World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor is the fifth expansion pack for the large online game World of Warcraft, which comes after the Mists of Pandaria expansion. It was announced on November 8, 2013, during BlizzCon 2013. The expansion was released on November 13, 2014.

This expansion increased the maximum level players could reach from 90 to 100. It also added new features, such as player-built and upgradeable garrisons. Many character models were updated with more realistic details, including better textures, movements, and facial expressions. These changes required more powerful computers to run the game smoothly.

Gameplay

The expansion allows players to level up to 100, which is higher than the previous limit of 90 in the Mists of Pandaria expansion. It introduced eight 5-player dungeons and one raid called Highmaul, which opened in early December 2014. A new raid difficulty called Mythic was added, making it the most challenging raid version that requires exactly 20 players. The easiest raid option is the 25-player raid finder, and flexible raiding was expanded to allow groups of 10 to 30 players. Enemy strength adjusts automatically based on the number of players in the group. Players can build and upgrade their own garrison, a personal area where they can recruit non-player characters (NPCs) to complete missions and earn experience or items. Garrisons are built using structures like stables or armories, which grow larger and change appearance as they are upgraded. The Blackrock Foundry raid opened in February 2015, and the 6.2 patch in June 2015 added the final raid of the expansion, Hellfire Citadel.

The development team made changes to player versus player (PvP) gameplay. They adjusted how PvP items work during battles, reducing abilities that control groups of players. A new PvP-focused area called Ashran was added, featuring objectives and battles for players to participate in.

The proving grounds were updated for Warlords of Draenor. To join a random heroic dungeon match, players need a silver medal from the proving grounds for their chosen role. However, if a group of players is already formed, the medal requirement does not apply. Challenge modes and the pet battle system were also updated to work with new content.

Player stats like hit, expertise, dodge, and parry were removed from new items. Instead, new tertiary stats were added, such as increased movement speed, reduced damage from area attacks, indestructible items (which do not need repair), or leech (which converts some damage and healing into self-healing).

Some items can randomly be upgraded. For example, quest rewards may sometimes become rare or epic quality. Raid loot and heroic or mythic dungeon loot may randomly gain tertiary stats, a bonus socket, or an extra item level upgrade called "warforged." Certain gear, called baleful gear, can trigger an "empowered" effect, increasing its item level by 5 to 45, starting from a base item level of 650.

Plot

The expansion begins after the events of Mists of Pandaria and takes place in a different timeline on the world of Draenor, the original home of the orcs as it appeared in Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal, before its destruction in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne and World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. Important characters from Warcraft's history, such as Grommash Hellscream, Ner'zhul, Gul'dan, and Blackhand, appear in this story.

At the end of Mists of Pandaria, Garrosh Hellscream is removed from his position as Warchief of the Horde by a joint Alliance–Horde force and is taken into custody by the Pandaren to face trial for his actions in Pandaria. Before his trial, Garrosh escapes with the help of Kairozdormu, a dragon who broke rules, and travels to Draenor 35 years earlier, before the Horde was formed. When they arrive, Garrosh kills Kairoz and prevents his father, Grommash, from drinking the blood of the demon lord Mannoroth. This action changes history, creating a new timeline where the orcish clans unite into the "Iron Horde" using technology from Garrosh's time. The Iron Horde starts a war on Draenor by killing Mannoroth and building a Dark Portal to travel through time and attack the present Azeroth. Adventurers fight the Iron Horde's forces at the portal, destroy the Draenor side of the portal, and escape to Azeroth. The Alliance and Horde split into two groups: the Alliance joins the Draenei, and the Horde joins the Frostwolf Clan. They then build bases with portals to Azeroth to bring supplies and soldiers.

The Alliance and Horde, along with their Draenor allies, fight the Iron Horde and confront Garrosh in Nagrand. Garrosh attacks, but Thrall, the leader of the Horde, challenges him to a duel called mak'gora. Thrall defeats Garrosh using his elemental powers.

With Garrosh dead, the Alliance and Horde work with Draenor allies to destroy the Iron Horde. They attack the Gorian Empire's capital, Highmaul, and defeat the Warlord of the Shattered Hand Clan, Kargath Bladefist. They also destroy the Gorian Empire's creations, including spellbreakers and the Sorcerer King Imperator Mar'Gok.

Next, the Blackrock Clan, led by Warlord Blackhand, attacks the Alliance and Horde at their domain, the Blackrock Foundry. Adventurers destroy Iron Horde machines and defeat Blackhand.

Later, Gul'dan offers Grommash the blood of Mannoroth again, but Grommash refuses. Gul'dan then convinces Kilrogg Deadeye, leader of the Bleeding Hollow Clan, to drink the demon blood. This corrupts Kilrogg into a monstrous orc, and Gul'dan takes control of the Iron Horde, imprisoning Grommash. Adventurers, with help from Khadgar, build a naval fleet to attack Tanaan Jungle and fight Gul'dan at Hellfire Citadel.

Khadgar works with his bodyguard, Cordana Felsong, to create a magical ring to help adventurers fight Gul'dan. Gul'dan brainwashes Garona Halforcen, a warrior, to attack Khadgar and the Commander, but Garona is defeated and becomes an ally. However, Cordana is later corrupted by Gul'dan and tries to steal the ring. The Commander defeats Cordana, but she escapes.

In the Hellfire Citadel raid, adventurers kill Kilrogg and the remaining Iron Horde. Gul'dan brings back Mannoroth, but adventurers defeat him and free Grommash, who joins them. Gul'dan then summons Archimonde to attack Draenor. With help from Yrel and Grommash, adventurers defeat Archimonde. In his final moments, Archimonde sends Gul'dan through a portal to Azeroth in the main timeline, setting up the next expansion.

Development

For this expansion, the development team changed the file format used by the game. They moved from the MPQ file format, which was used before, to a new format called CASC. The game also includes updated character models for all races released before Cataclysm. These models have better textures and more detailed shapes. The developers said they want to keep the original look and feel of the characters while improving their quality to match the Pandaren race from the previous expansion and the Worgen and Goblin races from Cataclysm. The developers ensured that the game’s performance would not suffer greatly from these changes. They also confirmed that the number of visual effects during large battles would not decrease.

Warlords of Draenor was playable at PAX East and began alpha testing in April 2014. Blizzard invited players to join the beta testing in June 2014. Players who bought the game received a free level 90 boost for one character. Additional boosts could be purchased for $60 each. Blizzard explained that they set the price high to avoid reducing the value of leveling a character.

With this expansion, Blizzard expressed a goal to create new expansions more often, ideally once each year.

During the launch, some players faced long wait times and delays when trying to log in. Blizzard reported that they experienced DDoS attacks on the launch day and had unexpected problems caused by many players logging in from different locations. As a result, players received five days of free subscription time as compensation for these issues.

Reception

Warlords of Draenor received mostly positive reviews when it was released, as shown by its score of 87 on Metacritic.

At the 18th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Warlords of Draenor for "Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year."

Warlords of Draenor sold more than 3.3 million copies in the first 24 hours after its release. Subscription numbers rose from 7.4 million to over 10.5 million in November 2014. However, by the end of the first quarter of 2015, the number of subscribers dropped to 7.1 million, which was 300,000 fewer than before the game was released. By the end of the second quarter, subscribers had decreased to 5.6 million, the lowest number since 2005. By the third quarter, the number of subscribers remained at 5.5 million. In November 2015, Blizzard announced it would no longer share updates about the number of World of Warcraft subscribers.