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Shadowlands Developer Interview - Ion Hazzikostas 

Published on 2020-04-28 04:52 PM

Shadowlands Developer Interview - Ion Hazzikostas
Zoltan sat down with Ion Hazzikostas to talk about Shadowlands!



Lore
  • This is the real Jailer. What we saw at Blizzcon was a silhouette of the Jailer that wasn't final.
  • We'll learn some about the history of the Arbiter and Jailer, the rulers, and what forces shaped the Shadowlands.
  • There are parallels between the Titans that rule Azeroth and the Pantheon of death that rules the Shadowlands.

Pre-Expansion Patch
  • The current plan is to tell the story of what happened to all of the Undead after the Helm of the Lich King. Main experience will be in Northrend and Icecrown.
  • Fight the way to the center of what happened to save our world. Bolvar and Death Knights will mobilize alongside the Horde and Alliance.
  • There will be a few one time story moments, time to resolve some of the threads, such as Nathanos.
  • There will be some re-playable outdoor content to help people coming back to gear up and get ready for Shadowlands.

More Lore
  • The team is generally planning two expansions in advance. Not a super detailed plan, but a higher level plan.
  • Bwonsamdi was really loved by players, so the team is happy to incorporate him into Shadowlands.
  • The Tyrande scenario is a piece of an endgame quest line, not the introduction.
  • Tyrande will be important in Shadowlands, has a connection to Ardenweald, her story is far from over.

Shadowlands Launch
  • The window given for launch at BlizzCon was just 2020, nothing has changed there.
  • Everyone can see development moving along.
  • The team will announce an exact release date when they are confident the expansion quality will be where it needs to be.

Covenants
  • Covenant Abilities will be a gameplay choice. It's part of playing a RPG.
  • As you go through each zone, you'll get to sample each Covenant's ability and aesthetic.
  • The team is going to use all of the aspects of Covenants to create packages with no one best choice.
  • The team has heard the feedback on the cost of changing Azerite armor. It was supposed to be expensive to discourage people from doing it often.
  • Soulbinds can be used everywhere.
  • Upon joining, you'll have access to two Soulbinds that you'll know from questing. You'll unlock a third by doing your Covenant campaign questline.
  • You can swap Soulbinds when you go back to your Covenant's sanctum.

Torghast
  • The team is still tuning things. You might get one legendary item every 2-3 weeks. Probably similar to the rate you could acquire Legendary items in Legion, but not as random.
  • The team can't let you do 20 Torghast runs a day and get rewards from all of them, but they want to let players have the ability to experience Torghast whenever you want.

Leveling
  • Layering will be used as needed at launch.
  • The new Horde starting zone should be on Alpha in the next few weeks.
  • The team did the Alliance zone first so that they could fix bugs and respond to feedback before they build the Horde version.
  • The team wants leveling to be faster than it is today. Having to do 120 levels feels like an impossible barrier for new players.
  • Seven hours to level is probably too fast, but powerlevelers who are trying to do it as fast as possible are an outlier. Leveling speed hasn't been tuned on Alpha.
  • The team is still figuring out how Shadowlands flying will work for new players that are leveling through Battle for Azeroth.
  • The team is still listening to feedback on how to handle flying moving forward.

Dungeons and Raids
  • The team will continue with Seasonal Affixes, so Shadowlands Season 1 will have one. It hasn't been designed yet.
  • There might be some balance adjustments to existing affixes, or replace a couple if they have better ideas.
  • The team wants to make all of the dungeons playable on Mythic to understand what mechanics they can layer on top of them.
  • Legendary items will use the hardcore Maw set.

Customization
  • The additional customization that is being added in Shadowlands was overdue.
  • Many of the Allied Races already had more customization, so the team will come back to them at some point for more customizations.
  • Character customization will never be over, it's an ongoing project.
  • The focus is Covenant armor and sets that match the raid's team, but the team wants to return to class themed sets later in Shadowlands.
  • The team is open to more Allied Races, but there are no plans for any in Shadowlands.
  • There are no plans for blue eyes on Blood Elves.
  • You can apply any texture to any model, that doesn't mean it'll be a customization that you can get.
  • Character customizations will be on Alpha in the coming weeks, and then you'll be able to see what options are actually planned.

