Wrath of the Lich King Information Thread

[NrGx]

Just going to post information here as it becomes available. None of the information here will be of my acquisition but will be a compilation of videos and links of other sites.

Originally Posted by WoWWiki

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, colloquially known as WotLK, Wrath, or WLK, is the second World of Warcraft expansion, officially announced on the 3rd of August 2007 at BlizzCon. The majority of expansion content takes place in Northrend, and centers around the plans of the Lich King.

Content highlights include the increase of the level cap from 70 to 80, the introduction of the Death Knight Hero Class, the new Inscription profession, as well as new PvP and world PvP content. No additional playable races are planned, though many new NPC races will be featured.[1]

A public beta has been announced, but no date has been given [2]; the game itself is scheduled to be released in the second half of 2008[3]. On May 19th the Friends and Family Alpha began for the expansion - note that people admitted to the Friends and Family Alpha test are affected by an NDA and therefore not authorized to make public any information.

Northrend:

Zones and their planned levels[9]:

* Howling Fjord (68-72)
* Borean Tundra (68-72)
* The Dragonblight (71-75)
* Zul'Drak (73-76)
* Grizzly Hills (74-76)
* Azjol-Nerub (74-78)
* Sholazar Basin (75-78)
* The Storm Peaks (77-80)
* Icecrown Glacier (77-80)
* Lake Wintergrasp (Outdoor PvP)
* Dalaran (City)

Northrend is the setting of the next expansion.

In terms of size, the Northrend expansion is similar in scope to the Burning Crusade expansion: Northrend has been shown to contain ten zone-like areas (eleven counting Azjol-Nerub, which is located underground), compared with the seven zones of Outland plus four zones of draenei and blood elf starting areas featured in Burning Crusade.

As for the sizes of the zones themselves, a few (especially the Borean Tundra and the Dragonblight) are huge, making them similar to the larger-than-average zones in Outland. At the same time, however, Northrend appears to also include a few rather small zones (namely Sholazar Basin and Coldarra). Of course, as with most of the land areas in World of Warcraft, Blizzard can always alter these regions. Northrend is confirmed to be bigger than Outland by a couple of zones, and a some of the zones themselves will be larger than Outland's largest zones.[2]

Unlike Outland, there will be no minimum-level requirement to enter Northrend.



Flying mounts will also be usable in Northrend, currently the plan is to allow players to fly by level 77 instead of at 70[5]. Blizzard said they want to "keep us grounded and guide us on foot for a while", so we can enjoy all the hard work they put into the land and not just "fly over it". There may be new flying mounts introduced with the expansion that will provide a very slight increase in speed and, also as yet finalized, these new mounts may be able to carry more than one passenger.

Factions and Races:

Various organizations, factions and new races will be highlighted in the expansion. Note that no new playable races are planned.

Dalaran and the Kirin Tor
Dalaran is to move from its previous location in the Alterac Mountains to levitate at great height in the air north of the Dragonblight in Northrend. It will act as the neutral sanctuary city for the continent, similar to Shattrath City in Outland, under the guidance of Rhonin and the Kirin Tor. The Kirin Tor are responsible for the move, but the exact method is unknown - it is likely to be either by teleportation or transportation. It can be accessed by either foot or flying mount.[10] However, as with Shattrath, there will be no class trainers or auction houses.[11] The effect on the current location of Dalaran is unknown.

The Forsaken
The Forsaken and their Banshee Queen, Sylvanas, have also arrived with a new contagion that they hope will prove to be effective against the undead minions of the Lich King. The Forsaken seek to avenge Arthas' destruction of Lordaeron and the plague of undeath that transformed them. They have recently created a settlement, New Agamand, in the Howling Fjord.

The Taunka
The Taunka are an ancient offshoot of the Tauren. They were thought to be lost until discovered by Garrosh Hellscream and his Orc forces upon arriving in Northrend.

