I am posting this ~11 hours early, risking the chance that this is all fake, but I firmly believe that pretty much all of the information known so far will be true.
Blizzcon is starting soon, and it's almost guaranteed that Blizzard will be releasing details on their new expansion. MMO-Champion has compiled all of what we "know" so far, and I've quoted it below. However, I'm confident that we'll learn a lot more tomorrow, and I'll update this post as we learn more about "Cataclysm".
Updates
8/21/09 9:06pm - Adding more compiled information from mmo
8/20/09 12:30pm - Official site: http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/cataclysm
8/20/09 12:30pm - Cataclysm officially announced, everything in the original quote turned out to be true, new announcements, will add to post when information is compiled
8/20/09 11:30pm - Possible Logo Leak (Could be fake)
8/20/09 11:25pm - Posted Mmo Pre-Blizzcon Release
Quote:
General
Level cap will be 85 because developers wanted to focus on the right things: redoing Azeroth and providing more end-game content.
A new guild advancement system will let you earn guild perks and level a guild through 20 levels with points to spend in a talent tree. You will access abilities such as cheaper repairs, less durability loss on wipes, or mass resurection.
Phasing can now add and remove terrain based on your progress. Coasts will be progressively more flooded depending on how far you are in a storyline for example.
Path of the Titans
Talent trees won't be extended, you will just get 5 more talent points.
The Path of the Titans will let players follow a path (not restricted to classes), this is a new talent system with new skills and passive abilities.
A mastery system is being added as well, a lot of talents will be reworked to be more fun. The point is to get rid of a lot of the talent skills and not make you spend all your points in a talent tree just because it gives you more damage or higher crit chance.
Archeology
Archeology is a new secondary profession, not many details about this one but we'll probably hear more about it in future panels.
Deathwing
Deathwing, the leader of the Black Dragonflight will be the main vilain of the expansion.
Deathwing heard the whispers of the Old Gods after the arrival of the Burning Legion, he eventually grew very powerful and also became very very crazy.
His plan was to catch the Alliance and Horde unaware with something so massive that it would bring up the Elemental Planes.
The Elemental Planes were created by titans to contain the elementals, they weren't happy with this decision and some of them like Ragnaros got really angry.
New races - Worgens
Other races were discussed for the alliance, but the developers really felt that the alliance needed a monstrous race and horde needed something fun and tiny.
Genn Greymane closed the Greymane Wall to block the Scourge's plague. Gilneas got nervous as the Scourge progressed to the south.
Arugal was a patriot, he called the Worgens to battle for Gilneas but eventually was surprised by how dangerous what he called down was.
Worgens are from somewhere else ... or even someWHEN else. They have a wolverine temperament and spent a lot of time trying to contain the beast within.
Racial - Visciousness - +1% damage.
Racial - Dark Flight - +70% run speed for 10 seconds.
Racial - Abberation - Duration of Curses and Diseases reduced by 15%
Racial - Flayer - Skinning skill increased by 15.
New Races - Goblins
Goblins are a technological race from Kezan, their society is broken up into trade cartels run by trade princes. They are new factions and not the ones you can already see in game.
The Cataclysm hit Kezan really hard and it's possibly destroyed. The goblins are now refugees on the Lost Isles.
As a goblin you start as a neutral cartel and eventually join the horde as you progress through the questlines.
Racial - Best Deals Anywhere - Always receive the best discount regardless of faction.
Racial - Pack Hobgoblin - Calls your personal servant allowing you bank access for 1 minute. 30 secs cooldown.
Racial - Better Living Through Chemistry - Alchemy skill increased by 15.
Racial - Rocket Barrage - Launches your belt rockets an an enemy, dealing fire damage. 2 min cooldown.
Racial - Rocket Jump - Activates your rocket belt to jump forward. 2 min cooldown.
Racial - Time is Money - 1% increased attack and casting speed.
Old World
We all left a little part of ourselves in Northrend and the old world will be much darker than it was to make heroism and brotherhood more meaningful like Warcraft should be.
Every zones will be revamped with new quests, items, and art. The old world will be a brand new experience and you won't have to deal with the annoying agility/spirit quest rewards anymore.
