World of Warcraft (WoW) has been a cornerstone of the MMORPG genre for almost two decades, keeping players returning for more every time a significant update drops. The latest iteration, which has sent a buzz through the community, is Season of Discovery (SoD).
SoD has brought a fresh twist to the WoW classic experience, offering a great opportunity for veteran players and newcomers to rediscover the world of Azeroth in new ways.
Let’s take a look at what makes SoD so exciting!
A New Type of Customization
Perhaps the most significant addition from SoD is the new Rune Engraving system. This allows players to unlock new or enhance existing abilities by discovering and interacting with runes scattered across Azeroth.
All characters unlock rune engraving by default. You can use it to upgrade nine slots for your armor (Chest, Legs, Gloves, Belt, Bracers, Boots, Cloak, and 1 Rune for each of your two Rings).
This system adds another layer of depth to character load-outs, letting players customize their playstyle and stats even more. Imbuing them with new abilities—such as letting Warriors heal or Priests cast offensive spells.
Ultimately, it’s a new level of customization, which is especially useful for the end game.
Reimagined Class Roles
WoW has always been a game of classes. And some classes have been better—or at least in more demand—than others. But with SoD, it reimagines a bunch of class roles, giving each a new level of flexibility.
For example, Druids can become dedicated tanks, Warlocks can heal, and Mages can get up close and personal in melee combat.
This class overhaul may sound game-breaking, but it’s ultimately about increasing flexibility, allowing new and returning players to experience each class afresh.
Progressive Content Release
WoW releases have almost always been launched; all content is available from day 1. However, SoD is slightly different. With content being released in phases. This means new zones, dungeons, and level caps are being rolled out over time. This allows players to experience the content at a more measured pace and maintains much greater player engagement!
But even if you fall behind a few updates, don’t fret. The content isn’t temporary or anything. But you can catch back up in no time if you buy SoD gold to get your hands on all the best in-game gear.
Revamped Leveling Experience
WoW has often been criticized as an end-game-focused experience. While this is an issue that plagues most of the MMORPG genre, Blizzard has tried something new with SoD to remedy this. It is reimagining the leveling journey by introducing new quests and scattering better items—particularly runes—throughout low-level zones. This will help to make the leveling experience feel fresh for returning players while updating the somewhat outdated experience of MMO leveling for new players!
Community-Driven Discoveries
As with all MMOs, WoW has always been a game centered around community. And SoD aims to continue this factor by encouraging discussion and communal activities with many of its additions. For example, rune locations are not explicitly revealed or marked, encouraging players to work together to uncover them—and much more.
This new approach hopes to hark back to the original release of WoW, back at a time when wikis and other information were not readily available. Encouraging much more community engagement.
Economic Shifts
Due to the addition of new systems—particularly the rune systems—returning players may be surprised to see the economy of WoW has shifted since before the update. This is because new synergies and item requirements have moved things about, making some formerly low-demand items now very sought after.
Challenging Group Content
Raids and other group content have always been the bread and butter of the WoW experience. And SoD continues with this ideology, delivering plenty of new content for guilds, friends, and randoms to engage with in large parties.
But this isn’t for the faint of heart. These new challenges and raids can be pretty tough, encouraging new approaches and a comprehensive use of the new rune system to allow teams to hold their own against this tough new content.
Looking Ahead
As already stated, SoD is releasing with a consistent roll-out over the coming months. This means we still have plenty of content to look forward to, with many more twists and turns likely showing themselves along the way.
The only thing I can say for sure is that SoD is proving to be the most exciting update to WoW in years.