PvP
  • PvP vendors are back, Conquest and Honor as well.
  • No new battlegrounds planned for launch, potentially a new arena.
  • Battlegrounds can be added in patches.
  • High end PvP accomplishments demonstrate what you did on that class. There aren't plans to make PvP rewards account wide right now. The team will probably revisit this decision and see if it still makes sense and accomplishes what they want, especially with Mythic rewards being account wide.

Endgame
  • The team will announce more about endgame as the Alpha cap gets to 60.
  • There will still be world quests, no more Emissaries. Covenant calling gives you world objectives with more variety than do X world quests.
  • Epic Covenant campaign that spans multiple weeks, unlocks Soulbind, tells story of Covenant.
  • Maw and Torghast progression.
  • Level up Covenant sanctum as a longer term goal. Get Anima and Souls to power it back up.
  • The Maw will open in the Alpha in a few weeks.
  • Shadowlands will take you to the Maw as soon as the expansion starts. You'll go back in a few times while leveling, rescuing souls that are important.
  • The Maw will be a max level zone, with the Eye of the Jailer mechanic.

Controller Settings
  • There are no current plans to bring WoW to consoles.
  • The controller settings were added to help improve accessibility.

Misc
  • The team likes updating the old world, but they have to maintain a balance between improving old areas and creating new ones.
  • There are no plans to overhaul Stormwind and Orgrimmar right now.

Classic
  • The team is working on figuring out what will come next.
  • Burning Crusade is a logical option.
184 Comments

Patch 8.3 Hotfixes - April 27, Fan Art - Journey to Gilneas Trailer, DLC #724 

Published on 2020-04-28 01:50 AM

Patch 8.3 Hotfixes - April 27
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Classes
Monk
  • [With regional restarts] Mistweaver Monks’ Rising Mist can now extend a heal-over-time effect by up to 100% of its original duration.
    • Developers’ note: When we buffed Rising Mist with the intention of making melee Mistweaver a viable playstyle, players discovered that stacking extreme amounts of haste and cooldown reduction can reach a breaking point of infinite duration on Mistweaver Monks’ heal-over-time effects. Even though it’s exciting to see people discover new builds and interactions, the sheer power level in this case is likely to have a negative effect on the healing game for the remainder of Battle for Azeroth. This change is intended to prevent the infinite extension, while allowing Rising Mist to still enable an effective melee playstyle.

Fan Art - Journey to Gilneas Cinematic Trailer
Voolcan created a nice trailer that provides a little bit more Gilneas content.



Dark Legacy Comics #724
DLC #724 has been released.
21 Comments

Shadowlands Alpha - Bastion Questing Experience Chapters 4 - 6 

by
Stoy
Published on 2020-04-24 03:34 PM

Shadowlands Alpha - Bastion Questing Experience Chapters 4 - 6
Today we're taking a look at the second half of the questing story in Bastion! You can find our coverage of Part 1 here! You can also see some screenshots of Bastion here.

The following contains spoilers!

Chapter 4
  • With the fragment of the Paragon in hand, Kleia directs you to meet her at the Mnemonic Locus. She has Pelagos go warn Hero's Rest that the Forsworn could attack again to which he agrees, telling her to come back to him safely.
  • There, you find a steward named Mikanikos arguing with the image of Locus-Keeper Mnemis. Access to the Locus is currently restricted and only Forsworn are authorized at the moment. Mikanikos exclaims that he is the Forgelite Prime, but the image just disappears and Kleia worries you might be too late.
  • He suggests that you restore the Locus by finding the Locus Manual among the discarded scrolls as well as collecting 12 Centurion Cores from the corrupted constructs on the grounds.
  • When you complete these tasks and return to Mikanikos, he discovers from the scroll that the Soul Mirrors and the Locus are tied together. He asks you to aid him in using the nearby Anima Conduits to restore the Mnemonic Locus. While you do so, Kleia asks the steward if the Locus can gather memories from something that isn't a soul. Mikanikos asks her to elaborate, and she reveals that the brought a fragment of the Forsworn responsible for all this.
  • You place the fragment down and Mikanikos says it is highly unusual to use the forge in this way, but it might work. He asks for your help in "distilling the memories of the Forsworn from the fragment. What follows is a little game where soul fragments head toward the Locus and you must collect the good ones while avoiding the bad ones. They are highlighted when good and you receive a stacking slow debuff whenever u cross over a bad one.


