World of Warcraft – Cataclysm Expansion
Nedan följer en liten resumé av vad som sades under Cataclysm Preview panel. Försöker med att organisera information för att göra det mer lättläst. Bilder och mer videos bör vara tillgänglig inom kort också. Även information av vad vi kan komma att vänta i Blizzards tredje expansion release.
General
* Level cap will be 85 because developers wanted to focus on the right things: redoing Azeroth and providing more end-game content.
* A new guild advancement system will let you earn guild perks and level a guild through 20 levels with points to spend in a talent tree. You will access abilities such as cheaper repairs, less durability loss on wipes, or mass resurection.
* Phasing can now add and remove terrain based on your progress. Coasts will be progressively more flooded depending on how far you are in a storyline for example.
Path of the Titans
* Talent trees won’t be extended, you will just get 5 more talent points.
* The Path of the Titans will let players follow a path (not restricted to classes), this is a new talent system with new skills and passive abilities.
* A mastery system is being added as well, a lot of talents will be reworked to be more fun. The point is to get rid of a lot of the talent skills and not make you spend all your points in a talent tree just because it gives you more damage or higher crit chance.
Archeology
* Archeology is a new secondary profession, not many details about this one but we’ll probably hear more about it in future panels.
Deathwing
* Deathwing, the leader of the Black Dragonflight will be the main vilain of the expansion.
* Deathwing heard the whispers of the Old Gods after the arrival of the Burning Legion, he eventually grew very powerful and also became very very crazy.
* His plan was to catch the Alliance and Horde unaware with something so massive that it would bring up the Elemental Planes.
* The Elemental Planes were created by titans to contain the elementals, they weren’t happy with this decision and some of them like Ragnaros got really angry.
New races – Worgens
* Other races were discussed for the alliance, but the developers really felt that the alliance needed a monstrous race and horde needed something fun and tiny.
* Genn Greymane closed the Greymane Wall to block the Scourge’s plague. Gilneas got nervous as the Scourge progressed to the south.
* Arugal was a patriot, he called the Worgens to battle for Gilneas but eventually was surprised by how dangerous what he called down was.
* Worgens are from somewhere else … or even someWHEN else. They have a wolverine temperament and spent a lot of time trying to contain the beast within.
* Racial – Visciousness – +1% damage.
* Racial – Dark Flight – +70% run speed for 10 seconds.
* Racial – Abberation – Duration of Curses and Diseases reduced by 15%
* Racial – Flayer – Skinning skill increased by 15.
New Races – Goblins
* Goblins are a technological race from Kezan, their society is broken up into trade cartels run by trade princes. They are new factions and not the ones you can already see in game.
* The Cataclysm hit Kezan really hard and it’s possibly destroyed. The goblins are now refugees on the Lost Isles.
* As a goblin you start as a neutral cartel and eventually join the horde as you progress through the questlines.
* Racial – Best Deals Anywhere – Always receive the best discount regardless of faction.
* Racial – Pack Hobgoblin – Calls your personal servant allowing you bank access for 1 minute. 30 mins cooldown.
* Racial – Better Living Through Chemistry – Alchemy skill increased by 15.
* Racial – Rocket Barrage – Launches your belt rockets an an enemy, dealing fire damage. 2 min cooldown.
* Racial – Rocket Jump – Activates your rocket belt to jump forward. 2 min cooldown.
* Racial – Time is Money – 1% increased attack and casting speed.
Old World
* We all left a little part of ourselves in Northrend and the old world will be much darker than it was to make heroism and brotherhood more meaningful like Warcraft should be.
* Every zones will be revamped with new quests, items, and art. The old world will be a brand new experience and you won’t have to deal with the annoying agility/spirit quest rewards anymore.
* Azeroth is now flyable. Pretty much all the zones will be changed to some extent, some of them like Elwynn Forest won’t change too much but others like The Barrens will be sundered in two by Deathwing.
* The Wailing Caverns are now a lush and verdant Area.
* Desolace now has a lot more waters and a lot of plants can be seen in the screenshots.
* The Horde finally conquered Southshore.
* Auberdine was destroyed and the night elves have set up a new camp north of it. Garrosh wants to expand the horde and has built a fortified camp at the south of the zone.
