Wrath of the Lich King's magical city of Dalaran
by Alex Ziebart 
Jul 30th 2008 at 1:00PM
We've put together a little gallery of Dalaran for you to sift through if you're interested, and as the beta patches go by we'll probably update it with more of the finished product. Not yet pictured is the Dalaran Sewers, but I hope to fix that soon. What are the Dalaran sewers, you might be wondering? It's a small hidden town beneath Dalaran, within the pipelines that were torn up when the relocation took place. It's full of all sorts of unsavory stuff. Awesome? Yes. Yes it is.
Filed under: Undead, Expansions, Lore, Leveling, Wrath of the Lich King
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
mk Jul 30th 2008 1:16PM
yes indeed dalaran looks amazing! really has a much better atmosphere than shattrath which is impressive-looking, but pretty much a downer. org is a much livelier city and it seems like they're returning to form with dalaran which looks warm and inviting. i also like that you can see icecrown citadel from the balconies (even though i think icecrown citadel looks cooler in the concept art and WC3 than it does in its current form...). one concern though is if you spend much time in shatt, the lag is unbelievable. hopefully they come up with a solution to all the allies clogging up the city ;)
but yea, i tend to spend most of my idle time in org as opposed to shatt, and with dalaran i think i'll start spending most of my free time there instead!
Ryan Jul 30th 2008 1:18PM
I hear that the city will have Horde and Alliance-centric sections, which should address a lot of the Shattrath criticisms.
Blayed Jul 30th 2008 1:19PM
Is it just me, or are they using the sky from Nagrand?
epsilon343 Jul 30th 2008 1:21PM
I was just going to comment on that. Looks like that's a placeholder.
Blayed Jul 30th 2008 1:24PM
Let's hope. I would be kind of disappointed if they re-used the sky graphics. I was so amazed by the skies of Outland that I actually spent time in Hellfire and Nagrand just "exploring" the sky with my camera. It would take something out of teh visual appeal of teh game to have this reused.
Sirg Jul 30th 2008 1:49PM
It's the nice sky of Nagrand, but even though I like that skyline, it's from Outlands and Dalaran is in Azeroth
Overt Jul 30th 2008 3:03PM
So you're upset that they're reusing sky graphics??? What about all the other models they've been reusing for over three years??
I think I would be more surprised if they DID change it to be unique.
Blayed Jul 30th 2008 3:07PM
It's a lot easier to create 5-10 new sky animations, than making hundreds of armor models to avoid reusing old models. Besides, a single piece of gear get worm by a specific number of players, where as the sky is viewed by EVERYone.
zappo Jul 30th 2008 1:58PM
I joined the game fairly late in BC and spent a looong time leveling. I remember people always talking in guild chat about how they need a port to Shatt, or talked about the things that were there. For some reason I had this image in my head that Shatt was this magical place that must be totally cool. Imagine my shock when I actually got there.
The first thing I said was: "this place is a dump!"
Every pre BC city I think was really impressive when I got to them. I doubt anything will top the feeling I got stepping out of the elevator to Undercity, but each city is cool in its own right. I'm least impressed by Exodar but even that is alright for a space ship. Shatt is a crappy letdown I hope Blizzard will not repeat.
jurandr Jul 30th 2008 2:16PM
Hey Zappo I'm totally with you there. I started my troll mage a day before BC came out, and the 60's were always talking about how awesome shattrath is. When I got lvl 65 and started doing Terrokar forest quests, I eventually made it into shattrath. The place was dirty, the npc's many, and the male draenie laugh unbearable. I got my teleport spell, joined the scryers, and got out of there and didin't go back until lvl 70.
Chedder Jul 30th 2008 2:37PM
What zone is dalaran in?
Chedder Jul 30th 2008 2:37PM
What zone is Dalaran in?
Ilnara Jul 30th 2008 2:45PM
Dalaran, city of the Mages.. One would think with our home city so prominent, Mages would actually have a small 'rise to prominence' as well... alas, we can dream can't we.
Sorry, I didn't mean to upset the World of melee-craft applecart again. Or did I..
/cast Blink
/cast Invisibility
madhat1 Jul 30th 2008 2:46PM
Well for me it was a different deal. I had heard about Shatt plenty in the channels and so on but I was totally bowled over when I saw how awesome it looked for the first time which was when I was riding from Zangarmarsh and the city was slowly revealed in all its glory when I rode over the crest of the hill. From the bustling Lower City to the austere Scryer / Aldor tiers to the portals taking you anywhere you wanted to go, Shatt was (and still is) the place to be. I can only hope my first time to Dalaran isn't just a simple teleport right into the middle of it!
infection Jul 30th 2008 3:04PM
Completely disappointed if we lose our mounts each time we have to talk to a vendor.
This city will suck big time.
Thats one of the MAIN reasons why I like shat. You would only lose your mount if you went to the bank.
justincmorris Jul 30th 2008 3:58PM
hehe right now you cannot even use a mount in Dalaran
I hate that aspect of the town other than that it's a nicely made city
zepheron Jul 30th 2008 10:45PM
Shatt is just a big airport and nothing more. For me it even looks like one in that it is overcrowded and unimpressive. Dalaran should be like the capitol cities with a epic feel. I like how we have horde and alliance zones making it feel more like home :).
Faladril Jul 30th 2008 3:42PM
I am as eager for Northrend as the next person, and the fact that Dalaran is moving there has piqued my interest. With such a major world event taking place, it would be awesome to see some of that in the opening cinematic (similar to the house at the end of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show"). Perhaps an instance that deals with it, too.
Superstone Jul 30th 2008 4:16PM
It looks nice. I agree that shatt was kind of a downer, my computer is old though and I simply hate it for being so demanding when it works fine anywhere ELSE but Shattrash. Dalaran looks pretty much exactly what you would think it would at this point. A cross between Stormwind and Silvermoon City.
mko Jul 30th 2008 4:24PM
I always dreamed Dalaran would be rebuilt in its original place a became an Alliance stronghold.
Lordaeron, Dalaran, Stromgarde are all lost.
Gilneas and Kul Tiras is missing
Kingdom of Azeroth is now only a city state.
Poor humans.