Every World Of Warcraft Expansion, Ranked By Popularity

As Azeroth celebrates 20 years of World of Warcraft, it has been fun to reflect on the various evolutions that the game has experienced over the decades. The very landscape of the zones has been altered through the destruction caused by Deathwing in Cataclysm, and entire new islands have been revealed during eras such as Mists of Pandaria. Through a total of ten expansions in those 20 years, a whole history has been created, and it continues to evolve and grow even today.

The current expansion, WoW: The War Within, is the first part of an epic three-part arc of expansions that will bring together an incredible amount of lore from Azeroth’s history. WoW: Midnight, the second portion of this saga, will be releasing in the summer of 2025, and is adding a new feature of player housing to the game. However, looking back at the past twenty years, a lot has already happened in this MMORPG. Here are each of the ten expansions already out for World of Warcraft, ranked in order of average review scores and player reception.

10 Battle For Azeroth Introduced The Kul Tiras And Zandalar Continents

Seventh Expansion, Released August 14, 2018

Battle for Azeroth is generally the least appreciated expansion to World of Warcraft, despite adding eight very popular Allied Races to the game and giving a deeper appreciation for the backstory of Jaina Proudmoore. Traveling to Kul Tiras and Zandalar, there was a very seafaring and jungle feel to the areas, offering bright colors, diverse landscapes, and a stark contrast to much of the darker story of Legion.

Unfortunately, Blizzard was still working at figuring out special items that could be added with expansions, and Battle for Azeroth ended up taking away the popular artifact powers that were introduced in Legion. Instead, it introduced the Heart of Azeroth artifact, which many felt was more of a tedious grind than a fun new power to play around with.

9 Shadowlands Took A Look At Life And Death

Eighth Expansion, Released October 27, 2020

Shadowlands was a heavy and emotionally charged expansion, both in story and visuals. With players facing a literal contrast of life and death, light and dark, and the afterlife, it had a more depressing and hopeless feeling that did not resonate well with a large portion of its player base.

The bleakness of the Maw took up a large portion of the early storyline of Shadowlands, but after players escaped from there, they could move on to new zones where players could work on a chosen Covenant. This also suffered from feeling repetitive, and players had many requested changes that developers mercifully listened to, but with each Covenant offering its own campaign, it gave players a greater variety of storylines to follow in their own, preferred order.

8 Mists Of Pandaria Added The Pandaren Race And Monk Class

Fourth Expansion, Released September, 25, 2012

The Mists of Pandaria expansion to WoW is one that players seem to either love or hate. The story had a heavily Asian feeling to it, with folklore and themes loosely tied into the campaign of the area. Players also were divided regarding the new Pandaren race, with some feeling that the anthropomorphized pandas were too childish for the game, while others excitedly embraced the new race, which could choose to be either Alliance or Horde.

Mists of Pandaria was the start of World of Warcraft‘s pet battle mechanic, essentially creating a minigame within the game. Players can choose to participate in pet battles, or ignore the system entirely, but collecting and adding new pets to the pet journal can be a fun and rewarding experience.

7 Warlords Of Draenor Introduced Garrisons To The Game

Fifth Expansion, Released November, 13, 2014

Warlords of Draenor took the fight to an alternate reality version of Draenor, where players battled against the Iron Horde. Many PvP improvements were made for WoW with this expansion, including an overhaul to the way items worked for PvP and the addition of an entire island, Ashran, dedicated to PvP battles.

The most memorable and notable game mechanic that came from Warlords of Draenor was the new player Garrison system. Players could build their own Garrison in a special, instanced, location and recruit NPCs to go on missions to earn gold and items. The Garrison encouraged daily logins, with rewards, battle pets, toys, and mounts. As players completed missions, the Garrison could be upgraded, and it became a very loved feature of the game, until it was abruptly made pointless when the next expansion came out.

6 Cataclysm Changed The Very Landscape Of Azeroth

Third Expansion, Released December 7, 2010

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm quite literally became a turning point in the history of WoW, in multiple ways. Not only did the storyline entirely change the landscape of the two main continents, Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms, but it changed many of the political roles as well. Along with the destruction that Deathwing The Destroyer caused in Azeroth, the relationship between Horde and Alliance was changed, and Thrall stepped down from his role as Warchief.

Even with the more recent development of World of Warcraft Classic realms, many players remain divided regarding whether “classic” should even progress into the Cataclysm Classic expansion. The very idea of classic WoW seems to inspire thoughts of the world before Deathwing’s destruction.

