Legion Developer Q&A - Artifacts and Order Halls

[Aerisot]

Deathknights hall should have been the shadow vault imo, would have made a lot of sense, instead of giving them the same old boring place of the past.

I love my enhancment shaman, however I strongly feel Doomhammer is an Elementalists weapon, Enhance should have first weapons of some sort...Plus doomhammer looks dumb with it's offhand counterpart that just appears for no reason.

[De Lupe]

Still the same, if you run faster then you should complete it faster.
Just as if you're saving money for something you should get there faster if you work more.

I think you're missing the analogy. The point is that no matter how fast each person runs, everyone will get to the finish line. Some will just get there faster than others.

The people who play 30+ hours a week will get done faster than the people who play <5 hours.

Then, as time moves on, everyone will start to see an increase in their AP and the people playing <5 hours a week will ultimately reach the same destination you reached months earlier. You're still ahead and rewarded for getting there before them, but everyone will get there.

It also works great for people who join the game 3/4 through the expansion's life. They'll gain AP quickly enough to catch up without too many issues.

If you transmog it to a staff does it loose the cool effects in cat form?

Daggers can't be mogged into staves.

[Raynre Valence]

My only problem is that I will need to travel to my Order Hall, and also sometimes Dalaran, and maybe have a hearth out in the world somewhere, OH NO WAIT, I need to go back to Stormwind to use the AH...

Basically now I have to just set everything to Dalaran, and remember to use my garrison hearth if I feel like checking the AH.

[ejpaints]

My only problem is that I will need to travel to my Order Hall, and also sometimes Dalaran, and maybe have a hearth out in the world somewhere, OH NO WAIT, I need to go back to Stormwind to use the AH...

Basically now I have to just set everything to Dalaran, and remember to use my garrison hearth if I feel like checking the AH.

You get a Dalaran hearthstone, normal hearthstone, + still have garrison hearthstone. Traveling to order hall is made practically instant by taking the eagle to the left instead of flight master to the right at the landing. Oh and the portals are in Dal same place they were in Wrath. Flight master whistle has 5 minute CD so getting to flight paths is quick & easy. I'm forgetting something else I think... But point is they've actually made it pretty easy to hop around

[Soeroah]

My only problem is that I will need to travel to my Order Hall, and also sometimes Dalaran, and maybe have a hearth out in the world somewhere, OH NO WAIT, I need to go back to Stormwind to use the AH...

Basically now I have to just set everything to Dalaran, and remember to use my garrison hearth if I feel like checking the AH.

Dalaran has portals to every class's Order Hall (who don't have their own portal spell), each major faction city, Shattrath, Shrine, Caverns of Time, Karazhan, Wyrmrest Temple, Dalaran Crater and one more I keep forgetting. You get a Dalaran-specific Hearthstone that takes you there once every 20 minutes, and your Garrison Hearthstone sticks around in case you need it.

Trust me, you aren't going back to Dalaran so often that you need to "set everything" to it. If you are, you're being inefficient. Hell, I sometimes use my Dalaran Hearthstone to cut down travel time; it's something I can waste, because I don't need to be in Dalaran as much as my Garrison. Most Order Hall stuff can be left for the start or end of a play session, and the rest of the time spent questing or doing dungeons or whatever.

The last zone is even right next to Dalaran. If you have a slow fall you can just float down there, but it's much quicker to get a flight path. I'm fairly certain the flight paths I've seen are faster than any level of riding skill will give a player's flying mount; flying mounts will only be used for short-distance travel from a flight point to the objective, if you're min-maxing speed, or for some of the less direct flight paths, of which I've found perhaps two so far.

[MasterHamster]

"Artifact Knowledge allows the team to reduce the huge gap between players that are playing 60 hours a week and 4 hours a week."


Absolute CRAP. So basically, the more you invest in the game, the less you get in return. This is utter bullshit.

Strange, I figured you if anyone would be happy that the gap between very active players and more casual players can be lessened, since giving the 60h player 15 times more AP would create some very unfortunate incitements. There has to be a catch-up mechanic like this.

Perhaps you've got an incorrect impression from that quote, at least if you think this means active players won't be rewarded for more effort, which they will. Research speed per Knowledge was 5 days? So every 5 days people can get a boost. Active players will always be ahead (and no, not just for those 5 days) but this system ensures that a casual single-digit hour/week player won't find themselves half a year behind in AP for long.

Purely theoretical numbers, but if a very active player gets capped in 2 months, a more laid-back player might do so in 4, even if they play a lot less thanks to Knowledge, but they'll obviously never be "on par" with the more active player before both are capped.

[Deleted]

I'd prefer a mace over a sword. Some prefer sword? That's exactly what divisive is. Some MM will want a bow, some will want a gun. That's Divisive. Not every MM wants a bow, Not all of them want a gun. Some don't get that option. Ret paladin included.

I prefer the selection of my weapons due to RP reasons on a more defined base. My holy paladin who is a BE would rather have a sword and either shield or book as offhand. My holy paladin who is Human would rather have a mace / hammer in conjunction with shield or book. In general, I prefer swords for BE paladins, and maces for everybody else, because BEs got their paladins a bit different from the rest, so the edgy thing suits them more. For dwarves, hammers are iconic anyway, and for taurens, I would also settle with blunt weapons, but with a more tribal look.

My BM hunter is BE with a more "classical" approach and always had a bow or a bow mog. My MM hunter is an engineer and thus has a gun. My human hunter is survival, and I will possibly settle with a spear, because this is the most iconic melee weapon for hunters besides axes for me (spears are better in more open areas, or when you need some extra reach, axes are good for gettin through thicker woods).

