World of Warcraft: Legion

Legion is the sixth expansion pack for World of Warcraft – one of the most popular MMORPGs in the history of games, created by Blizzard Entertainment. This production follows up on the story presented in the previous add-on, Warlords of Draenor. Orc shaman Gul'dan fled from Draenor to the Broken Isles – the forgotten continent on Azeroth, which ten thousand years ago was a home to the great night elf civilization (it was also featured in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne). The sinister wizard chose the Tomb of Sargeras as his lair and opened a portal that’s been hidden there, unleashing a horde of demons onto the world. Azeroth is thus facing another invasion of the Burning Legion – the most dangerous in the history of this land, as both the Horde and the Alliance are in disarray and don’t have sufficient forces to word off the attack. This is where the heroes controlled by players come in, landing on the Broken Isles with the intention to stop Gul'dan and the demons before the forces of evil manage to summon the Dark Titan and seal their victory.

To increase the chance for success, the heroes create orders that gather champions representing the same character classes as the players’ heroes. In a way, it’s an equivalent of the garrisons from Warlords of Draenor. Each user receives a location – the seat of the order – where they manage the various aspects of their organization and gradually improve it. Emphasis is put on NPCs –- the aforementioned champions whom we develop by sending them to subsequent missions. Interestingly, orders come in various forms and have their seats scattered across Azeroth – each character class is represented by an organization of a different character.

Players can develop further, reaching up to level 110. There is also a new character class – Demon Hunter – which focuses on melee combat as Vengeance (specialization for "tanks") or Havoc ("DPS"), while also using various demonic powers. Becoming a Demon Hunter involves meeting certain conditions and is a bit reminiscent of the Death Knight class from the second expansion for World of Warcraft entitled Wrath of the Lich King.

Another innovation comes in the form of unique artifacts; there are 36 of them, one per representative of each character class and specialization. In order to acquire such an item, we must complete a series of missions and embark on dangerous journeys – the reward for our effort is an item with individual perk trees, gradually upgrading along with the hero’s experience level. Moreover, the artifacts can also be personalized in terms of their appearance; we can choose different skins and colors.

The progression (honor) system has also undergone changes within the PvP mechanics. Blizzard used a solution inspired by online shooters, such as the Call of Duty series, and introduced ranks, earned by players for victories in arenas and battlegrounds. Achieving the subsequent ranks (there are 50 of them) rewards the hero with special perks, and upon reaching the maximum level the heroes acquire prestigious ranks rewarded with unique mounts, skins for artifacts and other things.

Of course, there’s also a variety of brand new dungeons and raids. These include, among others, the pursuit of Cenarius in a twisted emerald dream, the search for Illidan in an ancient prison for demons, a visit to the former lair of the black dragon Neltharion (better known under the name Deathwing that he assumed later) and the ultimate duel against Gul'dan in a palace located in the ancient city of Suramar. The developer wanted to offer more options during such adventures, so as not to make them boring.

In terms of visuals, Legion continues the process of changes initiated by the previous expansion pack, Warlords of Draenor. All new elements (as well as many old ones) represent a much higher level than the core version of the game, making the production able to compete with games released around 2016 in terms of graphics.

Last updated on November 10, 2015