New Plunderstorm Abilities and Features Revealed in World of Warcraft

Plunderstorm has triumphantly returned to World of Warcraft, delighting fans with an array of new features and exciting rewards. This pirate-themed battle royale mode, where 60 players vie for supremacy in the Arathi Highlands, officially relaunched on January 14 after a brief delay. While there's no confirmed end date yet, players can expect to enjoy Plunderstorm for at least a month as they eagerly anticipate Patch 11.1.

This iteration of Plunderstorm brings several new elements to the battlefield. The map now boasts new points of interest and mobs, with non-elite enemies respawning shortly after being defeated, ensuring a continuous flow of plunder until the Storm engulfs them. To aid in quick traversal across the expansive battleground, horses are now available for players to ride, helping them reach chests, elites, and opponents more swiftly. Additionally, the in-game map features zone threat indicators, showing areas where combat is most frequent, and allows players to select their starting deployment zones, adding a strategic layer to the game.

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.
• 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 several new spells in Plunderstorm. Aura of Zealotry enhances team movement speed and allows for area damage with Consecrate, while Celestial Barrage provides a potent, chargeable line attack. For utility, Call Galefeather summons an eagle to push enemies back, and Void Tear offers a teleportation option that also affects enemies. Balance changes to existing spells and a new UI facilitate smoother ability management.

A new Plunderstorm Practice Lobby has been introduced, where players can test abilities, adjust keybindings, and socialize. From the Practice Lobby, players can queue for games or access the Plunderstore, the hub for acquiring Plunderstorm rewards, directly from the login screen or even while in retail World of Warcraft via the PvP interface.

Notably absent this time around is the Trios mode, previously a favorite among players. The reasons behind its exclusion remain unclear, but there's hope that Blizzard will reconsider and bring it back before Plunderstorm sets sail once more.