As the critically acclaimed World of Warcraft enter its 12th year, Blizzard isn’t stopping anytime soon in supporting the MMO as the much awaited Legion expansion has finally released. With the news of subscribers dropping over the years, the release of the Legion expansion could potentially increase the numbers again as it’s currently the best expansion to-date. Offering a much better storyline, an improved Garrison-like feature called Class Halls, World Quests to tackle to acquire rare goods, Artifact Weapons to collect, a new Demon Hunter class available at level 98 and many more, people who have unsubscribed may get the itch to start playing the game once again.
Compared to past World of Warcraft expansions, Legion has the most exciting story to date. With the Burning Legion invading Azeroth, all five different factions of the Broken Isle must unite and find a way to stop their growing numbers and close the gate once and for all. With you being the Champion who must traverse through the Broken Isle, you are expected to make allegiances with all factions as you uncover the secrets of the weapons used by the Titans called Pillars of Creation that could potentially help Azeroth in driving the Burning Legion back to where they came from. Unlike in previous expansions where you are forced to do quests in a linear fashion, Legion now allows you to do the storyline quests in any order you want. Whichever area you want to start your journey, the enemies that you encounter will scale to your level, which is a good thing as this kind of freedom is very addictive and is a welcome change to the World of Warcraft franchise.
For veteran players, World of Warcraft still has redundant quests like fetching or killing certain amount of enemies that you have to do if you wish to reach level 110 by doing the story quests. Luckily, Blizzard added some in-game activities that makes journeying through the Broken Isle fun. If you are one of those people who love exploring, there are a lot of hidden treasure chests scattered throughout the Broken Isle. Some chests that you find will give you items that increases your Order Hall points or Artifact Weapon points. Also, you’ll get a hookshot type weapon that allows you to go from low area places to higher areas where more secrets are left to be uncovered.
The Broken Isle is beautiful and those who appreciate the changes they did in graphics since Warlord of Draenor will be pleased with Legion. While flying in the Broken Isle isn’t possible, players will still appreciate the lush world of the Broken Isle. The environments are colorful and the draw distance this time around is great. As for dungeons, Blizzard did a phenomenal job once again with its designs and bosses that you’ll get to fight. In Legion, there are a total of 10 dungeons available with more coming in future patches.
Inspired by the Garrison from the Warlords of Draenor expansion, Legion introduces a new feature similar to it called Class Halls. Think of this area like your home-base for your class where you can take on quests and do side missions by sending out units that you recruit and receive rewards like bonus EXP points, or Items that give artifacts weapon points. Depending on your class, there will be a story that you tackle in your Class Hall and they all differ from other classes available. In addition, you will now have an opportunity to pick an Artifact Weapon based on your class and specialty. At first, you can only pick one artifact weapon but you get more as you progress through the game.
Artifact Weapons act like the end-game weapon for your character. Unfortunately, other people of the same class will have the same weapon and this is somewhat disappointing as it defeats the purpose of being unique. However, as soon as you reach the max level, which is level 110, you get to unlock a feature that let’s you change the appearance to make it stand out from the rest. Also, the power of the artifact weapon that you pick will ultimately increase as you collect more Artifact Weapon points as those points can be used in unlocking special skills. At first, you might notice that it’s easy to master the skill tree, but expect to spend a lot of time farming for points as it will take time before you unlock the artifact weapon that you want to full potential.
Upon reaching Level 110, you will unlock the World Quests, which is somewhat like a post extension to the main campaign of the game. A lot of quests will appear on your World Map and you get to do them if you wish – these quests will appear for a specific amount of time. The rewards in the World Quests are worthy as some may give gears, while other you get Gold or Class Hall points that you can use in improving your Class Hall. Those who are lazy with getting the pre-raid gear the hard way through Heroic Dungeons, you can try your luck with the World Quests as there are really rare legendary items that you can get, not to mention that you can increase its item level through an item modifier.
Grouping is highly encouraged in Legion. Unlike in Warlords of Draenor where it promotes a single-player feel to it, Legion is different. By doing the main story alone, there will be time where the quest will ask you to group up. Each area of the Broken Isle will make you use of the Group Finder at the end of the story-chained quests. They’re particularly dungeons and yes, you can’t finish the area without actually doing the dungeon. Also, finding groups for doing Mythic Dungeons is now easier as they can be done through the Group Finder tool. As for the World Quests, there are a plethora of quests that encourages grouping up with enemies to take down powerful world bosses.
One of the newest features that fans are excited about in Legion is the new class – the Demon Hunter. For those who have played the previous expansion, the Demon Hunter was already there and it’s about time that they finally release it. Available for those who have level 100, the Demon Hunter class can be played at level 98. Playing through the Demon Hunter is actually nice as it feels that you have this demonic power in taking down enemies. Unfortunately, only DPS specialization is available. If there are two things that I love about the new class, that would be the raw power it outputs and the ability to transform into a demon for a short while to wreck havoc to enemies.
Verdict
The release of the Legion expansion for World of Warcraft proves that the game isn’t going anywhere. The content that Blizzard is able to produce with Legion somewhat shows that they still have a lot of things up their sleeves. Compared to Warlords of Draenor, Legion is ultimately the best expansion for World of Warcraft. From its meaty storyline quests, to World Quests that adds flair to the end-game questing, World of Warcraft: Legion is the expansion that Blizzard ultimately needs to be on top once again.
[Editor’s Note: World of Warcraft Legion was reviewed on PC platform. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]