Azeroth is now flyable. Pretty much all the zones will be changed to some extent, some of them like Elwynn Forest won't change too much but others like The Barrens will be sundered in two by Deathwing.
The Wailing Caverns are now a lush and verdant Area.
Desolace now has a lot more waters and a lot of plants can be seen in the screenshots.
The Horde finally conquered Southshore.
Auberdine was destroyed and the night elves have set up a new camp north of it. Garrosh wants to expand the horde and has built a fortified camp at the south of the zone.
Stonetalon has been cleaned by the Goblins, Azshara will be the new Goblin zone, and are using quarries in the mountains of Azshara to build their town.
Apparently Orgrimmar will be rebuilt and reinforced with steel, it now looks a lot like Garrosh strongholds...
Undercity has been redesigned to be flyable, it now looks much more impressive from the outside.
New Zones
7 new zones will be added : Twilight Highlands, Mount Hyjal, Deepholm, Uldum, Gilneas, The Lost Isles, Sunken City of Vash'jir.
Starting Areas
The Worgens and Goblins starting zone level goes from 1 to 15.
Vasj'ir
Sunken City of Vashj'ir will be an underwater zone and was the home city of Lady Vashj before the original sundering, this is a gateway to the Abyssal Maw. Going through the Abyssal Maw will take you to the Elemental Plane of Water, even if the zone will be underwater you will be walking on the sea floor here, new underwater mounts will be available and should have the same speed as normal flying mounts.
Deepholm
Deepholm will be the new hub of the expansion, you will have portals here to let you teleport to Hyjal, Uldum, etc ... The Twilight's Hammer now serves Deathwing and have brought him back to full health in the Temple of Earth at the center of the map.
Deepholm isn't really connected to Azeroth, the connection is where Deathwing emerged from the ground.
Uldum
Uldum will have at least two dungeons and is heavily inspired from Egypt. The sea at the west of Tanaris was just an illusion created by the Titan and Uldum is actually a brand new zone. It is rumored to hold a super weapon. Uldum is also the home of the Tolvir, a race of stone-like cats created by the titans.
Plane of Fire
Ragnaros used the cataclysm to come back from the Plane of Fire where we sent him and is now sieging the World Tree in Mount Hyjal to burn it down. Malfurion is back from the Emerald Dream. The whole zone (Hyjal) will make extensive use of phasing.
Twilight Highlands
The Twilight Highlands will feature Grim Batol, Deathwing literally broke open Grim Batol as he emerged from the ground. This is the new Twilight's Hammer base in Azeroth and both Horde and Alliance will have a new port town with boats here. The Red Dragonflight is still here but has been pushed back to the west of the zone near the Wetlands.
Dungeons & Raids
The Firelands will be a new raid dungeon, it will let you go to the Elemental Plane of fire and visit Sulfuron's Keep, Ragnaros will be here and he's really pissed.
Uldum will feature two new dungeons, the Lost City of Tol'vir and the Halls of Origination (a titan city)
Grim Batol will have a level-up dungeon and a raid instance.
Skywall (Air Elemental Plane) will have a level-up dungeon and a raid instance.
The Deadmines and Shadowfang Keep will be back in a brand new level 85 heroic version.
Blackrock Caverns will be a new level-up dungeon located in Blackrock Spire. This is an entirely new dungeon, new art, new creatures, new everything.
Player vs. Player
Battle of Gilneas will be a new battleground where the objective is to control the city by controlling as many districts as possible.
Tol'barad will be a new PvP zone and will also be the most important daily quest hub. Just like Wintergrasp a battle will happen every few hours and the winning side will get access to the Tol'barad Prison and extra daily quests, the really profitable ones.
Rated battlegrounds will be added to the game and should get you the same rewards as Arenas.
New arena maps will be added.
Level cap will be 85 because developers wanted to focus on the right things: redoing Azeroth and providing more end-game content.
A new guild advancement system will let you earn guild perks and level a guild through 20 levels with points to spend in a talent tree. You will access abilities such as cheaper repairs, less durability loss on wipes, or mass resurection.
