Details have slowly been trickling out about the next expansion for World of Warcraft through the official site, game conventions, interviews, and staff comments on the always busy WoW forums. Here's a quick summary of what we know about Wrath of the Lich King so far.
Are there going to be new classes added to the game?
Yes, the Death Knight is going to be the game's first "Hero Class." It will only be available to people that have a character of another class over level 55. Rather than starting at level 1, Death Knights will start at level 55. Death Knights will not replace existing characters and will be available to both factions. Unlike other classes in the game, you will only be able to create one Death Knight per realm.
Death Knights will wear plate and are intended to be a tanking class. They will be able to dual wield and use 2 handed weapons, but not shields. Instead of rage, mana, or energy, Death Knights will use a new "rune" system, which allows players to combine different rune powers for special effects.
The talent trees for Death Knights are split into Blood, Frost, and Unholy. The Blood tree focuses on increased damage, the Frost tree offers tanking abilities, and Unholy skills let you summon undead minions and disease your foes.
Will the level cap be raised?
Yes, the new level cap will be 80, up from 70 in The Burning Crusade. Talent trees for all classes will be extended, and professions will go up to 450.
What new areas will there be in Wrath of the Lich King?
The new land mass that will be featured in the expansion is Northrend, as Outland was the area added with The Burning Crusade. Like Outland, Northrend is divided into different zones with a variety of terrain. The neutral capital city of Northrend is Dalaran, which will be floating in the sky. The continent will be reachable by either boat or zeppelin.
Northrend will have more than one entry point. The Horde start in the Borean Tundra, where Garrosh Hellscream has established the orc fortress of Warsong Hold. The Alliance begin in the Howling Fjord, which is under threat from the Vrykul, a race of half-giant warriors that once inhabited the area.
It looks like Northrend will be divided into about 10 zones. Some will be lush and green, while others are glacial.
One zone, Lake Wintergrasp, is going to be dedicated to PvP combat, and will be contested even on normal (non-PvP) servers. Blizzard plans to make it a persistent zone with siege weapons and destructible buildings. The siege weapons probably won't belong to individual players, but they will be operated and aimed by players.
What will Northrend have for dungeons and raids?
There will be numerous new 5-player dungeons in the expansion, including a Furbolg encounter called Grizzlemaw, a new Caverns of Time instance, Utgarde Keep, and The Nexus. Utgarde Keep, like Blackrock Spire, will have two wings: the Keep, for characters around level 70, and the Pinnacle, for level 80s.
The Nexus will also have multiple wings, including The Nexus, for 5 players of levels 71-73, The Oculus, for 5 level 80 players, and a 10 or 25 player raid. Note that some of the raid content in Lich King will be accessible to both 10 and 25 player groups, with content and rewards scaling to the size of the group.
There is talk about bringing back some of the older level 60 raids that no longer get much attention in a revamped form. Naxxramas is one instance that could be reinvented for the new level cap as a 25-player raid instead of the 40-player raid it is currently.
Does the expansion have new Battlegrounds?
There is at least one new Battleground in the expansion, but we don't have much information on it at this point. It will likely involve the new player-controlled siege engines, and could be another 15 on 15 contest.
What new professions are planned for Wrath of the Lich King?
The only new profession revealed so far is inscribing. This will be similar to enchanting except that it will apply to spells and abilities rather than items.
What else can we expect from the expansion?
World of Warcraft is getting an achievement system similar to the one in Lord of the Rings Online. Players will be granted achievements for things like specific PvP victories, exploring the world, giving out hugs, killing raid bosses, and so on. There will be over 500 achievements available when Wrath of the Lich King launches, and some of them will be rewarded retroactively, giving players credit for things they've already accomplished in the game.
It looks like the interface will get a few more improvements, possibly similar to the Outfitter and Item Rack add-ons. Also in the works are barber shops which will allow players to change the hairstyles and facial hair on their characters at any time.
