‘World Of Warcraft’ Developers Date ‘Legion’ Expansion For August

Legion, the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion, will introduce the Demon Hunter hero class, raise the level cap to 110, completely revamp the transmogrification system, and give players access to powerful Artifact weapons when it launches later this year. Previously and tentatively scheduled to release before late September, Blizzard Entertainment announced today that Legion will launch on August 30. The sixth World of Warcraft expansion will take players to the Broken Isles, where the demons have started to invade Azeroth.

Players can pre-purchase Legion now in anticipation of the August release date. Buying the expansion now does unlock the included level 100 character boost immediately, in addition to the Digital Deluxe goodies players can opt to buy. Legion, like Warlords of Draenor at its release, is $50 instead of $40 like previous World of Warcraft expansions. Pre-purchasing Legion also entitles a buyer to early access of the Demon Hunter hero class before the expansion launches on August 30. The Digital Deluxe edition is $70 and includes a felstalker mount and pet for use in World of Warcraft, a felstalker mount for Heroes of the Storm, StarCraft 2 portraits, and Diablo 3 cosmetics.

“In this expansion chronicling the events following Warlords of Draenor, all hellfire breaks loose when the warlock Gul’dan, betrayer of the orcs and twisted servant of the Burning Legion, unleashes a demonic invasion force upon Azeroth unlike any the Horde and the Alliance have ever faced. To save their world from annihilation, heroes must unlock the mysteries of the mythic Broken Isles, master powerful Artifact weapons, and strike a forbidden pact with the Demon Hunters of the Illidari—vengeful disciples of the dreaded Illidan Stormrage.”

With a firm release date, players should know that the game will drastically change before Legion releases in August. Like previously World of Warcraft expansions, a pre-patch will release before the expansion that unlocks many of the expansion’s features before launch. This includes any quests or storylines that are available leading up to the expansion’s release as well as any core improvements to the game. In the case of Legion, players can expect the transmogrification overhaul to be part of the pre-patch in addition to the early access period for the Demon Hunter hero class. Other changes, like class alterations, the removal of certain Warlords of Draenor features, and more are likely to occur at the time of the Legion pre-patch as well.

As the Inquisitr reported, many garrison features will be changed when Legion releases. Gold from garrison missions and shipyard missions will be removed and replaced with resource rewards. It was also recently revealed that the Salvage Yard boxes rewarded for completing garrison missions will no longer contain player gear according to World of Warcraft developers on Twitter. Existing boxes obtained before the Legion patch releases will still have player gear within, however, after the patch Salvage Yard boxes will no longer include player gear.

To clarify, changes like this are being made so that you don't feel obligated to run Draenor missions in Legion. https://t.co/2x1b8e1Nqy

— WarcraftDevs (@WarcraftDevs) April 15, 2016

Players will no longer be able to generate extra gold from their garrison or pick up player gear from their Salvage Yard since World of Warcraft developers want players to focus on the current content in Legion. The player gear obtained from the Salvage Yard crates will still be attainable in a similar fashion when Legion releases, thankfully. Many players rely on these crates for important transmogrification options like gear that is otherwise only obtainable by boosting a character.

Although it is likely that Warlords of Draenor will be added to the base game’s cost sometime after Legion releases, players can pick it up now at a major discount. The current expansion is just $9.99 from the Battle.net store. This purchase will let players work their way up to the existing level cap of 100 and enjoy the Warlords of Draenor garrison while it is still somewhat valuable.

[Image via Blizzard Entertainment]