Wrath of the Lich King - More Details
#1
The new expansion has been announced. This all looks very exciting!
Following are some details and links for your information.


Pictures:
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WoW: Wrath of the Lich King Revealed
New Hero Class, new continent, new level cap, and more!
By GFW Staff, 08/03/2007

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It's official: The next World of WarCraft expansion is coming; it's called Wrath of the Lich King, and will open up the continent of Northrend to players of level 68 and above. This second expansion will focus on the return of Arthas Menethil, a.k.a. the Lich King, ruler of the Scourge, and one of the most powerful beings in all of Azeroth. This semi-sequel to the saga of Arthas (from WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne) is intended for experienced players with a couple level 70 characters in their pockets.
The September issue of Games for Windows: The Official Magazine (on sale soon) has tons of details, but for now here's a quick rundown of what's in store....

Level Cap: 80
Skill Cap: 450
Continent: Northrend
Number of Zones: 10 (tentatively), for levels 68 and above
Profession: Inscription
Class: Death Knight (first-ever Hero Class)
Features: Outdoor PVP zone with siege weapons and destructible buildings.

Release Date: You're kidding, right?

The biggest news for existing players is the introduction of the Death Knight, the first new class since WOW's launch -- and, coincidentally, its first Hero Class, too. Other big new features include the introduction of siege weapons and destroyable buildings in both a new Battleground and a brand-new outdoor PVP zone. What Wrath of the Lich King won't have is any content for new characters: no new races, no new level-1-to-20 zones back in the old world, and little change to the old world.



Here's what we know so far:

The Story
Having cleaned up Outland (or at least having set things in decent enough order for now), the Alliance and Horde turn their heads northward to the continent of Northrend, where a terrible threat has gone unchecked for far too long: that of Lich King and his undead army, the Scourge. On the day Wrath of the Lich King launches, players will be able to set sail from various points in old Azeroth and join the fight against Arthas Menethil.

New Continent: Northrend
Having learned a valuable lesson about funneling 8.5 million players into once single starting zone with The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King lets players pick a zone on either side of the continent to start from: Borean Tundra in the west or Howling Fjord in the east. Each zone has level-equivalent quests (appropriate for approximately level 68 through 72) and one Hellfire Peninsula-style instance hub with multiple dungeon wings for level 70 characters, level 80 characters, and raiders. While Northrend immediately calls to mind ice and snow, Blizzard doesn't want to make those themes dominate Northrend completely-expect as much variety as ever, only not quite as weird and wild as Outland.

Northrend's indigenous inhabitants include a Viking-like race called the Vrykul: 15-foot-tall humanoids with a strong Norse influence. Most Vrykul you encounter will be your enemies, as they've been in Northrend so long that the Lich King holds a lot of sway over them. Another friendly race -- the walrus-like Tuskarr -- will serve as a cute little counterpoint to the lumbering undead-loving oafs.

New Zone Type: Outdoor PVP
One of Northrend's 10 new zones (final count still tentative) is an outdoor PVP zone that introduces the concept of siege weapons (Meat Wagons, Steam Tanks, etc.) and destructible buildings. Blizzard describes the outdoor zone as basically a "non-instanced Battleground" where completing objectives earns world-wide bonuses for your side (Think Spirit Shard buff in Auchindoun instances). The PVP zone is entirely avoidable (if you're the carebear type), and seige weapons won't be useable outside their designated PVP area.

New Hero Class: Death Knight
World of WarCraft's first Hero Class is a plate-wearing tank/DPS hybrid that works a little something like this: When players hit level 80, they'll be able to embark on a quest (similar in difficulty to the Warlock's epic mount quest, back before the level cap was raised to 70) that unlocks the ability to create a Death Knight character. The Death Knight starts at a high level (somewhere around 60 or 70, though Blizzard isn't certain yet), so you won't have to grind your way back up all over again. It's intended as an alternative, advanced class for end-game use only.

