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Aug 17 Hotfixes: Azerite Trait Unlock Level Reduction, Dev Interview, Gamescom Art 

by
chaud
Published on 2018-08-18 04:43 AM

Patch 8.0.1 Hotfixes - August 17, 2018
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Azerite Gear
  • Substantially lowered the Heart of Azeroth level required to activate the outer ring of Azerite armor obtained from World Quests and Mythic dungeons.

Originally Posted by MMO-Champion
Regular Armor

Shoulders
  • Tier 1 - Level 18 to 15
  • Tier 2 - Level 21 to 19
  • Tier 3 - Level 24 to 23

Head
  • Tier 1 - Level 16 to 13
  • Tier 2 - Level 19 to 17
  • Tier 3 - Level 22 to 21

Chest
  • Tier 1 - Level 17 to 14
  • Tier 2 - Level 20 to 18
  • Tier 3 - Level 23 to 22


Rare Spawn Drop Armor

Shoulders
  • Tier 1 - Level 14 to 12
  • Tier 3 - Level 18 to 17

Head
  • Tier 1 - Level 16 to 13
  • Tier 3 - Level 22 to 21

Chest
  • Tier 1 - Level 13 to 11
  • Tier 3 - Level 17 to 16


Classes
  • Warlock (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
    • Affliction
      • Deathbolt will now correctly deal increased damage if cast immediately after casting Unstable Affliction.

Creatures and NPCs
  • Slickspill should be much easier to loot now.

Items
  • Fixed an issue where 'Bygone Bee' Almanac's cooldown or duration would be affected too much when hitting multiple enemies.

Player versus Player
  • Sources of Conquest such as the World PvP Call to Arms quests, PvP Island Expeditions, Skirmish, and Battleground queues will award Honor until Battle for Azeroth: Arena Season 1 starts.
  • Players who currently have Conquest will have the currency converted to Honor once they log in.
  • Miniaturized Plasma Shield and Personal Space Amplifier engineering belt enchants can no longer be used in Arenas and Rated Battlegrounds.
  • Fierce Gladiator is once again available to players who have earned the Fierce Gladiator: Legion Season 5 achievement.
  • The War Mode Air Supply Drops in Tiragarde Sound should no longer fall in unreachable locations.
  • Monk (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
    • Brewmaster
      • Incendiary Brew now adheres to line of sight restrictions.
      • Double Barrel will no longer stun targets multiple times per Keg Smash cast.

Professions
  • Cooking
    • Fixed a bug that prevented Pandaria Banquets from granting the intended skill levels to Pandaria Cooking and Way of the Grill.

Quests
  • Fixed a bug that caused the miners to not respawn as intended for “A Shot at the Dark Iron”.
  • Fixed a bug where missions required to unlock hubs on the other continent were expiring quickly.
  • Riding Macaw is no longer unfriendly to Horde for the world quest "Swab This!".
  • Hexlord Raal is now reliably present to offer “Pa’ku, Master of Winds”.
  • “The Lord Admiral's Lament" and "Bloodied Sentinel's Glaive" can now be turned in to Kayla Mills

World
  • Flight paths unlocked through missions should now reliably appear as valid destinations on the flight map.

Flight Master's Whistle
You can use your Flight Master's Whistle from Legion in Battle for Azeroth once you unlock world quests. If you didn't have one you will receive one once you unlock world quests.



Developer Interview - Faction Identity
Polygon had the opportunity to talk to Steve Danuser (Narrative Producer) and Ely Cannon (Lead Artist).

  • What the Horde stands for has changed over time. Is it a group driven by honor and courage or a disparate collection of outcasts that nobody will align themselves with.
  • Battle for Azeroth is an opportunity to look at both sides that have made up the Horde storylines throughout the years and pull them together.
  • It may be a chance for the Horde to look inward and become something new and stronger.
  • Sylvanas and Saurfang are embodying the other aspects of what the Horde was.
  • To get to the future of the Horde, we have to face the Horde’s past.
  • The Alliance has its share of disparity and there's going to be a self-examination of what the Alliance is about and how they want to behave.
  • Does the Alliance want to get revenge on the Horde, or do they want to build a better world?
  • There is room for what the Alliance and Horde represent to evolve and change and for their relationship to change.
  • Player's identity is very much tied to their faction and the things they have done for it, so it wouldn't be something the team would take away lightly.
  • This expansion focuses on shaping what the factions mean in the world and how they interact with one another.


