It wasn't all that long ago that World of Warcraft's last major expansion, Warloads of Draenor, made its grand debut. For many WoW players, Draenor was a return to form, a reminder of what made the game so much fun in the first place. Now, less than a year later, Blizzard is hoping to catch lightning in a bottle again: the publisher just announced the game's next expansion, simply titled World of Warcraft: Legion.
If Warlords of Draenor was meant to be a callback to the mechanics of a pre-Cataclysm game, then it seems Legion is a direct homage to the story of World of Warcraft's first expansion, The Burning Crusade. And it looks as if the main baddie from The Burning Crusade – one Illidan the Betrayer – will be making a return in Legion alongside the Burning Legion.
Of course, it's just not a World of Warcraft expansion without new content, and Legion is bringing a ton of new weapons, environments, quests and changes to Blizzard's MMO giant. For starters, Legion takes place on an entirely new continent: the Broken Isles.
That said, the map is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Legion's new content: not only will the city of Dalaran return as the expansion's hub town, but players will finally be able to enter and explore the Emerald Nightmare. Blizzard also released a long list of dungeons that players can expect to fight their way through: Black Rook Hold, Darkheart Thicket, Suramar City and Neltharion's Lair are just a few of Legion's new combat zones.
On a more peaceful note, Class Order halls – meeting grounds for various player classes – will also make their debut alongside new, extremely powerful artifact weapons. Speaking of classes, the new Demon Hunter class will make the jump from Diablo III to World of Warcraft, along with a revamped progression system. As with all World of Warcraft expansions, Legion will also bump the current level cap from 100 to 110.
Continuing the tradition that Warloads of Draenor started, the overarching Legion experience will start before the expansion officially drops: prior to even venturing to the Isles, players will have to face off against the new Tomb of Sargeras zone in a special event. Blizzard isn't saying much about when we can expect the new event to launch, though it'll likely be sometime before players make their way into the Tomb.
There's no word on when Legion will arrive, though Blizzard announced plans to launch a beta for the expansion sometime before launch. If you're interested in testing out World of Warcraft's new expansion before it drops (or if you just want more info), you can head over to the official Legion website.
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