Rather than using rage, energy, or mana, Death Knights have a special "rune sword" displayed beneath their health bar, onto which the player can etch six different runes (choose between Frost, Blood, and Unholy). Different abilities require different mixes of runes, and using abilities consumes the requisite runes until a cooldown timer causes them to be available again. Stuff like talents, spells, and other specifics are still being finalized. So are key questions like what races can be a Death Knight (start a Gnome petition now) and whether unlocking the Hero Class on one server means you can create a Death Knight on any server.

New Profession: Inscription
Wrath of the Lich King will introduce a new profession called Inscription that will let players customize individual spells and abilities in their spell book -- to change the cooldown timer on a Fireball, for example, or alter the crit rate of a healing spell.

There's lots more in the upcoming September issue of Games for Windows: The Official Magazine, on sale in the next couple weeks, including candid insight from the developers, details on some of the new dungeons not shown at BlizzCon, and word that The Burning Crusade ain't over yet...there's more BC content coming beyond Zul'Aman.
Sing True Ironsong!
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#2
The Roof of the World
Sing True Ironsong!
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#3
Quote:Wrath of the Lich King will introduce a new profession called Inscription that will let players customize individual spells and abilities in their spell book -- to change the cooldown timer on a Fireball, for example, or alter the crit rate of a healing spell.

._.

Interesting..
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#4
Gra'zak Wrote:
Quote:Wrath of the Lich King will introduce a new profession called Inscription that will let players customize individual spells and abilities in their spell book -- to change the cooldown timer on a Fireball, for example, or alter the crit rate of a healing spell.

._.

Interesting..
It sounds like its going to be 'trade able' Grazak, likely with a few 'BoP' ones that are better than the rest. But overall, open to others like most professions.
What is the best thing in life?
Crush enemy, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women.
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#5
This is an awesome thread with lots of detail on the expansion. Basically a summary of everything from BlizzCon. Enjoy.

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#6
Dispaya Wrote:The Roof of the World
I still think that Kalimdor looks like a baby chicken waiting to be fed, the Eastern Kingdoms an evil old witch with a long, crooked nose.. and Northend now a slithering, Walrus of some sorts.. One that's there intercepting whatever evil plans of doom the wicked witch of the east is plotting against it's neighboring baby chicken.

I am also crazy.

< didn't constantly have her head to sky naming the shapes of clouds when she was young.. not.at.all >
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#7
Northrend
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Map of south-eastern Northrend from Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne.
Northrend map.In the fictional Warcraft Universe, Northrend is the frozen continent found at the roof of the world of Azeroth. The entirety of the continent is ruled by the The Undead Scourge, and is their seat of power. The Lich King himself sits atop his Frozen Throne on Icecrown Glacier.

The other two continents of the Azeroth world are Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms. There is also another world linked to Azeroth through the Dark Portal, opened by the Lich King and re-opened by Medivh. This is the shattered world of Draenor, now called Outland

Inhabitants
The Scourge currently controls most of Northrend and the indigenous creatures have suffered greatly as they succumb to its plague of undeath. But Northrend still maintains a sizable population of native creatures.

The most notable former inhabitants of Northrend were the spider-men Nerubians. With their ancient, subterranean kingdom, Azjol-Nerub, their empire once spread over half the continent. The Nerubians chose to attack the Scourge in its early stages, using hit and run tactics to attack and destroy scourge strongholds then retreat. The Lich King was eventually able to fend them off, and invade Azjol-Nerub. The Scourge, with the help of the Dreadlords, were able to completely crush the nerubian kingdom. Though trace elements of the Nerubian Empire remain, there are few pockets of Nerubian resistance left to oppose the Scourge. This conflict was known as The War of the Spider. *

Northrend is home to several tribes of Ice Trolls as well. Other inhabitants include Wendigo, Polar Bears, Blue Dragons, Furbolgs, and Penguins. Much of Northrend has little plant life, but twisted, leafless trees are abundant in Northrend. Icecrown itself also is home to evergreen trees and other plants.

Locations in Northrend

Main Source: World of Warcraft RPG: Lands of Mystery. If you wish more indepth details you can buy the book and search Northrend Regions from page 84-113. Read Lands of Mystery's full
Table of Content which contains descriptions and lore of Kalimdor, South Seas, Undermine, and Northrend.


