World of Warcraft: The War Within is the tenth expansion for this long-running MMORPG, but it brings with it quite a few big changes and additions. For the most part, these changes are welcomed and fix issues that have left previous expansions lackluster. While there are a lot of small changes and additions made in The War Within, the large adjustments play a huge role in making this expansion feel fresh.
Despite being around for two decades now, World of Warcraft continues to hold its place among the best MMORPGs. Part of this is due to expansions being willing to take risks and mix up the formula. However, a big improvement that comes from the changes being made is increased accessibility, making the game more alt-friendly, and providing more tools for players who would rather tackle the game solo.
10 Arachnophobia Mode Increases Accessibility In WoW
Replace Spiders With Other Creatures
Arachnophobia Mode is a feature growing in popularity across games that include spiders, and it appeared in other titles prior to WoW adopting it in The War Within. Instead of removing spiders from the game, the common implementation of Arachnophobia Mode is having it replace spiders with another creature that the population isn’t as disturbed by. Considering how large some games are, replacing spiders in order to remove them has to be the best option logistically.
An Arachnophobia Mode might’ve been more necessary to implement in this game compared to others that have fewer spiders.
In WoW, there are a lot of spiders across multiple zones. Because of that, an Arachnophobia Mode might’ve been more necessary to implement in this game compared to others that have fewer spiders. Now, players can choose to replace spiders in WoW with crabs by going into the Options menu and turning on Arachnophobia Mode, which might be worth doing without arachnophobia just to see all the crabs.
9 Khaz Algar Brings A Set Of Unique Zones
A Sun Like Crystal That Creates Night And Day Even Underground
It turns out that the Zaralek Cavern zone in Dragonflight was a test run for implementing underground zones, so that Blizzard would be able to move forward with Khaz Algar. Khaz Algar is an area with three zones, all of which are underground, and all of which have a unique feeling to them. The underground aspect isn’t even the most interesting part of these zones.
Hallowfall, the second zone that players visit after they go through the Coreway, has a giant crystal that acts like the sun, allowing them to grow crops and survive. It also turns to shadows every three hours, which triggers Beledar’s Spawn to show up, giving players the chance to loot it as a mount. Like The Ringing Deeps and Azj-Kahet, Hallowfall and the underground world of Khaz Algar are genuinely fun to explore and complete world quests in.
8 Professions Have A New Resource Called Concentration
Having More Control Over Item Crafting Rarity
In Dragonflight, the crafting system in World of Warcraft was overhauled, and part of the new system design included an RNG element affecting when a craft would be made a greater rarity. While the crafting overhaul was long overdue, the RNG element added unnecessary frustration that took away from the system’s potential. The War Within uses Concentration to fix that.
Concentration can’t be restored through any method aside from waiting, and the recharge rate is rather slow with only 10 Concentration returning an hour.
Concentration is a new resource that’s exclusive to crafting, and using it affects the rarity of the item being crafted so that the crafter can have a measure of control over their crafts instead of dealing with RNG. However, crafters have a limited amount of Concentration, which has a maximum of 1,000. Unfortunately, Concentration can’t be restored through any method aside from waiting, and the recharge rate is rather slow with only 10 Concentration returning an hour.
7 Dracthyr Finally Have More Classes To Choose From
Evoker, Hunters, Rogues, Mages, Warriors And Warlocks
When they were introduced in WoW: Dragonflight, the Dracthyr were a new race that had one class option, and that was the Evoker class. While no other race had the choice to be an Evoker, there was a measure of disappointment that Evoker was the only option for the Dracthyr, especially when they were so suited for an expansion about dragons. With the 20th Anniversary update in The War Within, the Dracthyr will finally have more class options.
Although it’s technically part of the 20th Anniversary content update rather than part of The War Within, this change is happening during the early days of the expansion, which places it among the other additions from the expansion. Once the update hits, the Dracthyr will also have the chance to be Hunters, Rogues, Mages, Warriors, and Warlocks. This brings their options to a total of six classes, which is definitely better than just one class.
6 The Earthen Join The Allied Races
Since Factions Has Put Differences Aside In Legion
Continuing a trend started in Legion, The War Within adds to the Allied Races available for character creation with the Earthen. This time, the Earthen can be either the Alliance or the Horde. Considering the story of The War Within has the factions put their differences aside and work together against the greater threat that Xal’atath poses, it makes sense that the new allies the factions find on the Isle of Dorn and in Khaz Algar can join either group.