* Stonetalon has been cleaned by the Goblins, Azshara will be the new Goblin zone, and are using quarries in the mountains of Azshara to build their town.
* Apparently Orgrimmar will be rebuilt and reinforced with steel, it now looks a lot like Garrosh strongholds…
* Undercity has been redesigned to be flyable, it now looks much more impressive from the outside.
New Zones
* 7 new zones will be added : Twilight Highlands, Mount Hyjal, Deepholm, Uldum, Gilneas, The Lost Isles, Sunken City of Vash’jir.
Starting Areas
* The Worgens and Goblins starting zone level goes from 1 to 15.
Vasj’ir
* Sunken City of Vashj’ir will be an underwater zone and was the home city of Lady Vashj before the original sundering, this is a gateway to the Abyssal Maw. Going through the Abyssal Maw will take you to the Elemental Plane of Water, even if the zone will be underwater you will be walking on the sea floor here, new underwater mounts will be available and should have the same speed as normal flying mounts.
Deepholm
* Deepholm will be the new hub of the expansion, you will have portals here to let you teleport to Hyjal, Uldum, etc … The Twilight’s Hammer now serves Deathwing and have brought him back to full health in the Temple of Earth at the center of the map.
* Deepholm isn’t really connected to Azeroth, the connection is where Deathwing emerged from the ground.
Uldum
* Uldum will have at least two dungeons and is heavily inspired from Egypt. The sea at the west of Tanaris was just an illusion created by the Titan and Uldum is actually a brand new zone. It is rumored to hold a super weapon. Uldum is also the home of the Tolvir, a race of stone-like cats created by the titans.
Plane of Fire
* Ragnaros used the cataclysm to come back from the Plane of Fire where we sent him and is now sieging the World Tree in Mount Hyjal to burn it down. Malfurion is back from the Emerald Dream. The whole zone (Hyjal) will make extensive use of phasing.
Twilight Highlands
* The Twilight Highlands will feature Grim Batol, Deathwing literally broke open Grim Batol as he emerged from the ground. This is the new Twilight’s Hammer base in Azeroth and both Horde and Alliance will have a new port town with boats here. The Red Dragonflight is still here but has been pushed back to the west of the zone near the Wetlands.
Dungeons & Raids
* The Firelands will be a new raid dungeon, it will let you go to the Elemental Plane of fire and visit Sulfuron’s Keep, Ragnaros will be here and he’s really pissed.
* Uldum will feature two new dungeons, the Lost City of Tol’vir and the Halls of Origination (a titan city)
* Grim Batol will have a level-up dungeon and a raid instance.
* Skywall (Air Elemental Plane) will have a level-up dungeon and a raid instance.
* The Deadmines and Shadowfang Keep will be back in a brand new level 85 heroic version.
* Blackrock Caverns will be a new level-up dungeon located in Blackrock Spire. This is an entirely new dungeon, new art, new creatures, new everything.
Player vs. Player
* Battle of Gilneas will be a new battleground where the objective is to control the city by controlling as many districts as possible.
* Tol’barad will be a new PvP zone and will also be the most important daily quest hub. Just like Wintergrasp a battle will happen every few hours and the winning side will get access to the Tol’barad Prison and extra daily quests, the really profitable ones.
* Rated battlegrounds will be added to the game and should get you the same rewards as Arenas.
* New arena maps will be added.
New Classes
Cataclysm doesn’t introduce any new classes to the game. Instead, Blizzard have offered more race and classes combinations to players. The Some of these have alreadly been datamined from the 3.2.2 Test Realms. The An Injured Colleague quest and it’s new Night Elf counter-part help to introduce the lore for these new race and class combinations, so we can probably expect to see more of these for some of the less traditional ones.
- Human Hunter
- Orc Mage
- Night Elf Mage
- Dwarf Mage
- Blood Elf Warrior
- Dwarf Shaman
- Undead Hunter
- Tauren Paladin
- Tauren Priest
- Gnome Priest
- Troll Druid
New Races
The Goblins – Horde
Originally the slaves of jungle trolls on the Isle of Kezan, the goblin race was forced to mine kaja’mite ore out of the volcanic bowels of Mount Kajaro. The trolls used this potent mineral for their voodoo rituals, but it had an unexpected effect on the slaves who were in constant contact with it: kaja’mite generated a startling new cunning and intelligence in the goblins. Crafting their own powerful artifacts of engineering and alchemy in secret, the goblins soon overthrew their oppressors and claimed Kezan for their homeland. The mines that had been their prison, their slave camp, and the base of their rebellion now became the city of Undermine. Weaving through the heart of the island in a dizzying network of tunnels, vaults, and lava tubes, Undermine epitomizes the goblins’ complex, unpredictable mindset.