  • Locus-Keeper Mnemis shouts that she alerted the Forsworn when you recover the memory fragment, and Mikanikos rushes off exclaiming he is going to reprogram her if it's the last thing he does. Kleia tells you to take the fragment to a soul mirror while she protects the Forgelight Prime.
  • The first vision shows Lysonia still as an aspirant talking to a shadowy figure. She fears she will lose herself if she "gives up anymore," to which the figure says to trust the process. She wonders how long they endured it, and the figure says long enough to remember there was pain, but not so recently that he feels it.
  • The second memory shes Lysonia join the Shrouded Figure and become a Forsworn. The final memory shows Lysonia leading the Forsworn on the attack at the Temple of Purity on the "Paragon's" orders. Kleia contacts you and says she knows where to find another soul mirror. She tells you to head to the cavern in the North and will meet you there.


  • The final memory shows Lysonia about to receive new orders from the Paragon, but the Locus-Keeper cuts it off and you are forced to defeat her while Mikanikos repairs her.
  • Back to normal, the Locus-Keeker reveals that this particular memory can only be recalled within the Vault of the Archon but you need two offerings to gain access. The Locus-Keeper cannot tell you directly where the offerings are, but puts you in the right direction. When you find the location, Mikanikos must be protected from Forsworn while he activates them. You then place both offerings on the statues outside the Vault of the Archon and head inside.
  • As Mikanikos works to get the barrier down, you must aid Kleia in keeping the Umbral Phalynx's from entering the vault. When the barrier is down, the final memory is revealed as Lysonia asks the shrouded figure why he sent the vengeful one away. The figure says his gaze was too narrow for what he was offering her, and there is another power at play. The Forsworn do not fight for Bastion alone. He tells her that once she has taken Purity they will make their move. Kleia and Mikanikos says this is a problem and they must find a way to get an audience with and warn the Archon! You then take a teleport out of the Vault.



Chapter 5
  • Outside the vault, Kleia says you must find a way to get into Elysian Hold! She tells you to meet her at Hero's Rest.
  • You approach a platform that takes you up to Hero's Rest and find Kleia engaged in conversation with Kalisthene. She exclaims that the Mawsworn are already within their ranks. Kalisthene says that with this new information the Archon might feel differently about the previous report. She allows you to contact the Polemarch. If he sees fit, he can aid you in procuring an audience with the Archon directly.
  • Unfortunately the signal device to draw the Polemarch's attention has been broken for some time. Kalisthene provides you with a steward which grants you the Summon Steward Bastion ability for use in the zone. You are able to pick any of the stewards in the area and the game says to be certain of this choice as it can't be changed for some time. Once picked, you use your new steward to fix the Beacon of Invocation and summon Polemarch Adrestes.
  • Kalisthene has vouched for you and so Adrestes says the Archon has decided to grace you with an audience. It is your duty to present your discoveries to her and follow her wise judgment. He then carries you to Elysian Hold.


  • Upon arriving, Kleia and Pelagos are in awe as they have never been to Elysian Hold. You then approach the Archon and there is a placeholder for a cut-scene where Kleia warns her of the impending attack. Adrestes explains that each temple of Bastion is protected by wards in Elysian Hold. As long as these wards hold, no malevolent force can launch an assault. He is concerned that the Forsworn were able to attack Purity in such force. You are told to investigate the wards.
  • You find most of them intact, but the ward of Purity has been disabled. You also find Forsworn Uther shutting down the ward of Courage. As you approach, he says you are too late. The Forsworn will rise and Bastion will endure a new order. You flies off and you rush back to warn the Archon.
  • Adrestes says the Temple of Courage is where all kyrian learn to fight and it can't be allowed to fall. He tells you to seek out Thanikos in Xandria's Vigil.



