What Will Change in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm?

When World of Warcraft Cataclysm was announced at Blizzcon in August, there was a lot of buzz about just what would be changed when the new expansion drops. The big selling point of the new game is that there would be overhauls to all of the old world content. Familiar zones, cities, and quests would be completely upended and replaced with new content that no one has ever played before. But, what exactly would shift and what would it mean for new and old players alike?

Races and Classes

The big change in terms of who you can choose to be is that there are two new races coming to the game. For the Alliance, the new race will be the Worgen – a group of humans turned wolf-people who live in Gilneas. For the Horde, the new race will be the Goblins – a familiar race of merchants turned warriors as their homeland is destroyed and they are forced into the war against Deathwing.

Turning to classes, the big change comes in the form of new class combos that were not previously available. There are new options coming to the table such as the advent of Gnome Priests, Human Hunters and Troll Druids. Here is a complete list of the new combinations:

• Human Hunter
• Orc Mage
• Night Elf Mage
• Blood Elf Warrior
• Dwarf Shaman
• Dwarf Mage
• Undead Hunter
• Tauren Paladin
• Tauren Priest
• Gnome Priest
• Troll Druid

While they do not bring any new abilities or storylines to the game, these new class combos will allow players with established lineups to find new cause to go back through old content when Azeroth is changed.

The New Zones

While the big news is that every zone in Azeroth will be changed in some small way when the Cataclysm occurs (some in very big ways), there are also 7 new zones being added to the game. These include the Worgen and Goblin starting areas of Gilneas and the Lost Isles, as well as Deepholm, Uldum, Mount Hyjal, The Sunken City of Vash’jir, and the Twilight Highlands.

Additionally, new dungeons and raids will be added throughout these zones. Thus far, 8 new dungeons have been announced including Grim Batol, Skywall, Abyssal Maw, Deepholm, Uldum, and Blackrock Caverns. Additionally, Shadowfang Keep and The Deadmines are being revamped for Level 85 Heroic Runs.

New Features

Other new features being added to the game will include the Path of the Titans – a new way to add non-class specific abilities to characters by digging up artifacts with Archaeology, the new secondary profession. Players will also be able to start reforging armor and weapons – allowing them to remove skill points from one stat and put them into another, new stat.

Rated battlegrounds are another very popular new addition, allowing players to finally gain arena rating while playing in Battlegrounds. This will ensure those who enjoy PvP but do not enjoy Arena play can still get the high quality PvP gear available each season without an arena team.

The Cataclysm Is Almost Here

As of right now, Blizzard has only said they plan on having Cataclysm ready sometime in 2010. Since this is Blizzard, that date is very loose and may not be met. However, the general consensus is that they will try very hard to have it ready by Christmas of next year so they can successfully compete with other new MMORPGs hitting the market like The Old Republic. Either way, Cataclysm promises to be a huge overhaul to a beloved institution. It will quite literally change the face of World of Warcraft forever.

THE ULTIMATE GOLD REVIEW HERE