WoW Legion Guide

World of Warcraft: Legion (2016)

“You have spent a lifetime fighting for the dream of what Azeroth could be. Now, you must fight for what it is.” - Illidan Stormrage

The sixth expansion pack for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft is Legion. At Gamescom 2015, it was announced on August 6, 2015, and on August 30, 2016, it was made available.

The expansion boosts the previous level maximum from 100 to 110, adds artifact weapons for each class's specializations, introduces the demon hunter hero class, which begins at level 98, and contains a new region on Azeroth called the Broken Isles. There were two raids and 10 5-man dungeons at first.

The Lore of WoW: Legion

Following the battle for Draenor, the deceitful Gul’dan found himself on Azeroth. Gul’dan, tormented by whispers of Kil’jaeden the Deceiver, opened the Tomb of Sargeras and with it a gateway for the Burning Legion to invade Azeroth. The warlock bent the denizens of the Broken Isles to his will, including the ancient nightborne city of Suramar and their leader, Grand Magistrix Elisande. The Alliance and the Horde assaulted the Broken Shore, hoping to preemptively stop Gul’dan and the Legion’s forces. Their efforts ultimately failed, costing High King Varian Wrynn and Warchief Vol’jin their lives. A desperate effort by Archmage Khadgar to unite the shattered factions ultimately resulted in the recovery of the Pillars of Creation, the only instruments capable of sealing the Tomb once more. As the dwellers of the Broken Isles are rescued from the Legion’s grasp, the forces of the Alliance and the Horde close in on The Nighthold—Gul’dan’s base of operations, poised to end the warlock’s menace once and for all…

The expansion is set in the Broken Isles, an island chain close to the Maelstrom in the middle of the Great Sea, and starts around two years after the events of Warlords of Draenor. The isles, which were formerly a part of the old supercontinent of Kalimdor, were cast off into the Great Sea during the Sundering ten thousand years ago and utilized by Aegwynn, the Guardian of Tirisfal, to confine the body of Sargeras' avatar, the evil titan and head of the Burning Legion. The warlock Gul'dan lifted the islands from the ocean surface during the events of Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness to look for the tomb; in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, Illidan subsequently went inside the tomb.

Return to Karazhan (Patch 7.1)

As conflict raged across the Broken Isles, the Burning Legion focused its efforts on Karazhan, Medivh's ancient seat of power, hoping to find anything they could use to keep the tide of battle moving in their favor. Khadgar and a small band of heroes were successful in stopping this menace, which gave the forces still fighting on the Isles the momentum they needed to strike. Heroes, aided by First Arcanist Thalyssra, Tyrande, and Lady Liadrin, led an insurrection against Grand Magistrix Elisande, regent of the ancient city of Suramar. With the city liberated, the heroes then struck at The Nighthold—ending Gul'dan's reign of terror at last. Azeroth's champions now possess the Eye of Aman’Thul—and the power they need to close the Tomb of Sargeras forever.

The Tomb of Sargeras (Patch 7.2)

Though Gul'dan was defeated at the Nighthold, and the heroes of the Alliance and the Horde recruited new allies to their cause—including Illidan Stormrage—the Legion's menace was far from over. Kil'jaeden the Deceiver, one of Sargeras' most trusted lieutenants, bolstered the Legion's defenses at the Broken Shore, hoping to use the Tomb of Sargeras and the power within it to end all life on Azeroth. The Armies of Legionfall, a special force of Azeroth's greatest heroes, fought their way into the Tomb--and found that the Deceiver had nearly accomplished his goal. Kil'jaeden transported the heroes to Argus, the fel-wrought Legion homeworld, intent on exterminating them all, but the Eredar Lord met his end at the hands of Khadgar, Velen, Illidan and Azeroth's champions. To save those on Argus and to seize an opportunity to fight the Legion on his terms, Illidan did the unthinkable—he used a device known as the Sargerite Keystone to open a rift that brought the worlds of Argus and Azeroth together. The Alliance and the Horde are now at a crossroads. They must strike at Argus with all of their might or risk destruction by the persistent threat of the Legion.

