World of
Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King PVP Honor and Arena Points
colloquially known as "WotLK", "Wrath", or "WLK" — is the second
World of Warcraft expansion and was officially announced on August
3, 2007 at BlizzCon. The majority of the expansion content takes
place in Northrend and centers around the plans of the Lich King.
Content highlights include the increase of the level cap from 70 to
80, the introduction of the Death Knight Hero class, and new PvP/world
PvP content. There are no additional playable races, though many new
NPC races will be featured.
Opt-ins for the public beta began 3 July 2008; the game itself is
scheduled to be released November 13, 2008.[2] The Beta began on
July 17, 2008. On October 10th Blizzard announced that Wrath of the
Lich King has gone gold and discs are currently being manufactured
for sale.
Northrend
The expansion introduces a new continent on Azeroth — the harsh, icy
Northrend is under the control of the Lich King, and is home to the
majority of the expansion's new content.
Northrend is a croissant-shaped continent in northern Azeroth. The
continent is roughly half the size of the Eastern Kingdoms, but is
expected to exceed Outland in length and width. Although Northrend
is known for its snow and ice, developers stated that parts of the
continent will not be frozen over, such as the springtime Howling
Fjord and the jungle-like Sholazar Basin.
Flying mounts will also be usable in Northrend; currently the plan
is to allow players to fly at level 77 instead of at 70.[3] Blizzard
said they want to "keep us grounded and guide us on foot for a
while", so that players can enjoy all the hard work they put into
the land and not just "fly over it."[4] There may be new flying
mounts introduced with the expansion that will provide a very slight
increase in speed and — also as yet finalized — these new mounts may
be able to carry more than just one passenger.[5]
Zones
To alleviate some of the problems experienced at the launch of the
Burning Crusade expansion, players will be able to choose where to
enter the continent more freely—both Howling Fjord to the east and
the Borean Tundra to the west feature level 68+ content, and it is
planned that you can level all the way to 72 without visiting both.
The continent is designed to allow players to level from level 68 to
80. Both zones will feature a Hellfire Citadel-style instance hub
with multiple dungeon wings for level 70 characters, level 80
characters, and raiders.[6] Horde players will access Howling Fjord
via a Zeppelin from Undercity to Vengeance Landing; Alliance players
can get there by boat to Valgarde. Borean Tundra will be accessed
via zeppelin to Warsong Hold for Horde, and by boat to Valiance Keep
for Alliance. Zones and their planned levels:[7]
* Howling Fjord (68-72)
* Borean Tundra (68-72)
* The Dragonblight (71-75)
* Zul'Drak (73-76)
* Grizzly Hills (74-76)
* Sholazar Basin (75-78)
* Crystalsong Forest (77-80)
* The Storm Peaks (77-80)
* Icecrown Glacier (77-80)
* Lake Wintergrasp (77-80) (Outdoor PvP)
* Dalaran (Sanctuary)
Areas in
Azeroth
Acherus: The Ebon Hold and the Scarlet Enclave
A new area in the easternmost parts of the Eastern Plaguelands, near
Tyr's Hand, which will act as the starting area for Death Knights.
Stormwind Harbor
Western Stormwind City will have a new harbor added which will
provide naval transport to Northrend.
Dalaran Crater
An enormous crater where Dalaran once stood, encased with a
violet-colored magical shield orb.
Shaper's Terrace
A new titan-related area in Un'Goro Crater, accessible by waygate
from Sholazar Basin.
Factions and
organizations
Various organizations, factions and new races will be highlighted in
the expansion. Note that no new playable races are planned.
Reputation grinding
A new faction tabard system will be implemented called
"Championing", where wearing a tabard of a certain faction will give
you rep with that faction for kills in instances on top of the
existing faction rep. This is to combat the feel that gaining rep
with factions is a long grind and that there is no flexibility for
players to choose which factions they gain rep with.
