Free WoW: Battle for Azeroth servers. Review of the World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth add-on - the war between the Alliance and the Horde flared up with renewed vigor! When will Battle of Azeroth be released?

- the seventh addition to World of Warcraft. To understand when WOW will be released Battle for Azeroth we analyze the development time of past additions, the duration of the arena seasons, the connection with the release of fiction books on WWII and other factors.

Note: The exact release date of the Battle for Azeroth expansion is known only to Blizzard, but we can only make assumptions based on indirect factors. However, such assumptions often make it possible to predict the release date of a new WOW patch.

So, when can we expect Batte for Azeroth to release?

Updated: The developers stated that the expansion will be released on "September 21, 2018 or earlier." The exact date is not known, but you can read the reflections below.

Relationship between books and add-ons

Due to the postponement of the release date of the book Before the Storm to June 12, 2018, players began to speculate about when the WOW add-on “Battle for Azeroth” would be released.

Historically, a book will appear before an expansion is released, but the time between its publication and release can vary greatly.

Compare:

Cataclysm - 49 days between the release of the expansion and the publication of The Shattering book.
Mists of Pandaria - 32 days between the release of the expansion and the release of the Tides of War novel.
Draenor – 191 days between the release of War Crimes and the launch of the expansion.
Legion - 140 days between the publication of the Illidan book and the release of the expansion.

As you can see, quite a lot of time passed between the release of the books and the launch of Draenor and Legion, while Cataclysm and Mists of Pandaria were released literally 1-1.5 months after the publication of the corresponding books.

One thing is certain: books are always published before the official launch of the add-on.

Thus, we can conclude that we will not see any pre-patches until at least mid-June 2018.

Legion Patch Schedule

There is a theory that Legion patches come out at intervals of 77 days.

In principle, this is how it was before patch 7.3 and Antorus. Information about Antorus first appeared in the game files long before the notorious 77 days, and the update itself comes out 91 days after the previous patch.

There is already information about patch 7.3.5 - let's assume it will be released 77 days after Antorus, on February 13, 2018. Let's add another 77 days to this date, we get May 1, 2018 - too early for the release of a new addition.

If we remember that in Legion the release time for patches has changed slightly, then the calculations should be revised a little - let the release of update 7.3.5 be on February 27, 2018 (91 days), and the next patch May 29, 2018– such a date is already quite suitable as a pre-patch before the release of a large-scale addition.

Duration between Legion patches (days)

Arena Seasons in Legion

Another way to predict the release date of Battle for Azeroth (albeit a rather rough one) is Legion Arena seasons.

Season 6 began on November 28, 2017, and season 8 on this moment there is no information. The start of the new season is not tied to the release of patches, nor does it follow the 77-day rule. Typically each season lasts from 77 to 105 days.

If we assume that the next 2 arena seasons will last 80-100 days, then the end of season 7 will be sometime in June, which is quite coincides with the theoretical release of the pre-patch Battles for Azeroth.

Duration of WOW Legion arena seasons

Add-on development

Statistics show that from the moment the new WOW addition is announced until its release, a year or more passes - from 340 to 470 days.

However, Legion has made changes to the development process:

Mists of Pandaria had 4 global patches and several small ones within 5.4.
Draenor had 2 large-scale patches and several small ones after 6.2.
Legion has currently released 3 global patches, but the changes being made are clearly divided into categories (unlocking raids, continuing the storyline, class changes, etc.).

Table with release dates and timing of all patches for the latest World of Warcraft additions:

	Mists of Pandaria	Battle for Azeroth
release date
X.1 patch
X.2 patch
X.3 patch
X.4 patch

Duration of patches within the add-on

Conclusions about the release date

If we take into account the old methods of determining the release date of the expansion, then we can say with confidence that the Battle for Azeroth will have to wait at least another year. However, given the acceleration in the release of updates in the Legion, it can be assumed that new information on the Battle will appear already in the third quarter of 2018(July-September).

In patch 7.3.5, most likely, the Legion storyline will come to its logical end - blocked raid content, time travel (Ulduar), etc. will be opened.

Also in 7.3.5 should start new story, so that the events on Argus smoothly flow into the plot of the Battle for Azeroth.

Blizzard has thoroughly revised the release of patches - before they always brought new locations, class changes, raids, etc., but now, starting with Legion, patches only open up known, but blocked features.

This method of releasing updates allows the company to update game content more often and reserve more time to work on the final elements of the expansion (raids, storylines).

When do you think the Battle for Azeroth expansion will be released? Write your guesses in the comments!

