Northrend uncovered

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Make space in your social life, because World of Warcraft's second expansion is almost here. We've already been playing it for a solid month, exploring the nooks and crannies of Azeroth's new continent, Northrend. Now it's time for you to find what awaits adventurers fresh off the boat. Over the coming pages you'll discover the zones, quests and improvements that make Wrath of the Lich King essential. Are you prepared?

Meet the Death Knight

The really funny thing about the Death Knight is when you start experimenting with your selection of starting powers. This isn't like WoW's typical class development, where you're gradually introduced to mediocre skills. With the Death Knight, you begin with the ability to warp a character to you, dragging them over like Scorpion's "GET OVER HERE" attack from Mortal Kombat. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. The Death Knight is the first new class to be added to World of Warcraft, a kind of unholy Paladin. He uses a mix of melee combat and necromancy, wielding double handed swords and bidding hordes of zombies to do his bidding.

To create one, you'll need to have reached level 55 on any server. From that point on, you'll be able to create a new Death Knight on any realm you like. The good news is that by the end of the Death Knight introduction quests, you'll have gone from level 55 to 58: it's a neat way of quickly joining friends on other servers. They play in a similar way to Warriors: you unlock more powerful attacks by engaging in combat - what looks like a Rage bar in fact holds your Runic Energy. But it's complicated by the limitation of runes etched onto your main weapon. You have six: two unholy, two blood and two frost. Each attack costs a certain number of runes as well as Runic Energy - preventing you from repeatedly spamming your most powerful attacks.

And they're hilarious. When played well, they can zip through similar level monsters, pinning them in place, stacking them with diseases, and dragging any fleeing stragglers back into combat. In dungeon groups, they lead the charge, acting as the main or secondary tank, distracting boss-monsters with flamboyant magic while the standard classes deal damage and heal. In PvP, Death Knights hang at the front of groups, darting in to pull squishy cloth-wearers into the fray where they can be hit upon by the rest of their friends. So beware. You might think you can live without starting a Death Knight. You may also think that your current Priest/Warrior/Mage will do you just fine. You'll be wrong. Be ready to experience class envy.

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.

Northrend West

You think it's going to be snow, snow, snow. But strangely, Northrend, despite being cold, isn't all white powder and yeti-fur coats. There's jungle, magic crystalline forests, autumnal gardens and spires of throbbing magic. You'll find old-world World of Warcraft favorites, such as the Argent Dawn and the Scarlet Crusade, alongside whole new factions, like the Dragonflight and Tuskarr (a race of sentient walruses). And there are new monsters to face. Watch out for the bigger, badder brothers of the almost cute Murlocs. Brr.

1) Fishy business: On the western edge of Borean Tundra, you'll find a tribe of Murlocs and a party of naturalists observing their behavior. There seems to be a problem: the Murlocs have burrowed under Coldarra and no Murloc babies have been seen for months.

2) The Nexus: Separated from Borean Tundra, and only accessible via a flight-point, the Nexus is a truly awesome sight: a glowing beam of magical energy surrounded by stone rings. Inside, you'll find caverns carved out of solid ice by dragons, and two instances: one for level 73 players, the other for level 80 types.

3) Warsong arrivals: Horde arrivals to Borean Tundra are processed at Warsong Hold: a giant orc fortress that's under constant attack from spiders. So much so that portions of its wall are wrapped in spider webs. Arachnophobes, stay away.

4) Now boarding: Fizzcrank Airstrip is a must-visit: a mostly disused aerodrome where harvest watchers push and pull rocket-sleds across the runways. It's also where you start a questline to take on a giant mecha-gnome and his clockwork gnome allies.

5) Crash, burn: Those Necropoli that the Scourge favor aren't invincible. On the edge of Borean Tundra, you'll come across a crashed one, half buried under a snowdrift.

6) Tropical cold: In the dread cold of Northrend, Sholazar is an anomaly: a fertile jungle crater where life flourishes. The tropical climate is maintained by a series of magical pillars - and has attracted interest from legendary hunter Hemet Nesingwary. Expect to kill many, many leopards.

7) Snowdrift: The Scourge have obvious interests in the power that is maintaining Sholazar's micro-climate, and they've been tinkering. They've shut down one pillar, and dramatically let the cold in: an avalanche of snow intrudes right into the rainforest.

8) Purple leaves: An extraordinary sight. Even in its incomplete state, Crystalsong Forest is exactly what the name implies - a gorgeous forest, each tree encased in diamonds. No singing, though.

9) Quad core dragons: The pockmarks in the landscape of Dragonblight are the seats of each of the four dragon clans ('Aspects' in Warcraft lore). A war is being fought between each as they react to the Scourge, either by allying, ignoring, or attacking it. These fights culminate in the Wyrmrest dungeons.

10) United dragons: Wyrmrest Temple is an ancient Titan temple (the race of semi-gods that created Azeroth), since abandoned and now home to a dragon council. It's also the place to go for quickfire raid encounters: underneath, you'll find the single encounter raid instance 'The Chamber of Aspects' where you'll fight dragons from each Aspect.