Shadow of Argus (Patch 7.3)

Led by Prophet Velen, the champions of Azeroth embarked on a journey to the shattered world of Argus, home of the demonic Burning Legion, to put an end to their crusade against life. There, they joined forces with the Army of the Light—a host of Lightforged warriors who spent millennia fighting the Legion across the stars, and whose ranks included the legendary paladin Turalyon and ranger-captain Alleria Windrunner. Together with the champions of Azeroth, the Army of the Light mustered their scattered forces and embarked on a desperate quest to storm the Legion’s seat of power: Antorus, the Burning Throne. There, the heroes discovered that the fallen titan Sargeras had corrupted not only the soul of the world of Argus but the titan Pantheon as well. After a tremendous struggle, the heroes of Azeroth defeated the soul of Argus and freed the titans, who imprisoned Sargeras for his transgressions—and appointed Illidan Stormrage as his jailor. As a last act of defiance, the Dark Titan plunged his sword into Azeroth, inflicting a deep wound on the planet that would leave her fate uncertain...

WoW: Legion Updates

Players may now level up to 110 in the Broken Isles, up from the previous expansion Warlords of Draenor's level ceiling of 100. With the addition of the redesigned Karazhan dungeon in patch 7.1, the Cathedral of the Eternal Night in patch 7.2, and the Seat of the Triumvirate on the planet Argus—the Burning Legion's headquarters and the former home of the Draenei—in patch 7.3, there were initially 10 dungeons.

The Emerald Nightmare, the first raid tier in Legion, debuted three weeks after the game's launch, along with the smaller Trial of Valor raid, in patch 7.1. The Nighthold, the second raid tier, debuted in patch 7.1.5. Tomb of Sargeras, the third raid tier, debuted in patch 7.2.5. Antorus, the Burning Throne on Argus, the fourth and final raid tier, debuted in patch 7.3.2. Mythic Plus dungeons and Legion's first player versus player (PvP) season started after Emerald Nightmare was released. PvP seasons often start after raid levels or significant updates, with Season 6 starting just after Antorus launched.

The Blind Warriors: Demon Hunters

The second hero class in World of Warcraft is the demon hunter. Demon hunters begin at level 98; by the time they complete their initial experience, they will have attained level 100 and be able to access Legion content right away. Their powers come from fury or pain. The demon hunter class is exclusively available to night elves and blood elves in World of Warcraft: Legion, although in the mythology any species can become one. They can use fist weapons, one-handed axes, one-handed swords, warglaives, and fabric or leather armor. The seized Legion ship Fel Hammer on Mardum serves as the order hall for the class and serves as its operational hub.

Only one demon hunter is permitted per player account per realm, and the user must already have a level 70 character on that realm.

Demon hunters can play the tank or damage dealer (DPS) roles similarly to death knights, however, they only have two specializations: vengeance for tanking and havoc for DPS. They are clad in leather armor and carry a pair of warglaives, curving two-bladed short swords that resemble Illidan's Blades of Azzinoth. Demon hunters are exclusively playable by the two elvish races, Night Elves, and Blood Elves, as opposed to death knights, which are available to all races except Pandaren.

Weapons for The Legends

Only player characters in Legion will have access to artifact weapons, which are powerful weapons used by legendary figures in the World of Warcraft world. Every class and specialization combination has its own set of 36 unique weapons, such as the Ashbringer (the sword wielded by the Mograine family and later by Tirion Fordring) for Retribution Paladins, the Doomhammer (Thrall's warhammer) for Enhancement Shamans, the Icebringer and Frostreaper (the twin blades collectively known as the "Blades of the Fallen Prince" that are forged from the Frostmourne wielded for those who are serious about fishing, there is also an artifact called the Underlight Angler.

These weapons are obtained through tasks that players must accomplish, and when they level up in the Broken Isles, do global quests, and take down monsters, they will grow in strength with the player. Each artifact's appearance may be changed, and artifact-specific looks are unlocked by finishing particular missions. The remaining artifact weapons from a player's class that weren't initially gained at level 100 can be obtained through missions starting at level 102.

Updates on Classes

Major adjustments were made to a few existing classes. For instance, hunters, who primarily use ranged attacks and rely on pet damage, now have three specialization options: Survival, which enables them to use melee weapons alongside their pets, Beastmaster, which allows them to use multiple pets at once, and Marksmanship, which gives them the option to forego their pets in favor of more powerful ranged attacks. Because demon hunters now have access to the metamorphosis ability, warlocks' demonology specialty has been refocused to emphasize employing numerous summoned demon minions simultaneously.

Other talent deletions from the game were Fistweaving, which enabled Mistweaver Monks to heal teammates while doing melee damage, and Gladiator Stance for Protection Warriors, which helped that specialty deliver more damage at the price of tanking capacity. Each entry in Blizzard's "Legion Class Preview Series" explains every class modification.

Class Orders

Class Orders are an expression of each class's coordinated effort to work as a team to counter the threat posed by the re-emergence of the Burning Legion. Faction leaders are unable to collaborate due to tensions between the Alliance and Horde, thus it is up to the classes to band together to concentrate on this danger and take the necessary measures.