At Gamescom we met with the developers of a major expansion for World of Warcraft - Battle for Azeroth. WoW Producer Michael Bybee and Lead Environment Artist Ely Cannon told us a lot of interesting things.

Journey to the New World

So, the add-on was officially launched last week. This happened simultaneously for all regions, which was a new achievement for the creators of WoW. The launch went off without any problems, which made the team very happy.

Representatives of the alliance and horde have already begun to explore the locations of Kul Tiras and Zandalar. They complete quests, receive rewards, and enjoy an amazing story. Many players have reached the new level cap of 120 and gained access to additional content. Among other things, they opened world quests on two continents and began to explore special storylines available only at the maximum level.

Always be ready

The already implemented war mode is popular. In it, the player is constantly ready for PvP battles, receiving additional experience and other nice bonuses. The mode can be activated in the faction capital. This is a very fun innovation that allows, for example, the entire zone to attack aggressive players or organize internal competitions.

The development team has a lot of patches in their plans, when creating them they hope for feedback from players. Moreover, not every patch will have another raid. Basically, these will be local, small events that will fit well into the realities of what is happening.

Classic Warcraft universe

A new interesting mode will appear soon - fronts. These are PvE battles designed for 20 people. When creating the mode, the developers were inspired by the mechanics of the original Warcraft 3. In it, you will play the role of a hero-commander leading a small group of warriors into battle. Each participant will be at the head of their group. It will also be possible to extract resources and build a base. Towards the end of the confrontation, the final assault on the fortress will begin, after which all heroes will fight with the enemy commander. By defeating him, they will successfully capture the territory, receive a reward and gain access to additional quests.

Initially, the Arathi Highlands, where the battle will take place, belongs to the Alliance. To enter the battle for this territory, the Horde will have to collect a certain amount of resources. Once she collects them, she will attack and is guaranteed to win. This is done to ensure that no one faction can control a strategically important area for too long. Having lost possession, the Alliance will also begin collecting resources, after which it will attack and return what was lost. And so on in a circle. The battle will take approximately 30-45 minutes.

Let's go on an epic trek

The first Uldir raid will begin on September 4th. It will open first on Normal and Heroic difficulties, and then on Mythic difficulties. In a few days, the first wing will open in the raid finder, and after two weeks, the second wing will open. The opening of the third wing is supposedly scheduled for October 10th.

When will Thrall return?

“Should we expect to see former Horde leader Thrall return from his so-called “maternity leave”? Producer Michael Bybee answered the question, saying that he personally and the entire team love this character very much, and, of course, he is not forgotten. But he is not yet ready to give an official statement about the leader’s return.

We remember that the Cataclysm expansion ended very vaguely, with fire, lava and a giant tidal wave marking the beginning new era. What she will bring to the leader and the newly minted shaman Thrall is unknown.

It's interesting that some people consider the union of Thrall and Aggra to be fake by calling a female character « filler » for those who dreamed of uniting the orc leader and his beautiful partner Jaina. Perhaps in the future we will learn more details about the life of this ambiguous union of hearts.

So, the announcement of the new addition has taken place. Just a few hours before Blizzcon, information appeared online that the company had registered the name Battle for Azeroth. And so it happened. the long-awaited announcement was made. The new addition to World of Warcraft will be called Battle for Azeroth.

Battle for Azeroth - “Battle for Azeroth.” When I was linked to the news about the name registration, I thought that “Battle for Azeroth” meant the battle for the female titan of Azeroth against the Old Gods. This was quite logical, because after the victory over the Burning Legion, the Lords of the Abyss and their minions, the Ancient Gods, would become the new enemies of all living things. But it turned out that after a grueling and difficult battle with the hordes of Sargeras, the races of Azeroth did not unite to restore the “national economy”, but again butted heads.

From the point of view of common sense, this is more than strange. Over the past ten years, both factions have had common enemies much more powerful than themselves. And more than once both factions opposed them, albeit with a divided front, but still against them. In my opinion, this conflict of factions has long been an atavism that could be easily removed. But apparently they decided to do it differently.

The Horde burns Terdrassil, that is, the capital of the night elves, to which the Alliance responds with an attack on Lordaeron. In short, a new round of the struggle for power over Azeroth begins.