Nexus War
When Malygos regained his senses, he quickly realized what had
happened during his absence. The mortal races had manipulated magic
and used it for their own personal gain. As a result, the Burning
Legion had nearly been summoned again by the reckless Sin'Dorei.
Confident that there is no other solution, Malygos has declared war
to every spell-caster and wishes to annihilate their kind and drain
all of Azeroth's magic. However, there are groups that oppose him
and fight for their own survival or for that of others.
Kirin Tor
The Kirin Tor - a group of powerful wizards - have moved their
capital Dalaran to Northrend to fight off the Blue Dragonflight,
along with the Undead Scourge. Being fanatic magic-users, they are
directly influenced by the war Malygos has begun. Not only does he
slowly drain all Azeroth's magic, but he also intends to slay all
casters. The Kirin Tor oppose him directly in his assault and fight
for the fate of their world.
Blue Dragonflight
The Aspect of Magic and the leader of the Blue Dragonflight -
Malygos - has started a war with the mortal races for their reckless
use of magic. Using his flight, Malygos now seeks to divert
Azeroth's ley lines to his own home, the Nexus, by the use of giant
constructs known as Surge needles, and send the energies out in the
Twisting Nether, so no one will be able to use it anymore. He has
not only ordered his fellow Blue dragons to slay the mortal
spellcasters but also to take down all that would help these
'criminals'.
Wyrmrest Accord
As the overseers of Life on Azeroth, the Red Dragonflight closely
watches all wars and observes all conflicts. While they usually do
not interfere they now deem it necessary to enter the front lines
themselves. Malygos's plan, to remove all magic from Azeroth, would
have disastrous consequences for the entire world. Such
catastrophies would cost countless lives, much more than all those
that have fallen during the Nexus War. Thus Alexstrasza - the leader
of the Red Dragonflight - has called upon the Wyrmrest Accord, a
union between all Dragonflights to find a way to end Malygos's
insanity and stop his reckless crusade.
Horde
Expedition
Horde Expedition is the combined force of the Horde in Northrend,
spearheaded by the Warsong Offensive. Below you can find all the
factions associated with this expedition.
Warsong Offensive
Garrosh Hellscream commands the Horde's main expeditionary forces as
they make their way into Northrend to face Arthas and the armies of
the Scourge.
The Hand of Vengeance
The Forsaken tasked by Sylvanas Windrunner with enacting Undercity's
vengeance against Arthas by delivering the latest strain of their
deadly Plague.
The Taunka
These hardy people are cousins of the Tauren and have become
valuable scouts for the armies of the Horde as they march northward.
The Sunreavers
Traditionally barred from Dalaran, the Horde has been accepted into
the city through the efforts of Archmage Aethas Sunreaver. His
followers have taken up his name and watch over the ward known as
Sunreaver's Sanctuary.
Alliance Vanguard
Provoked by the attack on Stormwind, the Alliance has gathered its
forces to march upon Icecrown Citadel and put an end to the Lich
King's reign. Below you can find all factions associated with this
vanguard.
Valiance Expedition
The main armies of the Alliance have arrived upon the shores of
Borean Tundra, where they reinforced Valiance Keep with their sheer
numbers.
Explorer's League
Eager to find out more about their past, the Explorer's League was
quick to travel to Northrend. They're especially interested in the
Titan city of Ulduar which is said to hold much information about
the ancestors of the Dwarves, Gnomes, and Humans alike. In addition,
they've opened up several dig-sites in an attempt to reveal what's
hidden in the earth.
Frostborn
The Frostborn are a faction of a newly discovered dwarf, the frost
dwarves. This mysterious race of dwarves makes its home in the Storm
Peaks. They've recently befriended members of the Explorer's League
and welcome Alliance members within their settlements. Their leader
Yorg Stormheart seems to suffer from a strange amnesia; it is
rumored that he used to be an important member within the Alliance.
