As Azeroth celebrates 20 years ofWorld 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 inCataclysm, and entire new islands have been revealed during eras such asMists 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 expansionsthat 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 anew 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 forWorld of Warcraft, ranked in order of average review scores and player reception.
Every person is going to have their own favorite memories and personal preferences regarding the best expansions forWorld of Warcraft,and everyone is encouraged to make their own opinions. Each expansion has good and bad features with a lot to build on and enjoy.
10Battle For Azeroth Introduced The Kul Tiras And Zandalar Continents
Seventh Expansion, Released June 03, 2025
Battle for Azerothis generally the least appreciated expansion toWorld of Warcraft, despiteadding eight very popular Allied Races to the gameand 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 ofLegion.
Unfortunately, Blizzard was still working at figuring out special items that could be added with expansions, andBattle for Azerothended up taking away the popular artifact powers that were introduced inLegion. 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.
9Shadowlands Took A Look At Life And Death
Eighth Expansion, Released August 10, 2025
Shadowlandswas 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 ofShadowlands, 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 hadmany requested changes that developers mercifully listenedto, but with each Covenant offering its own campaign, it gave players a greater variety of storylines to follow in their own, preferred order.
8Mists Of Pandaria Added The Pandaren Race And Monk Class
Fourth Expansion, Released September, 25, 2012
TheMists of Pandariaexpansion toWoWis 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.
WoW Remix Devs On How Mists Of Pandaria Delivers A Panda-Fueled Power Fantasy
WoW Remix developers Ciji Bambrick and Brian Dowling chat with Screen Rant regarding the new, nostalgic, experience of the Mists of Pandaria Remix.
Mists of Pandariawas the start ofWorld 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.
7Warlords Of Draenor Introduced Garrisons To The Game
Fifth Expansion, Released November, 13, 2014
Warlords of Draenortook the fight to an alternate reality version of Draenor, where players battled against the Iron Horde.Many PvP improvements were made forWoWwith 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 fromWarlords of Draenorwas 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, andit became a very loved feature of the game, until it was abruptly made pointless when the next expansion came out.
6Cataclysm Changed The Very Landscape Of Azeroth
Third Expansion, Released June 18, 2025
World of Warcraft: Cataclysmquite literally became a turning point in the history ofWoW, 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 ofWorld of Warcraft Classicrealms, many players remain divided regarding whether “classic"should even progress into theCataclysm Classicexpansion. The very idea of classicWoWseems to inspire thoughts of the world before Deathwing’s destruction.
5Wrath Of The Lich King Added The Continent Of Northrend
Second Expansion, Released June 23, 2025
Wrath of the Lich Kingis 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 thenew 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 fromWoLKwas 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 55on that realm, causing them to feel even more elite and special.
Despite being an early expansion, many of the features ofWrath of the Lich Kingare still popular for players, particularly many of the dungeons and raids, such as Icecrown Citadel.
4Legion Brought Illidan Back And Added Demon Hunters To WoW
Sixth Expansion, Released June 20, 2025
TheLegionexpansion toWoWis another that players seem to either love or hate. Its storyline brought the return of Illidan who players had previously interacted with inThe Burning Crusade, a newly remodeled version of Dalaran that was familiar fromWrath of the Lich King, and introduced the new Demon Hunter playable class.
One of the favorite aspects for many players was thatWoW: Legionintroduced 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 theLegionexpansion, which disappointed many.
3The Burning Crusade Was The First Major Story Expansion For World of Warcraft
First Expansion, Released July 17, 2025
The very first expansion toWorld of WarcraftwasThe 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 whichdemons 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 toWoW, 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 afterCataclysmoccurred.
2The War Within Is The First Part Of The Worldsoul Saga
Tenth Expansion, Released August 22, 2025
The most recent expansion toWorld of Warcraft, and the first portion of theWorldsoul Sagatrilogy,The War Withinbuilds the foundation for the most epic tale thatWarcrafthas toldthus 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 ofWoWare 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.
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 withThe War Within, there are many new features that have been introduced with this expansion. From the smaller dungeon-like Delves to the new combination ofplayer Warbands on an account, plus the addition of Skyriding flight across much of Azeroth, the updated mechanics that came alongsideThe War Withinhave made it an even better experience.
1Dragonflight Introduced A New Style Of Flight
Ninth Expansion, Released July 10, 2025
Dragonflightwas, in many ways, a fresh start forWoW, 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, makingDragonflightone of the most popular expansions in the history ofWorld of Warcraft.