So, what about the plot is clear, what about the content and innovations? The main news is outlined below:

Levelcap raised to level 120;
Kul Tiras is a location where Alliance characters will be leveled up, and Horde characters will be leveled up on Zandalar;
Kul Tiras is run by Jaina's mother: widow Katrina Proudmoore;
Each of the islands is divided into three parts, which are ruled by their own factions. As the plot develops, we will have to get to know them and restore order in the relationship;
I don’t think there’s any need to tell you who the Zandalari are, but if you don’t know, I advise you to read the corresponding section in the Chronicles;
The main characters of the addition will be: the young king Anduin, Sylvanas Windrunner, Jaina Proudmoore, we will also learn something about Vol’jin and - surprise, surprise - Thrall will return to us;
Since the battle ahead is serious, we need to gather all the allies we can. This is what explains the appearance of;
Alliance subraces: lightforged draenei, Dark Iron dwarves, Void elves;
Horde subraces: Nightborne elves, Highmountain tauren and Zandalari trolls;
New subraces will need to be “discovered” during the game, and not just purchased as an add-on;
After fulfilling the conditions for opening a subrace, they can be played starting from level 20;
will appear new type armor that can be upgraded and customized (something similar to artifacts, but not quite) using a necklace;
. Travel to the islands and fight for resources on them, and the opponents there will not be bags of loot, but something controlled by an advanced artificial intelligence;
: content designed for 20 people, which will involve attacks on enemy battle formations and bases;
Zone scaling will extend to the entire world, as long as the zone scaling plan is as follows (within these locations the level will be adjusted within certain limits):
- starting zone: 0-10
- classic zones: 10-60
- Outland and Northrend: 60-80
- Cataclysm and Pandaria: 80-90
Cancellation of division into PvP and PvE servers. The PvP flag can now be raised at will;
New arenas, battlefields and showdowns in Silithus;
Two raids have been announced: Uldir, Halls of Control, which will have 8 bosses, and an unnamed raid, in which the boss (obviously the main one) will be Queen Azshara.

If it's in large strokes, then that's all for now. Details are in subsequent materials.

The already troubled Azeroth has once again become a battlefield. This time there is no external enemy, because the conflict is between the main factions of the game - the Alliance and the Horde. Choose a side and go into battle!

Battle for Azeroth

The swords and axes have barely had time to cool down after the bloody war with the Burning Legion, and a new one is already on the doorstep. There are two prerequisites at once - logical and... Not very logical. Before his death, Sargeras, the creator and leader of the Legion, plunged his giant sword directly into the planet, after which Azerite began to grow from its depths.

This is an incredibly valuable resource that is rumored to be titanium particles that lie dormant deep underground. Of course, both factions are trying to get their hands on as much Azerite as possible. But the spark that lit the flame of war between the Alliance and the Horde was not he, but the banshee Sylvanas, also the leader of the Forsaken.

First, players of both factions take part in the siege of the Undercity, which takes place in several stages, then the action smoothly flows into Stormwind, where a prison riot occurs. Further, depending on the faction, it branches.

Supporters of the Alliance will go to Kul Tiras to support the naval commanders there, and the “Horde” will go to Zandalar - a huge island where it has existed for many thousands of years ancient civilization trolls.

New regions: Kul Tiras and Zandalar

To fully learn the story of the “Battle for Azeroth”, you need to go through 2 large campaigns at once - for the Alliance and for the Horde. As noted above, the action took place on Kul Tiras and Zandalar. Each region is divided into 3 locations and includes several quest chains, during which you can learn a lot about the warring dynasties of people and the conspiracies of the troll islanders.

The Alliance will be able to fight pirates, uncover the cult of the Ancient Gods and learn about the struggle between witches and the Inquisition. The Horde, in turn, will engage in the palace intrigues of the Zandalari rulers, wander through the swamps of Nazmir, and even go to a “showdown” with the snake people in the Voldun desert. In short, there is more than enough content for both factions.

And that doesn't even take into account the new dungeons and raid! There are 8 of them in Battle for Azeroth, 4 for each faction. Each has its own strictly defined theme, “monster hunt” and a selection of unique rewards for completing. But it was not possible to evaluate the raid: at the time of the addon’s release it was closed.

Finally, the developers stopped “brothering” factions in the fight against an external enemy and focused on the central conflict of the entire game. However, this is only the beginning: the story campaign is mainly related to preparations for the general battle. And it will happen later, when the next major patch comes out.

From the point of view of execution, there is simply nothing to complain about: all the quests are written well, completing them and watching cut scenes is interesting. Even after so many years continuous operation above, developers can tell new stories and move storyline forward. This is partly why the game is still extremely popular.

Have you called for reinforcements?

One of the features of the expansion is new allied races for both factions. The developers have prepared 4 pieces for each. Horde players will be able to play as Nightborne, Highmountain tauren, Mag'Hara orcs and Zandalari trolls, and Alliance players will be able to play as Void Elves, Lightforged Draenei, Dark Iron Dwarves and the people of Kul Tiras.

Fans of World of Warcraft are already familiar with some of these races. For example, Lightforged draenei and Void elves were needed on Argus in the last expansion.