Silver Covenant
Disgusted and outraged by the founding of the Blood Elven race, the
remaining High Elves have united under the banner of Vereesa
Windrunner as the Silver Covenant. The Covenant consists primarily
of a militant core that has joined forces with the Alliance in
Northrend.
Undead Scourge
Dragonflayer Clan
The Dragonflayer Clan is one that consists of Vrykul, a race of
half-giant warriors native to the Howling Fjord. They have recently
allied themselves with the Scourge and wish to join its ranks. These
formidable warriors have begun attacking Horde and Alliance
settlements, and many of the Vrykul are pouring out of the fortress
of Utgarde Keep.
Opposition of the Scourge
Argent Crusade
The Knights of the Silver Hand and the soldiers of the Argent Dawn
have merged into this new organization, headed by the re-inspired
Highlord Tirion Fordring. They seem to be capable of something
neither the Alliance nor the Horde could fulfill; they're fighting
at the front lines of Icecrown.
Knights of the Ebon Blade
A counter to the Knights of the Silver Hand, the Knights of the Ebon
Blade are an order of renegade Death Knights who have broken away
from the Scourge. They are led by Highlord Darion Mograine, the son
of Alexandros Mograine.
The Nerubians
A race of Spider-humanoids that once controlled all of Northrend
before the coming of the Lich King. Now, they live mainly in the
lower reaches of their destroyed kingdom Azjol-Nerub and other
scattered conclaves. It is speculated that they serve the Old God,
Yogg-Saron, within their city.
Natural
inhabitants
Kalu'ak
The Kalu'ak consists of the Tuskarr, a humanoid walrus people that
lives in Northrend. Although seen throughout Northrend, they make
their homes primarily in the Borean Tundra. Their capital city is
Kaskala and it is a Fishing area. They also have Kamagua, a
settlement in the Howling Fjord. Moa’ki Harbor is situated in The
Dragonblight.
Dungeons and end-game content
The Azeroth world map with Northrend added
The Azeroth world map with Northrend added
The expansion adds group content in a similar fashion to the Burning
Crusade, and the 'heroic dungeon' format will be preserved. Many new
5-man, 10-man, and 25-man dungeons will be located in Northrend. The
expansion will have as many 5-man instances as the previous
expansion and all 25-man raids can also be completed as a 10-man
group due to the popularity of Karazhan.[8] Despite speculation,
solo dungeons are not being planned.[9] Eyonix has spoken about the
possibility of account-based or guild-based raid attunements for the
expansion. This would mean if your guild completed the keying quest
or one of your characters has, everyone in your guild or all the
characters in your account would also become attuned.[10]
There will be three raid dungeons and twelve 5-man dungeons (eight
for leveling up and four max-level, each with heroic versions) at
release. Heroic access will also no longer require any faction
reputation. All 5-man dungeons will be designed to last around an
hour.
New and original
Utgarde Keep (two 5-man wings, levels 70-72 and 80)
An instance hub in the Howling Fjord filled with the vrykul, a
Viking-like race devoted to serving the Lich King. It was the first
dungeon introduced at BlizzCon; the dungeon consists of two wings.
The first wing, Utgarde Keep (level 70), was playable at BlizzCon.
The second, Utgarde Pinnacle (level 80), was announced as the
second.
The Nexus (two 5-man wings, levels 71-73 and 80, and a 10/25-man
raid wing)
Located in Coldarra, it will feature the Blue Dragonflight as the
enemy. The Red Dragonflight will be aiding the players.
A level 71-73 five-man instance (The Nexus).[11]
A level 80 five-man instance, that lets you fight on magical rings
that float above the ground (The Oculus).
A 10/25-man raid, similar to Onyxia. A rift in the sky where you
will battle Malygos (The Eye of Eternity). [12]
Drak'Tharon Keep (5-man, level 74-76)
A fort where Arthas found the runeblade Frostmourne, located on the
border between Grizzly Hills and Zul'Drak. Drak'Tharon Keep contains
one instance for level 74-76 players.