Phasing can now add and remove terrain based on your progress. Coasts will be progressively more flooded depending on how far you are in a storyline for example.
Path of the Titans
Talent trees won't be extended, you will just get 5 more talent points.
The Path of the Titans will let players follow a path (not restricted to classes), this is a new talent system with new skills and passive abilities.
A mastery system is being added as well, a lot of talents will be reworked to be more fun. The point is to get rid of a lot of the talent skills and not make you spend all your points in a talent tree just because it gives you more damage or higher crit chance.
Archeology
Archeology is a new secondary profession, not many details about this one but we'll probably hear more about it in future panels.
Deathwing
Deathwing, the leader of the Black Dragonflight will be the main vilain of the expansion.
Deathwing heard the whispers of the Old Gods after the arrival of the Burning Legion, he eventually grew very powerful and also became very very crazy.
His plan was to catch the Alliance and Horde unaware with something so massive that it would bring up the Elemental Planes.
The Elemental Planes were created by titans to contain the elementals, they weren't happy with this decision and some of them like Ragnaros got really angry.
New races - Worgens
Other races were discussed for the alliance, but the developers really felt that the alliance needed a monstrous race and horde needed something fun and tiny.
Genn Greymane closed the Greymane Wall to block the Scourge's plague. Gilneas got nervous as the Scourge progressed to the south.
Arugal was a patriot, he called the Worgens to battle for Gilneas but eventually was surprised by how dangerous what he called down was.
Worgens are from somewhere else ... or even someWHEN else. They have a wolverine temperament and spent a lot of time trying to contain the beast within.
Racial - Visciousness - +1% damage.
Racial - Dark Flight - +70% run speed for 10 seconds.
Racial - Abberation - Duration of Curses and Diseases reduced by 15%
Racial - Flayer - Skinning skill increased by 15.
New Races - Goblins
Goblins are a technological race from Kezan, their society is broken up into trade cartels run by trade princes. They are new factions and not the ones you can already see in game.
The Cataclysm hit Kezan really hard and it's possibly destroyed. The goblins are now refugees on the Lost Isles.
As a goblin you start as a neutral cartel and eventually join the horde as you progress through the questlines.
Racial - Best Deals Anywhere - Always receive the best discount regardless of faction.
Racial - Pack Hobgoblin - Calls your personal servant allowing you bank access for 1 minute. 30 secs cooldown.
Racial - Better Living Through Chemistry - Alchemy skill increased by 15.
Racial - Rocket Barrage - Launches your belt rockets an an enemy, dealing fire damage. 2 min cooldown.
Racial - Rocket Jump - Activates your rocket belt to jump forward. 2 min cooldown.
Racial - Time is Money - 1% increased attack and casting speed.
Old World
We all left a little part of ourselves in Northrend and the old world will be much darker than it was to make heroism and brotherhood more meaningful like Warcraft should be.
Every zones will be revamped with new quests, items, and art. The old world will be a brand new experience and you won't have to deal with the annoying agility/spirit quest rewards anymore.
Azeroth is now flyable. Pretty much all the zones will be changed to some extent, some of them like Elwynn Forest won't change too much but others like The Barrens will be sundered in two by Deathwing.
The Wailing Caverns are now a lush and verdant Area.
Desolace now has a lot more waters and a lot of plants can be seen in the screenshots.
The Horde finally conquered Southshore.
Auberdine was destroyed and the night elves have set up a new camp north of it. Garrosh wants to expand the horde and has built a fortified camp at the south of the zone.
Stonetalon has been cleaned by the Goblins, Azshara will be the new Goblin zone, and are using quarries in the mountains of Azshara to build their town.
Apparently Orgrimmar will be rebuilt and reinforced with steel, it now looks a lot like Garrosh strongholds...
Undercity has been redesigned to be flyable, it now looks much more impressive from the outside.
New Zones
7 new zones will be added : Twilight Highlands, Mount Hyjal, Deepholm, Uldum, Gilneas, The Lost Isles, Sunken City of Vash'jir.
