World of Warcraft News and Raiding Strategies

This is a subject that has been asked about several times recently, and we want to clarify some of the details surrounding it. Like many aspects of the game, Alterac Valley was tuned and adjusted in different ways from patch to patch in 2005-2006.

First and foremost, we’re planning to use the 1.12 version of Alterac Valley. For many parts of the game like this, we’re picking an original WoW patch that gives us the most clarity for WoW: Classic, and 1.12 is that patch.

In Alterac Valley, that puts us before the introduction of reinforcements. It puts us before the removal of all of the Commanders and Lieutenants. The only win conditions are the killing of Drek’thar in Frostwolf Keep or Vanndar Stormpike in Dun Baldar.

It gives us several early improvements to the BG that we’re glad to have in place. Early on in AV, there were too many NPCs and they were too hard to kill. By 1.12, many had been removed and NPC health was brought down to a reasonable level. Turning in armor scraps is an encouraged, supportive activity by this point. Many capture points (mostly graveyards) had been moved away from their initial placements to gain better balance across the map. Korak the Bloodrager was removed, and killing opposing players no longer drops items like Dwarf Spines, Orc Teeth, or Human Bone Chips. Gross.

In our content plan update, we mentioned that we’re still working out exactly how and when PvP elements of Classic will roll out. We’ll update you on that here very soon.

A new weekly quest and rewards are here—steel yourself for Battleground combat!

Seven Days on the Battlegrounds
All this week, heading to the Battlegrounds will net you some extra Honor along with bonus loot for completing this week’s quest. To enter the fray, open Group Finder (default hotkey: I) and then select the Player vs. Player tab. Next choose Casual, select Random Battlegrounds, and hit the Join Battle button—you’ll be matched up with other players and sent to one of the 11 battlegrounds.

Weekly Quest
Before you get started, your adventure guide has a quest for you. Win four random Battlegrounds, and you’ll be rewarded with 5 Marks of Honor and 750 Azerite Power.

Battleground Buff
This week you gain 50% more Honor in Battlegrounds.

A New Event Every Week
The Bonus Events system consists of a rotating schedule of different activities, currently scheduled to run each week beginning on Tuesdays. Each Bonus Event grants a passive bonus to a particular game activity and offers a once-per-event quest with a noteworthy reward for accomplishing a related goal. The in-game calendar can serve as your one-stop reference for the event schedule. The Adventure Guide also offers a direct link to active Bonus Events, allowing you to easily accept any associated quests.

Player versus Player

• Fixed a bug that prevented players from receiving credit toward the Arathi Basin All-Star achievement when assaulting or defending flags.

Professions

• Tailoring
  
  • Fixed a bug that would cause Shade of Delormi to evade and prevent players from completing “If the Shoe Fits…” if a rogue Vanished.
    
  • Fixed a bug that prevented players who don’t yet know how to fly in the Broken Isles from returning to the quest location during "If the Shoe Fits...".
    

Quests

• Fixed a bug that caused players’ screens to turn black during “Mac’Aree, Jewel of Argus”.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented players from completing “The Aeonian Artisan” if they had not unlocked Island Expeditions.

The Mythic Dungeon International (MDI) Proving Grounds for the Spring Season have concluded. Thousands of champions worldwide answered the call and have obtained access to the Tournament Realm, where the upcoming Time Trials will take place. Here’s what you need to know, dungeon-runners!


Welcome to the Tournament Realm
Players who successfully made it through the Proving Grounds will have their account flagged for access to the Tournament Realm in their region. These realms are completely separate from the normal servers—no progress or gear is shared between the two.

On the Tournament Realms, players can create level 120 characters from both the Horde and Alliance factions which spawn automatically in Hook Point (for Alliance) or Mugambala (for Horde), with their Heart of Azeroth set to level 50.

These iconic locations will look a little different than what players see on the live servers. Hook Point and Mugambala on the Tournament Realm resemble marketplaces, full of vendors that will provide players with the specific gear required for MDI—the best gear from dungeons and raids, all set to item level 415—as well as pots, flasks, gems, and enchants. All a mythic dungeon-runner could desire, sold at the bargain price of zero Gold. This is to ensure that all players in the MDI race will have access to all the things they feel is the best fit for their character and for their team’s overall composition and strategy.

Players who made it through the Proving Grounds successfully will be sent an email containing the 2019 MDI Player Handbook, which will outline all of the above, and everything they need to know about competing in the upcoming Spring season.

Schedule
Time Trials for MDI take place during a 72-hour window on the Tournament Realm. The first Time Trial window begins Saturday, March 23 at 7 a.m. PDT for MDI West (North America, Latin America, and Europe), and Saturday, March 30 at 7 a.m. CST for MDI East (China, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Australia/New Zealand). When this time window begins, players on the tournament realm will receive a quest with three Blizzard account-bound keystones from this Turnip, found in Hook Point (Alliance) or Mugambala (Horde).


These keystones will allow teams to make five attempts at each dungeon in the three-dungeon pool. Players will be informed of the dungeons and affixes 48 hours before the Time Trial begins, which will run every week of the Spring Season, alternating each week between East and West. Each week will feature different dungeons and affixes to keep players on their toes - this element of mystery will ensure fresh challenges and more chances for teams to make the top 8 every week!

The MDI Spring Season has Sprung!
After each Time Trial, we will determine the top 8 teams for each region. The races between these teams will be broadcast live on Twitch each Saturday and Sunday throughout the season. Stay tuned to worldofwarcraft.com/esports and follow us on Twitter @Warcraft for the upcoming Mythic Dungeon International Viewers’ Guide and all things World of Warcraft esports.