World of Warcraft: Shadowlandsis the next expansion for the long-running MMORPG, and Blizzard has been releasing a series of animated shorts in the run-up to the game’s release that has many fans excited for what the developer has in store.
WhileShadowlands Afterliveshas given players a look into the story of the Shadowlands, many are still unsure what to expect in the expansion. Here are some of the main features thatWoWplayers can expect to see inWorld of Warcraft: Shadowlands.
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Leveling Squish
Shadowlandswill include a leveling squishthat could change the wayWoWis played forever. No longer will players have to level all the way to 120, but all max-level players will now be reduced to level 50, making 60 the level cap just as it was in vanillaWoW.
Not only that, but the leveling experience has been made drastically shorter. Streamer MrGM was able tolevel from 1-50 inWoWin under 3 hours, and though this was a speedrun, players can still expect to reach the newShadowlandscontent in record time. Not only that, but due to the level scaling already introduced toWoW, players will be able to choose which expansion they’d like to play through from level 10 to level 50, which not only streamlines the leveling system but helps tie up some plot holes caused by late-expansion races and classes leveling through old areas.
The Covenants
Shadowlandswill introduce four Covenantsto the game, and players will have to eventually choose one. The Covenants are Kyrian, Venthyr, Necrolord, and Night Fae, and each one comes with its own powerful class abilities. For example, a Druid who aligns themselves with the Venthyr will unlock “Ravenous Frenzy,” increasing damage, healing, and haste, while a Hunter who joins the same Covenant will gain the “Flayed Shot” ability, which deals ticking Shadow damage.
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New Locations
As will allWoWexpansion,Shadowlandscomes with some new locations for players to explore. These locations are Bastion, Maldraxxus, Revendreth and Ardenwald, which are the main focus of each of theAfterlivesshorts. Also included is the Maw, where the Jailer keeps the souls of the damned, includingArthas Menethil, and Oribos the Eternal City at the heart of the Shadowlands that is home to the Arbiter who judges each mortal soul.
A Lot of New Customization
Character customization inWoWhas been greatly improved across all races forWoW: Shadowlands. All of the main playable races now include a far greater breadth of skin colors and all genders have a bald option they can now use. Beards, mustaches, and sideburns are now able to be chosen independently for most races, as well as features like noses, eyebrows, and ears.
There are some clear winners when it comes to customization, particularly the humans, dwarves, tauren, trolls and night elves, all of which now have far more character customization options than ever seen before in the game, including headdresses, tattoos, and even leaves, vines, and flowers.Forsaken players inShadowlandsnow have the option to cover their exposed bones for the first time as well, among a myriad of options Blizzard is putting into customization across the board.
A New Beginning
Exile’s Reach is a new starting zone which players can start in instead of their original starting zones that serves as a new 1-10 leveling experience. It will not be available forallied racesor hero classes. The new starting zone follows the player as part of a Horde or Alliance expeditionary force to an island where many past expeditions have gone missing. There they discover that the previous expedition has been captured by an ogre who plans to use them in a dark ritual to summon something far, far worse.
The new zone is a more unique and story-driven starting zone than many of the racial starting zones, and could provide a fresh new experience for players returning to the game who want to feel thrown right intoAzeroth’s current world and story.
There are of course new dungeons, raids, and monsters as players have come to expect fromeveryWoWexpansion, but these are the main changes that will setShadowlandsapart from previous games. Whether or not these changes will be enough to sustainWorld of Warcraftas it approaches nearly two decades since its original release remains unclear.
World of Warcraftis available now for PC. At this point,World of Warcraft Shadowlandsreleases on October 26 or 27 (depending on time zone) for PC.
