Northrend uncovered

Your guide to the Death Knight’s starting area

Death Knights have their own starting zone, where Horde and Alliance players alike can get a peaceful(ish) start. The story begins in a floating Necropolis, about to launch Arthas’s invasion of Azeroth and Kalimdor. He’s picked a small town on the tip of the Eastern Plaguelands to begin with: Tyr’s Hand. The initial attack takes the Alliance by surprise. But preparations are quickly put in place for a counter-assault. The Tyr’s Hand zone is an interesting experiment for WoW – it features technology that enables the look and feel of the zone to change dependent on the story quests you’ve completed. NPCs and quest-givers change location, giving a real sense of progress, and the feel of an ongoing battle. Even if you’re not going to continue with the character, it’s worth playing the zone just to see the tech in action.

1) Sky tower: Newbie Death Knights start in Ebon Hold, a giant Necropolis floating above Archerus, right in front of the Lich King, Arthas. He’ll demand you prove yourself in combat against failed Death Knight initiates, and teach you the art of runeforging, before sending you on a very special scouting mission.

2) Hard hat: The first real test of new Death Knights is the invasion of this mine. Rather than killing all the miners, the Scourge want you to convert them into friendly ghouls. You’ll enter alone, and leave with a dead army.

3) Fear, doubt: This whole area is deeply silly. Most of the quest objectives revolve around causing terror – there are countless screaming civilians running around who you can, and should, cleave.

4) Shipping forecast: The Scarlet Crusade are reinforcing Archerus with a giant fleet. You simply won’t be able to take them on alone. But maybe you could sneak aboard their galleons and turn their cannons against them?

5) Bubble trouble: Inside a giant pot, the Scourge are brewing a foul potion. To complete it, they need skulls. The Scarlet Crusade soldiers from the south will do just fine.

6) Day without riot: As the peasants begin to realize the enormity of the Death Knight threat, they gather around the offices of the mayor, Quimby. Prove that all hope is lost by fighting past his guards and killing him. “Can’t we have one meeting that doesn’t end with digging up a corpse?”

7) Multiple realities: There’s some smart instancing going on in this zone. As you complete quests, the look of the place will begin to change, taking you through a simple story’s progression.

How behind-the-scenes tech is making World of Warcraft even better

Achievements: These record almost all the major boss kills and quest completion stats. All your questing over the past years will also be counted.

Calendar: WoW now has a built-in calendar. Any player can create an event, and then share it. Best of all, WoW’s various in-game events are entered automatically.

Haircuts: At last, it’s time to ditch the afro. Barbershops dotted around the capital cities allow you to swap your hair and beards for something a little more dapper.

Phasing: This technology changes what players see according to quests completed. If you’ve rescued villagers, or decimated a town, you’ll see the difference.