"Beyond the gates of mighty kingdoms, lies a vast, unexplored world. A world of honor. A world of mystery. A world of danger. The world of Warcraft."
World of Warcraft (2004) is easily the most popular subscription-based Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game in the world today. It's based on Blizzard Entertainment's popular Warcraft Real-Time Strategy game series and was originally set four years after Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, with later expansions advancing the timeline.World of Warcraft is based in the world of Azeroth, on four main continents: Kalimdor, the Eastern Kingdoms, Northrend and Pandaria; as well as the former planet of Draenor, now known as Outland, whence the Orcs originate. There are two factions: the Alliance and the Horde (though neither is automatically good or evil — and in trope terms, both are The Alliance), thirteen races, eleven classes, eleven primary professions, and four secondary professions.The game is casual-friendly to a point, being designed so that those who prefer to play solo can still achieve maximum level. It should be noted that, like most MMORPGs, about half of WoW's content can only be accessed after you reached maximum level, and cooperative play is required to earn the best gear and other rewards. Guilds are a major part of the game's community, with the majority of players belonging to one. Benefits of guild membership are both social and material — most endgame raid content is done by guilds and they can share a pool of resources much greater than that available to the solo player. Guild perks (like more opportunities to teleport around) have also been added that make it worthwhile to belong to a guild even if you never talk to another member.WoW's classes follow the standard RPG archetypes. The three core roles are tanking (taking damage so others don't have to), healing (patching others up), and damage dealing (or DPS). These roles are further refined by the talents each character chooses to specialize in. There are "pure" classes that can only fill a DPS role, and "hybrid" classes that must choose a role to specialize in, but may also fill additional roles at the cost of efficiency.— Original trailer, narrated by Peter Cullen
- Death Knight (added in Wrath of the Lich King) — An undead tank or melee DPS class that can unleash the power of death and disease, freeze their enemies into husks, drain the lifeblood from their foes, and summon undead minions. Formerly servants of the Lich King, they broke free of his control and now seek to Pay Evil unto Evil. They use 6 self-recharging runes as their primary resource, which generate Runic Power as a secondary.
- Demon Hunter (added in Legion) — Based on the demon hunters of Warcraft lore, they utilize demonic magics and transform into demon-like forms to fight in melee. They are the second "hero class" after Death Knights. Unlike other classes, they only have two specializations: Vengeance for tanking, and Havoc for damage. For lore reasons, they are the most restricted class in terms of race; they are only available to Night Elves and Blood Elves.
- Druid — Servants of nature, Druids are the most versatile class, relying on talents and shapeshifting to specialize in melee DPS (cat), ranged DPS (Moonkin), tank (bear), or healer (tree). Additional forms allow them to breathe underwater and swim faster, increase foot traveling speed, and fly without a mount. Bears use Rage, Cats use Energy, and while all druids have a mana pool, only the other two specializations rely on it. Balance druids also use Lunar and Solar power on a sliding scale. Restoration druids are most well known for their healing-over-time spells such as Rejuvenation.
- Hunter — A ranged DPS class that tames beasts to use as pets in combat. The Hunter can specialize in improving his pet or his ranged combat skills, and is a master of traps and controlling monsters. Notably the only class that deals primarily physical ranged damage (as of Mists of Pandaria, also the only class that always uses a ranged weapon). In Warlords of Draenor, the Hunter will get the choice at level 100 to not keep a pet around, being a pure sharpshooter. They used to use Mana but now use Focus, as do their pets. In the upcoming Legion expansion, the Survival spec is being revamped into a melee spec, with an Artifact polearm as its weapon.
- Mage — A ranged DPS class that excels at dishing out magical damage. Talent choices focus on specific types of magic: Arcane, the deepest of magic knowledge which is addictive to use and centers around managing an increasing mana cost for maximum damage, Fire which allows the mage to cause huge explosions and wield dragonfire, and Frost giving them the companionship of a Water Elemental and allowing them to freeze and shatter foes. Mages are also versatile in managing large numbers of enemies and controlling monsters, conjuring food out of thin air and teleporting people to specific locations. Obviously they use mana.