Mag'har orcs came from Draenor after the end of the story, and the inhabitants of Kul Tiras also appeared in the story. New races boast not only unusual appearance, but also unique racial abilities.

Everything new is well forgotten old

As always, the World of Warcraft developers tried to diversify the standard gameplay scheme. In the case of “Battle for Azeroth,” several additional formats can be distinguished. At a certain stage, the player receives the Heart of Azeroth artifact. It differs from other items in that it can be upgraded multiple times.

Another interesting decision concerns the so-called “War Mode”. There are no longer PvE or PvP servers in World of Warcraft. Players can turn on “War Mode” and thereby confirm that they are ready to fight to the death with representatives of the enemy faction. The game's creators reward this behavior with additional experience points.

At the same time, for each class, “Heart of Azeroth” can be customized to suit you, choosing from various talents. There are other items in the expansion with similar capabilities. However, this mechanic is not new: the first such artifacts appeared in Legion. The situation is similar with the “Fronts” mode, which allows you to feel like a real strategist.

The events of “Fronts” unfold in the vicinity of the city of Stromgarde, where players of both factions can build their own bases and even control troops. The latter, by the way, need to be trained, and as you develop your own garrison, you need to complete additional tasks... So, did someone say the word “Garrison”?

And this is not an accident: “Fronts”, upon closer examination, are improved and modified “Garrisons” from the same Legion. On the one hand, this is great, because the mode is interesting and rich in interesting solutions. On the other hand, given the price of the expansion, I would like more unique content made specifically for Battle for Azeroth.

Such different “Islands”

As if sensing that artifacts and “Fronts” would not be enough, the developers of Blizzard Entertainment implemented another mode in the game. And rightly so! It was called “Islands”, and it is the only one that is truly new. The idea is extremely simple: the player can go to one of hundreds of islands to replenish their Azerite reserves.

Moreover, each time the island is generated randomly. The landscape, side quests, opponents, location of objects - all this is constantly changing. It is impossible to find 2 identical islands, and this has a positive effect on replayability. It’s especially great to explore these locations with friends, feeling like pioneers!

The goal is always the same - to collect more Azerite in a limited time, and then exchange the resource for valuable equipment. It will help the character in both PvP and PvE, but all the best equipment, of course, is available only to arena gladiators and raid veterans. But still, the mode turned out to be very interesting, it’s definitely worth trying.

The war between the Alliance and the Horde has flared up with renewed vigor!

World of Warcraft has long established itself in the MMORPG genre, and the question of whether it's worth playing is generally not worth it. The Battle for Azeroth expansion is literally bursting with new content: story missions, detailed dungeons, new races and items.

And although some of the formats are adaptations from Legion, the addon has something for those hungry for a completely new experience - for example, the “Islands” mode. And while hard-core fans of the series are wondering which faction will be removed from the game following the war, millions of players are returning to World of Warcraft to play with the new addition.

Survey!

» WoW will never be the same - we explain why.

Burning the World Tree “lowly” is the norm

The game map has been completely redrawn. Sylvanas Windrunner, the new leader of the Horde, burns one of the night elves' four World Trees, Teldrassil. For what? She decided to prove that she was not weak. As a result, centuries of history and thousands of innocent civilians are burned alive, and the survivors are deprived of their homes.

The continent of Kalimdor is finally occupied by Horde troops.

Anduin Wrynn - assassin

The young king Rynn, who once stood up for peace, was friends with the tauren and until the last tried to reason with the half-mad orc Garrosh, leads a crusade of avengers from the Alliance to the capital of the undead - Undercity. Not without losses, but the city is taken, but Sylvanas screws everyone here too: the residents are evacuated, and the settlement itself is filled with a raging plague. Because they can, and honor is for weaklings from the Alliance. As a result, the holders of the blue flag, bound by moral principles, remain the Horde's neighbor, but no longer in Lordaeron.

On this side of the Great Sea there are now only isolated blood elves.

Wartime laws

The essence of the addition is war, and not with a common enemy, with whom both factions quite recently fought side by side, but with each other. This war will change everyone. Neither the Horde, nor the Alliance, nor Sylvanas, nor young Anduin will be the same.

In the first, large-scale fermentation began on the topic that the faction was no longer the same (as if everything that happened after Thrall always suited everyone). The second does not like to be a punching bag on which the third, the Banshee Queen, trains her treachery and cunning. Well, the fourth one simply changed too much and abruptly. Although Anduin is the easiest to understand: his country is being torn to pieces, and his father was brutally drowned in corruption due to the fault of Sylvanas.