The goblins’ natural greed soon lifted them to prominence as masters of mercantilism. Trade princes arose during the First War as the cleverest goblins learned to take advantage of the strife. Great fortunes were amassed, and the Isle of Kezan became a hub for fleets of goblin trading ships. One of the trade princes agreed to lend his faction’s services to the Horde in the Second War. Following the Horde’s defeat, the goblins learned from their colleague’s failed example, and soon they realized that their profits could double if they weren’t stuck in such a restrictive relationship. By the end of the Third War, goblins were providing weaponry, vehicles, and devious services to both the Horde and the Alliance. This wouldn’t last forever. . .
Recently, the goblins of Kezan have found a new enemy in the Alliance – unexpected and unprofitable encounters with this faction have driven certain trade princes from their comfortable neutrality. Reforging old pacts with their one-time allies, the goblins have been welcomed into the Horde with open arms.
The Lost Isles
The preconception that any goblin would sell their best friend for a fistful of gold is not entirely unfounded: many of them probably would and some actually do. The truth is that quite a few goblins combine a shrewd business sense with a certain level of… moral flexibility. For example, after the cataclysm reawakened a volcano on their home island one of the goblins’ trade princes realized that there was good money to be made in offering panicked goblins a ticket to safety on his ship, taking their life savings – and then selling them into slavery. A clever plan, until it (and the ship) fell apart in a naval crossfire between an Alliance fleet and a lone Horde ship. The shipwreck’s survivors washed ashore on the Lost Isles off the coast of Kalimdor, where they discover that the island’s dense jungles harbor many mysteries and more than a few unpleasant surprises.
The Worgens – Alliance
The worgen are a race of feral wolf-beasts whose very name inspires fear. Theories regarding their history abound, yet the worgen’s origins remain steeped in mystery.
Records indicate that the worgen existed for a time in Kalimdor. In fact, more recent evidence suggests that their true origin might have a connection to the night elves and a secretive druidic order from Kalimdor’s distant past. Yet until new evidence comes to light, this information remains speculative.
The worgen’s first verified appearance in the Eastern Kingdoms has been traced back to the Third War, when the archmage Arugal utilized the wolf-beasts as a weapon against the Scourge. Arugal’s weapons soon turned against him, however, as the curse of the worgen rapidly spread among the human population, transforming ordinary men and women into ravenous, feral creatures.
Arugal adopted many of the worgen as his own and retreated to the former mansion of Baron Silverlaine, the estate now known as Shadowfang Keep. The curse, however, was not contained. It persisted in the lands of Silverpine and extended even into the fabled walled nation of Gilneas, where the curse rapidly reached pandemic levels.
The citizens of Gilneas found themselves trapped, with no hope of escape. They retreated deeper within the isolated domain, and there they survived, fearful of the savage presence that lurked just outside the barricades. Tensions among the displaced citizens escalated over time, resulting in a civil war that now threatens to destabilize the embattled nation even more.
There are those among the Gilneans, however, who cling to hope. Many believe that a treatment for the worgen curse may exist, although others have nearly given up, fearful that if the barricades should fall, their humanity will be lost forever.
Gilneas
Gilneas is located on the peninsula south of Silverpine Forest. The human kingdom had supported the Alliance during the Second War, but King Greymane had no qualms about severing all ties to the outside world when it became clear that the Alliance needed Gilneas more than Gilneas needed the Alliance. Unbeknownst to the rest of the world, darkness fell on Gilneas after the Greymane Wall’s gates had been closed, and the worgen curse ravaged the nation. Before long, Gilneans were fighting against Gilneans in a bloody civil war that left the kingdom in tatters. Remarkably, the people of Gilneas have somehow managed to hold on to the last vestiges of their humanity… for now.