World of Warcraft Legion LIVE: Blizzard's Gamescom reveal and WoW news for Demon Hunters

World of Warcraft Legion introduces new hero class, Demon Hunters

BLIZZARD revealed the next World of Warcraft expansion today, called Legion, with story details and a new trailer.

UPDATE FOUR: Some of the key points from today's Blizzard announcement on World of Warcraft's sixth expansion, named Legion, with more information provided below.

• New level 110 cap
• The Broken Isles continent featuring a lost and ruined Elven civilisation
• Demon Hunter class (More info below)
• Artifact weapons that grow character power and are fully customisable
• Class Order Halls established in specific locations
• Fresh Dungeons and Raids including the Emerald Nightmare and Suramar Palace
• New World Bosses
• A PvP progression system that allows for levelling up in PvP, buy bonuses and skills
• Improved transmogrification system
• Social feature tweaks
• One character boosted to level 100 for Legion

UPDATE THREE: Class Orders will see the individual classes come together, instead of the Alliance and Horde.

There will be a renewed push to focus on class identity, with Order Halls becoming the base of operations for entire classes.

Blizzard described it as a private club house that is shared with other members of your class and will be public, meaning you will see other Shamans or Paladins running about.

Each Order Hall will be established in different locations fitting with their class, for instance, the Shaman Conclave will be overlooking the Maelstrom, while the Paladin Templar sanctum will be beneath the Light's Hope Chapel.

Blizzard have also shared more details on the backstory of Illidan Stormrage, revealing: "Stormrage was born before the War of the Ancients, a conflict that erupted over 10,000 years prior to the Third War, when the chaotic Burning Legion reinvaded Azeroth.

"Driven by his thirst for power (and his desire to impress Tyrande Whisperwind), Illidan made a pact with the Legion to secure the entrance of its leader, Sargeras, into Azeroth through the might of an artifact called the Demon Soul.

"The efforts of Malfurion Stormrage, Illidan's twin brother, disrupted the Legion's plot; the demons were defeated, and Illidan was imprisoned."

The new PvP Honor progression system was also detailed, allowing players to level up in PvP, buy bonuses and skills. 

 

UPDATE TWO: More on the new Demon Hunter hero class coming to World of Warcraft in the Legion expansion.

Demon Hunters are elven outcasts shunned for daring to wield the terrible powers of the Legion.

"Exhibiting superior mobility and a preternatural sense of awareness, Demon Hunters can tap into forbidden powers at times of dire need, metamorphosing into terrifying fel forms.

"Focus on Havoc to demolish any who stand in your way with fiery demonic attacks, or specialize in Vengeance and go toe to toe with even the most powerful demons, withstanding massive punishment as their attacks fuel your hatred."

Demon Hunter Class:

• Spectral Sight - Demon Hunters’ blindness belies their true powers of perception. They rely on magically augmented sight to detect enemies, even those that hide behind obstacles.
• Metamorphosis - Demon Hunters transform into hellish forms, enhancing their formidable powers: damage-focused Illidari gain incredible swiftness and damage allowing them to finish their prey, while those who prize defense become nigh invincible in their demonic forms.
• Mobility - Demon Hunters can double jump, vault in and out of combat, and even unfold their monstrous wings to perform gliding descents and surprise enemies from above.

Artifacts were also given more info, players will need to venture to Frostmourne on a new quest to gather shards and create myth-forged weapons.

Myth-forged weapon grow in power as your character does, while choices made will change how abilities evolve in your weapon.

Artifact power will play a big role and will be used to unlock new traits, while customisation will also be possible.

The new traits will empower both your and your character, Blizzard have confirmed.

 

UPDATE ONE: World of Warcraft's latest expansion has been revealed by Blizzard during their live Gamescom event in Cologne, Germany today. Named World of Warcraft: Legion.

Game Director, Tom Chilton hit the stage to announce the new expansion, which connects directly with last year's, Warlords of Draenor.

An announcement trailer was shown, giving the backstory of what is to come, the new honour system, artifact weapons and adventuring to level 110.

A new hero class, named Demon Hunters will also be added, along with the Broken Isles map.

Legion takes place on the Broken Isle, a graveyard of an ancient civilisation, where the biggest demonic invasion of Azeroth takes place.

"In this dire new chapter of the World of Warcraft saga, the great enemy of the Horde and the Alliance—the demonic Burning Legion—has returned.

"As destruction rains across Azeroth, its heroes must seek salvation among the ruins of the mythic Broken Isles, ancient seat of a lost night elf civilisation—and site of the accursed Tomb of Sargeras, which now serves as a gateway to endless Legion worlds."

The all-new hero class, the vengeful Demon Hunter will be a big part of the expansion, which also empowers players to boost one character to level 100, making it so anyone can join the battle against the Legion alongside their friends.

Legion also features a new PvP Honour system, a new level cap of 110 and Dungeons and Raids.

The Broken Isles, the new continent to explore in Legion will include:  

• New Elven cities
• Twisted satyrs
• Savage drogbar,
• Cursed Kvaldir
• The Legion's army

August 6 will see Blizzard take to the stage for the second time at the world’s biggest games convention in Cologne, Germany.

The show is set to be streamed live direct from the Blizzard booth and can be watched via the embed player above.

The live unveiling of the next expansion for World of Warcraft is set for Thursday, August 6 at 5pm BST, and comes hot on the heels of the last WOW expansion, Warlords of Draenor.

The last update was launched in November 2014, less than 12 months ago, and could mean a possible beta launch for the new WoW content later this year.

The full schedule of other planned Blizzard events can be found below:

• Friday, August 7 at 5pm BST - Exclusive content updates for Heroes of the Storm and Hearthstone.
• Saturday, August 8 at 5pm BST – Exclusive content updates for Overwatch and Legacy of the Void.
• Sunday, August 9 at 4pm BST - The developers chat about the next World of Warcraft expansion.

The new reveal follows the news that World of Warcraft's number of subscribers has fallen yet again.

Activision Blizzard's second-quarter financial results show the count standing 5.6 million subscribers, revealing a loss of 1.5 million monthly users since May.

The report reads: "Blizzard Entertainment had the largest online player community in its history, with Q2 MAUsB up 50% year-over-year. Though World of Warcraft® ended the quarter at 5.6 million subscribers, Blizzard revenues are up year-over-year based on strong performance across the expanding Blizzard portfolio.

On June 23, 2015, Blizzard Entertainment released, Fury of Hellfire, one of the largest non-expansion content updates to date for World of Warcraft. This new content helped stabilize the subscriber number towards the end of the quarter. World of Warcraft remains the No.1 subscription?based MMORPG in the world."