Northrend is the continent located far north of the Maelstrom. Northrend is a glacier ... a snowy place. There has been no official announcement, but based on the massive size of Northrend, it will be a future World of Warcraft Expansion. There are many regions within Northrend:

Coldarra
Crystalsong Forest
Grizzly Hills
Howling Fjord
Icecrown Glacier
Sholazar Basin
The Borean Tundra
The Dragonblight
The Stormpeaks
Zul?Drak

Coldarra
Among the places of interest within Northrend, known to fans, the Dragon Aspect of Magic - Malygos - lives in a cavern named the Nexus, located at the island Coldarra -- he is known to gather relics of arcane power, keeping them locked away from mortals -- frozen Orcs, Nagas, Trolls and Wendigos are among the species that had dared to enter the sanctity of Malygos' lair. They remain frozen, like statues, as a show to display what happens to those who venture into the Lair of Malygos -- as described in Warcraft: Day of the Dragon novel. Krasus the red dragon came to visit Malygos in that book, to ask for help to free Queen Alexstrasza from the Dragonmaw Clan, during the Second War.

Crystalsong Forest
The place has an epic history of a battle between black dragons and blue dragons. The Tuskarr legends say that many blue dragons died that day in Crystalsong Forest. Their magic released into the air. When an elder Blue dragon casted a spell to turn the black dragons into ice, the loose magic in the air accidentally amplified the spell -- causing the natural green forest to turn into crystal. The only thing spared from such fate was the Emerald Dream Tree (The Great Tree). The only current residents found in this region are Green Dragons and Crystalline Golem workers -- sent here by the Storm Giants of Ulduar to gather crystals for their experiments.

Grizzly Hills
Places of interest in the Grizzly Hills are: Grizzlemaw, Draktharon Keep and Thor Modan. The Grizzly Hills are inhabited by over 20,000 Furbolgs living at their settlement Grizzlemaw. Thor Modan was built by Ironforge Dwarves. It is a camp of stone huts and tents. The dwarves are excavating in search of relics and clues about the Titans. Mostly Explorer's League work. Darktharon Keep was formerly a Ice Troll ruin, now taken by force by the Undead Scourge as their new garrison to watch the passes of the mountains.

Howling Fjord
During Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, Arthas wished with all his hatred to finish his mission: to kill Mal'Ganis the Dreadlord and destroy the Undead Scourge, and wouldn't allow his father's orders get in the way. Arthas destroyed the ships of King Terenas' men when they came to Northrend to recall Arthas' army by orders of King Terenas. By destroying the naval ships, the nearly 5,000 survivors of both armies: those who came to Northrend with Prince Arthas and those troops who came to deliver a message to Prince Arthas on behalf of King Terenas Menethil II built a settlement near the coast of Daggercap Bay -- within the region: Howling Fjord, naming the settlement as Valgarde. The population is composed of Humans and Dwarves. According to World of Warcraft Collector's Edition Behind the Scenes DVD, a map of Isle of Kezan (Undermine) shows a Zeppelin-route from Undermine to a town of Northrend, known as Valgarde -- at the southeastern-most side of the continent.

Icecrown Glacier
Arthas the Lich King lives, at the Icecrown Glacier. A massive tower of ice named Icecrown came to be when Kil'jaeden sent the icy-prison of Ner'zhul crashing down from the sky into the glacier. Furbolgs of Grizzly Hills saw the flashing that blinded the sky as the object fell.

Over 200,000 Undead Scourge: Ghouls, Crypt Lords, Frost Wyrms, Abominations, Death Knights, Necromancers, Liches and other support forces live in the Icecrown Glacier. A surprising force. Beneath the Icecrown, however, exist a series of caverns and tunnels built with Nerubian architecture. Ner'zhul assimilated and adapted the Nerubian architecture into the Undead Scourge's structures after the War of the Spider.