- Monk (added in Mists of Pandaria) — A melee DPS/tank/healer hybrid focused on the Pandaren culture. They can tank as a Brewmaster, deal damage as a Windwalker, and mix up damaging attacks with herbal medicine to heal as a Mistweaver. They use Chi, Mana or Energy as a resource. While they wield weapons, monks fight mostly with their fists and feet, empowering their strikes with Chi magic and seldom using their weapons. With the proper glyph, they don't have to use a weapon in combat at all (though the weapon still factors into their abilities).
- Paladin — A hybrid melee class that can specialize as tank, melee DPS, or healer. They were formerly only available to the Alliance, but are now also open to the Blood Elves and the Sunwalker Tauren. Paladins wield their faith in the Light (Except the Tauren, who call it The Power of the Sun) as sword, shield, and bandage and are something of a Warrior/Priest hybrid. Despite their use of Mana, their most important resource is called Holy Power. They possess both melee and ranged attacks, but can be seriously inconvenienced by silencing spells.
- Priest — A hybrid caster, Priests channel their faith into spellcasting (What religion they have faith in is dependent on the race). The archetypal and most versatile of healers, they're the only ones to have two talent trees dedicated to healing (though the other, Discipline, focuses more on damage absorption / healing through offensive spells than direct healing.) Priests may also specialize as ranged DPS, melting their enemies' faces with shadow magic and psychic assaults. They use Mana.
- Rogue — A dual-wield melee DPS class that attacks from stealth for incredible damage, then vanishes into the shadows when the advantage is lost. Rogues may specialize in the use of poisons, toe-to-toe combat, or trickery and deceit. They use Energy, and build a unique resource called Combo Points when using their abilities that they can later spend on various finishing moves, from recuperating after a battle, to eviscerating their prey.
- Shaman — A caster/melee hybrid that draws on the power of elemental and ancestral spirits. Shaman may specialize in melee DPS as a totemic warrior who summons spirit wolves to aid him in combat; ranged DPS as a spell-flinger who wields the raw power of Fire, water, Earth, and Air; or healing, using the healing nature of water and ancestral blessings to aid allies. They utilize mystical totems to buff allies and attack their foes. Formerly available only to the Horde, which was changed in Burning Crusade with the addition of the Draenei to the Alliance, and later expanded when the Wildhammer Dwarves joined and began teaching other Dwarves. They use Mana, with their totems acting as a secondary resource to some extend. They can also enchant their weapons with various elemental effects.
- Warlock — A ranged DPS class that employs demons and attacks with shadow and fire magic. Warlocks may specialize in summoning demonic minions to cause damage and bolster their party, withering their targets with curses and periodic damage effects, or battering them with direct power. Warlocks have varying resources depending on their specialization, from turning into a demon with new spells, empowering your current ones with soul shards, or using burning embers to hit the enemies with massive force. All three also use Mananote , while their demons use Fel Energy. Regardless of specialisation, they can opt to sacrifice their demon for a damage boost. They provide a surprising number of helpful spells to their allies, such as a summoning portal to summon players from afar, Healthstones that act as healing potions, and Soulstones which can bring an ally back from the dead in the middle of a fight.
- Warrior — A melee hybrid, warriors are the pinnacle of martial prowess. Besides tanking, they may specialize in two forms of melee combat; either skilfully wielding a single heavy weapon, or recklessly striking with two (The latter can also dual wield two twohanded weapons). Warriors utilize specialized combat stances to access and enhance various sets of offensive or defense abilities in the heat of battle. The use their own Rage as a resource, harnessing their anger and fury as battle goes on to strike harder and live through wounds no one could normally live through.
World of Warcraft provides examples of:
- A World Awaits...
