Quantcast
Channel: MMO Champion
Viewing all 6749 articles
Browse latest View live
↧

Blizzcon 2015 Recap

November 8, 2015, 4:49 pm
$
0
0
Blizzcon 2015 Recap
Lots of new info this year! Be sure to read each post, watch videos, and stay tuned for the class blog changes coming this week. Be sure to check out the Blizzcon Gamepedia wiki.


Opening Ceremony

World of Warcraft
  • Legion beta begins in the weeks following Blizzcon
  • Legion Cinematic was released
  • Warcraft Movie
    • The movie trailer was shown during the Opening Ceremony.
    • There was a press event with Duncan Jones, Chris Metzen, and some of the movie cast
  • Legion Releasing by September 2016
    • The regular version costs $50 and Digital Deluxe costs $70.
    • Pre-purchasing gives you a Level 100 Boost and at least one week early access to the Demon Hunter class.
    • You will need a level 70 character to create a Demon Hunter and you can only have one Demon Hunter per realm.
  • Artifact Weapons - Blog posts for all of the Artifact Weapons include models and a little bit of story.
  • World of Warcraft: Legion - World and Content Overview (Official Recap)
    • The Broken Shore has a 20 Alliance and 20 Horde (40 Player) scenario that begins right after the cinematic.
    • Demon Hunters have a unique starting experience involving Illidan, who creates a Felsaber epic mount for you.
    • There are four leveling zones that can be done in any order, as they scale.
    • There will be endgame world questing content that aren't strictly daily quests.
    • Legion will have two raids, one with 7 bosses (Emerald Nightmare) and one with 10 (Suramar Palace) with Gul'dan as the final boss.
    • Legion Challenge Mode dungeons keep becoming harder as you defeat them and the rewards keep getting better. Complements or replaces raiding.
  • World of Warcraft Cinematics - The Road to Legion
  • Misc
    • We got our first glimpse of Legion armor sets.
    • The Diablo 3 inspired transmog system coming to WoW will include tabards.
    • There was a Community Amphitheater Discussion that wasn't on the Virtual Ticket. Lots of good info, so be sure to read the recap.
    • World of Warcraft: Legion - Game Systems
      • Artifact power comes from quest bosses, rare spawns, rare drops, dungeons, raids, battlegrounds, arenas. Used to unlock traits.
      • Hunters and Druids get special transportation networks in their halls, warriors have a sparring arena.
      • Class themed Death Gate style spells to get to your class hall.
      • Talents will have less theme rows, more meaningful choices, more spec specific talents, hundreds of new talents!
      • Recipes have ranks, 1-3 star recipes. Rare, make you more efficient at crafting things. Less materials, shorter cooldown.
      • Lots of things to do with professions, shouldn't be running out of content.
      • Transmog - Clean up bank and inventory some more. More customization. A collection system.
      • Wardrobe - As soon as item is bound to you, appearance is unlocked. Once it is unlocked, you can get rid of it. Account wide! Have to be able to equip item to unlock it.
      • Outfits - Make item sets, store what you look like now, link outfits to other people even if everything isn't unlocked.
      • Hiding shoulders allowed!
      • Weapon enchants, shirts, and tabards for transmog!
    • World of Warcraft Q&A
      • The flying achievement will exist at launch, but you won't be able to complete it at launch. You can start progressing on it though.
      • A solution won't make it for launch, but some way to communicate with a cross-server group is something they are working on.
      • No new battleground, focus is on the new PvP progression system.
      • It would be ideal if you could be in multiple guilds at some point, one for PvP, one for Raids. Maybe a secondary guild system? Still in progress.
      • Legion will allow you to use all the specs, no longer limited to dual spec, each spec remembers your action bars and such.
      • Karazhan will be relevant in Legion. The secrets we need to beat the Burning Legion are in Karazhan. Karazhan could be a 5 player dungeon in Patch 7.1.
    • The Cutscene - Behind Blizzard's In-Game Cinematics
    • Engineering Community Amphitheater Discussion
      • Lots of cool stories, including why we are stuck with the current backpack size.
    • Legion Class and Systems Community Amphitheater Discussion
      • The team is fixing the boss movement issues in Patch 6.2.3. Thank the engineers!
      • In Legion healers can do a lot more damage than they could before when you choose to spend globals and resources on it.
      • You should be able to level as a healer.
      • The transmog system will include old quests that have been removed
    • Vhell proposed!

Overwatch
  • Overwatch Pricing
    • Overwatch - $40, PC only, includes all of the heroes. Widowmaker skin bonus for pre-orders.
    • Overwatch Origins Edition - $60, PC, Xbox One, and PS4. All of the heroes, bonus skins, rewards for other Blizzard games. Baby Wintson Pet for WoW.
    • Overwatch Collector's Edition - $130, PC Xbox One, PS4. All of the Origins Edition content plus the soundtrack, an art book, and Soldier: 76 statue.
  • New Map and Trailer
    • Hollywood is the new Overwatch map, set in a fictional version of Hollywood.
    • A new gameplay trailer was released.
  • New Heroes
    • D.Va - Former pro-gamer turned mech pilot.
    • Mei - Former Climatologist. Uses lower damage frost based attacks, has an ice block like ability, ice wall, blizzard.
    • Genji - Hanzo's brother. Throws Shuriken, deflects attacks, charges forward, and uses a katana.
  • Whats New in Overwatch
    • There will be no support for Macs
    • Release will only have 21 heroes, no announcement on additional heroes or pricing for anything after that.
    • New heroes are coming to beta next week.
  • The World of Overwatch
    • Working on a series of animated shorts and comics to tell the story outside of the game.

Hearthstone

Heroes of the Storm
  • Announcement Trailer
  • Hero Deep Dive
    • There are more than 200 characters on the list of potential heroes.
    • Lunara, King Genn Greymane, and Cho'Gall are the three new heroes.
    • Cho'gall is one hero controlled by two players.
    • Cho'Gall will be given to everyone that bought a Blizzcon (or Virtual) ticket.
    • If you party up and play 2 games with someone who does not have Cho'gall, they will unlock the hero for free as well.
    • If you play 4 games as Cho'gall with someone else, you will get bonus gold!
    • The Arena is a new mode will let you pick from 3 random heroes, then play on a new small single objective map. The game is shorter and has less restrictions than normal games now.
    • Towers of Doom is the new map, allowing you to destroy enemy towns to take them over and damage the core.
  • New Hero Skills and Talents
  • Battlegrounds Panel, State of the Game, BlizzCon Day 1, Greymane, Lunara, Cho Talents

Diablo III
  • Blood and Treasure - New Content and Features for Reaper of Souls
    • New zone - Greyhollow Island, Adventure Mode only.
    • The Eternal Woods and Royal Quarters were expanded for Adventure Mode.
    • Patch 2.4.0 is going to revamp, revisit, or revise nearly every one of the 24 class sets in the game.
    • Set Dungeons - Once you complete and don the full six pieces of any given class set, you'll receive a clue to track down an ancient dungeon designed just for you and your set.
    • Empowered Rifts, New Legendaries, More Stash Space, Season Journey Revisions, and more!


BlizzCon Costume Contest Winners
Lots of great costumes this year, including the four winners below.



↧
Search

Legion Class Preview Series - Hunter and Overview

November 8, 2015, 5:03 pm
$
0
0
Legion Class Preview Series – Hunter
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Welcome to our World of Warcraft: Legion class preview series. In this entry, we’re exploring the Hunter—to find out what’s in store for a different class, check out the overview.

We begin our early look at class and specialization design with the Hunter. In these blogs, we’ll be exploring class identity, discussing Legion’s new designs, and presenting core combat abilities for each specialization—laying out a foundation upon which talents and Artifacts will build further. With that in mind, let’s delve into what it means to be a Hunter in World of Warcraft.

In many ways, Hunter design in Legion embodies our key philosophies for class change. Hunters have a strong “core fantasy”: they’re masters of tracking prey, experts at sniping enemies with bows and guns from a distance, tamers of wild beasts, and trappers of unsuspecting foes. The challenge with the Hunter class in WoW is that, for the most part, while all three specs deliver that basic fantasy, the distinction between them is fairly minimal. In Legion, we’re focused on better differentiating these specializations to deliver more dynamic and varied experiences.


Beast Mastery
Among the most gifted hunters, there are those who have from birth felt a profound bond with the creatures of the wild. These beast masters are drawn to the perilous primal world, invigorated by its dangerous and untamed nature. Primitive landscape becomes home. Ferocious predator becomes kin. Whether in the thrill of the hunt or the heat of battle, beast masters call forth a litany of vicious animals to overwhelm prey and gnaw at their enemies’ will.

"Beast masters are drawn to the perilous primal world, invigorated by its dangerous and untamed nature"

Gameplay
Beast Masters were already in a good place overall, but we’ve refined existing abilities and talents to better differentiate them from other Hunters. Previously, Cobra Shot filled all of your free moments in combat, leaving no time for managing your pet, which should be a defining characteristic of Beast Masters. To this end, and to aid in Focus accumulation, Dire Beast is now core to Beast Mastery, allowing you to repeatedly summon wild beasts that generate additional Focus for you through their every attack.

To give you an idea of the Beast Master Hunter in action, here’s a basic look at their core combat abilities:
  • Cobra Shot
    • 30 Focus, 40 yd range, Instant
    • A quick shot that causes moderate Physical damage.
  • Dire Beast
    • 40 yd range, Instant, 10 sec cooldown
    • Summons a powerful wild beast to attack your target for 8 sec. Each time the beast deals damage, you will gain 4 Focus.
    • Summoning a beast reduces the remaining cooldown of Bestial Wrath by 15 sec.
  • Kill Command
    • 20 Focus, 25 yd range (from pet), Instant, 6 sec cooldown
    • Give the command to kill, causing your pet to instantly inflict strong damage to its target.
  • Wild Call
    • Passive
    • Your critical strikes have a 30% chance to reset the cooldown of Dire Beast.
  • Mastery: Master of Beasts
    • Increases the damage done by your pets by 45% (with Mastery from typical gear).
Additionally, to provide a glimpse at how some talents may build upon this, here’s one example of a Beast Mastery–specific talent:
  • Way of the Cobra
    • Passive
    • For every pet or guardian you have active, Cobra Shot deals an additional 5% damage.


Survival
While all hunters feel a calling to the wild, some serve as a reflection of its brutality. To them, the hunt is defined by unrelenting ferocity, where survival means facing one’s enemy eye-to-eye... and is always accompanied by merciless bloodshed. Weapons of great range are abandoned for instruments of close-quarters combat. Survival hunters are instinctive and crafty on the prowl, employing loyal beasts and laying deceptive traps to see their enemies undone. For these hunters know that to truly understand what it means to survive, one must first become familiar with the cruel face of death.

"The hunt is defined by unrelenting ferocity, where survival means facing one’s enemy eye-to-eye"

Gameplay
Not only do Survival Hunters use melee weapons instead of ranged weapons, they’re also now the only Hunters that make use of traps—other specs will receive forms of crowd control and AoE damage suited to their distinct characteristics. Survival Hunters will snare and bleed their enemies, fighting them in close quarters with their trustworthy companion to maximize the brutality of the hunt. They have no direct control over Focus regeneration, but instead pool it up during successive Mongoose Bites to further amplify the damage they inflict.

Here’s a basic look at the core combat abilities for Survival Hunters:
  • Harpoon
    • 5-40 yd range, Instant, 15 sec cooldown
    • Hurl a harpoon at your target and pull yourself toward them, rooting them in place for 3 sec.
  • Raptor Strike
    • 20 Focus, Melee Range, Instant.
    • A vicious slash, dealing moderate Physical damage.
  • Laceration
    • 35 Focus, Melee Range, Instant, 10 sec cooldown
    • Tear a wound in the target, dealing heavy damage over 12 sec.
    • Developer Comment: We promise it will do good damage!
  • Mongoose Bite
    • Melee Range, Instant, 10 sec recharge, 3 charges
    • A brutal attack, attempting to sever the enemy's limbs, dealing strong Physical damage.
    • Each consecutive Mongoose Bite dealt within 3.5 sec of the last will deal 50% increased damage, stacking up to 6 times.
  • Flanking Strike
    • 20 Focus, 25 yd range (from pet), Instant, 6 sec cooldown
    • Give the command to kill, causing your pet to instantly inflict strong damage to its target.
  • Wing Clip
    • 30 Focus, Instant
    • Maims the target, reducing their movement speed by 50% for 15 sec.
  • Mastery: Hunting Companion
    • Your pet’s attacks have a 20% (with Mastery from typical gear) chance to grant you an additional charge of Mongoose Bite.
Additionally, to provide a glimpse at how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Survival-specific talents:
  • Snake Hunter
    • Instant, 1 min cooldown
    • Instantly grants you 3 charges of Mongoose Bite.


Marksmanship
Marksmen, too, shroud themselves in the perils of the untamed wilds, perfecting the use of weapons that are deadliest from great range. They’ve maintained little interest, however, in gaining the loyalty of the many beasts inhabiting these crude landscapes. Instead, the marksman blends into the surrounding environment, surveying behavior of all manner of predator and gleaning deadly methods for stalking their own prey. A sniper in hiding, the marksman unleashes arrows and bullets with deadly precision, exposing the weakness in whoever—or whatever—passes through their crosshairs.

"A sniper in hiding, the marksman unleashes arrows and bullets with deadly precision"

Gameplay
The Lone Wolf gameplay introduced in Warlords of Draenor proved extremely popular with Hunters, and that play style fit perfectly with our vision of Marksmanship Hunters as master archers and snipers, relying on their skill and precision with weapons rather than animal companions. All Marksmanship Hunters now gain Lone Wolf by default, ranging through the wilds without a pet beside them. On the resource front, the Marksman now gains Focus from the use of Arcane Shot. And, as a note for those who enjoyed the previous version of Survival gameplay, we have moved certain abilities, such as Black Arrow and Lock and Load, to Marksmanship-specific talents.
Here’s a basic look at the core combat abilities for Marksmanship:

  • Arcane Shot
    • 40 yd range, Instant
    • A quick shot that causes moderate Arcane damage, and generates 5 Focus.
  • Seek Vulnerabilities
    • Passive
    • Targets hit by your Arcane Shot and Multi-Shot have a chance to be marked with Hunter's Mark for 6 sec.
  • Marked Shot
    • 30 Focus, 40 yd range, Channeled
    • Rapidly fires a shot at up to 3 targets affected by Hunter's Mark, dealing strong Physical damage. Usable while moving.
    • Also exposes vulnerability in the target, snaring them by 15%, and increasing Aimed Shot damage done to the target by 25%. Lasts 10 sec, and stacks up to 3 times.
  • Aimed Shot
    • 50 Focus, 40 yd range, 1.5 sec cast
    • A powerful aimed shot that deals strong Physical damage.
  • Mastery: Sniper Training
    • Critical strike damage and range of all shots is increased by 12.5% (with Mastery from typical gear).
Additionally, to give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Marksmanship-specific talents:
  • Lock and Load
    • Passive
    • Attach an explosive charge to Aimed Shot, dealing strong additional Fire damage to the target and all enemies within 4 yds.
    • Your ranged auto attacks have a 5% chance to trigger Lock and Load, causing your next 2 Aimed Shots to cost no Focus and be instant.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this early preview of the Hunter class in World of Warcraft: Legion. This first look should give you a good sense of what you can expect from this series, though not every class is undergoing this level of change; some are receiving updates that will be more subtle—a sharpening of rough edges—rather than the broad reimagining of the fantasy as we’ve demonstrated with Hunters.
Tomorrow, the series continues with previews of Priests, Mages, and Paladins. Stay tuned!

Legion Class Preview Series – Overview
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Welcome to the first of several blogs focused on classes in the upcoming Legion expansion!

Our first big step when we begin working on classes for any new expansion is to decide on our high-level goals. New expansions, which send players to whole new lands and often transform entire game systems, give us a chance to explore extensive changes that we think will have a significant positive, lasting impact on the game.

In Mists of Pandaria, for example, our primary aim was to revamp the talent system to give players more meaningful choices. For Warlords of Draenor, we turned our attention to the 100 levels worth of accumulated spells and abilities, full of redundancies and crowding out players’ action bars, and focused our efforts on pruning and consolidating abilities to make each class’s kit leaner and meaner—while still leaving room for future additions.

Going into Legion, our guiding purpose is to strengthen the distinctive identity of each of our 12 classes and their specializations. The scope of these efforts includes making cosmetic improvements, enhancing existing abilities, adding new abilities, replacing too-generic abilities with more iconic ones, adjusting rotations to better reflect spec identity, and even completely redesigning some specs to carve out a strong identity where previously there was none.

In the coming days, we’ll be sharing more details about the direction of each class in Legion, discussing their updated designs and sharing a look at their core combat abilities. It’s important to note that the base spells of a specialization represent a foundation upon which talents and Artifact traits will be built. Talents in particular will add a tremendous amount of depth—in Legion we’re quadrupling the number of spec-specific talents, which reinforce the distinction between specializations giving players interesting ways to customize their characters to suit their play styles.

We’re looking forward to hearing your feedback and discussing these changes with everyone in the weeks ahead, and we’re excited to get this information out before our broader beta phase to make sure we have as much time as possible to iterate and carry on the conversation.

Here’s the schedule for our class preview series:

Later Today
  • Hunter

Monday
  • Priest
  • Mage
  • Paladin

Tuesday
  • Warlock
  • Death Knight
  • Shaman

Wednesday
  • Warrior
  • Monk
  • Druid

Thursday
  • Rogue
↧
↧

Ion Hazzikostas Interview, Class Blog Post Times, Hunter Changes Feedback

November 9, 2015, 12:37 am
$
0
0
Legion Class Preview Series - Hunter and Overview

Class Blog Post Times
Zarhym shared what time of day the class blogs will be released!



Ion Hazzikostas Interview
We had the opportunity to talk to Ion Hazzikostas (Lead Game Designer) at the Blizzcon this year.


Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Legion Pre-Expansion Patch
  • The Broken Shore scenario picks up exactly where the cinematic leaves off.
  • There is a massive joint Horde and Alliance assault on the Tomb of Sargeras.
  • In the patch before Legion, there will be a demon invasion of our world, with invasions happening all over the world.
  • The forces of Azeroth decide that they need to launch a counterattack and cut off the corruption at its source.
  • Players will get on ships and arrive at a beach assault that has different stages. The stages are completed by the raid group as a whole, you are destroying Legion fortifications, killing demons, killing their major lieutenants and generals as you fight your way up the hill from the beach to the foot of the Tomb of Sargeras. When you get there, there will be some fateful and eventful things that they don't want to spoil yet, but you do not completely succeed at stopping the Legion invasion. All of this will be playable during the pre-expansion patch.
  • The Broken Shore scenario is flexible, scaling anywhere from 1 to 20 players, so when there aren't as many people starting later in the expansion it will wait for a few minutes and then start, maybe with additional NPCs to keep the epic feeling.
  • The pre expansion patch is on a similar timeline to previous expansions.
  • There will be a pre-release patch coming out a few weeks prior to the Broken Isles becoming accessible, which will include the invasion events.
  • Anyone who has pre-purchased Legion will be able to make their Demon Hunter and play through their starting experience during this patch.

Challenge Mode Dungeons
  • The difficulty of challenge mode dungeons should be able to scale endlessly, but there will be a cap on how high the loot goes.
  • For example, if a Tier 20 challenge mode dungeon is very hard to complete, they may cap the loot potential there, even if there are a couple of groups that can go a little higher. This is somewhat like how current challenge modes have a gold timer that is designed to be attainable by virtually any reasonably balanced group. Players can try for even faster times for prestige or leaderboard ranks, but there aren't any more rewards.
  • The goal is to have leaderboards for the new challenge mode dungeons, focused on the highest tier you clear rather than how fast you are doing it.
  • If you are a skilled fully Mythic geared player, you will be able to do a very high tier challenge mode dungeon and they want to give you a chance to get loot comparable to that.
  • Loot will be in a range of item levels, somewhat like what Mythic dungeons offer in Patch 6.2.3. While there is a chance to get items equal to the best ones from Mythic raids, that is not the default expectation.
  • This will complement high end raiders gameplay, not replace it. For players who do Normal difficulty raiding, but actually prefer a smaller group setting, this could replace raiding for them.
  • Each player will be able to get one keystone per week. There may be opportunities to get additional ones as a bonus, but one will be the baseline.
  • If you fail to beat a timer on a run that you have initiated, your keystone is depleted. The depleted keystone can still be used to start additional runs, but those runs won't give a loot chest at the end.
  • If you are trying Level 6 Halls of Valor and just barely fail, you will get a Level 6 quality reward chest for your group at the end of the run, but you now have a depleted Level 6 Halls of Valor keystone. You can try again and if you manage to beat the time, you will upgrade your keystone to a fresh empowered Level 7 keystone that will give you loot.
  • The team wants to avoid frustrations such as having a tank disconnect and being done for the week, but they didn't want players to take the same keystone and run the same dungeon over and over for all of the rewards.
  • The quality of the loot you get from the weekly jackpot is going to be significantly higher. There is a possibility of getting a lucky upgrade from the regular runs, but at some point your main goal will become the weekly chest.
  • There aren't going to be unique challenge mode armor sets, but it is likely that there will be Artifact appearances tied to the challenge mode dungeon system.

Raiding
  • Raid sizes are staying the same, with Mythic at a fixed 20 player size.
  • Cross-realm Mythic raiding unlock time will depend on how long a tier is lasting and where things stand overall for the game.
  • By default, Mythic raids will remain closed to cross-realm raiding at release. Part of that is to preserve the server first races, as well as a sense of guild identity.
  • The idea of a top guild on a specific server is one of the few server specific things that remains and the team wants to make sure it stays and keeps a sense of prestige. At some point it will make sense to unlock cross-realm raiding.
  • The game will have two raid zones at launch and a number of content patches following that.
  • The team is talking about moving away from single monolithic raids that are very large and having a tier that has a couple of separate raid zones that complement each other.
  • Rather than having one 13 boss raid like Hellfire Citadel, what if there was a 6 boss raid and a 7 boss raid, somewhat like Serpentshrine and Tempest Keep. This would allow for more options, diverse environments, and flexibility.

Questing and Reputations
  • There are going to be a wide variety of rewards from the world quests. Some examples include gold, experience, Artifact Power, crafting materials, things that benefit your class order, rare mounts, rare pets, and gear.
  • Doing organized raiding will be the most consistent source of high quality gear, followed by dungeons, followed by stuff in the outdoor world.
  • The world quests on your map will exist without picking up a quest from the emissaries in your class hall. You should be able to see how much time remains before they are gone. The emissary quests are just there to give you some structure.
  • You can do as many of the world quests as you want. At some point you will start clearing out your map and you will have to wait for new ones to appear.
  • The quests that offer more attractive rewards aren't going to appear as frequently as the smaller quests. Most players will pick and choose what is most exciting to them and leave the rest alone.
  • It shouldn't feel mandatory to clear out all of the world quests. The emissary quests help you to know when you have done enough.
  • In Legion, reputation is earned more like it is Tanaan and Mists of Pandaria. The team wants to get away from the more grindy kill reps where you just spend hours in a group AoEing things.
  • There may be one or two reputations that require grinding, something like the Timbermaw, but most will not be like that anymore.
  • The main way you will earn reputation is the emissary quests. You might get thousands of rep from the emissary quest, but individual world quests might give you 50 or 100, allowing you to work towards them faster if you want to.
  • Reputation rewards will be pretty standard, some convenience items, some cosmetic, some power items, while still avoiding the Mists of Pandaria model that required reputation and Valor. The items are likely just going to cost gold and be unlocked by reputations.
  • If two different level players attack a mob, it will almost exist in two states. A level 102 player would see a mob as level 102 and the level 106 player will see the mob as level 106. Most of the time when you are leveling you don't worry about actual numbers, just percentages. The mob will do more damage to the level 106 player than the level 102 player, but the percentage of health it takes off of both players will be the same. The goal is for you not to even notice it is there.
  • While the leveling zones will scale, you won't be able to join friends in the middle of the main quest line in another zone. The idea is for you to both progress through a zone at the same time, regardless of level.

Artifacts
  • The team is pretty far along with all of the Artifacts at this point. They are aware that some players that have a spec that they play that doesn't perfectly match what they want out of their Artifact. Frost Death Knights have asked for a choice between a 2H and a Runeblade. Choice is nice, but it would come at the expense of the identity of the Artifact.
  • You will be able to transmog your Artifact to look like something else, but you can't transmog something else to look like your Artifact.
  • In terms of transmogging to legendary items, a world where everyone has transmogged to Warglaives or Thunderfury isn't right. Those weapons were designed with an iconic look and to be rare. It is still an open question though.
  • Artifact fist weapons are definitely a concern. The team is making sure sheathing works better with them, as well as making them more visible with your combat casting animations.

Misc
  • The team knows that droughts in content are the worst thing for players, but their focus is on getting Legion done as soon as possible.
  • You won't be able to earn flying in Patch 7.0. The world is being built with flying in mind and players will definitely be able to fly later in Legion. Players can begin working on the flying achievement in 7.0 though.
  • It seems likely that another Heirloom upgrade level is coming in Legion, but they aren't sure if they will do it immediately in Patch 7.0.

Legion Hunter Changes Feedback
One of the developers responded to the Hunter changes feedback on Reddit tonight.
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
While i do know that the base design of artifact weapons can transmoggable i feel some specs like priest, warriors, hunters look .... iffy and not great if there could be a patch and rework some of the design choices then that would be good
Do you mean a patch which changes the art of the base item? Thats very unlikely to happen. (andrewchambers)

I'm a bit sad that all the awesomeness that belonged to demonology warlocks went to Demon Hunters I've played a Demo Lock since forever and all the aspects that made me like this class so much are going to be removed. No longer Metamorphosis and Demonic Leap, etc.

Maybe everything that made me play a Demo Lock was all the Demon Hunter like abilities they possessed. I'm now torn between keeping playing a shadow of my former main demo lock or make a demon hunter my main.
We understand that these changes may cause some hard choices, but hopefully once you get to play it you will find the spec equally enjoyable, just maybe for different reasons. (andrewchambers)

... and yes, Survival has Wing Clip...
But do they have volley that is the true ultimate question!
It may come back as a talent for the other specs, doesnt make sense for survival having a melee weapon. (andrewchambers)
Also instead of arrows, it could be say a ton of javelins. but either way i just want volley again
Thats a pretty hot idea actually, ill sleep on it (andrewchambers)
did you pull any inspiration from diablo 2's Amazon?
Honestly no, there was more than enough awesome in wow to pull from. (andrewchambers)

RAPTOR STRIKE LIVES ON
Funny story, it wasnt called Mongoose Bite originally, until watcher "announced" the melee survival spec at gamescon, then you all asked for it to come back. I couldnt change its name fast enough! (andrewchambers)

I'm really interested to see how you guys are going to manage to make Survival Hunter different. There's a large amount of melee already in the game and it covers a lot of available design space. It sounds like we'll be incredibly bursty like a rogue, but hopefully we'll be a little more survivable (due to mail) yet still hard to lock down (two damage sources plus master's call and movement options).
if we werent able to make it feel unique we wouldnt have pulled the trigger on it. Traps and pets help alot. (andrewchambers)

Is there a reason why Survival's 'Flanking Strike' has the exact same text and effect/cooldown as Beast Mastery 'Kill Command'? I wasn't sure if that was an error or intentional for them to be the same.
Slightly out of date, we are constantly working in this stuff. It will be an attack with you and your pet attacking at the same time. (andrewchambers)

So, rangers in GW2 have an ability with 1h swords, I think it's their 2 skill, where on the first press they leap backwards out of melee range, and on the second press within a few seconds, leap back into melee range and attack the target.
Disengage + Harpoon. (andrewchambers)

thanks for bringing Mongoose Bite back, but is there more to the Survival rotation that building up vast charges of MB ? I know you can't share too much, but some idea would be nice !
Its more split 50/50 between hectic weaving between MB and other skills while trying to proc more charges, and more steady useage of other skills while waiting for MB charges to build up. Its hard to express gameplay in words. (andrewchambers)

these changes are making me consider rolling a hunter alt to check it out, BM sounds right up my alley
Glad to hear it. I also just finished a pass on Dire Beast so that it summons the correct animals for all the old zones too. Exhausting, but Hunters need love too! (andrewchambers)
Whoa wait what? Are you saying Dire beast will not be a random Beast from anywhere in the World, but will be a random Beast from the Exact zone you are in? If that's the case, RP players are going to love this!
Thats correct (andrewchambers)
So, question on Dire Beast. Since it's BM's only chance to regain focus now, are we extra-extra-extra-screwed on fights where our pets simply can't reach a valid target? This happens every now and then (sometimes bugs/glitches, sometimes valid pathing issues like the target flying) and I'm not sure its avoidable in WoW's engine. It's going to really suck if we've got the same limitations as a melee class when these situations arise.
Fair point, may look into a solution that doesnt require Beast to attack, maybe just a focus per second while guardian active kinda deal. (andrewchambers)
Maybe have some kind of pet communication channeling ability where you and your pet communicate and that generates focus? I'm kinda unsure, that seems like quite a predicament.
Personally hate channeled abilities unless its things like Arcane Missiles. Will be sone very active talent options for focus generation to make up for this if you need it. (andrewchambers)
Has this been adjusted so we might not, say, summon an elekk somewhere small and indoors and suddenly not be able to see our target anymore due to giant elekk butt?
Ive scaled everything as best i could, if you see sonething thats too big let us know. (andrewchambers)

I dreamed that black arrow was going to debuff targets and if they died with the debuff they came back as skeleton, just like in WC3.
I think youre going to like what you see. (andrewchambers)

Will Survival be getting an interrupt?
Of course.
I assume it will be a short cooldown one like most other melee, and not 20+ seconds like most ranged interrupts.
Yea, more like Pummel. (andrewchambers)

Is Barrage still sticking around or is it rip?
Sticking around, but will be more AOE focused like it looks (andrewchambers)

Does the MM mastery still have the condition of standing still or is it just a passive bonus now?
No more standing still requirement. Trade off though is you have to stand still while casting aimed shot. Fits the fantasy better. (andrewchambers)
Will there be a talent choice to opt out of that? I don't like cast times and having to stand still. Since MM seems to be supposed to be the spec for the fans of the old SV spec I think there should also be an option to include the mobile feeling of it.
Probably, think lock and load combined with aimed shot. (andrewchambers)

Please tell me that with Survival getting Wing Clip back that one of the talent options will be something like the old Improved Wing Clip or maybe a more reliable version of the old Counterattack. Those were abilities that really felt great in the old 0/21/30 PVP spec back in Vanilla when I got Grand Marshal. Also, hunters have very low armor and dodge (and no parry) compared to vanilla, will that improve at least for Survival if they are going to be in melee now?
We arent really at that tuning point yet but will get there. Improved WC was cool, ill see if the pvp guys would be interested. (andrewchambers)

With some of these old abilities coming back, any chance for Eyes of the Beast? The one that the hunter channeled to control their pet and use its abilities for ~1 minute?
I can look into it, from an engineering standpoint it was a total mess and really broken. If we can re-engineer it safely then maybe, but no promises. (andrewchambers)

Love it - any word on MM utility without a pet like Roar or Master's call? Passive heals etc. has this been figured out or still in the works?
Snares are an integral part of your rotation now. If survivability in the wild is an issue we will address it, but i want you to feel very high risk/high reward. (andrewchambers)
Awesome! Also please tell me the purple shots Sylvanas was shooting in the cinematic is the new arcane shot??! Would be so cool to have better visuals on the shots themselves. Thanks for hanging out and answering questions.
Sounds pretty cool, ill ask our VFX guy. (andrewchambers)

In the BM changes, there's a note saying that "summoning a beast reduces the cooldown of Bestial Wrath by 15 seconds." With Dire Beast having a 10 second cooldown, it seems like you'd be able to Bestial Wrath up indefinitely. Is this intended or will Bestial Wrath be given a longer cooldown/lower duration to compensate for that? (andrewchambers)
BW should feel like its up more aften but not indefinitly. All just tuning points for us to work on now we have the foundations solid.
Is the frenzy / focus fire (and go for the throat/invigoration) dynamic gone for Beast Mastery as well?
Yes. Didnt like how it felt to interact with the pet in this arbitrary fashion. (andrewchambers)

Hunter defenses have always been based around not getting hit- as a melee class thats not gonna be a viable option. What sort of defences utilities are we gonna see to offset that?
If survivability during combat is an issue we will resolve it with some form of passive. Unsure if thats actually necessary yet, they have a lot of cc and pet based mitigation. (andrewchambers)

I have a question. Or concern, I suppose, about BM Hunter. I know that the fantasy is all about beasts and controlling them (and also that the preview was just to give us an idea of concept) but I feel a bit worried that Cobra Shot was the only ability I saw that actually makes use of the gun. I'll still have an assortment of meaningful attacks with my gun that aren't auto attack, right? I like focusing on pets but I don't want Blizzard to overdue it and make the spec about nothing but pets + cobra shot and the badass hero with the gun be incidental while the pets get the whole spotlight. Beastmastery is about teamwork.
This is only the core spells, and talents will build on it. (andrewchambers)

Does Survival have a way to build focus? from what we've been told so far there doesn't appear to be a focus builder.
No, but while using MB youre pooling focus. If this is an issue we may make RS a builder, either baseline or talented, but so far it works well. (andrewchambers)

Not to undermine all your hard work, but... any chance we could get a glyph for dire beast to summon a pet from our stables? As beast mastery, I almost always have a spirit beast out. It would be cool to see some of the non-spirit beasts I have from time to time since they never get much use.
Theres tech required for this but its already in the works, likely built into a talent. (andrewchambers)

You answering all these extra questions has really put some extra faith into the Blizz machine. I won't lie, I've been pessimistic for a while about you guys. But even if I'm not thrilled about changes when it comes to one of my preferred classes, it's nice to get some actual communication from you guys. Please keep it up!
I cant promise that we can be this reactive all the time, all these changes take up most of our efforts, but we really want to ensure you are all heard. I lurk here daily. (andrewchambers)
↧

Legion Class Preview Series: Priest

November 9, 2015, 6:33 am
$
0
0
Ion Hazzikostas Interview, Class Blog Post Times, Hunter Changes Feedback

Legion Class Preview Series: Priest
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Welcome to our World of Warcraft: Legion class preview series. In this entry, we’re exploring the Priest—to find out what’s in store for a different class, check out the overview.

