Blizzard Entertainment is one of the biggest developers in the world and has created numerous insanely addictive game series since its advent. However, even they would have needed more time to predict that they’d end up developing the world’s most famous and successful MMORPG.
The base game in the World of Warcraft (WoW) expansion series came out in 2004 and continued the narrative told in original RTS games called the Warcraft series.
WoW is known for depicting the tension between the Horde and the Alliance, but the franchise is about far more than that. The series’ storyline is intense and complex and encompasses a variety of locations, characters, classes, races, and factions.
In fact, the story is so massive that Blizzard Entertainment could never fit it into a single installment. As a result, they’ll probably never run out of material for more expansion packs.
Although the most sensible way to play the World of Warcraft expansion series would be chronological, there doesn’t seem to be a concrete chronological order. Hence, the closest players can come to playing the WoW expansion series in order is release date-wise.
Here’s more about how you can play the World of Warcraft expansion series in order.
Note: World of Warcraft is not a typical game series. It’s a series of expansion packs bundled together along with the base game, which was released in 2004. Also, it contains nine expansion packs in total, excluding the base game.
1. The Chronological Order to Play the WoW Expansion Series
As mentioned above, the WoW expansion series doesn’t quite have a chronological order that can rightfully exhibit the World of Warcraft storyline. Nevertheless, several gamers argue that the franchise’s release order is also its chronological order. Going by the same logic, the chronological order to play the WoW expansion series would be the following.
- World of Warcraft (Retail/Classic)
- World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (Retail/Classic)
- World of Warcraft: Wrath of The Lich King (Retail/Classic)
- World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
- World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria
- World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor
- World of Warcraft: Legion
- World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth
- World of Warcraft: Shadowlands
- World of Warcraft: Dragonflight
2. The Release Order to Play the WoW Expansion Series
Unlike the chronological order, the release order to play the World of Warcraft expansion series is simple and definite. The release order to play the WoW expansion series is given below.
- World of Warcraft (Retail/Classic) – 2004
- World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (Retail/Classic) – 2007
- World of Warcraft: Wrath of The Lich King (Retail/Classic) – 2008
- World of Warcraft: Cataclysm – 2010
- World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria – 2012
- World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor – 2014
- World of Warcraft: Legion – 2016
- World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth – 2018
- World of Warcraft: Shadowlands – 2020
- World of Warcraft: Dragonflight – 2022
Additionally, the Classic version of World of Warcraft’s base game was rolled out in 2019, while the Classic version of the first and second expansion packs was released subsequently.
3. Which WoW expansion should you play first?
Since the World of Warcraft expansion series isn’t a typical series, beginners don’t have an option when it comes to choosing which expansion pack they play first.
If you had an existing World of Warcraft account prior to the release of Shadowlands, you could begin with any expansion pack. In such a case, you should start with Shadowlands. But if you’re playing WoW for the first time, you must play Battle for Azeroth first.
Nonetheless, the above-mentioned answer isn’t as straightforward. Even if you had a pre-existing World of Warcraft account, you could only opt to play Shadowlands first, given your character is above level 50. If your character doesn’t meet this requirement, your options get limited from the first, i.e., The Burning Crusade, to the seventh expansion pack, i.e., Battle of Azeroth.
Also, Dragonflight isn’t a part of the World of Warcraft subscription that consists of the base game and the other expansion packs. Hence, you must purchase it separately, and even then, to play it, your character must be at level 50, at least.
4. Do you need to play the WoW expansions in order?
Fortunately, you need not play the World of Warcraft expansion series in order, per se. However, while leveling up your character, you must follow a specific order while navigating through the expansion packs if you’re playing WoW for the first time.
Given you’ve never played World of Warcraft before, the game forces you to play Battle for Azeroth first, and once your character reaches level 50, you are free to play the expansions in any order.
Needless to say, if you’ve already played the series and created a character before, you need not follow any particular order to play the WoW expansion series.
5. Are all the WoW expansion packs connected?
Technically, all the expansion packs in the World of Warcraft series aren’t connected. In all honesty, the lore of the World of Warcraft is terribly complex, and the franchise isn’t great at narrating it, either. As a result, each expansion pack in the WoW series can be considered a standalone.
WoW veterans argue that in order to find the connection between the WoW expansion packs, players must dive into the books and surf the internet. Moreover, while WoW is an open-world game series, most of its lore is depicted through raids and dungeons.
On the contrary, Legion and Battle for Azeroth are the only expansion packs that depict the narrative via the open world. So, if you wish to gain an idea about the connection between the WoW expansion packs, start with the above-mentioned expansions.
6. What are the largest and shortest WoW expansions?
According to statistics, the Battle for Azeroth expansion pack was the longest-running installment in the World of Warcraft series, running for 804 days in total. On the other hand, The Warlords of Draenor expansion pack was the shortest installment in the franchise, running for 656 days.
The duration of each expansion pack plays a major role in deciding which one you should play first or skip entirely, as it reflects how the audience received it. The more fans liked an installment; the longer Blizzard Entertainment kept it active. Similarly, poor reception from the gamers led the developers to release the next expansion pack as soon as possible.
7. Is retail WoW harder than classic?
Many gamers who played both classic and retail World of Warcraft believe that retail WoW is harder than classic. The questing, raiding, and dungeons in classic WoW require players to invest comparatively less energy to make the game more fun. But retail WoW requires you to put in a lot of gameplay hours and energy to make the game competitive in the first place.
Unlike the retail WoW, classic WoW possesses a plethora of amazing features, such as unique tier sets for each class, talent tree, raid tiers, and a sense of community. Furthermore, in simpler terms, retail WoW focuses more on the endgame, while classic WoW is more journey/process-oriented.
8. Which is the best WoW expansion to level up faster?
The best World of Warcraft expansion to level up faster is Warlords of Draenor. This is because all the Warlords of Draenor zones have bonus objectives.
More precisely, WoD comprises a significant number of one-time quest-like objectives that are present all over the zone. For the time you spend completing these objectives, the reward in terms of experience points is enormous, rendering leveling up quick and easy.
8. About World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft (WoW) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the Warcraft fantasy universe, World of Warcraft takes place within the world of Azeroth, approximately four years after the events of the previous game in the series, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. The game was announced in 2001, and was released for the 10th anniversary of the Warcraft franchise on November 23, 2004.
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