The War Within: Alpha Preview

Summary WoW's The War Within expansion is part of the Worldsoul Saga trilogy, providing traditional WoW vibes with new areas.

Delves in the expansion allow solo players to enjoy mini-dungeons with NPC companions and unique mechanics.

Hero Talents system and the Warbands feature aim to address ongoing skill tree issues and offer account-wide progression.

World of Warcraft is celebrating its 20th anniversary with three epic expansions which will tie together to form The Worldsoul Saga, the first of which is coming later this year with the release of the WoW: The War Within expansion. While the overarching narrative will be one that looks at the greater picture of WoW with Azeroth's history, Titans, and what is going on with the Sword of Sargeras, The War Within will have a more enclosed story going on in a new area.

The War Within is set to be released later in 2024 and, despite being part of a trilogy, will have a standalone story with its own satisfying conclusion and all the goodies that players have come to expect from new expansions, including a new allied race. The full launch is still many months off, however, which means that what alpha players are seeing currently is just an early sneak peek behind the curtain. Many things could still change between now and its release, but from what has been shown so far, it appears that Blizzard is off to a good start.

What WoW's The War Within Alpha Showed Off

The Isle Of Dorn, Warbands, Introduction To The Earthen, And More

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Understandably, this early alpha run of WoW: The War Within does not have all the bells and whistles applied, nor does it feature the entirety of the story that this expansion will hold. For the initial phase of testing, players saw a bit of the first zone, The Isle of Dorn, without any cutscenes or fanfare. The new Earthen allied race received its first introduction, and are already intriguing as a people. Earthen have a very different culture and life than the traditional dwarves, setting them apart as a truly unique set of characters and instantly squelching any fears that they would be too similar to what is already in the game.

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In addition to meeting the Earthen race, this first alpha period included three Delves, two Dungeons, a look at the new Hero Talents as well as basic questing around the Isle of Dorn that gave a better look at some of the side quests, while keeping most of the main story a bit more hidden. Of the two dungeons, Cinderbrew Meadery is truly a delight. It offers an exciting and fun run that, thankfully, is not just a repetition of Stormstout Brewery but offers some hilarious moments and fun battles.

Delves Will Be A Game-Changer

Solo Players Rejoice

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In recent years, Blizzard has been paying more attention to its large player base that enjoys solo gaming. Despite being a massively multiplayer game, there is a surprisingly large number of players who prefer to play on their own, and end up feeling that fear of missing out regarding dungeons and raid content. Delves are a step towards counteracting that, by allowing players to run these mini-dungeons with up to five players, or entirely solo with an NPC companion along for the ride.

The best part of all the Delves was at the completion of a run, when loot and rewards were granted, including adorable new pets, transmogs, and plenty of gold.

Running through a couple of Delves in The War Within's alpha, it appears that these experiences have clever mechanics to set them apart. A kobold-filled Delve included a candle that would burn out if the player took too many extra steps, placing them in dangerous darkness. A Nerubian Delve had spiderwebs covering the areas which would summon enemies if not carefully avoided. Of course, the best part of all the Delves was at the completion of a run, when loot and rewards were granted, including adorable new pets, transmogs, and plenty of gold.

Related 10 Best Changes Warbands Are Bringing To WoW: The War Within World of Warcraft: The War Within will introduce a quality-of-life update for players with the new Warband feature that shares progress across alts.

Hero Talents And Warbands Will Aid In Game Mechanics

Skill Trees Continue To Be An Ongoing Problem

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It seems as though every expansion to World of Warcraft includes a change to skill trees, and this ongoing problem is likely one that will never satisfy all players. With The War Within, there is yet another change with the new Hero Talents system that provides class specialization in self-contained talent trees. The alpha does not have this completely solidified yet, but does enough to show that it will be a simple system for players to choose what they want to focus on. Currently, there are more questions than answers about its format, but hopefully the developers will be able to lock in something that works for most players.

Warbands are another feature that is a huge change for WoW in this expansion, allowing account-wide progression for renown, a warband bank, shared achievements, transmogs, and more. In alpha, of course, the game is not yet connected with the modern WoW accounts with all the characters that are kept there, which makes it difficult to see how well this will work ultimately, but it is an exciting change that holds plenty of potential. Even simply being able to see characters standing together around the campfire in the opening menu is already a satisfying feeling.

Overall Impressions Of The War Within Alpha

Currently, It's Essentially Just More World Of Warcraft...And That Isn't Bad

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Ultimately, it is hard to truly know what The War Within will bring from just seeing this snippet of early development alpha content, yet what is there, is already a promising start. The game feels like simply playing more of WoW, and that isn't a bad thing. There shouldn't be too drastically different a feeling, and seeing favorite characters such as Thrall, Jaina, Anduin, and Magni is much like getting a warm hug from an old friend.

Developers still have a lot to do before The War Within will be ready for its full launch, but this has increased my level of anticipation for it, and will be exciting to see what happens in the story of World of Warcraft in the coming months and years.