“You are NOW prepared!” - A World of Warcraft: Legion Pre-Patch Review

The ominous yellow text appears on the screen and every player in Tanaris suddenly has their heart stop: Server shutdown: 15 minutes. War cries fill the chat box, “PUSH!!!” “We can do this!” “Focus your targets!” Our adrenaline pumps, cooldowns fire, and it is this point in time I realise exactly what this pre-patch is setting us up for. Players will need solidarity to defeat The Legion and having sat in our garrisons alone for the past year, we are not prepared.

Over the past month Azeroth has been slowly invaded by demons, rediscovered demon hunters, and had new leaders rise up to take the responsibility of protecting the World of Warcraft. With all these separate pieces of the puzzle, Blizzard is building the foundation for the powerful narrative we will see in Legion. In this article we will take a look at each of these pieces and how they are building a dynamic and engaging story.

Invasions

The most obvious content in the pre-patch has been the addition of invasion scenarios. The towns of Azshara, Dun Morogh, Northern Barrens, Westfall, Hillsbrad Foothills and Tanaris are each targets for the various demon lords looking to get a foothold in Azeroth. Each demon lord is unique and presents a different style of obstacles to players. Some are more forgiving than others but all are deadly to meet in combat. These invasions require cooperation to complete, and freeloaders are not welcomed by the players actually contributing to the battle. As Legion has approached the regularity and intensity of the invasion scenarios has increased. Now just one week out from the release of Legion we are seeing all six zones under constant attack by demon lords.

There is a practical purpose to these scenarios as well. The experience points awarded are enough to increase multiple levels, even after Blizzard rebalanced the awards. The scaling of enemies also encourages players of all levels to get involved and feel a part of the battle. Invasions are also awarding gear of a high item level, serving the purpose of both gearing players to be prepared for tougher enemies but also providing a united uniform for the warriors headed off to war in both factions.

The Broken Shore

Once you are a level high enough to participate, you can fight The Legion on the frontline. Joining King Varyian Wrynn and Lady Sylvanus Windrunner where the trailer for Legion left off, you arrive at The Broken Shore and can see your opposing faction battling through the demon onslaught. The sheer volume of opponents is overwhelming, even for both raid groups in tandem. We see many heroes and villains participate in the battle and some simply do not survive the intense bloodbath. The scenario ends with a defeat on The Broken Shore and The Legion gaining a permanent foothold into our world.

At first I was concerned by the outcome of this scenario. But the role it serves is vital to establishing the coming events of the expansion. This scenario shows us leadership decisions and in many ways represents a test similar to the fabled Kobayashi Maru of Star Trek: how does a leader deal with failure? It also establishes some important changes in the leadership for both factions.

The message is clear: Leaders who are not prepared are going to have to step up and take their place in this desperate time. Sylvanus Windrunner has served as an outlier figure in the Horde for a long time. Anduin Wrynn is also portrayed as uncertain and unready for the responsibilities of his duty. This is emphasised by the lack of support he is receiving from Jaina Proudmoore and Khadgar, who both are caught up in their own personal stories. The cinematics and in game conversations that conclude this scenario for either faction show us two very unconfident leaders. With two inexperienced leaders in control, how will the forces of Azeroth overcome The Legion in previously unforeseen numbers? For me, the character development of these two complex individuals will be the most engaging question of the expansion content.

Demon Hunters

The introductory storyline for the new Demon Hunter class demonstrates the care Blizzard have gone to when weaving this story. The plot for this heroic class reveals the threat of The Legion, with Maiev Shadowsong deciding it better to side with the Demon Hunters she protects than to try to take Gul’Dan and The Legion on without their aid. You engage in a great battle to defend against these demons and, yet again, you fail to preserve the safety of Azeroth. The starting quests conclude with you utilising your Spectral Sight ability to revealing to your new faction leader the threat of the Infiltrators already in their midst.

