Some people just want to watch the world burn – and this goes doubly for everyone’s favorite night elf banshee become the newest villain in World of Warcraft, the Dark Lady herself, Sylvanas Windrunner.
The fallen leader of the Horde has unleashed hell above Azeroth by upsetting the cosmic balance between life and death and torn asunder the veil between the world of light and the world of shadows. The new realm, a shadowy mirror universe, is the eponymous Shadowlands from the upcoming World of Warcraft: Shadowlands expansion.
The heroes of Azeroth will be tasked with entering these Shadowlands to discover their secrets and befriend the peoples and creatures who live there. This will become increasingly important as the veil continues to tear, opening more of the Shadowlands to Azeroth directly.
The Shadowlands is made up of multiple planes that can be visited to meet the people there. This includes the noble Kyrian of Bastion, the mysterious Night Fae of Adenweald, the cunning Venthyr of Ravendreth and the ravenous Necrolords of Maldraxxus.
As they trek into the Shadowlands, players will meet long-lost legends from the Warcraft universe. These include Uther Lightbringer, a paladin who now struggles against the forces of darkness, and Kael’thas, the childish blood elf lord whose arrogance brought about his own demise.
“Shadowlands is taking us somewhere we’ve never dreamed of going in the Warcraft universe, and that’s incredibly exciting,” said J. Allen Brack, president of Blizzard Entertainment. “We can’t wait to explore the great beyond, catch up with old departed friends, and forge an epic new chapter in the Warcraft saga together with our players.”
New features and activities away players who delve into the Shadowlands.
To start, players can explore the Realm of the Dead, which is made up of the regions described above. Each has its own theme from the gleaming golden city of the Bastion (similar to the Sanctuary of Heaven in Diablo), the scarred battlefields of Maldraxxus filled with abominations, the eternal twilight faerie forest of Adenweald, and the opulent gothic keeps of Ravendeth – and finally, the horrific Maw, a place of spiritual unmaking.
Players will be called upon to forge a bond with one of the peoples of the Shadowland in what is called a covenant. This will set the tone for their journey through the land of the dead. As characters level, they will receive abilities based on the Covenant they choose, including class-specific abilities.
At the heart of the horrifying Maw lay a terrible tower known as Torghast, the Tower of the Damned. It is a cured otherworldly prison for the worst souls Azeroth ever birthed. The dungeon is designed to behave like a highly-replayable roguelike game mode that can be explored over and over with ever-changing halls and chambers. Heroes will be tasked with fighting hordes of inmates and jailers for a chance to unearth treasure and free heroic souls wrongly imprisoned within.
Current max-level characters will start at level 50 in the Shadowlands and ascend to a max level of 60. This is designed to make sure that every level is meaningful and players feel a sense of achievement as they work towards level cap.
The assault on Icecrown has also sent out a new call for Death Knights. Therefore, with the release of Shadowlands, Pandaren and all allied races can now be created as Death Knights.
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands is already available for pre-purchase for $39.99 – a lower price than previous expansions designed to make it more accessible to players. For those willing to expend more cash, there is also a Heroic Edition for $59.99 and an Epic Edition with a price tag of $79.99.
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