The rest clearly fell victim to marketers who decided to dedicate the new addition to the war. Obviously, the writers had to quickly fit the current story into the reality of the new add-on. That is why the add-on has serious problems with the motivation of the heroes and the plot.

Well, what did you want? The main villain of the universe flew into the Twisting Nether, but the promise to release add-ons every two years is still in force.

Admiral Proudmoore was right

Admiral Proudmoore is no longer a villain. He is the hero that Kul Tiras considers him to be. He said from the very beginning that the Horde cannot be trusted and cannot be negotiated with. And so it happened.

Jaina, his daughter, regrets what happened and repents the most. As a result, the Daughter of the Seas, distraught after the loss of Theramore, looks like one of the coolest, most motivated and interesting heroes of the expansion. And her song is great. Listen if you haven't already.

#ForgiveUsAdmiral

Two powerful sea empires have appeared in the game

Kul Tiras is an old maritime nation and the homeland of Jaina. The location looks incredibly atmospheric and cool. Things here, however, are bad. Corruption reigns all around, and crowds of internal enemies like witches and rebel clans are tearing the islands apart. Which, however, plays into the hands of the Alliance, which, having solved these problems, will again persuade old allies to join the faction. The area is very good visually, the quests are interesting, and between them we are regularly offered to watch colorful videos.

Long live Zandalar!

Zandalar are the same trolls that everyone has been fighting with for many years. Now, however, they have problems at home, and the Horde, who has come to the rescue, will help solve them. Naturally, for a reason. Such power can significantly strengthen an already powerful fighting machine.

The locations do not look as stylish and original as Kul Tiras, but there is also something to see in the bloody swamps and the giant golden city. In addition, there are thousands of small islands scattered in the Great Sea, the resources of which heroes can capture by competing with updated AI in new events - island expeditions.

More quests for the quest god

What? Were there a lot of them in “”? But no! Because now quests are everywhere.

A huge number of tasks await us both in Kul Tiras and in Zandalar. And when you finish leveling up, you will need to finish one more thing to level up your reputation. Oh yeah, after that you need to go and do world quests on both new continents to receive rewards and unlock access to dungeons. Yes, and professions require the completion of a number of tasks.

In general, now there are enough quests for everyone. And there will still be change left.

All your past achievements are of no interest to anyone here.

The artifact you spent so much time grinding has become a useless piece of wood or metal. All legendary items will turn off after level 115. And titles like “High Lord” and “Lord of Death” no longer impress anyone. You will be addressed as a “mainland wanderer” or “foreigner.”

The recently founded class order will also remain a thing of the past. You will live in a tavern, and give out new tasks to your comrades (they migrated here too) on a ship moored nearby. There is no place for great heroes here.

Now go and collect some shells from the beach!

Prepare to suffer

Already in the second half of pumping each monster, you will be picking for quite a long time. And after its completion, the characteristics will be so ridiculous that you will have to sweat a lot if you accidentally catch a pack of three enemies. World quests at level 120 look quite comical.

Even with PvP mode enabled, the Horde and Alliance often helpfully help each other with monsters. Because they share each other’s pain from meeting the harsh reality of “”, where every extra NPC can send you to the cemetery.

Add to this the non-working artifact talents and the unimproved “Heart of Azeroth” (a new artifact-necklace that gives special bonuses to some armor elements), and you get a new reality where you need to unite in groups with other players. Just like the good old days.

The coolest character in the expansion is Troll

The most interesting character in the expansion goes to the Zandalari. Well, that is, how he got it: to be precise, it was the Zandalari who got it. We are, of course, talking about the Loa of Death or Bwonsamdi. This is a troll deity, responsible for life after death and very fond of entering into seductive contracts with mortals. The latter give them unprecedented power, but the price for this is great.

Bwonsamdi is incredibly cool. He masterfully chooses moments and binds the heroes with heavy obligations. It also looks cool and sounds very cool. First of all, thanks to the excellent acting. At least in the English version. If the heroes end up in the cemetery by force of chance, then he waits for them here, making malicious comments. Honestly, for us, the Loa of Death turned out to be the main reason to complete Horde quests, which do not take place in such memorable locations as those of the Alliance.

So what should we do about it now?

« Battle for Azeroth"did not leave the same factions, heroes, or game process, nor, in fact, the players who discuss in every possible way what is happening on the Internet. At the very least, the event turned out to be very bright. What will happen next - time will tell, because the start of the addon is just the beginning, and ahead of us are Queen Azshara, the dangerous neighborhood with Bwonsamdi and several more stages of this war, which may end this way or that way, or may not end at all.

Who knows what other surprises she has in store for us? Blizzard?