Check Out World of Warcraft's New Hero Talent System, Coming With The War Within Expansion

The War Within expansion for World of Warcraft introduces Hero Talents, a new form of character progression aimed at enhancing gameplay and class fantasies in the MMORPG.

Unlocked at Level 71, Hero Talents are self-contained talent trees offering new powers and class-specific features. Players choose one of three Hero Talent trees for their class, with two available for each specialization. The talents are earned through leveling, and by Level 80 players will unlock all 11 nodes in the tree.

Each Hero Talent tree begins with a keystone talent, introducing a core mechanic or concept, while the bottom talent acts as a capstone — further enhancing the tree's themes. The goal is to provide equal utility and defensiveness across all trees, with some additional defensive bonuses for tanking specializations. Three or four nodes in each tree offer choice options, providing players with flexibility in customizing their character.

Hero Talents are designed to add significant damage or healing without overshadowing existing class and spec talents. The trees bring new visual effects to classes, too. Blizzard emphasizes maintaining freedom of choice, ensuring both Hero Talent options feel effective in various in-game activities.

Full designs for Hero Talent trees will be revealed in the upcoming months. Right now though, details regarding San’Layn Death Knights, Chronowarden Evokers, Lightsmith Paladins, and Mountain Thane Warriors are available for perusing.

Note: Activision Blizzard has been sued by California’s Civil Rights Department, alleging violations of California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act and Equal Pay Act. CEO Bobby Kotick is alleged to have known about the alleged violations within his company. These allegations have all been denied by Activision Blizzard and the company points to additional diversity and inclusion training as past examples of taking the accusations seriously at the time they were made.This case has been settled for $54 million.