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As World of Warcraft: The War Within is about to kick its high gear with its alpha testing coming this week, we have the opportunity to learn more about the game early from Ion Hazzikostas, the Game Director, and Tina Wang, Associate Art Director.
The War Within is the 10th expansion of World of Warcraft and will be the first in the Worldsoul Saga, a trilogy of expansions that was announced back in BlizzCon 2023. The Worldsoul Saga will be comprised of The War Within, followed by Midnght, and conclude in The Last Titan.
Characters
Xal’atath, Harbinger of the Void, as previously revealed, will be one of the main villains in the Worldsoul Saga. According to Wang, her design is heavily based on the Shadow Priest artifact (Xal’atath, Blade of the Black Empire) that she was trapped in.
For the familiar faces, Alleria and Anduin will be returning as key heroes. Alleria Windrunner has received a completely new design meant to reflect the duality of her character. Meanwhile, Anduin looked a lot more rugged… well, he went through a lot lately.
As Hazzikostas puts it, the title “The War Within” is one with many layers to it. It is not only about the battle we are going to have within Azeroth but it is also “a story that involves a lot of inner turmoil and inner conflict. Anduin is probably the most torn of any of our cast of heroes, given what he went through in the Shadowlands. His journey into the darkness as he seeks to rediscover his own light is a big part of the narrative arc.”
Other familiar characters who have not been seen in the story for a while will also be making their appearance more in The War Within, such as Magni and his family. Moira, the leader of the Dark Iron Dwarfs and heir of the Iron Forge, will be appearing as well, along with her son Dagran, who is now a young adult.
New Zones
This expansion will be taking place in a land called Khaz Algar, an ancient home to the Earthen. It is just off the west coast of Pandaria, and a couple hundred nautical miles away from a certain sword that is sticking out of the southern end of Kalimdor.
Isle of Dorn | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Isle of Dorn | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Isle of Dorn | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Isle of Dorn | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Isle of Dorn | Image Credit: Blizzard EntertainmentThis place will be home to four zones. The first zone is called the Isle of Dorn, where you can find an isolated group of Earthen. This is the zone that players will spawn in the Alpha, surrounded by familiar debris that shows the scars of the initial battle.
Ringing Deeps | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Ringing Deeps | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Ringing Deeps | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Ringing Deeps | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Ringing Deeps | Image Credit: Blizzard EntertainmentThe second zone is named the Ringing Deeps and is the heart of the Earthen industry. It will be decorated with fire and lava, mixed in with lush caverns for players to explore.
Hallowfall | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Hallowfall | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Hallowfall | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Hallowfall | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Hallowfall | Image Credit: Blizzard EntertainmentThen, we go to Hallowfall, which has underground airships. This zone, as Wang said, is where they really want to break players’ expectations. It is a zone that is illuminated by a bright crystal that creates a striking visual and plays into the enemy spawns and how the world reacts to it. Hazzikostas noted that from the outset, Hallowfall is built to be a place that is unlike what people thought of as an underground space, without the feeling of oppressiveness and claustrophobia.
Azj'kahet | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Azj'kahet | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Azj'kahet | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Azj'kahet | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Azj'kahet | Image Credit: Blizzard EntertainmentThe final zone is Azj’kahet, the heart of the Nerubian Empire. “This is where we will finally see the Nerubian in all their strength and glory, like with the height of their civilization,” described Wang about the zone.
New Dungeon
The Rookery | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
The Rookery | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
The Rookery | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
The Rookery | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
The Rookery | Image Credit: Blizzard EntertainmentThe first dungeon that players can expect to test in the Alpha will be the Rookery Dungeon in the Isle of Dorn. The Rookery is the place where Storm Gryphons were raised and trained by ancient Earthen over the centuries. It is a classic Warcraft pairing of dwarves and gryphons, and the race has a legacy of Storm Riders, and thus the expansion aims to give us that sneak peek. Speaking of Storm Gryphon, if you purchased the Heroic Edition, you will be able to ride one of them as a mount.
Priory of the Sacred Flame | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Priory of the Sacred Flame | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Priory of the Sacred Flame | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Priory of the Sacred Flame | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Priory of the Sacred Flame | Image Credit: Blizzard EntertainmentThe next dungeon is named Priory of the Sacred Flame and is located in Hallowfall. This is an Arathor monastery ornately decorated with a giant window in the final room that frames the crystal that is embedded in the ceiling.
The City of Threads | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
The City of Threads | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
The City of Threads | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
The City of Threads | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
The City of Threads | Image Credit: Blizzard EntertainmentAnother dungeon that was revealed is called The City of Threads, and it will be all about the Nerubian. It is located underneath a Nerubian city and will explore the difference between the ancient and newer civilizations of Nerubian history.
