World of Warcraft: Legion bears a terrible weight. In some ways, it feels like an apology for the mistakes made during the previous WoW expansion, Warlords of Draenor. Those mistakes also led many to believe World of Warcraft's days were numbered, and now Legion is tasked with not only making up for lost time, but also proving that World of Warcraft still has time left. Despite all that, Legion is the most confident expansion Blizzard has ever made.
The Burning Legion's invasion of Azeroth might be one of the most dire conflicts explored in World of Warcraft, an impression driven home by the Broken Shore intro that pulls a few pages from Game of Thrones by nonchalantly killing off important characters. But that confidence I see in Legion doesn't just come from going all in on the story—it comes from understanding that this is Blizzard's sixth time releasing an expansion. As I imagine the Lord Illidan would say, they are prepared.
While the functionality of order halls is great at establishing some longer term goals, my favorite aspect represents something that World of Warcraft has been lacking for years: class identity. Each order hall is unique to each class, and they all evoke the associated mythos and personality in powerful ways. The Dreamgrove, where druid players call home, is an enchanting meadow that feels heavy with ancient mysticism. By comparison, The Fel Hammer, the demonic spaceship where demon hunters kick back after a day of murder, is burning with nefarious green energy amid the gnashing of the demon prisoners chained to its walls.
There's a generous helping of quests associated with each class that further help establish this renewed sense of identity. I love digging deeper into the lore of my druid, and many quests require using abilities unique to my class, even ones I would never use in any other context. It's a great feeling to dust off an old spell for some clever use in a quest, but, more importantly, there's a selfish satisfaction in knowing that I'm doing something not every class can do.
There's no better way to see Warcraft's improved class identity than to take the new demon hunters for a spin. They are, without a doubt, the most well-realized class that Blizzard has ever created. I'm not fond of their dour emo nature, but that's easy to ignore as my demon hunter transforms into a savage monstrosity and obliterates a pack of murlocs with laser beams that shoot out of his damn eyeballs. While I don't find them quite alluring enough to consider switching from my druid, demon hunters are badasses of the highest order.
What makes demon hunters so fun, especially their damage-dealing specialization, is how agile they feel in and out of combat. Whether I'm dashing through a pack of monsters, backflipping away from an attack, or just using their bat-like wings to glide through the air, I always feel like the coolest thing to walk Azeroth since the Arthas first took hold of Frostmourne.
