A lot of MMO-RPG games have been released over the past but there’s still one name that pops up very often that holds the fray against many others and still comes on top when people talk about a life changing experience, even after so many years and that’s the MMO giant World of Warcraft… This game still survives in an ever-changing industry and tries to improve its core gameplay mechanics to maintain an audience of millions of players by releasing different expansion packs. Legion is the sixth expansion pack in the series, but is it enough to keep the audience happy?
Legion did a couple of things “new” to keep the community interested. With a couple of patches, character’s animations have been improved, talent trees have been overhauled, a couple of important fixes were applied to the game to improve the game’s performance and graphically speaking, the game has been improved as well. Even though the game has been released a couple of years ago, the game looks simple but it feels great and smooth. Blizzard already told the community they wanted the graphical status of wow by adding a much better “FOD”-system, remaking the character models and skill animations along with the characters “natural” movement. This expansion also boosts the end level to 110.
The zones in Legion are much more limited than previous expansion but it doesn’t feel like we’re left out on “extra” content. Thanks to the graphical update, the World of Warcraft universe feels and plays like a new game. This was an important improvement for the game because people began to leave the game due to the fact that it felt outdated and stuck in time. Each zone has a unique atmosphere along with a decent story that goes hand in hand with quests (side quests and world quests). Each zone feels like it has its own qualities and the zone becomes much more alive because of the “living” NPC’s. The interesting zone bound NPC’s mount up and talk to you directly, as you pass by. This adds a lot more “credibility” to the game and I really enjoyed it. There’s also a bigger emphasis on exploring. The main questing system doesn’t really walk you through the whole zone, you still have some adventuring to do on your own if you want to see everything the zone has to offer. Exploring a zone rewards you with loot chests and unusual big enemies. It’s also an awesome feeling that the game responds to your actions. Some enemies or events can only be spawned due to a certain amount of player actions or completed events. People are really exploring the different zones, hoping to “discover” Blizzard’s mysteries.
The zones also use a scaling system that’s comparable to one of the main features of one of WoW’s strongest competitors “Guild Wars 2”. Guild Wars 2 will scale your character’s level to the zone’s level but in WoW, it’s just the opposite. WoW uses a scaling system where an area will be scaled to your character’s level. This scaling system is a big change in WoW and it really is for the better. Zones become more challenging and more pleasant to play, no longer will you feel too powerful in a certain zone.In the beginning of your new adventure, you’ll be able to choose a starting area where enemies will automatically scale to your character’s attained level. There’s only one 110 zone and that’s Suramar, all other zones use the scaling system.
People are really exploring the different zones, hoping to “discover” Blizzard’s mysteries.
The questing system is still the same but they wanted to add a more “social” feeling to the game by introducing world quests. These quests are like the world events where everyone can do their part and get rewarded for it. This new feature looks a lot like the one in Guild Wars but on a smaller scale. Each quest offers a decent amount of gold and some good loot. All these big events are randomized and are being reset in a certain amount of time. The main questing is also a bit more polished, since Wrath of the Lich King, Blizzard tries to make a more cinematic experience for all the WoW players. There are a lot more cinematics and voiced over characters, this adds up to an excellent sense of immersion. This expansion also offers a lot more depth to the questing system, in-game quests pushed these “kill this and then that” kind of quests to the background and offer a lot more diversity. For example, there’s a bigger focus on more active quests like solving puzzles or even races to perform. This diversity makes the grinding a lot more enjoyable.
Just like any other expansion, classes have been overhauled as well. Because of the “change” in the talent system, people will again need to learn how to play their character right. The class rotations aren’t the same as before as some skills left the stage and other skills took their place. Like I said before, the animations have been changed as well and this also has an impact on some classes playstyle. The animations look better but they also feel more realistic. A hit will definitely feel like a hit and the weapon’s sound design will take your experience to the next level. The combat texts will also be revealed after the “exact” hit and not a few seconds too early. Combat is a lot more interesting than before.
