Legion Zone Preview - Azsuna, Blue Tweets, Build of the Month, DLC #547

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Soul Reaver & Jade Harvester WD Guides

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Legion Zone Preview - Azsuna

Azsuna is home to the remnants of the ancient night elves ravaged by the wrath of Queen Azshara. This accursed land is rife with many mysteries, and serves as refuge to what remains of the Blue Dragonflight.

We sat down with Senior Game Designer Eric Maloof to get some insights on the zone and learn a bit more about what you’ll find there.

Q. How would you describe the zone’s ambience? What’s it like?

Eric Maloof: Azsuna is a broken land. It’s been cursed for a little over 10,000 years, before the Sundering. It’s also an invaded land, and probably has the heaviest concentration of demons in the Broken Isles aside from the Broken Shore. The Burning Legion decided to use Azsuna as a major warfront, taking over the sub-island of Faranaar and also staging a fairly heavy incursion onto the Isle of the Watchers. From the Suramar side of things, they invaded and created the Felblaze Ingress, basically.

I like to call Azsuna the research park of magic for the elves. The Academy was the center of magical knowledge before Queen Azshara sundered the Tidestone of Golganneth, which caused the curse. Basically, it killed all of the elves and doomed them to an eternal existence—rather than turning into wisps and returning to the Great Tree, they’re stuck here as ghosts.

Azurewing Repose is a beautiful quest hub, where players see a different side of Blue Dragonflight from the one they’ve seen up to this point. What we see here is really a final retreat for the oldest living blue dragon, and he’s just hanging on by a thread because of the magic that’s infused in the island. The pool of magic that he’s resting in keeps him alive now—and that, in turn, is attracting the nightfallen and others from Suramar.

Azsuna is punchy and has a lot going on. It’s probably the one zone that isn’t necessarily dominated by any one given force, because realistically no one really comes here. You don’t imagine the elves from Suramar coming here, because it’s cursed. Why would you come here? Really the only reason is because Azshara is like, “Yep, I’m after the Pillar of Creation now,” and the demons have invaded we have to stop these guys from doing this. We normally wouldn’t come here. You don’t want to go here. It’s like a horror story waiting to happen—but you really don’t have any choice.

Q. Which locations in Azsuna would you say are some of your favorites, and why?

Eric Maloof: Well certainly Faranaar, just because of what happens to a place that was night elven and then gets hit with the full force of the Burning Legion. In lower Faranaar, where you do your level-up questing, you still have remnants of the elf ruins. But upper Faranaar is almost 100 percent just demons. This is what they do. This is what happens. This is what the whole world is going to end up looking like. The closest analog would be the demon world Mardum. So it sets the stakes for what we’re really fighting against here. I think we see a little of that in the invasions as well that are happening right now, but we don’t see as complete a takeover. You see the buildings coming in, and you can extrapolate what would happen.

Another favorite of mine is the city in the Academy, the ruins of Nar’thalas. The team did just such an outstanding job to really get that vibe of “long, long, long ago, here was a really important point of elf civilization and it got smashed because of Azshara’s wrath.” I think the evolution—or de-evolution, when you compare it against some of the places in Suramar, for instance—is really interesting. The art kit is similar but aged and desaturated and cracked. I think it’s such an iconic anchor point of the zone.

Q. Why do you think a player would want to start in this zone first?

I honestly think all of the four level-up zones are extremely compelling. Certainly if they want to get more exposure to the immediacy of the Burning Legion, they’re going to get that out of Azsuna.

Q. What is it that will bring players back to this zone?

I’d say that when we were plotting out Azsuna, we put in a lot of spaces for top-level content, but with the scaling tech, we had a lot of opportunity for other content that we could satisfy everyone with.

We set aside the Timeworn Strand for a PvP skirmish, so there’s a naga invasion on the west coast encroaching into these elf ruins that have slid off into the ocean. Who knows, it might have been the Sundering, it might have been the Shattering.

We have the Isle of the Watchers, which is all top-level. There, the Wardens faction has you deal with these monstrosities that have broken out of the Vault of the Wardens dungeon and set up camp in various places. In addition, the Burning Legion has taken one of the towers and is fighting the Wardens for the other tower with their felsworn—basically, the demon hunters and others who have sworn their allegiance to the Burning Legion.

Then we have the two dungeons, The Vault of the Wardens and the Eye of Azshara, which is magically connected to Azsuna. It’s effectively the dungeon staging area for Azshara’s forces as they either magically transport into the middle of the zone or swim up through the ocean, as we show when you’re coming into the zone for the first time.

So yeah, we’ve got a lot of reason to come back—plus we have profession content spread throughout the zone as well.

