The rumors were true: there's a new World of Warcraft expansion coming out, it's called Cataclysm, and it will take you back to the original lands that consumed your life for the first three or so years of WoW's release. Earlier today I sat for an hour-long panel at BlizzCon hosted by WoW big wigs like Chris Metzen and Tom Chilton, so here in a slightly disjointed format are all the details I managed to glean. First, you might want to watch this trailer to get all the high points and see what this thing looks like.
Yes, the expansion takes place mainly in Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms, the same continents that came in the original WoW package. But what's messed them up so good? The answer is Deathwing, one of the five immortal dragon aspects, who is attuned to the element of earth and was introduced waaaay back in the Warcraft II expansion pack Beyond the Dark Portal. Deathwing's having a pretty bad day because the elder gods have been whispering in his ear for eons, which has driven him mad and filled him with a desire to--wait for it--subjugate all life and rule the world. Surprise!
The "cataclysm" part of this expansion comes in because Deathwing literally erupts through the crust of Azeroth from Deepholm, his underground prison. This explosion causes massive destruction to the old lands of the game (though the panel jokingly pointed out that maybe Westfall will be left untouched, since Ol' Blanchy is so core to the gameplay). Tidal waves, volcanic trenches, unending storms and more will affect the planet, drastically rewriting the look and layout of zones nearly every zone in the game.
Here's a long video showing you a bunch of before-and-after shots of places like the Barrens, Ashenvale, and Darkshore. Some of those places are certainly getting messed up good and proper, as you can see. It's my understanding the Barrens will actually be split into two new zones, Northern and Southern, due to that volcanic fissure you can see there.
In that video you'll also see Gilneas and the Lost Isles, respectively the homes of Cataclysm's new races, the worgen and the goblins.
In the new starting zone of Gilneas, the worgen starting quests will show you the story of how the curse propagated among the people of Gilneas and how they have since attempted to tame the beasts within themselves. The panel made some allusions to early quests in Gilneas that may take place in different time periods, possibly as a look back at the worgen's history. The worgen will have a racial trait called darkflight that functions sort of like a sprint (and which the panel thinks will probably annoy a lot of Horde players).
Of note: the demos running here at BlizzCon showing off playable worgen and goblin characters start at level 6. The panel said there are some "very special surprises" that occur between levels 1 and 5 for those races.
New Zones
In addition to the starting zones of Gilneas and the Lost Isles, there are five new high-level zones. Here's a recap.
- Mount Hyjal: Finally, the scene of the climactic battle from Warcraft III appears in WOW, despite having sort of been in the game for five years now. Hyjal and the World Tree are under siege by fiery bad guy Ragnaros, who's kind of upset about being imprisoned in the plane of fire. But Malfurion Stormrage has awakened from the Emerald Dream, and he's not too happy about what's going on, either.
- Twilight Highlands: Features the city of Grim Batol, which was ripped apart by Deathwing when he emerged. Now this zone is home to the Twilight's Hammer, a cult from the original WoW which has gained a lot of strength now that it's become Deathwing's caretaker. Look for them to play a big part in the new order of Azeroth.
- Deepholm: The elemental plane of earth, where Deathwing originally called home, this zone will be a hub with portals to all the other new high-level zones in Cataclysm.
- Sunken City of Vashj'ir: The home of Lady Vash before the Sundering, this place is out in the middle of the ocean. The panel says it will not be annoying to play underwater, and underwater mounts that move at flying mount speed will be one factor in that.
- Uldum: A hidden zone west of Tanaris with an Egyptian, desert-like theme. Uldum was hidden by a Titan illusion in the past and is rumored to conceal a "super weapon" of some kind. It's also home of the new, stone-like Tol'vir people.
Here's some other quick hits of info you might want to know about.
Why is the level cap 85? The team wanted to focus more time on new content for newly made characters, and new endgame content, rather than putting a lot of effort into making enough zones and quests to get you from 80 to 90.
New class/race combos. Gnome priests! Tauren priests! (Holy cow? Not my awful joke.) Dwarf shamans. Worgen can't be paladins, though. Undead hunters, blood elf warriors, tauren paladins. It's a class party!
Guild achievements. There's a new achievement system coming for guilds, that you can earn by doing everyday things like questing, raids, and battlegrounds. Achievements will open up a guild talent tree that give you things like cheaper item repairs and a mass resurrection ability that revives your whole guild after you wipe on a raid.
Flying mounts everywhere. Your fancy flying mounts can now traverse all of Azeroth. Yay!
Cataclysm goes out to all players. Whether or not you actually buy the boxed expansion, you're getting the new, ruined version of Azeroth via a patch anyway. The old lands, quests, and all that stuff are going away. Cataclysm gets you the new zones, guild advancements, new heroic dungeons like the Deadmines and Shadowfang Keep, and some other stuff. But if you were wondering who gets to experience the new sundering of Azeroth, the answer is: everyone.
As usual, Blizzard isn't commenting on when Cataclysm will be finished and released, but the panel did make comments about expecting players to be complaining about goblin rogues by the next BlizzCon. There's no news as yet about when the next BlizzCon actually is, but if that show happens as it traditionally does one year from now, those comments may be telling indeed.
Might as well get all the new Cataclysm assets in one post, right? Here's the screenshots.
Gallery
And the art!
Gallery
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