Starting Areas
The Worgens and Goblins starting zone level goes from 1 to 15.
Vasj'ir
Sunken City of Vashj'ir will be an underwater zone and was the home city of Lady Vashj before the original sundering, this is a gateway to the Abyssal Maw. Going through the Abyssal Maw will take you to the Elemental Plane of Water, even if the zone will be underwater you will be walking on the sea floor here, new underwater mounts will be available and should have the same speed as normal flying mounts.
Deepholm
Deepholm will be the new hub of the expansion, you will have portals here to let you teleport to Hyjal, Uldum, etc ... The Twilight's Hammer now serves Deathwing and have brought him back to full health in the Temple of Earth at the center of the map.
Deepholm isn't really connected to Azeroth, the connection is where Deathwing emerged from the ground.
Uldum
Uldum will have at least two dungeons and is heavily inspired from Egypt. The sea at the west of Tanaris was just an illusion created by the Titan and Uldum is actually a brand new zone. It is rumored to hold a super weapon. Uldum is also the home of the Tolvir, a race of stone-like cats created by the titans.
Plane of Fire
Ragnaros used the cataclysm to come back from the Plane of Fire where we sent him and is now sieging the World Tree in Mount Hyjal to burn it down. Malfurion is back from the Emerald Dream. The whole zone (Hyjal) will make extensive use of phasing.
Twilight Highlands
The Twilight Highlands will feature Grim Batol, Deathwing literally broke open Grim Batol as he emerged from the ground. This is the new Twilight's Hammer base in Azeroth and both Horde and Alliance will have a new port town with boats here. The Red Dragonflight is still here but has been pushed back to the west of the zone near the Wetlands.
Dungeons & Raids
The Firelands will be a new raid dungeon, it will let you go to the Elemental Plane of fire and visit Sulfuron's Keep, Ragnaros will be here and he's really pissed.
Uldum will feature two new dungeons, the Lost City of Tol'vir and the Halls of Origination (a titan city)
Grim Batol will have a level-up dungeon and a raid instance.
Skywall (Air Elemental Plane) will have a level-up dungeon and a raid instance.
The Deadmines and Shadowfang Keep will be back in a brand new level 85 heroic version.
Blackrock Caverns will be a new level-up dungeon located in Blackrock Spire. This is an entirely new dungeon, new art, new creatures, new everything.
Player vs. Player
Battle of Gilneas will be a new battleground where the objective is to control the city by controlling as many districts as possible.
Tol'barad will be a new PvP zone and will also be the most important daily quest hub. Just like Wintergrasp a battle will happen every few hours and the winning side will get access to the Tol'barad Prison and extra daily quests, the really profitable ones.
Rated battlegrounds will be added to the game and should get you the same rewards as Arenas.
New arena maps will be added.
Quote:
Archaeology
Archaeology is the new secondary profession that will be joining the ranks of cooking, fishing, and first aid in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. Archaeology allows the player to unlock new abilities and rewards by discovering ancient treasures throughout the world. Each archaeologist uses the profession to uncover clues hidden in the world around them, such as troll relics or map fragments, and decipher their meaning, enabling the clever archaeologist to manipulate pieces of the past, learning the location of a treasure cache or valuable artifact. Such artifacts are highly sought after by the Archaeology Society, and they pay in gold and items for their return. Those who have mastered archaeology can find Titan artifacts, earning special currency used to unlock character paths and allowing the player to further customize their character.
Reforging
Reforging is another way to customize your gear.
It will be relatively cheap, you will need a Blacksmith / Leatherworker / Tailor / Jewelcrafter / Engineer to do it. Each profession get to reforge a type of items.
It lets you reduce one stat for another. Some restrictions will apply, you can't put the extra stat on something that is already on the item.
Professions
Multi-gains will be added, while you level up your trade skills, rare items will give you more points as you skill up. (Rare items will give you 5 points for example, while green bracers will only give one)
Gathering should be a little more fun.
Engineering is a very fun tradeskill, but it's either amazing or it sucks and everybody drops it. More convenient items like Jeeves or Wormhole Generator will be added to the profession in the future to get back to the roots of Engineering.
