Legion zone and dungeon previews

Legion is so close you can practically taste it — it’s a bit fel, so it’s sort of a combined minty and spicy with a hint of screaming — but we still have hours to wait. So let’s take this time to review what exactly we’re looking forward to and go through Blizzard’s previews of Legion’s zones, dungeons, and features.

So take your time and check out the world of Legion — you’ll know just where you want to go when the servers go live around midnight Pacific.

Zones of the Broken Isles

Since there are four zones where you’ll from 100 to 110 — and you can tackle them in any order — you should definitely get to know them before you decide where to go first in Legion.

• Stormheim: This tumultuous zone is connected both to the ancient history of the Vrukul and Keeper Odyn’s war with Helya. It’s also the site where Sylvanas Windrunner, the Horde’s new Warchief, finds herself locked in conflict with King Genn Greymane of Gilneas, who has many scores to settle with her.
• Highmountain introduces us to the Highmountain Tauren, the heirs to Huln, wielder of the Eagle Spear and hero of the War of the Ancients. Entrusted with the Hammer of Khaz’goroth since driving Deathwing from their lands, the Highmountain now find themselves beset by the Droghbar, who stole the hammer rather than see it used by outsiders against the Legion.
• Val’sharah gives us a glimpse into the birth of Druidism on Azeroth in this ancient bastion of the Cenarion Circle, where Cenarius himself taught Malfurion Stormrage before the War of the Ancients. Now it’s threatened by an insidious menace while also seeing the Legion strike at the Temple of Elune within its formerly safe haven. The Tear of Elune, one of the Pillars of Creation, has been stolen and heroes will find much to do here.
• Azsuna is a view of a land that has labored under the curse of Queen Azshara for 10,000 years. Her actions cursed the land and its inhabitants, and now the Legion also comes to wreak havoc by invading in force. The Illidari are stretched to their limits trying to hold the zone, and the heroes of Azeroth are sorely needed to find the Tidestone of Golganneth and drive back the demons, perhaps ending the land’s curse in the process.

Legion’s dungeons

The dungeons of the Broken Isles will be available from day one, and several — Darkheart Thicket, Eye of Azshara, Halls of Valor, and Neltharian’s Lair — scale like zones, so they’ll be available to players immediately.

• The Arcway and Court of Stars: These two Suramar-related dungeons are Mythic only. The Arcway is the means by which the power of the Nightwell reaches the magically-addicted people of Suramar, while the Court of Stars is a chance to try unconventional means to achieve victory.
• Halls of Valor and Maw of Souls dungeons both touch upon ancient history of the Vrykul, the Storm Peaks in Northrend, and Stormheim in the Broken Isle. In the Halls of Valor, you’ll find Keeper Odyn (the true Prime Designate of Azeroth, usurped by Loken) while Helya (made into the first Val’kyr against her will by Odyn, causing her to  trap him in his own Halls of Valor). These two dungeons lay out this ancient conflict and how the Legion stands to gain by it.
• Black Rook Hold and Darkheart Thicket are two dungeons tied to the history of the Night Elves. Black Rook Hold was the home of Lord Kur’talos Ravencrest and served as a main defensive hub during the War of the Ancients, while Darkheart Thicket was once one of the most sacred Druid sites on Azeroth and is now the place most corrupted by the Emerald Nightmare.
• Eye of Azshara and Neltharion’s Lair both lay at the heart of their respective zones. The Eye of Azshara is the site of a major Naga effort to reclaim the Tidestone of Golganneth for their Queen, while Neltharion’s former lair is now home to the Droghbar, and adventuring sorts must brave its depths to reclaim the Pillar of Creation that Dargrul the Underking wields as his personal weapon.
• Vault of the Wardens and Assault on Violet Hold give us two prison dungeons (so, actual dungeons, you could say) to explore. If you’ve done the Demon Hunter starting zone you know what happened inside the Vault, and the Violet Hold is just a big jail for any enemy the Kirin Tor makes — it’s not surprising the Legion would attack it to try and unleash this host of horrors on their enemies.

General previews

Besides Zones and Dungeons, what do we have to look at before Legion launches to get up to date? Blizzard has a few other previews to help you catch up.

• Artifact feature preview goes into detail on how to acquire, level, and customize your Artifact weapon, as well as gaining the Artifacts from your other specs. Check out our guide on getting and powering up your Artifacts for more details.
• World Quests preview covers the upcoming World Quest system for Legion, explaining how it works, how you’ll go about finding and completing World Quests, and more.
• Class Halls preview gives you an overview of every single such Class Hall for all classes.

Hopefully these previews help you through the last few hours before Legion, because it’s almost here and at this point I’m vibrating from excitement. Grab your Artifact and head to the nearest zone or dungeon, it’s time to take the fight to the Broken Isles.