It is invigorating to see all of the stories tie together here, as this conversation is also the scene depicted upon returning from The Broken Shore and justifies the Mysterious Whispers events. Demon Hunters have a unique power, which we can only anticipate will remain important for Raids and parties to include in the coming content.

In terms of gameplay, the Demon Hunter plays like no other class. It combines the speed of a Monk with the damage of a Warlock. Unlike the squishy DPS counterpart found in the Warlock, the Havoc Demon Hunter is strong enough to stand up to elites by them self. Double jump and glide abilities allow the Demon Hunters to avoid many of the Area of Effect tactics used by the Demons, making them a valuable asset to any raid group if they are in the right player’s hands. Whilst their Tank form, Vengeance, is not the strongest, it changes the playstyle of what it means to Tank. Vengeance Demon Hunters have the ability to maintain Aggro focus, but unlike a traditional Tank class, have high mobility to avoid attacks rather than taking hits to the face.

Both gameplay styles are unique and require the player to be on their toes the entire fight. This can take some time to get used to and in the wrong hands can create a bad reputation for the new class. All in all, the Demon Hunter feels different to anything already in the game. With Spectral Sight and high mobility, Demon Hunters can only continue to be an asset as the expansion unfolds.

Infiltrators and Mysterious Whispers

My favorite aspect of the pre-patch content is the revelation that anyone in the World of Warcraft can be an enemy. No one is safe. This has been integrated in the game through Infiltrators and the Mysterious Whispers events. Infiltrators are NPCs, specifically Doomsayers, who are secretly fostering a Dreadlord in disguise. When identified by Demon Hunters, or others with the ability to see the demons for who they truly are, they turn into Elite demons who tear through the capital cities of Stormwind and Orgrimmar. They are very difficult to take down and yield some impressive experience and loot if you are part of the group that can defeat these overpowering demons.

Any player has the potential to become a demonic Infiltrator. If you spend enough time in Stormwind or Orgrimmar you may receive a Mysterious Whisper, an event which replaces your action bar with havoc causing abilities, such as Whispering to another player and converting them into an Infiltrator also, creating Mass Hysteria amongst a large group of players and NPCs, and of course the tools to avoid detection from town guards. If you are clever enough to survive and corrupt 8 other players, you can turn into a Dreadlord and cause absolute destruction against your fellow players.

This has been the most random fun in the pre-patch. There is nothing like passing the Mysterious Whispers back and forth between a group of friends in the hopes that one of you will avoid the guards and other players long enough to make the ultimate sacrifice and join The Legion as a Dreadlord. Avoiding the patrols and trying to find willing participants in a crowd of unfriendly players is an invigorating experience and takes me back to Vanilla and Burning Crusade World PvP events.

Themes

There are two common themes shared between all of the pre-patch content. The first is the a dedication to a very sophisticated, character driven plot and the second is the undeniable need for us all to work together if we are to defeat The Legion. In both instances the true value of failure is examined. We begin this new expansion as the clear losers in the battles so far. The Invasion scenarios are happening so rapidly and are filled with such a large number of forces, that no single player can complete all six before the countdown runs out. This is emphasised by the practical gameplay changes to group focussed experience points and looting rules. Bosses in these fights are also scaled based on the number of players attacking them. The combination of gameplay changes and dramatic storytelling these pre-patch events are introducing has created the perfect way for players to engage with the new expansion, be they new recruits or returning veterans.

I, for one, am very eager to follow the new faction leaders on their journey into maturity as key figures in the ever evolving storyline of the World of Warcraft. The draw for me to Warcraft games is the character development that occurs as the story evolves. From this point of view, it is clear that World of Warcraft: Legion has been perfectly set up for dramatic personal growth from many of the most loved characters of Azeroth: Sylvanus, Jaina, Maiev, Anduin, Greymane, Illidan and Khadgar all have played important roles in the preparation for this coming story. I have no doubt that their tales will be the core focus of the following expansion and anticipate this to be one of the most sophisticated character dramas the Warcraft lore has ever developed. I highly encourage you to explore this introductory content for yourself, before it is gone forever.