Q. Is there anything else that players should look forward to here?

There are so many little anecdotal things that might be too spoilery. One of the most compelling storylines focuses on Prince Farondis and his redemption. Here’s this guy who, in trying to do the right thing, damned his people for all eternity. He attempted to use one of the Pillars of Creation to stop Queen Azshara and the events at the Shattering with the Well of Eternity when that occurred. But in attempting to use an artifact of such immense titan power, Azshara got the drop on him, and all of his people blame him. To see him go through just being spit upon by his own people—and then going on to work with the player to help recover the Pillar of Creation—it’s really a redemption story. It’s really cool to see.

Another good story is in the north, there’s a nightfallen who’s really trying to resist his condition. You’re kind of rooting for him and you’re not sure how things are going to turn out for him.

Blue Tweets

Broken Shore
Has there been any comment on world pvp during invasions yet?
Some may be rather upset with the results of the Broken Shore. No plans to stand in the way of their vengeance. (WarcraftDevs)

Is Broken Shore scenario skippable after one run as in beta?
Yep! You'll have this option after completing the short post-Broken Shore chain that opens after Legion launch. (WarcraftDevs)

Can you guys speed up the legion invasions? 4 hours when we finish them in 10 minutes is too long imo, have a great day
This is only the beginning of the Legion's invasion. We'll be seeing a lot more of them leading up to launch. (WarcraftDevs)

is next week the start of that second set of quests? Confused when we'll get that call from Khadgar, Magni, Jaina.
Correct! (Muffinus)

Not everyone has the time (or ability i.e. health issues) to level a character to 100 in a few weeks or money to buy a boost.
The Broken Shore is not time-limited, it will be around past 8/30. (Muffinus)

PvP
i know you are refraining from WoW tweets but are rocket boots and glider capes permanently gone from BG's?
Not permanently (holinka)

Build of the Month - August 2016
Each month or so we will post a couple of hardware setups for those of you who are thinking of upgrading their computer!

All of the parts on this page are Amazon affiliate links. When you purchase your parts through them it helps support the site!

This month
The current SSD prices are fairly flat right now, with most SSDs under $0.50 per gigabyte when on sale.

Depending on how much you want to overclock, you may need to spend a bit more for a better CPU cooler like the NH-D15.

Unless you are doing a lot of video rendering or streaming, you do not need the 6700K and should spend that money elsewhere.

Make sure to keep your AMD and Nvidia drivers up to date.

Don't forget to visit the Computer Forum for any extra questions!

Peripherals

Puppy

Monitor	ASUS VS228H-P 22-Inch Monitor	$90
Keyboard	Kensington Pro Fit Media	$21
Mouse	Logitech G402	$41
Speakers	Creative A250 2.1	$29

Dolphin

Monitor	ASUS VS248H-P 24-Inch Monitor	$129
Keyboard	Logitech G105	$40
Mouse	Razer DeathAdder Chroma	$58
Speakers	Logitech Z313	$35

Narwhal

Monitor	Dell U2414H Monitor	$223
Keyboard	Logitech G710+	$131
Mouse	Logitech G502	$70
Speakers	Logitech Z323 2.1	$40

Unicorn

Monitor	Dell U2715H	$475
Keyboard	Corsair K70	$120
Mouse	Razer Naga 2014	$60
Speakers	Logitech Z523	$80

Puppy and Dolphin
All of these parts can be mixed and matched to create a build between Puppy and Dolphin.

Puppy

Updated August 14, 2016

$552

Case	NZXT Source 210	$47
Power Supply	EVGA 600B	$40
CPU	AMD FX-6300	$99
Heatsink	Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO	$30
Motherboard	ASUS M5A97 R2.0	$97
Memory	8GB Crucial Ballistix DDR3 1600	$38
Graphics Card	ASUS R7 370	$110
Hard Drive	Western Digital Black 1TB	$69
DVD	Asus 24X SATA DVD+/-RW	$22

Dolphin

Updated August 14, 2016

$702

Case	NZXT Source 210	$47
Power Supply	EVGA 600B	$40
CPU	AMD FX-8350	$160
Heatsink	Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO	$30
Motherboard	ASUS M5A99FX PRO	$115
Memory	8GB G.Skill DDR3 1600	$44
Graphics Card	R9 380 / GTX 960	$175 / $216
Hard Drive	Western Digital Black 1TB	$69
DVD	Asus 24X SATA DVD+/-RW	$22

Narwhal and Unicorn
All of these parts can be mixed and matched to create a build between Narwhal and Unicorn.