11) Turtle powered: Moa'ki Harbour is a neutral port and quest hub for Tuskarr (a race of sentient walruses). It's a must-visit, just to meet their preferred mode of transport: shacks built onto the shells of sea-turtles.

Northrend East

The eastern tip of Northrend is more typical of what you'd expect from a wintery expansion, dominated by the snow-tipped mountains of Howling Fjord, and the pine forests of Grizzly Hills.

12) Holy disappointment: The Argent Dawn (a human faction searching for ways to combat the Scourge) have sent a search party to Zul'Drak to discover how the trolls are holding back Arthas's undead army. They won't like the answer.

13) Mind the troll: Arthas sheltered at Drak'Tharon keep while searching for the runeblade Frostmourne. Now, it's a Scourge dungeon, with two instances: a 71-73 one reached via an entrance from the Grizzly Hills, southern side, and a 74-76 one from the north.

14) Happy lodgings: Amberpine Lodge is by far our favorite location in Northrend - a hunting lodge perched at the edge of a cliff, overlooking a spectacular waterfall. It's a minor quest-hub, but you may find yourself returning just to enjoy the ambience.

15) Naval warfare: Venture Bay is a small PvP objective that both Horde and Alliance players can scrap over. You'll find a quest inside which rewards you for killing enemy players.

16) Angry Vikings: The natives of Howling Fjord are the Vrykule, a race of half-men, half-giants. They've recently allied themselves to Arthas and the Scourge, although there are hints in Warcraft lore that the Vrykule are the progenitors of the human race.

17) Sky boats: The hills and cliffs of Howling Fjord are made slightly easier to traverse thanks to a series of lifts. The great lift is the most spectacular - a grand cable car where passengers sit in a Viking longboat.

18) Wild at heart: Gun'Drak is the ice-trolls' capital city, and seat of the baddest troll bosses. You'll enter the capital as a five-man party, and it's meant for levels 76-78. Prepare to fight giant dinosaurs. Seriously: the trolls have been breeding some freaky creatures.

19) Step up: Zul'Drak is one giant ice-troll temple, now mostly abandoned or infested. As it rises, the temperature drops. Along the banks, you'll find a few old troll huts and villages, but it's dominated by floating Necropoli and Scourge camps.

20) Big log: Grizzlemaw is a spectacular centerpiece for Grizzly Hills - the hollowed out stump of a giant tree. Inside, you'll find a nest of Furbolgs who are experimenting with the magic that created the tree in the first place.

21) Herding cows: On the road down into Grizzly Hills you'll meet small Tauren caravans, cows migrating into the slightly warmer climate. They look peaceful. So kill them dead.

22) First stop: Utgarde Keep is a central fixture of Howling Fjord, a giant castle and home to a pair of five-man instances. The first, Utgarde Keep, is set for parties of level 70-72 and should be your first stop. The latter is for level 80 players. Both feature fights against angry Norsemen.

23) Off the boat: Horde players begin at Vengeance Landing, where they'll discover that they're fending off an Alliance raid. Battleships off the coast are shelling your fortifications, so grab a gryphon taxi, fly out to the boats, and finish off the gunners.

24) Pillage idiots: Alliance soldiers land at Valgarde, which they must defend from the local wildmen. Or you can always spend time chasing turkeys: there's an achievement for killing 20 of them in three minutes.

What's going to be filling up your bags?

Face it: WoW is all about the stuff - the cool loot you win, the equipment you build, or the daft pets you buy. The items in Wrath of the Lich King reach new highs of both daftness and usefulness.

Parchments Enchanting: This is receiving a major boost in Lich King, allowing players to sell their enchants in the auction house. Players first enchant a parchment, and this is then passed on to the buyer. The buyer uses the enchantment on the item they wish to improve. Inscription, Wrath of the Lich King's new profession, works in a similar way: inscriptors carve glyphs onto parchments that are then used to improve a player's spells.

Penguin Egg: Baby penguins are a new cosmetic pet in the Wrath of the Lich King beta. They're heart-meltingly cute.

Pet Grooming Kit: Mechanical chicken looking a little rusty? The pet-grooming kit will restore it to an unnatural shine.

The Hog wanna ride? You will after seeing The Hog, a motorbike and sidecar that can seat, not unreasonably, a driver and passenger. It's for engineers only, but they can give anyone a lift in the sidecar.

Personal Electromagnetic Pulse Generator: The PEPG straps to your belt, and fires an electric pulse on demand, disabling all mechanical enemies in a nearby area.

Flexweave Underlay: Adds a small frame to any cloak, turning it into a parachute. Perfect for those who love to base-jump off WoW's epic cliffs.

MOLL-E: Why head back into town, when you can carry around a personal mail-box? Don't ask how MOLL-E gets the mail to the postman. We really don't know.

Magnificent Flying Carpet: Tailors get to make this epic flying rug. You'll need to be a top level tailor to craft it, however.

PC Gamer