5 Wrath Of The Lich King Added The Continent Of Northrend

Second Expansion, Released November 13, 2008

Wrath of the Lich King is a favorite expansion for many. The story was entrancing to those who followed it, with the tale of the Lich King Arthas and his undead minions, inspiring the new playable class of Death Knight. Meanwhile, it also brought players into the continent of Northrend, where the snowy landscape introduced the walrus-like Tuskarr NPCs who added a new type of culture that quickly won the hearts of many.

The Death Knight class which came from WoLK was the first hero class to be added to the game, and was an exciting change. At the time, Death Knights were only available after a player had another character that was at least level 55 on that realm, causing them to feel even more elite and special.

4 Legion Brought Illidan Back And Added Demon Hunters To WoW

Sixth Expansion, Released August 30, 2016

The Legion expansion to WoW is another that players seem to either love or hate. Its storyline brought the return of Illidan who players had previously interacted with in The Burning Crusade, a newly remodeled version of Dalaran that was familiar from Wrath of the Lich King, and introduced the new Demon Hunter playable class.

One of the favorite aspects for many players was that WoW: Legion introduced powerful items called Artifact Weapons. These weapons were specific for every class and specialization and had impressive names and stories behind them, including the Doomhammer which had once belonged to Thrall. Even for fishing there was the unique Underlight Angler artifact. Sadly, although players enjoyed these special weapons, they were only useful during the Legion expansion, which disappointed many.

3 The Burning Crusade Was The First Major Story Expansion For World of Warcraft

First Expansion, Released January 16, 2007

The very first expansion to World of Warcraft was The Burning Crusade. This story took players to Outland and introduced many popular new dungeons and raids, as well as added the Draenei and Blood Elves as playable races. Faced with the impressive Dark Portal, from which demons of the Burning Legion poured out, players were able to feel heroic and powerful in their endeavors.

This expansion also brought the addition of flying mounts to WoW, although they could only be ridden in the new zone of Outland at the time. These flying mount mechanics were so positively received that they were brought to the rest of Azeroth after Cataclysm occurred.

2 The War Within Is The First Part Of The Worldsoul Saga

Tenth Expansion, Released August 26, 2024

The most recent expansion to World of Warcraft, and the first portion of the Worldsoul Saga trilogy, The War Within builds the foundation for the most epic tale that Warcraft has told thus far. While also having its own self-contained storyline that features the new Earthen race and their struggles, many of the key figures from the history of WoW are coming together. Anduin Wrynn, Jaina Proudmoore, Thrall, Magni Bronzebeard, Alleria Windrunner, and more are all coming together while many people across Azeroth are experiencing strange visions.

Related

10 Biggest World of Warcraft: The War Within Additions & Differences

World of Warcraft released The War Within as its tenth expansion, and it brings big changes with it that keep the game feeling fresh after 20 years.

Even looking beyond the story that is being built with The War Within, there are many new features that have been introduced with this expansion. From the smaller dungeon-like Delves to the new combination of player Warbands on an account, plus the addition of Skyriding flight across much of Azeroth, the updated mechanics that came alongside The War Within have made it an even better experience.

1 Dragonflight Introduced A New Style Of Flight

Ninth Expansion, Released November 28, 2022

Dragonflight was, in many ways, a fresh start for WoW, as it revamped several of the games’ mechanics and systems. The professions system was overhauled, skill trees that were unique to each class were added, and account-wide renown made it, so there is less grinding of rep on multiple characters. Most importantly of all, the expansion added a new flying mechanic for mounts called Dragonriding, which is now dubbed Skyriding. Using a physics-based approach, it gives players greater control over their flying and added customizable dragon mounts.

All these changes came alongside one of the most loved storylines that the game has seen as well. Many players were immediately drawn to the story surrounding the five Dragonflights, and the beautiful zones which made up the Dragon Isles. The Dracthyr race and its Evoker class were like the cherry on top, making Dragonflight one of the most popular expansions in the history of World of Warcraft.

Systems

Released

November 23, 2004

Multiplayer

Online Multiplayer

Engine

Unreal Engine

ESRB

T for Teen: Blood and Gore, Crude Humor, Mild Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence (online interactions not rated)

Expansions

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Classic

How Long To Beat

X|S Optimized

yes

Steam Deck Compatibility

yes

Cross Save

yes

Cross-Platform Play

pc, ps

Expand