Blizzard at Gamescom Key Art
Blizzard shared the key art for Gamescom on Twitter today. They will be there from August 21-25 with multiple streamers and an interview on Thursday, August 23rd at 17:30 CEST with Game Producer Michael Bybee.


Originally Posted by blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
World of Warcraft streams at gamescom 2018
The world’s biggest game convention is almost upon us! Blizzard will once again be in Cologne from August 21 to 25, showcasing the newest World of Warcraft Expansion: Battle for Azeroth.

Those who can’t make it to gamescom in person will be able to join the excitement thanks to well-known streamers capturing the action directly from the Darkmoon Faire area at our World of Warcraft booth, bringing you live Battle for Azeroth gameplay (leveling, dungeons, Island expeditions and more) and enjoying chats with the development team on site.

  • Naguura
    • Wednesday, August 22 – 15:00 to 19:30 CEST
    • Thursday, August 23 – 10:00 to 13:00 CEST
    • Friday, August 24 – 09:00 to 14:00 CEST
    • Saturday, August 25 – 14:30 to 19:30 CEST
  • Kimuh
    • Wednesday, August 22 – 15:00 to 19:30 CEST
    • Thursday, August 23 – 10:00 to 13:00 CEST
    • Friday, August 24 – 09:00 to 14:00 CEST
    • Saturday, August 25 – 14:30 to 19:30 CEST
  • Tonton
    • Wednesday, August 22 – 10:00 to 14:00 CEST
    • Thursday, August 23 – 15:00 to 19:30 CEST
    • Friday, August 24 – 14:30 to 19:30 CEST
    • Saturday, August 25 – 09:00 to 14:00 CEST
  • Phoebina
    • Thursday, August 23 – 15:00 to 19:30 CEST
    • Saturday, August 25 – 09:00 to 14:00 CEST
  • Chronosh
    • Wednesday, August 22 – 15:00 to 19:30 CEST
    • Friday, August 24 – 14:30 to 19:30 CEST

Let’s play together with a WoW Developer
On Thursday, August 23rd at 17:30 CEST Senior Game Producer Michael Bybee will join Tonton live on stream, where they will talk all things Battle for Azeroth as well as playing through some of the newest content. In addition, there will be a short Q&A live on stream.

If you like to ask Michael a question, you can submit yours (in English, German or French) until Sunday, August 19th on Twitter using the hashtag #WoWgcQA.

Dark Iron Dwarf and Mag'har Orc Crests
The Battle for Azeroth website was updated with crests for Mag'har and Dark Iron Dwarf. These races can be done by reaching Exalted with The Honorbound / 7th Legion and completing your War Campaign.



New Blizzard Gear
New Blizzard Gear is now available in the official Blizzard Store! New items include Battle for Azeroth mouse pads, shirts, and baby carriers.



Arena World Championship
Originally Posted by blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Announcing the 2018 Arena World Championship Fall Season
As conflict burns in the Battle for Azeroth, the power of the greatest Horde and Alliance heroes ignites. If you think you have what it takes to prove your PvP skills are among the best in the world, signups are now open for the first Cup of the Fall Season of the 2018 Arena World Championship (AWC).


The Arena World Championship is a 3v3 tournament that takes place in the iconic battlegrounds of Azeroth. In this Fall Season, we are introducing Mugambala and Hook Point, two asymmetrical arenas which were released in the Battle for Azeroth expansion.



Mugambala is set in Zandalar, a region that was once a part of ancient Kalimdor and the birthplace of troll civilization. This arena features an upper level, and a lower level with a large pillar in the middle.

Hook Point is an area in Boralus, where only the bravest battle for the right to call themselves true Kul Tirans! It features four pillars for players to dance around—one with a shark hanging from it—and two smaller pillars.