Gundrak (5-man level 76-78)
The capital of the Ice Trolls where players will face off against
the Ice Troll King, located in the northeastern corner of Zul'Drak.[13]
The Violet Hold (5-man level 75-77)
The prison of Dalaran.
Chamber of the Aspects (10/25-man raid)
A single encounter raid instance where players will face-off against
a dragon.[14]
Ulduar (two 5-man wings, levels 77-79 and 80, and a 10/25-man raid
wing)
Located in The Storm Peaks. A Titan-related dungeon where secrets of
Azeroth's history will be revealed.
* Halls of Stone, a level 77-79 instance
* Halls of Lightning, a level 80 instance
* Ulduar Raid, a 10/25-raid. Planned as the next progression step
from Naxxramas.[citation needed]
Azjol-Nerub (two wings level 72-74, level 73-75)
The ancient subterranean kingdom of the nerubian race.
* Azjol-Nerub, a level 72-74 instance with Anub'arak as a boss.
* Ahn'kahet: The Old Kingdom
Icecrown Citadel (10/25-man raid)
Culminating the expansion with a direct confrontation with the Lich
King himself. Is to be released in the final major patch of the
expansion pack.
Returning, but in another form
Naxxramas (level 80, 10 and 25-man raid)
The instance will be retuned to level 80 and included as a
10-man/25-man dungeon at an entry-level difficulty with no
attunement.[15][16]
If one looks at the video on the area of Dragonblight, it seems
Naxxramas is floating above the frozen landscape.[17]
Additions to Azeroth
Caverns of Time: Culling of Stratholme (level 80, 5-man instance)
A new wing of the Caverns of Time where you'll fight alongside
Arthas, during the break of his sanity, against Mal'Ganis to purge
the city of Stratholme of its citizens, who are infected by the
undead plague.[18][19] The Infinite Dragonflight storyline will
continue here.
PvP additions
Battlegrounds
The currently planned battleground referred to as the Strand of the
Ancients will have siege vehicles, 10 or 15 people in each team, and
games will last 30 to 40 minutes.[citation needed]
The issue with battlegrounds starting with unbalanced teams, caused
by multiple queueing and the grace period for joining, will be
addressed. The reporting system is also being further tuned to allow
players to better police abuse of the PvP to gain easy marks of
honor.[citation needed]
Arenas
Two new Arenas will also be introduced in the expansion. One in the
currently unused Orgrimmar Arena and the other in a new Dalaran
Arena in Dalaran's sewers. These arenas will introduce moving
objects such as pillars and waterfalls, and damaging objects such as
spikes in arenas and other such mechanics to create dynamics with
line of sight and gameplay.
World PvP
PvP mechanics will be extended in WotLK, with the addition of a
dedicated PvP zone (even on PvE servers) in central Northrend called
Lake Wintergrasp. There is no requirement to visit the zone, but the
benefit will be that all bosses in instances will drop a token,
similar to Spirit Shards in Bone Wastes, when your faction holds the
keep everyone is fighting for. Players will be able to use these
tokens to purchase gear.[20]
Siege Weapons
The expansion will also introduce siege weapons, destructible
buildings to PvP in both Lake Wintergrasp and the new Northrend
Battleground(s).
Hero Classes
Main article: Hero class
The expansion will introduce the long-awaited concept of Hero
Classes to World of Warcraft. It is planned that the Death Knight
(see below) will be the first of several "unlockable" hero classes,
the only one available at launch, though no definite plans have been
revealed. Hero classes will generally consist of classes from
Warcraft III that were too strong to play from level 1 or could not
fit a primary class role.
Nethaera posted on the new Wrath of the Lich King forums that the
current plans are one new hero class per expansion pack.
