We also learn more about the origin of the Val'Kyr here. These aren't the Undead Val'Kyr from Northrend, but the pure warrior of the Light.
* Black Rook Hold
* Max level dungeon is located in Val'Shatah, the ancestral home of Lord Kur'talos Ravencrest.
* This elven structure was a bulwak against the Legion, until a shadow fell upon it, carved out of the mountain to be an unassailable fortress.
* You start in the catacombs below Black Rook Hold and work your way through the outside to the top of the spire.
* Vault of the Wardens
*This is where Demon Hunters awaken.
* It was the Warden maximum security facility to hold all of the greatest threats to the world, including Demon Hunters and other terrifying monsters.
* This is where Gul'dan found Illida, so this is where you begin the hunt for Gul'dan and Illidan.
* Eye of Azshara is located in Azsuna. This is where you contend with the minions of Queen Azshara and the Naga.
* Darkheart Thicket is located in Val'Sharah at the base of the World Tree. It is the heart of the Nightmare corruption that is spreading throughout the zone. You fight your way into a chamber at the base of the tree to rescue Malfurion from the corruption of the Nightmare.
* Neltharion's Lair is located in Highmountain This is the cavern where Neltharion lived before he became Deathwing. This has become the center of society for the rocky warriors of Hightmountain. We need to venture into their capital to recover the Pillar of Creation wielded by their chieftain.
* Helheim
* This dungeon is somewhat located in Stormheim.
* It is the polar opposite of the Halls of Valor.
* The cursed spirits get on the ships Nifflevar, which leads them to Helheim, where they are cursed for all eternity as Kvaldir.
* This is the Ghost Ship of the Damned, with most of the dungeon taking place on the ship, sailing through stormy seas in an immersive environment unlike anything we have seen in a dungeon ever before.
* Suramar City is the City of Night, where the Nightbourne rule from their palace. The city contains catacombs beneath it and noble houses throughout the city, both of which you will venture into to discover ties to the Legion and the ultimate plan that is unfolding.
* Violet Hold had some deep secrets that we didn't discover the first time around, but these are now awakened by proximity to the tomb of Sargeras. We learn more about the origins of Dalaran, mages of Dalaran, and the origins of the world itself.
* The raid structure in Warlords of Draenor worked out well, so the same type of structure is used in Legion.
* The Emerald Nightmare is a raid with 7 bosses.
* Players have always wanted to see the Emerald Dream.
* It was created by the Titans as a blueprint for Azeroth itself, a perfect vision of our world.
* Something went wrong and the world as descended into corruption and Nightmare. That threatens to spread into our world and engulf it.
* In the dungeon we enter the roots of the tree, but in the raid, we climb into the tree and cross through the barrier that separates our reality from the reality of the Dream. We will go in, root out corruption, seek out Cenarius, and confront Xavius at the heart of the Nightmare.
* Suramar Palace is a raid with 10 bosses.
* This is the palace in Suramar from which the Grand Magistrix runs the city. He has brokered a deal with the Legion to allow them to use and corrupt the Pillar of Creation to create the Nightwell, a conduit of dark energy.
* The layout and structure is somewhat reminiscent of Black Temple You start in an underground catacomb, as you aren't able to enter the front gate. You work your way up to outdoor balconies, royal quarters, and then to the Nightwell itself, where you find the Grand Magistrix and Gul'dan.
* Gul'dan is here as an ambassador the Legion. He can't run away this time!
* This is not another green spike filled Orc raid, but a royal elven city.
Honor System
* The original honor system was fine in theory. Unfortunately, many players couldn't keep up and some would account share just to keep up.
* The current honor system that uses currency is better. You earn currency and buy gear. It allowed for the creation of set bonuses to help tun PvP a little bit.
* Gear being a huge factor in PvP doesn't feel good, so it is time to dial that back.
* The new system is similar to a PvP talent system. As you gain honor, you progress through ranks from 1 to 50. Each rank gives you perks and bonuses, as well as unlocking PvP talents. The PvP talents allow the team to balance PvP more independently of PvE. These abilities will only work in battlegrounds and arenas. You unlock down a column and then start on the next one, so that you quickly unlock at least one option for each row, then further ranks give you more options to choose form. Everything is unlocked at rank 50.