This season, there are six Cups up for grabs—three in North American and three in Europe—each with a prize pool of $10,000 and an increased amount of AWC points on offer, more than any season this year!

No Arena ranking is required for teams of three to four people to sign up. Once you are deemed eligible to compete, you will have access to the Tournament Realm, where you and your teammates will have the ability to create whatever class, talent, and gear combinations you see fit, to practice taking down all who oppose you! If you think you have what it takes, sign up here, and check out the table below for the cutoff times for each of the Fall Season Cups.

Remember, the top three point-earners of the year from North America and Europe will earn a spot at the Arena World Championship Global Finals at BlizzCon, where they will fight on the biggest WoW esports stage of the year for their share of the $280,000 prize pool.

If you’re coming back to World of Warcraft for Battle for Azeroth and want to see how the pros handle the new PvP talent system, join us! The Top 8 from each Cup in North America and Europe will be broadcast live on Twitch. Watch as the greatest heroes from across North America and Europe adapt to the changes—it might give you some tips and tricks for your own Arena adventures!

AWC Fall Season Schedule


Check out the Warcraft Esports site for current standings, the global broadcast schedule, and the latest news about AWC, and follow @Warcraft for all things Battle for Azeroth!
10 Comments

Patch 8.0.1 Hotfixes - August 16, 2018, Unintended Conquest for PvP 

by
chaud
Published on 2018-08-17 05:26 AM

Hearthside Chat: The Puzzle Lab with Giovanni Scarpati and Max Ma

Patch 8.0.1 Hotfixes - August 16, 2018
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Azerite Gear
  • Fixed an issue where Ruinous Bolt would sometimes damage enemies that the player was not in combat with.

Classes
  • Warrior (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  • Arms
    • 1 point of Mastery now increases Deep Wounds damage by 10% (was 1%).
    • Damage of all Arms abilities decreased by 14%. This excludes Arms Azerite Traits.

Creatures and NPCs
  • Da White Shark has turned a new leaf and has fully renounced the fighting tactic of beating someone with another person's body.
  • Players should now always be able to see the reward treasure chest after defeating Da White Shark in the Grand Bazaar.
  • Slickspill in Stormsong should now be much easier to loot.
  • John J. Keeshan has decided to once again wield his old bow instead of the bow of a certain warchief.

Dungeons
  • Fixed a bug where a group of players below level 110, when partied with a level 110 player in a Legion dungeon, would receive heavily reduced experience.
  • Fixed an issue that caused Alliance players who had completed The Pride of Kul Tiras to be unable to access Siege of Boralus.
  • Fixed an issue that caused Horde players who hadn’t completed Zandalar Forever to be able to access Kings’ Rest.
  • Clarified the error messages shown when attempting to zone in to Kings’ Rest or Siege of Boralus without meeting the requirements.

Items

Player versus Player
  • Steel Strongboxes now drop Dread Aspirant gear for all valid armor slots during the offseason.
  • Factionally-aligned guards should no longer attack you for attacking members of the opposite faction.
  • Call to Arms: Vol'Dun will now correctly count Horde players slain while in Vol'Dun.

Professions
  • The Forgotten Techniques of Kul Tiras/Zandalar items now properly restore recipes that were learned and subsequently unlearned.
  • Fixed a bug preventing some Draenor profession books from properly teaching all introductory recipes.
  • Archaeology
    • Digsites in the Port of Zem’lan are no longer partially obscured from view.
  • Cooking
    • Crafting Swamp Fish'n Chips should now give credit towards the achievements "The Zandalari Menu" and "The Kul Tiran Menu".
  • Fishing
    • Akan now teaches Battle for Azeroth Fishing.

