Blizzard Entertainment has finally announced World of Warcraft : Wrath of the Lich King, the second expansion for the ever popular World of Warcraft Online Role-Playing Game.

New Features
* Master the necromantic powers of the Death Knight - World of Warcraft’s first Hero class.

* Quest to level 80, gaining potent new abilities and talents along the way.

* Learn the craft of spell augmentation with the new Inscription profession.

* Brave the harsh new continent of Northrend, the icy domain of the Lich King.

* Engage in epic siege warfare, deploying mighty siege engines to lay waste to destructible buildings in your path.

* Transform your hero’s look with new character-customization options, including new hairstyles and dances.

* Explore perilous new dungeons filled with some of the deadliest creatures — and greatest treasures — on Azeroth.

New Profession: Inscription
Inscription is a profession which is going to be introduced in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. Players will be able to augment the cooldown, damage, or mechanics (stun, knock back, DoT, HoT, etc.) of a spell. It will have two aspects - one side will be the augmenting of spells, but it will also be able to create a new type of item (type not yet revealed).

When it comes to inscribing abilities for other people (or other characters on the same account), the inscriptions themselves will be scroll based, so players can put up an inscription scroll on the auction house, allowing others to buy and upgrade their arsenal at their leisure.

Those who don’t purchase the expansion will be able to use items created by inscription, but only those players who purchase Wrath of the Lich King will be able to learn Inscription as a profession.

EXAMPLES :

* Backstab could be enhanced to crit more often.

* Shadowbolt could be enhanced to do additional damage.

* Fireball could be enhanced to also cause a knockback effect. (This was an off-the-cuff example given by one of the panelists that, while cool, is not likely to happen.)

New Zone : Howling Fjord
The Howling Fjord sits high above the Great Sea on the southeastern tip of Northrend. It is said that in ancient times the vrykul, a race of half-giant warriors, inhabited the land, founding a vast and prosperous civilization.

Then one day, without warning or explanation, the vrykul vanished, leaving behind only deserted villages and abandoned temples.

Now the Alliance and Horde have come to confront the malefic Lich King and put an end to the Scourge. The Alliance has established a staging area in the settlement of Valgarde, but their presence seems to have sparked off an unforeseen event: the return of the vrykul.

These formidable warriors have begun attacking Horde and Alliance settlements, and many of the vrykul are pouring out of the fortress of Utgarde Keep, not far from Valgarde. The vrykul’s motives and their whereabouts for the past several thousand years remain a mystery. Regardless, there is no doubt that the vrykul’s sudden resurgence has touched off an ongoing battle for control of the region.

Dwarven prospectors, in the meantime, have uncovered mysterious relatives whose skin is etched in strange runes. These iron dwarves may provide the missing link needed for the dwarves to piece together the mystery of their creation.

On the eastern shore, the Forsaken have arrived, carrying a plague of their own to unleash upon the Lich King. Queen Sylvanas has been methodically and patiently overseeing the formulation of this contagion for several years, and the time has come at last to test its effectiveness against the Scourge.

Before bringing the battle to the Lich King, both the Horde and Alliance must overcome the immediate threat of the vrykul and answer the questions that the warriors’ reemergence has posed. Where have the vrykul been? What do they want? Most disturbing of all, what if they aligned with the Lich King?

Perhaps only time will tell. For now, the battle has just begun.

New Zone : The Borean Tundra
The sprawling Borean Tundra lies at the far southwestern tip of Northrend, the icy continent also known as the roof of the world. In recent months the Horde has established a dominant presence here as the young and daringly aggressive Garrosh Hellscream has founded the rugged orc fortress of Warsong Hold.

Shortly upon arriving, the Horde met the tuskarr, a walrus-like race of nomadic fishermen. The two groups have since formed a bond, and the Horde has sworn to aid their new allies in any way possible. Garrosh and his orc forces have also discovered the enigmatic taunka, an ancient offshoot of the tauren race that up until now had been thought lost forever.

Beyond the Westrift Valley, which separates the tundra from the mountainous region of Coldarra, explorers have recently witnessed increased activity at a magical site known as the Nexus. Nestled within the valley of Coldarra, the Nexus is a column of magical energy surrounded by levitating earth-covered rings. This ancient site was created by the blue dragonflight, and many adventurers attribute the increased activity here to the reemergence of the blue Dragon Aspect, Malygos. Inhabitants of the region have also noted an increased tension among members of the blue dragonflight, especially regarding the use of magic.

The Alliance has established a smaller presence here as well, and as both factions prepare to launch an offensive against the Lich King and his undead armies, they must first address the more immediate threat: the naga. The sinister serpentine race is using massive generators to melt the surrounding glaciers and ice caps, threatening to flood the entire region.

The Alliance and Horde have journeyed from far and wide to reach Northrend. Yet for these intrepid pioneers, the true challenges still lie ahead.