World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Preview

Eurogamer covers more of what we can expect when Blizzard's World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King expansion pack ships next month.
The biggest change coming to all players with Echoes of Doom is the new profession - Inscription - and the ability-altering Glyphs that it creates. Inscription is such a major addition that, unlike Burning Crusade's Jewelcrafting - which only really came into play in Outland - it's being included in the regular content patch instead of held back for expansion purchasers. Any player can equip Glyphs, and Burning Crusade owners can take Inscription up to a skill of 375 (appropriate to their maximum level of 70).

Glyphs are an extremely powerful new form of customisation for every character. You can equip major and minor Glyphs - three of each at level 80, though the slots are unlocked as you progress. Major Glyphs typically add important functionality to one of your core skills, or increase its power or efficiency by some 20 per cent; they're equivalent to one of the higher-ranked talents.

Scribes create Glyphs by gathering herbs and using milling - similar to Jewelcrafting's prospecting sub-profession - to turn the herbs into ink, which is then applied to parchment from a vendor. They can also create the familiar Scrolls, with their temporary buffs, the same way, as well as several other intriguing items: decks of random tarot cards that give item rewards when matched in a set; deeds of ownership that will allow hunters to rename their pets; teleport maps that serve as a back-up hearthstone; off-hand books with stat bonuses for casters; and random Darkmoon Faire cards.