Chapter 6
  • You go to the nearby flight path to get a ride to Xandria's Viigil. In the sky there is a placeholder for an "awesome in-game event."
  • You land to find many dead aspirants and Thanikos and a lich Nalthor the Rimebinder channeling a spell on a nearby construct.
  • Thanikos says that in a fair fight the warriors of Bastion could stand against countless swarms of Maldraxxi, but this was anything but fair. They came without warning or cause and the kyrian were unprepared. They must not be allowed to encroach any further. He asks you to help him reclaim the Vigil.
  • Nalthor is angered that you have interrupted his work. Thanikos says that the lich has broken the ancient treaties and justice will be done. Nalthor exclaims that you will serve his master in death, just like the other kyrian that fell in death. Thanikos says that they are allies, but Nalthor says kyrian are nothing but fuel and the corpses are forever more in the master's service. He tells Thanikos that he will see to it that he serves at his side when reborn as a reward for the entertainment. He opens portals and you fight off waves off undead before Nelthor teleports away and you secure the area.
  • Thanikos says that the northern grounds have been taken by the House of Constructs, home to Maldraxxus' most resilient warriors. He asks you to slay their forces and cleanse the area. Mikanikos is here too working on the Centurion construct that Nalthor was channeling a spell on. He says he can repair it if you find an Anima Conflux, Eternity Plating, and Archonic Resonator. Disciple Apolon also requests that you save 6 captured kyrian.


  • Next, you must head to the Southern half of the temple whee the House of Rituals has taken over. Unlike the constructs, their key advantage in battle is their endless army of risen fighters. You must use the Archonic Resonator to sunder 12 solders' corpses while also draining Necrotic extractors to empower the Anima Conflux..
  • You then meet Thanikos at the Shattered Span and Mikanikos says to buy him time while the colossus charges. Thanikos says you and him must delay Amarth the Reanimator until the Colossus is fully charged.
  • After, you take control of the Colossus and fire on the flying enemies above. Thanikos then asks you to confront Amarth the Reanimator with him.
  • You arrive to find The Paragon of Courage, Xandria engaged in combat with Amarth. Thanikos jumps into the fight, but Amarth summons ritualists who bind Thanikos and transform him into a bone construct that you are forced to defeat. Xandria flies after Amarth and you flee the area with help from Disciple Apolon.
  • Apolon is saddened that Thanikos is gone and says Maldraxxus must answer for their crimes. He tells you to go to Oribos and speak with the Tal-Inara, Voice of the Arbiter, and let her know what happened. You are also told to enter the Necrotic Wake dungeon and defeat Amarth the Reanimator.
29 Comments

Mythic Dungeon International 2020 

by
Lumy
Published on 2020-04-23 03:10 PM

Mythic Dungeon International 2020
MDI 2020 has started! Today's broadcast is EU & Asia Cup 2 (Day 2 Lower Quarters) and starts at 10am PT (7pm CET).


Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
We’re back, dungeon-runners! The Mythic Dungeon International (MDI) is coming to YouTube beginning April 11. There have been some major changes this year, but the MDI is still pushing the craziest keys and facing the most fearsome affixes. Here’s everything you need to know.

Where to Watch

All of the MDI events this year will be streamed live via YouTube. You can subscribe to the Warcraft YouTube channel and hit the bell to be notified when broadcasts are live. Check out the Warcraft YouTube Community tab for more great content.

Format Changes

We’ve made a few changes to the format this year, the Europe and Asia (EU/Asia) division includes players from Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Korea, China, and Taiwan.

The Americas division includes players from The Americas, Australia, and New Zealand.

Teams will participate in the division based on where the majority of their team’s players reside.

Broadcast Schedule

All MDI Cups will broadcast on Saturdays and Sundays local region time on the Warcraft YouTube channel. See below for the broadcast dates and start times by region.

  • EU / Asia Cup 1 - April 11-12, 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time - April 11-12, 7:00 p.m. Central European Time
  • Americas Cup 1 - April 18-19, 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time - April 18-19, 7:00 p.m. Central European Time
  • EU / Asia Cup 2 - April 25-26, 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time - April 25-26, 7:00 p.m. Central European Time
  • Americas Cup 2 - May 2-3, 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time - May 2-3, 7:00 p.m. Central European Time
  • EU / Asia Cup 3 - May 9-10, 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time - May 9-10, 7:00 p.m. Central European Time
  • Americas Cup 3 - May 16-17, 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time - May 16-17, 7:00 p.m. Central European Time

New Year, New Dungeon, New Affi

We’ve added a new dungeon to the rotation this year with Operation: Mechagon. This dungeon provides 8 challenging bosses split in two separate wings—Junkyard and Workshop.

New Affix: Awakened

With the Visions of N'Zoth content update comes a new season of competitive play and a new Affix to contend with—Awakened.

