In the next addition, Blizzard will change the leveling system, leveling will become faster, and it will be easier for beginners to feel part of the vast world of World of Warcraft. I got early access to Shadowlands – I say that the developers added a cool one.
A first-level character now appears on the Alliance ship. A short video tells us that we went on an expedition to check why ships disappear in local Bermuda. We are greeted and offered to immediately proceed to military exercises, which is more than appropriate for the world of military craft.
Experienced players in World of Warcraft have already seen similar training: a practically similar storyline campaign is available when buying a token for an instant level increase in an in-game store. On the deck there are mannequins, a peppy warrant officer commands the arrangement of skills on the panel and asks to consistently apply them in practice. In the current version of the game, representatives of another faction attack the ship, but for the new Shadowlands storyline, Blizzard stocked up something better.
A storm is covering the sky with darkness – the Alliance ship is wrecked. WoW developers are very fond of this scenario and play it out at any opportunity. The character comes to life on an unfamiliar island called Exile’s Reach, looks around and goes straight to the NPC with an exclamation mark over his head.
The first story quest is a tribute to the rich history of World of Warcraft and its iconic monsters. The insidious murlocs living on the beach stole medicine from the medical compartment of the ship. The character needs to be selected to cure the crew battered by the disaster.
Marks appeared on the map in World of Warcraft: Shadowlands – now it’s impossible to miss the destination. People suffering from topographical cretinism (like me) used to put special add-ons to determine the shortest path to the goal, but now this is a built-in functionality. Players of the “classics” will say: “They proved!”, Because in the “vanilla” even quest items are not always displayed on the map. In fact, it is convenient, does not load the interface and allows you to save time on movement.
Already in the first location you may meet treasure chests. In addition to the “valuable” content, for the discovery you will get a little experience. I don’t advise running after the loot headlong, but if the box appeared nearby, then it’s worth looking into it.
The third quest shows how players can interact with their surroundings. Exploring the coast, we meet the draenei Alaria, who participated in the last expedition into the mystical waters. She is hungry, so we are sent on a hunt: we hunt down local game and practice cooking fresh meat at the stake. I would suggest Blizzard automatically add one point to the character in the Cooking profession – this would encourage the skill to be pumped in the future.
After a hearty dinner, Captain Garrick invites us to sparring. It’s pretty weird to have a full stomach workout. In a fight, we are taught to combine abilities, explaining that an ice arrow slows down and a fire sets fire. The training is aimed at young Padawans who have never played World of Warcraft. In fact, such information is rather harmful: the rotation in this MMORPG is much more complicated, and getting to know two spells, which later will not even stay on the panel, is confusing, because we have already tried our hand at sparring on a ship.
The quest chain continues, it is impossible to turn off the path. This compares favorably with the new location from the previous starting zones, where, having completed one quest, you could find the next one at the other end of the map.
There are also “rarniki” in the starting zone, but I was disappointed with them: a huge ogre with a silver profile frame did not cause any problems. Previously, they were more complicated than ordinary monsters, and loot for killing was more valuable.
At the fifth level, the character is allowed to fly on the miracle of gnomish engineering. At the end of the journey, they show a cinematic about the ogre that terrorizes this area, and the huge army of monsters. Having resorted to necromancy, the ogres plan to resurrect the dragon and make it their powerful servant.
It would seem that the enemy presses with quantity, but we are cunning. We make a giant boar and deliver the cabins to all the “protesters”.
After the first glorious victory, we are taught to trade: we buy the right, we sell the unnecessary. As a cashback, the character is handed a bag with ten cells – in the realities of modern World of Warcraft this is not enough, but during pumping with inventory slots there are always huge problems.
Dungeons open from the seventh level, which is reached much faster than the previously required level 15. For people like me, smurf fans smothered by Blizzard chores, this is a great innovation. Leveling in the dungeons is less interesting than exploring the world of World of Warcraft on the surface, but is suitable for those who do not like to do the same quests several times.
At the eighth level, the magician got an interesting quest to study the “polymorph”. Unlike previous sparring, this is a good example of how to introduce a spellbook. At the bottom of the river, the character finds an ancient folio, which describes a way to turn people into animals. The spell is interesting, but the local wizard warns that the effect is not eternal, and … briefly turns the character into a sheep.
At the eighth level, you can take the quest for a reward for the head. An evil bear has settled in a cave near the Alliance camp, our character is offered to fill up with his bare hands. They hint that it is necessary to assemble a group of five people, but with due diligence, you can cope alone.
The story quest sends the hero to the Citadel. Appearance for the sake of disguise will change us: in the guise of an ogre, we play the classic scenario “I brought prisoners” and brutally crack down on the villain with … dance. In fact, we are taught to use in-game emotions: first you need to wave your hand, and then dance if you wish – the enemy teleports to the tower from the sight of an incendiary Ogre twerk.
The next step in the adventure will be a trip to the new Darkmaul Citadel dungeon. On alpha, it is available from the seventh to the 60th level, so that high-level comrades will be able to “drive” you over a glass of sparkling at the Darkmoon Fair. The dungeon is small, it has only two bosses. On the upper platform, we meet with a huge, who was completely defeated by our dance, and his evil resurrected dragon – the main evil of the starting location.
Epicness begins after reinforcements fly behind us and transport us to the stately city of Stormwind. The griffin lands near the gate: Blizzard intentionally asks us to walk along the Alley of Heroes, here everyone screams that the capital of the faction is a fortress of brave knights. You will be guided by a tour, presented with the faithful golden-maned steed and will help you choose a specialization. A quest entitled “Home is where your heart is” will enable you to tie a Hearthstone in one of the taverns of the old quarters of Stormwind. Very sincere acquaintance with the capital of the Alliance. It is insanely interesting what they come up with for the Horde.
As the owner several characters of the maximum level in Battle for Azeroth, which I pumped without buying instantly raising the level of tokens, I know for sure how exhausting leveling can be. From the new quests, only positive impressions remained: they are structured, done in an hour in a leisurely mode and leave the aftertaste of the classic MMORPG. You’re babysitting, but they don’t poke mechanics in the face. They talk about world events, but do not make them read the description of the quests, because not everyone is fan of Laura. They show that in the game you can not only kill monsters, but also have fun: there are dances in the form of an ogre, walks around Stormwind and other interactive games without the need to “crush” enemies.
As a result of my adventures, I can summarize: pumping in World of Warcraft: Shadowlands will be much faster than in Battle for Azeroth, and even more so in Classic. I went through the starting chain without the “family” armor and other experience factors – even in this case it takes about an hour. Leveling from the 20th to the 50th level is available in any locations, now players are not forced to consistently go through all the previous additions.
Levels in familiar areas of old content are taken quickly. By default, we are offered to play Battle for Azeroth, but you can choose any of the World of Warcraft add-ons. And I like this opportunity, because many have their favorite add-ons. With experience bonuses, you can prepare for the conquest of Shadowlands in a day. For example, the user reddit DesMephisto happened Take level 50 in 12 hours and 33 minutes. A pleasant surprise that will allow beginners not to get bored in the old content, and old-timers – to pump a new class, which did not reach their hands.
Getting used to World of Warcraft: Shadowlands will be simple: the new character will not have to save the world several times before starting the adventure in the new add-on. And this is a great reason to try to write your name in the history of cool MMORPG.
Screenshots Exile’s Reach:
Screenshot World of Warcraft: Shadowlands
