In less than a few weeks, the new expansion for World of Warcraft will be released along with a plethora of new features. Much of the game will be changing, and new and returning players alike are probably not aware of some of the more exciting updates this expansion brings. Here’s a list of some of the most exciting things coming to Azeroth on August 30th.
Transmogs
Transmogrifications (often referred to as “transmogs” by players) have been around since the “Mists of Pandaria” expansion and allow players to change the appearance of their various pieces of equipment. In the Legion expansion, this gets an overhaul to an account-wide system that will allow players to save the appearance of an item and keep or discard it as they choose.
Players will be able to collect a variety of these item appearances and save them as favorite outfits without having to sacrifice precious bag space. This change will make the system similar to that of Diablo III.
Artifact weapons are now able to be added to other weapon appearances as well, however other weapons cannot be transmogged to the Artifact weapon’s appearance.
This change is also being given a new name, “Wardrobe”. There are some restrictions to this system. After digging through the official WoW forums where discussion on the Wardrobe are taking place, you can see there are some qualifications your armor must meet to qualify for transmogrification.
- You must be able to equip the armor that you are transmogging
- The armor must be of your primary armor type
- The armor/weapon you are transmogging must be equippable by your character’s class.
Let’s say you were playing as a Mage and wanted to use the Wardrobe system to change your appearance. Even though both Mage and Warlock wear Cloth Armor, Mages would not be able to use any Warlock specific sets. However, you can still use the system on any Mage-class armor that you have saved to your Wardrobe.
Class Changes
All of the familiar WoW classes are also getting significant changes in the Legion expansion. However, for new players to the game, Hunter can be a popular choice to start with. Changes to the Hunter class include new Mechanical pets and significant changes to the Survival and Beast Mastery subclasses. Traps are being removed from the Beast Mastery class and will only be available to Survival class hunters. Survival is also being focused into a melee-style class, emphasizing the use of traps to keep enemies at bay.
Mechanical pets like the above pictured Alarm-O-Bot can now be tamed by Gnomes, the newest race to gain access to the Hunter class. Prepare for a fleet of miniature Hunters roaming Azeroth in search of these robotic beasts soon. Goblins who choose the Hunter class will also be able to tame these creatures as well.
Another class that works great for casual players is the Druid. Druids are a versatile class with a total of four subclasses (Feral, Balance, Restoration, and Guardian) to pick from. The major changes coming to Druids are specific to each subclass, but in general all Druids will now have an “Affinity” talent row that will provide a passive ability useful at all times and access to key abilities for their secondary shapeshifting choices.
All classes in the Legion expansion will also be receiving some visual updates, primarily those with melee abilities, although all classes will benefit from more detailed visuals and new animations.
Artifact Weapons
A brand new type of weapon is arriving with the Legion expansion; “Artifacts“, they are rare weapons with incredible powers and high stats that will make even the most powerful heroes able to stand toe-to-toe with the most difficult of foes. These are the ultimate weapons in Azeroth, available only to seasoned warriors according to lore. These unique weapons will scale as you do, and each class specialization gets a unique weapon.
Artifact weapons are also upgradeable, so you can change them in a myriad of ways. These weapons are obtainable early on in the expansion, and to level them up you need a special type of currency known as “Artifact Power”. You gain this resource by leveling up, taking on arenas, boss raids, and more. This power is used to unlock a variety of weapon traits that will become available as you progress.
As you unlock new traits for your Artifact weapon, you can also choose the order in which they are unlocked. This furthers the customization options for these powerful weapons even more. There will also be a new item specific to these Artifacts called “Relics”, which can be slotted into artifacts to unlock new abilities or strengthen secondary stats.
Achievements
What game would be complete without achievements to unlock? Legion is bringing a ton of them to the table, and they cover a wide variety of topics. Casual players will likely take interest in the ones involving exploration such as Explore Suramar, achieved after revealing the covered areas of Suramar’s map. Achievements that focus on appearance will also be fun to collect. There are achievements that also cover certain boss raids as well as crafting, finding certain items for characters, and many more.
Including the most recent additions, there will now be over 2,000 unique Achievements in the game, giving accolade hunters plenty to do.
Demon Hunters: The new class in Azeroth
The biggest feature being introduced in Legion has already been revealed, but for new players, or spoiler avoiders, the new class being added is Demon Hunter.
Unlike most of WoW‘s classes that are open to nearly all of the available races, Demon Hunters are restricted to Night Elves and Blood Elves. Demon Hunters have two subclasses, Havoc which focuses on damage, and Vengeance which is their tanking subclass.
As with all classes, Demon Hunters have a variety of customization options including different horns, blindfolds, and more. The above image shows some of the many options that will be available. For those who have pre-purchased Legion, you’ll have access to the Demon Hunter class on August 9th. If you did not pre-order Legion, you will have to wait until August 30th when the expansion drops to enjoy the new class.
With all of these new features coming to World of Warcraft, many new players will have a lot to choose from. What are you most excited for when Legion drops? Let me know in the comments!