We continue our early look at class and specialization design with the Priest. In these blogs, we’ll be exploring class identity, discussing Legion’s new designs, and presenting core combat abilities for each specialization—laying out the foundation upon which talents and Artifacts will build further. With that in mind, let’s delve into what it means to be a Priest in World of Warcraft.

Priests have a strong identity as spiritual practitioners who harness divine power to inspire and protect allies, heal the injured, and cure the ailed. But while this clearly holds true for Holy Priests, these ideas are less fundamental to Discipline Priests—and the ideals and beliefs of Shadow Priests are antithetical to those of Holy Priests.

Despite these differences, Priests of any spec share one key thing in common: unwavering faith in something from which they draw great power. What delineates specializations is the source of that power. In Legion, we’re going to explore that dichotomy in greater depth than ever through the gameplay for each specialization.


Holy
After spending much of their lives in temples studying ancient doctrine, preaching the tenets of their faith, and pledging their full devotion to the divine powers they follow, the most adept priests leave their houses of worship to serve on the battlefield, as shepherd to flock. There, they use their holy powers to bless allies and mend wounds. And while most stay behind the frontlines to aid their comrades, these holy champions are also capable of smiting foes and carrying out sacred justice. They’re also morally opposed to the use of Shadow and Void magic—rather, they are exemplars of the incredible grace and power of the divine and the Light, and even death cannot fully stop their healing capabilities.

"The most adept priests leave their houses of worship to serve on the battlefield, as shepherd to flock"

Gameplay
Given the innate purity of the spec, we want to ensure that Holy Priests continue to have a large repertoire of compelling healing spells. The Chakra system was cumbersome, requiring additional setup to optimally use most spells and restricting how much you could fluidly shift between healing methods. We have removed it in favor of a more dynamic play style focused around Holy Words. New Holy Word spells are designed to feel absolutely miraculous, having huge effects balanced with long base cooldowns. The new passive effect of Serendipity allows those long base cooldowns to be reduced, letting you use them more frequently. Finally, in keeping with the resolute beliefs of the Holy Priest, they can make no use of Shadow spells. Smite, Holy Fire, and Holy Word: Chastise are the instruments used by Holy Priests to inflict damage upon their enemies.

Here’s a basic look at the core combat healing abilities for Holy Priests:

  • Heal
    • 2.0% Mana, 40 yd range, 2.5 sec cast
    • A slow but efficient spell that heals an ally for a moderate amount.
  • Flash Heal
    • 3.5% Mana, 40 yd range, 1.5 sec cast
    • A fast but expensive spell that heals an ally for a moderate amount.
  • Holy Word: Serenity
    • 4.0% Mana, 40 yd range, Instant, 1 min cooldown
    • Perform a miracle, healing an ally for an absolutely massive amount.
  • Prayer of Healing
    • 8.0% Mana, 40 yd range, 2.5 sec cast
    • A powerful prayer that heals up to 5 injured allies within 15 yards of the target for a strong amount.
  • Prayer of Mending
    • 2.0% Mana, 40 yd range, 1.5 sec cast, 10 sec cooldown
    • Places a spell on a party or raid member that heals them for a moderate amount the next time they take damage. When the heal occurs, Prayer of Mending jumps to another party or raid member within 20 yds. Jumps up to 5 times and lasts 30 sec. after each jump.
  • Holy Word: Sanctify
    • 5% Mana, 40 yd range, Instant, 1 min. cooldown
    • Release miraculous light into a target location, healing up to 6 allies within 10 yards for a huge amount.
  • Renew
    • 2.5% Mana, 40 yd range, Instant
    • Fill the target with faith in the Light, healing them instantly for a minor amount and then a large amount over 15 sec.
  • Serendipity
    • Passive
    • When you cast Flash Heal or Heal, the cooldown of Holy Word: Serenity is reduced by 6 sec.
    • When you cast Prayer of Healing or Prayer of Mending, the cooldown of Holy Word: Sanctify is reduced by 6 sec.
    • When you cast Smite or Holy Fire, the cooldown of Holy Word: Chastise is reduced by 6 sec.
  • Mastery: Echo of Light
    • Your direct healing spells heal for an additional 25% (with Mastery from typical gear) over 6 sec.

Additionally, to give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Holy-specific talents:
  • Apotheosis
    • Instant, 3 min cooldown
    • Enter a pure Holy form for 30 sec, increasing the effects of Serendipity by 200%.


Shadow
The Light in which many priests bathe is brilliant and effervescent, granting them immense divine power. But the brightest light casts the darkest shadow—and from within this blackness, a rival power dwells. Shadow priests fully embrace this opposing polarity, their faith equally resolute as their holy counterparts—but focused on shadowy magics and mental manipulation. Like all priests, they dedicate much of their lives to worship—but they derive their power from the Void, straying dangerously close to the domain of the Old Gods. To truly understand such ancient, corruptive influence is to be driven mad. This is the state in which these dark priests thrive, embracing insanity and feeding off of the minds of their opponents to reach terrifying new limits.

"These dark priests thrive, embracing insanity and feeding off of the minds of their opponents to reach terrifying new limits"

Gameplay
We’ve long alluded to the Old God influences of Shadow Priests in their spells and abilities, and we’re making that more distinct in Legion.
A new resource, Insanity, provides a better fit for Shadow, having more granularity and gameplay that emphasizes the immense but fleeting power that the Void offers. Mind Blast, Shadow Word: Pain, and Vampiric Touch will build Insanity. Reaching maximum Insanity will transform Shadowform into Voidform, giving the Shadow Priest access to stronger Void magic, but it is unable to be maintained indefinitely. This should make for interesting gameplay as Shadow Priests try to maintain the height of their Insanity as long as possible to prey on the minds of their enemies.

While not under the effects of Insanity, Shadow Priests continue to rely heavily on abilities that inflict sustained damage over time. Finally, having turned away from the Light, Shadow Priests eschew such spells as Heal, Flash Heal, and Prayer of Mending. Power Word: Shield and Shadow Mend are their primary healing tools.

  • Voidform
    • Passive
    • When you reach 100 Insanity, you enter Voidform, transforming your Mind spells into Void spells, and increasing your Shadow damage by 30%.
    • While in Voidform, you gain 2% Haste every 1 sec. This Haste will also persist for 20 sec after Voidform ends.
    • Voidform causes your Insanity to constantly drain, faster and faster, until completely drained, and Voidform ends.
  • Mind Flay
    • 40 yd range, Channeled
    • Assault the target’s mind with Shadow energy, causing minor Shadow damage over 3 sec and slowing their movement speed by 50%.
    • While in Voidform, transforms into Void Flay, which also extends Shadow Word: Pain by 3 sec.
  • Mind Blast
    • 40 yd range, 1.5 sec cast, 9 sec cooldown
    • Blasts the target’s mind for strong Shadow damage.
    • Generates 15 Insanity.
    • While in Voidform, transforms into Void Blast, which has a 4.5 sec cooldown, and also extends Vampiric Touch by 3 sec.
  • Vampiric Touch
    • 40 yd range, 1.5 sec cast
    • A touch of darkness that causes huge Shadow damage over 24 sec, and heals the Priest for each point of damage dealt.
    • If Vampiric Touch is dispelled, the dispeller flees in Horror for 3 sec.
    • Each time Vampiric Touch deals damage, it generates 3 Insanity.
  • Shadow Word: Pain
    • 40 yd range, Instant
    • A word of darkness that causes minor Shadow damage instantly, and an additional huge amount of damage over 18 sec.
    • Each time Shadow Word: Pain deals damage, it generates 3 Insanity, and has a 10% chance to reset the cooldown of Mind Blast.
  • Mastery: Madness
    • Increases the damage and Insanity generation of your Mind Blast, Shadow Word: Pain, Vampiric Touch, and Shadow Word: Death by 20% (with Mastery from typical gear).

Additionally, to give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Shadow-specific talents:
  • Oblivion
    • Instant, 2 min cooldown
    • Let the power of the void flow through you, instantly generating 100 Insanity.


Discipline
Some priests pride themselves on pragmatism. They understand that light casts a shadow, that darkness is defined by light, and that true discipline stems from one’s ability to balance these opposing powers in services of a greater cause. While these priests possess many holy virtues to aid their allies, they also dabble in the dark arts to debilitate their enemies—always exercising immense discipline to keep themselves away from the brink of insanity. Many would say the ends justify the means; scriptures both virtuous and vile should be studied and understood to protect the congregation.

"True discipline stems from one’s ability to balance opposing powers in services of a greater cause"

Gameplay
The power of absorption mechanics has created a gameplay issue for healers that we’re looking to address in Legion. Discipline Priests have been so effective in their role of preventing damage that it has sometimes left other healers yearning for an opportune time to throw out a clutch heal. To alleviate that issue, we’re tempering Discipline’s emphasis on shields in lieu of a reimaged Atonement mechanic.

Discipline Priests are now more clearly defined by their use of both Holy and Shadow magic, and that extends to how they function in combat. Sacrificing a portion of healing ability and having a reduced focus on absorption spells, they gain a significant contribution in damage. Still filling a healer role in group content, they aim to strike a balance between healing allies and damaging enemies in a unique gameplay style. Discipline Priests have strong cooldowns with Power Word: Barrier and Pain Suppression, along with Rapture, a new cooldown that temporarily removes the cooldown of Power Word: Shield.

Here’s a basic look at the core defensive and offensive combat abilities for Discipline Priests:

  • Atonement
    • Passive
    • Plea, Power Word: Shield, and Shadow Mend also apply Atonement to your target for 15 sec.
    • When you deal spell damage, you instantly heal all targets affected by Atonement for 50% of the damage done.
    • Developer comment: Healing is not split between Atonements—the more allies you have Atonement on, the more total healing that a damage spell will cause.
  • Mastery: Absolution
    • Increases the healing transferred through Atonement by 28% (with Mastery from typical gear).
  • Defensive
    • Plea
      • 1.2% Mana, 40 yd range, Instant
      • A quick, efficient plea to heal an ally for a minor amount.
    • Shadow Mend
      • 3.0% Mana, 40 yd range, 1.5 sec cast
      • Wrap an ally in shadows which heal them for a large amount, but at a price.
      • The ally will take minor damage every 1 sec, until they have taken half that amount of total damage from all sources, or leave combat.
    • Power Word: Shield
      • 3.5% Mana, 40 yd range, Instant, 6 sec cooldown
      • Shield an ally, absorbing a large amount of damage. Lasts 15 sec.
      • While the shield holds, spellcasting will not be delayed by damage.
    • Power Word: Radiance
      • 7.0% Mana, 40 yd range, 2.5 sec cast
      • A burst of light heals a friendly target and their 5 nearest allies for a moderate amount, and applies Atonement for 50% of its normal duration.
  • Offensive
    • Smite
      • 0.75% Mana, 40 yd range, 1.5 sec cast
      • Smite an enemy for moderate Holy damage.
    • Mind Blast
      • 3.0% Mana, 40 yd range, 1.5 sec cast
      • Blast the target’s mind for strong Shadow damage.
    • Penance
      • 2.5% Mana, 40 yd range, Channeled, 9 sec cooldown
      • Launches a volley of holy light at the target, causing huge Holy damage over 2 sec.
      • Channelable while moving.
    • Revelation
      • Passive
      • Your Smite and Mind Blast casts have a 30% chance to reset the cooldown on Penance.
    • Shadow Word: Pain
      • 2.0% Mana, 40 yd range, Instant
      • A word of darkness that causes minor Shadow damage instantly, and an additional huge amount of Shadow damage over 18 sec.

Additionally, to give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Discipline-specific talents:
  • Grace
    • Passive
    • Increases your non-Atonement healing and absorption by 30% on targets with Atonement.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this early preview of our approach to Priest class and specialization design in World of Warcraft: Legion. We’ll continue our review later today with a look at Mages.
↧

Legion Class Preview Series: Mage

November 9, 2015, 11:03 am
$
0
0
Legion Class Preview Series: Mage
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Welcome to our World of Warcraft: Legion class preview series. In this entry, we’re exploring the Mage—to find out what’s in store for a different class, check out the overview.

We continue our early look at class and specialization design with the Mage. In these blogs, we’ll be exploring class identity, discussing Legion’s new designs, and presenting core combat abilities for each specialization—laying out the foundation upon which talents and Artifacts will build further. With that in mind, let’s delve into what it means to be a Mage in World of Warcraft.

In terms of spec definition and overall design changes, Mages lay in contrast to the classes we’ve talked about so far in this series. Mages are in a very strong place compared to most classes, both thematically and mechanically. There’s a lot of distinction among Arcane, Fire, and Frost Mages, with each type of caster specializing heavily in a single school of magic, and each of the three schools having strong themes and consistent properties. Arcane magic warps time and space, and controls the flow of mana; Fire magic unleashes destructive force that spreads chaotically; and Frost slows and controls, setting foes up for devastating strikes.

The changes we’re making are more to prop up existing gameplay for all skill levels and provide some quality-of-life improvements. As a simple example, Summon Refreshment now automatically provides you with a stack of food if you’re adventuring out on your own, or a table of refreshments when in a party or raid.


Arcane
Mages of the arcane are diviners of secrets, balancing the ebb and flow of incredible mystic energies. Unparalleled skill is required to manipulate the volatile forces of the universe. These practitioners push their magical knowledge to its very limits—often to the brink of their own exhaustion, and at great risk to the world around them. Those who master this craft are capable of releasing a barrage of unrelenting power upon their enemies, drawing upon replenishing energies to maintain their assault for as long as the battle demands.

"Mages of the arcane are diviners of secrets, balancing the ebb and flow of incredible mystic energies"

Gameplay
Arcane Mage abilities and gameplay already deliver on the spec’s fantasy quite well, so most changes are in the vein of polishing what’s already there. First, for added mechanical clarity, Arcane Charges are now an actual resource located underneath your Mana bar instead of a stacking debuff. The functionality is still very much the same, but this change should make their accumulation and use more distinct. The one significant gameplay change is that Arcane has a new Mastery, which increases your maximum Mana by a percentage, and increases the damage bonus from Arcane Charges. This should make the Mastery feel a bit more interesting by allowing more aggressive Mana usage as your Mastery improves, and feel more empowering, ultimately giving you much more control over your rotation.

Here’s a basic look at the core combat abilities for Arcane Mages:
  • Arcane Blast
    • 5% Mana, 40 yd range, 2.25 sec cast
    • Blasts the target with energy, dealing moderate Arcane damage and generating an Arcane Charge.
    • Arcane Blast’s damage is increased by 50% per Arcane Charge, and its Mana cost is increased by 100% per Arcane Charge.
  • Arcane Missiles
    • 40 yd range, Channeled
    • Launches five waves of Arcane Missiles at the enemy over 2 sec, causing minor Arcane damage per wave. Generates an Arcane Charge.
    • Arcane Missiles’ damage is increased by 50% per Arcane Charge.
    • Arcane Missiles has a chance to be activated after each of your damaging spell casts. Limit 3 charges.
  • Arcane Barrage
    • 0.5% Mana, 40 yd range, Instant, 3 sec cooldown
    • Launches bolts of arcane energy at the enemy target, causing strong Arcane damage. Consumes all Arcane Charges.
    • Arcane Barrage’s damage is increased by 50% per Arcane Charge, and it hits 1 additional nearby target per Arcane Charge for 50% damage.
  • Evocation
    • Channeled, 1.5 min cooldown
    • Gain 25% of your total Mana instantly, and another 75% of your total mana over 6 sec.
  • Mastery: Savant
    • Increases your Mana regeneration rate and maximum Mana by 20% (with Mastery from typical gear).
    • Arcane Charges increase the damage of affected spells by an additional 10% (with Mastery from typical gear).
  • Displacement
    • Instant, 1.5 min cooldown
    • For the next 4 sec, casting Blink will not trigger its cooldown

Additionally, to give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Arcane-specific talents:
  • Quickening
    • Passive
    • Arcane Blast and Arcane Missiles also grant 2% Haste for 6 sec, stacking.
    • This effect is cleared when you cast Arcane Barrage.


Fire
While any worthy mage is an unparalleled expert in the use of magic and heavily dedicated to their craft, those who master the forces of fire tend to be a little more audacious than their peers. If a threat stands before them, the answer is always to neutralize it in a glorious blaze. A lifetime dedicated to the study of fiery forces only fuels their pyromania, and these mages take pride—even pleasure—in igniting their enemies in wild bursts of flame. Mistake their affinity for watching things burn as a lack of self-control at your own peril.

"These mages take pride—even pleasure—in igniting their enemies in wild bursts of flame"

Gameplay
Similar to Arcane, Fire already exudes its core identity, so our changes are focused on gameplay adjustments. Ultimately, you will have more freedom in what buttons you press and more control over the Heating Up mechanic, which is core to Fire Mages. In particular, the Inferno Blast ability was trying to fill two roles: spreading Ignite, and forcing a Hot Streak from a Heating Up. We’ve opted to move the spreading to an innate property of Ignite and have taken Inferno Blast off the global cooldown so that you can more freely and intuitively use it to trigger a Hot Streak.

Another major change is the redesign of Combustion. It’s an incredibly complex skill, hard to understand for most people, and has the potential for either ridiculous success or critical failure, with the odds being extremely random and very hard to gauge much of the time. We’re redesigning it into something that fits into the Fire rotation in a clear and consistent way.

Here’s a basic look at the core combat abilities for Fire Mages:
  • Fireball
    • 4% Mana, 40 yd range, 2.25 sec cast
    • Throw a fiery ball that causes moderate Fire damage.
  • Hot Streak
    • Passive
    • Getting 2 direct-damage critical strikes in a row will make your next Pyroblast or Flamestrike spell instant cast, and cause double the normal Ignite damage.
    • Developer Comment:
      • You may not start a new streak (aka, gain Heating Up), while a Hot Streak is already active
      • It was never our intention for players to sit with a Hot Streak active, then keep fishing for another Heating Up before throwing instant Pyro out—in general, we don’t like the game telling you to press a button when you shouldn’t
  • Inferno Blast
    • 2% Mana, 40 yd range, Instant, 12 sec recharge, 2 charges
    • Blasts the enemy for moderate Fire damage. This damage is always a critical strike.
    • Inferno Blast is not on the global cooldown, and can be cast while casting other spells.
  • Pyroblast
    • 5% Mana, 40 yd range, 4.5 sec cast
    • Hurl an immense fiery boulder that causes massive Fire damage.
  • Combustion
    • 10% Mana, Instant, 2 min
    • Engulf yourself in flames, increasing your critical strike chance by 100% for 10 sec.
    • Also grants you Mastery equal to your Critical Strike stat.
  • Mastery: Ignite
    • Your target burns for an additional 30% (with Mastery from typical gear) over 9 sec of the total direct damage caused by your Fireball, Inferno Blast, Scorch, Pyroblast, and Flamestrike. If this effect is reapplied, any remaining damage will be added to the new Ignite.
    • Every 2 sec, your Ignites may spread to another nearby enemy.

Additionally, to give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Fire-specific talents:
  • Cinderstorm
    • 1% Mana, 40 yd range, 1.5 sec cast, 8 sec cooldown
    • Throw a spread of 6 cinders that travel in an arc, and each deal minor Fire damage to enemies they hit.


Frost
Frost mages stand apart from their colleagues, in that their chosen school of magic focuses on maintaining supreme control over the capabilities of their enemies. Mages who command frost perform chilling displays on the battlefield, rendering foes immobile as they bombard them with ice. Often, the blade never reaches the caster before the bitter cold takes hold. The frost mage exudes frigid power as icicles form around them, foreshadowing the wintry demise of those who stand opposed on the field of battle.

"Mages who command frost perform chilling displays on the battlefield, rendering foes immobile"

Gameplay
Frost Mages are very effective casters, and there’s already a lot to like about this spec. Frost’s defining traits and abilities are cohesive, the mechanics are understandable, and there are plenty of opportunities for players to explore unique gameplay at a variety of skill levels. Rather than making any dramatic changes to how a Frost Mage plays, we’ve focused more on fixing one particular outlier in their Spellbook: Frostfire Bolt. After removing the fire portion of the spell, it began to feel like just another Frostbolt, and we started to wonder how a spell supposedly combining frost and fire wasn’t just producing a puddle of water at the feet of the enemy. We’ve removed Frostfire Bolt and made Frozen Orb part of the core spell kit in its place, which better lends itself to the identity of the Frost Mage.

Here’s a basic look at the core combat abilities for Frost Mages:
  • Frost Bolt
    • 4% Mana, 40 yd range, 2 sec cast
    • Launches a bolt of frost at the enemy, causing moderate Frost damage and slowing movement speed by 30% for 15 sec.
  • Frozen Orb
    • 10% Mana, 40 yd range, Instant, 1 min cooldown
    • Launches an orb of swirling ice forward, dealing minor Frost damage every 1 sec to all nearby enemy targets for 10 sec. Grants the Mage 1 charge of Fingers of Frost when it first reaches a target.
    • Targets damaged by the Frost Orb are slowed by 30% for 2 sec.
  • Ice Lance
    • 1% Mana, 40 yd range, Instant.
    • Quickly fling a shard of ice at the target, dealing minor Frost damage.
    • Ice Lance damage is doubled against frozen targets.
  • Brain Freeze
    • Passive
    • Your Frostbolts have a 10% chance to reset the cooldown of Frozen Orb.
  • Fingers of Frost
    • Passive
    • Your successful Frostbolt hits have a 15% chance, and your Blizzard and Frozen Orb ticks have a 5% chance to grant you the Fingers of Frost effect.
    • The Fingers of Frost effect causes your next Ice Lance to act as if your target were frozen, and deal 140% increased damage.
  • Shatter
    • Passive
    • Multiplies the critical strike chance of your spells against Frozen targets by 1.5, and adds an additional 50% chance.
  • Mastery: Icicles
    • When you damage enemies with Frostbolt, 45% (with Mastery from typical gear) of the damage done is stored as an Icicle with you, for 30 sec. Also increases the damage that your Water Elemental deals by 45% (with Mastery from typical gear).
    • Up to 5 Icicles can be stored at once. Excess Icicles that are generated will be automatically launched. Casting Ice Lance causes any Icicles to begin launching at the target.

Additionally, to give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Frost-specific talents:
  • Glacial Spike
    • 1% Mana, 40 yd range, 3 sec cast
    • Conjure a massive spike of ice, and merge your current Icicles into it. It impales your target, dealing massive damage, plus the damage stored in your Icicles.
    • Requires 5 Icicles to cast.
    • Also freezes the target in place for up to 4 sec. Damage caused may interrupt the effect.
    • Passive: Ice Lance no longer launches Icicles.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this early preview of our approach to Mage class and specialization design in World of Warcraft: Legion. We’ll continue our series next with a look at Paladins.
↧
↧

Challenge Mode Recap, Dev Interview, Legion Class Preview Series: Paladin

November 9, 2015, 5:03 pm
$
0
0
Legion Class Preview Series



Challenge Mode Recap
Lots of people are excited about the new challenge mode, so we put together a recap of what we know so far. You can also find it on the Legion menu on the front page.

Blizzcon Slides


Changes from Warlords
  • Challenge mode dungeons will no longer scale players down to a fixed power level.
  • There are no longer Bronze, Silver, and Gold timers, just one timer that is roughly the same as Silver would have been.
  • The leaderboards will focus on the highest difficulty level you have cleared, not times.
  • There won't be unique cosmetic items this time, but instead different Artifact appearances.

Keystones
  • A charged Challenger's Keystone is used to start the Challenge Mode dungeon.
  • Keystones come from world quests, with everyone able to obtain one each week. There may be opportunities to get additional ones as a bonus.
  • Keystones have a power level that determines the difficulty and reward.
  • The higher the power level gets, the more damage the enemies do and the more health the have.
  • Higher level keystones will have some additional affixes. For example:
    • Enemies enrage at 30% health remaining, doing 100% increased damage.
    • Additional enemies appear in the dungeon.
    • Enemy corpses explode and do damage shortly after death.
    • The party takes constant damage over time in the dungeon.
  • Keystone affixes will be the same for the entire region each week, so there is no need to try and find an optimal keystone.
  • When you successfully clear the dungeon before the timer expires, your keystone is upgraded to the next level.
  • If you fail to clear the dungeon before the timer expires, your keystone is depleted.
  • Depleted keystones can still be used to start additional runs, but those runs won't give a loot chest at the end.
  • If you do beat the timer on a depleted keystone run, your keystone will be upgraded and empowered again, so you can attempt the next difficulty level for loot.
  • For example: if you are trying Level 6 Halls of Valor and just barely fail, you will get a Level 6 quality reward chest for your group at the end of the run, but you now have a depleted Level 6 Halls of Valor keystone. You can try again and if you manage to beat the time, you will upgrade your keystone to a fresh empowered Level 7 keystone that will give you loot.

Dungeons and Loot
  • The system will start slightly above Heroic Dungeon difficulty.
  • The difficulty of challenge mode dungeons should be able to scale endlessly.
  • There will be a cap on loot quality being increased from difficulty:
    • For example, if a Tier 20 challenge mode dungeon is very hard to complete, they may cap the loot potential there, even if there are a couple of groups that can go a little higher.
    • This is somewhat like how current challenge modes have a gold timer that is designed to be attainable by virtually any reasonably balanced group. Players can try for even faster times for prestige or leaderboard ranks, but there aren't any more rewards.
  • You get a jackpot at the end of the week with loot quality based on your best run, which will be significantly higher than loot from regular runs.
  • There is a possibility of getting a lucky upgrade from the regular runs, but at some point your main goal will become the weekly chest.
  • If you are a skilled fully Mythic geared player, you will be able to do a very high tier challenge mode dungeon and they want to give you a chance to get loot comparable to that.
  • Loot will be in a range of item levels, somewhat like what Mythic dungeons offer in Patch 6.2.3. While there is a chance to get items equal to the best ones from Mythic raids, that is not the default expectation.
  • Challenge mode dungeons complement high end raiders gameplay, not replace it.
  • For players who do Normal difficulty raiding, but actually prefer a smaller group setting, this could replace raiding.
  • Challenge mode dungeons won't be part of the random matchmaking system.
  • Guilds, social circles, and group finder will be where you find players.
  • Having an unused keystone is a desired commodity, so people will be lining up to use your Keystone on a Sunday.


Blizzcon - Legion Developer Interview
Vanion had the opportunity to speak with J. Allen Brack at Blizzcon.


