Now that the Lich King saga is over, ZAM highlights the top five things about Cataclysm that we're the most excited about

When Blizzard confirmed the rumors at BlizzCon 2009 that Cataclysm will be the next World of Warcraft expansion, the audience erupted into cheers, with an overwhelming show of approval. From an observer’s point-of-view, it would have been difficult to imagine that there were quite a few WoW fans who didn’t like the idea of Cataclysm when the rumors first broke. Back then, we didn’t have all the facts; a new expansion that didn’t include a new hero class, only raised the level cap to 85 and revisited Old World content didn’t seem nearly as fulfilling as what we had become accustomed to, according to some players.

After the BlizzCon announcement, the developers put most fans’ minds at ease when they revealed their true plans for Cataclysm, which included quite a bit more than just adding the Goblin and Worgen playable races and "sprucing up" old content. In ZAM’s live coverage of the Cataclysm preview panel discussion, we learned that the expansion will introduce seven new zones and feature a wealth of new abilities and gameplay mechanics. Blizzard is also breaking new ground by offering more horizontal expansion than ever before; Deathwing's emergence in Cataclysm will influence almost every aspect of Azeroth, from its shape and terrain to its quests and story arcs. Now that the final chapter of the Lich King saga has come to an end, we thought this would be as good a time as any to look forward and highlight the top five things about Cataclysm that we're the most excited about.

NEW ZONES AND DUNGEONS

The underlying story in Cataclysm will pick up where Wrath of the Lich King ended; while the world's attention was turned to Arthas in Northrend, Deathwing—the leader of the Black Dragonflight—was preparing his comeback. For years, Deathwing laid in wait, regaining his strength, according to the lore. Blizzard announced that Deathwing will erupt from Deepholm, one of the seven new zones introduced in Cataclysm, devastating the Old World in the process.

Five of the seven new zones will be tuned for high-level players to progress from level 80 to 85; including Deepholm, these new zones are "present-day" Mount Hyjal, Uldum, the Sunken City of Vashj'ir and the Twilight Highlands (see links for early map illustrations). The remaining two zones will be the Goblin and Worgen starting areas; The Lost Isles and Gilneas, respectively.

Uniquely, Cataclysm's new zones aren't clustered in an unexplored continent or off-world, as was the case in WoW's previous expansions. Some of these new zones will appear to "expand" from the existing content, but others like Gilneas are areas of Azeroth that players have always been aware of, but unable to explore. This will be the moment that many fans have waited years for; to finally have the chance to set foot in undeveloped areas like present-day Mount Hyjal and Uldum.

At least five new dungeons have also been confirmed; The Firelands, Uldum, Blackrock Caverns, Grim Batol and Skywall—all tuned for players between levels 78 and 85. Blizzard will also be offering new "Heroic" versions of the classic Shadowfang Keep and Deadmines dungeons, geared for max-level players. For more information about all these dungeons, visit Wowhead's Cataclysm PvE guide.

PATH OF THE TITANS/ARCHEOLOGY

Unfortunately, we don't know a whole lot about these two new features yet, except for the basics—and the fact that they will tie into each other, somehow. Path of the Titans was revealed at BlizzCon to be a new gameplay mechanic that will give players an additional layer of talent/ability customization, similar to the "alternate advancement system" in EverQuest.

Cataclysm won't introduce new talents within the skill trees, although players will still receive five additional talent points by the time they reach level 85. Path of the Titans is supposed to fill that void by offering new ways to refine and customize your existing talents, rather than forcing players to spend points maxing out the same cookie-cutter builds (however, we're still a bit reluctant to assume that players will be able to avoid similar "optimal paths" with this new system).

Path of the Titans will also work in synergy with a new-and-overhauled talent system that Blizzard said is supposed to simplify the process of specializing your characters. We don't have details or concrete examples of how the Path of the Titans system will affect your talents, beyond the assumption that it will add passive buffs or modifiers to specific talents.

Archeology was announced as the next "secondary profession," which means everyone will have access to it in addition to the primary professions (Cooking and Fishing are secondary professions, for example). This new profession will obviously involve a lot of exploring, but we still don't know exactly how the mechanics will work; so far, Blizzard has only announced that skill allows players to "collect and use artifacts from some of the ancient races of Azeroth," and that "Archaeology also plays a prominent role in the path system," according to the official FAQ.