During Warcraft III: Frozen Throne, Illidan was sent by Kil'jaeden to destroy Icecrown using the power of the Eye of Sargeras. Accompanied by Naga Witches to channel the spellwork, Illidan used the safety of Dalaran's ley nodes and magical shielding to create earthquakes upon Northrend to crack the ice beneath Icecrown. ( Read More ) The incident caused the Lich King Ner'Zhul's icy-prison to leak his powers daily causing him to lose mental control over large part of the Undead Scourge in Lordaeron. As consequence, Sylvanas Windrunner was able to recover her individual will and caused a Civil War in the Plaguelands, taking the Ruins of Lordaeron for her new band of Undead Forsaken.

The Lich King summoned his loyal servant King Arthas the Death Knight to travel to Northrend. After Illidan's failure to destroy the Icecrown and the Lich King, Kil'jaeden gave one more chance to Illidan to fulfill his mission. This time Illidan, his Naga and Blood Elves forces came to the Icecrown and initiated the rituals before the Magic Obelisks that grant access to the inner walls of the Icecrown Citadel. ( Read More

King Arthas was able to defeat Illidan in combat and ascended to the top of the Icecrown Citadel. There the Lich King ordered King Arthas to break his Icy-prison. The chestplate and helmet containing the Spirit of Ner'Zhul the Lich King came loose as the icy-prison cracked open. King Arthas wore the chestplate and helmet. Immediately the Spirit of Ner'zhul and King Arthas merged -- becoming into one entity. Arthas became the living vessel of the spirit of Ner'zhul. Sitting at the Frozen Throne, Arthas the Lich King watches over the Undead Scourge, rebuilding the Icecrown Citadel, and gathering strength to one day unleash the Undead Scourge against the world of Azeroth's nations.

The Sholazar Basin
Not much is known of this region except that the place has no ice and barely has snow. Some have settled farms in this terrain. Whether it will become a future Northrend battleground instance is unknown. However, detail of interest is that the region is charted as an anomaly. The place is a copy of Un'Goro -- with hot springs, steam vents, geysers, and a tropical jungle. Possibly a zone made by the Titans for experiments.

The Borean Tundra
Located at the far western edge of Northrend, the Borean Tundra is a habitat for the Tuskarr race. However, small presence of Drakkari Trolls, Blue Dragons, Undead Scourge and Naga inhabit the place. The most important places within the region are the Tuskarr capital Kaskala; the Riplash Ruins look Nerubian structure. However, it seems as though a large portion of the underground Azjol-Nerub caverns was pushed upwards by a cataclysm, ascending the underground ruins toward the surface as the ice broke. Nerubians no longer inhabit these Riplash Ruins, therefore the Naga took residence within the abandoned ruins.

The Dragonblight
The Dragonblight is the place where all dragonflights come to, to die. It is a graveyard. It is a place mentioned in the Warcraft lore for near the borders of Dragonblight existed a Human settlement that the Lich King infested with the firsts version of the Plague for testing purposes. This happened by the end of the Second War, 10 years after the Dark Portal. The Humans inhabiting the Dragonblight became into the first Undead Scourge of the Lich King. Months later, Kel'Thuzad became a Necromancer at the service of Ner'zhul and returned to Lordaeron to create the Cult of the Damned. Many of the Frost Wyrms of the Undead Scourge were risen from the bones of dragons at Dragonblight.

The Dragonblight has many locations of importance: the graveyard, the Wyrmrest Temple and the entrance to Azjol-Nerub Inner Kingdom. The Wyrmrest Temple is Titan-made. Storm Golems may be found in this temple mysteriously. More to be concerned is that the Blue dragonflight inhabits the temple -- as if watching or communing over the spirits of the dragons. The Wintergrasp Lake is on the northwest of Dragonblight region -- frozen soild. Tauren inhabit the Lake at a settlement named Icemist Village. The Tauren here are cooks, fishermen, tailors and create tools. They sell and trade all their works to visitors.

The Storm Peaks
The epic battle of Sargeras and Aegwynn - known as Dragon Hunt- took place in Northrend over 800 years ago (-823 before the Dark Portal). According to Warcraft RPG: Shadow & Light -- page 107 -- and to World of Warcraft RPG: Lands of Mystery Ulduar, the third base of the Titans, is at The Storm Peaks of Northrend.

