Blizzard announced the seventh expansion for World of Warcraft at BlizzCon 2019 today.

The expansion was revealed in a dramatic cinematic trailer that saw former Horde Warchief, Sylvanas Windrunner, travel to Icecrown Citadel. Despite rumors that current Lich King, Bolvar Fordragon, would be the primary antagonist of the expansion, Sylvanas defeated Bolvar in the cinematic, and took the Helm of Domination from his head.

Bolvar then warns Sylvanas that the Lich King’s crown will be her undoing, but instead of putting it on herself, Sylvanas shockingly tears it in two, seemingly ripping open reality itself and creating a huge rift above Icecrown Citadel to the Shadowlands — the land of the dead.



World of Warcraft game director, Ion Hazzikostas, also shared some more details on the expansion.

Players will be able to align themselves with one of the four Shadowlands covenants, which seem to be separate factions, each with their own motivations and ambitions. As players level up, they’ll get new abilities based on their choice, including class-specific abilities for each Covenant.

Five new zones will be added to the game:

  • The gleaming fields of Bastion.
  • The scarred battlefields of Maldraxxus.
  • The eternal twilight of Ardenweald.
  • The opulent keeps of Revendreth.
  • And the horrific Maw.

At the heart of the Maw will be Torghast, Tower of the Damned, a replayable dungeon with a randomly-generated map that has been inspired by Roguelike games. At the end of Torghast is The Jailer, the ruler and last boss of the dungeon.

Perhaps the biggest gameplay change is that Shadowlands will finally feature the long-rumored level squish. Current max-level players will be brought back to level 50 at the start of Shadowlands, and the new level cap will be 60, the same as when the game first launched 15 years ago.

Shadowlands is available for preorder now at the game’s official website. The expansion is due for release sometime in 2020.

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