Legion - Halls of Valor Preview, Blue Posts, Tweets, Overwatch Beta Shutdown

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Legion - Halls of Valor Preview
Halls of Valor is the first dungeon to open on Beta, and it shares an art style with the Warrior class hall.


Originally Posted by MMO-Champion
Hymdall
Having proved himself in honorable battle, Odyn tasked Hymdall to guard the entrance to the Halls of Valor. Hymdall has stood, never erring, in this watch protecting these halls from all dangers.

  • Overview - Hymdall will use his Horn of Valor to call in Storm Drakes to breathe lightning on the platform. As the fight progresses the number of drakes called by the Horn of Valor increases.
  • Hymdall -
    • Horn of Valor - Hymdall blasts his horn inflicting 156,000 Physical damage to all enemies and summoning Storm Drakes to breathe lightning on his enemies.
      • Storm Drake -
        • Static Field - The Storm Drake breathes lightning creating a Static Field that inflicts 487,000 Nature damage every 2 sec while within the zone.
          • Ball Lightning - Static Field creates a series of lightning orbs that radiate out from the field. Touching an orb inflicts 225,000 Nature damage to all players within 10 yards of the orb.
    • Bloodletting Sweep - Hymdall swipes at all enemies in a cone in front of him inflicting 650,000 Physical damage and reducing all healing received by 75%. In addition, the wounds bleed for an additional 65,000 Physical damage every 2 sec for 4 sec.
    • Dancing Blade - Hymdall throws an enchanted blade towards a random player. Upon landing the blade begins to whirl inflicting 227,000 Physical damage every 2 sec to all enemies within the zone.

Hyrja
In life Hyrja was a warrior without equal, defending the Valkira from all threats. Her valor and courage drew the attention of Eyir, a titan watcher. Upon her death and ascension to the Halls of Valor Eyir has awarded Hyrja with her greatest honor, transformation into a Val'kyr.

  • Overview - Hyrja becomes empowered by Olmar the Enlightened and Solsten depending upon which mystic she is closest to. As she becomes empowered she is granted particular abilities that grow in power over time. Moving Hyrja out of range of a mystic slowly reduces that mystic's empowerment.
  • Hyrja -
    • Expel Light - Hyrja enchants a player to radiate a burst of light after 6 sec, inflicting 357,500 Holy damage to all players within 8 yards.
    • Shield of Light - Hyrja charges her shield with light, launching a burst of energy towards her current target inflicting 585,000 Holy damage to all enemies in a line and knocking them back.
    • Mystic Empowerment: Holy - While in range of Olmyr the Enlightened, Hyrja is empowered with holy light enabling her to cast Sanctify. Every 5 sec Olmyr further empowers Hyrja increasing the damage of Sanctify by 25%.
      • Sanctify - The caster creates orbs of holy light that radiate out in all directions. Touching the zone inflicts 150,000 Holy damage.
    • Mystic Empowerment: Thunder - While in range of Solsten, Hyrja is empowered with thunderous power enabling her to cast Eye of the Storm. Every 5 sec Solsten further empowers Hyrja increasing the damage of Eye of the Storm by 25%.
      • Eye of the Storm - The caster creates a lightning storm that inflicts 97,500 Nature damage every 1.5 sec for 9 sec. Standing within the eye of the storm reduces Nature damage taken by 50%

Fenryr
[PH]Fenryr, has eluded even the best hunters of the Halls of Valor.