On my main character who is a BE mage, I have the problem that I would like to go arcane in Legion, but I also love playing frost and I should get the fire artifact as well because iconic BE weapon. Will we be able to get all 3 artifacts, because we will be able to play all specs?

[Shadowisp]

Hunters have strong opinions about what weapon type is the main one for your spec.

Oh but hunters that dont like guns makes them special.

They are not the only ones who dont like the type casting of their weapons... and dont get a special appearance choice.

Shadowpriests have NOT been happy type casted to a dagger, and an old god ugly one at that... which is obscurely hidden on the hip underneath a perpetual shadow form. Why not a wand, or a staff, or a halo, or a floating Old God eyeball... something other than a sharp pointy thing, we never ever going to stab anyone with.
Some Shaman Elementals not a fan of a single fist weapon (that doesnt sheath) and an odd mini-shield
Lack of wands on any caster classes with lock, mage or priests.

Warriors the lucky bastards get a choice between swords or a special axe appearance option... which appears to be catering for the Horde.

[Deleted]

So...nobody bothered to ask if we take artifacts into the next expansion? Nobody? Really?....

[Renixis]

So...nobody bothered to ask if we take artifacts into the next expansion? Nobody? Really?....

You mean the question that has been asked and answered before? Did you actually watch the interview? The default plan is no. They are no different than the legendary cloak or ring and are tied directly to those expansions.

[Arvandor]

Artifact Knowledge is per character system, not account wide.

this is the same mistake that we have in wod with garrisons.
account wide garrisons solve so many problems..

and now the same shit again..

[Maudib]

Strange, I figured you if anyone would be happy that the gap between very active players and more casual players can be lessened, since giving the 60h player 15 times more AP would create some very unfortunate incitements. There has to be a catch-up mechanic like this.

I take it to mean they have even more gates that I can see that make people who are playing the game, wait for those who aren't. In the long run it won't matter... I'll be leaving game a couple months after launch with flight delayed. II too will benefit from the catch up mechanism. But that is not the game I used to love and play. The one I played you ran dungeons for sets to get into raiding, attunements to get into those raids, farmed a lot to craft ONE BiS piece of gear, went out into the world and ground specific mobs because it was found to drop the item, pattern, recipe, you were looking for.

Now you just log in for 4 hours a week, run a few quests, a dungeon or two, LFR and never really get good at you character. All the while knowqing Blizz has got your back and will give everything in the game to you if you are just patient... sounds a lot like Obama.

[Deleted]

Kinda bummed that I can't transmogg my normal Cat Form over the Artifact Cat Form. Too bulky and too much stuff for my taste - a cat doesn't need armor and trinkets :P. Hope they change their mind and make this available right from the start.

[Ottius]

You get a Dalaran hearthstone, normal hearthstone, + still have garrison hearthstone. Traveling to order hall is made practically instant by taking the eagle to the left instead of flight master to the right at the landing. Oh and the portals are in Dal same place they were in Wrath. Flight master whistle has 5 minute CD so getting to flight paths is quick & easy. I'm forgetting something else I think... But point is they've actually made it pretty easy to hop around

You can also buy THREE cloaks with Stormwind teleport from a Guild Vendor and one Brawler's Guild ring.

[MarkTheMadMad]

Jesus Christ I thought the one on the left was a chick until I turned on the sound. That is a color a male should never have.

[Deleted]

Will we be able to get all 3 artifacts, because we will be able to play all specs?

Yup. At 102 you get the quests for the rest of the weapons.

[Darkguyver2020]

My only problem is that I will need to travel to my Order Hall, and also sometimes Dalaran, and maybe have a hearth out in the world somewhere, OH NO WAIT, I need to go back to Stormwind to use the AH...

Basically now I have to just set everything to Dalaran, and remember to use my garrison hearth if I feel like checking the AH.

Wait. The new Dalaran doesn't have an Auction House?
Guess I should keep hold of my Garrison Hearthstone then. Fortunately I got that remote auction house in my trading post.

[papajohn4]

Good thing none of the pali specs come with one. You are not divisive over what weapons Palis came with.

And neither are ranged hunters... MM = gun and BM = bow. But that's not what they got.

Rogues, warriors, etc.. several classes are like WTF!

Basically for me, both MM and BM should use bow and Survival should use gun... but now that survival is melee, MM or BM should get a gun... who is gonna get the gun? For it does not fit to any of those, so whoever gets it is a mistake which will be fixed with transmog..

[NFA]

"Orcs in the Stormwind Chapel wouldn't feel right."

Wow, damn Blizzard devs are such racists.

[Toppy]

While a lot of them would look ridiculous, one of the developers tweeted this back in November:

https://twitter.com/craig_amai/statu...45830051328000



So it's pretty understandable for people to be upset when they're forced into a weapon type that they can't transmog out of, told they'd be able to see it still while sheathed, then months later told "Nope, we changed our minds." So now everyone else is running around with their new models visible at least at their sides/on their backs and monks/shamans are left having to manually pull them out. And unfortunately monk is probably the least-played class so adding animations for other weapon types (the main reason you can't transmog out of fists) isn't going to be on the table.

This interview says otherwise and a prior interview they said they managed their time poorly and had to cut things.

So, no, fists wont show. They gave up on it.

- - - Updated - - -

"Orcs in the Stormwind Chapel wouldn't feel right."

Wow, damn Blizzard devs are such racists.

On the other hand. Apparently Trolls in a Draenei holy area does feel right.

So, yeah, they're absolutely full of shit.

Like no warrior heroes from prior lore because they wouldn't fit together in one place. This same argument can be applied to most class halls.

Heck, even better, the Paladin class hall has a NIGHT ELF PALADIN.