The wind in the peaks is extremely violent and dangerous. The entrance to Ulduar is hidden. The residents of Ulduar are the Storm Giants -- created by the Titans. The Storm Giants are low in numbers nowadays. Brann Bronzebeard calculates nearly 150. To have labor support, the Storm Giants created constructs to help gather minerals and to guard Ulduar. This constructs are named Crystalline Golems. Places of interest in the Storm Peaks are Ulduar and the Temple of Storms -- Titan-made building far to the west of Ulduar.

Zul'Drak
This is the Drakkari Ice Trolls homeland. They have lived here since before the Great Sundering. They are cannibalistic, practice voodoo, are larger and bigger than other types of trolls, and worship spirits. Every six years, the Ice Trolls navigate to Zandalar in the South Seas to a meeting of all troll tribes. The capital city of Zul'Drak region is Gundrak. The architecture of the ruins is similar to that of Zandalar Isle in the South Seas. It is unknown whether the Ice Trolls of Northrend were the first Trolls.
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#8
Dispaya Wrote:New Profession: Inscription
Wrath of the Lich King will introduce a new profession called Inscription that will let players customize individual spells and abilities in their spell book -- to change the cooldown timer on a Fireball, for example, or alter the crit rate of a healing spell.

hmm, There goes the cooldown on shieldslam >=D
"Passion and shame torment him, and rage is mingled with his grief."

~Virgil~
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#9
More Maps
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#10
Going out on a limb here but I bet we are going to need to really up our Frost Resistances for these zones... Wink
.
Etsuko - Monk
Razzlixx Blingwell - Warlock
Cloudjumper Wildmane - Druid (Inactive)
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#11
Hmmm, I am having a hard time finding the source, but it sounds like they announced at Blizzcon that Naxxramas is getting recycled, being a flying citadel and all, or possibly just one of several. This would be very interesting for the 95% of the population who never saw the zone. It might be a sign that Blizzard is learning from some mistakes.
Kosath Whitehorn
"The Tribe is my weapon.  I am their shield."
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#12
Don't forget: inhabitants also include Taunka, ancient offshoot of Tauren fond in Borean Tundra, and dwarves, runed skin ones described as "iron" dwarves (not sure if that's a clan thing or literal physical characteristic) that may answer the question of Dwarves creation.

Also, the runed skin may be the lore connection to the new inscription profession, and the Taunka may have something to do with it too, but I have no idea since all I know about them is that they're a Tauren offshoot thought to be lost forever.
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#13
Kosath Wrote:Hmmm, I am having a hard time finding the source, but it sounds like they announced at Blizzcon that Naxxramas is getting recycled, being a flying citadel and all, or possibly just one of several. This would be very interesting for the 95% of the population who never saw the zone. It might be a sign that Blizzard is learning from some mistakes.
Read about that too.
Jeffrey Kaplan Wrote:So what I want to do in Northrend is to take Naxxramas in all of its glory, scale it down to the 25 man raid size, and then take the difficulty and retune it obviously we'd tune for level 80, it would no longer be tuned for level 60, since that would be a little silly and it wouldn't be a lot of fun for people at that point, but I want to put rewards in there that are very exciting to level 80 players, but make it the entry-level raid, very accessible, tune the encounters so that there's something for everybody to do, and let the majority get a chance to see that content that they hadn't seen before.
Source: http://www.mmo-gamer.com/?p=218
What is the best thing in life?
Crush enemy, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women.
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#14
Tetsumis Wrote:Blah, blah

Good interview. Thanks, Tet.
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#15
Efluvious Wrote:
Dispaya Wrote:New Profession: Inscription
Wrath of the Lich King will introduce a new profession called Inscription that will let players customize individual spells and abilities in their spell book -- to change the cooldown timer on a Fireball, for example, or alter the crit rate of a healing spell.

hmm, There goes the cooldown on shieldslam >=D
Hmm.. reduce the cooldown on MS with inscription.. then test it out with 5/5 improved MS. Chain burst damage?
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