‘World Of Warcraft’ Class Previews Cover Warlock, Death Knight, And Shaman Changes Happening In ‘Legion’

Blizzard developers continue their coverage of upcoming class changes in World of Warcraft when the sixth expansion launches. The brief previews include a look at each class specialization and a few of their important abilities. Each specialization’s Battle.netoverview also includes an example of a talent specific to each specialization giving a little more insight on what is in store for each specialization in World of Warcraft.

The first class previewed on Tuesday is the demon summoning spellcasters Warlocks. Warlocks of all three specializations in Legion will utilize mana and soul shards. For instance, Destruction Warlocks will no longer manage Burning Embers in favor of keeping the Warlock uniform across all three specializations. Affliction Warlocks will focus on damage-over-time abilities, while Demonology returns to a demon-summoning mastermind rather than a specialization focused on transforming the Warlock itself.

Demonology Warlocks in Legion will be able to summon new Dreadstalkers, call in a number of Wild Imps when using Hand of Gul’dan, and buff their pets often offering them additional haste and health. Knowing when to buff your demon army is paramount, too. Demonic Empowerment will choose to buff the strongest demons first, and the ability makes them stronger for 12 seconds with a 12-second cooldown. As stated on the World of Warcraft developer Twitter account, “Managing when to cast Demonic Empowerment will be a key part of mastering Demonology gameplay.” Be sure to visit Battle.net for the full Warlock preview.

The summoning and shadow damage does not end with the Warlock changes. The World of Warcraft Death Knight is also spreading diseases and summoning ghouls in Legion with a few changes making them a little easier to manage while keeping true to their Lich King origins. Runes will no longer be divided into multiple types and instead Death Knights will manage six identical runes for their abilities.

Blood Death Knights will have more ways to heal and shield themselves. The specialization will even have access to a Bonestorm talent deals area damage to enemies while healing the Death Knight. Frost Death Knights seem largely unchanged, but they will have access to a new Glacial Advance talent that summons glacial spikes from the ground to harass foes. Finally, the Unholy Death Knight can enjoy a new Unholy talent called All Will Serve that removes the cooldown to Raise Dead and makes it summon an additional skeletal minion. The full Death Knight overview can be found on the official website, of course.

Finally, the iconic Shaman class is undergoing a number of improvements in Legion. Elemental and Enhancement Shamans will no use Maelstrom as a resource, while the Restoration Shaman will continue to use mana. Multiple Totems from the same nature type can be put down in Legion, elementals summoned from Totems can now follow the Shaman, and Totems will have health based on a percentage of the Shaman’s health. Each of the Shaman’s specializations are detailed briefly in the preview. Check it out on Battle.net for specific changes to Elemental, Enhancement, and Restoration Shamans.

Blizzard developers detailed Hunters on Sunday and three other classes on Monday. As the Inquisitr reported, Mages, Priests, and Paladins will be seeing some crucial changes when Legion releases. All three specializations of all three classes were briefly discussed, and some specializations are seeing bigger changes than others. For example, Shadow Priests will no longer use mana and instead use Insanity as a resource. Retriubition Paladins will have access to a new ability that lets them teleport, and Frozen Orb will be a core ability for Frost Mages.

Legion is due out in the summer of 2016. Players can pre-purchase the expansion now for access to the level 100 boost that comes with all purchases of the expansion. Legion will raise the level cap, introduce artifact weapons, add new dungeons, and new raids, and much more. The expansion is expected to release on or before September 21.

[Images via Blizzard Entertainment]