Talking about combat changes, a new line of weaponry has been added to the game as well: Artifact weapons. These different “unique” artifacts play a big role in the lore of World of Warcraft and this time you’ll be able to start your journey, to forge these legendary weapons. This journey takes on the form as a “long unique” questing line that will take you through the different stages of forging this legendary piece of weaponry. Artifacts have their own “skills” and talent tree to develop. By gathering artifact power and artifact relics through the help of questing, Dungeon bosses, PVP and world quests. With these artifacts compartments, you’ll be able to boost your artifact weapon into a weapon of great power. It’s also good to know that Blizzard developed different skins for Artifact weapons, which can be obtained by just “playing” the game on different levels. From the moment, you’re entering the new expansion, there will pop-up a quest line to get your artifact weapon. Each class can choose between 3 (or 2) different artifact weapons. You’ll pursue the Artifact weapons that suits best with your talent tree build up. It takes some time to get your artifact weapon to full power, but the journey to this legendary weapon feels rewarding and satisfying. Of course, everyone will have the opportunity to “forge” these legendary weapons which quickly results in a feeling of being less “special”. This is a sucky feeling but it’s also pretty cool to see your character with an awesome weapon.
Alongside these artifact weapons, are the Class Order Halls. These Class Order Halls are actually the more “social” type of Garrison from the previous expansion. These Class Order Halls help with the immersion of a truly Role Playing Experience and a sense of “playing a big part” in the game’s story. From these Class Order Halls, you’ll be able to upgrade your Artifact weapon and deploy in-game characters into different “Garrison” kind of missions. Alongside the release of Legion, there was also the Legion Companion App for your Smartphone which helps you manage your missions within the game, even when you’re not even close to your computer. Every Class Order Hall feels unique and class bounded, they really put in a lot of hard work into these Order Halls.
Last but not least, is the introduction of a new Hero class in this latest expansion. You’ll be able to become a level 98 Demon Hunter which will play a big part in the expansion’s story. Demon Hunters are the disciples of Illidan Stormrage and are feared by allies and foes. This Demon Hunter has 2 specializations: Havoc (DPS) and Vengeance (TANK). The class really feels different from the other classes I played. It’s a lot more fast pace and it feels like it can do some serious damage when played right. It still a “target” based class but it felt a bit more “action” passed than other classes. The class really shines with its speed, transformation and movement skills. The Demon hunter can double jump, dash, and glide. You really feel like a maniac high on Fel Magic. The Demon Hunter has a special mount just like the Death Knight and they use two Warglaives.
World of Warcraft is also a big example when it comes to End Game content. Different Dungeons can be accessed from a certain level and can be played on different levels: Normal, Heroic, Mythic and this expansion offers even “Mythic +”. “Mythic +” is all about an evolving difficulty scaling system. The more you play a dungeon on Mythic mode, the harder “Mythic +” will be. After every first run of a certain dungeon, you’ll be offered a Keystone. These Keystones are placed on an altar in the beginning of a “Mythic +” dungeon. The more you’ve completed a dungeon on Mythic, the higher you’re Keystone will be and the bigger the rewards. Raids are also a big part of the World of Warcraft franchise and will be still present in the latest expansion. A patch set for October will add a new raid to the World of Warcraft universe. Different dungeons will be added as well, alongside every patch. Check out the trailer of the next patch:
Conclusion:
Blizzard did a lot of things right with this new expansion and it will definitely won’t be as quickly forgotten as the previous expansion “Warlords of Draenor.” The smooth launch of Legion and this big chunk of fixes and content made a lot of people happy. The overhaul of classes, combat system and graphical presentation makes World of Warcraft feel like a fresh new game. Questing is a lot more fun thanks to a more Cinematic approach and well-designed voice-overs and skill animations. Legion is proof of the fact that Blizzard listens to their community and that they aren’t afraid of revamping this classic MMO giant. Legion is the perfect time for new players (as well as old players) to pick up the game and start playing. For Azeroth!
Didn’t have the chance already to pick it up? No worries, we got you covered. Check out our Facebook page to join our Legion expansion pack giveaway and get a taste of this new expansion pack. Good luck!
