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Welcome back to our multi-part article series over Legion, the sixth expansion to World of Warcraft coming August 30th. In our last part, we talked a lot about the story, locations, and questing of Legion. Giving you an idea of what to expect in those respective areas of the new expansion. Part two of our series will focus on giving a concise briefing on new features and changes centered on the player specifically. So all of you eager adventurers of Azeroth, follow on and be informed on what to expect before the Legion arrives!
New Hero Class: The Demon Hunter
Many of you probably already know of or at least heard of this awesome new addition to the class roster of WoW. Demon Hunters are the apex of all when it comes to destroying the fiends of the Legion. Taught and trained by Illidan (Yes THAT Illidan) for the sole purpose to undo the Legion’s invasion of the Azeroth, the Demon Hunters (or Illidari) have harnessed the very same fel magic the Legion is known for unleashing against them. Coupled with incredible martial combat skills, and powerful warglaives as weapons, the Illidari are a force to be reckoned with. Currently, as part of the pre-expansion patch and events, demon hunters are playable by those that have pre-ordered the expansion as of August 9th. Starting at a higher level than other classes (level 98) demon hunters have their own unique zone the progress through. Telling their own unique story, shedding some light on Illidan’s schemes, and ending at the Warden’s Vault in the 
Broken Isles, allowing the player to jump right in the new expansion once it is fully released. The Demon
Hunter class is available to two races, the Night Elves (Alliance) and the Blood Elves (Horde) and uses Leather as its primary armor type. Demon Hunters come with two specializations, or “specs” as many players refer to it. Havoc is the aggressive melee DPS route using quick and fel-infused attacks to punish foes. While Vengeances follows the more defensive path as a Tank spec, bolstering themselves with demon magic while using melee attacks to hold aggressive mobs off their allies in fights. Hopefully these powerful beings will be invaluable in the oncoming invasion of the Legion.
Artifact Weapons
Another key feature being added to Legion is the introduction of Artifact Weapons. Throughout the duration of Legion, artifact weapons will be the only weapons that players will have and need to face down the waves of coming demons. As such, with item level being a base for gauging a player’s quality of gear, artifact weapon item levels, or “ilvl” increase with Artifact Power. This new resource is gained through many different ways in the new expansion and is use to essentially level up your weapon. Once you have collected some artifact power, a player must visit their respective Class Order Hall and modify their weapon by choosing traits that are unique to that weapon, think of it as a talent tree for your weapon. For every different specialization in the game, there is an Artifact Weapon linked to that spec. As well as a unique story line for said weapon that the player will experience on their quest to obtain their respective weapon. One completed, and the weapon is claimed, the quest line will transition to having the player establish their Class Order Hall. From there, players can brandish their newly claimed artifacts of power to take the fight to the Legion and push back the invasion.
Legendary Gear
Legendary items have always been a goal set in World of Warcraft for individual players to pursue if they choose with the end result being a powerful item to use in their endeavors. Each expansion ever since Burning Crusade, there has always been new legendary items of some kind introduced as a long term goal to work for. In Legion, there is still going to be legendary items, but how you obtain them and what they are capable of is going to be fairly different. With Legion, legendary items will still be powerful, but there are various ways to obtain them such as boss drops, PVP strongboxes, or World Quest caches. The power of each legendary varies as well. Each one has a specific passive effect on it that empowers a particular ability of your class. As of now, it has been stated that at the beginning of Legion players can only have one legendary equipped at a time, so there’s no chance to stack too many powerful abilities at once. With these new legendary items, and powerful artifact weapons, players will sure to be well equipped for skirmishing the Legion.
Class Changes
Yes, as expected there are class changes, balancing, and overhauls coming with Legion. As with every expansion to WoW thus far, Legion will bring large changes to class mechanics, abilities, talents, and their overall function to the game. The complete list of changes is too large to cover in one article, but a link to the patch notes with the class changes will be provided below. Even with the large list, we can still cover some of more general changes that effect multiple classes. For starters, healing classes of WoW will be changed to be more individually unique from one another. Meaning each different healing spec will have its own mechanics to utilize their abilities for various situations that different from other healers. Other roles such as DPS and Tanks are no different. The purpose for these sweeping changes is to try and give classes more unique identities from one another, so players don’t feel that one class is too similar to another. And with the new talent system changes, players should notice there are more options for different play styles to suit individual players, letting them choose what they want and don’t want from talents. With the pre-expansion patch being out already, players can already experience the new changes for their classes, allowing them time to get comfortable with the changes, and be prepared for the Legion.
See World of Warcraft’s Class Preview Page here
That’s it for part two of our Legion articles series. As before, check back regularly to see the next, and final part of our series. Hopefully you find some helpful information from what we have given. Safe journeys in Azeroth adventurers! #geekdtv