Fishing will also have some big changes, no details yet but it's going to be more fun.
Itemization
In World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, there are plans to streamline the statistics found on items. We want to remove all unnecessary stats, make all existing stats understandable, and make all "core" stats more appealing. Here are some examples of such plans.
MP5: This will be removed from items and replaced with Spirit. All healers will be given a meditation-like ability.
Spell Power: Spell Power is being removed from items as well. Don't panic, we'll be improving Intellect so that it provides mana and Spell Power.
Attack Power: We're removing Attack Power from items as well. Instead, we're allowing Agility to provide the necessary Attack Power for leather and mail wearers. Strength will provide the appropriate amount of Attack Power for plate wearers. This means leather and mail items will no longer be desirable for plate wearers.
Defense: The Defense statistic is also being removed from items so that players no longer have to worry about juggling around "the cap." Tanks will receive the necessary anti-crit from talents, like Survival of the Fittest.
Armor Penetration: This ability is too confusing and "mathy." It is being replaced with Mastery, a stat that makes you better at what you do. More on that later!
Haste: Will also increase the rate at which you gain energy, runes, and focus. Retribution paladins and Enhancement shaman will have a talent that allows them to take advantage of this benefit.
Block: Block Value is being removed. Blocking will now always mitigate a percentage of damage.
Stamina: Players will notice more Stamina on gear as Defense, Spell Power, Attack Power and Armor Penetration are removed.
Legendary Item
Shadowmourne - You won't get Frostmourne in Icecrown but Death Knights and Hunters will get a Legendary Axe named Shadowmourne.
Goblins
Rocket Jump - Activate your rocket belt to jump up to 20 yards, every 2 min
Rocket Barrage - Fire your belt rockets at an enemy within 30 yards, every 2 min. (Shared cooldown with Rocket Jump)
Time is money - Cash in on a 1% increase to attack and casting speed.
Best Deals Anywhere - Best possible gold discount, regardless of reputation.
Pack Hobgoblin - Calls in your personal servent, allowing you bank access every 30 min.
Better Living Through Chemistry - Alchemy skill +15, Your potions give more health / mana
Goblins can be all classes except Paladin or Druids
Worgens
Darkflight - Activate your true form, increasing movement speed by 70% for 6 sec, every 3 min.
Viciousness - Increase damage by 1%.
Abberation - Reduced duration on Curses and Diseases used against you by 15%.
Flayer - Skinning skill +15, you skin creature fast, and you don't even need a knife.
Worgens can be all classes except Paladins or Shamans
Worgen Form
The Worgen Form is cosmetic only
out of combat you can pick between Human or Worgen.
In combat you will be a worgen.
Hunter
Hunter's mana is GONE!!!
Hunters now use focus, no longer care about intellect or mana regen.
Focus regenerates contunously, Steady shot improves the rate of getting focus bag.
Rogue energy comes back at a 10 / sec rate, Hunter focus comes back at 6/sec (12/sec with steady shot)
A shot costs 30 to 60 focus.
Hunters will have fewer cooldowns on abilities
Ammos will become an item, not a consumable.
Warlock
Soul Shards are no longer in your bags. The goal is to make them fun, not a hassle.
Soul Shards will be integrated to the user interface. (Just like Death Knight runes)
You get three shards per fight, they will regen very quickly out of combat.
It will be possible to get more for long fights or mistakes through Drain Soul.
Soul Burn (New Spell) : Cost 1 Shard, 30 sec cooldown, off the GCD. Empowers your next spell, many (not all spells) behave differently when empowered.
Empowered Searing Pain : Next 3 Searing Pains crit
Empowered Summon Demon : Instant Cast
Empowered Soulfire : Instant Cast
Empowered Fear : Instant Cast
Empowered Death Coil : Longer Horror, more healing received.
They are only used in combat, summons or demons won't use your shards.
