World of Warcraft at Ten Ton Hammer

Jeff Kaplan covers the basics of Northrend. Since the expansion will have no new races, the focus is on content, storyline, and progression. Players will be able to interact with Arthas (a major character in Warcraft III) from the get-go; no raiding required. The level cap will be raised to 80, and Kaplan briefly introduces the Death Knight hero class, explained more fully in Tom Chilton's Death Knight presentation later in the panel.

Siege weapons and destructible environments will be the centerpiece of Lake Wintergrasp, an open PvP zone (for all servers). The new expansion profession, Inscription, will allow players to further customize spells and abilities. Kaplan also introduces hairstyling as a new addition to the game, then introduced Level Designer Corey Stockton, who shows that the continent has two points of entry and explains why.

Continue to Howling Fjord to see one of these points of entry up close!