The Tuskarr
The Tuskarr are humanoid walrus people who live in Northrend. Although seen throughout Northrend, they make their homes primarily in the Borean Tundra. Their capital city is Kaskala and it is a Fishing area. They also have Kamagua, a settlement in the Howling Fjord. Moa’ki Harbor is situated in The Dragonblight

The Vrykul
The Vrykul are a race of half-giant warriors native to the Howling Fjord. The Vrykul have grandly decorated armor with adorned items attached, such as skulls. These formidable warriors have begun attacking Horde and Alliance settlements, and many of the Vrykul are pouring out of the fortress of Utgarde Keep.

The Nerubians
A race of Spider-humanoids that once controlled all of Northrend before the coming of the Lich King. Now, they live mainly in the lower reaches of their destroyed kingdom Azjol-Nerub and other scattered conclaves. It is speculated that they serve the Old God within their city.

The Knights of The Silver Hand
The Knights of the Silver Hand will be making their return in Wrath of the Lich King, headed by the re-inspired Highlord Tirion Fordring. The order seems to be based out of Valgarde in the Howling Fjord.

The Lich King
It is planned for players to interact with the expansion's main antagonist, the Lich King, throughout the expansion, beginning as soon as the player sets foot in Northrend.

Dungeons:

The expansion adds group content in a similar fashion to the Burning Crusade, and the 'heroic dungeon' format will be preserved. Many new 5-man, 10-man, and 25-man dungeons will be located in Northrend. The expansion will have as many 5-man instances as the previous expansion and all 25-man raids can also be completed as a 10-man group due to the popularity of Karazhan.[12] Note that, despite speculation, solo dungeons are not being planned.[13] Eyonix has spoken about the possibility of account based or guild based raid attunements for the expansion. This would mean if your guild completed the keying quest or one of your characters has, everyone in your guild or all the characters in your account would also become attuned.[14]
New and original

Utgarde Keep (two 5-man wings, level 70 & 80, and a 10 and 25-man raid)
An instance hub in the Howling Fjord filled with the vrykul, a Viking-like race devoted to serving the Lich King. It was the first dungeon introduced at BlizzCon; the dungeon is comprised of three wings.
The first wing, "Utgarde Catacombs" (level 70), was playable at BlizzCon.
The second, "Utgarde Pinnacle" (level 80), was announced as the second.
he third, a 25-man raid, was revealed, though no details were given. [15]

The Nexus (two 5-man and a 10 and 25-man raid)
Located in Coldarra, it will feature the Blue Dragonflight as the enemy. The Red Dragonflight will be aiding the players.
A level 70, 5-man instance (Ice Caverns). [16]
A level 80, 5-man instance, that lets you fight on magical rings that float above the ground.
A 25-man raid, similar to Onyxia. A rift in the sky where you will battle Malygos.[17]

Drak'Tharon Keep (two 5 man wings between levels 72-76)
A fort where Arthas found the Frostmourne, located on the border between Grizzly Hills and Zul'Drak. Drak'Tharon Keep contains 2 instances with 1 entrance in Grizzly Hills for level 72-74 players and the other accessed from Zul'Drak for level 74-76 players.

Gundrak (Unknown if it's a raid or 5 man)
The capital of the Ice Trolls where players will face off against the Ice Troll King. [18]

Chamber of the Aspects (level 80 10 and 25-man raid)
A single encounter raid instance where players will face-off against a dragon.[19]

Ulduar (level 80 10 and 25-man raid)
Located in The Storm Peaks. A Titan-related dungeon where secrets of Azeroth's history will be revealed. Planned as the next progression step from Naxxramas.

Azjol-Nerub
The ancient subterranean kingdom of the nerubian race will contain several instances, with one featuring an Old God and the Faceless Ones.

Icecrown Citadel (level 80 10 and 25-man raid)
Culminating the expansion with a direct confrontation with the Lich King himself. Is to be released in the final major patch of the expansion pack.