Content
  • The WoW team has never been larger, there are 250 people on the team now.
  • The team really wanted to decrease the amount of time between expansions, so in Warlords they went with one major content patch. Not having the breadth of content and different patches like they had in previous years ended up being a mistake and is something they are going to change with Legion.
  • Legion should have a cadence of content that makes the game feel like it is changing a little bit more than it has in the past.

Legion Gameplay
  • The Broken Isles intro will release 4-6 weeks before Legion.
  • The storyline will explain why Ashbringer and Doomhammer end up in the player's hands.
  • The Prestige system will reward hardcore PvP players with cosmetic rewards that allow them to show off how hardcore they are about PvP.
  • The early Demon Hunter access should let people try it out and decide if that class is for them and if it will be their main.


Legion Class Preview Series: Paladin
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Welcome to our World of Warcraft: Legion class preview series. In this entry, we’re exploring the Paladin—to find out what’s in store for a different class, check out the overview.

We continue our early look at class and specialization design with the Paladin. In these blogs, we’ll be exploring class identity, discussing Legion’s new designs, and presenting core combat abilities for each specialization—laying out the foundation upon which talents and Artifacts will build further. With that in mind, let’s delve into what it means to be a Paladin in World of Warcraft.

Paladins have deep roots in Warcraft lore as holy knights, protectors of the people, and dispensers of justice. Where a Holy Priest serves as voice of the Light, preaching to the downtrodden and disillusioned, the Paladin serves as hand of the Light, defending the faithful and enforcing divine law like a righteous hammer.

The niche of the plate-wearing holy crusader is well established in Paladin gameplay, with one key exception. Whether Paladins are mitigating enemy attacks, aiding their ailing allies, or delivering punitive justice, it’s in their nature to serve in the thick of the battle. But while Holy Paladins possess the heavy armor and strong defensive ability themes, in practice they spend most of their time behind the frontlines with the more fragile healers. In addition to shoring up the identities of Protection and Retribution Paladins, we’re adjusting Holy Paladin gameplay to bring them closer to the front, where they belong.


Holy
Like priests who serve the Light, holy paladins are devout in their faith. After spending much of their lives in hallowed halls studying divine doctrine, those who pledge themselves to a holy order become beacons of the Light for their allies in conflict, taking up the heavy armor and weaponry of justice. Holding the unwavering belief that any battle waged to eradicate evil in the world is righteous, these paladins stands on the frontlines in service to all others dedicated to the cause. The truth and virtue of the Light imbues these sacred knights with the power to revitalize their comrades. If necessary, they even lay down their own lives to serve as martyr for the greater good.

"The truth and virtue of the Light imbues these sacred knights with the power to revitalize their comrades"

Gameplay
We love the unique identity of the Paladin healer and are modifying the gameplay to better support it. Single-target healing from Beacon of Light remains their marquee ability, but other abilities and talents have been adjusted to encourage Holy Paladins to be near the people they want to heal—including melee characters, when necessary. This is incentivized by Lightbringer, a new Mastery, which increases healing on allies near you. This is further reinforced by the addition of a row of Aura talents that provide a variety of localized beneficial effects, and refinements to some spells, such as Light of Dawn returning to being a cone.

Talents will also provide players with options to incorporate offensive capabilities while healing. When allies are in need, Light of the Martyr allows the Holy Paladin to rapidly heal them by sacrificing personal health. Finally, we’re addressing gameplay restrictions caused by Holy Power—in which players often feel forced to use abilities in specific orders or ratios—by removing it in favor of making Mana the primary resource.

To give you an idea of the Holy Paladin in action, here’s a basic look at their core combat abilities:
  • Holy Light
    • 2.0% Mana, 40 yd range, 2.5 sec cast
    • A slow but efficient spell, healing a friendly target for a moderate amount.
  • Flash of Light
    • 4.0% Mana, 40 yd range, 1.5 sec cast
    • A quick but expensive spell, healing a friendly target for a moderate amount.
  • Light of the Martyr
    • 2.5% Mana, 40 yd range, Instant
    • Sacrifices a moderate amount of your own health to instantly heal an ally for a moderate amount.
    • Cannot be cast on yourself.
  • Light of Dawn
    • 4.0% Mana, 1.5 sec cast, 12 sec cooldown
    • Unleash a wave of healing energy before you, healing up to 5 injured allies within a 15 yd frontal cone for a moderate amount.
  • Holy Shock
    • 1.5% Mana, 40 yd range, Instant, 10 sec cooldown
    • Instantly trigger a burst of Light on the target, dealing moderate Holy damage to an enemy, or moderate healing to an ally.
    • Holy Shock has double the normal critical strike chance.
  • Infusion of Light
    • Passive
    • Your Holy Shock criticals reduce the cast time of your next Holy Light by 1.5 sec or increase the healing of your next Flash of Light by 50%.
  • Beacon of Light
    • 0.5% Mana, 60 yd range, Instant, 3 sec cooldown
    • Place a Beacon of Light on a friendly target.
    • Your heals on other party or raid members will also heal the Beacon of Light target for up to 50% of the amount healed. Your Flash of Light and Holy Light on the Beacon of Light target will also refund 40% of their Mana cost.
  • Mastery: Lightbringer
    • Proximity to your target causes your spells to heal for up to 30% (with Mastery from typical gear) more.

Additionally, to provide a glimpse at how some talents may build upon this, here’s one example of a Holy-specific talent:
  • Beacon of the Lightbringer
    • Passive
    • The maximum bonus from Mastery: Lightbringer is increased by 24%, and it now increases your healing based on the target's proximity to either you or your Beacon of Light, whichever is closer.


Protection
The paladin’s tools of war lay bare their motivations. Clenched in one hand is the weapon, a deadly device for exacting righteous judgment. Locked in the other hand is the shield, a symbolic and literal barrier protecting good from evil. Stalwart and steadfast, these protectors are ardent defenders of the Light and all that it touches, and are rejuvenated by its radiance in return. So dedicated they are to their cause that they consecrate the very ground upon which they battle corruption.

"Stalwart and steadfast, these protectors are ardent defenders of the Light"

Gameplay
The Protection Paladin arsenal is already closely aligned with its theme. The primary change is the removal of Holy Power, which didn’t have a lot of depth and mostly amounted to limiting use of only a couple of abilities. Instead, these abilities now have cooldowns to allow for better interaction with other abilities.

We’re also addressing an awkward control issue with Crusader Strike and Hammer of the Righteous. To improve control and depth, instead of two functionally identical (apart from the AoE) abilities, we’ve switched to one that conditionally triggers the AoE while standing in Consecration. Judgment is a good example of an ability that is staying simple—baseline—so as to provide a strong platform for talents and other effects to build upon. For defensive buttons, we’ve replaced Word of Glory with a self-focused spell, Light of the Protector, allowing it to be much more interesting and impactful.

To give you an idea of the Protection Paladin in action, here’s a basic look at their core combat abilities:
  • Defensive
    • Shield of the Righteous
      • Melee Range, Instant, 12 sec recharge, 3 charges
      • Instantly slam the target with your shield, causing huge Holy damage, and reducing damage you take by 25% for 4.5 sec.
    • Light of the Protector
      • Instant, 15 sec cooldown
      • Calls down the Light to heal yourself for 50% of your missing health.
    • Redoubt
      • Passive
      • Your autoattack critical strikes cause you to gain a charge of Shield of the Righteous or Light of the Protector.
    • Mastery: Divine Bulwark
      • Increases the damage reduction of your Shield of the Righteous by 10% (with Mastery from typical gear), and increases your chance to block melee attacks by 20% (with Mastery from typical gear).
      • Also increases your attack power by 20% (with Mastery from typical gear).
  • Offensive
    • Avenger’s Shield
      • 30 yd range, Instant, 15 sec cooldown
      • Hurls your shield at an enemy target, dealing strong Holy damage, interrupting and silencing the target for 3 sec, and then jumping to 2 additional nearby enemies.
      • Also increases the effects of your next Shield of the Righteous or Light of the Protector by 20%.
    • Hammer of the Righteous
      • Melee Range, Instant, 3 sec recharge, 2 charges
      • Hammer the current target for moderate Physical damage.
      • If you are standing in your Consecration, Hammer of the Righteous also causes a wave of light that hits all other targets within 8 yds for minor Holy damage.
    • Grand Crusader
      • Passive
      • When you avoid a melee attack or use Hammer of the Righteous, you have a 15% chance of refreshing the cooldown on Avenger’s Shield
    • Judgment
      • 30 yd range, Instant, 6 sec cooldown
      • Judge an enemy, dealing strong Holy damage.
    • Consecration
      • Instant, 9 sec cooldown
      • Consecrates the land beneath you, causing strong Holy damage over 9 sec to enemies who enter the area.

Additionally, to provide a glimpse at how some talents may build upon this, here’s one example of a Protection-specific talent:
  • Blessed Hammer
    • Instant, 3 sec recharge, 2 charges
    • Throw a divine hammer that spirals outward from the Paladin, dealing moderate Holy damage to enemies it passes through.
    • Replaces Hammer of the Righteous


Retribution
To serve as instrument of the Light is to hold an unshakable faith. Oftentimes the most dedicated paladins become fanatical in their devotion, instruments of retribution against those who dare defy the laws of the divine. These paladins are vengeful guardians of the weak—crusaders judging and punishing the wicked. Their resolute conviction in the divine order of all things assures them that victory is inevitable—but they will fight to the end to ensure that the Light prevails.

"Oftentimes the most dedicated paladins become fanatical in their devotion"

Gameplay
We’re making several tweaks to Retribution to amplify their character. In particular, we’re refocusing most of their core abilities on short-range combat. So many of the Retribution Paladin’s abilities were ranged spells that they started to feel more like a caster than a melee crusader. A new ability, Blade of Justice (along with several new talents) will impact gameplay significantly, bolstering the inherent Retribution themes. Separating them from the other types of Paladins, Retribution Paladins continue to use Holy Power, serving as a strong mechanic for building interesting gameplay.

To give you an idea of the Retribution Paladin in action, here’s a basic look at their core combat abilities:
  • Crusader Strike
    • Melee Range, Instant, 4.5 sec cooldown
    • An instant strike that causes moderate Physical damage and grants 1 Holy Power
  • Blade of Justice
    • 12 yd range, Instant, 12 sec cooldown
    • Strikes an enemy with the Blade of Justice, dealing strong Holy damage and generating 2 Holy Power
  • Judgment
    • 30 yd range, Instant, 12 sec cooldown
    • Judge an enemy, dealing moderate Holy damage and causing the target to take 30% increased damage from your Holy Power generators and consumers for 6 sec.
  • Templar’s Verdict
    • 3 Holy Power, Melee Range, Instant
    • A powerful weapon strike that deals massive Holy damage.
  • Divine Storm
    • 3 Holy Power, Instant
    • A whirl of divine energy, dealing strong Holy damage to all enemies within 8 yds.
  • Conviction
    • Passive
    • Your Crusader Strike and Blade of Justice have a 20% chance to generate 1 additional Holy Power.
  • Mastery: Hand of Light
    • Your Crusader Strike, Blade of Justice, Divine Storm, and Templar’s Verdict deal 45% (with Mastery from typical gear) additional Holy damage.

Additionally, to provide a glimpse at how some talents may build upon this, here’s one example of a Retribution-specific talent:
  • Lothar’s Might
    • 30 yd range, Instant, 30 sec cooldown
    • Flings a blade of holy light to the target location. Reactivating will teleport the Paladin to the blade and strike nearby enemies for moderate Holy damage.
    • Replaces Hand of Hindrance.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this early preview of our approach to Paladin class and specialization design in World of Warcraft: Legion. We’ll continue our review tomorrow with a look at Warlocks, Death Knights, and Shaman.

Blue Tweets
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
PvP
WoW is a huge game full of quests, dungeons, raids, crafting, PvP and more. The game provides great content for a wide variety of people. (holinka)
The expectation is that WoW PvP will be as good as any standalone PvP game. It's a great challenge and I love it! (holinka)
The popularity of our PvP is often compared to standalone PvP games like MOBAs or shooters. This is evidence of a very passionate community. (holinka)

Ultimately, we want you and your friends to come together over your enjoyment of WoW. It's the reason we work so hard to make the game. (holinka)
The truth now, how awesome will Legion be exactly?
We will do all we can to make it as fun as possible but you will be the ones who decide how we did. (holinka)
Surely, what's your personal opinion though if you were to compare legion in it's current form to all the pervious expansions?(PvP)
blech, I don't like judging my own work. Fees weird. (holinka)

Lore
Hello Mr. Kosak, maybe you can answer my question: If Malfurion is the first druid, does that mean Cenarius isn't a druid?
What about green dragons? They're mortal, and Malfurion has been described as the first druid but also the first mortal druid.
Green dragons were immortal until the events of Cataclysm and the unmaking of Deathwing, as I understand it. (DaveKosak)

Misc
At least get the Starburst Flavor poll results up there as well MMO-C!!! Pink takes it by 4%!!! Outrageous! https://t.co/EQWRQzrMuI (holinka)

BlizzCon Grab Bag Giveaway
Didn't go to BlizzCon? No problem! We're giving out some fabulous mystery bags to 5 lucky winners in our BlizzCon Grab-Bag Giveaway, each containing hundreds of dollars of cool Blizzard merchandise, including convention-exclusive items! Head over to our BlizzCon wiki and click on the BlizzCon Grab Bag Giveaway banner to enter.

↧

Legion Class Preview Series: Warlock

November 10, 2015, 5:02 am
$
0
0
Update (1:30 PM EST): Added PTR build

Patch 6.2.3 PTR - Build 20716
Build 20716 will be deployed to the PTR realms soon.



New Icons



Spell Changes
Originally Posted by MMO-Champion
Companions



Legion Class Preview Series: Warlock
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Welcome to our World of Warcraft: Legion class preview series. In this entry, we’re exploring the Warlock—to find out what’s in store for a different class, check out the overview.

We continue our early look at class and specialization design with the Warlock. In these blogs, we’ll be exploring class identity, discussing Legion’s new designs, and presenting core combat abilities for each specialization—laying out the foundation upon which talents and Artifacts will build further. With that in mind, let’s delve into what it means to be a Warlock in World of Warcraft.

Warlocks are the most volatile and insatiable of spellcasters. Though they often pledge themselves to the service of noble causes and are not innately evil, their desire to understand darker magics and exercise unwavering command over demonic forces breeds mistrust among even their closest allies.
Warlocks peer into the Void without hesitation, leveraging the chaos they glimpse within to devastating ends in battle—their greatest abilities are fueled by the souls they’ve harvested from their victims. They exploit powerful Shadow magic to manipulate and degrade the minds and bodies of their enemies. They employ Fire magic, dropping hellish rain from the sky, to immolate the opposition. They summon and command indomitable demons from the Twisting Nether to do their bidding, or even to be sacrificed as the Warlock sees fit, empowering and protecting the dark caster from harm.

The foundation of the Warlock class has been long and well established in Warcraft lore. However, while Affliction and Destruction Warlocks have maintained consistent, distinguished fantasies, the core identity of the Demonology Warlock has strayed too far from its roots in recent years. A primary goal for Warlocks in Legion is to accentuate the existing motifs for Affliction and Destruction, while returning Demonology back to its roots of summoning, utilizing, and empowering demons.

Warlock resources have also become too cumbersome, causing confusion that outweighed their depth. To this end, we’re going to once again standardize Warlocks on their most class-defining resources: Mana and Soul Shards. Finally, demons have always served various utility purposes, but most of them are very niche, while the same one or two demons see the vast majority of limelight. We want to re-incentivize demon variety, strengthening the various utilities that each demon supplies, and causing some demons to be favored based on the Warlock’s spec.


Affliction
Affliction warlocks are masters of shadow-touched powers, but unlike shadow priests—deadliest when pushed to the brink of insanity—these warlocks delight in using fel forces to cause intense pain and suffering in others. They revel in corrupting minds and agonizing souls, leaving enemies in a state of torment that would see them undone in due time. Even the most battle-hardened warriors can be deceived, landing blow after blow against the warlock, only to succumb to their suffering as their very vitality is siphoned away by the dark spellcaster.

"These warlocks delight in using fel forces to cause intense pain and suffering in others"

Gameplay
Affliction Warlocks’ gameplay has always aligned well with their character, but in terms of abilities, we want to avoid the feeling that DoTs are amplifiers for your channeled single-target damage. Applying spells that do damage over time is very core to Affliction, so we want to reinforce these spells as the primary source of damage, with other “filler” spells feeling more secondary. We’re adjusting the Affliction rotation so that DoTs are stronger, and your focus is more on figuring out how best to juggle those DoTs to maximize damage output.

Mechanically, we’re altering how Soul Shards are generated and spent, in part to better deliver on the more DoT-driven damage. Soul Shards are now generated by each Agony you have up on your targets, instead of only by your most recent Corruption cast, to favor placing DoTs on several targets rapidly (multi-dotting). You’ll then spend Soul Shards on an extremely strong DoT in Unstable Affliction, reinforcing the focus on DoTs.

Finally, in keeping with the Affliction theme, Drain Life serves as the main filler spell, instead of Malefic Grasp or Drain Soul. This better matches the Affliction identity because its damage stays secondary to the DoTs, which should be the primary focus of damage, instead of dwarfing them. It also adds significant self-healing, further playing to the Affliction motif.

To give you an idea of the Affliction Warlock in action, here’s a basic look at their core combat abilities:
  • Corruption
    • 3% Mana, 40 yd range, Instant
    • Corrupts the target, causing moderate Shadow damage over 14 sec.
  • Agony
    • 3% Mana, 40 yd range, Instant
    • Inflicts increasing agony on the target, causing up to a huge amount of Shadow damage over 18 sec. Damage starts low and increases over the duration. Refreshing Agony maintains its current damage level.
    • When Agony deals damage, you have a chance to regain a Soul Shard.
  • Unstable Affliction
    • 1 Soul Shard, 40 yd range, 1.5 sec cast
    • An especially insidious affliction that deals strong Shadow damage over 8 sec.
    • If the target dies, the Soul Shard will be refunded.
    • If Unstable Affliction is dispelled, the dispeller suffers strong Shadow damage and is silenced for 4 sec.
  • Drain Life
    • 3% Mana, plus 4,800 per sec, 40 yd range, Channeled
    • Drains life from the target, causing moderate shadow damage and restoring 18% of the caster’s health over 6 sec.
    • Drain Life’s damage is increased by 50% for each of your Corruption, Agony, and Unstable Affliction effects on the target.
  • Mastery: Potent Afflictions
    • Increases the damage of Agony, Corruption, and Unstable Affliction by 62.5% (with Mastery from typical gear).

Additionally, to provide a glimpse at how some talents may build upon this, here’s one example of an Affliction-specific talent:
  • Contagion
    • Passive
    • After you cast Unstable Affliction, you can cast a second one for free, within 3 seconds.


Demonology
By their very nature, demons are leeches on the living universe—but the demonologist has mastered harnessing the power of these malefic beings on the field of battle. Warlocks harvest the souls of their defeated enemies; those specialized in the ways of demonology use this life essence to tap into the Void, pulling all manner of abomination from the chaos of the Twisting Nether. While such a practice is often considered by outsiders to be wicked and reckless, the demonologist maintains absolute control over the summoned creatures. These malignant entities are fully beholden to—and empowered by—the will of the warlock, until banished to the realm from whence they came.

"The demonologist has mastered harnessing the power of malefic beings on the field of battle"

Gameplay
While all Warlocks maintain the power to summon demons, Demonology is distinguished by the ability to call forth waves of demons to overwhelm the opposition, and also to further empower the demons they summon. Over the years we strayed too far from this design, to the extent that Demonology gameplay was defined more by the Warlock becoming a demon. Legion provides a fitting opportunity for us to realign the spec around its core function of mastering control of demons, not transforming into them.

We also recognize that Demonology had a large array of intertwined mechanics that weren’t intuitive, and they’ve undergone a greater degree of redesign as a result. For those who played Demonology during Warlords of Draenor, the gameplay will feel quite different in Legion. Beta test feedback will be essential in helping us to ensure that the new spec feels strong and enjoyable and that we’ve accomplished our goal of returning Demonology to its foundations.

To give you an idea of the Demonology Warlock in action, here’s a basic look at their core combat abilities:
  • Shadow Bolt
    • 6% Mana, 40 yd range, 2.5 sec cast
    • Sends a shadowy bolt at the enemy, causing minor Shadow damage. Generates 1 Soul Shard.
  • Call Dreadstalkers
    • 2 Soul Shards, 40 yd range, 2 sec cast, 15 sec cooldown
    • Summon 2 ferocious Dreadstalkers to attack the target for 12 sec.
  • Hand of Gul’dan
    • 1 to 5 Soul Shards, 40 yd range, 1.5 sec cast
    • Calls down a demonic meteor full of Wild Imps which burst forth to attack the target for 12 sec.
    • Deals up to a strong amount of Shadow damage to all enemies within 8 yds and summons up to 5 Wild Imps, based on Soul Shards consumed.
  • Demonic Empowerment
    • 6% Mana, 1.5 sec cast, 12 sec recharge, 3 charges
    • Empowers up to 3 of your active demons with dark energies, increasing their Haste and health by 50% for 12 sec.
    • Prefers stronger demons first.
  • Mastery: Master Demonologist
    • Demonic Empowerment also increases the damage of your demons by 50% (with Mastery from typical gear).
  • Doom
    • 2% Mana, 40 yd range, Instant
    • Inflicts impending doom upon the target, causing absolutely massive Shadow damage after 20 seconds
    • Generates a Soul Shard when it deals damage.
  • Demonwrath
    • 2.5% Mana per sec, Channeled
    • Your demons crackle with demonic energy. Every 1 sec, all enemies within 10 yds of any of your demons take minor Shadow damage.
    • Each time Demonwrath deals damage, it has a 15% chance to generate a Soul Shard.
    • May be channeled while moving.

Additionally, to provide a glimpse at how some talents may build upon this, here’s one example of a Demonology-specific talent:
  • Implosion
    • 6% Mana, Instant
    • Causes all of your Wild Imps to be violently yanked toward the target, and then explode, dealing moderate Shadow damage to all enemies near them.


Destruction
Warlocks who command the power of destruction favor incantations of pure chaos and aggression in battle. In this regard, they’d find a stronger kinship with fire mages than warlocks of other disciplines—if not for their propensity to make use of magic deemed detestable by all mage orders. The destruction warlock is well-versed in discharging a dizzying array of shadow, fel, fire, and chaos magics upon opponents that rattle souls and conflagrate bodies. They require little motivation for the havoc they wreak, happy to revel in the destruction they cause—thrilled at any opportunity to watch the world erupt in discord around them.

"Warlocks who command the power of destruction favor incantations of pure chaos and aggression"

Gameplay
Destruction mechanics are in a solid place overall and are already a good match thematically, so we’re taking the opportunity in Legion to provide additional polish on existing gameplay. While resource mechanic functionality isn’t being drastically overhauled, we’ve changed Burning Embers back to Soul Shards. Not only does this return consistency across all Warlock specs, it also reestablishes the Soul Shard as the iconic source of Warlock power.

To give you an idea of the Destruction Warlock in action, here’s a basic look at their core combat abilities:
  • Incinerate
    • 6% Mana, 40 yd range, 2 sec cast
    • Draws fire toward the enemy, dealing moderate Fire damage.
  • Immolate
    • 6% Mana, 40 yd range, 1.5 sec cast
    • Burns the enemy with fire, causing minor Fire damage and an additional strong Fire damage over 15 sec.
    • Immolate critical strikes have a 30% chance to generate a Soul Shard.
  • Conflagrate
    • 2% Mana, 40 yd range, Instant, 8 sec recharge, 2 charges
    • Triggers an explosion of fire on the target, dealing moderate Fire damage and generating a Soul Shard.
    • Also causes Backdraft, reducing the cast times of Incinerate and Chaos Bolt by 30% for 5 sec.
  • Chaos Bolt
    • 2 Soul Shards, 40 yd range, 2.5 sec cast
    • Unleashes a devastating blast of chaos, causing huge Shadow damage. Chaos Bolt always critically strikes and your critical strike chance increases its damage.
  • Havoc
    • 8% Mana, 40 yd range, Instant, 20 sec cooldown
    • Mark a target with Havoc for 8 sec, causing your single target spells to also strike them. Limit 1.
  • Mastery: Chaotic Energies
    • Your Destruction spells deal up to 40% (with Mastery from typical gear) additional damage, randomly.

Additionally, to provide a glimpse at how some talents may build upon this, here’s one example of a Destruction-specific talent:
  • Channel Demonfire
    • 4.8% Mana, Channeled, 12 se cooldown
    • Launches 15 bolts of felfire at Immolated enemies within 40 yds, over 3 sec. Each bolt deals moderate Fire damage.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this early preview of our approach to class and specialization design in World of Warcraft: Legion. We’ll continue our review later today with a look at Death Knights and Shaman.
↧

Legion Class Preview Series: Death Knight

November 10, 2015, 11:03 am
$
0
0
Legion Class Preview Series: Death Knight
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Welcome to our World of Warcraft: Legion class preview series. In this entry, we’re exploring the Death Knight—to find out what’s in store for a different class, check out the overview.

We continue our early look at class and specialization design with the Death Knight. In these blogs, we’ll be exploring class identity, discussing Legion’s new designs, and presenting core combat abilities for each specialization—laying out the foundation upon which talents and Artifacts will build further. With that in mind, let’s delve into what it means to be a Death Knight in World of Warcraft.

The first new class introduced to World of Warcraft after its launch, Death Knights came into the fray with an identity unmistakably tied to the Wrath of the Lich King story. The Death Knights of Acherus, their cold bodies lifted from the grave in the Scarlet Enclave, were commanded by the Lich King and Highlord Darion Mograine to slaughter every villager in Tyr’s Hand, New Avalon, and Havenshire, and to sack Light’s Hope Chapel, decimating both the Scarlet Crusade and the Argent Dawn.

Ultimately, as a result of such uncompromising ambition, the Lich King was betrayed by Highlord Mograine in an act that freed the Death Knights from their servitude. Under Mograine’s leadership they formed the Knights of the Ebon Blade and began joining the ranks of the Horde and Alliance forces bound for Icecrown Citadel to end the reign of Arthas, the Lich King. Though now free from the Lich King’s grasp, these once virtuous champions remain knights of darkness, wielding runeblades of death and destruction and mercilessly stealing the very life essence of their enemies.

We always want to reflect the Death Knight origin story and identity in how they play. The biggest area where we see room for improvement is in their resource system. Runes are a very iconic resource, but their functionality has always been convoluted. In Legion, we’re making Runes more straightforward by removing their division into separate Blood, Frost, and Unholy types. Death Knights now have six unified Runes to spend, with a maximum of three recharging at any one time.

With this change, it’s also important that we preserve the existing gameplay familiarity of Death Knights by making mostly minor changes to core ability functionality and cost—we don’t want the Rune change to create a situation where the best Frost rotation is just Obliterate, Obliterate, Obliterate. Finally, we’re reducing ability overlap between specializations, giving each a single disease with a unique trait and creating a talent tree that’s largely populated with spec-specific talents to better distinguish them.


Blood
In undeath, some death knights find a special affinity for the blood and bone of the living. They carve into their enemies, sustaining themselves with deadly sanguine strikes, while using the bloody, shattered remains of the dead to fortify their own defenses. These crimson-soaked knights bend the very rules of mortality to control the frontlines of the battlefield.

"These crimson-soaked knights bend the very rules of mortality to control the frontlines of the battlefield"

Gameplay
The core abilities for Blood should be familiar, though we’ve touched them up to bring added clarity to the specialization. Each core ability now better leverages that sinister command of blood and bone to fuel your survivability. In particular, we’ve changed Death Strike to cost Runic Power instead of Runes. This results in a more clear choice of resource expenditure; you can’t lock yourself out of being able to heal if you spend a Rune at the wrong time, and also gives Runic Power generation a bigger impact.

Instead of Rune Tap, we’re positioning Bone Shield to be the primary complement to Death Strike for active defenses to better tie into the fantasy and provide more flexibility. Marrowrend is a new attack which allows you to rotationally generate Bone Shields. To provide gameplay contention between Runes of a single type, Blood Strike now generates additional Runic Power on top of the standard amount gained for spending a Rune.

Here’s a basic look at the core defensive and offensive combat abilities for Blood Death Knights:
  • Blood Strike
    • 1 Rune, Melee Range, Instant
    • Instantly strike the enemy, causing moderate Physical damage and infecting the victim with Blood Plague.
    • Generates 10 bonus Runic Power.
    • Blood Plague
      • A disease that deals minor Shadow damage and heals the caster for 1% of their maximum health every 3 sec for 30 sec.
  • Marrowrend
    • 2 Runes, Melee Range, Instant
    • Smash the target, dealing strong Physical damage and generating 3 charges of Bone Shield.
    • Bone Shield
      • Surrounds you with a barrier of whirling bones that reduces all damage you take by 25%. Each damaging attack consumes a charge. Lasts for 30 sec or until all charges are consumed.
  • Death Strike
    • 40 Runic Power, Melee Range, Instant
    • Focuses dark power into a strike that deals strong Physical damage and heals you for 50% of all damage taken in the last 6 sec (minimum 7% of maximum health).
    • If you are below 35% health when this is cast, all Runic Power is consumed, increasing the potency of the healing effect.
  • Mastery: Blood Shield
    • Each time you heal yourself with Death Strike, you gain 40% (with Mastery from typical gear) of the base amount healed as a Physical damage absorption shield.
    • Also increases your Attack Power by 20% (with Mastery from typical gear).
  • Death and Decay
    • 1 Rune, 30 yd range, Instant, 30 sec cooldown
    • Corrupts the ground targeted by the Death Knight, causing moderate Shadow damage over 10 sec to targets within the area. While you remain within the targeted area, your Blood Strike will hit all nearby enemies.
  • Crimson Scourge
    • Passive
    • Your successful autoattacks on targets infected with your Blood Plague have a 25% chance to reset the cooldown on Death and Decay.

To give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this core rotation, here’s an example of a Blood-specific talent:
  • Bonestorm
    • 15 Runic Power per sec, Instant, 1 min cooldown
    • A whirl of bone and gore batters nearby enemies 3 times per second to deal minor Shadow damage, healing you for 1% of your maximum health per strike.


Frost
Combining martial prowess with supernatural cold, frost death knights leave their enemies chilled to the bone—and broken of the will to fight. Unlike mages who learn to harness frost magic to great effect, these death knights are born of it, rime gripping their decaying hearts. These frozen undead warriors wield dual blades to strike with ferocity and inflict deathly cold upon anyone who would stand against them.