Also, the Follower Dungeon system where you can solo dungeons with NPC allies will be making its return in this expansion after its first introduction in Dragonflight.
New Raid
Nerub’ar Palace | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Nerub’ar Palace | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Nerub’ar Palace | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Nerub’ar Palace | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Nerub’ar Palace | Image Credit: Blizzard EntertainmentOn the topic of Nerubian, this expansion will also introduce a new Raid in Nerub’ar Palace, which will showcase the beauty of Nerubian civilization. Much like how we first met the Nightborne in Suramar, the team wanted to showcase the advanced epic civilization of the Nerubian. “We really want to show the sophistication here. This is not a monstrous supervillain layer, this is, you know, a superpower of Azeroth that we find ourselves, facing off against,” said Hazzikostas.
Since Nerubians by design are arachnids, this expansion will be introducing Arachnophobia mode that turns all Nerubians into crabs for those who have a fear of spiders.
Delves
Are Tier Sets coming back? Yes, they are but this time they are not tied exclusively to Raid, and doing a variety of other activities will grant a chance to yield them. Such activity includes Delves, a major new feature in The War Within, which aims to offer a structured, progression-oriented extension to the outdoor world gameplay. Delves are going to be seamless experiences integrated into all zones where players can have localized, varied adventures alongside NPCs such as Bran Bronzebeard. You can even outfit them for different roles, whether they are a healer or damage dealers.
The idea is that you can walk up to a place of interest with misty doors, interact with them, and suddenly, you have your own personal Delve instance to adventure in. There will be different tiers of Delve to explore, with the higher the tier the more challenging it would be.
Aside from Tier Sets, through completing Delves, players can also unlock a variety of different epic rewards such as mounts with different attachments that can be mixed and matched for personalization. Also, all mounts can now dynamically fly much like dragon riding in Dragonflight.
Warbands
One of the big features announced for The War Within is the addition of Warbands, which allow players to have shared progression and transfer items between various alternate characters account-wide. Yes, regardless of whether your characters are part of the Alliance or the Horde, or any Realm, as long as they are part of the Warbands, they will gain access to a variety of shared progression systems.
This is also reflected in the character selection screen, which is now redesigned with a new UI.
PvP
Moving onto the topic of PvP, this expansion will have a new Battleground named Deephaul Ravine, which is Earthen-themed. It will have mines and basins where players will compete in pushing carts and holding points.
Deephaul Ravine | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Deephaul Ravine | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Deephaul Ravine | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Deephaul Ravine | Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Deephaul Ravine | Image Credit: Blizzard EntertainmentThe 8 vs. 8 solo queue rated Battlegrounds format that was in Dragonflight will be moved to that as a default for how rated Battlegrounds are going to work moving forward.
Hero Talents & Professions
Hero Talents have been a frequent talking point in World of Warcraft and Hazzikostas noted that players should be excited because they can just jump in and play them in the Alpha. There will be Hero Talents that players have not seen before, and many of them are directly shaped by community feedback.
“We have committed to having as many of these Talents playable right from the outset as possible,” said Hazzikostas. “We will have 100% of the Hero Talent Trees available and playable not long in the Alpha. The rest of the journey is going to be about iteration, tuning, and really just dialing it all in to make the polished experience that everyone is excited about.”
Meanwhile, for Professions, the overhaul seen in Dragonflight will be a permanent shift into how Professions work. Expect new recipes, but the same fundamental progression and structure as it was in Dragonflight.
However, a new feature that will be introduced will be the offer of a baseline availability of NPC crafting orders. Essentially, NPCs would put out orders onto the market, so there is always something players can grab.
Other Changes and Alpha
There will also be a UI overhaul in The War Within, such as the various icons, especially for Quests, where now it will be much clearer what type of Quest an NPC is about to give. Perhaps is not a Campaign Quest but is one associated with your Profession or one that grants Revival Catalysts.
As mentioned throughout the presentation, an Alpha or a test build for The War Within will be available soon. Much like how it was rolled out in Dragonflight, Hazzikostas noted that each week, each new build released will be focusing on a specific part of the expansion to concentrate player feedback. So for the first week, it will be about the Isle of Dorn, Dungeons, Delves, and universal systems such as Hero Talents.
You can now register for the Test Servers of The War Within expansion of World of Warcraft through the official website for a chance to participate. As revealed in a roadmap last December, The War Within expansion is targeted to be released sometime in late summer or early autumn of this year.
