Jump to content

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
No edit summary
Line 12: Line 12:
|engine =
|engine =
|version =
|version =
|released = [[November 3, 2008]]<ref name="vivPRQ12008"/>
|released = [[November 3]] [[2008]]ref name="vivPRQ12008"/>
|genre = [[MMORPG]]
|genre = [[MMORPG]]
|modes = [[Online game|Online]]
|modes = [[Online game|Online]]

Revision as of 23:24, 2 July 2008

Template:Futuregame

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
Developer(s)Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher(s)Activision Blizzard
SeriesWarcraft
Platform(s)Windows, Mac OS X
ReleaseNovember 3 2008ref name="vivPRQ12008"/>
Genre(s)MMORPG
Mode(s)Online

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King is the upcoming second expansion for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) World of Warcraft, following The Burning Crusade. It is set in the land of Northrend, home of the Lich King, Arthas Menethil/Ner'zhul. It was confirmed on the first day of BlizzCon 2007, August 3, 2007.[1][2]

No official release date has yet been announced, but it is anticipated to be released on November 3, 2008.[3]

Features

Some of the features announced at BlizzCon 2007 include:

  • Level cap raised to 80
  • Battle with the Lich King at the Frozen Throne
  • One new playable class: Death Knight
  • A new continent: Northrend
  • The creation of a new profession: Inscription
  • Profession level cap raised to 450
  • Hundreds of new items, quests, dungeons, creatures, spells and weapons
  • Siege weapons and destructible buildings (for PvP)
  • Transform your hero's look with new character-customization options, including new hairstyles and dances.
  • A non-instanced Battleground.
  • Improved Graphics Engine (applied to shaders and flame effects)
  • New factions including the Speartusk and the Taunka, a racial cousin to the Tauren.

Beta test

Currently, there have been no official invites sent. Many people are claiming to have access to the Wrath of the Lich King beta; however, Blizzard has dismissed these as scams that are made up in order to obtain people's World of Warcraft accounts and passwords. Though it is against Blizzard's Terms of Service to use one, there are privately owned servers, not operated by Blizzard, that can run the beta. Some owners of private servers may use this to their advantage to steal account info. Blizzard has expressly stated that any and all updates will be posted on their website.

The 2007 World of Warcraft Trading Card Game world championship included beta keys for Wrath of the Lich King amongst its prizes.[4] A Competition has also been created to make a fan art picture of Arthas wielding the legendary Frostmourne, and amongst the prizes is the main prize of the Frostmourne sword and a guaranteed invite to the entry of WOTLK beta test. 2 runners up will also receive guaranteed entries.[5]

Northrend

File:Wrath of the Lich King screenshot (resized).jpg
Grizzly Hills, one of the new zones introduced in the expansion.

Northrend is a crescent-shaped continent in northern Azeroth.[6] The continent is roughly half the size of the Eastern Kingdoms, but is expected to match Outland in length and width. Although Northrend is known for its snow and ice, developers stated that only parts of the continent will be frozen over.[7] Northrend will feature approximately eleven zones with content for levels as low as 68, though players may travel to Northrend at any level.[8] Players will land by boat either at the Howling Fjord or the Borean Tundra zones, located at opposite ends of the continent, when they first arrive. Howling Fjord is home to evil vampiric half-giants called the Vrykul as well as Utgarde Keep, the first dungeon to be described in the expansion. Meanwhile, the Naga are attempting to melt the continent's ice in Borean Tundra. The Dragonblight and Grizzly Hills zones are located in the southern central part of the continent, and the ursine Furbolgs reside in the forested Grizzly Hills. The Dragonblight features graveyards of dragons who came to die. [9] Lake Wintergrasp will be the first completely player-vs-player zone in World of Warcraft, even on player-vs-environment servers.[10]

The Forsaken and their Banshee Queen, Sylvanas, have also arrived with a new contagion that they hope will prove to be effective against the undead minions of the Lich King. The Forsaken are seeking vengeance for being subjected to Arthas's magic. They have recently created a settlement called "New Agamand" in the Howling Fjord.

The magi of Dalaran have also relocated to Northrend to deal with the rising threat of the Dragonflight and Arthas. The city of Dalaran will function as the neutral sanctuary city for the continent, similar to Shattrath City in Outland. Dalaran is levitating at great heights but can be accessed by either foot or flying mount.[9]

According to Blizzard game designers, Arthas Menethil and Ner'zhul, combined as the titular Lich King, is the main focus of the entire expansion. Also been said that he will be a Boss, and commence the invasion of Kalimdor

Instances

Several new instances have been announced at BlizzCon 2007.[10] Another instance will appear in the Caverns of Time, set during the human campaign of Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, in which Prince Arthas massacred the townspeople of Stratholme because they were infected by the plague. Previously unimplemented instances from the original continents will also be included. Many new 5-man, 10-man, and 25-man dungeons will be located in Northrend, including:

  • Utgarde Keep - An instance in the Howling Fjord filled with the Vrykul, a Viking-like race devoted to serving the Lich King. It has two wings - Utgarde Catacombs, and Utgarde Pinnacle.
  • Grizzlemaw - Located in the Grizzly Hills' home of the Furbolgs.
  • An unknown section of Azjol-Nerub - The contested capital of the Nerubian race of spider-people.
  • Icecrown Citadel - Players will battle Arthas the Lich King, the ruler of the Undead Scourge.
  • Naxxramas - An updated version of the original Naxxramas, redesigned to cater for 25 man content.[11]

Blizzard has also confirmed a new instance hub called the Nexus, home of the Blue Dragonflight, which will contain at least three instances. The first, a low 70s instance set in Ice Caverns, the second a high level instance seeing the player and their group face enemies on floating rings, and a final raid instance against the Blue Dragon Aspect Malygos, which takes place in a rift in the sky.