"These death knights are born of frost magic, rime gripping their decaying hearts"

Gameplay
The mechanics of the Frost Death Knight are quite solid and we don’t want to do too much to change that. You’ll notice that the core combat abilities listed below are largely familiar. One small area where we found room for improvement, however, is in Killing Machine’s passive interaction with the core rotation. While the automatic critical strikes it provides feel good, it’s often better to ignore its proc in favor of spending resources as fast as you can, as your damage output suffers if you wait for the different resources required for using Obliterate and Frost Strike to become available. Killing Machine now only affects Obliterate, and making wise use of its effect should feel more meaningful.

Here’s a basic look at the core combat abilities for Frost Death Knights:
  • Howling Blast
    • 1 Rune, 30 yd range, Instant
    • Blast a target with a frigid wind, dealing minor Frost damage to that target, and minor Frost damage to all other enemies within 10 yds, infecting all targets with Frost Fever
    • Frost Fever
      • A disease that deals minor Frost damage and has a chance to grant the Death Knight 5 Runic Power every 3 sec for 30sec.
  • Obliterate
    • 2 Runes, Melee Range, Instant
    • A brutal attack with both weapons that deals massive Physical damage.
  • Frost Strike
    • 20 Runic Power, Melee Range, Instant
    • Chill your weapons with icy power, and quickly strike the enemy with both weapons, dealing massive Frost damage.
  • Rime
    • Passive
    • Your Obliterate has a 45% chance to cause your next Howling Blast to consume no Runes, generate no Runic Power, and deal 300% additional damage.
  • Killing Machine
    • Passive
    • Your autoattacks have a chance to make your next Obliterate automatically critically strike.
  • Remorseless Winter
    • 1 Rune, Instant, 30 sec cooldown
    • Radiate extreme cold, dealing moderate Frost damage to all enemies within 10 yards of you over 10 sec.
  • Mastery: Frozen Heart
    • Increases all Frost damage done by 40% (with Mastery from typical gear).

To give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this core rotation, here’s an example of a Frost-specific talent:
  • Glacial Advance
    • 1 Rune, Instant, 12 sec cooldown
    • Summon glacial spikes from the ground that advance forward, each dealing moderate Frost damage to enemies near their eruption point.


Unholy
While free from the Lich King’s grasp, some death knights still embody the ever-corrupting nature of the Scourge plague that once threatened to consume Azeroth. No matter their allegiance or cause, they remain defilers of life; and nowhere is their callousness more on display than when threatened. Inflictors of the most aggressive of diseases—and masters of raising unhallowed minions from the ground—these unholy death knights are vicious melee combatants, capable of striking with the force of an undead legion and unleashing pestilence that would bring their foes to ruin.

"Unholy death knights are vicious melee combatants, capable of unleashing pestilence that would bring their foes to ruin"

Gameplay
Unholy is receiving slightly more mechanical changes than Blood and Frost, to better realign with their unique identity. We want to ensure that Unholy continues to be the spec with the most active use of diseases. In this regard, we recognize that Festering Strike lost its luster over time and have developed a new mechanic to ensure the ability remains integral in the Unholy rotation.

Here’s a basic look at the core combat abilities for Unholy Death Knights:
  • Outbreak
    • 1 Rune, 30 yd range, Instant, 6 sec cooldown
    • Deals minor Shadow damage and surrounds the target in a miasma lasting for 6 sec that causes the target and all nearby enemies to be infected with Virulent Plague
    • Virulent Plague
      • A disease that deals moderate Shadow damage every 3 sec for 21 sec. It erupts when the infected target dies, dealing moderate Shadow damage, split evenly between nearby enemies.
      • The disease also has a 30% chance to erupt each time it deals damage.
  • Festering Strike
    • 2 Runes, Melee Range, Instant
    • Deals massive Physical damage and infects the target with 1 to 3 Festering Wounds.
    • Festering Wound
      • A pustule-ridden lesion that may be burst by Scourge Strike, dealing moderate Shadow damage and generating 3 Runic Power.
  • Scourge Strike
    • 1 Rune, Melee Range, Instant
    • An unholy strike that deals strong Physical damage and strong Shadow damage. Triggers a single stack of Festering Wound, if it is present on the target.
  • Death Coil
    • 30 Runic Power, 40 yd range, Instant
    • Fires a blast of unholy energy at the target, causing strong Shadow damage to an enemy, and restoring 10 Energy to your Ghoul.
  • Sudden Doom
    • Passive
    • Your autoattacks have a chance to make your next Death Coil cost no Runic Power.
  • Dark Transformation
    • Instant, 1 min cooldown
    • Transform your Ghoul into a powerful undead monstrosity for 20 sec. The Ghoul’s abilities are empowered and take on new functions while the transformation is active.
  • Death and Decay
    • 1 Rune, 30 yd range, Instant, 30 sec cooldown
    • Corrupts the ground targeted by the Death Knight, causing moderate Shadow damage over 10 sec to targets within the area. While you remain within the targeted area, your Scourge Strike will hit all nearby enemies.
  • Mastery: Dreadblade
    • Increases all Shadow damage done by 50% (with Mastery from typical gear).

To give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this core rotation, here’s an example of an Unholy-specific talent:
  • All Will Serve
    • Passive
    • Your Raise Dead spell summons an additional skeletal minion, and its cooldown is removed.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this early preview of our approach to class and specialization design in World of Warcraft: Legion. We’ll continue our review later today with a look at Shaman.
↧
Search

Legion Class Preview Series: Shaman

November 10, 2015, 5:25 pm
$
0
0
Patch 6.2.3 PTR - Build 20716 - Baby Winston!

Legion Class Preview Series



Legion Class Preview Series: Shaman
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Welcome to our World of Warcraft: Legion class preview series. In this entry, we’re exploring the Shaman—to find out what’s in store for a different class, check out the overview.

We continue our early look at class and specialization design with the Shaman. In these blogs, we’ll be exploring class identity, discussing Legion’s new designs, and presenting core combat abilities for each specialization—laying out the foundation upon which talents and Artifacts will build further. With that in mind, let’s delve into what it means to be a Shaman in World of Warcraft.

For millennia, since the primitive tribal cultures of Azeroth and Draenor, the natural elements of the physical universe have been celebrated, feared, and even worshipped. Mystics sought communion with the earth, air, fire, and water, and learned to tap into their raw power. In time, these spiritual guides came to understand that nature’s elemental forces aren’t wholly benevolent, but have, in fact, been locked in an unending conflict of chaos and primal fury that once consumed the physical realm. So began the calling of the Shaman, to bring balance to these volatile energies, leveraging their intensity to mend wounds . . . or inflict them.

The use of totems is integral to the Shaman archetype, and we’re addressing some persistent issues with their mechanics. For a long time there have been significant constraints associated with totems, like the fact that they can only be dropped at the Shaman’s feet, or that they only have 5 health, or that no more than one of the same elemental type can be active at one time. While these constraints were intended to ensure that totems felt unique, they ultimately drove us to creating strange tools to allow the Shaman to bypass such constraints, such as Totemic Projection or Totemic Persistence. In Legion, we’re eliminating this awkwardness and simply removing the constraints.

Totems of the same nature type can now be summoned together, allowing you to have Healing Stream Totem and Healing Tide Totem up at the same time. Elementals are no longer tied to totems, but are guardians that follow and assist you. Totems’ maximum health will always equal a percentage of your maximum health. In addition, totems that need to be placed at a specific location will be directly placed using a targeting reticle. If you want to place Earthgrab Totem in the middle of a big pack of nasty orcs, you can do that without having to run into that nastiness or use a separate spell to throw the totem there. In general, totem mechanics are concentrated around temporary effects (either beneficial or hostile) in a localized area, as opposed to “maintenance buff” cooldowns you need to make sure are up at all times.

Finally, we’re bringing needed clarity to Shaman resources, particularly to move away from disguising a couple key resources as buffs. Lightning Shield charges for Elemental Shaman, Maelstrom Weapon charges for Enhancement Shaman, and Mana have all been replaced for Elemental and Enhancement with a new resource: Maelstrom. Mana is a fitting Restoration Shaman resource and will remain for that spec.


Elemental
Certain shaman have dedicated themselves above all else to forging a deep bond with the elements. They have peered beyond the Elemental Plane, gleaning visions of an ancient past where manifestations of volatile energies once raged unimpeded across primordial Azeroth. Through careful study and dedication, the elemental shaman is able to channel such power into destructive magical surges. Through the body of the shaman flows bolts of lightning, as if from storm, and bursts of fire, as if from molten earth. They manipulate the land itself and summon spirits of earth, fire, and storm to their aid. To battle an elemental shaman is to taunt the very forces of nature.

"Through the body of the shaman flows bolts of lightning, as if from storm, and bursts of fire, as if from molten earth"

Gameplay
Elemental Shaman already have a strong, thematic ability repertoire. We’re retaining much of that existing gameplay in Legion, while smoothing the rough edges. The previously mentioned switch to Maelstrom as a resource is most significant. Elemental Shaman will build Maelstrom through their Lightning Bolt, Lava Burst, and Chain Lightning, and spend it on abilities like Shocks and Earthquake. This change also allows us to remove the cooldown on Shocks, since they instead compete for resources. Shock usage is now more flexible for Elemental Shaman, such as using more of their Maelstrom on Flame Shock to DoT multiple targets. Another notable change is the return of Elemental Overload as their Mastery; Molten Earth never lived up to our hopes, being too non-interactive and confusing.

To give you an idea of the Elemental Shaman in action, here’s a basic look at their core combat abilities:
  • Lightning Bolt
    • 40 yd range, 2 sec cast
    • Fires a bolt of lightning at the target, dealing moderate Nature damage, and generating 15 Maelstrom.
  • Lava Burst
    • 40 yd range, 2 sec cast, 8 sec cooldown
    • Hurl molten lava at the target, dealing strong Fire damage. If your Flame Shock is on the target, Lava Burst will deal 50% additional damage. Generates 15 Maelstom.
  • Flame Shock
    • 0 to 20 Maelstrom, 45 yd range, Instant
    • Sears the target with fire, causing minor Fire damage and then an additional minor Fire damage every 2 sec. Lasts 10 to 30 sec based on Maelstrom spent.
  • Earth Shock
    • 10 to 100 Maelstrom, 45 yd range, Instant
    • Instantly shocks the target with concussive force, causing massive Nature damage, based on Maelstrom spent.
  • Lava Surge
    • Passive
    • Your Flame Shock damage over time has a chance to reset the cooldown of Lava Burst and cause your next Lava Burst to be instant.
  • Mastery: Elemental Overload
    • Grants a 40% (with Mastery from typical gear) chance for Elemental Overload to occur. Elemental Overload causes a Lightning Bolt, Chain lightning, or Lava Burst spell you cast to trigger a second, similar spell on the same target that causes 75% of normal damage and Maelstrom generation, and no threat.

Additionally, to provide a glimpse at how some talents may build upon this, here’s one example of an Elemental-specific talent:
  • Maelstrom Totem
    • 40 yd range, Instant, 30 sec cooldown
    • Summons a Maelstrom Totem near the target for 15 sec that repeatedly attacks an enemy within 30 yards for moderate Nature damage. Every time the Maelstrom Totem attacks, it will generate 5 Maelstrom for you.


Enhancement
Intense communion with fire, earth, air, and water isn’t exclusive to the elemental shaman. In many ways, enhancement shaman similarly bond with nature and leverage its power on the battlefield. What distinguishes them in their training—and in their connection with the elements—is their combat methodology. These shaman favor empowering their physical attacks with elemental energies and facing their adversaries up close. They don’t shy from the frontlines, wielding magically augmented weapons, potent elemental attacks, and totems that shape the tide of battle.

"These shaman favor empowering their physical attacks with elemental energies and facing their adversaries up close"

Gameplay
The identity of the Enhancement Shaman is cool, but we don’t feel that the mechanics do well to establish that. We want this spec to be more than a melee-range Elemental Shaman, while having a distinct “Battle Mage” feel. Enhancement’s niche focuses on dishing out devastating spells and punishing strikes at melee range to destroy their enemy. Rather than leaving you with a multitude of buttons, many of which are inconsequential, we’re emphasizing empowering your weapons and allies in the fray. Enhancement Shaman become increasingly deadly as they build their power through Maelstrom generation. They must be careful not to let it overflow, while maintaining enough to utilize their most dominant attacks at critical moments.

To give you an idea of the Enhancement Shaman in action, here’s a basic look at their core combat abilities:
  • Rockbiter
    • 10 yd range, Instant
    • Assault your target with earthen power, dealing moderate Nature damage, and generating 15 Maelstrom.
  • Flametongue
    • 10 yd range, Instant, 12 sec cooldown
    • Scorch your target with fiery power, dealing moderate Fire damage, and enhancing your weapons.
    • Each of your weapon attacks cause up to minor additional Fire damage, based on weapon speed. Lasts 16 sec.
  • Windfury
    • Passive
    • Each of your main-hand attacks has a 7% chance of triggering three extra attacks, dealing minor Physical damage.
  • Lava Lash
    • 30 Maelstrom, Melee Range, Instant
    • Charge your off-hand weapon with lava and strike your target, dealing strong Fire damage.
  • Stormstrike
    • 60 Maelstrom, Melee Range, Instant, 16 sec cooldown
    • Energize your weapons with lightning and deliver a massive blow to your target, dealing heavy Physical damage.
  • Maelstrom Weapon
    • Passive
    • When you deal damage with a melee weapon, you generate 5 Maelstrom.
  • Stormfury
    • Passive
    • Each of your attacks has a 2% chance to cause Stormfury, resetting the cooldown on Stormstrike, and causing your next Stormstrike to cost 50% less Maelstrom and to trigger no cooldown.
  • Mastery: Enhanced Elements
    • Increases the chance for Stormfury and Windfury to trigger by 5% (with Mastery from typical gear), and increases all Fire and Nature damage done by 40% (with Mastery from typical gear).

Additionally, to provide a glimpse at how some talents may build upon this, here’s one example of an Enhancement-specific talent:
  • Sundering
    • 60 Maelstrom, Instant, 20 sec cooldown
    • Shatter a line of earth before you, causing strong Physical damage and knocking enemies to the side.


Restoration
Some shaman find a serene affinity for the restorative properties of water. These shaman do not necessarily seek the Light or turn to the divine, yet they feel a profound spiritual connection with the source from which all mortal life took root. So strong is their connection with water that the shaman is able to restore life and heal afflictions. They balance this with a command of the other elements, finding harmony in nature and purifying their allies as a tidal surge washes across a sandy shore.

"Restoration shaman feel a profound spiritual connection with the source from which all mortal life took root"

Gameplay
Restoration mechanics are informed well by the themes of the spec, and we want to avoid disrupting what healers already like about it. What has changed has primarily been in terms of tweaking their gameplay in more fun directions. There’s now slightly more emphasis on targeted healing, and slightly less on Chain Heal spam. We’ve also significantly improved their talents, offering more impactful and varied options. Additionally, Restoration gains the most from the removal of totem restrictions.

To give you an idea of the Restoration Shaman in action, here’s a basic look at their core combat abilities:
  • Healing Wave
    • 2.1% Mana, 40 yd range, 2.5 sec cast
    • A slow but efficient wave of healing energy that restores a moderate amount of a friendly target’s health.
  • Healing Surge
    • 4.1% Mana, 40 yd range, 1.5 sec cast
    • A quick but expensive surge of healing energy that restores a moderate amount of a friendly target’s health.
  • Chain Heal
    • 5.6% Mana, 40 yd range, 2.5 sec cast
    • Heals the friendly target for a moderate amount, then jumps to heal the most injured nearby party or raid members. Healing is reduced by 30% after each jump. Heals 4 total targets.
  • Riptide
    • 1.5% Mana, 40 yd range, Instant, 6 sec cooldown
    • Restorative waters wash over a friendly target, healing them for a moderate amount and an additional moderate amount over 18 sec.
  • Healing Rain
    • 4.3% Mana, 40 yd range, 2 sec cast, 10 sec cooldown
    • Blanket the target area in healing rains, restoring a moderate amount of health to up to 6 allies in the area over 10 sec.
  • Healing Stream Totem
    • 1.7% Mana, Instant, 30 sec cooldown
    • Summons a Water Totem at the feet of the Shaman that heals an injured party or raid member within 40 yards for a minor amount every 2 sec. Lasts 15 sec.
  • Tidal Waves
    • Passive
    • When you cast Chain Heal or Riptide, you gain the Tidal Waves effect, which reduces the cast time of your next Healing Wave by 40% or increases the critical effect chance of your next Healing Surge by 40%. Stacks up to 2 times.
  • Mastery: Deep Healing
    • Increases the potency of your healing spells by up to 60% (with Mastery from typical gear), based on the current health level of your target (lower health targets are healed for more).

Additionally, to provide a glimpse at how some talents may build upon this, here’s one example of a Restoration-specific talent:
  • Wellspring
    • 2.4% Mana, 30 yd range, 1.5 sec cast, 12 sec cooldown
    • Create a surge of water that flows forward, healing all friendly targets in a wide arc in front of you for a strong amount.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this early preview of our approach to class and specialization design in World of Warcraft: Legion. We’ll continue our review tomorrow with a look at Warriors, Monks, and Druids.

Blue Tweets
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Character / Items
Also, will fist weapons be visible when sheathed now? Because that's the one downside to Fists as a caster
We have some special-handling in mind for sheathing for things like the fist weapons. They won't be invisible (craig_amai)

I remain afraid of how Sheilun actually looks on a Monk
What are you fearful of? Bell or cloth physics? Or how it plays with monk sheathing? (craig_amai)
Monk sheating!
Ah, definitely. Don't worry, we're already on it =) (craig_amai)

The shadowpriest weapon looks .. underwhelming. Will there be an offhand or anything?
Yeah, it has an off-hand. It's also very present in gameplay through some of its abilities. (craig_amai)
The feedback on first impressions is very appreciated though. Daggers have a way of feeling underwhelming very easily. (craig_amai)

Is the Balance druid artifact Scythe of Elune the same item as the Worgen starting quest item of the same name?
Yes! (DaveKosak)

PvP
In Legion, will there be different spec templates for the various PvP venues (e.g. duels, 2s, 3s, 5s, bgs, rbgs, wPvP)?
No (holinka)

Lore
These Pillars of Creation are interesting, but where's Brann Bronzebeard in all of this? Will he get his hands dirty in Legion?
you'll see Brann. (Abrosiabi)

One great mystic question! Why could Horde + Alliance play together? Why must I make a choice for a fraction?
We always thought having 2 factions was key part of the Warcraft experience. Wherever you go, the other guys are out there... (DaveKosak)

Happy for Sylvanas fans & that there's progress for her but I wonder about Vol'jin in Legion, is he getting something to do too?
Of course! He's the Warchief!! (DaveKosak)

is the entire zone of Gilneas plagued, or just cities and towns mainly, slowly spreading overtime? (rp purposes)
Much of the zone is still plagued, but there are pockets of safety for careful travelers! (DaveKosak)

Tyrande involvement Alex?
Seems like a reasonable expectation. (Abrosiabi)

UI / Addons
Through out the years WoW has gone through many various changes, but yet the quest dialog has remained unchanged. Any plans?
It was combined with the map, and we added chapter headings for the zones, but yeah, the main dialogue hasn't changed much. (craig_amai)
We've talked about it several times. The appeal of the familiar vs. various improvements. Hard to say, maybe someday(craig_amai)

Reputation / Questing
how will Broken Shore scenario work after launch when less people there?
New grouping functionality lets us create an experience for both solo players and groups by adding NPC allies. (WarcraftDevs)

I hope this new zone leveling tech is put in place for all zones in game! This has been needed for a long time!
We agree with you that it's a cool idea. We'll see what we can do down the road sometime. (WarcraftDevs)

scale the world, not the player, will we see that tech applied to pre legion overworld content at some point?
That could be a possibility, however, there are no plans to do it at this time. (WarcraftDevs)

Blizzcon
Do you know why there are some discussion panels not available for Virtual Ticket holders for #BlizzCon ?
Lots of smaller, more informal events have been created in the last couple of weeks for people at the convention. (DaveKosak)

Misc
When you are a designer, it is incredibly inspiring to see players enjoying something you made. Makes you want to do more, and to do better! (hwoome)
↧
↧

Legion Class Preview Series: Warrior

November 11, 2015, 5:01 am
$
0
0
Legion Class Preview Series: Warrior
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Welcome to our World of Warcraft: Legion class preview series. In this entry, we’re exploring the Warrior—to find out what’s in store for a different class, check out the overview.

We continue our early look at class and specialization design with the Warrior. In these blogs, we’ll be exploring class identity, discussing Legion’s new designs, and presenting core combat abilities for each specialization—laying the foundation upon which talents and Artifacts will build further. With that in mind, let’s delve into what it means to be a Warrior in World of Warcraft.

Warriors are the quintessential fearless fighters on the battlefield, and their pure martial prowess inspires courage in allies and despair in enemies. Experts in all manner of melee weaponry and possessing incredible physical strength and skill, Warriors are perfectly suited to serve as frontline combatants and battlefield commanders.

Warriors are thematically informed by our own history, dating back to ancient clashes when close-quarters, shield-and-sword combat was the backbone of battlefield strategy. Warriors in WoW are steeped in this tradition, with each specialization filling distinct niches.
One notable goal we have for Warriors in Legion is to significantly expand their customizability through talents, especially for Arms and Fury. If the below core abilities seem sparse, it’s to leave room for more from talents than ever before. Both specs now have five rows of core throughput talents (mostly different between Arms and Fury, too), with a strong mix of active rotational abilities, passives, procs, cooldowns, and other interesting effects. You’ll find old favorites like Overpower, Heroic Strike, and Opportunity Strikes, returning classics like Avatar, Dragon Roar, and Storm Bolt, along with a host of brand new talents. We look forward to seeing the combinations that you put together.


Arms
Across culture and kingdom, men and women who demonstrate great physical aptitude are transformed into mighty warriors through tests of strength, endurance, and fighting capability. Their friendships are forged not in the classroom, tavern, or workshop, but in the dueling pits and on the arena floor. As a childhood of sparring defines a warrior’s destiny, so too does one’s choice of weapon determine their role on the battlefield. Arms warriors gravitate toward two-handed weapons instinctively. It’s more than a matter of preference—it speaks to the character of the wielder. Arms warriors are patient in a fight, waiting to capitalize on moments when an opponent is left exposed. Two-handed weapons allow them to deliver devastating, overpowering blows, fully exploiting their enemies’ weaknesses.

"Arms warriors are patient in a fight, waiting to capitalize on moments when an opponent is left exposed."

Gameplay
The defining character traits of Arms Warriors already mesh well with their gameplay, but there’s room for more flavor. In Legion we’ve opened up a wider variety of potential gameplay styles based on your talent choices, as discussed above. We also replaced their Mastery with Colossal Might, which increases the effectiveness of Colossus Smash, playing into their theme more directly. As before, Arms Warrior Rage generation comes from auto-attacks.

Here’s a basic look at the core combat abilities for Arms Warriors:
  • Mortal Strike
    • 20 Rage, Melee Range, Instant, 6 sec cooldown
    • A vicious strike that deals strong Physical damage and reduces the effectiveness of healing on the target for 10 sec.
  • Slam
    • 15 Rage, Melee Range, Instant
    • Slam an opponent, causing moderate Physical damage.
  • Colossus Smash
    • Melee Range, Instant, 45 sec cooldown
    • Smashes the enemy’s armor, dealing massive Physical damage, and increasing damage you deal to them by 20% for 6 sec.
  • Execute
    • 10 Rage, Melee Range, Instant
    • Attempt to finish off a foe, causing strong Physical damage to the target, and consuming up to 30 additional Rage to deal up to massive additional damage. Only usable on enemies that have less than 20% health.
  • Tactician
    • Passive
    • Slam, Whirlwind, and Execute have a 20% chance per target hit to reset the cooldown on Colossus Smash.
  • Mastery: Colossal Might
    • Increases the damage of your Colossus Smash by 50%, and causes it to increase damage taken by an additional 50%.

Additionally, to give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Arms-specific talents:
  • Titanic Might
    • Passive
    • Increases the duration of Colossus Smash by 200%, but halves its effectiveness.


Fury
On the battlefield and in the arena, the most feared combatants are often the furious berserkers who lust for battle and thirst for blood. Through a lifetime of training and sparring, these merciless warriors have become masters of carnage—often wielding a weapon in each hand to maximize the destruction. Even without the protection of a shield, the fury warrior leaves little opportunity for an opponent to strike without suffering grievous wounds in return—delivered in a whirlwind of blades that dooms anyone its wake. Brute force becomes a breathtaking display when fury warriors relentlessly dive into the fray.

"Brute force becomes a breathtaking display when fury warriors relentlessly dive into the fray."

Gameplay
Fury is a thematically grandiose take on the classic warrior archetype, and in Legion we want the gameplay to convey this better. To help deliver on the fantasy of a relentless death-dealer, we’ve bolstered their gameplay around quickly building Rage and then going wild with Rampage. In particular, Enrage is now considerably more powerful, doubling your attack speed (and thus Rage generation, since the majority of Rage is still generated by auto-attacks), along with increasing damage based on Mastery. Similar to Arms, a multitude of talent options will expand your combat abilities in a wide variety of ways.

Here’s a basic look at the core combat abilities for Fury Warriors:
  • Bloodthirst
    • Melee Range, Instant, 4.5 sec cooldown
    • Attack the target in a bloodthirsty craze, dealing moderate Physical damage, generating 10 Rage, and restoring 5% of your health.
    • Bloodthirst has an additional 40% chance to be a critical strike.
  • Enrage
    • Passive
    • Bloodthirst critical strikes or activating Berserker Rage will Enrage you, increasing attack speed by 100% and damage taken by 30% for 6 sec.
  • Raging Blow
    • 10 Rage, Melee Range, Instant
    • A mighty blow with both weapons that deals a total of strong Physical damage.
    • Only usable while Enraged.
  • Rampage
    • 50 Rage, Melee Range, Instant
    • Unleash a series of 5 brutal strikes over 2 sec for a total of massive Physical damage.
    • Rampage always deals damage as if you were Enraged.
  • Execute
    • 30 Rage, Melee Range, Instant
    • Attempt to finish off a foe, causing a total of massive damage Physical damage. Only usable on enemies that have less than 20% health.
  • Mastery: Unshackled Fury
    • Increases damage done while Enraged by 28% (with Mastery from typical gear).

Additionally, to give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Fury-specific talents:
  • Frenzy
    • 15 Rage, Melee Range, Instant
    • Furiously slash at the target, dealing moderate Physical damage, and increasing your Haste by 5% for 10 sec. Stacks up to 5 times.


Protection
Like their counterparts, protection warriors are virtually bred for physical dominance, having been raised in the art of close-quarters combat—but their measured approach to battle is what distinguishes them from their comrades-in-arms. They demonstrate an uncanny knack for blade and shield, nullifying an opponent’s advances and creating opportunities for counterattacks. For the protection warrior, being the toughest soldier on the front means nothing if allies are left vulnerable to the enemy’s attack. Stalwart defenders are integral to the success of any military campaign—the protection warrior seeks to be an unbreakable wall.

"For the protection warrior, being the toughest soldier on the front means nothing if allies are left vulnerable to the enemy’s attack."

Gameplay
Protection gameplay ties strongly to Warrior lore and exemplifies the very foundation of the tank role in the game, so we’re primarily focused on fine-tuning their mechanics. Shield Block and Shield Barrier in particular often created a trap choice for players. We’ve replaced Shield Barrier with a new ability, Ignore Pain, which massively reduces damage taken (up to a cap based on maximum health) and functions as your primary defensive Rage-spender. It doesn’t compete as much with Shield Block, and thus provides you with distinct tools in your arsenal to apply to different situations. In terms of Rage, Protection Warriors now primarily generate Rage through taking damage, supplemented by a baseline Rage income from ability usage. This plays well with Ignore Pain as their primary Rage-spender; it’s most useful when you’re taking a lot of damage, which is also when you’ll have a lot of Rage to use on it.

Here’s a basic look at the core combat abilities for Protection Warriors:
  • Offensive
    • Devastate
      • Melee Range, Instant
      • A direct strike, dealing moderate Physical damage.
      • Devastate has a 30% chance to reset the cooldown of Shield Slam.
    • Revenge
      • Melee Range, Instant, 9 sec cooldown
      • Swing in a wide arc, dealing strong damage to all enemies in front of you.
      • Generates 4 Rage.
      • Your successful dodges and parries reset the cooldown of Revenge (cannot occur more than once every 3 sec).
    • Deep Wounds
      • Passive
      • Your Devastate and Revenge cause the target to bleed for strong Physical damage over 15 sec.
      • This effect is cancelled if the target reaches full health.
    • Thunder Clap
      • Instant, 6 sec cooldown
      • Blasts all enemies within 8 yards for moderate damage and reduces their movement speed by 50% for 10 sec.
    • Shield Slam
      • Melee Range, Instant, 9 sec cooldown
      • Slam the target with your shield, causing strong Physical damage.
      • Generates 6 Rage.
    • Heroic Strike
      • 30 Rage, Melee Range, Instant
      • Instantly deals moderate Physical damage.
      • This ability is not on the global cooldown.
  • Defensive
    • Shield Block
      • 10 Rage, Instant, 12 sec recharge, 2 charges
      • Raise your shield, blocking every melee attack against you for 6 sec. These blocks can be critical blocks.
      • Shield Slam deals 30% additional damage while Shield Block is active.
    • Ignore Pain
      • 40 Rage, Instant
      • Fight through the pain, ignoring 90% of the next massive amount (based on maximum health) of damage you take.
    • Spell Reflection
      • Instant, 25 sec cooldown
      • Raise your shield, reflecting spells cast on you and reducing magical damage taken by 30%. Lasts 5 sec or until a spell is reflected.
    • Mastery: Critical Block
      • Increases your chance to block by 10% (with Mastery from typical gear) and your chance to critically block by 30% (with Mastery from typical gear).
      • Also increases your attack power by 20% (with Mastery from typical gear).

