Top Ten things to love about Wrath of Lich King

Sure there's the Death Knight, but what about new haircuts, shorter dungeons, and spider tanks?
So what's the big deal? Is Wrath of the Lich King all it's cracked up to be? While players eagerly await news of any beta test (not confirmed - and launch is reportedly second half of the year), we asked WoW devotee Andrew Hogg to give us reasons to get excited.

1. Passenger bearing mounts: They're bringin' backseat driving (well, backsaddle riding I guess) to the world of Azeroth. "Cut across the river of lava and hang a left at the giant demon; it's really much quicker!" Meanwhile, level 1 night elves will be trying to hitchhike to Ironforge.

2. Shorter dungeons: In the next step of their programme for making a MMO that can be played whilst maintaining a social life, Blizzard have said that all the regular 5 person dungeons are scheduled to take an hour. Of course, if you and your 4 closest friends still take 6 hours, that's going to be demoralising.

3. New dances and haircuts: Finally, you don't have to see the same six haircuts everywhere. Finally, eons-old Night Elf to dancing like a French popstar.

4. Siege weapons: The coolest parts of the Lord of the Rings movie were the sieges and now we get to have a shot at them. Literally. New and exciting world PvP means new and exciting ways to destroy the enemy.

But the odd catapult isn't enough, right? So we get them, blade throwers, steam tanks, disease spreaders, ballista, giant crossbows and spider tanks. Yes, spider tanks. Because Gnomes are CRAZY.

5. Level 80: It's a new big round number to work towards! No, I'm kidding; it also means new talents. Aside from the Horde-Alliance blood feud, nothing is as good for starting a fight amongst WoW players as asking the absolute, correct ONE AND ONLY TRUE WAY to spec the talents of your character. More customisation equals more arguments! And sadly more cries for druids to shut up and spec Resto.

6. Inscription: The brand new profession that lets you modify and tweak your abilities in order to make them just how you want them. Time to make that fireball a little more firey.

7. A raid to fit everyone: In Wrath, Blizzard have announced that all raids will have a 10 man and 25 character setting. The big raids are for hardcore guilds who can round up enough players to try even more challenging fights in order to get better rewards, while the smaller option for every dungeon means every guild should be able to get the chance to fight the Lich King (No guarantees on beating him, mind).

8. Death Knights: It's the classic bad-guy-gone-good story. A Paladin loses his faith and pledges his soul to the Lich King in exchange for funky rune powers and a spiffy black suit of armour; now you get to play as one! As a hero class, you get one new Death Knight character, starting at a high level. Partly this is because no-one wants to slog through levels 1-60 ever again and partly the Death Knight class is Blizzard attempting to fix a lack of available tanks.

Unfortunately, just because you give the players the option to be a tank, it doesn't mean they'll automatically become one. Or know how to do it. Expect the first month of WotLK to be knee-deep in new Death Knights wanting to show off their ability to raise YOUR corpse as a pet ghoul.

9. Northrend: Come see the frozen wastes of Northrend, Roof of the World! Gaze in wonder at the icy plain of Dragonblight, home to hundreds of ancient dragon skeletons. Make new pals with the Tuskarr, a friendly walrus-people, or Taunka, a polar version of the Tauren.
Spend some quality rest time in Dalaran, the magical floating city. Be killed by many exciting new monsters! This message paid for by the Northrend Tourist Board.

10. Seeing old friends: Sure they've been off the stuff for months now. Maybe they've been using the methadone of LotR Online or perhaps they've been going cold turkey. Hell, maybe they're into some weird new drug like Wii Fit. But here's your chance to bring them back, luring them with all this shiny new stuff, ensnaring them back in the loving arms of World of Warcraft. I know it's going to work on me.