Returning, but in another form

Dalaran
Will have 1-2 instances inside the city similar to Stormwind and Orgrimmar. [20]

Naxxramas II (level 80, 10 and 25-man raid)
The instance will be retuned to level 80 and included as a 25-man dungeon at an entry-level difficulty with no attunement. [21][22]
If one looks at the video on the area of Dragonblight, it seems Naxxramas is floating above the frozen landscape.[23]

Additions to Azeroth

Caverns of Time: Culling of Stratholme (level 80, 5-man instance)
A new wing of the Caverns of Time, where you'll fight alongside Arthas, during the break of his insanity, against Mal'Ganis to purge the city of Stratholme of its citizens, who are infected by the undead plague. [24] [25]



Death Knight:

At this time, the criteria for creating a Death Knight will be the existence of a level 55+ (confirmed on the official website [2]) character on the player's account. Once that criteria is met, the player can create one Death Knight per realm.[3]

The death knight combines martial prowess with dark, necromantic energies. Players might be familiar with the death knight from previously released Warcraft games -- most recently, in the campaigns for Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and the Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne expansion, the former paladin Arthas became a death knight and wrought havoc across Azeroth before fusing with the spirit of Ner'zhul to become the Lich King. It is important to note that these particular Death Knights are based upon those created by the Lich King in Warcraft III, not those of Orcish origin as seen in WarCraft II.

Death Knight Character Creation

Deathknight spells:

* Army of the Dead - Summons an entire legion of your best Ghouls to fight by your side.
* Death and Decay - ${$m1+$AP*0.039} shadow damage inflicted every $t1 sec to all targets in the effected area for $d. Has a chance to cause affected targets to cower in fear.
* Chromatic Rune Mastery - Whenever a Blood, Frost or Unholy Rune activates, it has a 6% chance of converting into a Chromatic Rune. This Rune counts as a Blood, Frost or Unholy Rune. Lasts 10 sec.
* Degeneration (Rank 3, Level 76) - Instantly attack the target, dealing 60% weapon damage and inflicting a disease dealing ${$m2*7} over 15 sec. This disease will corrupt an existing heal over time spell, removing it and dramatically increasing the damage dealt. While afflicted by this disease, other heal over time effects on the target will have no effect.
* Dancing Runeblade - Summons a second Runeblade that fights on its own for 1 sec per 10 Runic Power, doing the same strikes that you do.
* Hungering Cold - A wave of cold leeches all heat from the earth, freezing all enemies in the cone-shaped area, and causing 10 damage per Runic Power. The frozen terrain persists for 1 sec per 10 Runic Power and will freeze enemies that attempt to cross it.
* Unholy Blight - A creeping swarm of unholy insects surrounds the caster for a 10 yard radius. All enemies caught in the swarm take 120 damage and are plagued with a disease that can stack up to 3 times. Lasts for 1 sec per 10 Runic Power.
* Corpse Explosion - "Target a corpse, causing it to explode for 12 damage per 10 Runic Power to all enemies within 10 yards."
* Mark of Blood (spell or talent?) - "Place a Mark of Blood on an enemy or ally. Whenever the marked target is healed, all party members receive a fraction of that healing. If a marked target that grants experience or honor is killed, all party members are healed for 10% of their total health. Each person can be healed for a maximum of 3000 per Mark."
* Icebound Fortitude - Consumes all available Runic Power, causing the Death Knight to become immune to Stun effects and increasing armor by 50% for up to 12 sec. Does not remove existing Stun effects. [60 sec cooldown]
* Death Strike (Rank 1) - A deadly attack that deals weapon damage. If the target dies within 3 seconds and yields experience or honor, Death Strike heals the Death Knight for 405.

Deathknight talents:

