Blizzard has detailed one of the major new features coming to World of Warcraft with next year’s The War Within expansion—Hero Talents. The new system will have players level up with a new progression track that changes depending on the character theme that the player wants to go with.
The studio refers to the new system as an evergreen form of character progression for each class specialisation, and will feature new powers and class fantasies. Players will get access to the new Hero talent tree at level 71, and as they level up to 80, they will get one talent point per level. With each Hero talent tree having 11 nodes, players will be able to get access to all of the nodes by the time they hit level 80.
For example, a Warrior player that wants a combination of abilities from the Protection and Fury specializations will get access to the Mountain Thane Hero Talent tree. On the other hand, the combination of Fury and Arms specializations results in the Slayer, while Arms and Protection come together to create the Colossus.
Each Hero talent tree will kick things off with a “keystone” talent that introduces the core concept of the specialisation, whether through the introduction to a new ability or by making a big change to a pre-existing one. The final node in the tree is a “capstone” node that finishes building on the core themes of the Hero specialisation.
Much like the current talent trees in the game, the Hero talent trees will feature nodes that add damage, defensive capabilities, or even new abilities to the class. Some nodes will even offer players a choice between two distinct talents.
Capping off the showcase, Blizzard has unveiled the Hero talent trees for four of its Hero specialisations: the San’Layn Death Knight, the Chronowarden Evoker, the Lightsmith Paladin, and the Mountain Thane Warrior. Check them out below.