  • Overview - Fenryr leaps and shreds his enemies, eventually retreating to his den after becoming wounded.
  • Fenryr -
    • Claw Frenzy - Fenryr lashes out inflicting 845,000 Physical damage split between all enemies within 12 yards.
      This attack will always hit and ignores all armor.
    • Unnerving Howl - Fenryr lets loose an unearthly howl interrupting all casting for 3 sec.
      • Ebonclaw Worg -
        • Strength of the Pack - Increases damage done by 25% for each nearby pack member.
        • Leap for the Throat - Leaps towards a target inflicting 97,500 Physical damage to all enemies within 3 yards.
        • Ferocious Bite - Bites the current target inflicting 292,500 Physical damage.
    • Ravenous Leap - Fenryr leaps towards random players inflicting 130,000 Physical damage to all enemies within 10 yards of the impact.
      In addition, all targets bleed for 57,750 Physical damage every 0 sec.
    • Scent of Blood - Fenryr catches the scent of blood in the air and fixates on a random target for 8 sec.
      Every 2 sec of the chase, Fenryr's melee attack damage is increased by 50%.

God-King Skovald
Gul'dan approached Skovald with a proposition, have his vrykul join the Legion or see his people be destroyed. With the promise of 1,000's of worlds to conquer Skovald has taken up the Legion's offer. Before being allowed to fully enter the ranks of the Burning Legion he must first secure the Aegis of Aggramar from Odyn's realm of the Halls of Valor only then can his endless conquest begin.

  • Overview - One player will pick up the Aegis of Aggramar and use it to reflect God-King Skovald's attacks back at him for a short period. The Aegis then overpowers and the player must relinquish control. Skovald then takes control of the Aegis and unleashes its power upon the players.
  • Aegis of Aggramar - The bearer of the Aegis of Aggramar creates a shield for allies that absorbs all damage taken from the front for 12 sec.
  • God-King Skovald -
    • Ragnarok - Inflicts 351,000 Fire damage to all enemies every 1.5 sec for 9 sec. Each cast increases the damage of Ragnarok by 351,000%.
    • Felblaze Rush - Charges toward a random player inflicting 52,000 Fire damage to all enemies within 10 yds.
    • Savage Blade - Skovald lashes out at his current target inflicting 487,500 Physical damage and applies Ragged Slash if the target is not using active mitigation.
      • Ragged Slash - Inflicts 45,500 Physical damage every 2 sec for 20 sec.
    • Flame of Woe - Skovald creates a Flame of Woe near a random player. The flame spreads from that point inflicting 27,300 Fire damage every 2 sec for 12 sec to players within the fire.
      This effect stacks.

Odyn
Odyn, a titan keeper, forged the Halls of Valor to house the souls of the greatest vrykul warriors. These warriors have been forged into a new army, the valarjar, in order protect Azeroth from all threats. However, cursed by Helya, Odyn and his army are now trapped within these halls.

  • Overview - Odyn challenges players to honorable combat. When a player would die, they are instead removed from the fight by Odyn's val'kyr. During the encounter Odyn will occasionally mark each player with a Runic Brand. The player must find the matching rune on the floor in order to dispel the effect. Upon being reduced to 80% of his life, Odyn ends the fight.
  • Odyn -
    • Runic Brand - Odyn creates a brand on each player that lasts for 12 sec. The brand inflicts 32,500 Holy damage every 2 sec. Entering the corresponding rune on the ground cleanses the effect and applies Branded.
      • Branded - Upon cleansing a rune Odyn blesses the player increasing damage and healing done by 50% and increasing movement speed by 25%. In addition, the player is restored to full health.
    • Spear of Light - Odyn creates a spear of light at a player's location inflicting 455,000 Holy damage to all players within 8 yards and 125,000 Holy damage to all other players.
      In addition, each spear inflicts 97,500 Holy damage every 2 sec to all nearby players.
    • Shatter Spears - Odyn causes all Spears of Light to burst into 4 Glowing Fragments.
      • Glowing Fragment - Touching a fragment causes it to erupt stunning the target for 3 sec and inflicting 65,000 Holy damage to all players.
    • Radiant Tempest - Odyn emits a pulse of energy inflicting 973,000 Holy damage and knocks back all players within 30 yards.
    • Summon Stormforged Obliterator - Odyn summons forth a Stormforged Obliterator to assist him.
      • Stormforged Obliterator -
        • Surge - The caster erupts in a torrent of electrical energy inflicting 150,000 Nature damage to all enemies.
          In addtiion, each successful cast reduces the cast time of the next Surge by 100%. This effect stacks.



