The War Within: First Zone

This post may contain spoilers for first two zones of The War Within.

I picked up The War Within on Monday and have been slowly working through it. I decided to try to do as much of the first zone as I could before moving on. So I got to 76 before making my way to the second zone.

There was a minor kerfuffle as Blizzard nerfed levelling a day after launch, giving the people who purchased Early Access a lot more time with the quick levelling. While the optics were bad, it was really necessary. I went Templar on my Retribution Paladin, which gives you a very powerful new ability Hammer of Light, which chains off Wake of Ashes. I was having a really hard time trying out this new ability because Wake of Ashes would kill everything before I could even use Hammer of Light!

In any case, the first part in Dalaran is really well-done. There was this seamless cut from action to in-game cutscene that I don't think I've seen WoW do before. Xal'atath is a great villain so far, just toying with the good guys like a cat. Unlike the humourless Jailer, Xal'atath is having fun, and it just works. Style is everything for a villain.

The Isle of Dorn is a pretty good first zone. The earthen are interesting, though it is a bit weird that this is the second robot-ish race we've seen recently. The first being the mecha-gnomes. They are rather different, but it's still kind of weird.

It does feel like a very Alliance-centric expansion so far, though that may be mostly because of the dwarves.

Also, being called "Outlander" all the time reminds me a lot of The Old Republic.