Quests
  • Fixed a bug that caused a few Tortollan quests in Stormsong Valley from awarding Tortollan reputation as intended.
  • Completing "All Laid Out for Us" now awards its part of the Stormsong and Dance achievement.
  • Upon accepting “Back to the Lab”, Raimond Mildehnall will no longer attempt to fight every enemy he sees while returning to the basement.
  • Fixed an issue where the Lightforged Warframe used during "Dawn of Justice" was weaker than intended.
  • Felecia Gladstone will now offer the remainder of her quests in Warfang Hold only once all her tasks for the Saltstone Mine have been completed.
  • When unlocking World Quests in Zandalar and Kul’Tiras, Halford Wyrmbane or Nathanos Blightcaller will now give you a fresh Flight Master's Whistle if you left yours in the bank.
  • Players are no longer stuck after abandoning “Into the Dunes” mid-flight.
  • Scout Mckellis is now available at the turn-in location for "Powder to the People" and "One Man Against the Horde".
  • "Wanted: Anchorface" should now be available to Alliance players before they unlock World Quests.
  • "Wiccaphobia" should now proceed as expected for players who group up with other players on the quest.
  • Players may now complete "Spell Bound" after first completing "So Long, Sister".
  • Lucille Waycrest should no longer disappear for some players on "Of Myth and Fable”.
  • Eligible party members now receive Azerite along with “Azerite Mining” quest credit when a member of the party interacts with an Azerite node.

World
  • Fixed a bug preventing some Inns from granting rested experience to characters in War Mode.
  • The Royal Treasury in Dazar’Alor is now flagged as a rested area.
  • The second floor of the Snug Harbor Inn is now flagged as a rested area.
  • The Flight Master's Whistle can now be used on the non-dungeon island of Tol Dagor.

Unintended Conquest for PvP
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
With the Battle for Azeroth Pre-Patch, we incurred a bug that caused some PvP activities to reward Conquest. Conquest was never intended to be accessible while the season is not active, and while Conquest did appear for some players on their Character Currency tab, it wasn’t useable. There aren’t any items that can be exchanged for it in-game right now.

We’ll be deploying a hotfix soon that will change any activities that are currently awarding Conquest to award Honor instead.

When BFA Season 1 begins, players will start earning Conquest as planned. At the same time, we’ll convert any unintended Conquest that players earned during the post-season to Honor or gold.

Additionally, new one-time PvP quests will get reset when BFA Season 1 begins. We want to make sure you can complete those quests to earn Conquest from them as intended. These quests are located in the same place where you turn in Conquest quests, so they should be easy to spot.

We apologize for any confusion this may have caused, and we’re working to make the fixes and conversions as seamless as possible.

We look forward to everyone engaging with the new Conquest System upcoming in Season 1 of Battle for Azeroth! Click here to learn more.

Thank you!
23 Comments

Kul Tiras Finale Cinematic, Leveling Cooking, Blue Posts, WoW History, D3 on Switch 

by
chaud
Published on 2018-08-16 08:03 PM

Hearthside Chat: The Puzzle Lab with Giovanni Scarpati and Max Ma

Battle for Azeroth Cinematics - Kul Tiras Finale
One more cinematic has been unlocked by players that complete the Kul Tiras and Jaina quest lines.



Easy Way to Level Kul Tiran/Zandalari Cooking to 110
Update: The vendor has been hotfixed to have a limited number of Aromatic Fish Oil, making this trick no longer possible.

JordanTH on Reddit discovered an easy way to level Kul Tiran/Zandalari Cooking to 110 using only vendor items.






Blue Posts
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Dungeon Queue Times
Sorry but 2 hour que times are unacceptable. when are you bringing out the hotfix?
We're working on a hotfix now that will automatically respec anyone who can tank or heal into those specs. If you're a Monk, Paladin, or Druid we're just going to spin a wheel and see where you land. This should drastically reduce the DPS queue time so that its an instant queue.

In case it wasn't clear this was very sarcastic. Queue times are fine! Just a lack of tank and heals because they're probably with static groups, also lots of people are still leveling. Even queuing solo DPS for heroics my queue time max has been actually 30 mins but estimated says around an hour. (It's just an estimation) (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Azerite System Feedback
Surely im not the only one who feels this way? The azerite gear is essentially the netherlight crucible. Most traits are passive and boring. Does it get better as the xpac goes on or..?
Some of the default Azerite items from questing don't have a lot of variety because you're still leveling up. Once you're at 120 and getting them from vendors, WQs, and dungeons you start seeing a lot more variety and some pretty neat stuff.