Death Knight
A Death Knight, seen in the WotLK trailer
A Death Knight, seen in the WotLK trailer
Main article:
Death knight
World of Warcraft's first hero class, the Death Knight will be
accessible to players after having a character reach level 55. Once
unlocked, the Death Knight will then complete a series of quests
that will explain their defection and background. The Death Knight
will start at level 55.[5]
The Death Knight is a plate-wearing DPS/tank class (albeit one that
is unable to use a shield) that uses a brand new resource system
based primarily on cooldowns. Rather than the existing Mana/Rage/Energy
mechanics, the Death Knight will be able to carve Runes into his/her
weapon outside of combat, and then use those runes to power
abilities (the recharge rate is at 10 seconds, for now).
Bard (April Fool's Joke)
Main article: Bard (hero class)
Armed with a trusty axe, killer riffs, and a ton of attitude, the
guitar-wielding bard excels both as a solo performer and as part of
a solid group lineup, able to front in roles as varied as his
musical repertoire.
The Bard class was touted as an April Fool's day Hero class for
WotLK. The link for the class may be found at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/wrath/features/bard/bardclass.xml.
Professions and skills
Professions will be allowed to level to 450 skill points from the
Burning Crusade's 375 skillcap, while leveling professions from
300-375 will be made easier.
Developers consider a possibility to make enchanters able to sell
their enchants in the Auction House.[21] This has since been
confirmed, with Inscription providing the reagent that makes it
possible.
Blizzard is planning to have more professions represented with rare
recipe drops as well as making them accessible, such as being on
earlier bosses.[citation needed]
Bestiary
New monsters have been announced in the official External link Wrath
of the Lich King Bestiary .
* Nerubian vizier
* Plague eruptor
* Shovel tusk
* Iron Dwarf
* Taunka
* Magnataur
* Jormungar
* Flesh giant
* Darkfallen No info on the World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich
King site yet.
* Ice Troll No info on the World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
site yet.
* Proto-dragon No info on the World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich
King site yet.
* Wendigo
Characters
Levels, spells and talents
The expansion will allow characters to level to 80, adding 10
additional talent points to their disposal and extending the talent
trees further to allow for 51-point talents. Leveling from 70 to 80
should take the same amount of time as leveling 60 to 70. Blizzard
is also working on a new method of allowing players to switch
between 2 different talent specs.
Extended character customization
Players will also be able to customize their characters using new
hairstyles and skin colors, as well as change hairstyles of existing
characters. However, players will not be allowed to change their
characters' face, body shape or size.[22] Other additions include
new dances[23], skin color variants[24], and possibly tattoos and
earrings.[25] There is also the possibility of other feature
customizations, such as tauren horns.
Dances
A dance studio is being worked on to allow players to add and change
dance animations. The amount of variety is dependent on the amount
of development time Blizzard can devote to it closer to release. The
animations will be race specific.
Voice Emotes
Death Knight voices will be modulated for each race so that they
sound deeper and have an echo.
Items
* Blizzard is considering introducing Heirloom Items (sometimes
referred to as Legacy Items) with the expansion. Essentially, these
items will be bound to the player's account, with the ability to
ship the items between characters on the realm the item was
discovered.[5][26]
o The color for heirloom items used is gold, very similar as seen to
the one in Diablo II: Legacy. Heirloom items are still not the same
as artifact items, even if they (for now) use the same coloring for
names.
* PvP armor will be different from the PvE armor entirely in looks
and colors.[27]
* 25-man raids will drop more loot than 10-man versions and be
separated a full tier of item stats.
* The token system will remain for PvE. Spirit Shard-like tokens
will be award from all instances to players in the faction that
controls Lake Wintergrasp. They will be used to purchase basic PvP
gear from doing PvE content.
* Blizzard is making a design shift to reduce the number of items
they must design and to prevent unwanted drops being wasted, with
the end result being that more classes will use the same items. This
will be accomplished by reducing the amount of varied stats
different classes and specs need. Their aim is to have 3 classes
share the same items.