* Prestige Ranks - You can reset your honor rank and level it up again for Prestige Ranks that grant cosmetic rewards. This give players that do a lot of PvP extra rewards that don't increase their power.
* You can earn a badge for your unity frame's portrait that shows your Prestige rank, special mounts, and PvP only Artifact variants.
* The Team has known Legion would be the next expansion back when they started coming up of the Warlords of Draenor concepts.
* We are back in the normal Azeroth, no alternative universe.
* Why does the Legion keep trying to take over Azeroth? The expansion will reveal this over time.
* Illidan is a really important part of Gul'dan's plans.
* Illidan is not pleased with us after Black Temple. Who knows how he will react if and when we come across him to ask for help.
* 12,000 years ago there was a festering wound in the Broken Isles. The Pillars of Creation were used to seal the wound. The Temple of Elune was built on top. The wound was opened again and an infinite number of demons is coming through.
* The Dalaran in Broken Isles has been updated with a few changes and texture updates.
* Eventually you will be able to fly in Legion, but not right away, similar to Warlords. Starting in Patch 7.0 the first steps towards the flying achievement will be available.
* The DPS and item level are determined by the Relics, as well as modifiers to traits
* The team wants to make sure it isn't 2x the work to maintain 2x artifacts. You will need to earn separate relics for your other Artifacts though.
* There will be a quest line for each profession.
* There will be some system changes to professions as a whole to improve the UI and ad new functionality.
* One more character slot will be added.
* People that are playing Demon Hunters would likely be playing a melle spec anywat, so it shouldn't add too many more melee.
* There won't be another filler patch between Warlords and Legion invasion, other than the flying patch.
* Ruby Sanctum didn't work out well. It was entertaining for a week or so, as ther ewas one boss to kill and then you were done.
* In Warlords, the team didn't do enough to express the story through in-game content. The garrison campaign wasn't enough.
*One more character slot is being added.
* Having one artifact per spec will help focus the specs. Right now Frost Death Knights can use a two-hand weapon or dual wield, but their artifacts is two runeblades, so they will focus on dual-wielding in Legion and Unholy will focus on two-hand weapons.
* The new Honor System allows for some new abilities to be added that would have been cut in the past, as they were PvP only.
* Draenor's forces are busy rebuilding Draenor, so they are not going to come and help with the Burning Legion.
* Illidan's storyline will span the entire expansion.
* Only allowing Elves to be Demon Hunters fits the lore and is the right choice for Legion.
* One of the social features under development is notifying you when friends join a queue and allowing you to queue with them.
* The team would also like to improve communication across groups. If you have a group of friends you raid with or PvP with there should be a better way to communicate with them.
* Older time limited legendary items, such as the Mists of Pandaria cape, may become transmogable.
* The Sewers of Dalaran were mentioned as an Order Hall for rogues again.
* Champions will un,ock or complement content rather than doing content for you.
Pre-Expansion Invasion Event:
* Invasion hits all of Azeroth, so we will see invasions in many different zones throughout the world.
* We are seeing new demons and engines of war that we have never seen before.
* There will be some period over time weeks that Azeroth is being invaded and the various factions will decide how they are going to handle it.
* Players will have demon invasions they need to fight against, all leading up to the launch of the expansion
* the Broken Shore will be part of this launch event.
* The developers can't talk about their favorite feature of Legion yet. They are still working on lots of super cool secret stuff!
* The team would love to do something with Karazhan. there is a lot of great lore there. There aren't any plans to announce yet, but the team is discussing what they can do with it.
* The team is not talking about doing a player or guild housing system right now
* Having an Artifact weapon makes sense for this expansion. The weapons we have now aren't enough for us to even stand a chance against the invasion.
* Flying mounts feel awesome, so as much as the team wants players to explore the world from the ground, there needs to be a way to unlock flying later in the expansion.
* There are plans for itemization and having to share Leather loot between classes that the team isn't ready to talk about yet.