Like there's one for Ret that reduces the cooldown of Divine Steed and it gives a speed buff to your entire raid when you use it. Which I thought was pretty rad.

It's definitely early, but I'm eager to see how it plays out and how this system shapes up as well as what else we might do with it. It has potential, and I'm pretty excited about that alone as a player. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Allied Race Recruit-a-Friend and Heritage Armor
If your friend grants levels to one of your Allied Race characters, it makes your character ineligible to receive the Heritage Armor.

If you grant levels to one of your friend's characters, that won't effect your eligibility for the armor.

But only the recruited player accumulates levels that can be granted, so that would be your friend. If they were to grant any of those levels onto your Void Elf, that would make your Void Elf ineligible for the armor. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

This Week in WoW History
We're taking a look back at old MMO-Champion posts and World of Warcraft news that occurred during this time in previous years.

Mists of Pandaria Cinematic
The world premier of the Mists of Pandaria opening cinematic was shown in 2012. After an intense battle the Alliance and Horde soldier find themselves shipwrecked on an unknown island. Naturally they continue their battle, but a mysterious third party shows up.


Siege of Orgrimmar Trailer
After obtaining the Heart of Y’shaarj, Garrosh Hellscream aims to corrupt the land and form his own Horde. Taran Zhu confronts him to try and stop his plans, but is defeated in battle. Both factions will need to pick up arms to lay siege to Orgrimmar, and defeat the corrupted Garrosh.


Premade Groups
The Premade Group Finder was announced as an addition to Warlords of Draenor. Perhaps one of the most useful features that have been recently added, it allows players to create custom groups and search for players who want to achieve the same goal. As new content is added, this feature continues to evolve to make it easy for players to find each other.


Warlords of Draenor Cinematic
The announcement cinematic for Warlords of Draenor was released in 2014. In the short trailer, Gul’dan offers Mannoroth's blood to Garrosh Hellscream, who refuses to drink it and be lost to its corruption. His Horde attack the Pit Lord, and with a decisive blow Garrosh finishes him.


The Last Bastion
Overwatch has been releasing lore videos for several of the heroes. Bastion wakes in a forest, covered by dirt and plants. After reaching his target location he remembers what happened. War and devastation during the Omnic Crisis, in which he fought, left him with painful memories. Even though he was damaged in the initial fight, after downloading the memories of a different unit, he starts marching towards his target.



Diablo 3 on Switch - More Information
The Official Diablo 3 Switch site showcases some of the unique features and exclusives coming to the Switch version.

  • Collectibles include a Cucco companion pet, Triforce Portrait, Echoes of the Mask wings, and a Ganandorf Transmog set.
  • All expansion content through Rise of the Necromancer is included in the Switch version.
  • You can play Diablo III shared-screen on a single Switch, remotely on up to four Switches, or combine TV and handheld play
27 Comments

Patch 8.0.1 Hotfixes - August 15, 2018, Developer Interview, Blue Posts, Tweets 

by
chaud
Published on 2018-08-16 06:58 AM

Yong Woo Leaves Blizzard - Joins Ben Brode at Second Dinner

Patch 8.0.1 Hotfixes - August 15, 2018
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Azerite Gear
  • Fixed an issue where the Azerite Trait Reckless Flurry was incorrectly increasing ability damage, in addition to auto attack damage.
  • 7th Legionnaire's Tunic and Honorbound Outrider's Vestments now correctly have an Outlaw Rogue trait. The extra Subtlety Rogue trait has been removed.
  • Fixed an issue where the Azerite Trait Wild Fleshrending was not increasing the damage of Swipe for Guardian Druids.

Dungeons
  • Experience rewarded from end-of-zone dungeon quests has been greatly increased.
  • Fixed an issue where players couldn't complete “Ecological Research” in The Temple of Sethraliss on Normal difficulty.

Items

Pet Battles
  • Francois can now be properly summoned and used in Pet Battles by Alliance characters.
  • Fixed a bug that prevented Peachy and Winkle from battling as intended.

