Blizzard's Burning Crusade

A new tank on the block
No longer will the warrior be sole meat grinder. BC adds new enhancements that make the Paladin an intriguing new tank class.

Tom Chilton expects players to embrace new tactical opportunities: ‘What we’ve seen is the evolution of the Paladin into a fully fledged “tanking” class. We’ve given them a new ability called Righteous Defense, which gives them the ability to taunt multiple creatures. We’ve given them some tools to allow them to tank a little better, anger generation and better mana conservation while tanking. An example is Spiritual Attunement which increases their mana slightly whenever they’re being healed by another player.

‘With the Shamans we’ve given them the Bloodlust ability, a very powerful offensive group buff that helps differentiate the Shaman as the “offensive hybrid caster/melee character.”’

Looking good!
The revamp will also give a fresh feel to the worlds that players are familiar with. Now, Horde players don’t have to be ugly and sinister, living only in dark worlds. ‘It’s a cool change for Horde players to get a beautiful race. A lot of their players up until now have been pretty monstrous. The Horde Blood Elf starting area is very beautiful setting in Eversong Forest. Horde players are more accustomed to starting in harsh, barren terrain or depressive rainy zones. So we’ve given them a beautiful starting area.’

It’s not all sunshine and lollypops – Blizzard has been careful to preserve the intrinsic feel of what it is to be in the Horde: ‘We spent a lot of time defining the feel of the area. Elves are very into nature and appreciate it, but Blood Elves are twisted, they’re obsessed with arcane magic and therefore while they appreciate nature, they tend to manipulate it with their magical powers. You’ll see trees that would never be possible without magic. Players who are accustomed to playing Orcs or the Undead will find this a very refreshing change.’

Outland – the New Frontier
Veteran WoW players will – and should be – itching to get into BC’s new territory, the Outland. While you can technically get there if you’re a level 55 or higher, the content was designed for Level 60s.

Teaser screenshots released on the Net show it as a barren desert, but the Outland we saw was a stunning place with wildly varying ecology, and all-new mythology to further expand the deep and intricate Warcraft universe.

The Outland almost looks like something out of Blizzard's own Starcraft.

Kaplan expects to thrill players with Outland and its role in Warcraft history: ‘So while the new races are very exciting, I think what a lot of existing players will be excited about is actually going to Outland for the first time. Outland used to be a planet known as Draenor, which in previous Warcraft games was the home planet of the Orcs, who were evil invaders sent through the star portal to invade Azeroth. That the Orcs used to be the bad guys has changed through Warcraft lore, until they were freed from their demonic possession and were turned into idealistic, noble creatures.’

The Outland will not only provide a new place to fight, but new spells and abilities to use as well.

Into the valley of death
From the very first moment you step through the Dark Portal and into Outland’s Hellfire Peninsula, you’ll be floored by the site before you.

You won’t have more than a precious few seconds to appreciate the savagely beautiful burning hell before you, because a titanic battle rages that you’re thrown right into. For as you pass through the portal, creatures of the Burning Legion are trying to get through the portal too, back into Azeroth to destroy it. Such is the importance and majesty of the battle that both Horde and Alliance join forces to battle the Burning Legion. Leading the forces is the mighty Pit Lord, and his monstrous minions. The scale of the battle is immense, and everlasting. Adding to the fury are scores of NPCs creating smaller portals, through which other NPCs stream from Azeroth to join the battle.

Blood Elves are the new Horde race, and my, are they pretty.