Additionally, to give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Protection-specific talents:
  • Shield Discipline
    • Passive
    • Shield Slam extends the duration of Shield Block by 2 sec.
    • Shield Block increases the damage of Shield Slam by an additional 30%.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this early preview of our approach to Warrior class and specialization design in World of Warcraft: Legion. We’ll continue our series later today with a look at Monks and Druids.
↧

Legion Class Preview Series: Monk

November 11, 2015, 11:01 am
$
0
0
Legion Class Preview Series: Monk
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Welcome to our World of Warcraft: Legion class preview series. In this entry, we’re exploring the Monk—to find out what’s in store for a different class, check out the overview.

We continue our early look at class and specialization design with the Monk. In these blogs, we’ll be exploring class identity, discussing Legion’s new designs, and presenting core combat abilities for each specialization—laying out the foundation upon which talents and Artifacts will build further. With that in mind, let’s delve into what it means to be a Monk in World of Warcraft.

Monks were introduced in Mists of Pandaria, and their story is woven directly into the expansion’s rich and vibrant lore. Monks bring a unique martial arts style to any fight, and harness an exotic form of magical energy that’s unfamiliar to those who practice other arcane arts. They seek spiritual balance in life and in combat, and as dangerous as Monks can be on the battlefield, they’re rarely looking to pick a fight without just cause. They view the world through a different lens, finding power through serenity and inner peace—then expressing it through artful combat techniques and powers that mend life. Perhaps most surprisingly, Monks are also adept at producing powerful brews they consume to aid them in battle.

In Legion, we’re focusing on making sure Monk abilities and gameplay better match the class’s vivid backstory. We’re also looking at abilities that already lend themselves well to the Monk’s character, but whose mechanics are in need of polish.


Brewmaster
The brewmaster is a quirky character, though dangerous when underestimated. Brewmasters may seem to struggle with balance as they chug their concoctions in the middle of a fight, but this unpredictable behavior is far from foolhardiness. Most opponents barely have time to process the erratic nature of the brewmaster’s fighting tactics before they find themselves laid low—possibly the result of a keg smash to the head. When an opponent actually manages to land an attack, it’s often unclear how much the brewmaster feels it . . . if at all.

"The brewmaster is a quirky character, though dangerous when underestimated."

Gameplay
The gameplay for Brewmasters hasn’t quite fit their archetypes to this point. Rather than being the tricky martial artists, staggering around with an evasiveness that frustrates their opponent while being a little squishy when taking an unmitigated blow, Brewmasters have been more focused around large absorption shields and clutch self-healing. Our new design approach is to get more gameplay depth out of their strong, thematic abilities. Instead of Chi as a resource, which had little depth for Brewmasters, we’re switching to charges on Brew abilities that other abilities still interact with.

Here’s a basic look at the core defensive and offensive combat abilities for Brewmaster Monks:

  • Defensive
    • Ironskin Brew
      • Instant, 20 sec recharge, 3 charges
      • Increases your Stagger amount by an additional 60% for 6 sec.
      • Shares charges with Purifying Brew.
    • Purifying Brew
      • Instant, 20 sec recharge, 3 charges
      • Instantly purifies all of your staggered damage.
      • Shares charges with Ironskin Brew.
    • Gift of the Ox
      • Passive
      • When you take damage, you have a chance to summon a Healing Sphere visible only to you. Moving through this Healing Sphere will heal you for 25% of your maximum health.
      • This chance is increased the lower health you are.
    • Mastery: Elusive Brawler
      • Each time you are hit by a melee attack, you gain 20% (with Mastery from typical gear) Dodge, until your next successful Dodge.
      • Also increases your attack power by 20% (with Mastery from typical gear).
  • Offensive
    • Keg Smash
      • 40 Energy, 15 yd range, Instant, 8 sec cooldown
      • Smash a keg of brew on the target, dealing strong damage to all enemies within 8 yds and reducing their movement speed by 50% for 15 sec.
      • Reduces the remaining cooldown on your Brews by 4 sec.
    • Tiger Palm
      • 50 Energy, Melee Range, Instant
      • Attack with the palm of your hand, dealing minor damage.
      • Reduces the remaining cooldown on your Brews by 1 sec.
    • Blackout Strike
      • Melee Range, Instant, 3 sec cooldown
      • Thwack the enemy with your weapon, dealing moderate Physical damage.
      • Shares cooldown with Breath of Fire.
    • Breath of Fire
      • Instant, 3 sec cooldown
      • Targets in front of the caster take minor Fire damage. If affected by Keg Smash, they will also burn for minor Fire damage over 8 sec.
      • Shares cooldown with Blackout Kick.

Additionally, to give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Brewmaster-specific talents:
  • Elusive Dance
    • Passive
    • Purifying Brew also grants up to 15% Dodge for 6 sec, based on the level of Stagger damage purified.


Mistweaver
Mistweavers are unique among those who heal. The energies they channel are mysterious, oftentimes misunderstood by commoners—who rarely travel beyond the borders of their homelands—as some form of folk medicine. But those who weave the mists wield the power of life’s essence, using a mixture of preventative and restorative spells to mend their allies’ wounds. The inner tranquility that guides mistweavers allows them to sustain their healing for long periods of time, and gives them the strength to care for multiple injured allies.

"...those who weave the mists wield the power of life's essence, using a mixture of preventative and restorative spells to mend their allies' wounds."

Gameplay
Our goal with Mistweaver Monks is to accentuate the existing characteristics that define them, and resolve some core gameplay issues. In simple terms, this means we’ve redesigned their abilities so that you can directly use the spells you want rather than having to set up an excessive amount of other abilities first.

The most prominent example of this was Renewing Mist, which served primarily as a setup for Uplift; we’ve reworked Renewing Mist to stand on its own, and replaced Uplift with a couple of new spells: Vivify and Essence Font. In addition, a new passive Soothing Mist mechanic gives Mistweavers a unique healing style with variable efficiency, over which you have more direct control.

We’re also focusing Mistweavers solely on healing, rather than supporting a type of mixed attack-healing gameplay that felt awkward and ultimately didn’t live up to our goals for the spec—it was unintuitive, and chiefly useful as a mana management tool. Lastly, Mistweavers will now use Mana, not Chi, as a resource, since it reduced choices and restricted gameplay in many situations.

Here’s a basic look at the core combat healing abilities for Mistweaver Monks:
  • Mastery: Gust of Mists
    • Your targeted heals also cause a gust of healing mists, instantly healing the target for a minor amount (increasing with Mastery from gear).
  • Soothing Mist
    • Passive
    • Your Effuse, Enveloping Mist, and Vivify also trigger Soothing Mist.
    • After casting these spells, you continue to channel healing mists into the target, healing them for a minor amount every 0.5 sec, until you take any other action.
    • Developer Comments
      • Need efficient healing? Cast any heal and let Soothing Mist continue to provide free healing as long as you feel comfortable!
      • Need high-throughput healing? Cast any heal and move onto the next target in need of healing, without spending time on Soothing Mist.
      • For Mistweavers, it’s OK to have open global cooldowns between heals—Soothing Mist fills these gaps.
  • Effuse
    • 1.8% Mana, 40 yd range, 1.5 sec cast
    • A fast and efficient spell, healing the target for a minor amount.
  • Enveloping Mist
    • 6.0% Mana, 40 yd range, 2 sec cast
    • Wrap the target in healing mists, healing them for a huge amount over 6 sec, and increasing healing received from your spells by 30%.
  • Renewing Mist
    • 3.5% Mana, Instant, 6 sec cooldown
    • You surround the target with healing mists, restoring a huge amount of health over 20 sec.
    • If Renewing Mist causes any overhealing, it will travel to the most injured ally within 20 yds.
    • When Renewing Mist heals, it has a 4% chance to increase the healing of your next Vivify by 50%.
  • Essence Font
    • 8.0% Mana, 40 yd range, Channeled
    • Unleash a rapid twirl of healing bolts at up to 6 allies within 25 yds, every 1 sec for 3 sec.
    • Each bolt heals the target for a moderate amount, plus an additional moderate amount over 8 sec.
  • Vivify
    • 5.0% Mana, 40 yd range, 1.5 sec cast
    • Cause a surge of invigorating mists around the target, healing them and their 2 nearest injured allies for a moderate amount.

Additionally, to give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Mistweaver-specific talents:
  • Mistwalk
    • 40 yd range, Instant, 20 sec recharge, 2 charges
    • Instantly dash to an ally, and heal them for a large amount.


Windwalker
Among monks, none have mastered the martial arts as the windwalkers have, and few across Azeroth can fight with their grace. Windwalkers possess unparalleled physical finesse, and are capable of overwhelming their enemies with a dizzying flurry of punches and kicks. Their skill comes primarily from a lifetime of intense training and discipline, but the power they exhibit is shrouded in more mysticism than meets the untrained eye. The combination of their peak physical conditioning, state of inner calm, and leveraging of mystical chi makes windwalker monks a true force to be reckoned with.

"Windwalkers possess unparalleled physical finesse, and are capable of overwhelming their enemies with a dizzying flurry of punches and kicks."

Gameplay
Powerful themes fuel the Guardian Druid, but the gameplay falls short of delivering on them. In particular,
Similar to Brewmasters, here we focused on getting more depth out of less complexity. Windwalkers’ new Mastery, Combo Strikes, encourages mixing a variety of abilities, which provides a constant gameplay hook that influences every ability they use and draws inspiration from classic fighting games. In addition, we’ve polished Storm, Earth, and Fire to remove some cumbersome mechanics. Windwalkers still use a combination of Energy and Chi, along with a heavy dose of short cooldowns.

Here’s a basic look at the core combat abilities for Windwalker Monks:
  • Mastery: Combo Strikes
    • Your abilities deal 25% (with Mastery from typical gear) more damage when they are not a repeat of the previous ability.
  • Tiger Palm
    • 50 Energy, Melee Range, Instant
    • Attack with the palm of your hand, dealing minor damage and generating 2 Chi.
    • Tiger Palm has an 8% chance to make your next Blackout Kick cost no Chi.
  • Blackout Kick
    • 1 Chi, Melee Range, Instant
    • Kick with a blast of Chi energy, dealing moderate Physical damage.
  • Rising Sun Kick
    • 2 Chi, Melee Range, Instant, 8 sec cooldown
    • You kick upwards, dealing strong damage, and reducing the effectiveness of healing on the target for 10 sec.
  • Fists of Fury
    • 3 Chi, Melee Range, Channeled, 20 sec cooldown
    • Pummel all targets in front of you, dealing massive damage over 4 sec. Deals reduced damage to secondary targets.
    • Can be channeled while moving.
  • Spinning Crane Kick
    • 1 Chi, Channeled
    • You spin while kicking in the air, dealing moderate damage over 1.5 sec to enemies within 8 yds.
  • Storm, Earth, and Fire
    • Split into 3 elemental spirits, suited to attacking 3 or more enemies. Each spirit deals 50% of normal damage and healing.
    • The Monk directly controls the Storm spirit, while Earth and Fire spirits mimic the Monk's attacks on different nearby enemies.
    • Lasts until toggled off, or either Earth or Fire are destroyed.
    • Developer Comment: Now a simple toggle—no targeting necessary! Spirits will automatically seek out nearby enemies to attack while you attack your target.

Additionally, to give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Windwalker-specific talents:
  • Hit Combo
    • Passive
    • Each successive attack that triggers Combo Strikes in a row grants 1% increased damage, stacking up to 10 times.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this early preview of our approach to Monk class and specialization design in World of Warcraft: Legion. We’ll continue our series later today with a look at Monks.
↧

Legion Class Preview Series: Druid

November 11, 2015, 5:02 pm
$
0
0
Legion Class Preview Series



Legion Class Preview Series: Druid
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Welcome to our World of Warcraft: Legion class preview series. In this entry, we’re exploring the Druid—to find out what’s in store for a different class, check out the overview.

We continue our early look at class and specialization design with the Druid. In these blogs, we’ll be exploring class identity, discussing Legion’s new designs, and presenting core combat abilities for each specialization—laying out the foundation upon which talents and Artifacts will build further. With that in mind, let’s delve into what it means to be a Druid in World of Warcraft.

Guardians of nature who seek to preserve balance and protect life, Druids have unmatched versatility on the field of battle. This is in part because druidism is much more than a fighting discipline—it’s a way of life steeped in traditions so ancient that even the origin of their kind is preserved largely in mythology passed on through millennia.

Druids harness nature’s raw energy for an incredible breadth of offensive and defensive abilities, as well as to restore life to the wounded. Through communion with nature and the demigod Cenarius, Lord of the Forest, Druids are supernaturally endowed with the gift of shapeshifting, allowing them to take the form of all manner of nature’s creature and access powers as distinct as they are diverse.

Known for hybrid utility and shapeshifting, Druids have four diverse and well-established specializations. In Legion, we’re focusing on empowering Balance gameplay, strengthening the cohesion of Guardian abilities and their fantasy themes, and renewing Druids’ overall trait of shapeshifting between forms to fulfill distinct functions.

Making use of multiple forms for different situations has been difficult for many years, either due to a lack of access to the “off-spec” talents that make your alternate forms feel strong or because the process itself has felt overwhelming and convoluted. To help solve this issue, we’re taking a new route by replacing Heart of the Wild with a full row of Affinity talents, which essentially allow every Druid to choose an off-spec from the remaining three specializations.

Affinities provide two benefits: first, a passive ability that is useful at all times, even to your main role; second, access to multiple key abilities to use in associated shapeshifting forms. To give you a sense for how choosing your Affinity will impact gameplay, regardless of what form you’re in, here’s a look at the passive abilities they grant:
  • Balance Affinity
    • Astral Influence: Increases the range of all spells, abilities, and autoattacks by 5 yds.
  • Feral Affinity
    • Feline Swiftness: Increases movement speed by 15%.
  • Guardian Affinity
    • Thick Hide: Reduces all damage taken by 10%.
  • Restoration Affinity
    • Ysera’s Gift: Constantly heals the Druid, or allies when the Druid is at full health.

Unlike Heart of the Wild, Affinities are not temporary buffs. This enhanced access to an off-spec, delivered through a cleaner game mechanic, empowers Druids of any specialization to make interesting situational combat decisions.


Balance
The elements that carve form into the universe are fluid forces of nature. Some beings seek to bend the power of these natural elements to their will. Druids, however, worship the protecting spirits of nature. Long ago, nature’s equilibrium was thrown out of balance, leaving the world vulnerable to catastrophic events, including the first invasion of the Burning Legion.

By leveraging the sacred powers of the moon, the sun, and the stars, balance druids access arcane and nature magics—made more potent still through shapeshifting, when the spellcaster takes the form of the moonkin—to aid in the fight against imbalance that threatens the natural order of all things.

"Balance druids access arcane and nature magics to aid in the fight against imbalance that threatens the natural order of all things"

Gameplay
Balance Druids have had a variety of cyclical rotations over the years. The core design problem in all of these cycles is that they’ve forced players into watching closely for UI cues and casting spells in largely predetermined orders. The Legion design is focused on providing a flexible combat experience, where you can use abilities as you’d like, and each has a specific purpose. The Eclipse Bar has been completely replaced by an Astral Power resource, which is built and spent, and provides a platform for abilities to create interesting, engaging, and powerful effects. Balance gameplay will center on maintaining your DoTs, generating Astral Power with a mixture of Lunar Strike and Solar Wrath, and spending Astral Power on either Starsurge or Starfall.

Here’s a basic look at the core combat abilities for Balance Druids:
  • Moonfire
    • 45 yd range, Instant
    • A quick beam of lunar light burns an enemy for minor Arcane damage and then an additional strong Arcane damage over 18 sec.
    • Usable while in Bear Form.
  • Sunfire
    • 45 yd range, Instant
    • A quick beam of solar light burns an enemy for minor Nature damage and then an additional strong Nature damage over 14 sec to the primary target and all enemies within 5 yards.
  • Lunar Strike
    • 45 yd range, 2.5 sec cast
    • Call down a strike of lunar energy, causing strong Arcane damage to the target, and minor Arcane damage to all other enemies within 5 yards.
    • Generates 15 Astral Power.
  • Solar Wrath
    • 45 yd range, 1.5 sec cast
    • Hurl a ball of solar energy at the target, dealing moderate Nature damage.
    • Generates 9 Astral Power.
  • Starsurge
    • 40 Astral Power, 45 yd range, Instant
    • Launch a surge of stellar energies at the target, dealing massive Astral damage.
    • Also grants you Lunar and Solar Empowerments, which increase the damage of your next Lunar Strike or Solar Wrath by 30%, respectively. You can accumulate up to 3 of each Empowerment.
  • Starfall
    • 60 Astral Power, 45 yd range, Instant
    • Calls down waves of falling stars that damage enemies at the targeted location. Deals strong Astral damage over 8 sec.
    • Enemies in your Starfall take 30% additional damage from your Moonfire and Sunfire.
  • Mastery: Starlight
    • Increases the damage of Starfall and Starsurge, and the effect of the Empowerments that they grant by an additional 30% (with Mastery from typical gear).

Additionally, to give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Balance-specific talents:
  • Blessing of the Ancients
    • Instant
    • Gain a Blessing of the Ancients, activating or swapping between one of the two following beneficial effects:
      • Blessing of Elune – Increases Astral Power generated by Solar Wrath and Lunar Strike by 50%.
      • Blessing of An’she – Grants 3 Astral Power every 2 sec.


Feral
Feral druids also seek to curb imbalance in nature. They observe the fantastic intricacies of the physical world and the delicate fabric in which all living creatures are given purpose. Whether on land or in the sea, in a lush jungle or an uncultivated desert, death is part of the cycle which sustains life. Nature is an eternal dance between predator and prey.

As a shapeshifter, the feral druid endlessly pursues a greater understanding of this truth. They seek a visceral connection to the wild, and in combat take the form of a deadly feline predator. Feral druids become ferocious, agile stalkers—ripping, biting, and bleeding their enemies dry. The forces of chaos are tamed by the druid’s primal fury.

"Feral druids become ferocious, agile stalkers—ripping, biting, and bleeding their enemies dry"

Gameplay
Feral Druids have a solid gameplay foundation that complements their fiction. Design changes in Legion are tempered, and we’re paying the most attention to talent options that provide a wider array of combat customization. Making Savage Roar optional in the talent tree in Warlords worked well to open up gameplay opportunities. We’re taking this approach further by flipping it around—Savage Roar is now a talent choice matched against two compelling alternatives that cater to different play styles.

Here’s a basic look at the core combat abilities for Feral Druids:
  • Shred
    • 40 Energy, Melee Range, Instant
    • Shred the target, causing moderate Physical damage to the target. Awards 1 combo point.
    • Damage increased by 20% against bleeding targets.
    • While stealthed, Shred deals 20% increased damage, and has double the chance to critically strike.
  • Rake
    • 35 Energy, Melee Range, Instant
    • Rake the target for minor Bleed famage and an additional strong Bleed damage over 15 sec. Reduces the target’s movement speed by 50% for 12 sec. Awards 1 combo point.
    • While stealthed, Rake will also stun the target for 4 sec.
  • Rip
    • 30 Energy, 1 to 5 Combo Points, Melee Range, Instant
    • Finishing move that causes massive Bleed damage over 24 sec. Damage increases per combo point.
  • Ferocious Bite
    • 25 Energy, 1 to 5 Combo Points, Melee Range, Instant
    • Finishing move that causes damage per combo point and consumes up to 25 additional Energy to increase damage by up to 100%.
    • When used on targets below 25% health, Ferocious Bite will also refresh the duration of your Rip on the target.
    • Critical strike chance doubled against bleeding targets.
  • Omen of Clarity
    • Passive
    • Your autoattacks have a chance to reduce the Energy cost of your next Cat Form ability by 100%.
  • Primal Fury
    • Passive
    • You gain an additional combo point when you critically strike with a combo-generating attack.
    • Damage over time cannot trigger this effect.
  • Mastery: Razor Claws
    • Increases the damage done by your Cat Form bleed abilities by 60% (with Mastery from typical gear).

Additionally, to give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Feral-specific talents:
  • Jagged Wounds
    • Passive
    • Your Rip, Rake, and Thrash abilities deal the same damage as normal, but in 33% less time.


Guardian
Like their feral brothers and sisters, guardian druids attune themselves to nature through the animal kingdom. They commune with the wild to understand how life perseveres through adversity. They know that the creatures who survive are often those built to best protect themselves and their kin. In this, the guardian druid finds a deep and harmonious value in the steadfast—all the while recognizing that sturdiness requires an aggressive stance when danger comes near.

Taking the form of a great bear, the guardian druid becomes a massive wall of fur, claw, tooth, and rage, aided by the forces of nature, standing between allies and any opposing threats.

"Taking the form of a great bear, the guardian druid becomes a massive wall of fur, claw, tooth, and rage, aided by the forces of nature, standing between allies and any opposing threats"

Gameplay
Powerful themes fuel the Guardian Druid, but the gameplay falls short of delivering on them. In particular, Guardian Druids have had a strong emphasis on avoidance, dodging attacks more than almost any other tank, with abilities accentuating that. However, this doesn’t mesh well with the image of the tough and sturdy bear. We want Guardian Druids to survive through their sheer tenacity, thick hide, massive resilience, and strong regeneration. To this end, we’ve redesigned several parts of the Druid combat ability toolkit to instead focus on those core defensive ideas—health, armor, mitigation, and regeneration—while deemphasizing dodge.

Here’s a basic look at the core combat abilities for Guardian Druids:
  • Mangle
    • Melee Range, Instant, 6 sec cooldown
    • Mangle the target for strong Physical damage, reducing the target’s movement speed by 50% for 12 sec. Deals 20% additional damage against bleeding targets.
    • Generates 5 Rage.
  • Lacerate
    • Melee Range, Instant, 3 sec cooldown
    • Lacerates the enemy target, dealing moderate Bleed damage and an additional moderate Bleed damage over 15 sec. Stacks up to 3 times.
    • Lacerate has a 25% chance to reset the cooldown on Mangle.
  • Thrash
    • Instant, 6 sec cooldown
    • Strikes all enemy targets within 8 yards, dealing minor Bleed damage and applying Lacerate for an additional moderate Bleed damage over 15 sec.
  • Moonfire
    • 40 yd range, Instant
    • A quick beam of lunar light burns the enemy for minor Arcane damage and then an additional strong Arcane damage over 12 sec.
    • Usable while in Bear Form.
  • Defensive
    • Ironfur
      • 40 Rage, Instant
      • Increases armor by 100% for 6 sec.
      • Multiple uses of this ability may overlap.
    • Mark of Ursol
      • 40 Rage, Instant
      • Reduces magical damage taken by 30% for 6 sec.
    • Frenzied Regeneration
      • 10 Rage, Instant, 20 sec recharge (2 charges)
      • Heals you for 100% of all damage taken in the last 6 sec over 6 sec (minimum 5% of maximum health).
    • Mastery: Nature’s Guardian
      • Increases your maximum health and healing received by 40% (with Mastery from typical gear).
      • Also increases your attack power by 20% (with Mastery from typical gear).

Additionally, to give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Guardian-specific talents:
  • Rend and Tear
    • Passive
    • Your Lacerate bleed now also reduces the target's damage done to you, and increases damage you do to the target, by 3% per stack.


Restoration
The many gifts provided by nature must sometimes be reciprocated. Restoration druids seek order in the world by tending directly to its many life forms. Friend to flora and fauna alike, restoration druids celebrate birth and growth. Where there is decay, they bring rejuvenation. Where there is abatement, they summon regrowth. Life not only needs protection—it needs nourishment.

To foster this harmony, the restoration druid builds a bond with the things that grow, gaining inspiration from the flower’s bloom, the seed’s sprout, the mushroom’s spores, and the tree’s growth. Like nature, the restoration druid perseveres through patience and persistence, the foundation upon which all life is built and sustained. They use this power to mend wounds and provide persistent remedies that keep their allies from falling.

"Friend to flora and fauna alike, restoration druids celebrate birth and growth"

Gameplay
Restoration Druid themes are clearly defined, and there’s a lot of cohesive flavor to love in how the spec plays. As a result, we’re making minimal changes. Their Mastery had the most room for improvement, having basically become a passive effect. We’ve redesigned it to emphasize layering healing-over-time effects, favoring more engaging gameplay, while also catering to the Restoration themes.

Here’s a basic look at the core combat abilities for Restoration Druids:
  • Mastery: Harmony
    • Your healing is increased by 10% for each of your Restoration heal over time effects on the target.
  • Healing Touch
    • 2% Mana, 40 yd range, 2.5 sec cast
    • Heals a friendly target for a moderate amount.
  • Regrowth
    • 3.7% Mana, 40 yd range, 1.5 sec cast
    • Heals a friendly target for a moderate amount and another minor amount over 12 sec.
    • Regrowth has a 60% increased chance for a critical effect.
  • Rejuvenation
    • 1.9% Mana, 40 yd range, Instant
    • Heals the target for a moderate amount over 15 sec.
  • Lifebloom
    • 2% Mana, 40 yd range, Instant
    • Heals the target for a moderate amount over 10 sec. When Lifebloom expires or is dispelled, the target is instantly healed for a moderate amount.
    • Lifebloom can be active only on one target at a time.
  • Efflorescence
    • 4.3% Mana, 40 yd range, Instant
    • Grow a healing blossom at the target location, restoring a moderate amount of health to three injured allies within 10 yards every 2 sec for 30 sec.
    • Only 1 Efflorescence can be placed at a time.
  • Swiftmend
    • 1.6% Mana, 40 yd range, Instant, 30 sec cooldown
    • Instantly heals a friendly target for a large amount.
  • Wild Growth
    • 7.5% Mana, 40 yd range, 1.5 sec cast, 10 sec cooldown
    • Heals up to 6 injured allies within 30 yards of the target for a moderate amount over 7 sec.
    • Healing amount starts high and declines over the duration.
  • Living Seed
    • Passive
    • When you critically heal a target with the direct healing portion of Switmend, Regrowth, or Healing Touch, you plant a Living Seed on the target.
    • When the target is next attacked, the Living Seed will bloom and heal for 50% of the initial amount healed.
  • Omen of Clarity
    • Passive
    • Your periodic healing from Lifebloom has a 4% chance to cause you to enter a Clearcasting state, causing your next Regrowth to be free.
Additionally, to give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Restoration-specific talents:
  • Flourish
    • Instant, 1 min cooldown
    • Extend the duration of all of your heal over time effects on friendly targets within 60 yards by 10 sec.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this early preview of our approach to Druid class and specialization design in World of Warcraft: Legion. We’ll wrap up our series tomorrow with a look at Rogues.
↧

Legion Class Preview Series: Rogue

November 12, 2015, 5:03 am
$
0
0
Legion Class Preview Series



Legion Class Preview Series: Rogue
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Welcome to our World of Warcraft: Legion class preview series. In this entry, we’re exploring the Rogue—to find out what’s in store for a different class, check out the overview.

We finish off our early look at class and specialization design with the Rogue. In these blogs, we’ve been exploring class identity, discussing Legion’s new designs, and presenting core combat abilities for each specialization—laying the foundation upon which talents and Artifacts will build further. With that in mind, let’s delve into what it means to be a Rogue in World of Warcraft.

Rogues fend for themselves, looking for fights in which they dictate the terms. They’re the shadows in the night that remain unseen until the right moment comes to strike—then they dispatch an opponent with quick blade work or a deadly toxin snuck acutely into the bloodstream. Rogues are opportunistic thieves, bandits, and assassins, but there’s an unparalleled art to what they do.

As with Hunters, the three Rogue specializations have long suffered from a lack of distinct identity. What truly sets an Assassination Rogue apart from Subtlety? And just what is a “Combat” Rogue anyway? Aren’t all three pretty focused on the art of combat? With that in mind, we’re making some bold changes that take each spec in a much more pronounced direction. We’re finding what makes them each special and amplifying their fantasy by creating abilities and talents unique to each spec that better align with their core theme.


Assassination
One of the favorite tools of the assassin is a pair of daggers coated with vicious poisons. The damage they inflict is deceiving at first—the initial wounds often seem survivable, even superficial. Then the toxins set about their business. Wounds don’t close, and blood loss continues unabated. Assassins begin their work stealthily, choosing their targets and methods of engagement carefully—but once committed to a course of action, they stick to their target until the job is done rather than disappearing into the shadows to avoid their quarry’s blows.

"Assassins begin their work stealthily, choosing their targets and methods of engagement carefully"

Gameplay
For Rogues, no specialization describes itself better than Assassination, which also remains closely aligned with its existing fantasy. And we’re further enhancing those themes through their gameplay. First, this is now the only Rogue spec with access to poisons and bleeds, making much of your damage a little more delayed, but nonetheless massive. In addition, Venomous Wounds triggers based on a combination of bleeds and poisons now to accentuate that gameplay. Assassination is home to the most volatile combo-building. Mutilate is already effective in this regard, but Seal Fate needed some improvement—it now can trigger from both hands with Mutilate.

Here’s a basic look at the core combat abilities for Assassination Rogues:
  • Garrote
    • 45 Energy, Melee Range, Instant, 15 sec cooldown
    • Garrote the enemy, causing strong damage over 18 sec and awarding 1 combo point. Silences the target for 3 sec when used from Stealth.
  • Mutilate
    • 55 Energy, Melee Range, Instant
    • Attack with both weapons, dealing strong Physical damage. Awards 2 combo points.
  • Envenom
    • 35 Energy, 1 to 5 Combo Points, Melee Range, Instant
    • Finishing move that drives your poisoned blades in deep, dealing instant Nature damage and increasing your poison application chance by 30%. Damage and duration increased per combo point.
  • Rupture
    • 25 Energy, 1 to 5 Combo Points, Melee Range, Instant
    • Finishing move that tears open the target, dealing bleed damage over time. Lasts longer per combo point.
  • Seal Fate
    • Passive
    • When you critically strike with a melee attack that generates combo points, you gain an additional combo point.
  • Venomous Wounds
    • Passive
    • You regain 10 Energy each time you deal Bleed damage to a poisoned target.
  • Mastery: Potent Poisons
    • Increases the damage done by your poisons by 70% (with Mastery from typical gear).

Additionally, to give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Assassination-specific talents:
  • Elaborate Planning
    • Passive
    • Your finishing moves grant 20% increased damage done for 4 sec.

Combat
GONE!
OK, not exactly. The lack of a clear theme for the Combat Rogue really gave us an opportunity to reimagine the spec in Legion, to ensure that they have their own depth of character and a unique fighting style that sets them apart from the other Rogue specs.


