If you're ready to move on from The War Within, there's good news on the horizon: World of Warcraft's eleventh expansion, Midnight, will be temporarily available in an invite-only alpha, kicking off on October 2, and Blizzard's given us a taste of what to expect from the five phases.
It looks like each phase will last a week, and thanks to Blizzard we now know what's going to be contained within them. Thankfully, arguably the biggest part of the expansion, the thing that's got most players all frothy with excitement, is going to be available right from the get-go. That is, of course, housing.
That's coming in the first phase on October 2, along with the Eversong Woods zone; the level-up and Arator campaigns; the Windrunner Spire and Murder Row dungeons; the Collegiate Calamity, Parhelion Plaza and The Darkway delves; delve companion Valeera Sanguinar; the Devourer Demon Hunter specialisation and class updates; and professions.
Phase one looks like it's going to be the meatiest individual phase, but the fifth phase will contain everything from the first four weeks, on top of all the level 90 goodies, including the start of the level 90 campaign, news delves, loads of level 90 activities, the Prey system (which Harvey reckons might fix WoW's open-world difficulty problem) and sparks for crafters.
Here's the full list:
Phase 1
- Level 80-83
- Zone: Eversong Woods
- Story and quests: Level-up and Arator campaigns, Arcantine, local stories
- Housing
- Dungeons: Windrunner Spire, Murder Row
- Delves: Collegiate Calamity, Parhelion Plaza, The Darkway
- Delve companion: Valeera Sanguinar
- Classes: Devourer Demon Hunter, class updates
- Professions
Phase 2
- Level 83-88
- Zone: Zul'Aman
- Story and quests
- Dungeons: Den of Nalorakk, Maisara Caverns
- Delves: Twilight Crypts, Atal'Aman
Phase 3
- Level 83-88
- Zone: Harandar and Eversong Woods
- Story and quests
- Dungeons: The Blinding Vale
- Delves: The Grudge Pit, The Gulf of Memory
- UI: Encounter warnings
Phase 4
- Level 88-90
- Zone: Voidstorm
- Story and quests
- Dungeons: Nexus-Point Xenas, Voidscar Arena, Magister's Terrace
- Delves: Sunkiller Sanctum, Shadowguard Point
- PvP: Slayer's Rise PvP zone, Slayer's Rise 40v40, Epic Battleground
- Apex Talents
Phase 5
- Level 90
- Week 1-4 content available
- Story and quests: Level 90 campaign chapter 1, Arcantina visitor quests, weekly quests
- Delves: Torment's Rise, The Shadow Enclave
- Prey
- Level 90 activities: Saltheril's Soiree, Abundance, Legends of the Haranir, Stormarion Citadel, Amani Abyss
- Professions: Sparks
The impending alpha makes Midnight's launch feel more tangible, forcing me to resurrect my traditional expansion crisis: figuring out if this is the one I'll finally not bother with. I've now been playing WoW for more than 20 years, when I started sacrificing sleep in my tiny student flat so I could hit one more level. And The War Within, which I thought was great, just wasn't able to hold my attention for very long, even with its striking zones and the fun class twists brought about by the hero talents.
But this time there's housing! I'm an absolute sucker for this kind of stuff, and WoW's approach sounds like it's going to be both flexible as hell and pleasantly accessible. I desperately want to make a spooky pad for my morose Death Knight.
I keep trying to quit, but Blizz always finds a way to drag me back in. I have the willpower of an excitable puppy. I guess I'll find out if I've learned my lesson next year.
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