Hero class

At BlizzCon 2007, Blizzard also announced the debut of Hero classes, a long awaited feature to World of Warcraft. Hero classes will consist of classes from Warcraft III that were too strong to play from level one or could not fit a primary class role. Currently, Blizzard has confirmed only one Hero class: the Death Knight.[12] In an interview with one developer, he said that for the time being there is only one hero class, though more will be introduced in future expansions.

Death Knight

The Death Knight is the first announced Hero class for World of Warcraft. Death Knights, according to Blizzard developers, will be able to fulfill the tank and DPS roles sufficiently. Death Knights can use plate armor and new rune weapons like Runeswords and Runeaxes, but they cannot use shields. According to an interview, a Death Knight's summoned pets will be more similar to a Priest's Shadowfiend, a Mage's Water Elemental, or a Druid's Treants in that they are pets with a set duration.

This class will not be accessible using normal character creation. Instead, once a player has a level 55 character, they will be able to create one Death Knight character per realm, which will begin at level 55 with a full arsenal of spells.[13] Both the Alliance and Horde factions will have access to the class, but Blizzard is still working on the lore as to how Death Knights were accepted into the Alliance.[14]

Instead of relying on rage, energy, or mana, the Death Knight will use a new resource system: runes, which will be displayed under the player portrait.[15] The Death Knight will influence what abilities they are able to use by inserting special runes into their weapon, a process which can only be done outside of combat. Confirmed runes are blood, frost, and unholy. Each rune has its own unique abilities and look. Up to six runes can be set together in combinations of different numbers and types. Different spells and abilities will require various rune combinations, depending on the spell or ability's power. The runes enter a cooldown period upon use, but there are plans for spells to restore runes in combat.[9]

Inscription

The profession of Inscription is similar to the profession of Enchanting. However, Inscription permanently enhances the attributes of players' spells and abilities. For example, an "Inscriber" could take the Fireball spell, and give it the ability to knockback or daze an enemy.[16]

Graphical improvements

Blizzard has announced that they will be revamping World of Warcraft's graphics engine to some degree with the release of the new expansion. For example, the developers are experimenting with a new shader to use in areas containing ice,[17] also the fire effects in the game will be improved to seem more realistic.[citation needed]

Open play

Wrath of the Lich King was announced at BlizzCon 2007, and one zone and dungeon was playable hands-on to the participants there.

The 2008 Blizzard Worldwide Invitational (28th-29th June 2008) also offered hands-on play of Wrath of the Lich King.[18]

References

  1. ^ Rausch, Allen (2007-08-03). "World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King + (PC)". GameSpy. Retrieved 2007-08-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ "Welcome to BlizzCon 2007". IGN. 2007-08-03. Retrieved 2007-08-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ "Amazon Preorder Date for Wrath of the Lich King is Nov. 3, 2008". Amazon. 2008-07-02. Retrieved 2008-07-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ "TCG World Championship and Darkmoon Faire in San Diego". 2007-11-26.
  5. ^ Blizzard - Frostmourne Fan Art Contest
  6. ^ Torres, Robin (2007-08-03). "BlizzCon 2007 Opening Ceremony Liveblog!". WOW Insider. Retrieved 2007-08-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ "WoW: Wrath of the Lich King Revealed". 1up.com. 2007-08-03. Retrieved 2007-08-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". Blizzard Entertainment. 2007-08-03. Retrieved 2007-08-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ a b c Schramm, Mike (2007-08-03). "Wrath of the Lich King Demo panel: liveblogging from BlizzCon". WOW Insider. Retrieved 2007-08-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ a b Shoemaker, Brad (2007-08-03). "BlizzCon 07: Wrath of the Lich King demo'd". GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-08-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ The MMO Gamer » » BlizzCon: Interview With WoW Lead Designer Jeffrey “Tigole” Kaplan
  12. ^ Torres, Robin (2007-08-03). "Liveblogging the BlizzCon WoW Class Panel". Robin Torres. Retrieved 2007-08-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ Gerald Villoria (2008-05-09). "Enter the Death Knight". GameSpy.
  14. ^ Torres, Robin (2007-08-04). "BlizzCon Day 2 WoW Lore and Quests panel liveblog". WOW Insider. Retrieved 2007-08-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ Torres, Robin (2007-08-04). "BlizzCon Day 2 Class Panel notes and Q&A". WOW Insider. Retrieved 2007-08-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ Wrath of the Lich King Demo panel: liveblogging from BlizzCon - WOW Insider
  17. ^ Brad Shoemaker (2007-08-03). "BlizzCon 07: Wrath of the Lich King demo'd". GameSpot. Retrieved 2008-04-05.
  18. ^ "Blizzard Worldwide Invitational 2008". Blizzard Entertainment. 2008-02-11. Retrieved 2008-02-15. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=World_of_Warcraft:_Wrath_of_the_Lich_King&oldid=223187048"