Outlaw
"To survive in such a world, outlaws must become master swordsmen in toe-to-toe combat—and they can’t shy away from fighting dirty"

Outlaw rogues are the unscrupulous scoundrels of Azeroth. Operating outside the law, they bend the rules and distort the truth to get what they need. While they share plenty in common with other rogues, these outlaws have little use for tact or discretion, happy to engage in a tavern brawl or spontaneous duel, rarely patient enough to wait in stealth for the opportune time to engage. To survive in such a world, outlaws must become master swordsmen in toe-to-toe combat—and they can’t shy away from fighting dirty. If blade fails to cut too deeply, the outlaw takes advantage of a concealed pistol, catching the enemy by surprise with a quick blast.

Gameplay
To achieve the “swordmaster” fantasy we’re going for with the Outlaw Rogue, we’re giving them several new and upgraded abilities, such as Saber Slash and Pistol Shot. We’re also deemphasizing Stealth, with Ambush being their only remaining opening move. Stealth will still provide its core Rogue utility, but Outlaws are more comfortable fighting toe-to-toe with a sword than skulking about. Finally, we’re ensuring that Outlaws retain several signature abilities from Combat, such as Adrenaline Rush and Blade Flurry. These abilities provide a good basis on which to build new and distinct flavor. A wide variety of talents enhance the fantasy further with themes of the swordmaster, brawler, or even pirate.

Here’s a basic look at the core combat abilities for Outlaws:
  • Saber Slash
    • 50 Energy, Melee Range, Instant
    • Viciously slash an enemy, causing moderate Physical damage and awarding 1 combo point. Saber Slash has a 35% chance to strike an additional time, granting additional damage and combo point, and making your next Pistol Shot free.
  • Pistol Shot
    • 40 Energy, 20 yd range, Instant
    • Draw a concealed pistol and fire a quick shot at an enemy, dealing moderate Physical damage and reducing movement speed by 50% for 6 sec. Awards 1 combo point.
  • Slice and Dice
    • 25 Energy, Instant
    • Finishing move that consumes combo points to increase attack speed by 40%. Lasts longer per combo point.
  • Run Through
    • 35 Energy, 1 to 5 Combo Points, 8 yd range, Instant
    • Lunging finishing move that causes damage per combo point and has increased range.
  • Combat Potency
    • Passive
    • Your off-hand attacks have a chance to generate 15 Energy. Slower weapons have a higher chance.
  • Ruthlessness
    • Passive
    • Your finishing moves have a 20% chance per combo point spent to grant a combo point.
  • Mastery: Main Gauche
    • Your main-hand attacks have a 44% (with Mastery from typical gear) chance to trigger an attack with your off-hand that deals minor Physical damage.

Additionally, to give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Outlaw-specific talents:
  • Quick Draw
    • Passive
    • Free uses of Pistol Shot granted by Saber Slash now generate 1 additional combo point, and deal 50% increased damage.


Subtlety
Subtlety rogues are the masters of the shadows, and they strike unseen. They don’t have the lethal poison-tipped daggers of the assassin or the brawling prowess of the outlaw, but their acumen on the battlefield and ability to hide in plain sight are unrivaled. Some claim the art of subtlety looks like malevolent shadow magic—but no matter from where their power is derived, these rogues are capable of performing devastating assaults on their enemies, slipping away unharmed to strike again without detection. Most rogues train their entire lives to learn how to walk in the shadows—subtlety rogues were born there.

"The subtlety rogue's acumen on the battlefield and ability to hide in plain sight are unrivaled"

Gameplay
As the true masters of stealthy gameplay, we’ve pushed Subtlety further toward making heavy use of Stealth as their primary combat mechanic. The new version of Shadow Dance allows Subtlety to weave in and out of Stealth rotationally. Meanwhile, Shadowstrike provides incredible mobility for attacking from Stealth. Finally, to further reinforce the matter of their relationship with sinister Shadow magic, Subtlety makes use of a new ability called Nightblade, which applies Shadow damage over time.

Here’s a basic look at the core combat abilities for Subtlety Rogues:
  • Shadowstrike
    • 40 Energy, 30 yd range, Instant, Requires Stealth
    • Strike through the shadows, appearing behind your target and dealing strong Physical damage. Awards 2 combo points.
  • Backstab
    • 35 Energy, Melee Range, Instant
    • Stab the target, causing moderate Physical damage. Damage increased by 30% when behind your target. Awards 1 combo point.
  • Nightblade
    • 25 Energy, 1 to 5 Combo Points, Melee Range, Instant
    • Finishing move that infects the target with shadowy energy, dealing Shadow damage over time and reducing movement speed by 50%. Damage and duration increased per combo point.
  • Eviscerate
    • 35 Energy, 1 to 5 Combo Points, Melee Range, Instant
    • Finishing move that disembowels the target, dealing increased damage per combo point.
  • Shadow Dance
    • Passive
    • Your finishing moves have a 20% chance per combo point to activate Stealth. For 3 sec, this Stealth will not break when you autoattack or take damage. When this effect occurs, a Shadow Decoy will appear nearby, confusing your enemies.
    • Developer Comment: This will function differently in PvP, granting the use of abilities that require Stealth, but not actually providing Stealth.
  • Shadow Techniques
    • Passive
    • Your autoattacks have a chance to generate a combo point.
  • Mastery: Executioner
    • Increases the damage done by your finishing moves by 55% (with Mastery from typical gear).

Additionally, to give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Subtlety-specific talents:
  • Relentless Strikes
    • Passive
    • You gain an additional 40 Energy when you enter Stealth.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this early preview of our approach to Rogue class and specialization design in World of Warcraft: Legion. We’re looking forward to hearing more feedback and sharing in ongoing conversations with the community regarding these and all of the other changes we’ve discussed in this series, and we’re excited to get this information out before our broader beta phase to make sure we have as much time as possible to iterate and carry on the conversation.

Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you in the Legion beta!
↧
↧

Dev Interview, Legion Class Preview Feedback, Fistweaving and Gladiator Stance

November 13, 2015, 3:25 am
$
0
0
Update:Gnome Hunters!

Patch 2.4 Available on PTR, Patch 2.4 Preliminary Patch Notes, Set Dungeon Hints

League of Explorers: Temple of Orsis Boss Guides - Zinaar, Sun Raider Phaerix, Temple Escape

Weekly Rotation and Sales, Preseason Leaderboards October 2015, WTF Moments #23

Timothy Ford - Lead Programmer Interview by TGN Squadron

Patch 6.2.3 PTR - Build 20726
There was another PTR build tonight that was flagged as Release, no major changes from the previous one. We got the PvP Season ending warning a few weeks ago, so it should be going live soon!



Blizzcon - Legion Developer Interview
Final Boss had the opportunity to talk to Lead Game Designer Luis Barriga at Blizzcon.


  • The UI has been updated with new health bars. (Example from Vanion's stream)
  • All of the new things that made Warlords leveling great will be a part of Legion leveling in one form or another.
  • The team has spaced out the cinematics during leveling differently this time, rather than just doing one cinematic at the end of each zone.
  • Alliance get a Genn Greymane quest line and Horde get a Sylvanas quest line in Stormheim.
  • In Warlords, if you skipped the rares while leveling you would go back to find they were no longer a challenge and no longer had relevant rewards. In Legion they will scale with your level, so you can go back and kill them for a challenge and better reward.
  • The team hears the requests for Stormwind Park repairs, but no comments on it for now. "You never know, you ask for something long enough and you never know what will happen"
  • The main-hand and off-hands for the Artifact weapons will change their look together, you can't pick and choose each individually. There is only one icon for these items, you click it and both main-hand and off-hand are filled. The technology is there to be used elsewhere if needed after Artifacts.
  • The team touched up the melee animations for Legion, so some of the clipping issues may have been resolved. In some poses the largest models may still have clipping issues.
  • Rogues got new finisher animations, Warriors got a new Mortal Strike animation, swipes and effects also were updated.
  • The team is investigating showing weapons somehow for bear form Druids. They aren't sure if it can be done, but they will get customization to their bear form when they have the Artifact equipped.
  • Multistrike causing two melee ability animations to go off was slightly problematic, as it would be more noticeable if you very quickly did two Moral Strikes.
  • All classes have multiple legendary items, with some being specific to a class, spec, or role and some being more universal.
  • If any, very few of the legendary items are BoE, they should be BoP. The intention is to create really awesome reward moments, not something to buy.


Legion Class Preview Feedback
Now that the class blogs are done we can take a look at all of the feedback so far from the developers!

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Death Knight (Forums)
will Blood DKs get some on demand AoE for getting threat on more targets if DnD is on CD?
Blood still has access to Blood Boil for spreading diseases and generating threat. (WarcraftDevs)

Cons spammable to be always up, D&D for 10s every 30s? I feel like we need better cleave. Like a Heart Strike talent.
Crimson Scourge will help with your AOE capabilities. Plus, there is just such a talent. (WarcraftDevs)

Blood DK Bone Shield is a buff w/ charges that players need to watch. Removed from most specs due to UI, why is Blood exempt?
Bone Shield charges will also display on the Marrowrend icon. (WarcraftDevs)
do bone shield still have an internal cooldown for triggering charges?
Yes, still one second. (WarcraftDevs)

Why wouldn't DKs ignore the new Killing Machine? From the article, would be ignored by design; Obliterate randomly crits more.
It's still possible to overwrite (waste) Killing Machine procs if you don't use them before the next proc. (WarcraftDevs)

Any chance Killing Machine devaluing crit will be addressed?
Different stats having different values isn't bad, as long as they're not terrible. Either way, yes, several talents affect this. (WarcraftDevs)

As a noob DK, dw frost rotation has seemed unintuitive. If I should only use Oblit with KM, force it as unusable outside it?
Obliterate will be useful both with and without Killing Machine. You'll still want to minimize wasted KM procs, though. (WarcraftDevs)

Just for clarification KM only affects obliterate now and not frost strike? not a typo?
Correct, not a typo. However, it may be modified by talents. (WarcraftDevs)

clarification... Does legion outbreak apply diseases every 1 second for 6 seconds in an aoe?
Yes. The target pulses the disease application every second for 6 seconds. (WarcraftDevs)

Would 1 Scourge Strike pop all the Festering Wounds on your target? Like, is the plan FS, FS, FS, SS or is it FS, SS, SS, SS?
Scourge Strike triggers only one Festering Wound at a time. (WarcraftDevs)

Clarify Frost Fever? You have a chance to get a 30 sec buff? A chance to get RP on tick?
Each time Frost Fever deals damage, the Death Knight has a chance to gain Runic Power. (WarcraftDevs)

I like the DK preview but I am concerned about the Frost rotation. It is VERY simple. Is additional rotational depth coming?
Baseline classes in Legion lean a little simpler, so that we can add a wide array of complexity via talents. (WarcraftDevs)

Is it safe to assume that Death and decay and Defile are gone for frost dk's in place of remorseless winter for an AOE CD?
Yes, Frost DKs will have Remorseless Winter for AoE, along with a few potential talents. (WarcraftDevs)
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Druid (Forums)
Do Druids lose access to forms not associated with their spec or affinity or does everyone keep cat, bear, etc?
You still keep access to the forms, but have very few (or no) abilities in the ones you don't have an Affinity for. (WarcraftDevs)

How will Druid affinities work with the Artifact weapons? Will there be some kind of automatic conversion to support it?
No, Artifacts remain spec-specific. You won't need to swap weapons to use your Affinity. (WarcraftDevs)

The way I am reading it, seems like the affinity passives maybe built into their base specs?
Correct. Every Druid spec has the benefit from it's associated Affinity built in. (WarcraftDevs)

Puns aside, is hurricane still in game and useful?
Hurricane is currently planned to be an AoE damage ability for Restoration only. (WarcraftDevs)

Does Starsurge give you one of each empowerment or just one empowerment that effects both spells?
One charge of each Empowerment. You'll want to use one Lunar Strike and one Solar Wrath to spend both of them. (WarcraftDevs)

I think you have a typo on star surge preview . As awesome as Astral damage sounds don't you mean arcane damage?
Nope. The combination of Nature and Arcane schools (formerly called Spellstorm) is now called Astral. (WarcraftDevs)

With starfall being targeted now, what is the range on the area we select?
We're still tuning it, but it's intended to be very large. Something like a 15 yard radius (over 3.5x the area of Blizzard). (WarcraftDevs)
There's also a pretty fun talent that makes it 30% larger still, and allows you to cast while moving while inside it. (WarcraftDevs)

Do Balance Druids still use mana? They don't have mana costs listed in their section of the overview.
Balance Druids have a secondary mana bar that they only use outside of form, similar to Feral. (WarcraftDevs)

If I'm playing Feral w/ guardian affinity, could I perform a 3rd tank role in encounters using a 3-tank strategy?
The intention is that any Druid with Guardian Affinity can tank something, as long as it's not overly hard-hitting. (WarcraftDevs)

Are ferals supposed to be swapping to Moonkin after they dump energy to cast while regening energy in Legion?
The version of Moonkin Form granted by Balance Affinity will have a cooldown to prevent using it rotationally. (WarcraftDevs)

What is the reasoning behind keeping feral automatic stealthed rake stun in PvP? It makes for uninteresting gameplay.
Incarnation no longer affects Rake in Legion. (WarcraftDevs)

Is there any further information to share on how Rage generation will work for Guardians? Only Mangle identified in the blog.
Auto-attacks are still the most significant source of Rage for Guardians. When we get to tuning, we'll see if more is needed. (WarcraftDevs)

Where iz Maul? How can bare Maul face if bare can no Maul?
Maul is only used to turn excess Rage into damage when not tanking, so it wasn't listed in the blog. It's still available. (WarcraftDevs)

For the record, Ironfur stacks. It doesn't mean the duration increases, it means that for each charge used consecutively it goes up by 100%
It *overlaps*, which is slightly different. You gain and lose each stack individually. It doesn't just grow indefinitely. (WarcraftDevs)

Will harmony count towards spells activating it (e.g. reju buffs itself, or is it just a buff towards different spells?
A HoT will count itself for purposes of Harmony. A lone Rejuvenation will get 1x benefit from mastery. (WarcraftDevs)

Resto Druid Harmony applies to all healing done by the druid, including Tranq? Rejuv have regular GCD?
All of these guesses are correct! (WarcraftDevs)

The return of Thorns was mentioned at Blizzcon, but I don't see it here?
Restoration has Thorns as a tool to increase damage while soloing. Not all abilities are covered in the blog. (WarcraftDevs)

re: new Druid Mastery "10% per HoT" is that unique HoTs like Regrowth+Rejuv or Germination style Rejuv x2? What is max %? 50?
It counts all active HoTs. Currently, there is no cap. (WarcraftDevs)

will the first Rejuv update its current HoT value each additional HoT that comes down, or will we have to recast once fully HoTed?
It updates dynamically for all HoTs. No snapshotting. (WarcraftDevs)

is Tranquility gone or a talent?
Neither. Tranquility is still present and generally similar to its current form. (WarcraftDevs)
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Hunter (Forums)
#Hunters: it's that time again! What pet families would you like to see added in #Legion? (Muffinus)

are you able to say if MM hunters can still summon a pet at all in legion? I like being petless but pet tank is convenient
They currently have a "Dark Ranger" talent which has a chance to summon an undead minion. That minion can also tank. https://t.co/6eNFhbcFBx (WarcraftDevs)

Hey is there any way hunters can keep black arrow? Give it to marksman perhaps
Yes! The current plan is for Black Arrow and Lock and Load to become Marksmanship-specific talents. (WarcraftDevs)

is aimed shot still able to be cast on the move?
No, but that's partially offset by its faster cast time, less frequent use, and the return of Arcane Shot. (WarcraftDevs)

my only concern is how punishing survival might be when losing the mongoose bite buff
Mongoose stacks aren't something you maintain. Their stacking encourages you to pool them, then use as many as you can. (WarcraftDevs)

Still trying to figure out how they want Mongoose Bite to be used. How can you get 6 stacks in 3.5s with the GCD?
The duration is refreshed with each use. You'll want to alternate Mongoose Bite and other abilities, to proc more Mongoose charges (WarcraftDevs)

flanking strike is basically kill command? Love everything else, that caught me up a little
That tooltip was slightly outdated. Flanking Strike causes you and your pet to attack at the same time. (WarcraftDevs)

What % is Surv expected to be in melee? 80? 100? New melee class?
Survival is going to be a 100% legit melee spec. (Celestalon)

For BM, are you planning on keeping BW as is? And does the 15s off BW CD from DB reduce by a further 15s every time used?
Bestial Wrath is largely unchanged. Each time you use Dire Beast, the remaining cooldown on BW is reduced. (WarcraftDevs)
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Mage (Forums)
If mastery increases your maximum mana, but spells still use X% of your mana, mages aren't gaining anything, clarity please?
Spell costs are a % of BASE mana. The costs don't increase with Mastery. (WarcraftDevs)

Frost mage: Will we still have Icy Veins and will it give Haste ?
Yep, and yep. (WarcraftDevs)

Is Frostfire Bolt gone? Very valuable in PvP. Sad to see Icicles sticking around, really don't like it. Shatter mastery pls.
For those who dislike Icicles, we currently have a talent planned that will replace them with a new active ability. (WarcraftDevs)

Is Ice Nova for frost mages being removed with Legion?
We recognize the issues that the Nova talents have caused, especially in PvP. (WarcraftDevs)
We're planning to test out an alternate design where they don't replace Frost Nova, but only have 1 charge. (WarcraftDevs)

can you elaborate on Flamestrike vs Pyro last on Hot Streak proc. How does Flamestrike work in #Legion
Flamestrike remains similar, though it has a longer cast time and much more damage. Alternative AoE use for Hot Streaks. (WarcraftDevs)

Concerning the fire changes, what about spreading Living Bomb/Pyro DoT? I loved seeing groups of mobs explode =(
Hot Streaked Pyroblasts and Flamestrikes create a larger Ignite, instead of their own DoT. (WarcraftDevs)
Ignite spreads on its own, and Living Bomb is spreadable via Inferno Blast. (WarcraftDevs)
will it ignore CCed targets like Starfall?
The current plan is that Ignite will not automatically spread to crowd controlled targets. (WarcraftDevs)

When it says ignite "may" spread to nearby targets, what does that actually mean?
Every 2 sec., one of your Ignites (chosen at random) will spread to a random other target within 5yd that has a weaker/no ignite. (WarcraftDevs)
'One of your ignites' - are they not all rolled into one any more?
They are still rolled into one on each target. You may have Ignite on multiple targets, though. (WarcraftDevs)
will mastery % affect the chance that it will spread?
A random Ignite will spread every 2 seconds. No further chances. (WarcraftDevs)
Clarification on the mastery chance to spread ignite. I feel like we won't have any control over our dot spreading
Curious what control you're looking for? It just spreading quickly and constantly seems almost purely better, no? (Celestalon)
Update to this, based on feedback: every 2 sec, *each* of your Ignites will spread. (WarcraftDevs)
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Monk (Forums)
Are monk still keeping their mobility?
Roll, Transcendence, and several talents will continue to provide Monks with great mobility. (WarcraftDevs)

Really wondering why Brewmaster's artifact doesn't come with a keg? Even if it wasn't an artifact persay. It looks really
It actually does! We're working to tie the Brewmaster staff (including the keg) into their combat animations. (WarcraftDevs)

With Guard gone, what will Brewmasters use to mitigate magic damage?
Stagger now works against magic damage (at 50% effectiveness). (WarcraftDevs)

Does Expel Harm still exists for Brewmasters? I kind of liked it.
The gameplay from Expel Harm was merged into a new, stronger version of Gift of the Ox. (WarcraftDevs)

Elusive Brew is also better as an active ability. That dodge mastery is very unappealing. Can't stagger improve with mastery?
It's important to note that the Elusive Brawler mastery effect can stack, making it extremely reliable. (WarcraftDevs)

what's the usefulness of energy for brews now? Cooldowns and huge energy costs on tiger palm and keg smash?
Tiger Palm is actually 25 Energy for Brewmasters, 50 for Windwalker. That's a mistake in the blog, and will be fixed shortly! (WarcraftDevs)

with these changes, I feel you're making us even slower than we already are. Please don't take our identity.
Could you clarify what you're talking about? What suggests to you that it's somehow slower? Would like to help clarify it. (Celestalon)
Tigers Palm costs more energy. What about doing it the other way around? Incorporate TP on jab, since Jab is more iconic
OK. The rotation is faster, not slower, but you got the impression that it was based on the TP cost. Good to know, thanks! (Celestalon)
But, regarding my second question, don't you think jab is more iconic? TP doesn't even have that much of visual effect...
Could you double-check that? I think you might be mixing them up. Jab has virtually no visual on live, TP has a strong iconic. (Celestalon)

Chi-Ji is my favorite Celestial; I hope there are plans to bring back a Crane theme for Monks in the future?
We love Chi-Ji too! Keep an eye out for a new talent: "Invoke Chi-Ji, the Red Crane." (WarcraftDevs)

P-please tell me you didn't just remove monk stuns from FoF, that would be soul crushing
We're planning to include a PvP talent that will return the stun to Fists of Fury. (WarcraftDevs)

Is Tigereye Brew … gone?
Tigereye Brew is a classic 1.5 minute DPS cooldown now. (WarcraftDevs)

I really like the Fighting Game approach with WW. Have they got any talents related to this? Maybe something like Gauge bars?
There's a talent that enhances WW Mastery by rewarding combo chains. We're hoping to see fighting game style UI addons for it (WarcraftDevs)

wait - is jab gone? Is tiger palm the new jab? Do I not have to keep up tiger palm? Who am I?
Jab and Tiger Palm were effectively merged. There is no more Tiger Power. (WarcraftDevs)

will WW end up sitting and waiting for CDs to avoid using the same ability twice?
Windwalker's GCDs are fairly filled; relatively little time waiting around. Mastery favors ordering your abilities well. (WarcraftDevs)

please consider bringing Spinning Fire Blossom back, and make surging mist proc just like every other hybrid (Retris, Ferals..
We look forward to your feedback on Spinning Fire Blossom (and other PvP talents) once Beta begins! (WarcraftDevs)

MW mastery seems like a cheap copy of Versatility and very boring. Seems very similar to all other healer masteries except disc.
It's actually fairly different from other healer masteries: it's a flat amount, not a percentage. (WarcraftDevs)

Does the new soothing mist have a cast bar? Can it be interrupted?
Soothing Mist has a channel bar, but no duration. We're considering multiple options for how interrupts affect it. (WarcraftDevs)
Currently, we're trying it beeing uninterruptible. We may also try having it interruptible, but on the Physical school. (WarcraftDevs)
Lastly, can I move while soothing mist is active?
There's a talent which will allow you to do just that! (WarcraftDevs)

Why cast Effuse? Cast a bigger heal (like Renewing) and just let the passives do the maintenance healing over time. Same HPM.
Effuse is a fast and cheap way to start Soothing on a target. It's the Monk's answer to spells like the Priest's "Heal." (WarcraftDevs)

Is the statue gone for mistweavers? and how will they be able to level as healers with fistweaving removed?
There is a talent that brings back the Statue for players who miss it. (WarcraftDevs)

2 Mistweaver questions: still melee? and is mana tea still around?
Mana Tea is no longer present in its current form, but there is a new variant of it in talents. (WarcraftDevs)

Does this mean Mistweavers will no longer be immune to ranged mechanics? No longer considered melee?
Correct. Mistweavers will now be treated like other ranged specs for the purpose of encounter ability targeting. (WarcraftDevs)

Mistweaver clarifications: Movement will interrupt soothing mists? When Renewing mist "travels" is it removed from 1st target?
When Renewing Mist overheals, it leaves the overhealed target, and moves to a new target. (WarcraftDevs)

love the new mistweavers kit. Any chance there's a talent to make essence font like rjw, cast other things while using it?
The channel on Essence Font is there to help balance its large amount of total healing. At 3 seconds, it's still quite flexible. (WarcraftDevs)

With FW gone for MW what damaging abilities do we have for "solo questing outdoors"? Not mad crane is rip,just wondering.
Mistweaver will still have melee abilities for dealing damage, they're just not dual-purposed into providing smart heals. (WarcraftDevs)
In a world where healers are to do more damage in the down time during bosses, how are we to do that at range?
During an encounter where you can't be in melee, Crackling Jade Lightning makes a good fallback. (WarcraftDevs)
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Paladin (Forums)
does haste will continue to lower CDs and GCD?
Yes, Haste continues to lower GCDs and the CDs of rotational abilities, same as before. (WarcraftDevs)

if Holy paladins have only cast time heals, how are they supposed to move and cast to be near targets?
Check out Light of the Martyr. (Celestalon)

Is Mastery: Lightbringer Linear with distance or some other shape?
It's generally linear, but there is a minimum radius in which you will always receive 100% benefit. (WarcraftDevs)

Does Lightbringer heal the tank through the Beacon if you have Beacon of the Lightbringer?
Lightbringer affects your direct heal already, so it doesn't affect the Beacon transfer again. (WarcraftDevs)
So if I heal the tank who has Beacon he won't get any benefit from Lightbringer unless I'm stood next to the tank?
If you have Beacon of the Lightbringer and cast directly onto your Beacon, it will get 100% mastery benefit. (WarcraftDevs)

How will HPal mast affect Beacon? Will Beacon xfer 50% of total heal or will it be lowered by being further away
The Beacon will transfer 50% of the total heal, regardless of where the Beacon target is standing. (WarcraftDevs)

Hey any chance my holy pally can get some damage in, I always enjoyed hitting a crusader strike for an hp, or melee for mana
We don't want to force Holy Paladins into attacking as part of their rotation, but talents can add that gameplay by choice. (WarcraftDevs)

Will we see changes to holy pal. mobility to complement the requirement for proximity (& thus more movement)? Cant run & cast.
We added an extremely strong spell for Holy Paladin mobility. Check out Light of the Martyr. (WarcraftDevs)


the new ret paladin rotation seems to possibly have a lot of downtime. Will other spells and talents play a part as well?
Absolutely. The baseline rotation has a fair bit of room in it, because talents fill quite a few GCDs. (WarcraftDevs)

will Retribution still have Hammer of Wrath?
Hammer of Wrath has been removed in order to improve class/spec distinction. (1/3) (WarcraftDevs)
Warriors are intended to be the kings of the Execute mechanic, and others had crept too far into that territory. (WarcraftDevs)
However, for those who may miss throwing Hammers, there's a snazzy new visual on Judgment that may interest you! (3/3) (WarcraftDevs)

What's that Hand of Hindrance that being replaced by some talent?
A new snare ability for Retribution. Stay tuned for details. (WarcraftDevs)
well but that way we still have to stare at charges, now its just at the bottom half of the screen instead of the top, right ?
We feel that's a pretty important distinction. You're already watching your action bars for ability cooldowns/usability. (WarcraftDevs)

while i love the ability, Lothar was a warrior. maybe consider calling it Turalyon's might instead of Lothar?
Indeed, you are quite correct! We'll adjust the name. Thanks! (WarcraftDevs)

Does Light of the Protector have charges? Wording on Redoubt indicates yes, but if so how many?
That was a typo. We'll get it fixed. Earlier in development, Light of the Protector shared charges with Shield of the Righteous. (WarcraftDevs)

Chance of prot pally getting a baseline 1s GCD? No Holy Power makes Haste unattractive, and game play as a whole much slower.
Haste will reduce Shield of the Righteous recharge time and Light of the Protector cooldown, similar to other rotation abilities. (WarcraftDevs)

So... if mana doesn't matter for Protection paladins and they're losing holy power... what *is* the resource they're managing?
Charges of Shield of the Righteous fill the same role, with more flexibility. (WarcraftDevs)

was Guardian of Ancient Kings removed?
No, the blog just lists core combat abilities. Guardian may be tweaked slightly, but maintains the same purpose. (WarcraftDevs)
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Priest (Forums)
No mention of Holy Nova. Is it gone?
The current plan is for Holy Nova to be Holy's method of dealing AoE damage. (WarcraftDevs)

Will Holy Priest have an AoE damage spell, since Mind Sear is now out? (Holy Nova seems like the obvious solution)
The current plan is to remove Weakened Soul. (WarcraftDevs)
Holy Nova is, in fact, the current plan! All healers will have some capacity to damage multiple targets. (WarcraftDevs)

Love the Holy Priest redesign. Hope for fun smiting talents to go with it. Does Holy Word: Sanctify replace Circle of Healing?
We're currently considering talent options that bring back Circle of Healing, or something similar. (WarcraftDevs)

Just reading priest blog and unless im mistaken PoH group restriction appears gone. Is that so ( *crosses fingers* )
Indeed! We're trying a different targeting method for Prayer of Healing, which makes it more localized instead of group-based. (WarcraftDevs)

Any news on PoH being "closest 5 targets" like WG?, making efficient PoH groups isn't fun and should be fixed.
In #Legion, Prayer of Healing will choose allies within a radius instead of being group-based. (WarcraftDevs)

"for an absolutely massive amount". #winning
A crit Holy Word: Serenity is basically a full heal. We think that qualifies as "absolutely massive." (WarcraftDevs)

Will Holy Word: Serenity still apply a crit buff, as it does currently?
No. The spell is now entirely focused into being a very large instant heal. (WarcraftDevs)

there is no mention of Divine Aegis in the priest blog, is it going to be gone?
Yes. The number of absorbs (especially passive ones, such as Divine Aegis and Illuminated Healing) is being heavily reduced. (WarcraftDevs)

penance damage only?Remove pom cast, it is only used as purge protection atm
Talents will offer some potential alterations to Penance. (WarcraftDevs)

Bit of conflicting info. Darkmoon Faire Q&A made it sound like Disc. was losing PW:S, blog shows it as a spell. Is it staying?
Discipline still has Power Word: Shield, but it will have a 6-second cooldown, to reduce spamminess. (WarcraftDevs)

It just seems weird that DIsc, which was never really about DPS healing, has pivoted to it, while MW, which was, is cutting it
That's definitely fair. There are many reasons, but a big one is that Priests have another spec if you don't like DPS->Heal. (WarcraftDevs)
Chadd, how long is the atonement buff supposed to be?
Currently 15 seconds, with a talent available to extend that to 20 seconds. (WarcraftDevs)

How will Atonement work when enemies have damage taken up (or down) buffs?
Atonement healing should not be affected by those. (WarcraftDevs)

is atonement a buff that gets renewed or extended? for example, casting plea 2x in a row on same target = 15 sec or 30?
It gets renewed. We're considering having it behave similar to DoT effects, which have some leeway on when you refresh. (WarcraftDevs)

will solo healing 5-mans be inherently more difficult for discipline due to the changes in legion?
We'll be making sure that Discipline is still able to heal dungeons comfortably. (WarcraftDevs)