Narwhal

Updated August 14, 2016

$1125

Case	Cooler Master HAF 912	$60
Power Supply	EVGA G2 650W	$100
CPU	Intel 6600K	$220
Heatsink	Scythe Mugen 4	$56
Motherboard	ASUS Z170-A	$135
Memory	16GB Kingston HyperX FURY DDR4	$79
Graphics Card	GTX 970	$260
Hard Drive	Western Digital Black 2TB	$123
SSD	Crucial BX200 250GB OR Samsung Evo 850 250GB	$70 $90
DVD	Asus 24X SATA DVD+/-RW	$22

Unicorn

Updated August 14, 2016

$1288

Case	Corsair Air 540	$130
Power Supply	EVGA G2 650W	$100
CPU	Intel 6600K	$220
Heatsink	Noctua 6 NH-D15	$94
Motherboard	ASUS Z170-A	$135
Memory	16GB Kingston HyperX FURY DDR4	$79
Graphics Card	GTX 1060 OR GTX 1070	$315 $450
Hard Drive	Western Digital Black 2TB	$123
SSD	SanDisk Extreme PRO 240GB OR SAMSUNG 850 Pro 256GB	$105 $125
DVD	Asus 24X SATA DVD+/-RW	$22

Dark Legacy Comics #547
DLC #547 has been released!

[Narshe]

I play on a pvp server and the invasions can be a bit weird, sometimes pvp is enabled and sometimes it isnt. Maybe sometimes the event is held on a pve server for me and toggles off pvp by default? Not sure.

[IreScath]

No RX 480/470/460 in these system builds is a mistake.

[Retributive]

I play on a pvp server and the invasions can be a bit weird, sometimes pvp is enabled and sometimes it isnt. Maybe sometimes the event is held on a pve server for me and toggles off pvp by default? Not sure.

Because even on a PvP server, zones like Dun Morogh do not force Alliance to be flagged.

[Sentynel]

I play on a pvp server and the invasions can be a bit weird, sometimes pvp is enabled and sometimes it isnt. Maybe sometimes the event is held on a pve server for me and toggles off pvp by default? Not sure.

PvP and PvE realms can't share CR.

[Chickensoup23]

No RX 480/470/460 in these system builds is a mistake.

Anyone looking to buy a ~970 should go for the RX 470. The 470 is roughly the same price as a used 970 and is roughly just as fast but a whole lot newer, is currently supported (aka not abandoned like Nvidia's 900 series who will not be receiving new drivers) and will most likely see some more performance improvements, is full DX12 ready, and more importantly comes with a full warranty.

[Geodew]

omg that DLC comic lol

[ProfessorTjc]

No RX 480/470/460 in these system builds is a mistake.

Those cards are always out of stock anywhere you look just like Nvidia 1000 series. I'm pretty sure there was a good reason for putting the older hardware in the builds.

[bassfu]

No RX 480/470/460 in these system builds is a mistake.

Or it's because MMO-C has some integrity and won't suggest garbage hardware?

[Lenerius]

I play on a pvp server and the invasions can be a bit weird, sometimes pvp is enabled and sometimes it isnt. Maybe sometimes the event is held on a pve server for me and toggles off pvp by default? Not sure.

It depends of the zone the invasion is active, wesfall, for example is an Ally zone, so Alliance players are not flagged for pvp there unless they want to. Same for N. Barrens and so on.

[IntellectuallyChallenged]

DLC is spot on as usual.

[Sorshen]

Or it's because MMO-C has some integrity and won't suggest garbage hardware?

RX 470 is a best buy for $200 or under.

Also, nobody in their right mind should buy AM3, especially FX-6300, when the i3-6100 destroys it for only 10$ more - while also opening an upgrade path.

[Deleted]

Azsuna is a stunning zone; one of my favourites that I tested on Beta. Story line there is also decent.

[xalenthas]

I'm on a PvE server and still manage to get auto-flagged for PvP sometimes. Whether it's a pet or NPC thing I've no idea but its getting old really fast ...

[Reica]

Or it's because MMO-C has some integrity and won't suggest garbage hardware?

Why do they suggest AMD processors then in their 'cheaper' builds. If I were to put together a 700 dollar gaming rig, no way in hell there'd be an AMD CPU in there. If anything, AMD's new GPU's are solid choices if you can get your hands on them. Their CPU's are still a crapshoot compared to Intel though.

[Delaios]

I'm on a PvE server and still manage to get auto-flagged for PvP sometimes. Whether it's a pet or NPC thing I've no idea but its getting old really fast ...

I managed to get an honorable kill and spread my flame shock onto a Horde player without being flagged for PvP.

[Bamahut]

Man, the Dark Legacy comic is spot on!

Don't the invasion on a PvP server is a pain for sure, either full of horde of alliance, I usually end up having nothing but alliance on my horde account and horde on my alliance account. So I end up just tagging bosses and flying away.

[mber341]

Flagging occurs when attacking/killing enemy player vehicles. Don't attack them and you shouldn't have any problems, at least in my experience.

[Deleted]

DLC comic nailed it!

[Arvandor]

dlc nailed it only for the casual and the weekend warrior..

the average acm hunter make this on the first or second day in 30 min without emotions..