Sunday, April 15, 2018

Alliance and Horde Intros to Battle for Azeroth - Part One: Siege of Lordaeron

SPOILERS

While I believe it existed in earlier builds, the latest build gave us the intro quests that open Battle for Azeroth. I suspect there's more to see (the Burning of Teldrassil will, I believe, also see player involvement,) but these events cover what I imagine to be some combination of the pre-expansion story content and the journey to the two new continents (and then of course carries on through said continents.)

So, we begin with the Siege of Lordaeron.



There are some missing cutscenes, so I've had to infer a bit of the events here, but I think I have a mostly-complete picture:

The Horde doesn't want to take any chances, and so Horde players begin the scenario evacuating civilians from the Undercity. However, you quickly discover that SI:7 agents and Druids of the Claw have already infiltrated the city, and you're forced to fight them off as you get people portaled to Orgrimmar. From there, you teleport up to the main courtyard in the ruins of Lordaeron.

The Alliance arrives by sea on the northern shore, having cut a massive swath through Tirisfal and utterly destroying Brill, the ruins of which become the staging ground for the Alliance attack. You meet up with Genn, who rallies everyone to come defend the siege towers as they advance on the Undercity.

The Horde meets them in battle, though they are vastly outnumbered. This is more or less where the BFA cinematic takes place.

The Horde debuts their new Azerite-powered tank, and while it's powerful, ultimately the Alliance is able to destroy it.

As the Alliance gains ground, about to storm the city, Sylvanas authorizes the use of the Blight to push the Alliance back to Brill. Saurfang tries to get them to focus on recovering wounded soldiers, but the Blight seems to be turning any body it hits into skeletal warriors. Notably, as a Horde player you can choose to either take up a blight canister yourself or just dawn a gas mask - a nice little moment for Horde players to make a moral choice.

As the Alliance is pushed back, there's a missing cutscene in which Jaina presumably arrives to teleport players beyond both the Blight and the walls. The Horde pulls back, sure that the Alliance has not just given up yet.

The Alliance pushes up along the western side of the ruined city, facing a contingent of Darkspear forces before meeting in the middle with the Horde. Nathanos commands the Forsaken troops held in reserve here, and now the Alliance appears outnumbered. However, a Void portal now opens, and Alleria and Mekkatorque arrive with their own troops to aid the Alliance advance. Alliance players now get to jump in spider tanks and the Horde is pushed back as the Alliance charges forward.

Returning to the courtyard, Saurfang registers his horror at the use of the Blight and what he sees as Sylvanas' cowardly conduct, though Sylvanas argues that she's only being practical, and suggests that if Saurfang is interested in a meaningless warrior's death, she'll be happy to raise him as a walking corpse.

Saurfang stays behind while Sylvanas leads her remaining forces back into the throne room.

Meanwhile, the Alliance arrives to find Saurfang alone. Anduin offers Saurfang a chance to surrender, but old Varok refuses, and the Alliance is forced to fight him. However, once he is sufficiently weakened, there's a missing cutscene in which Saurfang is taken prisoner, still alive.

Things get a little unclear and speculative here, but the end result is heavily implied (and will likely be unambiguously confirmed with a cutscene) that Sylvanas teleports her people away right as they set off some kind of bomb or blight-spewing device that leaves the Undercity totally uninhabitable. The Alliance presumably also escapes via teleportation (Jaina's clutch here,) and the battle is over. The Horde loses the Undercity, but the Alliance does not gain it. Much like Teldrassil, a major capital has been taken off the map.

Next: We'll see how the factions get to their new continents.

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