World of Warcraft The War Within

Blizzard Reveals New User Interface Updates for World of Warcraft: The War Within

Blizzard just revealed brand-new UI updates for World of Warcraft: The War Within

Blizzard has shared an official preview of the new map legend and other user interface updates, which will be implemented tomorrow in the War Within pre-patch, on the official World of Warcraft website.

The War Within will introduce four fresh zones as players delve deep into the heart of Azeroth: the Isle of Dorn, the Ringing Deeps, Hallowfall, and Azj-kahet, a significant hub of nerubian civilization. The expansion will also introduce Earthen Allied Race. This race will be accessible to both Horde and Alliance factions.

In the upcoming expansion, there will be a total of 8 new dungeons. Four of them will be encountered while you level up, and the other four will be available towards the end of the campaign. One of these dungeons will involve confronting the Candle King, another will have you riding dragons, and there’s even the Cinderbrew Meadery to explore!

User Interface and Quest Updates in The War Within - (source)

We’re making some improvements to the User Interface and to quest icons in The War Within™ that will help navigate your adventures even better— including a new arachnophobia filter!


New Map Legend

Players can open the map (Hotkey M) to view a new map key that has been added, letting you quickly and easily identify various types of quests and content.

QUESTS
  • Campaign:Quests that continue the main story.
  • Legendary:Quests that give legendary rewards.
  • Repeatable:Time gated quests.
  • In Progress:Quests that are currently in progress.
  • Important:Quests that unlock important features and rewards or teach you about the major mechanics.
  • Meta:Time gated quests that give valuable end game rewards.
  • Local Story:Quests that explore local cultures and side adventures.
  • Turn In:Quests that are ready to be turned in.
LIMITED-TIME ACTIVITIES
  • World Quests:Open world activities that give varying rewards.
  • Bonus Objective:Bonus open world activities that give experience and varying amounts of rewards.
  • Rare:A special creature that provides various rewards.
  • World Boss:A difficult open world boss that drops valuable loot, intended for large groups of players.
  • Event:Various patch specific activities that provide valuable rewards.
  • Rare Elite:A rare special creature that has a chance of dropping valuable loot.
ACTIVITIES
  • Dungeon:Content designed for a party of five adventures and provides loot.
  • Hub:A central location with NPCs, activities, and available quests.
  • Pet Battle:Challenge NPCs to pet battles.
  • Raid:Challenging content that is intended for large groups of players, and provides valuable loot.
  • Delves(not shown in screenshot): Content designed for a party of five adventurers using any combat role, and provides loot.
  • Digsite:An archaeology location where you can dig for artifacts.
MOVEMENT
  • Teleport Point: Teleports you to a different region.
  • Cave Entrance: The entrance to a cave or different zone.
  • Flightpoint:Transports you to a different area in the same region.

Quest Log Updates

Additional updates have been made to the quest log (Hotkey L) with an additional checkbox selector for the quests you would like to track along with additional information on the quest and its status. Mousing over the quest in the log will also identify types of quests such as whether it’s Repeatable, Important, or part of a Campaign questline. It will have an icon with three dots showing if a quest is in progress or a campfire indicating it’s part of a Warbands eligible quest.


Spellbook Updates

Along with the addition of Hero Talents (available at level 71) to the Talent Pane, additional updates have been made to the Spellbook. Specializations, Talents, and the Spellbook have all been consolidated into a single Talents and Spellbook option (Hotkey N) in the interface.

Players will be able to view more of their spells and abilities on one screen with all discipline abilities more easily viewable within the pages. The search function at the top of the Spellbook will also allow players to view spells and abilities that are missing from the action bar. The Spellbook can also be minimizedandpassive abilities can be hidden from the list.


Crafting Reagents

Reagents will now indicate what expansion they are associated with, making it easier to sort through the items you have stashed in your bank and determine if you REALLY need that Rain Poppy you’ve been saving from Pandaria or if it’s really time to just let it go.


Arachnophobia Mode

For those who have an aversion to spiders and would rather not see them on your screen while adventuring, a new Arachnophobia Mode is available within the Game Menu (Escape Hotkey) Options under Accessibility in the General section.

pink and lavender large hermit crab-like creature
Warning:Clicking on this image will reveal the original model.

While selected, spiders will be visually replaced with alternative creatures where possible. Not all spider models will be replaced and you may still come across references, but we hope that this additional option will aid you in your adventures throughout Azeroth. Learn more in oursupport article(clicking on examples will show both spiders and the alternate form in the same reveal).


We hope these and many improvements will help make your time in Azeroth even better.