Archaeology is the new secondary profession that will be joining the ranks of cooking, fishing, and first aid in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. Archaeology allows the player to unlock new abilities and rewards by discovering ancient treasures throughout the world. Each archaeologist uses the profession to uncover clues hidden in the world around them, such as troll relics or map fragments, and decipher their meaning, enabling the clever archaeologist to manipulate pieces of the past, learning the location of a treasure cache or valuable artifact. Such artifacts are highly sought after by the Archaeology Society, and they pay in gold and items for their return. Those who have mastered archaeology can find Titan artifacts, earning special currency used to unlock character paths and allowing the player to further customize their character.
Reforging
Reforging is another way to customize your gear.
It will be relatively cheap, you will need a Blacksmith / Leatherworker / Tailor / Jewelcrafter / Engineer to do it. Each profession get to reforge a type of items.
It lets you reduce one stat for another. Some restrictions will apply, you can't put the extra stat on something that is already on the item.
Professions
Multi-gains will be added, while you level up your trade skills, rare items will give you more points as you skill up. (Rare items will give you 5 points for example, while green bracers will only give one)
Gathering should be a little more fun.
Engineering is a very fun tradeskill, but it's either amazing or it sucks and everybody drops it. More convenient items like Jeeves or Wormhole Generator will be added to the profession in the future to get back to the roots of Engineering.
Fishing will also have some big changes, no details yet but it's going to be more fun.
Itemization
In World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, there are plans to streamline the statistics found on items. We want to remove all unnecessary stats, make all existing stats understandable, and make all "core" stats more appealing. Here are some examples of such plans.
MP5: This will be removed from items and replaced with Spirit. All healers will be given a meditation-like ability.
Spell Power: Spell Power is being removed from items as well. Don't panic, we'll be improving Intellect so that it provides mana and Spell Power.
Attack Power: We're removing Attack Power from items as well. Instead, we're allowing Agility to provide the necessary Attack Power for leather and mail wearers. Strength will provide the appropriate amount of Attack Power for plate wearers. This means leather and mail items will no longer be desirable for plate wearers.
Defense: The Defense statistic is also being removed from items so that players no longer have to worry about juggling around "the cap." Tanks will receive the necessary anti-crit from talents, like Survival of the Fittest.
Armor Penetration: This ability is too confusing and "mathy." It is being replaced with Mastery, a stat that makes you better at what you do. More on that later!
Haste: Will also increase the rate at which you gain energy, runes, and focus. Retribution paladins and Enhancement shaman will have a talent that allows them to take advantage of this benefit.
Block: Block Value is being removed. Blocking will now always mitigate a percentage of damage.
Stamina: Players will notice more Stamina on gear as Defense, Spell Power, Attack Power and Armor Penetration are removed.
Legendary Item
Shadowmourne - You won't get Frostmourne in Icecrown but Death Knights and Hunters will get a Legendary Axe named Shadowmourne.
Goblins
Rocket Jump - Activate your rocket belt to jump up to 20 yards, every 2 min
Rocket Barrage - Fire your belt rockets at an enemy within 30 yards, every 2 min. (Shared cooldown with Rocket Jump)
Time is money - Cash in on a 1% increase to attack and casting speed.
Best Deals Anywhere - Best possible gold discount, regardless of reputation.
Pack Hobgoblin - Calls in your personal servent, allowing you bank access every 30 min.
Better Living Through Chemistry - Alchemy skill +15, Your potions give more health / mana
Goblins can be all classes except Paladin or Druids
Worgens
Darkflight - Activate your true form, increasing movement speed by 70% for 6 sec, every 3 min.
Viciousness - Increase damage by 1%.
Abberation - Reduced duration on Curses and Diseases used against you by 15%.
Flayer - Skinning skill +15, you skin creature fast, and you don't even need a knife.
Worgens can be all classes except Paladins or Shamans
Worgen Form
The Worgen Form is cosmetic only
out of combat you can pick between Human or Worgen.
In combat you will be a worgen.
Hunter
Hunter's mana is GONE!!!
Hunters now use focus, no longer care about intellect or mana regen.
Focus regenerates contunously, Steady shot improves the rate of getting focus bag.
Rogue energy comes back at a 10 / sec rate, Hunter focus comes back at 6/sec (12/sec with steady shot)
A shot costs 30 to 60 focus.
