World of Warcraft Shows Off New Plunderstorm Abilities and Features

Summary

Plunderstorm has returned to World of Warcraft, bringing exciting new features and rewards! This pirate-themed battle royale mode features respawning enemies, fast travel horses, and helpful zone threat indicators on the map. Players can now collect powerful offensive and utility spells, including Aura of Zealotry and Void Tear, adding a new strategic layer to the gameplay.

Plunderstorm, the popular 60-player battle royale set in the Arathi Highlands, is back in World of Warcraft! While an official end date hasn't been announced, players can expect to enjoy this pirate-themed PvP experience for at least a month. Following a short delay, it launched on January 14th, offering a thrilling distraction while players await Patch 11.1.

This iteration of Plunderstorm boasts significant improvements. The battlefield features revamped points of interest and respawning non-elite enemies, providing a constant stream of loot. Fast travel horses allow for quicker traversal, and the map now displays zone threat levels, indicating areas of intense combat. Players can even choose their starting deployment zone.

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 with new and returning rewards
• Game mode access while on World of Warcraft: The War Within characters
• New abilities:
  • Offensive:
    • Aura of Zealotry – Passively increases allied movement speed. Casting consecrates the ground, periodically damaging enemies and granting enhanced movement speed and melee attack buffs.
    • Celestial Barrage – Summons a barrage of moonbeams, damaging enemies. Powering up this spell significantly increases its range.
  • Utility:
    • Call Galefeather – Summons Galefeather to knock back enemies with powerful winds.
    • Void Tear – Creates a Void mark. Recasting instantly teleports the player to the mark, damaging and slowing enemies. This recast is instantaneous even while casting other spells.
• Ability balance changes:
  • Earthbreaker – Cooldown reduced by 2 seconds at all ranks.
  • Slicing Winds – Cooldown increased by 2 seconds at all ranks.
  • Star Bomb – Cooldown reduced by 2 seconds at all ranks.
  • Storm Archon – Cooldown reduced by 2 seconds at all ranks.
  • Toxic Smackerel – Cooldown increased by 1.5 seconds at all ranks.

This Plunderstorm also introduces exciting new spells. Aura of Zealotry offers a passive speed buff and a consecrated area for damage and allied buffs. Celestial Barrage is a powerful, chargeable line attack. Utility spells include Call Galefeather, summoning an eagle to knock back enemies, and Void Tear, for teleporting and crowd control. Existing spell cooldowns have been adjusted for balance, and a new UI simplifies ability selection.

A new Practice Lobby allows players to experiment with abilities, adjust keybindings, and socialize. Players can access the Plunderstore (for Plunderstorm rewards) from the Practice Lobby, login screen, or even the retail WoW PvP interface.

Interestingly, the three-person Trios mode is absent from this iteration. The reason for its omission remains unclear, but hopefully, Blizzard will reinstate it before Plunderstorm sets sail again.