Disc's 70/30 - how will healing be competitive without damage being significant. Guaranteed Disc raid spot still exists?
Those were just off-the-cuff examples. Goal is that they provide respectable damage and healing, and we'll iterate as necessary. (WarcraftDevs)

So how viable will leveling as Discipline be in Legion? I love Disc and don't want to go away from it to even level.
The goal is for healing specs to be fully viable for solo questing outdoors. (WarcraftDevs)

In Legion, will Shadow Mend overhealing still trigger the DoT? Basically, is it possible for it to be a net loss?
Nope! Only the effective healing will turn into a DoT. (WarcraftDevs)

How does Void Form's Haste Buff work if i enter Void Form instantly via Oblivion? Reset, Stack further, new Stack?
When Voidform ends, you get a buff that provides the Haste from that Voidform for 20 sec. It stacks with the next Voidform. (WarcraftDevs)

unclear in the blog: is insanity capped at 100, is void form toggleable?
Yes, Insanity is capped at 100. Voidform is automatically activated, not toggled. (WarcraftDevs)

On the usefull(less)ness of the Mastery Insanity Generation Increase: https://t.co/pUITMTMPyB
Voidform doesn't stop your abilities from generating Insanity. Mastery will allow you to maintain Voidform longer/stronger. (WarcraftDevs)

I WILL HEAL YOU TO DEATH! GLORY TO CTHULU, FTHAGN RY'LEH!
Sounds like you may enjoy the fact that you're forced to speak Shath'yar - the language of the Old Gods - while in Voidform. (WarcraftDevs)

I hope that Shadow talents will contain several options to control Insanity (When you enter, leave early, stay in longer, etc.)
Anything can change, but we currently have 8 different talents that relate to Insanity. (WarcraftDevs)

Was just curious about how fast the drain is-it will always be greater, at least to some degree, than our ability to generate?
At first, the Voidform drain is slower than you can generate Insanity, but it ramps up over time, draining faster and faster. (WarcraftDevs)

Insanity shares some of the pre-WoD eclipse problem. Idea: Remove damage buff, make it about max. DoT extension/Haste Buff.
You'll be able to return to Voidform very quickly, thanks to the Haste from your previous Voidform persisting for 20 seconds. (WarcraftDevs)
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Rogue (Forums)
If we do have to have positional requirements then the UI needs to communicate what "behind" is without trial and error.
There are changes incoming to the targeting selection circle that show the direction your target is facing. (WarcraftDevs)
That isn't really enough, I don't know about you guys but rapidly marking out 60 degree arcs in your head isn't easy.
Backstab will also count the sides. (WarcraftDevs)

Would it be possible to add the 5 combo point duration to DoT finishers on the blog?
Nightblade is up to 24 seconds. Envenom is up to 6 seconds. Rupture is 24 seconds. (WarcraftDevs)
What kind of debuff is nightblade? Magic? Physical?
Nightblade will be Shadow damage. Whether it's dispellable or not will depend on PvP balance, but we recognize its importance (WarcraftDevs)

Will Assassination and Subtlety AoE be made equivalently powerful with Outlaw/Blade Flurry?
Yes, we plan to make all Rogue specs competitive in AoE situations. (WarcraftDevs)

What happenes with Vendetta ?
The blog focused on rotational abilities. Vendetta, Adrenaline Rush, and Shadow Blades are burst CDs for each spec, respectively (WarcraftDevs)

Loved the rogue preview but... Anticipation: baseline please?
Anticipation remains a talent. However, it has some serious competition on its talent row now. (WarcraftDevs)

Pretty disappointed Assa still isn't active poisoning. And no thrown poison vial? Outlaw losing PvP stun/silence from stealth?
Assassination does have an ability that throws a poisoned dagger, applying your poison at range. It's just not in the blog. (WarcraftDevs)

At the start of legion as assassination a rogue will have 18.3 energy/sec. For comparison in wrath AR only brought combat to ~22 energy/sec.
There's still a lot of tuning to be done. Venomous Wounds will be tuned so that pooling is still important. (WarcraftDevs)

Does Venomous Wounds still do damage on proc or just energy regen?
Just energy regen. (WarcraftDevs)

How will you make Pistol Shot's animation work seeing as it is an instant cast and the weapon has to be drawn quickly?
It's pretty quick. We're looking forward to feedback on new animations once Beta begins! (WarcraftDevs)

Please, tell me that Co-..Outlaw rogues instead of throw will have shoot (vial their pistol!) Please !!
Indeed. Pistol Shot provides a ranged snare and minor damage (which is heavily increased with the proc from Saber Slash). (WarcraftDevs)

.pistol shot'll let me damage & gain combo points from range. Awesome! Will there be a ranged finisher? https://t.co/ItGcPGx5ys
Yes! Instead of Kidney Shot, Outlaws have a pistol-based finisher which deals damage and stuns from range. (WarcraftDevs)

Why is it called Shadowstrike and not Ghostly Strike?
Because Ghostly Strike is a talent for Outlaws! (WarcraftDevs)

Is Hemorrhage still a thing for Sub Rogues?
We may keep it in some form, possibly as a talent. (WarcraftDevs)

. With substantial changes to the Sub Rogue’s Stealth uptime, should we expect to see Find Weakness in #Legion?
With the new Shadow Dance design, Find Weakness no longer makes sense, so it has been removed. (WarcraftDevs)

Does Shadowstrike have a cooldown?
Nope! (WarcraftDevs)

Shadowstepping on every Shadowstrike seems dangerous in PvE. Will there be a way to lessen our need to be in a backstab zone?
Shadowstrike will not teleport you if you are already in melee range. (WarcraftDevs)

You know... quickly teleport behind enemy, stab (in back), teleport back to original position.
When you use Backstab, it's likely just after you used Shadowstrike, which did just that. (Celestalon)
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Shaman (Forums)
Any chance of Shamans being able to wield the Doomhammer two-handed? Even if just a cosmetic glyph for us old classic Shamans
Not likely, the model isn't really scaled to look good with 2-hand animations. It WOULD feel old-school though! (DaveKosak)

Having that badass lightning fist artifact for elem shamans is great; but will it stick around on the model during casts?
Yes, your fist weapon will remain unsheathed during casting. It's one of the major reasons we chose it for Elemental's artifact! (WarcraftDevs)

do Crits increase the amount of Maelstrom generated?
No, Maelstrom generation does not increase on critical strikes. (WarcraftDevs)

It seems implied from the blog, but is Fulmination is entirely gone as it stands?
Not as "Fulmination", but the mechanic still exists through building up high Maelstrom and spending it using Earth Shock. (WarcraftDevs)

Overload's 75% damage & Maelstrom generation means LB Overloads = 11.25 Maelstrom generated?
Correct. (WarcraftDevs)

No mention of Earthquake, is it gone?
Nope, it's still there, as an AoE-focused Maelstrom spender. The blogs are just only listing core combat abilities. (WarcraftDevs)

No shared shock CD is nice, but I don't think that will do enough to resolve the empty time while moving problems.
Note that Shocks have no cooldowns at all now - including Flame Shock. (WarcraftDevs)
ele is meant to spam flameshock while moving? If we use a maelstrom enhance flameshock then another one will it reduce the DOT
Recasting Flame Shock will never shorten the DoT. (WarcraftDevs)

Could we get an example of reliable Enhancement AOE in Legion? Would appreciated.
Enhancement has a new frontal-cone AoE spell called Crash Lightning, which also causes Stormstrike and Lava Lash to trigger AoEs. (WarcraftDevs)

Any details on the negative effects on Enhance shamans that hit Maelstrom cap?"They must be careful not to let it overflow"
That line is simply referring to the potential to accidentally waste it by overflowing. No other negative effects. (WarcraftDevs)

I don't see it mentioned, but is Searing Totem still a core part of Enhancement Shamans "maintenance" buffs or was it removed?
Searing Totem wasn't really providing compelling gameplay, so it's been removed in Legion. (WarcraftDevs)

Will Enhance have a way to pull targets at range? No 30 yard reach on lightning bolt now
Enhancement still has Lightning Bolt for exactly this purpose. It's just not part of your core rotation. (WarcraftDevs)

Do the Windfury attacks trigger Maelstrom Weapon?
Yes, Windfury attacks will trigger Maelstrom Weapon. (WarcraftDevs)

Rockbiter without a cooldown? Just curious.
Correct, there is no cooldown on Rockbiter. (WarcraftDevs)

Windfury seems to be losing it's significance. With no Maelstrom and minor damage, it feels just there for legacy.
Check out the other clarifications we've made; it does generate Maelstrom, and is not minor (total) damage. (Celestalon)

any info on healing as elemental or enhancement? will it cost maelstrom? or maybe build it?
Healing Surge will cost Maelstrom for both Elemental and Enhancement. (WarcraftDevs)
should do like Flame shock and make it a "0-20" type deal so we can cast lesser heals out of combat etc.
That's currently the plan, in fact! (WarcraftDevs)

Can you go into depth about how you are shifting Resto to more targeted heals instead of Chain Heal spam?
Mostly by simply making the direct heals more competitive, but also by ensuring mana remains relevant throughout the expansion. (WarcraftDevs)

Will there be anything (like a talent) for the Resto Shamans that do enjoy the Chain Heal spam?
Yes, there are talent options that buff Chain Heal and let you focus on it more heavily. (WarcraftDevs)
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Warlock (Forums)
how many soul shards do each of the Warlock specs have and are there ways to regen them out of combat? Also is life tap gone?
Maximum of 5 for all specs. 1 regens out of combat. There are other sources, including out of combat, in talents. (WarcraftDevs)

.I would really like some clarification of this phrase: "and causing some demons to be favored based on the Warlock’s spec."
When all pets' damage was equal, everyone used an Imp. In Legion, each spec will slightly favor one demon for raw DPS. (WarcraftDevs)
Affliction slightly favors Felhunters. Demonology favors Felguards, and Destruction favors Imps. Others offer strong utility. (WarcraftDevs)

Will we still keep our green fire?
Green Fire is staying. Don't worry. (WarcraftDevs)

How do Warlocks regen Mana in Legion? Life Tap? Stuff like the initial Affliction Artifact Talent? Both?
Yes, all Warlocks will use Life Tap in Legion. https://t.co/ZzLiqdvjKE (WarcraftDevs)

Warlocks look great. Concerns for spec loyalty being a goal tho. It will take some AOE talents for AFF to not get overshadowed
There's a particularly interesting talent that makes Seed of Corruption apply as an AoE, but cost a soul shard. Pop pop pop! (WarcraftDevs)

Is Affliction's Haunt ability gone? Also I'd like to hear more about Affli/Destro AoE.
Haunt is returning as a talent, with a slightly different design. Stay tuned for details. (WarcraftDevs)

stuns they already had... So how effective is Drain Life really going to be,too much of a PvP liability
We're very conscious of this concern. The good thing is that we can add customization and tuning via Legion PvP systems. (WarcraftDevs)

is there ANY justifiable reason to keep CB as shadow damage, not as chaos damage?
We'd actually be interested in hearing discussion on this, after clearing up a common misconception: (1/2) (WarcraftDevs)
Chaos damage does NOT inherently bypass shields/immunity. Interrupting it would lock ALL schools. Still want that? (2/2) (WarcraftDevs)

Single-Target Base SoulShard generation for Destro looks slow. 2 every 16 sec + low RNG on Immo. Talents for more?
Indeed, there are several talents that deal with Soul Shards. (WarcraftDevs)

“buffs up to three of your active pets” does that mean that Demo can have multiple different demon types up?
It can affect your primary demon pet, Infernal or Doomguard, Grimoire of Service pets, Dreadstalkers, and Wild Imps. (WarcraftDevs)

I'd prefer if all demons were buffed, so I don't have to track which are my most powerful 3 and when are they about to despawn.
Then you'll be quite interested in the Power Trip talent, which does exactly that! (WarcraftDevs)

... most of the temporary demons are also alive only for 12 sec. What if I have a strong demon that's going to despawn in 2 sec?
Managing when to cast Demonic Empowerment will be a key part of mastering Demonology gameplay. (WarcraftDevs)

Wheres FnB? I hope it's still here, because if not that new talent won't save the day for destruction.
Shadowburn is a talent, with improved usability. Fire and Brimstone is a talent that passively makes Incinerate AoE. (WarcraftDevs)

Can you clarify the "limit 1" on Havoc's description? Limit 1 what?
You may only place Havoc on one target at a time. That matters when it's improved via talents. (WarcraftDevs)

what does 'Your Destruction spells deal up to x% additional damage, randomly' mean? how does that work?
Mastery provides a damage bonus to those spells, but it's a random % increase, up to the (very high) Mastery % (1/2) (WarcraftDevs)
The frequency of your attacks will quickly smooth out the RNG element, but it's always possible you might prefer other stats. (WarcraftDevs)
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Warrior (Forums)
On the warrior blog coming this week, will it be discussed why their artifacts were chosen to all be swords. No axes or hammers?
We went with swords for wider appeal, but there's a variant we haven't shown yet that you might like. (WarcraftDevs)

Serious missed opportunity not giving arms warriors the forged by cenarius for Broxigar. If there was ever an expac...
Yeah, thought about doing that one for a long while. In the end, a wooden nature themed axe didn't feel right, despite lore. (craig_amai)

really? this is what you bring to the table for warriors? you say they overpower their foes, yet take away overpower?
I think you may have read that backwards. Refer to the paragraphs about Warriors in general for some good news! (Celestalon)

The Arms Warrior talent "Titanic Might", the halving of effectiveness, does that work with the Mastery also?
Yes. Titanic Might effectively gives you a half-strength Colossus Smash with a 100% uptime. (WarcraftDevs)

Makes sense. It would be nice to have as a Rage generator. Auto-attacks alone won't cut it, I fear.
Charge, autoattacks, and talents will provide plenty of Rage for Arms Warriors. (WarcraftDevs)

Overpower and HS are talents, right? Are they spec specific? Do they work as they used to? Will either replace whirlwind? <3
Overpower and Heroic Strike are talents for Arms and Fury. They don't replace anything. Heroic Strike is baseline for Protection. (WarcraftDevs)

Did I read correctly that Fury *takes* 30% more dmg while Enraged?
Correct. Being Enraged reduces your defenses. However, that's offset by a much higher max health, and very high self-healing. (WarcraftDevs)
if you are one shotted it's useless more self healing
Does having 31% more max health not help with that? (Celestalon)
We'll tune this as needed to ensure that Fury Warriors are not a liability. 30% may not be the correct number. (WarcraftDevs)

I'm not seeing myself camping defensive stance just so I can survive when others are fine.
We will not expect Fury Warriors to swap to Defensive Stance whenever they expect to take damage. (WarcraftDevs)

Is Rampage (Fury Warr) a channeled ability? Imo channeled abilities are boring.
Rampage is not channeled. You maintain full control during its animation, apart from being on GCD, like any other attack. (WarcraftDevs)
So we'll be able to move? What about use other abilities during that 2 sec?
You can move and use off-GCD abilities, while you are on GCD. (Celestalon)

Why doesn't Rampage just trigger Enrage? Take some emphasis off randomness of BT crit, which is a major concern. @Celestalon
Rampage always deals damage as though you're Enraged. You don't have to wait until Enrage to use it. (WarcraftDevs)

By the artifact for Fury warriors it's not certain that they wield 2H weapons (At least for me) could we have more information
Fury's artifact is indeed a pair of 2-handed weapons. They looked a little small in the preview; we'll be scaling them up a bit. (WarcraftDevs)

What gives fury warriors "much higher max health"?
A passive +25% bonus to max health, and Titan's Grip (which roughly amounts to another 6%, typically). (WarcraftDevs)
wait so you are adding 25% more health? on top of TG?
Yes. (Celestalon)
Warrior preview. Prot. Move heroic strike off gcd again and add small cooldown instead. Useless burner and choice otherwise
Heroic Strike is still off of GCD. That hasn't changed. (WarcraftDevs)

will ignore pain count as active mitigation? Currently for some reason shield barrier doesnt.
Yes, Ignore Pain is considered Active Mitigation. (WarcraftDevs)

Plz clarify ignore pain "next massive damage". Buff consumed on next inc damage ? "Random aoe" can waste it ?
Ignore Pain ignores 90% of the next X damage you take, from any sources. It lasts until you take a total of X damage. (WarcraftDevs)
what is the variable "x" in this situation?
It's 25% of your maximum health. So if you have 400k health, X = 100k. (WarcraftDevs)
Example: Boss deals 50k, 25k, 50k. You take 5k (X=50k left), 2.5k (X=25k left), 27.5k (affected first 25k, then fell off). (WarcraftDevs)
So warriors are going to have incredibly smooth damage intake. Feeling underwhelmed by protadin announcement.
I'm trying to help clarify things as much as possible... Could you help me understand what led you to that conclusion? (Celestalon)
Ignore Pain kicks in only on heavy damage attacks and reduces them significantly, effectively mitigating the largest damage (1/2
Ah, this is more fallout from the confusing wording of Ignore Pain then. No, that's not what it does. See blog and clarifications. (Celestalon)
What I'm lacking understanding on is, if you take a 1mil hit and you have 400k hp, is 90% of 100k reduced or 90% of 1mil
90% of 100k. It will absorb 90% of the next 100k that you take. A 1mil hit will do 910k. (Celestalon)

Tell my why I shouldn't stand in fire when I am not tanking as prot? It reminds me of vengeance, take damage to do more damage
Your DPS gain would be trivial, and your healers could do significantly more DPS in the time they spend healing you instead. (WarcraftDevs)

Will shield slam and revenge be prot warrior's only way to generate rage, because the values seem kinda of low.
Check out the Gameplay section of the blog. (Celestalon)

Fistweaving and Gladiator Stance
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Fistweaving (and Gladiator Stance) will not be joining us in Legion.

We love the fantasy that each of those “subspecs” promise, but leaving them as subspecs has proven to be problematic, making us unable to properly deliver on their fantasy. Trying to support two different playstyles within one spec restricts how much we can focus and bring out the strengths of either of them. We still love both of their concepts, however, and will look for opportunities to bring them back in the future.

Fistweaving in particular ended up being used mostly as a mana management tool to support Serpent Stance, instead of a damage/heal hybrid, which didn’t support its fantasy well. While we recognize that the initial goal for Mistweaver Monk -- combining a ranged healer with a melee healing style -- attracted some people to the class, quite a few things have changed since then. Most importantly, there’s been a huge shift away from smart heals in Warlords, which is continuing in Legion.

Mistweaver gameplay for most players was centered around their ranged healing spells, and our focus for the spec in 7.0 consists of reinforcing their unique array of healing tools and adding talents and artifact powers that support this style.

Blue Tweets
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Soon. (Muffinus)

Classes
I like the general feel of the rotations, but what about the CCs? Are they being baked into Talents? PVP Prestige?
The blogs are only covering core combat abilities. There will still be baseline CC, and potentially more via talents and PvP. (WarcraftDevs)

Hey guys, have you considered making mana scale again like it used to? And not a base amount that never changes?
We want to make sure that mana remains a meaningful constraint throughout the expansion. Gear is not likely to scale mana pools. (WarcraftDevs)

For alts, will there be a way to just take all passive talents?
Nearly every talent row will have a passive option. (WarcraftDevs)

With classes being reworked, will we have more abilities on our bars, less, or around the same amount?
For many specs, the answer will be "either less or more, depending on which talents you pick." (WarcraftDevs)

I'm curious why some times class consistency is good (soul shards) and other times its not (holy power)
Great question! It's important that the resource itself has strong fantasy, and that it also brings strong gameplay. (WarcraftDevs)

Roughly how many talent rows will we have access to in Legion, if I may ask?
7 rows, plus PvP talents. Also, the game has far more total talents due to having many more spec-specific options! https://t.co/N2k1N3qYRi (WarcraftDevs)

Character / Items
How are we already back at items with +1k points of a stat? That stat squish didn't seem to last a single expansion.
We would've been well into 5 digits by now otherwise. It was a temporary realignment, not a permanent end to scaling. (WatcherDev)

Super excited to see how Artifacts are coming along. Cannot wait to spew feedback during Beta -- Cap on Artifact per week?
There are some caps on spending deep in to prevent potential hard grinding. We'll have more details to share later. (WarcraftDevs)

Artifact transmog: will we be able to, eg. mog Icebringer different from Soulreaper? Sorry if already answered, haven't seen.
Yes, mainhand and offhand will remain separately transmogrifiable. (WarcraftDevs)

Will artifacts be transmoggable between weapon types? ie fist weapons transmogged to maces?
You will be able to transmogrify your Artifact to look like a different weapon, following the normal transmog rules. (WarcraftDevs)

Can you expand on alts getting artifacts? Will we be able to experience the story (lore) of all spec artifacts on one char?
Yep! You can do the artifact quest lines for all of a character's available specs. (WarcraftDevs)

PvP
With the introduction of a PvP talent system, are the normal talents still active in PvP areas?
yes (holinka)

Any word on racials in PVP? I'm assuming they're removed in RBG and arena, because trinkets and enchants are removed.
Racials, Talents, Artifact Traits, and of course PvP talents will all be active in both unrated and rated PvP. (WarcraftDevs)
this includes world pvp, right? And duels?
Yes, this includes world PvP and duels. (WarcraftDevs)

Lore
Can I ask you a little lore question? What is the relation between mana, arcane and chi/life? Is mana any different from chi?
An upcoming book will detail these and other fundamental forces! Arcane is a fundamental power, "Mana" is just a measure of it. (DaveKosak)
"Chi" is a Pandaren term for "Spirit," the primal life force that shaman tap into. (DaveKosak)

Hi, . Like other Paladins, must Blood Knights have faith in the Light to use it, or CAN they just take it from the Sunwell? TY
technically they can take it but Liadrin has moved the blood knights away from that type of abuse of the Light. (Abrosiabi)

what about Illidan. You almost didn't say anything about him at the panels . What's his status? Is he hiding/plotting something
long storyline throughout whole expansion. Patience please (Abrosiabi)

Green dragons were immortal until the events of Cataclysm and the unmaking of Deathwing, as I understand it. (DaveKosak)
Slight error Mr. Kosak. All dragons were mortal before Cataclysm, just long lived. The Aspects, alone, were immortal
Yes! Thank you. (DaveKosak)

Hi, . Like other Paladins, must Blood Knights have faith in the Light to use it, or CAN they just take it from the Sunwell? TY
To wield the Light as a weapon takes intense focus and a VERY powerful belief. Power isn't stolen the way Warlocks take it (DaveKosak)
What? That directly conflicts with the BK's origin of stealing power from M'uru, and the AskCDev answer about it.
Question was about present day and Sunwell. (DaveKosak)

Any chance the habit of locking big lore moments behind mythic raidng can stop? Lore nerds are not Raiders and vice versa usually
Well, by definition raid fights and their result HAVE to be important for lore. LFR is there to ensure everyone can see it! (DaveKosak)
That said the Lore of Legion's Raids R making me 4 the first time want to seriously try Raids maybe I am contradicting myself lol
Flexible raiding makes it much easier to get involved. Find a fun guild - raiding is VERY fun! (DaveKosak)

UI / Addons
Are there any plans on having a built-in option to track debuffs on nameplates without extra addons?
We're experimenting with ways to show some debuffs (such as DoTs) on nameplates. Beta feedback will be invaluable! (WarcraftDevs)

Reputation / Questing
A little confused on zone scaling in Legion. If lvl 102 and lvl 108 players group together, what do mobs scale to?
The way it works, it acts like a 102 to the 102 and a 108 to the 108. It's seamless enough that you don't need to worry about it. (WarcraftDevs)

Misc
What does everyone think? 3 day BlizzCon? (I doubt I would survive.) (DaveKosak)

But there are now so many happy little trees
It's actually a problem game designers face. "We like this thing, give us more of this thing until we don't like it!" (holinka)
↧

Legion - Gnome Hunters, Patch 6.2.3 Overview and Official Notes

November 13, 2015, 5:38 pm
$
0
0
Legion - Gnome Hunters
Gnomes rejoice! You can finally be a Hunter in Legion.



Patch 6.2.3 Overview
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
During scheduled maintenance on Tuesday, November 17, we’ll release Patch 6.2.3, bringing cross-realm Mythic raiding, new Timewalking dungeons, the return of the Valor currency, the Grove Warden mount, and more to the game.

Tuesday’s maintenance period will also mark the end of the current PvP season and the beginning of Warlords Season 3. In the new season, you’ll have a chance to earn new PvP gear, including the Warmongering Aspirant (PvP item level 715), Warmongering Combatant (ilvl 730), and Warmongering Gladiator (ilvl 740) sets.

For those interested in diving into dungeons, the very first Cataclysm Timewalking Bonus Event begins Wednesday, November 18, featuring Grim Batol, Stonecore, Lost City of Tol’vir, Vortex Pinnacle, Throne of Tides, and End Time. We’re also expanding the Northrend Timewalking Bonus Event to include Pit of Saron and The Burning Crusade Timewalking Bonus Event to include Magister’s Terrace.

Patch 6.2.3 Official Notes
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
New Timewalking Dungeons
  • A new Cataclysm Timewalking Bonus Event has been added to the holiday rotation, featuring the following dungeons:
    • End Time
    • Grim Batol
    • Lost City of Tol’vir
    • Stonecore
    • The Vortex Pinnacle
    • Throne of Tides
  • The existing Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King Timewalking events have been expanded to include an additional dungeon each:
    • Magister’s Terrace (Burning Crusade)
    • Pit of Saron (Wrath of the Lich King)
  • New rare mount: Infinite Timereaver, has been added as a random drop from any Timewalking boss.
  • Added a vendor near the Cataclysm portals in Stormwind and Orgrimmar during the Cataclysm Timewalking Bonus Event that sells modernized Cataclysm gear and cool new toys.

Cross-Realm Mythic Raiding
  • Cross-Realm raiding has been enabled for Hellfire Citadel on Mythic difficulty. You’ll now be able to join with friends or fill that last raid spot to take on the most difficult encounters in Warlords of Draenor.

Item Upgrades and Valor are back!
  • Item upgrades are back! Players will be able to earn and spend Valor to upgrade items from Hellfire Citadel, crafted profession items, items created from Baleful tokens in Tanaan Jungle, and all Draenor dungeon drops. All the items you’ve already earned are eligible for upgrades retroactively.
  • Characters can earn Valor in a number of ways.
    • Completing the first random Heroic Dungeon of the day
    • Completing Mythic Dungeons
    • Completing weekly Bonus Event quests (except for the Pet Battle Bonus Event)
    • Completing a Raid Finder wing for Highmaul, Blackrock Foundry, or Hellfire Citadel for the first time each week.
  • To upgrade, visit your friendly neighborhood ethereal in Orgrimmar and Stormwind, or Stormshield and Warspear to upgrade your gear by 5 item levels at a time for 250 Valor, up to twice per item, for a total potential boost of 10 item levels.

Improved Item Rewards
Mythic Dungeon Loot Improvements
  • Mythic Dungeons now have a chance to award items ranging from item level 685 to 725 in 5-item-level increments, with a progressively lower chance as item level increases.
  • Mythic Dungeon bosses now also have a chance to drop a new Heirloom Trinket that will scale up to level 110.
Baleful Item Level Boost
  • Baleful items now have a chance to create items ranging in quality from item level 655 to 695 in 5-item-level increments, with a progressively lower chance as item level increases.

Warlords Season 3
  • Around the release of Patch 6.2.3, a transition to Warlords Season 3 will take place. More information and details on the close of Warlords Season 2 and transition to the new season will be available in the future.
  • With the new season comes new gear. New Warmongering Aspirant gear scales up to PvP item level 715, Warmongering Combatant gear scales to 730, and Warmongering Gladiator gear scales to 740.

Class Tuning Changes
Death Knight (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  • General
    • Blood Boil, Blood Plague, Death Coil, Death and Decay, Frost Fever, and Soul Reaper damage has been increased by 10%.
  • Frost
    • Frost Strike, Howling Blast, and Obliterate damage has been increased by 10%.
  • Unholy
    • Festering Strike, Necrosis, and Scourge Strike damage has been increased by 10%.
  • Talents
    • Defile and Necrotic Plague damage has been increased by 10%.

Druid (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  • General
    • Moonfire and Wrath damage has been increased by 6%.
  • Balance
    • Starfall, Starfire, Starsurge, and Sunfire damage has been increased by 6%.

Paladin (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  • General
    • Crusader Strike, Hammer of Wrath, and Judgmentdamage has been increased by 8%.
  • Retribution
    • Divine Storm, Seal of Truth, and Templar's Verdict damage has been increased by 8%.

Shaman (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  • General
    • Chain Lightning, Flame Shock, Lava Burst, Lightning Bolt, and Lightning Shield damage has been increased by 4%.
  • Elemental
    • Mastery: Molten Earth, Earth Shock, and Earthquake damage has been increased by 4%.
  • Enhancement
    • Lava Lash, Stormstrike, and Windfury damage has been increased by 4%.

Warrior (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  • General
    • Enrage now increases all damage dealt by 15% (up from 10%).
  • Arms
    • Seasoned Soldier now increases all damage dealt by 15% (up from 10%).

Raids and Dungeons
Hellfire Citadel

Timewalking
  • Pepe should now remain with players that enter into a Timewalking dungeon.

Items
  • Increased the drop rates of Felblight from Skinning, Mining, Herbalism, and Fishing by about 20%.
  • Mirror of the Blademaster now summon magical blades as guardians, instead of mirror images of the caster.
↧
Search

Legion Class Preview - Demon Hunter, Blue Tweets, DLC #512

November 15, 2015, 2:49 am
$
0
0
Legacy of Nightmares Nerf, Whirlwind Changes, Seismic Slam on Might of the Earth, Dev Interview

League of Explorers: Temple of Orsis Boss Guides - Zinaar, Sun Raider Phaerix, Temple Escape

XP Gained on Scoreboard, Brawl With the Blues - Cho'Gall, Reddit Dev Q&A, Epic Plays #53

Legion Class Preview Series


Legion Class Preview - Demon Hunter
Demon Hunters aren't getting an official class preview with the latest series of blog posts so we thought now would be a good time to recap what we know so far. Some of the information came from the gameplay stream below.

It's fairly long and the front page is already pretty full, so we put it on its own page. You can find it in the Legion menu in future!





