List of WoW Expansions in Order

Grossing over a 120M players all over the world (as of September 2022), World of Warcraft has been a sensation since its release back in 2004!

Since then, various expansions of World of Warcraft (WoW) has been released, which has hooked players even more. But, it has also made it more confusing for the younger generation of gamers to keep track of the storyline.

Through this article today, I’ll be providing you the list of WoW expansions in order, so that you can comprehend and enjoy the lore of World of Warcraft and feel that excitement every single 2000s WoW gamer feels!

List of WoW Expansions in Order

World of Warcraft

Year: 2004

The World of Warcraft doesn’t fall under the category of expansions of WoW but this is where it all started and I think it deserves to be mentioned in this list.

Remember those game CDs we’d beg our parents to buy for us? Or, we’d save lunch money to buy it for ourselves?

The World of Warcraft game was available in these game CDs as well as online, and continues the storyline from the previous Warcraft games by Blizzard.

You start off in the legendary Azeroth, where you can create avatars of your own and explore endlessly.

This version would be the start of the MMORPG World of Warcraft and players were required to own this to play the game, up until 2018, when Blizzard made a few changes in the purchase of expansion packs.

World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade

Year: 2007

The demons known as the Burning Legions, led by Sargeras and Kazzak the Supreme try to attack and conquer Azeroth like they did with the other worlds.

In this expansion, the Horde and the Alliance joins forces to go through the Dark Portal to Draenor in order to prevent the invasion of Azeroth.

The ultimate end to the quest of this expansions takes place on top of the Black Temple, where the Horde and Alliance are triumphant over Illidan Stormrage.

The Burning Crusade was the first expansion of the World of Warcraft and it came with an even wider map compared to the World of Warcraft released in 2004.

A couple of more races were added, which were the Blood Elves (Paladins) and Draenei (Shamans). The addition of races intrigued players even more to explore the lore of the tribes and made playing the game all the more enjoyable.

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King

Year: 2008

The Wrath of the Lich King Expansion caused the hype of World of Warcraft to go through the roof!

It’s considered to be the best World of Warcraft expansion for various reasons.

Starting with the introduction of the Hero Class in the game, Blizzard impressed a big number of players as characters of this class could start out from above Level 1.

The first Hero class of the game are the Death Knights, also known as DK and they are dark magic wielders.

Moreover, quests and the storyline got even more exciting in this expansion of WoW.

The game features the Paladin, Arthas Menethil, who later turned into a Dark Knight, murdering Sylvannas when she tried to prevent the invasion. Arthas Menethil does eventually become the Lich King.

The Horde and the Alliance team up yet again in Northrend and finally, Icecrown to put an end to the Scourge.

This expansion also features the epic encounter where Tirion Fordring releases the spirits after killing off Frostmourne, and ultimately, the Lich King himself.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

Year: 2010

The Cataclysm expansion came with a large number of changes and an increased number of quests and locations.

There were four totally new areas in the map and significant changes were made in a number of areas as a result of volcanoes and earthquakes.

The storyline was enhanced with a huge number of quests, which brought back the lore of Deathwing from the Warcraft series.

Azeroth was ambushed by the Elemental lords, releasing spirits that caused a serious problems to arise between the Alliance and the Horde.

Worgen for the Alliance, and Goblins for the Horde, are the two races that are added in this expansion to help in the process of taking down Deathwing the Destroyer.

The expansion ends with the factions of Azeroth and the Dragon Aspects fighting and taking down the Deathwing.

Furthermore, the addition of newer races improved the multiplayer co-op combats and attracted a larger volume of players.

World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria

Year: 2012

The introduction of the strange island of Pandaria, along with the race of Pandaren is the key attraction in this expansion of WoW.

Unlike the Burning Crusade expansion, there’s enmity between the Horde and the Alliance now, which led to the unfortunate battle on the seas.

The Horde mistakenly discovers Pandaria, and the war between the two factions lead to the release of Sha and the Thunder King coming back to life.