* Blizzard announced on the official Wrath of the Lich King forums
that a convenient upgrade will be made that changes how
vanity/miniature pets and mounts are handled.
Quoted from official WotLK forums :
"We’re pleased to announce a convenient upgrade to the way that
mounts and vanity pets are handled in Wrath of the Lich King.
Players will be able to “learn” a mount or non-combat pet much like
learning a spell, recipe, or new ability, and these creatures will
then show up on a new Pet tab within the Character Info section of
the interface. Players will be able to access and preview their
learned mounts and vanity pets through this tab.
Once learned, the pet icon or mount icon will no longer appear in
bag spaces or bank spaces. This inventory space will be made
available once again for other adventuring needs. Pets can still be
set to hotkeys by dragging them to the hotkey bar, much like any
other spell or ability." - Nethaera''
Mounts
In the expansion, mounts no longer take up space in your bag; they
can be retrieved from the pet tab. Lost mounts and pets can be
restored from a stable master. [28]
Here is a listing of the new mounts that have been released in the
Beta:
* [Ice Mammoth] and [Grand Ice Mammoth] are available to purchase
when you have Revered and Exalted reputation with the Sons of Hodir
faction.
* [Black War Mammoth]ℜ ω τ α wooly mammoth mount can be purchased in
Wintergrasp for 300 [Stone Keeper's Shard]s.
* [Grand Caravan Mammoth] and [Armored Brown Bear]ℜ ω τ α vanity
mount for sale from the exotic pet vendor Mei Francis in Dalaran for
15,000G and 900G respectively, although the price is reduced with
reputation. Note that the caravan mammoth reads "This is a very fast
three person mount that carries vendors."
* [Flying Carpet] and [Swift Flying Carpet] Tailoring mounts can be
crafted with 380 and 420 tailoring respectively.
* Acherus Deathcharger, the Deathknight class mount
Technical
information
The expansion is expected to enhance World of Warcraft's graphical
engine; for example, a new shading system is expected for use in ice
caves, whilst flame animations are noticeably more detailed.
Blizzard is in the process of reevaluating the way distances, line
of sight and collision are calculated to address some bugs and
exploits with spells and add improved mechanics; however, this may
not all be completed in time for release. In addition, the art for
the expansion will look more like "classic Warcraft" (gothic
fantasy), and less like Outland art (high fantasy).[29]
Blizzard is also looking at improvements to the engine to better
handle the impact of large amounts of players in one area in
anticipation of Lake Wintergrasp. A suggested solution is for the
area around the player that receives updates (can see, events
received etc.) will be dynamically reduced based on the amount of
players in an area to lessen the impact on the client (though this
also reduces the impact on the servers too).
System requirements
From the official site:[30][31]
Minimum requirements:
Windows XP (Service Pack 3), Windows Vista (Service Pack 1)
* Intel Pentium 4 1.3 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 1500+
* 512 MB RAM (1GB for Vista users)
* 3D graphics processor with Hardware Transform and Lighting with 32
MB VRAM such as an ATI Radeon 7200 or NVIDIA GeForce 2 class card or
better
* DirectX-compatible sound card or motherboard sound capability
* 15 GB free hard drive space
* A keyboard and mouse are required. Input devices other than a
mouse and keyboard are not supported.
* You must have an active broadband Internet connection to play
Mac OS X 10.4.11 or newer
* PowerPC G5 1.6 GHz or Intel Core Duo processor
* 1 GB RAM
* 3D graphics processor with Hardware Transform and Lighting with 64
MB VRAM such as an ATI Radeon 9600 or NVIDIA GeForce Ti 4600 class
card or better
* 15 GB free hard drive space
* A keyboard and mouse are required. Input devices other than a
mouse and keyboard are not supported.
* You must have an active broadband Internet connection to play.