While the Awakened affix is active, players will discover obelisks throughout the dungeon, which will pull players through the veil to the shadowy world of Ny’alotha. There, players will confront a powerful servant of N’Zoth which they must defeat, or the servant will join forces with the final boss in the instance.

Language Streams


Casters


Hailing from Italy, Caroline “Naguura” Forer has come a long way from waiting for her brothers to get off the computer so she could log in and play her Paladin. “When I couldn't play, I would just sit for hours and watch my brothers play, then jump straight on as soon as they left the chair,” she said. From Paladin to Druid and from healing to damage, Caroline grew up with the game and went on to establish herself at the core of the EU PvE scene. Now with years of experience, a multitude of World Firsts under her belt, and her own forays into WoW esports (both competing and casting), she returns to the MDI casting team.

Former captain of the 4-man MDI team Sinking Ship, and self-proclaimed #2 Balance Druid, Peyton “Tettles” Tettleton’s appearance on the MDI desk will be one for the ages. Overall, his goal for the broadcast is to help viewers understand what makes the runs successful. “There is a lot of nuance in Mythic Keystone dungeons, and being able to teach the path to victory for each team is important,” he said. You can catch him on his stream or on YouTube, where he primarily focuses on PVE content. He also authors the Wowhead Balance Druid Guide. He loves a good-natured meme and ridiculous photoshopped photos of himself.

Dan "AutomaticJak" Anzenberger has been a part of the MDI crew since the beginning, and he’s been topping off health pools in World of Warcraft for many years. He is most well-known for his healing guides for the past three expansions on YouTube and Wowhead, where he plays all healers but specializes in Holy/Discipline Priest and Mistweaver Monk. He enjoys sharing his love of healing, so if you’re a healer looking to step up your game, or a tank/DPS looking to better understand your healers, Jak will be here to cover it all.

Alex "Xyronic" Tatge is a Warlock extraordinaire, winning the first U.S. World First in the past eight years. You can find his guides on Wowhead, where he breaks down everything a master of shadow magic would need to know, including talent builds, Azerite gear, spell rotations, macros and addons, Mythic+ guides, and more.

Tristan "Dratnos" Killeen is a jack of all trades in World of Warcraft PvE. Raiding at a high level himself, he's also done coverage for the Race to World First. In Mythic Keystone dungeons, he creates routes for each dungeon every week, and nearly made it to an MDI cup. Dratnos has a thorough understanding of all the different things that can go wrong in a dungeon and is ready to share that wisdom with you.

Gillian “Eiya” Long started working in esports in 2016. She has worked as a stats producer, observer, and tournament admin, and her passion for WoW esports is evident behind the camera and in-front. A WoW fan since Burning Crusade, Eiya debuted as sideline reporter and host last year. Most recently, she hosted the Complexity Limit Race to World First and the Keystone Masters Tournament.

Going Remote

For the health and safety of our casters and staff, the MDI will be moving to broadcast remotely. Fortunately, our broadcast schedule will continue as planned while our production and casters will be working from home.

Stay Connected

Stay connected and stay on top of the latest news by following us on YouTube and Twitter. Check out Raider.IO, and check out the broadcast schedule on our esports page.

Make sure to tune in this weekend and join the discussion on the forums here.
138 Comments

Flying Update in Shadowlands 

Published on 2020-04-22 08:37 PM

Flying Update in Shadowlands
We've previously covered the new Flying unlock levels in Shadowlands. Blizzard announced today that in Shadowlands, Draenor Pathfinder and Broken Isles Pathfinder will no longer be required to fly in their respective regions!
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
With the major changes coming to leveling characters from 10-50 in Shadowlands, we want to make sure that there is a navigational parity among all of the different expansions you can choose while questing. In the next version of the Shadowlands Alpha that will appear this week, testers are going to see an intentional change coming to Shadowlands for a couple of older Pathfinder achievements.

Specifically, the flight training rewards from Draenor Pathfinder and Broken Isles Pathfinder, Broken Isles Pathfinder, Part Two will no longer be required for flying in Draenor or Broken Isles content. These will now be granted at level 30 with expert flying.

The achievements will remain in place as before, and Draenor Pathfinder will still be the way to earn the Soaring Skyterror mount, while Broken Isles Pathfinder, Part One will continue to reward increased mount speed in the Broken Isles.

Thank you very much!
169 Comments

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