Probable factions in Wrath of the Lich King
by Mike Schramm 
Aug 30th 2007 at 1:30PM
Jikiyami from Kul'tiras dropped a tip asking us about all the different factions that might be in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion when it comes out. Unfortunately, Blizzard hasn't completed design on most of Northrend, so I'd bet that the actual list of factions isn't really determined yet. But that won't stop us from speculating who you might be working for from level 70-80.- There will most likely be Horde and Alliance starting factions, just like Honor Hold and Thrallmar. For Horde, Forsaken seem to be taking the spotlight (according to what we saw in the playthrough), so an "Apothecaries' Guild" faction might be up there. For Alliance, I'm betting the Dwarves will lead, so an "Explorer's League" type of group might be a good guess.
- Dalaran will be up there, of course, so we'll either see the Violet Citadel make a return, or another Mage-based faction.
- The Tuskarr, a new race, are supposedly fighting against Naga trying to melt their grounds, so I bet we'll see a faction for them.
- Lake Wintergrasp is a World PvP zone, so expect a Horde and Alliance faction for each side.
- We know Gnomish flying machines will be available in the expansion, so I'd guess there's a Gnomish faction to rep up for in order to gain access to those.
- In Dragonblight, the rumor is that Deathwing is setting up shop, so there may be a new faction fighting against him.
- And that same faction may be situated around the Nexus, an instance hub in which Malygos is running things. Then again, we've heard that Dalaran is fighting Malygos' campaign against magic, so this may overlap with the Mages there.
- Jikiyami points out, rightfully, that supposedly some Nerubians are fighting against Arthas, so outside Azjol-Nerub we may find a faction ready to give us rep for fighting in there.
- And finally, someone's got to lead the battle against Arthas and his Scourge, right? Blizzard seemed kind of opposed to this at BlizzCon, but I would be very, very disappointed if the Argent Dawn didn't have some role to play near Icecrown Citadel or the new Naxx.
- Or maybe Arthas will have his own rep to grind-- how else would we get access to a Death Knight?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, Expansions, Factions, NPCs, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Todd Aug 30th 2007 1:40PM
I really like the Argent Dawn. I'll be disappointed if the AD doesn't make an appearance, especially with new rep rewards.
Durane Aug 30th 2007 1:47PM
I doubt the Argent Dawn will be a faction... A lot of players already have exalted status with them. Sure, Blizzard could make an off-branch like they did with Cenarion Circle and Cenarion Expedition, but I think its much more like the anti-Scourge faction will be . When you consider that they had Highlord Tirion Fordring, who brought back the Order, in the demo at Blizzcon, I think its a safe bet.
Durane Aug 30th 2007 1:49PM
Huh part of my comment got erased. What I meant to say was its much more likely that the Order of the Silver Hand will be the anti-Scrouge faction, not Agrent Dawn
RogueJedi86 Aug 30th 2007 1:49PM
Probably gonna be like Cenarion Circle and their Cenarion Expedition in Outland. The Argent Dawn Expediton? Heck, maybe that Scarlet Emissary in Light's Hope Chapel, EPL finally got through to the Argent Dawn, and the Scarlet Crusade will ally with the Argent Dawn to fight the greater evil. I'd like to see that kind of development in the Scarlet Crusade storyline.
Odok Aug 30th 2007 1:52PM
Well the Argent Dawn was created to drive the Scourge out of their homeland; not necessarily to take the fight to Arthas himself. It's mostly a loose coalition of militia, people who were unlucky enough to be cut off from the rest of the world, any random adventurer who walks by, and maybe a few seasoned fighters. They have their hands full still trying to cleanse the plaguelands.
The lead player against Arthas is most likely going to be the Silver Hand, led by Tirion Fordring. It was the band of paladins that Uther himself led and Arthas later disbanded. We know from his quest chain in EPL that Tirion has taken up the mantle as the new leader of the Silver Hand. And we know from BlizzCon that Tirion is in Northrend along with his rebuilt order.
Gill Aug 30th 2007 1:53PM
More factions = more rep grind =P
Odok Aug 30th 2007 1:57PM
Oh, and there's going to be furbolgs in the Grizzly Hills so I'm sure that'll be a faction. Maybe the Tuanka (like Tauren, only bison instead of cows). Probably something for the new Titan places too.
And, I cringe to say it, a new Bronze Dragonflight faction for the Old Stratholme instance and any other CoT dungeons they add for lvl 80.
p3ngu11 Aug 30th 2007 2:07PM
The Silver Hand
Mike Schramm Aug 30th 2007 2:53PM
You're exactly right, forgot about the Silver Hand, we know for sure they'll be up there fighting Arthas. Oh well, Argent Dawn, we knew ye well.
