The sixth World of Warcraft expansion is titled, simply, Legion. It was announced today, and alongside it came the confirmation of a new class that is being added to Blizzard’s long running MMORPG- the Demon Hunter.
The Demon Hunter will function similarly to the Death Knight class from Wrath of the Lich King- it starts at a higher level and within its own special zone. The Demon Hunter has two talent specializations, Havoc, which focuses on DPS maximization, and Vengeance, which is for players who prefer tanking, effectively making the class viable for two polar opposite play styles.
You’ll also be able to see through walls and obstacles, and perform mid-air jumps with your Demon Hunter character. All of these represent some of the biggest changes to how a character plays that World of Warcraft has ever had, and yet, the changes don’t stop here either. Legion will have a higher level cap (of 110), a brand new area (The Broken Isles, the ruins of a Night Elf civilization that’s comprised of eight new zones), Artifact Weapons (one for each class), new dungeons and raids, and more.
It sounds like a very thorough and extensive expansion, and one that will address the problems of anemic or simply poor endgame content that has plagued World of Warcraft for years now, leading to the kind of subscriber base bleeding that the game has suffered from lately.
Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment had the following to say: “In World of Warcraft: Legion, the stakes for the Alliance and the Horde are higher than ever, so we’re putting some of Azeroth’s deadliest forces directly in players’ hands. Whether they’re wreaking havoc as a Demon Hunter or unlocking awesome new abilities for their Artifact, players will develop their characters’ power in ways they never have before.”
Whether or not this is all enough to revitalize interest in the game is something that yet remains to be seen.
A beta for Legion will begin later this year, with no final release date announced yet.