* Black Ice - Increases your Frost and Unholy spell damage by 1/2/3/4/5%.
* Dirge - Whenever you kill a diseased target that yields experience or honor you have a 1/2/3/4/5% chance of the corpse riding as a free Ghoul. You can have a maximum of 2 Ghouls at one time.
* Spell Deflection - Reduces all spell damage taken by 3/6/9/12/15% for 10 sec following a successful parry.
* Bladed Armor - You gain 4/8/12/16/20 attack power for every 1000 points of your armor value.
* Butcher - Whenever you kill an enemy that grants experience or honor, you generate Runic Power. In addition, Runic Power takes longer to decay outside of combat.
* Bone Armor (Rank 1) - "The caster is surrounded by 4 whirling bones. Each bone reduces the damage from the next spell or melee attack by 40% but is then consumed. Lasts 5 min." [Power type: 5, power cost: 25, cooldown: 30 sec]
* Chromatic Rune Mastery - "Whenever a Blood, Frost or Unholy Rune activates, it has a 2/4/6% chance of converting into a Chromatic Rune. This Rune counts as a Blood, Frost or Unholy Rune. Lasts 10 sec."
* Rage of Rivendare - You do 2/4/6/8/10% additional weapon damage to diseased targets.
* Tundra Stalker - "You deal 2/4/6/8/10% more melee damage to targets under the effects of Icy Touch, Chains of Ice, Howling Blast or Hungering Cold."
* Deathchill (Rank 1, Level 56) - "Launches an Icy Touch at every enemy within 40 yards, dealing 4 damage per Runic Power to each target and causing a high amount of threat." [0 power cost, cooldown: 60 sec]
* Wandering Plague - "When the diseases you inflicted upon an enemy target cause damage, there is a 5/10/15% chance the disease will instead damage all enemies within 8 yards. This damage will not cancel spells normally cancelled when targets take damage."
* Improved Corpse Explosion - "While Corpse Explosion is active, corpses have a 10/15/20/25/30% chance to explode for increased damage."
* Crypt Fever - "Diseases caused by you or your Ghouls also reduce an enemy's attributes by 5/10/15% per disease."
* Ravenous Dead - "Increases the Strength of you and your ghouls by 1/2/3/4/5% and reduces the cooldown on Raise Dead by 30 sec."
* Pestilence - "When an enemy that grants experience or honor dies while suffering from one of your diseases, its corpse has a 10/20/30% chance of producing 1/1-3/3-5 Blood Worms. Blood Worms attack your enemies, healing you for the amount of damage they deal for 15 sec or until killed."
* Sudden Doom - "Your Blood Strikes have a 4/8/12/16/20% chance to make your next Death Coil consume no Runic Power if cast within 8 sec."
* Scent of Blood - "After being struck by a ranged or melee critical hit, you gain the Scent of Blood effect, causing your melee hits to steal life from the enemy for the next 6 sec."
* Improved Icebound Fortitude - "Increases the duration of your Icebound Fortitude. In addition your Icebound Fortitude will dispel any damage over time effects and replace them with heal over time effects."

Talent tree - http://war-tools.darlinganime.com/in...?i=deathknight

Wrath of the Lich King ALPHA leaks:

http://wotlk.wikidot.com/spells-talents-professions

[NrGx]

http://www.vimeo.com/1052422?pg=embed&sec=1052422

Tier 8 preview

[Vegnagun]

awesome ... i can't wait for this!

Draenei DeathKnight ftw

[mudd]

it looks alright, doubt i'll play it though. it'll end up being the same ole gay thing like BC

[QuickS]

*sigh* The game has enough content and is addicting enough as is. I already lost a friend to it that plays it for 30 hours a day.

[archangelabove]

I'm totally coming back to WoW before this comes out.

I'm going to be one of the toolbags, who makes a DeathKnight and levels it up in a few weeks.

[NrGx]

Originally Posted by QuickS

*sigh* The game has enough content and is addicting enough as is. I already lost a friend to it that plays it for 30 hours a day.

Originally Posted by QuickS

lost a friend to it that plays it for 30 hours a day.

Originally Posted by QuickS

for 30 hours a day.

Originally Posted by QuickS

30 hours a day.

*head explode*

[QuickS]

Originally Posted by NrGx

*head explode*

Yea, he used to literally make time to play the game for longer periods of time in one day.

[pow3rtr1p]

Why do the Death Knights start off with such BAMF gear? It'd be lame to "upgrade" to your Rusty Mail Gauntlets and Boar Handling Gloves...

Though a Level 80 Gnome Death Knight in full Tier 8 or whatever they're up to now would look sick.

[Black Magix]

From what I read on the DK - They can be speced for damage or tanking easily. So much for my Prot spec pally >.>