Legion Alpha Class Availibility
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
I too cant pick shaman, any reason why shaman isnt working right now?
Shamans are disabled in this build due to ongoing implementation - apologies for the inconvenience. Hopefully you're able to test out with another class and spec.

Blue Tweets
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Racials
Will there be any changes at all to Racials in Legion. Or happy with how they turned out after changes in WoD?
Overall they're pretty solid, but we'll tweak them as needed for Legion. (1/2) (WarcraftDevs)
The Human racials in particular may need to change, to account for the new PvP systems. (2/2) (WarcraftDevs)

Classes
Discussion topic: If someone said, "DPS performance is measured granularly. HOW MUCH dps did you do? Tank performance is measured mostly... (Celestalon)
...in binary terms. Did you mess up a taunt swap, forget to cooldown, lose aggro? DPS and Mitigation hardly matter." (Celestalon)
Would you agree/disagree with this statement? Do you think it's a good or bad thing? (Celestalon)
Clarification, I'm not referring to the issue of how to measure Tank performance, but rather to what actually matters or doesn't matter. (Celestalon)

are we going to see any ways of pushing more offense as tanks in the talent trees or kit?
Trading defense for offense is just one of many ways we can create engaging tank gameplay. (1/2) (WarcraftDevs)
It's something we'll continue to iterate on, and feedback is especially important! (2/2) (WarcraftDevs)

Will ability perks go away completely in #legion or new ones?
Draenor Perks will be retiring. Many of their effects are being "baked in" to the baseline abilities, however. (WarcraftDevs)

Mage (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
will Hotstreak for fire mages still be a buff? Or will it be part of the UI and not dispellable?
Hot Streak remains as a buff. (WarcraftDevs)

Monk (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
How is Windwalker's Serenity talent going to work with their new mastery? Seems counterproductive.
Serenity will be tweaked to account for the new Windwalker Mastery. (WarcraftDevs)

Rogue (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Is Combat spec (now Outlaw) the only one being renamed? Others could also be renamed (Holy Priest vs Holy Pally?).
Holy, Restoration, and Protection have been shared forever, and describe the specs. Combat was changed to Outlaw because it didn't. (WarcraftDevs)

Is killing spree still available in legion?
Killing Spree is a talent option for Outlaws. (WarcraftDevs)

Artifact Weapons
How long do you anticipate it taking a reasonably diligent player to max out traits a weapon? A month? Multiple patches?
Not multiple patches. Most likely between 1 and 3 months, but we haven't finalized tuning on it yet. (WarcraftDevs)

can we unlock ALL artifact traits or do we have to choose certain paths?
You will eventually be able to unlock the entire tree. (WarcraftDevs)

PvE
Does the highest ilvl legendary ring usage affect all players (with ring) dps or is it their own ilvl that counts when popped
Each person's own ring determines the magnitude of the effect for them. (WarcraftDevs)

PvP
how is The arena prep time going to work with all this talents?,pve,pvp,artifact.
Talents and PvP talents can be changed during Preparation. Artifact traits cannot. (WarcraftDevs)

will honor talents unlock quite "fast" or is it going to be "hard"?
The exact rate is yet to be determined, but the intention is that reaching max honor level will take some time. (WarcraftDevs)

why would people serious about pvp reset their level for prestige and then re-level? They would lose pvp effectiveness, right?
Prestige is an optional form of progression with its own rewards. There is a related cost, and some players may choose not to do it. (WarcraftDevs)

Will the PvP gear stat template be available for lower levels? Or will our gear in PvP be the PvE stats at lower levels?
The PvP stat templates will apply at lower levels (and scale accordingly). (WarcraftDevs)
Will iLvL have any impact on lower level PvP, or will the scaling take care of any difference in stats?
Scaling at lower levels will occur in a similar manner to max level. (WarcraftDevs)