Hunters will have fewer cooldowns on abilities
Ammos will become an item, not a consumable.
Warlock
Soul Shards are no longer in your bags. The goal is to make them fun, not a hassle.
Soul Shards will be integrated to the user interface. (Just like Death Knight runes)
You get three shards per fight, they will regen very quickly out of combat.
It will be possible to get more for long fights or mistakes through Drain Soul.
Soul Burn (New Spell) : Cost 1 Shard, 30 sec cooldown, off the GCD. Empowers your next spell, many (not all spells) behave differently when empowered.
Empowered Searing Pain : Next 3 Searing Pains crit
Empowered Summon Demon : Instant Cast
Empowered Soulfire : Instant Cast
Empowered Fear : Instant Cast
Empowered Death Coil : Longer Horror, more healing received.
They are only used in combat, summons or demons won't use your shards.
Pre-Blizzcon Release
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm is the next expansion for World of Warcraft. Dark and forgotten threats that have long stayed out of sight have finally arrived on our shores, unleashing a cataclysmic event upon Azeroth and now preparing more nefarius plans to take it back.
Level Cap
The level cap in the next expansion will be slightly lower than expected this time around; 85.
This suggests Blizzard wants more room for expansions before hitting the level 100 cap. With less leveling to do (along with the revamped leveling listed below likely to increase the speed and ease of leveling), leveling a new race remains appealing for new and existing players alike.
Leveling from 80-85 should be a much bigger deal, the idea is to make sure that gaining a level really means something and doesn't make you feel like you just have 4 more levels to go.
New Classes
Cataclysm doesn't introduce any new classes to the game. Instead, Blizzard have offered more race and classes combinations to players. The Some of these have alreadly been datamined from the 3.2.2 Test Realms. The An Injured Colleague quest and it's new Night Elf counter-part help to introduce the lore for these new race and class combinations, so we can probably expect to see more of these for some of the less traditional ones.
- -Human Hunter
-Orc Mage
-Night Elf Mage
-Dwarf Mage
-Blood Elf Warrior
-Dwarf Shaman
-Undead Hunter
-Tauren Paladin
-Tauren Priest
-Gnome Priest
-Troll Druid
New Races
The events of the cataclysm has caused two new races to seek new allies. The Goblins for the Horde and the Worgen for the Alliance.
Goblins
Deathwing once again sought the services of the goblins, as slaves. Unable to refuse such an offer, the goblins were enslaved by him. A large group have resisted however. With their previous homes devastated by the cataclysm, they escaping to an island off the coast of The Barrens. As they strive to recover, they come across an Orc captured on an Alliance ship and rescue him. The Orc turns out to be none other than Thrall himself, and in return offers the Goblins a place within the Horde. These events are carried out in a quest line, allowing players to experience first-hand the reasons behind the Goblins' shift from neutrality.
Worgen
The cataclysm has cracked open the Greymane Wall, finally revealing what has happened to the kingdom of Gilneas and its citizens. With the Worgen curse taken hold, they have found a partial cure, allowing thme to retain their Human minds even when transformed. Venturing forth from Gilneas and seeking help from the Alliance, they have decided to join them, to combat the new threats of Cataclysm.
Gilneas will make extensive use of the phasing system (much like the Death Knight starting area), to show what happened while the kingdom was cut off from the rest of the world and lead up to present day.
Worgens will have two forms, a Worgen form and a Human form. Players will be able to customise the look of both forms.
New Content
Cataclysm will be the first expansion not to introduce a new continent, instead making use of previously unreleased zones and revamping existing ones.
Classic Azeroth Revamp
A cataclysmic event caused by Deathwing and Azshara will change the face of Azeroth as we know it. Most of the new content for Cataclysm will take the form of a revamped Azeroth, taking advantage of newer additions to WoW such as phasing and daily quests. Most of the quests and mobs in the classic zones will also be redesigned to make leveling less painful. With the revamp, a greater narritive and sense progression will be offered to players. Some zones and dungeons will change drastically to fit this, e.g.,
- -The Barrens will be split into two separate zones of two different level bands.
