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| Mike Salbato |
Oh yes, don't worry: there's a nice Collector's Edition again.
04.06.18 - 5:04 PM
Get ready to go to war: Blizzard has announced that World of Warcraft's seventh expansion, Battle for Azeroth, is releasing on August 14th. Following the events of Legion (the game's previous expansion, not the TV show in the X-Men universe), the Horde and Alliance are vying for a powerful, newly-revealed resource called Azerite. This brings the conflict back to Warcraft's roots, putting the two age-old factions against each other once again.
And even if I'm an Alliance player, I never tire of seeing new art of Sylvanas:
Battle for Azeroth will introduce some expected new features, such as an increased level cap of 120, plus new dungeons and raids. The renewed Alliance/Horde conflict brings large new areas to explore for each faction. For the Alliance, that means the seafaring kingdom of Kul Tiras, home of Jaina Proudmoore, while the Horde gets to explore the ancient empire of Zandalar. Home of Zuldazar, the oldest city in Azeroth, its swamps and deserts are also home to cuddly fellas like this guy:
A new series of uncharted islands will be available for 3-man parties to race to recover valuable resources. We have a bunch of new screens for these islands and more in our gallery, such as these:
Lastly on the new feature list, but possibly the most interesting is the new ability to unlock Allied Races, which are like specific factions of existing races with unique traits and looks. By unlocking a race, you'll be able to create a new character within said race, and then make use of a "revamped leveling experience featuring zones that scale as your character grows in power."
The Allied Races all look cool – Dark Iron Dwarves, Highmountain Tauren included – but it's Void Elves that have this amazing galaxy bird mount, so they win:
Pre-ordering Battle for Azeroth actually allows you to "begin the journey to recruit" some of these races ahead of time, which is a nice incentive. But if you need more, then here it is:
As always, there will be a variety of purchase options, ranging from standard $49.99 USD retail or digital versions to a Digital Deluxe Edition for $69.99, the latter including two mounts and a pet for WoW, and goodies for Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm, StarCraft II, and Overwatch.
The image above is the $99.99 USD Collector's Edition, and I give Blizzard major kudos for maintaining a consistent box size and design all these years, as they make for a heck of a collection on a shelf. Anyway, this edition features all of the digital goodies of the Digital Deluxe Edition, along with a double-sided hardcover book titled 'Elegy & A Good War,' which collects two WoW novellas written by Christie Golden and Robert Brooks, that recount the burning of Teldrassil from both Alliance and Horde points of view, and features artwork exclusive to this package.
Also included is a digital soundtrack from Battle for Azeroth, and finally, the "hefty" and nicely-detailed Horde & Alliance 'Mark of Allegiance' emblem:
Whew! That's a nice little bonus. Finally, Blizzard announced that anyone who pre-orders Battle for Azeroth will also get the current expansion, Legion, totally free, along with a level 110 character boost to get up to speed.
Look for World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth on August 14th, and learn even more and pre-order at the official site.