Meanwhile, Warchief Garrish Hellscream plays a big part in this expansion as he forms the “True Horde” to come back to power.

The True Horde comprised only of orcs and the two factions finally agree to end the war and take the originator of True Horde down.

World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor

Year: 2014

The expansion that made players go crazy with all the detailed graphical aspects is the Warlords of Draenor.

The storyline of this version takes place 35 years earlier, in an Alternate Draenor. Garrosh forms the Iron Horde to take over Draenor. The Dark Portal is also formed, which gives Garrosh to take over 35-years-advanced Azeroth.

The fall of Garrosh also happens in this expansion in the hands of the legendary Warchief Thrall.

The emotional connection that Garrosh and Thrall had, however, takes a huge toll and causes a rapid decline in Thrall’s condition. This eventually leads to Thrall leaving the Iron Horde, with no true hero to replace him.

World of Warcraft: Legion

Year: 2016

Legion introduced the second set of Hero class, known as the Demon Hunters.

These dark warriors had to be brought to try and prevent the invasion of the demons released by Gul’Dan through the Tomb of Sargeras.

The Horde and Alliance work together to take down Gul’Dan again, just like in the Warlords of Draenor.

Legion comes with one of the most legendary endings in any expansion when Titan Pantheon comes to the rescue in the battle against Argus, Legion’s most powerful boss.

Furthermore, Pantheon also manages to put down Sargeras with the remnants of Argus and prevent the destruction of Azeroth.

World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth

Year: 2018

The Battle for Azeroth took a dark turn as the Horde and Alliance go against each other, yet again. The expansion sees an addition of ten different races in the game due to the events that take place.

Sylvannas, who achieved the Warchief status of the Horde after the battle in Legion, turns her back to the Horde and murders Saurfang.

The then Lich King, Bolvar Fordragon, fails to stand a match to Sylvannas as well, and is badly defeated.

However, Sylvannas wasn’t after the Frozen Throne and she breaks the Helm, which causes major problems by breaking the barrier between Azeroth and the Shadowlands.

World of Warcraft: Shadowlands

Year: 2020

From Laurent to Baine Bloodhoof, the Shadowlands involves rescuing several heroes from different dungeons, but unfortunately, King Anduin isn’t one of them.

If you’ve played the earlier expansions, you can be hit by nostalgia when you see characters from various lores arriving in the quests.

Sylvannas is still going strong and is now trying to invade the Shadowlands, with the help of Zovaal, also called the Jailer. It’s a satisfying feeling to kill off the traitors that sided with Jailer in this expansion, such as Sire Denathrius.

The Shadowlands provides an emotional roller coaster for the players.

You may feel all the anger towards Sylvannas because of all the murders and treachery, but, I’m telling you, you’ll absolutely love her when she can’t resist the emotional connection with Anduin and ends up betraying the Jailer!

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight

Year: 2022

The Dragonflight expansion, to be released in December 2022, is the ninth expansion pack of the World of Warcraft.

The storyline of Dragonflight should take after where it all ended in the Shadowlands or it may drift deeper into the lore of Azeroth.

With a new race and a new area to be released in this expansion pack, players are already ecstatic and there are various leaks on Reddit and WoW forums that will just blow your mind.

However, due to zero source of credibility, I won’t be getting into it. Although I will tell you, the excitement that you’re feeling will all be worth it!

Wrapping Up

World of Warcraft is only getting better every day, with the enhancement of graphics and animation, and I’m sure we’ll see more mind-blowing additions from Blizzard in the upcoming expansion packs.

I’ve arranged the list of WoW expansions in order above, so that you can get an overview of everything that happened in these expansion packs, especially the older ones.

Obviously, playing these expansions is what I would strongly suggest, since that experience is heads and tails above just reading about it.

Which expansion is your favorite? Which battle gave you the chills? Share your feelings and thoughts with us down in the comments!