The next World of Warcraft expansion will launch this summer, Blizzard announced during a Twitch stream centered around Battle for Azeroth. Officially, and as referenced on Battle for Azeroth‘s product page, that means the expansion is slated to arrive on or before September 21 (the last day of summer).
Following the events of Legion, the Alliance and Horde have a tense relationship, to say the least, and what unfolds in Battle for Azeroth is said to bring the conflict back to the forefront of the MMO.
Those faithful to the Alliance will travel to Jaina Proudmoore’s home kingdom of Kul Tiras to recruit its people to fight alongside you. Horde members will set off for Zandalar to convince trolls to join up. Both voyages will take players across open water to seaside kingdoms. As such, new island expeditions will be available, which feature constantly changing objectives, enemies to fight, and landmarks to explore.
Several new Allied races will join the fray. So far, we know about the Highmountain Tauren, Void elves, and Dark Iron dwarves. A new resource, Azerite, can be found across Azeroth to further customize your character’s armor with new abilities.
World of Warcraft‘s level cap will rise from 110 to 120 with the new expansion. And like Legion, when you reach the cap, you can still strengthen your character even further by completing quests, raids, and other events.
One of the unique features in the expansion, Warfront, tasks 20 players to secure a location ruled by an enemy commander. In this cooperative variant, you recruit team members and then work your way through a series of objectives, much like real-time strategy battles seen in old-school Warcraft.
You can get a leg up on recruiting the new Allied races by pre-purchasing the expansion, which instantly gives you the ability to recruit four of the new races. Players who pre-purchase will also be able to boost one of their characters to level 110 immediately.
Battle for Azeroth‘s standard edition costs $50, but if you play multiple Blizzard games, you might want to check out the Digital Deluxe Edition. For $70, you will receive access to Battle for Azeroth-themed items in Overwatch, StarCraft II, Hearthstone, and Heroes of the Storm.
