The largest heavyweight in MMO gaming is about to deliver a serious haymaker. World of Warcraft developer Blizzard Entertainment has never taken to resting on their laurels, constantly feeding their loyal community regular updates and expansions. The world of Azeroth has been expanded, torn down, reconstructed, had its political leaders change, and had its terrain altered since gamers first set foot in it. Yet, somehow, Shadowlands looks to be the biggest change of pace yet.
Not everything is getting bigger. Some parts of the game will be condensed while others have been reworked for simplicity. The world is taking place largely in the realm of the dead. Without revealing any spoilers, just don't be too surprised to see any heroes that have fallen take a leading role in the lore. This is only the tip of the iceberg, as the mechanics and features are evolving to match the twisted new environment.
10 Level Compression
Blizzard took a long, hard look at how to improve the free-to-play experience for players so that they would become purchasers and subscribers of the full product. It turns out that that questing until level 130 was not something that enticed very many people.
The new maximum level is going back down to its original maximum of 60. The statistical bonuses should behave the same way so that players don't notice a huge falloff, but it should make leveling, if not easier, more straightforward.
9 New Starting Zone
With so much of the player base already established, starting over again is a somewhat eerie experience. There are bustling cities with NPCs, but almost all of the community never visits these capitals.
Instead of letting players potentially start in one of Azeroth's creepiest areas, World of Warcraft has constructed a unified starter zone called Exile's Reach that will level up players to 10 and end with a three-person practice dungeon so that newbies feel more at home.
8 New Base Cosmetic Choices
Through no fault of the players, who have been asking for more customization options for years now, World of Warcraft really did not feel comfortable adding more diversity, specifically in the area of character creation.
The team has decided that that unfortunate limitation ends with the next expansion. On top of more body colors and face shapes, there will be some excellent cultural tattoos that will help enhance the game's aesthetic diversity.
7 Expanded Death Knight Races
The Death Knight is already the most versatile class when it comes to character creation by allowing many core races from both the Horde and the Alliance to arise as a hero from beyond the grave. Now they're taking the next step.
In Shadowlands, players of any race will now be able to select the Death Knight class. So prepare to see a lot more of those haunting undead horses among the rest of the rare mounts out there when cruising around Azeroth.
6 Covenants
A controversial new addition to the game will be an integral part of the late game leveling experience. Players will meet one of these Covenants as they enter an area. The Covenant will give the players unique moves based on their class.
Additionally, the best transmog configurations will have to scoot over and make some room; early indications show that the game's Covenants will also give the individual classes access to new sets of armor.
5 Soulbinding
As if the Covenants needed any more importance in Shadowlands, these arbiters of the underworld are also giving players a brand new talent tree when a player declares their allegiance to them. And not just one tree; players will get to overview several trees.
It's believed that players will only be able to choose one at a time, which will make the character builds very dependent upon the leveling. This is something that World of Warcraft players will have to get used to discussing when comparing builds.
4 Roguelike Tower
For those who played the beta, they know there is one big takeaway that gamers just couldn't get enough of. A new dungeon called Torghast, Tower of the Damned will make its debut, re-introducing gamers to characters with troubling backstories that they will remember fondly. By design, this single creation keeps dungeoneering fresh and interesting.
Torghast will change after every run-through. Each new room will give access to different buffs and change the way the players behave if they must win. It is punishing to those who prefer a set rotation, but for those who understand their abilities, the reward is worth the challenge.
3 Controller Compatability
No, World of Warcraft: Shadowlands is not gearing up to become the next best home console launch title. But they are taking a step in bringing accessibility to players who might not be able to play the game with a traditional mouse and keyboard.
Players initially revolted against the idea that a game like World of Warcraft should ever be played with a controller. Blizzard made it clear that they were making it possible for Shadowlands, but would not be diluting the gameplay. The idea was to get gamers involved who suffer from a disability that doesn't allow them to use a standard PC setup.
2 Mythic Plus Rework
Players will still be carrying their favorite battle pets into dungeons with difficulties set on mythic plus, but the rest of the system has been overhauled. It looks like it's going to be a lot harder to get that coveted weekly gear.
Finished runs will now only yield a single item when the mythic plus difficulty is selected. A difficulty of mythic plus two will have to be completed to receive any weekly gear at all. These rewards will now be called the Great Vault. Getting anything from it will be a tough first task after hitting the max level.
1 Legendary Runecarving
World of Warcraft has served up legendary items differently so many times that it has become comedic. From randomly dropping to class trainer dispersal, nobody can fault Blizzard for trying to find a way to make them worthwhile.
Shadowlands is introducing an overhauled way of getting a legendary item called runecarving. The process will imbue armor (instead of weapons), with legendary features to perhaps help from taking on those mythic pluses that the community is preparing for.