World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King

It took Blizzard less than two years to prepare the second World of Warcraft expansion pack. Millions of players (according to recent estimates over 11 million) were waiting for Christmas with bated breath, which came November 13 this year.

This was no ordinary premiere. In a country as resistant to all outdoor events as the Polish distributor, CD Projekt organized night sale. And with it dance and costume contests based on Warcraft . I don't know whether this action burned out and how many Wrath of the Lich King pieces were sold at night, but on a global scale this is everyday life, but when it comes to our country, we would like more such premieres. Fans were waiting for Wrath of the Lich King mainly for three reasons: raised level limit to 80, continent Northrend and Death Knight class. Northrend Blizzard placed this time not behind the portal leading somewhere into the void, but north of the well-known Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms.

You can get there by Zeppelins (Horde) or ships (Alliance). Contrary to the suspicions of some players, Northrend is not completely covered in snow and does not resemble Winterspring. Among the nine lands is, among others, forested, reminiscent of the classic WoW Grizzly Hills and the tropical area of Sholazar Basin. The heart of the continent is the Dalaran sanctuary, a magocratic city belonging to the mages of Kirin Tor. Has the same role as Shattrath in the previous addendum. From here you can get through the portals to the capitals, here you can also relax, buy most things and sign up for the Arenas and Battlegrounds. The introduction of a new continent means that we can get another ten levels there. Or at least do new quests, because you can also buy stubborn experience points in Outlands. The unpleasant surprise is the fact that most of Northrend must first be defeated on the back of a mount. It is only at level 77 that you can buy the ability to fly over Northrend and only then our TBC kites fly. New is Mount, which in addition to the player transports ... two sellers.

It is nice to see the experience bar on the screen again, although the leap when it comes to the number of points needed to reach level 71 is alarming. Fortunately, the number of xpeków for mobs and quests is also higher, so reaching level 80 does not take months. Ba, the record-holder playing Warlock with the support of Priest needed only 27 hours, but was limited only to smashing quickly respected mobs. Quest mechanics haven't changed as drastically as it did with The Burning Crusade . Then the novelty were, among others, missions involving bombing and daily quests. In Wrath, the quests are - how else - interesting, but there is no breakthrough.

Nothing to knock on your knees, although several quests "carried out" from the deck of a ship or combat machine make a nice impression, as do the changing "auras". The latter phenomenon occurs in the case of several questlines and is characterized by the fact that the environment changes depending on the mission, which is to show the player that they take place at a certain time interval. On the plus side, you must also save more reasonable itemization. In The Burning Crusade, several quests in Hellfire Peninsula were enough to exchange purple equipment for green. In Wrath of the Lich King, the change of equipment occurs more sensibly, you can get through the initial lands in old clothes. New is the addition of Binds On Account items, i.e. assigned to the account and scaling depending on the level. This is to make life easier for players who like to play altos. An item marked BOA can be used from levels 1 to 80, with every ten levels changing its statistics. The player can buy such items in Wintergrasp and Dalaran, and then send his characters at low levels.

However, the rules for earning reputation have changed. At least at level 80, because before it was like it was: grinding and doing daily quests. At level 80, however, "championing" is available. It consists in the fact that the player, going to the dungeon, assumes the tabard of one of the main factions, and then reputation is gained faster. It doesn't matter what instance it is, it counts to have the right tabard. The idea certainly makes life easier for players who were bored of walking around disliked heroics just to get exalted with some faction.

Dungeons are not much different in construction from what players have learned in The Burning Crusade. They are short, not too demanding. The novelty when it comes to instances is that you can go to raid groups of 10 or 25 people. There is no (at least at the moment) strict definition that, for example, you can only go to the new Naxxramas in 25 people. The exception to raid company is the Vault of Archavon, but for a completely different reason. This dungeon is located in Wintergrasp, i.e. in the area designated for PvP. Access to the Vault of Archavon is won by the side who wins This works in a similar way to Haala in The Burning Crusade, where access to traders was only possible after winning the struggle for the city. Hardcore players just a few days after the premiere began to complain that when it comes to dungeons, Wrath of the Lich King poses no challenge. The fastest guild cleared everything in just two days, although it should be noted that it was perfectly prepared after long beta testing. Anyway, does it easily mean bad? For most players, easier dungeons are an opportunity to see the entire game. If they pay the same subscription as hardcore players, why should they not have access to them?

Major changes have affected PvP. The biggest novelty is the Wintergrasp land mentioned above. However, it's not like Blizzard has given players a new area and said "fight". It's not just about capturing the fortress defended by the opponent, and then repelling attacks. The most important is the new PvP mechanics. The creators finally fulfilled their promises and introduced machines to the game. Players can sit at the controls of aircraft, catapults and mechs. They can not only kill other players, but also destroy walls and buildings! It changes the game radically, as if it were not, to a large extent RPG - almost in ... a shooter. Gameplay is much more dynamic thanks to the machines.

The machines were introduced not only to Wintergrasp, but also to the new Battleground - Strand of the Ancients. It is located in Dragonblight and the gameplay resembles the most ... Return to Castle Wolfenstein , because the situation on Strand of the Ancients brings to mind the famous D-Day. In addition, there are two new Arenas in Wrath of the Lich King - The Ring of Valor in Orgrimmar and Dalaran Sewers in "the name says where." They are fundamentally different from the old arenas. Moving objects, such as platforms, were introduced on them. However, the assessment must wait until mid-December, when the next season of Aren starts. Social struggles in the beta or current can not be the basis for the correct assessment of the new Arena.

The new class, or Death Knight, fully deserves the title of prestigious. This is probably Blizzard's most polished child. A hybrid that is great for refueling in dungeons as well as for dealing heavy damage in groups, raids and PvP. Especially for this class a very interesting, though sometimes confusing, story was prepared, a great image and a sensational questline. Knight Death takes part in Ebon Hold, a small enclave that can be compared to the starting lands of individual races. In a closed, small area, the player can get to know the new class while performing dozens of not very difficult quests. It's a kindergarten for future Death Knights.

Questline is interesting for them for two reasons. First of all, the missions are the quintessence of the best in World of Warcraft, and secondly the story told in the meantime in this class is very addictive. Death Knight is basically a class for everyone. There are few weak points, they can be counted on one hand. Mobility is the biggest problem, though Death Grip partly compensates for this inconvenience. In addition, Death Knight is all pluses: the ability to wear heavy armor, deal very high melee and ranged damage, full of talents that increase the number of life points, the value of armor and self-healing.

Raising the limit to level 80 is associated with the fact that new "old" classes got new talents and skills. Hunters are certainly satisfied, this class has undergone a huge metamorphosis. Animals have their own trees, which gives Hunter new possibilities. Paladins got a huge kick, but their joy was short-lived. The Retribution tree has already been changed so that the Paladin does not deal absurdly large damage. Fortunately, Holy Paladins can finally enjoy healing spells in a few seconds. The times were also over that every magician had to be specialized in Frost magic. Now many servers with the most-developed Arcane tree are running on servers, including dunegeons. Druids are also happy. The other classes are unlikely to complain, though Warrior players must be afraid of the Death Knights, and Rogue and Warlock cry that the developers of the additive treated them worse than the others. There is nothing to panic for now, it will be fixed in the next patches.

Wrath of the Lich King is certainly not such a breakthrough as The Burning Crusade almost two years ago. Like everything is in place, like the playability is very high, but ... the game mechanics have not undergone any drastic change, rather, they have refined what players already knew. In that case, is the second addition to the largest MMORPG disappointing? To some extent, yes.

Katarzyna "Haramis" Jakubska

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