So far we have twenty-three screenshots up covering most of the Northrend regions layout for Howling Fjord, Grizzly Hills, and Borean Tundra.  Some of the DC Action Figures: Draenei, Troll, Blood Elf Rogue and Illidan; and concept art displays.  I’m still working on the remaining batch, so you can check out further updates.

From the screenshots we can learn a few things:

1. Northrend will have two points of entry: Borean Tundra (Horde) and Howling Fjord (Alliance).  The Tuskkar race will be allies of the Horde, and probably the Furbolgs might or not be allies of the Alliance.  Blizzard hasn’t mentioned new playable races, but these two races could be good candidates.  We will have to wait and see.

2. The Northrend Sneak Peek board shows only five playable regions in Northrend thus far: Coldarra (Malygos), Borean Tundra, Dragonblight, Grizzly Hills and Howling Fjord.  Dragonblight should be of importance to some lore fans.  This is where the dragons come to die, and from where the Lich King has been rising Frost Wyrms.  The first humans used for experimentation to create the Undead Scourge lived in a camp within Dragonblight nearly 20 years ago.  The entrance to Azjol-Nerub’s underground kingdom lies somewhere in the northern reaches of the dragonblight.

3. One of our photos show a concept art of a Borean Tundra landscape.  Once I saw it, I flagged it as a easter egg, no pun.  It makes reference to the ancient mysterious head-statues from Easter Isle.

4. One of the screenshots reveals the Lake Wintergrasp is set for Exterior PvP Zone.

5. Death Knight Class – Designed to fulfill both as tank and DPS role.  Can tank using 2H-Weapons and can dual-wield.  No need for shields. Wears plate armor and spells and abilities are a mix of casting and melee.  The Deathknight will also have limited ability to summon dead minions, but this class is more focused on melee weapons than as a minion-focused type of class.

From the screenshots sent in by Draiken(Blizzplanet), this is what he got about the Death Knight Hero Class:

  • Rune Resource System: Runes must be carved into the Death Knight’s weapon in order to be consumed.  This can be done anytime outside of combat. You can see a special Character UI Icon showing the runeblade and its runes.
  • Spells are cast using three unique rune schools.
    • Blood
    • Frost
    • Unholy

  • Rune Cooldowns modified by talents and attributes.

  • Certain spells have the ability to activate runes.

  • Spells can consume more than one rune at a time.

6. What exactly is a Hero Class?

  • Hero Classes are unlocked.
  • Hero Classes enter the world at a high level.
  • Specific, unique quest to unlock.
  • Allows us the flexibility to add more hero classes in the future.

I haven’t gotten details from Draiken yet how these runes are obtained. So that brings up the question.  Do they come from lootable bosses, or will there be a Runemaster profession?  I will try to find out how these runes may be obtained.

For further Northrend Lore, we recommend buying the World of Warcraft RPG: Lands of Mystery which has significant lore about each region of Northrend. Read a spoiler summary from the book.