Professions
  • Archaeology
    • Fixed a bug that caused some digsites near Vigil Hill in Tiragarde Sound from providing fragments as intended.
  • Blacksmithing
  • Mining
    • Fixed a bug that prevented ore gathered in Kul'Tiras and Zandalar from being stored in certain bags, as intended.

Quests
  • Fixed a bug causing one of the Shadra Betrayers to evade during "The Ancient One".
  • Fixed a bug that caused the Ancient Gong to sometimes become unusable during “Punishment of Tal’aman”.
  • Fixed a bug that made Taelia disappear under rare circumstances on “The Old Knight”.
  • It should be harder to get separated from Rastakhan on "The King's Gambit".
  • “Mine Sweeper” is now easier to locate and obtain. Goblin Mine Technicians aren't the tidiest bunch and may have left an extra Cracked Mine Sweeper in the Saltstone Mine.
  • Players who disconnect before turning in "Dress to Impress" should now be able to properly see Flynn in the Dead Man's Tale.
  • Fixed an issue where players could move during "Rest in the Depths", breaking the channeled spell.
  • The Island Expeditions quest “Notched Coin” can now be turned in to Mili Wanderbrew.
  • On “Return to Gloom Hollow”, players should no longer be able to get into a state where Titan Keeper Hezrel will not move.

Developer Interview - Technical Director
gamesindustry had the opportunity to talk to Patrick Dawson (Technical Director)!

  • The team starts working on the next expansion two years in advance,
  • It's hard to support legacy content. With every patch, you need to make sure Ragnaros and Onyxia still work!
  • Going forward, some systems will be contained within just one expansion, such as the Artifacts, so they don't need to be supported going forward.
  • When WoW launched it was on single realms that were completely independent from all others. Now it is much more cloud based, so there are a lot more resources that can be shared between different realms and a lot more connectivity we can provide to our players in their gameplay experience.
  • With the item squish, the team listened to PTR feedback and then fixed any additional issues quickly with hotfixes after launch.
  • The leveling experience isn't as nice as Blizzard would like it to be.
  • There is 15 years of content that people should have the option to do if they want to, but the team also wants the ability for players to play with their friends quickly.
  • They have worked to improve this situation over time with the boosts and scaling technology.
  • Doing another Cataclysm level overhaul of the world would have to make sense with the story the team wanted to tell. Deathwing being the destroyer of worlds made all of the changes make sense.
  • The team doesn't have an expectation that every player should go through all the story.
  • The team could do anything they wanted, but time and money make deciding if the trade-off is worth it necessary. They want to work on what would be the best thing for the community.


Blue Posts
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Launch Issues
Trying to save face in that horrible launch that almost rivaled WoD
You mean the launch that was crippling and had ongoing issues impacting players for almost an entire week for every realm? Like I said previously, I'm not excusing the issues but you have to admit its pretty silly if you're trying to say that an almost full week of continuous issues impacting the majority being able to play is comparable to only a handful of realms having issues for only about 6 hours when the vast majority could login. Patches during Wrath had more downtime than this Global Launch.

If you look at the history of expansions launches this is still in the top 3 regarding overall stability. If you disagree then I don't think you played any launch before Legion. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Blue Tweets
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Items
you said weapons won't titanforge. Why did you go back on this?
They won't, from BfA content. Legion weapons are different since they're competing with artifact relics that have always been able to Titanforge. The other exception is the weekly M+ cache, which isn't random, but rather a guaranteed upgrade. (WatcherDev)

PvE
Hey Ion, question for you. Legacy loot mode, is it supposed to give less loot if more than 1 person is in the group? Heroic Alysrazor in FL25 gives me 10 pieces solo, but if my wife goes with me we only get 6. Is this intended or a bug?
Are you sure you were on Heroic both times? It should be a constant total amount of loot (split among those present, of course). (WatcherDev)

Is the siege of Lordaeron still available for other characters to do after BFA launch or was it removed along with war of thorns?
The Siege of Lordaeron is a permanent part of Battle for Azeroth and a pre-requisite for Kul'Tiras and Zandalar. It will remain playable like Broken Shore was for Legion. (WarcraftDevs)
12 Comments
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