World of Warcraft Expansions Ranked From Best to Worse

World of Warcraft Expansions Ranked from finest to worse is the plan right here, so let’s get into it and upset everybody.

This record could be very private and comes with a couple of private biases which have impacted me in my time taking part in WoW. I’ve performed WoW since Vanilla, and have by no means hated any interval of it. Now, onto the record

Legion

As I stated, that is my record and I’ve my causes for liking Legion probably the most, and most of these aren’t about gameplay (to not say it was unhealthy). Legion was implausible, it most likely saved WoW from a spiral downhill, however my motive for loving Legion went past the gameplay.

It had some points, a few of which acquired fastened, and others that didn’t and have been left in a damaged state till the BFA pre-patch. Legendary objects have been a good suggestion, however the RNG was horrible. The category order corridor and Artifact weapons have been additionally nice options that most individuals loved. And like most good issues in WoW, they acquired stale and grindy towards the top. The fixed farming of the identical dungeon to realize probably the most Artifact Energy additionally acquired to folks by the top. However, we do look again on it fondly, perhaps as a result of BFA ruined so a lot of Legion’s good options.

What made Legion the very best growth for me was my guild, my mates, and my now-wife. The guild nonetheless exists right this moment, although on a brand new server, with new members and a faction change, however our friendships and connections stand robust and unchanged. What Legion gave me, was one thing that I by no means thought it may.

Wrath of the Lich King

Wrath is most individuals’s favourite growth. It has the enhancements to the sport that Burning Crusades introduced, nevertheless it additionally refined them and “leveled-up” WoW as a recreation. Lich King just about had all of it as an growth. Strong leveling, nice zone and thematic, and an finish villain that everybody within the Warcraft neighborhood knew

Wrath might be the growth Basic WoW gamers have been most hyped about – I do know I used to be. Wrath seems like when WoW had a pleasant steadiness between feature-rich content material, good time between content material, and good rewards. A variety of what Wrath got down to obtain was modified within the expansions which adopted, as Blizzard tried to reinvent the sport. However Wrath has a legacy in WoW, and with out the non-public additions from Legion, it might most likely be my #1.

Burning Crusades

It was precisely what WoW wanted after Vanilla. It constructed on the core of the sport, however expanded the world and added two new races to the sport, Draenei for the Alliance and Blood Elfs for the Horde. The growth, very like the one which proceeded, had a stable finish recreation, good development, and good raid encounters.

As with Lick King, it featured a serious lore unhealthy man in Illidan as the top boss (let’s fake Black Temple was the final raid) that gamers knew about from the day the growth was revealed.

The growth wasn’t excellent nevertheless it’s remembered very fondly. With the Burning Crusades prone to be coming to Basic within the subsequent few years, it is going to be attention-grabbing to see how nicely the growth is perceived when the time comes, when rose-tinted glasses come off and we see it in comparison with trendy video games. Till then, BC is taken into account by most to be alongside Wrath as WoW’s finest growth, as proven within the video above by the highest WoW streamer, Asmongold.

Dragonflight (as of 1.1.5)

Dragonflight had all of it to do when it adopted Shadowlands. Blizzard had their repute in tatters, a deal to promote the corporate to Microsoft was lingering (however is now accomplished) and so they had competitors from different MMOs beginning to chip away at them.

Fortunately, at the very least up to now, Dragonflight has been a top quality growth (up to now). Patches have been flowing, and whereas the 1.1 raid tier ended pretty rapidly, the content material has stored the sport feeling recent. Earlier than, we might wait weeks between patches to see what the subsequent patch would have in retailer. Now, it feels just like the day the most recent patch drops, the subsequent one is already on the PTR prepared to check. By the point Dragonflight has been out for a 12 months, Blizzard plans to launch 2 main patches for the sport. If that does certainly occur, Blizzard might need a contemporary basic on their palms.

Mists of Pandaria

Mists of Pandaria was an growth that, on the time, felt simply OK, however wanting again, many gamers – myself included – realized to understand it extra. It at all times appeared to me that the panda aesthetic, the world and the Pandaren race launched appeared like a “joke” to some. I imply, the unique thought of a Pandaren race was an April Idiot’s joke again in Warcraft 3. The Pandaren race was “revealed” as the sport’s fifth playable race. So the race was doomed when it was first unveiled, and it’s not extensively performed to today, regardless of being open to each factions.

One notable facet of MoP that gamers talked about throughout BFA was MoP’s class design. Trying again, folks communicate of it as a golden period for the sport. One notable determine that highlighted this in 2019, shortly after BFA was launched was Max, the present  Guild Chief, and Raid Chief of World #1 WoW raiding guild Liquid. Talking about how the basic design was what made it nice, it was much less about content material and extra about that core loop.

