Warlords of Draneor is taking World of Warcraft by storm! What is so great about this expansion, fans of the franchise are asking? Well, whether you’re an old veteran from the days of Burning Crusade or a new recruit who popped in during Mists of Pandaria, WoD (Warlords of Draneor) is sure to be enjoyed by everyone! In this min-series of articles we’re going to be exploring each major aspect of WoD. So get your gear ready, saddle up your favorite mount, and let’s venture through the Dark Portal to defeat the Iron Horde!
Let’s get right down to the meat of the game, shall we? Garrisons. It’s one of the biggest innovations WoW has implemented in the ten years it’s been online. Unlike its previous expansions, all of the focus is around the garrisons. Basically, your character is a commander going up against the Iron Horde. You have to not only build your garrison, but also recruit fighters to go on quests for you. When your fighters return you receive certain bonus items if their mission was successful. Should your fighters fail they still receive some initial experience, but no chance of bonus loot.
“World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade” cover art (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
What makes Warlords of Draneor (known as WoD) so different is not only the player housing, but also the fact no new race or class was introduced in this expansion. There was some debate among the forums about this. Some classes, like the Druid class, got an improved cat form to their class. For the most part though most classes in WoD just have upgrades to existing abilities. The garrisons can cater to your character’s personal needs. Are you an alchemist? Have an alchemy lab for potions. Miner? There is a mine you can open and also a blacksmith shop.From the surface the concept of the garrisons can seem so simple. Why only have an expansion for player housing? Well, since WoW (World of Warcraft) is so old it actually makes sense. Today, even more players are beginning to make alternate characters in the game. Referred to as alts, it’s not uncommon for a player to usually have character of each class or race on their account. Maybe a player got tired of playing a hunter and decided to try out being a paladin. With the addition of the garrison each player can fully outfit their alts. Gone are the days where a player has to play for hours on end to get gear for their specific class.
Instead, they just have to go to their garrison. All the weapons and armor they need to upgrade from what they have is now readily available to them. On top of having gear available new pets, mounts, and other goodies can be unlocked when buildings are upgraded. Meaning more room for shops, gathering of garrison resources, and so much more! While garrisons appear to mainly focused around farming they’re addition will help cut out hours of having to gather resources. Through all of this the garrisons main focus is to not only be an outpost against the Iron Horde, but to defeat it.
In the next article we’ll be exploring the questing portion of the expansion. In order to get to it we’re going to have to venture into the freezing tundra of the Frostwolf clan with Thrall. Wish us luck!