Unlocking the Earthen requires completing the achievement Allied Races: Earthen. That includes finishing The War Within main campaign and the Mourning Rise, Broken Tools, and Merrix and Steelvein storylines. After meeting those requirements, players are able to create an Earthen character and access the associated heritage armor. Earthen class choices include Hunter, Mage, Monk, Paladin, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warlock, and Warrior.
5 The War Within Revamps Weekly Caches
Pursue Regular And Extra Rewards
Weekly Caches in The War Within have been changed so that there are more options that players can pursue to pick up rewards. These caches are available after completing specific tasks, such as raids, dungeons, PvP, and even world quests now, and rewards can be picked up from the Great Vault located in Dornogal. The first two caches opened each reward a piece of Adventurer Veteran Gear, and that’s not the only reason worth unlocking them.
The additional rewards vary based on the Delve’s tier, but Tier 8 and above give Item Level 603 rewards now that Season 1 has started.
In addition to the first two caches giving a piece of gear, the first four caches opened each week give a Restored Coffer Keys. These are then stored in the currency menu and used to get extra rewards from Bountiful Delves. The additional rewards vary based on the Delve’s tier, but Tier 8 and above give Item Level 603 rewards now that Season 1 has started.
4 Delves Are A Great Addition For Solo Players
Exploring Content Faster Even Alone
Delves are among the more flexible additions to The War Within, and they’re perfect for players who want to explore content alone without it taking too much time. They can be done alone with the help of Brann Bronzebeard, or with a party of up to 5 players. At the end of the Delve, players collect their rewards, and what they pick up depends on if the Delve is bountiful and which tier was chosen before entering.
Aside from the quests and general rewards, Bountiful Delves give additional rewards through Restored Coffer Keys. These keys can be obtained through a variety of ways, and some world quests even reward fragments of the keys that can be combined into a whole key. Delves are somewhere between a scenario and an instance, and these short adventures might be one of the best additions in The War Within.
3 Hero Talents Add Flavor To Classes
Options Inspired On Hero Fantasies
The Talent system has been changed multiple times throughout World of Warcraft’s life, but the current system is more reminiscent of the original version compared to the variations in between. Instead of adding to the standard Talent system, like in the past, The War Within implements a new, small Talent system over the primary Talents. These are called Hero Talents, and they’re a system that takes inspiration from WoW’s lore.
Hero Talents are closer to the Legion artifact weapons than they are to the current Talent system. This is because they draw on hero fantasies and provide options such as Sunfury for Fire Mages, letting them have the iconic fire spheres of characters like Kael’thas. There are also options that draw from the game’s lore, like San’layn for Death Knights, Elune’s Chosen for Druids, and Templar for Paladins.
2 Warbands Make It Easier To Level Alts
Shared Bank And Resources
Warbands are a system that makes features and resources account-wide instead of limited to a single character, which makes it more appealing to level alternate characters, or alts. Additionally, this feature isn’t limited to factions, meaning that characters made on either faction have access to the same benefits. The biggest limiting factor for Warbands is that the characters must be in the same region, which isn’t all that limiting in effect.
Features added to Warbands include a bank shared between characters, gear that’s bound to the Warband until it’s equipped, shared transmog collections, and shared resources like reputation and currencies. This removes a lot of the burden that came with making more than one character in the past, and prevents players from having to repeat every bit of content they’ve done on their first character. However, not all reputations are shared in Warbands, and those that aren’t included tend to have specific requirements that make it difficult to share across characters.
1 Xal’atath Is A Needed Villain
Nobody Can Be Trusted With Her Around
It’s been a long time since World of Warcraft has featured a convincing villain with a threatening plan, and Xal’atath finally fills that void. She’s an ancient entity with a ton of power at her fingertips, especially now that she’s been freed from her seal. Her ability to appear as those who are already dead and manipulate people around her without raising questions is also terrifying, since it shows that nobody can be fully trusted. She could be anywhere.
The last time that a villain has felt threatening is likely around the time of the Lich King, or even Deathwing. However, now Xal’atath has shown up, calling herself the Harbinger, and promising to destroy Azeroth. Her plan might’ve been thwarted in The War Within, but Xal’atath certainly isn’t gone for good yet, and it’s only a matter of time before she returns with new threats.
World of Warcraft proves that it still ranks among the best MMORPGs with The War Within. A big factor helping the game is the features and changes brought by the latest expansion. Even after 20 years, it’ll be exciting to see what comes after World of Warcraft: The War Within.
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