Warlords of Draenor

WoD is commonly on the underside of most people’s lists. It practically killed WoW, and it was actually liable for the sport’s continued drop off in subscription numbers since Cataclysm. Consequently, Blizzard not publicly discuss WoW sub numbers, bar a short point out at Activision Blizzard investor calls, and even then we simply get traces comparable to “WoW numbers proceed to climb”. Clearly, with Basic now a part of the subscription the whole variety of gamers just isn’t as significant as a gauge for the way widespread WoW is anymore.

That stated, WoD had some good concepts. The Garrison was WoW’s reply to Participant Housing, a characteristic that followers had needed for years (some still do). Fairly than being a cool place to hold it, it grew to become your solely location to play. You may queue up for practically every part there, communicate in commerce chat, and even farm crafting supplies.

The growth ended very poorly, with a whole content material patch being minimize. A poster on popular WoW fansite MMO-Champion even collected an enormous record of minimize or delayed content material, and it’s pretty damning. The worst half was the one-year hole between WoD’s ultimate patch and WoW: Legion launched in 2016. All this got here collectively to mark certainly one of WoW’s darkest days.

Shadowlands

Shadowlands was a bizarre growth. It was most likely higher than BFA, and the content material got here fairly rapidly… however, it suffered a type of excellent storm, for the flawed causes. The growth was full of huge concepts, with huge baddies and large modifications. Although, none of them appeared to reside as much as that hype. We had an enormous day by day quest zone that restricted our mounted entry, a villain that appeared like “my first unhealthy man” reasonably than something particular. The lore was bizarre, and simply appeared to confuse folks greater than something.

Then, we now have the COVID-19-sized elephant within the room and the Blizzard sexual discrimination scandal. Shadowlands was a multitude, with enormous gaps between content material; Blizzard was left in a bizarre state of affairs. End the growth, or finish it rapidly and transfer on to the subsequent factor rapidly. Blizzard most likely made the fitting name, as this was in regards to the time when FF 14 began to realize some critical traction within the MMO house, and WoW was beginning to get left behind. By now, you’ve got seen Dragonflight place larger than Shadowlands, and it is most likely an excellent factor that Blizzard had that growth to observe this.

Battle for Azeroth

When rating WoW expansions, the golden rule is to make your final three picks as controversial as your first 3. BFA might be summarized as an growth filled with concepts, a few of which by no means labored and had been changed by different concepts and options that ended up pilling up and making a multitude of an expertise.

BFA was bizarre. It hasn’t been remembered fondly among the many participant base, although I believe as time goes on it is perhaps regarded again on as an growth with concepts above its station, most of which simply did not reside as much as the early promise. Options like Island Expeditions, Warfronts and the overwhelming variety of methods left most individuals disillusioned and buried in “busy work”.  Possibly the legacy of the growth is that it confirmed how simple it’s to fall after you’ve achieved a lot (with Legion).

It wasn’t all unhealthy, the lore, story, ambiance, and raiding content material have been top-notch, because it has been for quite a few expansions now. The concept that the Art Team at Blizzard “carries” the game now’s typically talked about in Reddit threads, and typically it’s onerous to disagree.

Cataclysm

Cataclysm was the remaking of WoW’s world, Azeroth, torn asunder by the dragon Deathwing. Whereas it modified the world, it didn’t do a lot to refresh the endgame content material of WoW, which in the end sees it positioned right here.

Cataclysm added some first rate options. Goblin and Worgen joined the factions, whereas Archaeology, guild development, rated battlegrounds and Flying mounts in Azeroth additionally joined the characteristic record. Clearly, a brand new world meant the 1-60 leveling expertise had a revamp, too, one thing that’s nonetheless within the recreation to today.

The issue is that the majority of these options are both useless, dying, or hated by the neighborhood. Archaeology has probably not modified in any respect in current expansions, and as of now’s set to don’t have anything significant performed to it in Dragonflight, an growth that was ripe for Archaeology to get up to date. The brand new Guild features completely ruined the economic system of the sport and sparked a flood of 500+ member guilds abusing the gold-making characteristic. Flying mounts are at all times a controversial subject in WoW – some folks love them, some solely like them in new content material, and others simply want we had them from the second the growth dropped.

Lastly, Rated Battlegrounds are all however forgotten. It appeared like the right esport for WoW however was solely ever utilized by a handful of neighborhood occasions. Sitting right here, I can’t identify a single characteristic I liked about Cataclysm. Even the raids have been disappointing, especially the awful Deathwing fight.

Basic/Vanilla

All of us have our favourite taste of ice cream, and a few of us like some precise taste… solely joking; Basic isn’t an growth, so there isn’t any have to get upset.