Note: Due to potential programming changes, the Minimum System
Requirements for this game may change over time.
Recommended Specifications
Windows XP (Service Pack 3), Windows Vista (Service Pack 1)
* Dual-core processor, such as the Intel Pentium D or AMD Athlon 64
X2
* 1 GB RAM (2 GB for Vista users)
* 3D graphics processor with Vertex and Pixel Shader capability with
128 MB VRAM such as an ATI Radeon X1600 or NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT
class card or better
* DirectX-compatible sound card or motherboard sound capability
* Broadband Internet connection.
* Multi-button mouse with scroll wheel recommended.
Mac OS X 10.4.11 or newer
* Intel 1.8GHz processor or better
* 2 GB RAM
* 3D graphics processor with Vertex and Pixel Shader capability with
128 MB VRAM such as an ATI Radeon X1600 or NVIDIA 7600 class card or
better
* Multi-button mouse with scroll wheel recommended.
Gameplay
features
Spectators
The ability to spectate arenas is still on the Blizzard to-do list,
but they are being careful about it. Blizzard would also like to add
this ability to raids too. In both cases it would be an opt-in
feature only.
These are directly from the World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich
King site.
Paradigm shift: Dungeons and raids
Heroic dungeons were one of the most popular innovations of the
previous expansion, so it’s no surprise Heroic mode will return in
Wrath of the Lich King. Just as in The Burning Crusade, every
five-person dungeon will have a Heroic variant that will present
players with an added challenge and improved rewards.
One exciting new feature in Wrath of the Lich King is that all raid
content will be available as either a 10- or 25-person dungeon with
completely independent progression paths. Both the 10- and 25-person
versions will be the same dungeon; the look, layout, and design of
the dungeon will remain the same. However, each will be adjusted,
tuned, and balanced for its respective player size.
In Wrath of the Lich King, players can expect both 10- and 25-person
raid progression paths to get increasingly difficult as they
adventure to their final battle with Arthas. This new gameplay
mechanic will allow more players to enjoy the raid content of Wrath
of the Lich King in their preferred play style. Because it takes
more effort to get 25 people together than it does for 10, players
who participate in the 25-person raid progression path will receive
higher quality and more loot than those who play the 10-person
versions.
In addition, players will never be required to attune in a 10-person
raid to progress to a 25-person raid in the progression path. Raid
lockouts are same-size as well, so joining a 25-person raid for a
dungeon will not lock a player out from the 10-person version of the
same dungeon. This freedom of choice between raid-progression paths
will let personal preference play a much bigger role in how players
experience the raid content of Wrath of the Lich King.
Quest mechanics
The quest designers are hard at work to make sure that the road to
level 80 will be paved with quests unlike anything you’ve ever seen
before. The Burning Crusade innovated with bombing runs and daily
quests, and Wrath of the Lich King will continue this trend with
still more unique and varied adventures to undertake.
Just one example of the new mechanics you can expect from the
expansion is the new vehicle-based content, which puts an
interesting spin on some of the concepts originally developed for
PvP siege gameplay. Certain types of vehicles and mounts can now
carry passengers, making it possible for players, for example, to
break a prisoner out of a tightly guarded compound by attempting a
daring escape on horseback. While the NPC steers the horse, the
player lobs explosives at a pack of pursuing worgen. In another
quest, the roles are reversed as the player takes to the skies in a
flying machine to track down and rescue survivors of a catastrophic
event. Even beyond the ability for vehicles to hold passengers,
Wrath of the Lich King introduces an aerial combat system that will
add a new dimension to gameplay.
NPCs can also ride upon the shoulders of larger NPCs, such as
Excelsior on Hidalgo the Master Falconer, or Grand Necrolord Antiok
on Thiassi the Lightning Bringer.
Achievements
The Achievement system is a system that will keep track of certain
goals that characters have reached, such as complete zone
exploration, pet and mount collecting, and PvP kills.