-Azshara will become a low level (~10-20) zone.
-Some of the zones like the Thousand Needles will be flooded.
-Durotar is wrecked and apparently Orgrimmar could be destroyed. A new Orc city is rebuilt over the course of the expansion.
-Gnomeregan will be part of the expansion as well and gnomes might be able to reclaim their capital. (The last part is still unconfirmed)
-Wailing Caverns will be become a lush tropical area as a result of the druid's magic.
-The Blackrock Spire will erupt and a new version of Blackrock Mountains will be available, apparently Ragnaros will be back too.
In the aftermath of the cataclysm, and the new conflicts on the horizon relief efforts can be found in many zones and new open PvP areas similar to Lake Wintergrasp.
Flying in Azeroth
Part of the redesign of the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor is the introduction of flying to the two continents, allowing access to many new areas and quicker travelling across the large continents.
Classic Dungeon Revamp
Redesigning Onyxia's Lair in Patch 3.2.2 was just the first step. As most of the leveling will take place in revamped areas of Azeroth, so too will the dungeons, allowing players to use them to level from 80 to 85.
Unreleased Zones & Dungeons
With the addition of flying mounts to Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms and the redesign of many zones, most of the previously unreachable or incomplete zones will now be made available to players. This is where most of the new content from 80 to 85 will take place. Some of these are,
- -Hyjal (present)
-Gilneas - The Worgen starting Zone.
-Uldum
It is unclear if the old Goblin locations such as Kezan and Undermine will be included in Cataclyms with the revelation of the goblins' plight, but several new islands have also been risen from the seas by the events of Cataclysm, some on the backs of giant sea turtles and whales, with the addition of several underwater zones.
Characters and Events
Deathwing
Deathwing the Destroyer / Neltharion the Earth-Warder will play a major role in Cataclysm. Having been driven mad by Old God whisperings and turning against his own kind only to be fail in his attempts, Deathwing has sunk into the shadows. While the Horde and the Alliance were busy fighting back the Burning Legion only to then be beset with the Scourge, he has been lurking and moving things into place. After Lady Sinestra's failed attempts to create a Twilight Dragonflight, he again retreated to Grim Batol and succeeded where she failed. With his results seen in the Obsidian Sanctum, he has finally created the supreme Dragonflight he sought and plans to unleash it upon the world. But what of the Old Gods' sway over him?
Azshara
Queen Azshara will also play a major part in Cataclysm. Unknown to many mortal races, long forgotten by others, and believe to be dead by her own kind, she has not been dormant in depths of the Maelstrom. Having those around her transformed by the Old Gods into Naga after her failure in the War of the Ancients, she has become far more powerful and a greater threat than she once was. Not content with just Nazjatar and the depths of the sea, Azshara seeks to reclaim power and reign once again. With the true plan behind Lady Vashj's support of Illidan remaining a mystery we do not know what hand Azshara has yet played. The big question remains, is she now serving her "saviors", the Old Gods?
The Cataclysm
I'm still not sure who is the true end boss of Cataclysm is, but the cataclysm appears to have been caused by attempts to incantation to summon extremely powerful beings using an ancient incantation by Deathwing and Azshara. They're both very powerful, but the cataclysm itself suggests something more powerful is behind it, perhaps their shared past of Old God influence?
The Guardian of Tirisfal
Malfurion Stormrage will be returning to Azeroth to aid in the creation of the new Guardian of Tirisfal - Thrall! Med'an's role in these events is currently unknown.
The New (New) Horde
Thrall will hand over the leadership of the Horde to Garrosh Hellscream, while he serves as a coordinator for both the Horde and Alliance forces in and effort to combat the new threat of the Naga and Black Dragonflight. Without Thrall to keep Garrosh in check, he declares open war on the Alliance. In the political upheaval Cairne Bloodhoof is implicated as a traitor to the Horde and murdered by Garrosh. Cairne's son Baine takes over as the new Tauren chieftan. This could explain why Baine was removed from the game in Patch 3.2.2, you can find more information about this in Ahmo Thunderhorn - replacement for Baine Bloodhoof?
