Cataclysm!
Tuesday, August 25th, 2009The news from Blizzcon 2009 was shocking, and in some cases dumbfounding, but nevertheless these are confirmed releases for the 2010 season. In The Sundering, Azeroth will see the face of the world rewritten. Nothing will be unaffected.
Deathwing awakes from her years long slumber, and emerges from Grim Batol, east of the Wetlands. Where Deathwing awakens, Grim Batol will be sheared in half. The aspect dragon will bring his followers, The Twilight Hammer, and they will be Headquartering there. In a rush to confront this new evil, the Horde and the Alliance will construct new port towns nearby. The Red Dragonflght will arrive to confront The Twilight Dragonflight… In the Cataclysm, Deathwing’s wrath is so terrible that a hole is burrowed into the world so deeply that it reached Deepholme, the elemental plane of earth.
Uldum and The Sunken City of Vash’jir will be rediscovered as Malfurion Stormrage wakes from the Emerald Nightmare to stop Ragnaros the Fire Lord in Mount Hyjal. And perhaps most shocking, Mount Hyjal will open once more, under siege by Ragnaros. Even as the great tree of life begins to recover from Archimonde’s evil, the Fire Lord will be attempting to Burn Nordrassil. The tree calls out to the hero that can stop him, and Malfurion awakens from the Emerald Nightmare. He emerges from The Barrow Dens along with the Armies of Cenarius, and begins to wage war against Grim Batol. The ancient elf needs to prevent him from destroying the new World Tree, Nordrassil.
And there will be losses. In the tidal surge that sweeps across Kalimdor, Auberdine will be destroyed; broken survivors will be moved further inland to safety. During the emergency, though we are not yet certain how, Thrall will be lost, and Garrosh will succeed him as the next Warchief. War will be unavoidable. Zoram Strand will be similarly pummeled, but the Horde under Garrosh will rebuild it into a small fortress, his own aim of making a new Orgrimaar within striking distance of the elven capital. The Sunken City of Vashj’ir will be rediscovered, and Uldum will open its doors at last. Tol’vir in Uldum will become Brann Bronzebeard’s newest exploration; he will take up residence there. Amidst rumors that a terrible weapon of the titans was buried there, something so powerful even the Makers feared it, the Horde and the Alliance will be urged to investigate the ruins. The Twilight Dragonflight, not seen since the corruption of the Keepers of Time, make their resurgance under the Epoch Hunter’s leadership, or perhaps some other, even more terrible foe.
With these terrible lines drawn, the worgen put aside their ancient hatred of humanity and join the alliance, and the goblins join with the Horde, closing off their cities from the Alliance and setting the stage for unceasing hostilities. In the ensuing confusion, Azshara is seized by the goblins, and transformed into a growing city for their budding war machine, and the Undercity, nearly destroyed by Deathwing, will be rebuilt in a new image. Finally, Southshore, long the most northerly surviving outpost of the Alliance on the Eastern Continent, will fall to the Horde.
What does this mean for Us? Dungeons and Raids!
There will be more dungeons and raids released with this new expansion than in the entirety of the World of Warcraft before it.
Blackrock Mountain will be completely redesigned after Ragnaros escapes. Blackrock Caverns, what will be left behind, will be completely different.
The new Skywall will have a Raid option, and a 5 man Dungeon option, and there will be heroic options for many dungeons we thought we were long finished with. For all those who joked about a heroic Deadmines or Shadowfang Keep, your worst nightmares are about to come true. There will be a new Tol’Barad PvP Zone, similar in size and function to Wintergrasp or the Isle of Quel’Danas, with stages of evolution and new challenges, and The Battle for Gilneas will be the feature for a new battleground, not dissimilar from Alterac Valley, and there will be Rated Battlegrounds with rewards similar to the Arenas for your standing and performance.
Guild Proliferation!
Guild advancement and ranking will be added, with perks for more famous or accomplished guilds, including reduced repair costs, durability adjustments and even sweeping powers like Mass Resurrection. The new guild ranking system will allow any deed by any Member to add to the guild’s reknown. This reknown, can then be used to level the Guild itself from 1-20, with even more sweeping powers and rewards as the guild’s power advances.
Talents
Talent Trees will be rebalanced, offering bonuses to players who specifically gear and train their characters to only one talent spec. Hybrids will be discourged by the new system in favor of an “all or nothing” approach to training. Another new system, The Path of Titans, will introduce a system similar to glyphs; they will make your specific class stronger, but they will not be class specific. A Rogue could use the same Path as a Priest, perhaps for discipline or shadow.
What Was, Shall Be No More…
A new Graphics engine and new maps will enable flight throughout the entire game universe.
A new Starting Zone called “The Lost Isles” will be uncovered with the sundering of Azeroth, and will be the new zone for Levels 1-15. Finally, the way Quests flow will be highly modified. It will no longer be impossible to move on to a new quest without finishing the old chain before it. However, it will make completing the quest much more difficult.
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm – The End is Near?