Class Halls

In many respects, Class Halls resemble the garrisons of Warlords of Draenor in Legion. They act as a supplementary hub for players outside of Dalaran, the main city, and let them lead a group of champions on unique quests. The Class Halls are a significant departure from garrisons in that they are available to all characters of that class, including those from both sides, and are realm-wide. Additionally, Class Halls are not meant to be a player's primary abode throughout the expansions, but rather a place to travel to dispatch champions on missions, personalize Artifacts, and complete challenging tasks before probably returning to Dalaran.

Class Halls, the development of the follower system in Warlords of Draenor, will include class champions that the player can dispatch on missions.

In Legion, players will command a much smaller force of outstanding champions, including some pretty significant lore figures like Lady Liadrin for the Horde. This is in contrast to the follower system, which saw players enlist a vast number of random people. Players will send their champions on missions, much like they do with followers, but these missions will be more seamlessly interwoven into the rest of the gaming experience, unlocking stuff and granting access to connected zones. For instance, missions could allow access to new places for questing or bestow unique bonuses on the player while they are in particular zones. Instead of competing with their champions for prizes, players are meant to cooperate with them.

Order Halls

Each class has an "order hall" where only members of that class may assemble. Examples of order halls include Acherus (the center for death knights added in Wrath of the Lich King) and the Temple of Five Dawns (the hub for monks introduced in Mists of Pandaria). In their class order hall and while on missions in the Broken Isles, player characters can enhance the appearance and functionality of their artifact weapons. For story reasons, the player character serves as the head of the organization that corresponds to their class (for example, a paladin is the Highlord of the Order of the Silver Hand), much like the Alliance or Horde commander in Warlords of Draenor. For paladins, the order hall is located under Light's Hope Chapel; for shamans, it is in a cave overlooking the Maelstrom; and for warlocks, it is in an enclave on the Burning Legion gateway planet of Dreadscar Rift. Only the druid and mage order halls have mailboxes, and there is no access to the auction house or banks in the order halls. Notably, both Horde and Alliance members may be found among the members of these Order Halls, demonstrating the cooperation between the opposing factions in the aftermath of the Legion's invasion.

Mythic+

Mythic Plus (stylized as Mythic+ or M+) dungeons are a new dungeon difficulty that is predicated on the activation of a "mythic keystone," akin to the Greater Rift Keystone in Diablo III: Reaper of Souls. It adds a rising difficulty level from the ordinary Mythic dungeons. A higher level keystone and the potential to obtain character items according to the difficulty are awarded for completing a dungeon that has been triggered with a keystone within the allotted time.

Transmogrified

With Transmogrify 2.0, the technology that enables players to alter the look of their objects was enhanced. Similar to the transmogrification mechanism in Diablo III: Reaper of Souls, the wardrobe's user interface now includes any soulbound item looks that players have in their bank and inventory. The player's wardrobe also receives all suitable gear rewards (such as mail armor for Shaman/Hunters but not leather) from all completed quests and treasure finds. Outfits may be created in the wardrobe and put on a list to be changed automatically when specializations are changed. The player does not need to keep objects in their bank or inventory once they have been placed in the wardrobe to maintain their appearance there.

In addition to the preexisting choices to prevent helms and cloaks from showing up on a player character, patch 7.0 included an option to conceal shoulder armor. Options to conceal shirts, tabards, and belts were added in patch 7.1.

PvP Updates & New Content

With the removal of PvP gear, a sharp decrease in the importance of gear in PvP, the disabling of trinkets, set bonuses, enchantments, and gems in PvP, the automatic adjustment of player stats while in PvP, and the introduction of the first true honor talents, Legion will see some of the biggest changes to the player vs. player experience in the history of World of Warcraft.

The separation of PvP and PvE to a degree that has never been seen before will be a key element of Legion. The separation is meant to finally allow the designers to develop two separate versions of the classes, allowing for much greater balance in both areas, as has long been sought by certain gamers.

The new honor system is at the center of the adjustments. The new system will do away with Honor Points and Conquest Points in favor of a new PvP talent system that will offer access to new skills that can only be used in PvP combat, symbolizing the significant difference in abilities between PvP and PvE.

General Reception

Legion received positive reviews and an 88 on Metacritic. Since the release of the Cataclysm expansion in 2010, the number of concurrent players peaked during the first week of the game's release.

Was the sixth WoW expansion better than the earlier ones? Was it a step up from the previous expansion (WoD)? Let us know by leaving a comment below!