Blizzard introduces revamped starting experience in newest WoW: Shadowlands expansion

After promising to perform a level squish in the announcement of the new World of Warcraft expansion, Shadowlands, Blizzard has decided to revamp the starting experience as well to provide a better feeling of sense and accomplishment.

Available to both veterans and new players, this introductory excursion will be a great way to help people understand the intricacies behind leveling and enjoy the adventure.

As with many games, the excursion will begin with you as a part of a larger crew on a ship bound to their last known location. Suddenly, something will attack you and you’ll find yourself on an exotic island, Exile’s Reach.

The island will have many challenges with increasing difficulty, allowing both new and veteran players to test their capabilities. As you progress through these challenges, more abilities will be granted. At the end of the adventure, two mini-bosses will be awaiting you to test your entire arsenal.

The island’s goal is to teach everyone the fundamentals of the game, from adapting to your opponent to understanding what types of abilities you have at your disposal. A few tidbits from the developer reveal that Rogues will be given trials to learn their combo point usage, while Warriors will be taught how to charge properly in a fight. 

These small additions to the game will vastly enhance the ability to understand the game without relying on third-party resources.

New players will automatically begin on Exile’s Reach and will have to progress through it before being given access to the latest expansion, Battle for Azeroth.

Veterans will have the ability to opt-in to the upgraded leveling experience and begin at level one in the starting zone depending on the race. Upon reaching level 10, you’ll be able to talk to Chromie and choose the expansion in which you want to level before entering the Shadowlands expansion at level 50. The Allied race character, Death Knights, and Demon Hunters will have their own starting zone since they’ll start at level 10.

Blizzard is going all out with the changes for the next expansion. A lot of feedback that was ignored in the past was taken into consideration and Blizzard decided to make multiple quality of life changes, such as bringing back abilities that were removed during the Warlords of Draenor expansion, adding new interesting systems in the form of Covenant abilities, and reviving the PvP gear system with the already-known Conquest Points.

While there’s no news about any delays regarding the release of Shadowlands due to the COVID-19 pandemic and work-from-home model, fans are skeptical if Blizzard can deliver on all its promises based on past experience.