* Demon Hunters being able to see other players through walls is really cool and fits the class.
* the team isn't sure how matchmaking and the Prestige system will interact. They can't completely split people up by Prestige rank, as that would result in very long queue times.
* You didn't see more Horde than Alliance in Warlords, you saw more Orcs. Those Orcs were Iron Horde, not Horde. They were the enemy of everyone. We also saw both Horde and Alliance heroes, so there wasn't a huge disparity. Legion will have both Alliance and Heroes and stories.
* The Demon Hunter was considered for the Burning Crusade, but the team wasn't ready to add another class to the game at that point.
* Distinguishing the Demon Hunter from Monks and Rogues wil be important. Rogues are about stealth and crowd control, whereas the Demon Hunter is about in your face mobility and getting out when they are in trouble. Monks are a little more of hybrid, with some self healing.
* The Eye Beam for Demon Hunter is a skillshot, as it is a narrow cone attack.
* Dalaran has some modifications for the storyline, changes to the center area, changes to the Underbelly, as well as updated textures.
* The current plan is for Dalaran is to have a free for all PvP area in the Underbell. You can bribe the guards to make them go away for a while.
* It would be hard to eleiminate existing talent trees, as some players would be upset of the removal of a spec they really liked. If the team could go back in time, there might have been a few that never go added, but now that those trees exists they will try to make them more distinct.
* Subtlety Rogues will keep going down the ninja route, Combat will be a little more like a Pirate Swashbuckler, and Assassination will be about poisons and Damage over Time.
* The Honor system is changing from a currency style system to an experience style system. you get benefits from the honor levels such as opportunities to get loot or gold.
* The Prestige system will give hardcore players a reason to keep playing, even if their power doesn't increase.
* Gear will have less of an impact in PvP. there is no such thing as PvP gear anymore, so no Resilience, PvP specific stats, or sets. Beyond a commonly available item level, you will get drastically diminishing returns from increasing your item level. Somewhere between 5 to 1 and 10 to 1 diminishing returns. The best raider in the game might have a 7% advantage over a player that just hit the level cap.
* The team is considering players to transmog their Mists of Pandaria legendary cloak and Warlords legendary ring, as they were available for a limited time. They want to avoid a situation like everyone farming Warglaives for transmog.
* It is possible that in a future expansion more races could become Demon Hunters, but for now it is only Blood Elves and Night Elves.
* You can use the double jump in battlegrounds and dungeons. The team will be careful to avoid breaking the game with Demon Hunters using double jump current content, such as groups that only want Demon hunters to skip things in dungeons.
* Tanaan is a big and awesome zone with a lot of cool spawns. It has generated a lot of engagement with the player base. There are a lot of players doing it every day. The team wants to continue to evolve the endgame world content model though, as they aren't happy with the combination of daily quests and bonus objectives. They are two pieces of good additions and there are plans for Legion to make better endgame world content.
* Gul'an is the instigator in Legion, but not the big bad guy. He is a raid boss in the raids at launch, but not the final boss of the expansion.
*Legion may be shorter than other expansion names, but it describes the expansion perfectly, especially if you understand the context of the world in Warcraft history.
* aAzeroth is the only world, (that we know of) that the LEgion hasn't conquered yet.
* We will discover the motivations of the Burning Legions. They aren't just going throughout the universe causing chaos.
* The Broken Isles has been pretty quiet as of late, until the Tomb of Sargeras was activated. People knew it was there before, but there was no real motivation to go there.
* Tension between the Horde and Alliance is an important part of the game and this expansion.
* The team hasn't decided if Blacksmiths or Jewelcrafters will be able to make items that modify your Artifact.
* All Druid forms connected with the Artifact weapon will be updated. (Keep in mind this is a translated summary, Moonkin was not specifically mentioned)
My two cents on all of this: People better stop complaining. The developers are finally giving people what they have been begging since Burning Crusade. There should be no reason for people to hate this expansion. I am stoked. I cannot wait to see more about this and I already have saved a name for my Demon Hunter.
I'm the Kitty, and I certainly cannot wait for this!