And yeah Furbolgs will be up there, too. Too many factions!
InsaneAssault Aug 30th 2007 2:27PM
I'm personally hoping the Scarlet Crusade will be a grindable rep. Those guys really appeal to me for some reason. An interesting idea would be to have the Silver Hand and the Scarlet Crusade be opposing factions just like the Aldor and Scryers.
Mackenzie Aug 30th 2007 2:34PM
But the Scarlet Crusade isn't warring with the Silver Hand. Scarlet Crusade and The Argent Dawn were once members of the Silver Hand. If the Silver Hand is active, why would either faction show up in Northrend as their own faction but rather a reborn Silver Hand?
Dave Aug 30th 2007 2:32PM
whatever the factions end up being... they definitely won't be Azerothian factions!
Cenarion Invasion perhaps?
I wouldn't be so sure to count Argent Dawn out of it though, you need good AD rep to get into Naxx, and they've said they're planning on Naxx being retuned for the expansion, so there's a decent chance there will be SOME sort of AD rep gain involved so you can quickly attune to Naxx if you otherwise haven't. Right now it's using old endgame mats and rep for entrance and I'm sure they'd like to make it less trivial as far as mats for attunement goes (or make it BC-esque where you need a key that you get from either rep or boss drop).
It looks like the Red Dragonflight will be helping players against the Blue Dragonflight, so there will probably be a Red Dragonflight rep of some sort.
There's probably a non-evil Nerubian faction somewhere as well.
Joshua Aug 30th 2007 2:44PM
Maybe some trolls too?
Obligatory WoWWiki Link: http://www.wowwiki.com/Drakkari.
Your generic run of the mill Zul name: Zul'Drak.
Its amazing how much the lore in Northrend has already been fleshed out from the RP books?
This one looks like they may be at odds with the Lich King too, so perhaps they wont be your generic evil trolls you have to go into their kingdom and defeat like with ZG and the upcoming ZA.
Tseran Aug 30th 2007 2:45PM
I'm with Durane, it's going to be the Silver Hand if anything. We have already seen that Tirion will be making his way there, who better to lead the charge and give us faction. Makes me wonder if he will be there full time, or just for quests, and if he does move, who will be there with the quest in EPL.
Brendan Aug 30th 2007 3:08PM
Instead of the Argent Dawn, we'll likely see the "Silver Hand" become a reputation (possibly even the one that deals with Arthas directly, like the Ashtongue-Illidan connection).
Using old reputations (like the Argent Dawn) is a bad idea because of the way progression works. Anyone who played vanilla WoW for a long time is likely Exalted with the Argent Dawn and would require no additional reputation gains to enjoy the fruits, thus making any proposed reputation grind process easily bypassed by veteran players. A new player, on the other hand, would not have done that, and would be at a severe disadvantage, since they would then have to do the grind.
That's why we have Cenarion Circle and Cenarion Expedition separate, since it's not fair that everyone who did all the AQ stuff automatically gets a leg up on the Zangarmarsh stuff.
InsaneAssault Aug 30th 2007 4:41PM
@11, the Scarlet Crusade is pretty much at war with anyone who isn't in their ranks. They've grown so fanantical, paranoid and corrupt that they've lost their original purpose. The Argent Dawn was formed from former Crusade members who began to see its organization starting down a dark parth. I'm sure there has to be at least some resentment on both sides.
Durane Aug 30th 2007 5:18PM
I am going to agree with the bit about the Explorer's League. Us lore fans have been following Brann Bronzebeard's trek across Azeroth for years now, and there has already been rumors that he will once again make an appearance in the game when Northrend opens.
Whatever factions we will find in WotLK, we can be sure they will be all new. If Blizzard is anything, then they are consistent: They never announce release dates until the last minute, always give us at least a few good surprises, and they'll always give more factions to torture us through by grinding. 50 more days of game-play, anyone?
Medros Aug 30th 2007 5:24PM
The Alliance starter rep might be the Order of the Silver Hand, especially if Tirion will be reforming the Order via quest info presented here and on MMO Champion. However, seeing as Tirion currently declares that race means nothing, we may find him in Dalaran, interacting with both factions.
Bloobeard Aug 30th 2007 5:57PM
Explorer's League was indeed a faction in Howling Fjord at Blizzcon.
Fletch Aug 30th 2007 6:25PM
I think it would be interesting if there was a neutral Burning Legion town that you could rep with, since you're both fighting Arthas. The enemy of my enemy is my...slightly less of an enemy?