Blue Tweets
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Classes
Will you guys be putting thought into things like Gladiator and Fistweaving as potential 4th specs?
It's definitely an interesting idea that we'll consider for the future, but for Legion we're focusing on the current 36 specs (WarcraftDevs)

Death Knight (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Any current plans for Death Knights Presences in Legion expansion, or do they remain a same?
Presences have been removed. They were mostly clutter, and negatively impacted gameplay when off-role Presences were used. (WarcraftDevs)

Druid (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Will Restoration Druids have Genesis in Legion? I love Genesis, especially for Challenge Modes.
Genesis has been removed. Instead, Flourish and the new Mastery will help in similar situations. (WarcraftDevs)

Hunter (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Will we get an updated Aspect of the Pack for Legion? I hate having to find the forgetful hunter and tell him to turn it off
Aspect of the Pack will no longer bother you in Legion... (WarcraftDevs)

Mage (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Wait, is Glyph of Regenerative Ice going away in Legion now that major glyphs are going away? Don't take our only self-heal
Mages should focus on avoiding/absorbing damage. We don't like self-healing for them. Instead, we made Ice Barrior class-wide. (WarcraftDevs)

Will the mage specs be more balanced in Legion? In WoD Fire was basically AoE only & bad for single target (e.g. most of HFC)
Previously, we favored some AoE niches between specs. We'll be toning that down for Legion. (WarcraftDevs)

Monk (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
With Elusive Brew gone, what will Brewmasters use Crit for defensively?
We're still discussing exactly what it'll be, but are going to ensure that Brewmasters still value Crit. (WarcraftDevs)

Clarification on the brew master keg? Is it just just the one on the end of the artifact staff or an actual keg?
Yes, the one on the staff. The base artifact's keg is a small bottle, but the alternate visuals have a much larger keg, like Chen. (WarcraftDevs)

Paladin (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Will Light of the Martyr heal the caster if they have Beacon on them?
Yes. It's likely to be less healing than the self-damage it deals, but it does work. (WarcraftDevs)

Priest (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Say we have a Lei Shen transition phase. Healing to be done, but not really anything to attack. Do you see Disc being useful?
In these rare situations, Disc would use pure healing spells. It's less effective, but far from useless. (WarcraftDevs)

Rogue (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
About CP wasting for rogues. Anticipation is a huge help, but it feels like something like it should be baseline. Any plans?
Not planning to make Anticipation baseline. Minimizing wasted CP is a core Rogue mechanic. (WarcraftDevs)
That said, we definitely recognize the ease of use it provides, so the other talent options need to be strong to compete. (WarcraftDevs)

Shaman (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Could it be possible to allow Ele shamans Lava Burst precasting? So the dmg increase applies on hit and not casting? Please.
Possibly. Nuances like that will be evaluated in beta. Important to consider the reverse: casting LvB just before FS expires. (WarcraftDevs)

Will Healing Surge still be instant after some MSW build-up for Enhancement? Would absolutely suck if not.
We're still evaluating that. It currently costs a variable amount of Maelstrom (0 to 20). May affect healing, cast time, or both. (WarcraftDevs)

Warlock (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
I keep hearing a lot about executes being mostly removed outside of Warriors. Will Doomguard's Doom Bolt still have execute?
Still evaluating. We're most sensitive to abilities which are only usable at low target health. Doom Bolt is different. (WarcraftDevs)

Does Dark Soul still exist for Warlocks in Legion?
No. Instead, Doomguards and Infernals will be on much shorter cooldowns, and possibly stronger, to fulfill the same role. (WarcraftDevs)

Warrior (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Not sure if this has been answered but, What about SMF for Fury warriors? I like using 1H's specially fist weaopns
Fury will strongly prefer 2H in Legion. We'll make sure you have appropriate weapons when the time comes. (WarcraftDevs)

PvE
Will number of valor upgrades for 6.2.3 be the same for all regions? Last time they were different.
All regions have two upgrades. (WarcraftDevs)

are the new CMs going to have a mob count requirement or are stealth runs back in business?
Yes. Kill count requirements are necessary to prevent shenanigans, but stealth is still a useful tool. (WarcraftDevs)

PvP
Will honor and conquest points get wiped with the new season?
Yes, Conquest will be converted to Honor. All Honor over 4000 will be converted to silver at a rate of 35 silver per Honor. (WarcraftDevs)

UI / Addons
simple ui request: option to outline my character (like you can with target and mouseover). increase raid visibility of toon.
Done! A toggleable self-highlight for improved raid visibility is one of Legion's UI improvements. (WarcraftDevs)

Ghostcrawler Tweets
Ghostcrawler still occasionally talks about WoW. Remember that he no longer works for or speaks for Blizzard.
Originally Posted by MMO-Champion
wasn't the PTR for WoW the same sort of thing? or any game, really. Never quite done adjusting and tuning things.
Raid testing on PTR was fairly good data because those teams had an incentive to try hard. PTR PvP feedback was never good data. (OccupyGStreet)

Still weird for me to see the WoW panel without Stockton, Chilton, Metzen or Ghostcrawler
I think it's great that they're letting some of the other team heroes get some face time. (OccupyGStreet)

I'm sad they didn't announce any additions to the Black Market, how do you feel about the system? I hope for Naxx-40 weapons
I loved the black market. It was something I worked on personally at a time when it was hard to keep my hand dirty implementing. (OccupyGStreet)

Man I miss the class design in WoW when you were around, it was absolutely amazing has gone so down hill. RIP arms warrior
I am excited that the team seems to be doing bold things with class design for Legion. We shall see. (OccupyGStreet)
Arms got butchered. Friend is unhappy about Hunter. She is SV currently, and they're straight up removing it.
So it's cool to see them trying to excite players with bold innovation, even if it's too bold for some players. (OccupyGStreet)
I only forgave you last week for removing perma tree form in Cata.
I mentioned this a few weeks ago, but is the druid fantasy a shapeshifter or an alt form class? (OccupyGStreet)
Clarifying, do you mean should it shape-shift across all it's forms vs. stick to just one per spec, or?
That's right. It was clear that players had different opinions and was difficult to deliver on a design that met both. (OccupyGStreet)



Poll - Main Class in Legion
We are checking in again now that we know more about Legion class changes!



Dark Legacy Comics #512
DLC #512 came out last week during Blizzcon madness!

↧

Patch 6.2.3 Live This Week

November 15, 2015, 10:47 pm
$
0
0
Patch 6.2.3 Live This Week
Patch 6.2.3 goes live this week, bringing some system updates and new rewards:



Official Notes
The official notes were early this time, if you missed them before be sure to check them out now!



Valor and Item Upgrades
Valor Points may be gone, but Valor returns in Patch 6.2.3! Item upgrades are also back, with two upgrade levels at +5 item levels each.

  • You can see a full list of items that can be upgraded here.
  • Upgrading an item costs 250 Valor for +5 item levels.
  • Hellfire Citadel items, Dungeon loot, Baleful items, and crafted profession items can each be upgraded twice, for a total of +10 item levels.
  • You can upgrade lower tiers of crafted items, not just the highest one.
  • There is no hard weekly cap on Valor earned, but the sources of Valor are inherently not infinitely repeatable. You can earn up to 4,875.
  • There is a cap of 5,000 Valor that you can hold at once.
  • Valor can be earned in the following ways:
    • Mythic Dungeon (Valor awarded with dungeon completion, once per dungeon per week) – 300 Valor Points
    • Complete the weekly Event quest from Seer Kazal (Pet Battle Event excluded) – 500 Valor Points
    • Heroic Dungeon (complete your first random Heroic of the day) – 100 Valor Points
    • Raid Finder (once per week per wing) – 150 Valor Points for Hellfire Citadel wings, 75 Valor Points for Highmaul and Blackrock Foundry wings
  • To upgrade, visit your friendly neighborhood ethereal in Orgrimmar and Stormwind, or Stormshield and Warspear.



Increased Reward Item Levels
Mythic dungeons and Baleful items can now proc even higher item level bonuses!

  • Mythic dungeon items can now go from 685 to 725 in 5 level increments.
  • Baleful item can go from 655 to 695 in 5 level increments.
  • Items have a progressively lower chance to be rewarded as item level increases.


Mythic Dungeon Heirloom Trinkets
The Warlords version of Garrosh Heirlooms are here! These trinkets have a chance to drop in Mythic dungeons and will scale to level 110, so be sure to get one for leveling in Legion.

LevelTypeSpecName
800TrinketAll HealersJudgment of the Naaru
800TrinketAll StrengthGronntooth War Horn
800TrinketAll TanksPurified Shard of the Third Moon
800TrinketAll AgilityInfallible Tracking Charm
800TrinketAll IntellectOrb of Voidsight


Grove Warden Mount
Heroic and Mythic Archimonde will drop Remnant of Chaos, leaving to the Defiler's End quest which rewards the Reins of the Grove Warden.





Infinite Timereaver Mount
The Reins of the Infinite Timereaver can drop from any Timewalking boss.





Timewalking Updates
Magister’s Terrace and Pit of Saron were added to the Timewalking dungeon selection. The first Cataclysm Timewalking Bonus Event starts this week. Along with the new Infinite Timereaver mount and the Cataclysm Timewalking gear, some new rewards have been added:

LevelTypeName
85JunkTosselwrench's Mega-Accurate Simulation Viewfinder
85OtherGurboggle's Gleaming Bauble
1QuestCommendation of the Dragonmaw Clan
1QuestCommendation of the Wildhammer Clan
1QuestCommendation of the Guardians of Hyjal
1QuestCommendation of the Ramkahen
1QuestCommendation of The Earthen Ring
1QuestCommendation of Therazane


Warlords PvP Season 3
The new PvP season starts this week, unlike previous seasons that have had a week off! You will be able to start earning the new set of gear right away.



New Items
Most of the new items are covered in other sections, but there are a few more of note:





Class Changes
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Death Knight (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)

Druid (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)

Paladin (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)

Shaman (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)

Warrior (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  • General
    • Enrage now increases all damage dealt by 15% (up from 10%).
  • Arms

WoWDB Addon Data Collection
Quickly populating the database with 6.2.3 additions is done with the help of many players. The more people that contribute data, the faster we can update the database with accurate data.

To help out, just click here if you have Curse Client already installed. If the link doesn't work for you, open Tools -> Options -> Plugins and check the box.

When you are playing the addon will gather data and save it. When you are done playing, Curse Client will see the game close and upload the collected data from the addon. You can see the last time data was uploaded by looking in the Plugins tab of the options, as well as making sure the addon is enabled there. Be sure you have Curse Client open before you close WoW so that the data will upload!

The addon now supports Live, Beta, and the PTR, so be sure to add all of your WoW installs to the client.

↧
↧

Celebrating 11 Years of WoW

November 16, 2015, 11:24 am
$
0
0
Patch 6.2.3 Live This Week

Celebrating 11 Years of WoW
The costume and Thunderfury were hotfixed to be Bind on Pickup, so no more abusing alts to get more!
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
The 11th anniversary celebration of World of Warcraft has begun! Log in between now and November 30 to earn the WoW's 11th Anniversary achievement, then check your mail for a special Anniversary Gift Package filled with a fun items to mark the occasion, including:



That’s right—for a couple of glorious weeks, everyone in Azeroth can dress up like an outlaw while turning others into murlocs (or gnolls) and wielding an inflatable Thunderfury of their own.

Thanks to all of the heroes of the Horde and the Alliance for your unfaltering dedication to protecting and preserving Azeroth. Whether you are an honorable tauren, a brawny orc, a crafty gnome, or a resourceful human, we appreciate your continued support, and we’re looking forward to sharing adventures with you for many years to come.

Join the celebration on Twitter with the hashtag #11YearsofWoW, and share your favorite thoughts and memories from World of Warcraft with the rest of the community.
↧

Cataclysm Timewalking, Nov 17 Hotfixes, Blue Posts, Tweets, Overwatch Beta Weekend

November 18, 2015, 1:00 am
$
0
0
New Wings and Pets Preview, PTR Patch Date and Leaderboards, Travis Day Lightning Talk

Deck Spotlight: Scarab Control Shaman, October Ranked Results NA, Things Players Love To Hate

Cho'Gall Patch Notes

Beta Test Weekend Nov 20-23, D.Va Datamined Sprays, Lorewatch - Reaper

Patch 6.2.3 - Cataclysm Timewalking
The first Cataclysm Timewalking weekend is here! Along with the Infinite Timereaver mount that can drop from any boss and the vendor gear, there are new rewards to purchase on the vendor.

LevelTypeNameCost
1QuestCommendation of the Dragonmaw Clan50 × 
1QuestCommendation of the Wildhammer Clan50 × 
1QuestCommendation of the Guardians of Hyjal50 × 
1QuestCommendation of the Ramkahen50 × 
1QuestCommendation of The Earthen Ring50 × 
1QuestCommendation of Therazane50 × 
85JunkTosselwrench's Mega-Accurate Simulation Viewfinder3000 × 
85OtherGurboggle's Gleaming Bauble1500 × 


Patch 6.2.3 Hotfixes - November 17
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Raids and Dungeons
Hellfire Citadel
  • Archimonde
    • Fixed an issue where some players were unable to loot Crystallized Fel from eligible Archimonde kills.
    • [Hotfix in testing] Damage bonuses against demons should now work correctly on Archimonde.

Dungeons
  • Auchindoun
    • The chest that appears after defeating Teron'gor should now correctly award loot or Valor on Mythic difficulty.
  • Skyreach
    • High Sage Viryx should now award Valor to players when defeated on Mythic difficulty.

PvP
  • Players are now automatically dismounted around the new Warlords Season 3 vendors.
  • Warlords Season 3 vendors in Warspear and Stormshield should now correctly offer a full selection of Conquest quality PvP gear.

Items

Blue Posts
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Warlords Season 3 PvP Item Levels
Just posted this.

  • All gear now scales up to iLvl 700.
    • Wild Aspirant gear is iLvl 715.
    • Wild Combatant gear is iLvl 730.
    • Wild Gladiator gear is iLvl 740.
  • Any PvE gear over iLvl 730 will be scaled down to iLvl 730.
  • Winning Rated Battlegrounds and completing the weekly Ashran Dominance quest now awards you a random piece of PvP iLvl 740 Conquest gear.
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Warlords Season 3 PvP Start Date
Whoa man, I'm just blasted from one side of the earth to another...Why is there no break in-between to get honor gear and prep for the season to start?? I genuinely want to know what this change is going to accomplish.. is it for leigons timing or..? Someone please.. tell me..
For a while, we've thought that it would be more fun for the new Season to start immediately after the old Season ended. Players want to get right back to Arenas.

This time around, we did an evaluation and determined that we didn't need the empty week, so we found a way to eliminate it with the patch deployment.

So far, so good.

I agree completely with this decision +1 blizz. while we have your attention any chance you have an estimate for when the titles will be released?
As before, we'll take at least a couple of weeks to ensure that all awards are bonafide before distributing them. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Warlords Digital Deluxe Rewards
With the Warlords of Draenor Digital Deluxe retiring, we know there are many who would still like to be able to get their hands on the digital items that came with purchasing it. To address this desire, we will be making these items available for purchase at some point in the future. These will then be available for purchase until the pre-patch for the new Legion expansion. Please note, the option to purchase these items is limited to those who already have a Warlords of Draenor license attached to their account. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Blue Tweets
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Classes
All we ask is that you make the Mage Community aware that threads such as these have not gone unnoticed by Devs
Your feedback is not going unnoticed! Note: Innervate can only be cast on healers. (WarcraftDevs)

is Chimaera Shot for marksman hunters gone?
Currently, yes. It's a talent choice for BM, where it fits better thematically. Still considering whether MM should have it. (WarcraftDevs)

how about Scatter Shot coming back at legion? fits marksman cc right?
Marksmanship has a new ability: Bursting Shot. Short range cone attack which knocks enemies away. It's a "get away from me" option. (WarcraftDevs)

Was doing some shaman theorycrafting but realized it wasn't stated what the maelstrom cap is. 100?
Currently, yes, although that number may very well change as tuning continues. (WarcraftDevs)

Any chance Harpoon can be switched from a Charge to a Death Grip? The latter makes way more sense.
No. Death Grip is iconic to Death Knights, and our goal is to make classes more unique. (WarcraftDevs)

Will there be a casting focus generator talent option for marks like steady or focusing shot?
Not planned at the moment. Arcane Shot is instant and generates Focus, which fills that spot well. (WarcraftDevs)

In Legion, MM and BM hunters have no traps. Can we expect a similar technique to Explosive trap with glyph (it is really fun)?
MM has Bursting Shot for similar functionality. BM doesn't have a knockback. Sometimes NOT having all the toys is more interesting. (WarcraftDevs)

Artifact Weapons
For MW monks, will artifact staves be displayed upside-down? That would look bad/weird https://t.co/3lDE9A2R35 minor glyph?
Staves no longer sheath differently for Monks. There were issues with many staves, so we decided it was time for a universal fix. (WarcraftDevs)

having an artifact weapon that already shares the name of a cata weapon drop does not make my artifact feel special
Agreed. This name is not final. (WarcraftDevs)

What if we by accident select the wrong node on our artifact weapon, will there be a way to undo this?
There will be a method of respeccing your Artifact, but it comes with a cost. (WarcraftDevs)

PvP
Are tanking specs getting some PvP love in Legion? Will they be tuned to be competitive?
We're looking for new ways to get tanks involved in PvP. (WarcraftDevs)

Hello. Will there be rank 1 titles account wide? mounts? atleast class wide?
We have no current plans to change how titles and mounts are distributed. (WarcraftDevs)

Is there no Vicious Saddle Mount this Season?
There isn't a brand new mount for Season 3, but you can still earn the mounts that were available during Season 2. (WarcraftDevs)

Ghostcrawler Tweets
Ghostcrawler still occasionally talks about WoW. Remember that he no longer works for or speaks for Blizzard.
Originally Posted by MMO-Champion
Hey Greg. I know this is a question, that goes back to your prevoius life, but there was an intresting thred at MMO-C and I just kinda had to come and ask your pov and your insight: Why does it take so long to make raids, and what is the most time consuming aspect when making new boss fights.‎
When I was there, it was the raid art (the architecture part) hands down. Since they have grown the team so dramatically, that may no longer be the case. It is difficult to start boss encounter design until you have a room, since testing relies so heavily on fixed locations. To some extent, the design can be pushed shorter or longer depending on how art resources are coming along.

What's the worst theorycrafting you've ever heard?
There are two categories of bad theorycrafting. The first is when someone just says something very uninformed or intentionally trolly and nobody pays much attention. The more interesting case is when a sizable segment of the population believes for something to be true, when it is not the case. This could be because the mechanic in question is really convoluted (old WoW armor pen comes to mind) or because a math error gets introduced somewhere along the way and everyone else misses it.

I can't narrow down the "worst" that I've ever head, though it's a great question. I'll think about it. I remember there being a lot of concern about how long WoW healers could keep someone alive who was taking an amount of damage that we intended to kill them. They were evaluating a worst case scenario where they had essentially already lost the encounter. It's hard to tell if they knew that was the case (i.e. they were using a specious argument just to argue for buffs) or if they really believed their particular class was too weak.



AskMrRobot - Valor Updates
AskMrRobot is ready to tell you which items to upgrade first for the largest effect!



Overwatch - Weekend Beta Test
An Overwatch closed beta stress test weekend is coming soon!

↧

Fel Reavers, Nov 18 Hotfixes, Armory Stats - Challenge Modes. Poll, Tweets, DLC #513

November 19, 2015, 6:34 am
$
0
0
Update (3:30 PM EST): There are two new tweets of interest from Celestalon and SeTec9.

A Primer on Snapshotting, PTR Hack Bug, Monk's Set Dungeons

League of Explorers Wing 2 Launches Tomorrow - Boss Info & Cards, Season 2 CDC Finalist Voting

Cho'Gall Q&A Summary, Upcoming Gazlowe Changes, DotA 2 and Heroes Model Comparison

Genji Datamined Sprays, Developer Update - Matchmaking & Hero Balance

Patch 6.2.3 - Fel Reaver Noises
If you want to hear the Fel Reaver sound people are talking about, just fly into Ashran and it will play when you are dismounted.



Patch 6.2.3 Hotfixes - November 18
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Racials
Undead

Class
Paladin
  • Talents
    • Final Verdict (Retribution) damage has been increased by 8% to match a class tuning change to Templar's Verdict in Patch 6.2.3.

Raids and Dungeons
Dungeons
  • Auchindoun
    • [Hotfix in testing] Valor is now awarded automatically after defeating Teron'gor on Mythic difficulty.

Items
  • [Hotfix in testing] Warlords Season 3 Combatant’s equipment now has the same item level as Warlords Season 2 Gladiator’s equipment in both PvE and PvP.
  • Some Season 3 Warmongering Insignia trinkets should no longer incorrectly trigger its effect immediately when equipped.
  • Infallible Tracking Charm now has a massively increased damage and chance to trigger, but now only increases damage against demons for 5 seconds (down from 10 seconds.)
  • Purified Shard of the Third Moon now creates a damage shield that absorbs 100% more damage on use.

Armory Stats - Challenge Modes
Today we are taking a look at the Challenge Mode achievement completion rate of players. The data used today is a sample of 2.1 million characters active in the last two months. We also did this earlier this year, which you can see here.

The first chart looks at the overall percentage of players that have each challenge mode achievement. The second chart defines a participating player as one with the completion achievement for that challenge mode.

You can click the titles in the legend to turn off and on different data types.


Don't see a chart? Enable javascript!

Don't see a chart? Enable javascript!


Poll - Challenge Modes
What is the highest level of challenge modes you have completed some of in Warlords of Draenor?


Blue Tweets
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Classes
In Legion, are we still going to fill our bags with "Tome of the Clear Mind" in order to change our talents?
Nope! No reagents are needed to swap talents in Legion. (WarcraftDevs)

with the inclusion of gnome hunters, does this mean we can expect other new race/class combos?
We have no other additional race/class combos planned for Legion at this time. (WarcraftDevs)

If base spells change for all classes, will learning order and speed we learn them change too?
Yes, the levels at which you learn each ability will be adjusted. (WarcraftDevs)

Is leveling to110 as restore shaman going to be just using lightning bolt since we have no maelstrom power?
Nope! We're adding more engaging damage-dealing rotations for all healers in Legion. (WarcraftDevs)

any plans on HP changes for Legion?
HP pools turned out fairly well in Warlords. No wide-scale changes for Legion. Couple specs may go up or down. (WarcraftDevs)
How is it acceptable to have one level 100 player with barely 200k hp, and another with well over 500k?
What issue do you see there? There are different forms of content targeting those players. (Celestalon)

Do Moonkins and Spriests keep their in-form healing in Legion? Clarification due to the "no mana".
They will have some healing. We're still determining exactly what. Moonkin still have mana, it just isn't used for damage. (WarcraftDevs)

Death Knight (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
this makes me sad. The presences aren't "just clutter" they have utility with movement speed and BP has saved many wipes.
There will still be ways to save wipes, and a variety of utility. (WarcraftDevs)

Hey, could u explain Marrowrend? Does it automatically activate Bone Shield (working like SotR) or can we manually use stacks?
Using Marrowrend gives you 3 stacks of Bone Shield, which work as they do now. Bone Shield isn't an active button of its own. (WarcraftDevs)

Druid (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
What will happen to Bloodtalons for Ferals? Will it remain a talent or something else?
Bloodtalons works well as a high-risk, high-reward talent, and is remaining. (WarcraftDevs)

So rejuvenate cant be used in feral.. Does this applies to all specs besides Resto & as a feral what will be the way to heal?
Still determining what heals can be used in forms. Ferals do still have the very strong Predatory Swiftness + Healing Touch. (WarcraftDevs)

will the feral druid legendary overwrite the saberon appearance from the talent or will saberon appearance be customized too?
We've opted to remove the Saberon form, for now. Artifacts provide a huge amount of customizability for forms. (WarcraftDevs)

If feral or guardian druids transmog their artifacts, will their bear and cat form go back to basic, or be the form selected?
It will remain as the artifact-based form. (WarcraftDevs)

Mage (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Run of Power & Incanter's Flow. Can we please go into #Legion without these? Would mean an awful lot to many mages if removed.
Rune of Power isn't for everyone, but pretty flexible nowadays. Incanter's Flow is a passive option for those who prefer it. (WarcraftDevs)

will Ice Barrier be stronger in Legion for mages?
It's hard to measure exactly, since so much changes between expansions, but in general terms, yes. (WarcraftDevs)

Every other class can self heal, how does it appropriately fit with every other class fantasy except mages?
Absorbs (such as Ice Barrier) fill the same role instead. (WarcraftDevs)
Can do harder content with worse gear on classes that I don't know as well vs mage with absorb. Any plans to improve absorbs?
Not every class is designed to be a master of sustainability. Mages are somewhere in the middle. Ice Barrier will be quite strong. (WarcraftDevs)

Monk (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
SCK having a chi req.. so it's no longer spammable and can't be used without first selecting a target and generating a chi?
We chose to turn SCK into a spender, so that its damage could be strong. It will not require a target. (WarcraftDevs)

is Touch of Death staying around? it's pretty iconic to monks.
Touch of Death is remaining, but it works rather differently. It's more of a cooldown than an execute. (WarcraftDevs)

I need clarification on storm-earth-fire,Will us the main character deal 100% of the damage while both clone deal 50% damage?
No. All three, including you, will deal 50% damage. It's not for use on one or two targets. (WarcraftDevs)

will we see Chi Explosion in Legion in a new form now that chi is gone? It's one of my favorite spells!
Chi Explosion disagreed with the fantasy quite a bit, and was extremely complex. Instead, we're adding other alternatives. (WarcraftDevs)

With fistweaving gone how will mistweavers do damage?
Mistweavers still have a few melee combat abilities for dealing damage. They just won't also cause healing. (WarcraftDevs)

With their mastery changing, will Mistweaver monks still create healing spheres?
There will be no more Healing Spheres as a baseline. We may add them as a PvP talent, however. (WarcraftDevs)

Paladin (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Will paladins still have seals in Legion or are they a thing in the past?
While they've been around forever, they haven't delivered on gameplay, so Seals will be a thing of the past. (WarcraftDevs)

the changes to hammer of the righteous and consecration interaction effect single target damage whether consecration is down?
Yes, they do. Consecration is still worth using, even on a single target. (WarcraftDevs)

With holy gone for tankadins. What's replacing it? Mana?
Gameplay-wise, Protection Paladins will treat uses of Shield of the Righteous similar to how they treated Holy Power. (WarcraftDevs)
They'll still have a mana bar, which is only used for healing others and utility. (WarcraftDevs)

Priest (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Do Void- and Mind Blast share CD? Or can i enter Voidform with MB, and then cast VB immediately?
We're still iterating on the Shadow rotation, and looking to further differentiate gameplay in/out of Voidform. Stay tuned. (WarcraftDevs)

is shadow word: death gone for spreists? it was so important for pvp tbh, will be really sad if it is gone.
Currently, it remains, as the only true execute ability (other than Execute). (WarcraftDevs)

With the Shadow Priest changes in Legion, will the way Clarity of Power be changing?
The new rotation is significantly different, so most talents have to be rethought. (WarcraftDevs)

Rogue (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
The positioning window stuff will be interesting. Is "behind" a 90 or 180 degree arc?
Backstab is very generous. Anywhere in the rear 270 degrees counts (back and sides). (WarcraftDevs)

Shadowstrike... merging Ambush & Shadowstep... Is Shadowstep gone in Legion? Favourite sub ability next to SDance.
Shadowstrike is a merge between Ambush and Shadowstep, and replaces both. (WarcraftDevs)

Warlock (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
is Charred Remains gone for Destruction warlocks? Please let it be gone!!And is there any hope for fel flame? Pls answer both
Definitely gone. It turned out very un-fun. Many Warlock talents are changing, and we're looking forward to feedback on them! (WarcraftDevs)

is anything being done to address affliction warlocks aoe dps issues?
Yes. Multidotting will be strong again, and Seed will be strong, especially with a talent that allows AoE application of Seed. (WarcraftDevs)

How will Soul Swap work in Legion, it's really bad in WoD. Perhaps no cost with a CD ??
Soul Swap will not be returning. However, there's a new talent, Soul Effigy, that may interest you... (WarcraftDevs)

I noticed Rain of Fire isn't listed as an ability in the Destruction preview. Will it still exist in Legion?
RoF and FnB overlapped too much in Warlords, which is why we hotfixed RoF out of the picture until we could revise. (WarcraftDevs)
In Legion, RoF is the primary AoE, and FnB is a talent (which doesn't obsolete RoF). (WarcraftDevs)

What weapon-type is the demo warlock artifact?
It's a very unique artifact. We're still determining exactly how it will work for e.g. transmogrification. (WarcraftDevs)

Warrior (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Do y'all know if Fury's new rage dump, Rampage, will have its duration scale with Haste like Fists of Fury?
Haste will reduce the GCD of Rampage, along with other rotational abilities. (WarcraftDevs)

In Legion, if I DS Fury & Arms, will I be able to equip Arms Artifact as Fury & Vice Versa or will the artifact itself change?
Artifacts do not swap with your spec, and are only equippable by the appropriate spec. (WarcraftDevs)

Character / Items
is supreme lord Kazzak gear able to be upgraded with the new valor system?
Yep! Enjoy those item level 715 Marks of Supreme Dooooooom! (WarcraftDevs)

items containing multistrike will changes with Legion?Do we have to look for new equipment if we're multistrikebased spec?
Multistrike will be replaced with other useful stats. (WarcraftDevs)

PvE
the unhotfix of the 2nd boss of grimrail intentional or getting rehotfixed for Cms?
Unintended. We'll restore the pre-patch behavior. (WarcraftDevs)

PvP
and then bigger rewards like mounts/titles could be at the end of every 6-8 months or whatever of mini seasons
Glad to hear people like the idea of shorter seasons. Hopefully we'll have more to share about Legion PvP soon. (holinka)

With the new PvP scaling system in #Legion will managing multiple characters finally be doable? @WarcraftDevs
The fact that some players want to play many characters while others only want to play one is a very challenging design problem. (holinka)

Pets and Pet Battles
Will we hear about Pet Battle news for #Legion at some point ?? I know there aren't a lot of us, but we're loyal!
Not quite ready to talk about that yet, stay tuned (Muffinus)

Dark Legacy Comics #513 - Class Preview
DLC #513 takes a look at the Rogue class preview this week!

↧
Viewing all 6749 articles
Browse latest View live
Search