World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria

World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria
	File:PandariaLogo.jpg;
Developer(s)	Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher(s)	Blizzard Entertainment
Platforms	Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X
Genre(s)	MMORPG

World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, colloquially known as MoP or Pandaria, will be the fourth expansion pack for World of Warcraft. It was officially announced on October 21, 2011 at BlizzCon 2011.

Following successful campaigns against the Lich King in Northrend and Deathwing, the expansion refocuses primarily on the war between the Alliance and Horde, in the wake of the rediscovery of the mythical and long-forgotten lands of Pandaria, a continent far to the south. With both factions landing on Pandaria, adventurers rediscover the ancient Pandaren people, whose wisdom will help guide them to new destinies.^[1] Unlike previous expansions, it will not initially contain a main antagonist as its focus point, though there will be significant end-game content as usual. Release of the expansion is expected in 2012.

Features

Level cap raised to 90
The new Monk player class, a leather-wearing hybrid class with three specializations: the Brewmaster (a tanking class), the Mistweaver (hybrid healing similar to Discipline priests), and the Windwalker (melee DPS). Monks are unique in that they have no auto-attack and use Chi as their resource.
New race: Pandaren, playable by both Alliance and Horde; players will decide which faction to join at Level 10, and will then be able to communicate with that faction.
Talent system revamp: removal of point-based talent trees in favor of player class specialization being separated from talent choices, with a six-tier, three-choice per tier talent system determining play style.
PVE Scenarios, a queueable "micro-dungeon" play system for end-game content without needing traditional tank/healer/DPS roles.
Dungeon Challenge Modes, specialized versions of dungeons featuring timed content (similar to Baron runs in Stratholme)
Pet Battle System, a leveling system for companion pets, described by Blizzard as a new mini-game system
Flying mounts restricted in Pandaria to level 90 only, in order to better appreciate environments and quest progression.
Account Wide Achievements
Updated models for the older races ^[2]

New zones

Pandaria is a single, unified continent, located south of Zandalari isles, influenced by Asian landscapes. There are six new zones, five of which are on Pandaria itself, and a sixth as a starting area for the pandaren.^[1]

The Wandering Isle: An "island" separated from Pandaria for millennia, a living creature which wanders the oceans of Azeroth. This is an introductory zone for new Pandaren characters, levels 1-10.
The Jade Forest: A lush rainforest filled with tall stone spires, this is the initial landing zone for both factions and the introduction to the new continent. It will contain one dungeon, the Temple of the Jade Serpent.
Valley of the Four Winds: Separated into subzones of lush farmland in the north and dense mysterious jungles along the south, the zone is split into two sides; you choose which side to take, and can return later to play through the other side. Contains the dungeon Stormstout Brewery.
Kun-Lai Summit: The frozen northern mountainous reaches of Pandaria, under attack from Zandalari trolls and marauders from the west. Contains the dungeon Shado-pan Monastery.
Townlong Steppes: The current homeland of the vicious Mantid people, separated from the rest of Pandaria by a "great wall".
Vale of Eternal Blossoms: The central homeland of the Pandaren Empire, high atop the central mountains of Pandaria. Will contain the sanctuary city of the expansion at its center, with secrets "buried below this mystical font of power".

Dungeon and raid content

This expansion intends to bring nine brand new dungeons; six of them will be found in the continent of Pandaria alone. The new Challenge Mode option will require to complete dungeons as fast as possible to earn medals. The world bosses will also make their reappearance.

New and original

Temple of the Jade Serpent: Located in the Jade Forest, this temple is the very first dungeon encountered in Pandaria and is occupied by the Sha of Doubt, the creature which is manifestations of evil energy.
Stormstout Brewery: Found in the Valley of the Four Winds, the Brewery is where the brewmaster Chen Stormstout, along with his niece Li Li seek to discover the whereabouts of his ancestors.
Shado-pan Monastery: Atop the Kun-Lai Summit, this monastery is a retreat of the mysterious Shado-pan Clan. The Sha have escaped from their cages and the adventurers must figure it out.
According to initial artwork revealed at Blizzcon 2011, other dungeons in the expansion may include The Great Wall and Mantid Colony; however, none of these names as noted on the draft version of the continent map have been finalized or announced.

Heroic classic dungeons

Scholomance: The twisted school of sorcery in Azeroth's Western Plaguelands, this leveling dungeon is being updated to heroic level for endgame content. The dungeon has been reconfigured and there are five bosses; Rattlegore and Ras Froswhisper have been moved to new rooms, while Jandice Barov, Darkmaster Gandling and Kirtonos the Herald remain.
Scarlet Monastery Armory & Library Wing: These two wings have been combined into a three-boss dungeon, with Houndmaster Loksey, Herod and Arcanist Doan.
Scarlet Monastery Graveyard & Chapel Wing: Two wings combined into a five-boss dungeon, with Bloodmage Thalnos, High Inquisitor Fairbanks, Scarlet Commander Mograine and High Inquisitor Whitemane, as well as a fifth, as-yet-unrevealed boss.

Raid content

Mogu'Shan Palace: This palace is found in the snowy mountains of Kun-Lai Summit and harbors the hidden secrets of the ancient Mogu empire. It is a six-boss raid according to Blizzard at Blizzcon 2011: "This six-boss raid is located in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, and invites you to explore the hidden secrets of the elusive Mogu empire, one of the new indigenous Pandarian races."

Player versus Player content

Battlegrounds

Azshara Crater - Defense of the Ancients.
Stranglethorn Diamond Mines - Payload.
Valley of Power - Murderball.

Arenas

Tol'vir Proving Grounds - Arena situated in Uldum, very similiar to Nagrand Arena.

New creatures

Humanoid

Hozu - Similar to a monkey^[1]
Jinyu - A fish-like creature^[3]
Mantid - An insect race, which will be featured in dungeons and raids. Unlike the silithid, they are intelligent and are able to use weapons
Mogu - The original inhabitants of Pandaria 12,000 years ago, warring with the Pandaren over their land
Verming - Similar to kobolds, but they obsess over vegetables instead of candles
Sha - Manifestations of negative energy