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World Of Warcraft Expansions Ranked

With the announcement that Battle for Azeroth will give all WoW subscribers access to all previous expansions, I figured now would be the best time to look back on all of our journeys across Azeroth to rank them from best to worst. Note that this is an opinionated list, but will give you a highlight of the ups and downs us loyal players have endured. So let’s get this started: Lok’Tar Ogar!

Worst: Warlords of Draenor
Garissons were the only thing Blizzard did right in this expansion… and they still got that wrong. It took away the “World” from “World of Warcraft” and made players stay stationary in their “custom” stronghold… that didn’t end up being customizable at all. The story was contrived and weird, and as much as revisiting past Nagrand seemed like a great time, it got boring fighting Orcs and Ogres repeatedly.

Also Pretty Bad: Mists of Pandaria
What most players thought was a joke ended up being the expansion I binge-played on release for 2 days straight. While the addition of the Monk class was a fun new take on battle styles, and I loved playing a Mist Walker, the predictable story, the fact that the final raid had little to do with Pandaria at all, and the amount of Daily Quest grinding needed to excel made this expansion forgettable, despite it’s beautiful landscape.

Middle-Ground: The Burning Crusade
As the first expansion to the “Vanilla” experience, new races, new lands to discover, and a powerful main villain like Illidan Stormrage on the cover was very captivating for all players. It was a breath of fresh air, but was never as ambitious as any other expansion.

Getting Better: Legion
Okay, the Demon Hunter was ridiculously overpowered, but WoW finally felt new with Legion. There was so much to do, a steady stream of content, and an epic ending that took us to Argus to fight titan leaders we had only heard of in legend. While I did get burnt out, the expansion was a strong revival for the franchise that trumped the two duds that preceded it.

My Personal Bias: Cataclysm
Revamping the entire world of questing, releasing a badass dragon for a villain, and upping the challenge of heroic dungeons significantly, Cataclysm was where I sunk all my time of WoW into. Granted, the final raid was lackluster, the highpoints included the return of Ragnaros, being able to travel to diverse biomes, and the grand zone of Uldum. Cataclysm gave every player something to gnaw their teeth at. Plus, for better or worse, we got the LFR system.

The True King: Wrath of the Lich King
World of Warcraft hit record high subscribers during Wrath because the content was enjoyable, the raids were fun, the Death Knight was an awesome class with a compelling storyline, and who can forget Icecrown Citadel and Halls of Reflection? Getting to brave the cold winds of Northrend put literal chills up my spine when I played. The game felt solid and repeatable without tiring out, and will always stand as the height of this staple MMO.

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