Plunderstorm has made a thrilling return to World of Warcraft, reintroducing players to its pirate-themed battle royale with an array of new features and rewards. Set to captivate fans for at least a month, this game mode sees 60 players drop into the Arathi Highlands to fight for supremacy and loot. Originally slated for a January 14 comeback, Plunderstorm's second run has now gone live, offering an exciting diversion as players await Patch 11.1.
This iteration of Plunderstorm is packed with enhancements. The battlefield has been updated with new points of interest and mobs. A key change is that non-elite enemies now respawn, providing endless opportunities for plunder until the Storm engulfs them. To aid in traversing the expansive map, horses have been introduced, allowing players to swiftly navigate to chests, elite enemies, and opponents. Additionally, the in-game map now displays zone threat levels, indicating where battles are most frequent, and players can choose their starting drop location.
New World of Warcraft: Plunderstorm Features
- New points of interest
- Respawning non-elite enemies
- Fast travel horses
- Zone threat indicators on the map
- Selectable deployment zones
- Practice Lobby
- Plunderstore featuring new and returning rewards
- Game mode access while on World of Warcraft: The War Within characters
- New abilities:
- Offensive
- Aura of Zealotry – Passively increase movement speed for your allies. Cast to consecrate the ground damaging enemies periodically. While in consecration, gain enhanced movement speed and melee attacks.
- Celestial Barrage – Call down a barrage of moonbeams, damaging enemies. This spell can be empowered to greatly increase its range.
- Utility
- Call Galefeather – Call forth Galefeather to knock enemies back with heavy winds for a short duration.
- Void Tear – Tear into the Void, placing a Void mark. Recast Void Tear to instantly return to the mark, damaging and slowing enemies. The recast can be performed instantly while casting any spell without interruption.
- Offensive
- Ability balance changes
- Earthbreaker – Cooldown decreased by 2 seconds at all ranks.
- Slicing Winds – Cooldown increased by 2 seconds at all ranks.
- Star Bomb – Cooldown decreased by 2 seconds at all ranks.
- Storm Archon – Cooldown decreased by 2 seconds at all ranks.
- Toxic Smackerel – Cooldown increased by 1.5 seconds at all ranks.
Players can now collect and upgrade a variety of new spells. Offensive spells like Aura of Zealotry offer a passive speed boost to the player and their team, alongside the ability to cast Consecrate for area damage and ally buffs. Celestial Barrage allows for a long, chargeable line attack. On the utility side, Call Galefeather summons an eagle to push back enemies, while Void Tear provides teleportation to a marked location, damaging and slowing foes. Adjustments to existing spell cooldowns and a new UI enhance the ability swapping and pickup experience.
The introduction of a Plunderstorm Practice Lobby offers players a space to test abilities, adjust keybindings and transmogs, and socialize. From here, players can queue for games or access the Plunderstore, the hub for Plunderstorm rewards, which is also accessible from the login screen and within retail WoW via the PvP interface.
Curiously, the Trios mode is absent from this run of Plunderstorm. It's unclear why Blizzard chose to omit it, but there's hope that it may return before the event concludes.
