World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth is launching soon. We will reveal what great aspects of the expansion you can look forward to.
In a few weeks, the seventh expansion of World of Warcraft will launch. There will be much to experience in Battle for Azeroth. But what aspects can you particularly look forward to? We’ll give you five good reasons why WoW: Battle for Azeroth will be a lot of fun.
1. The new game world
In Legion, there were many criticisms of the game world. While it was visually beautiful, it felt very cramped in many places – an enemy lurked around every corner and treasures were everywhere. There were virtually no open areas that made the world feel larger. With Battle for Azeroth, this changes. The game world feels bigger, everything is a bit further apart, without feeling annoyingly distanced.
A good example of this is the zone Tiragardesund. Here many green areas, forests, or entire pirate towns await, which have significantly more “realistic” dimensions than the small settlements in Legion.
The environments invite you to linger and sometimes even have a meditative quality. In the beta, we often caught ourselves simply taking in the game world and taking a few screenshots.
The zones visually differ significantly – but they did that at the beginning of Legion too. Only towards the end did it get a bit too much “fel green” with the Broken Shore and Argus.
In Battle for Azeroth, each zone has its own unique flair and color scheme. Relaxing and eerie areas alternate – visually it will be a pleasure to level on Kul Tiras and Zandalar.
2. The War Mode
Those who started fresh in World of Warcraft had to face a difficult question at the beginning: PvP or no PvP? This decision was binding as it depended on the server type. If you played on a PvP server, you were constantly at risk of being ganked by other players. On “normal” realms, you could temporarily activate PvP, but for the thrill, there were no opponents to match your efforts. If anything, they waited for a good moment to activate PvP at the last minute and just get the kill.
With the War Mode, this will change, as PvP servers will be abolished. In the future, everyone will play on “normal” servers and can switch to War Mode in their capital cities (or turn it off again). They will only find themselves in a world with other players who also have War Mode – i.e., activated PvP – enabled.
As a reward for participation, there are additional experience points to make the danger more enticing. Since you are likely to die more often in this mode, this is more of a compensation for the extra threat.
This way, players can decide based on their mood: Do I live dangerously today and want to face the enemy faction? Or do I quest leisurely and without danger?
A win-win situation for everyone.
3. Island Expeditions
One of the major announced features is the Island Expeditions. In groups of three players, you sign up and set sail to explore previously unknown islands and search for Azerite to further fuel the Heart of Azeroth with artifact power.
In terms of structure, the islands are loosely reminiscent of the scenarios known from Mists of Pandaria. The islands are slightly differently structured each time. There are expeditions during the day or night, and different challenges exist on the islands. Sometimes you have to stop a cult of spellcasting Mogu, and other times celebrate with Ho-zen on the beach while also preventing threats from the sea to access the Azerite deposits.
Especially cool: The scenarios adjust to the group composition. For example, if three healers want to go on an expedition, they can do so just like any other composition. The long wait for a tank, DPS, or healer is completely eliminated.
This will not be relaxing, however, as a timer in the form of the opposing faction continuously ticks in the background. For they too have sent a group of NPCs to secure the Azerite. As a result, there are always small skirmishes. The AI of the NPCs operates on a whole new level, allowing them to act more intelligently. For instance, enemy rogues wait for the perfect moment to attack the healer who may have fallen back to regenerate mana.
The most exciting aspect might be that the Island Expeditions also feature a PvP mode. Here you need to work against players from the other faction and compete for Azerite before they can stretch their greedy fingers for the blood of the planet. No AI could be better than opposing players – tactical ambushes and good planning will lead to success here. Do you want to rush quickly to the objectives? Or will you gank the opposing team to slow them down?
This promises to be a lot of fun if Blizzard gets the implementation of the PvP mode right.
4. The Capitals – Boralus and Zuldazar
The capitals of Kul Tiras and Zandalar are a highlight in themselves. Many players are fed up with Dalaran by now. No wonder, the city has already been recycled and designated as a hub for the second time. However, the actual area of Dalaran is quite small, corresponding to only about a quarter of the city of Stormwind. A real “capital” feeling simply did not come about here.
Boralus and Zuldazar are different. Boralus is the center of a kingdom, and you can feel it at every corner of the city. There is the harbor itself, where different sailors loiter, the individual ship crews can be seen, and there is always bustling activity. In the slums, there is a bad atmosphere, executions of traitors and thieves are part of daily life, while mysterious sea priests spread their faith.
The other side of the city is more refined and attractive. There are numerous taverns and even cafes with beautiful courtyards where the residents of the city gather. There is also a city park with a hedge maze. Unlike Dalaran, Boralus has not only the bare essentials. It has countless little details that aren’t strictly necessary but dramatically enhance the atmosphere.
Boralus feels alive, picturesque, and nearly perfectly staged. Anyone walking through the streets and alleys of the city inevitably wonders how they ever managed to endure Dalaran or the Shrine of the Seven Stars. The horde city of Zuldazar is just as impressive – even if everything here is a few dimensions larger and more primitive.
5. More customization than ever before
Our final point is the individualization of the various classes. While World of Warcraft is fundamentally quite limited in this respect compared to more contemporary games, the developers have come up with quite a few ideas to allow for more diversity.
While Blizzard is moving away from the classic tier sets of the past, there are more customization options in other areas.
The biggest factor are the Allied Races. Four of the new races are already playable (Highmountain Tauren, Nightborne, Lightforged Draenei, and Void Elves) and at least four more will follow in the course of Battle for Azeroth (Dark Iron Dwarves, Kul Tiran Humans, Mag’har Orcs, and Zandalari Trolls). Some species are still unconfirmed, such as the Vulpera.
Overall, players have more freedom in character customization than ever before.
In addition to the new races, there are numerous adjustments for the already existing characters. For example, Orcs can now straighten their backs and walk “upright.” Blood Elves will have an option for golden eyes to finally reflect the purification of the Sunwell. Humans can even change their skin color at the barber now – this was previously only possible with a paid character customization. By the way: If you do not want to part with your artifact weapon, you do not have to. All earned appearances can also be used in Battle for Azeroth, even if you are using a completely different weapon type!
What aspects of Battle for Azeroth are you most looking forward to? Or are you still skeptical and find nothing in the expansion that excites you?
