World of Warcraft: The War Within

It's set in the land of Khaz Algar, the homeland of the Earthen - an ancient dwarven race forged from living stone by the Titans. It's also a new playable race in World of Warcraft. Story-wise, they're aligned with the Alliance and can be unlocked by completing quests for their ,

These unexplored lands, full of hidden wonders and danger, lead to the dark depths of the Nerubian Empire - to Azj-Kahet, where the Harbinger of the Void gathers an arachnid army to conquer Azeorth with.

The threat starts manifesting in visions, experienced by the orc Thrall, Anduid Wrynn - the rightful ruler of Stormwind - and more. The latter goes into hiding, trying to recover from injuries inflicted upon him during World of Warcraft: Shadowlands. The heroes do not know what's the source of the visions.

The player must discover it by traversing Khaz Algar, divided into four regions: Isle of Dorn, The Ringing Deeps, Hallowfall and Azj-Kahet. The expansion also includes Xal'atath, a talking dagger originally belonging to an elf of the same name, and an important part of the story in WoW: Legion.

New content

In addition to a new storyline and a new playable race, World of Warcraft: The War Within also increases the level cap to 80 (the level cap was originally 120, but it was lowered during WoW: Shadowlands; capped characters were moved to level 50), adds new talent trees with specialized skills for each class, eight unique dungeons and a new, challenging raid. There are also Delves, endgame vaults of treasure which can be explored solo or in parties of four.

Mechanics

World of Warcraft: The War Within introduces the Warbands system which lets players share progress - fame, achievements, collections, etc. - with other characters on the same Battle.net , no matter their faction. Blizzard have also expanded mounted flying, first introduced in WoW: Dragonflight. Players can now traverse the skies not only on dragons, but also on regular mounts.

Technical aspects

Like the previous expansions, World of Warcraft: The War Within is not a standalone expansion, requiring the base version of WoW. The game is part of a subscription service, which players need to pay for to play anyway.