Transmogrification
Is it safe to sell/delete some of the transmog items? Are they already stored on account or have to wait for launch ?
Outside of quest reward items, you'll want to wait until the transmog system is available in-game before you delete any gear. (WarcraftDevs)

Ghostcrawler Tweets
Ghostcrawler still occasionally talks about WoW. Remember that he no longer works for or speaks for Blizzard.
Originally Posted by MMO-Champion
Why did the RTS genre die?
I have a lot of thoughts here, but I want to caveat that this is mostly anecdotal and not backed up by data.

First, and probably most importantly, I think Warcraft 3 started a trend that continued with the MOBAs to focus on micromanagement of a single hero rather than micromanagement of an entire economy. A lot of players clearly found the single-character-focus satisfying. RTS games became MOBAs the same way dinosaurs became birds.

Second, back in the RTS heydey, I felt like there were a lot of large games being played on LANs in offices and colleges. Perhaps due to esports, but certainly due to Starcraft 2, the focus drifted more to one-on-one games. Age of Empires was at its best in 3v3 or 4v4, which lent itself well to a lot of casual multiplayer

Third, it used to be more possible to compete in an RTS as a strategic player who made smart decisions and not just a twitch player with good reflexes. To be pro, you need to be good at both, but it's hard to even have much fun these days if you're bad at micro.

Fourth, back in the RTS heydey, you might meet someone, find out they play the same RTS as you, and agree to play together sometime. In later years, you'd quickly realize you were radically different ELOs and just say "Oh." To be fair, this happens in MOBAs as well, but the 5v5 nature helps a little there.

Fifth, I think over time the games just lived out their lifespan. There was such a leap in complexity of everything -- strategies, unit design, counter units, systems -- that it was difficult for anyone but pretty hardcore players to keep up. Yet, if they hadn't keep adding those systems, the engaged players might have gotten bored. I keep hoping that it feels like it's time for RTS as a genre to come back. Not yet.

Finally, I think it is easier to consume the content in an RTS. The developers can try to throw interesting maps or cool hooks at you in single-player, but you're going to see all of the units and buildings pretty quickly in multiplayer. MMOs can continually offer you new things to explore and enemies to fight. MOBAs add new champions. An RTS had to wait for a massive expansion, that in turn added to the bloat I mentioned in #5.

I miss the storytelling of RTS campaigns. RPGs dont do the big stories as well imo
On WoW, I occasionally wished for Warcraft 4, just because it would give us such fertile ground for new stories. (OccupyGStreet)

So you agree that RTS died? so sc2 confirmed daed gaem?
It's more that 10 years ago there were like 20 RTS franchises. Now there are a couple. (OccupyGStreet)
Maybe "dead" is too strong (and that came from the questioner). But the RTS field is much smaller than when I first got into it. (OccupyGStreet)

interesting thoughts - what do you think would have happened if MOBAS were introduced prior to RTS?
I do think RTS delivers a particular experience (you're the commander) in a way few other genres can do well. (OccupyGStreet)
4X games make you feel like a leader, but the battlefield is much more shallow IMO. (The rest of the experience is deeper though) (OccupyGStreet)
So maybe RTS would have doubled down on that aspect -- less about the hero on the field and more about the soldiers. Shrug. (OccupyGStreet)

Isn't the ideal MMO where all content is always relevant in some way and new content is icing on the cake?
IDK. Some sense of progression is nice too. I don't need to be running Keep on the Borderlands when I am 20th level. (OccupyGStreet)



Overwatch Beta Shutdown
Overwatch Beta is shutting down until sometime in January 2016.

This article was originally published in forum thread: Legion - Halls of Valor Preview, Blue Posts, Tweets, Overwatch Beta Shutdown started by chaud View original post
Published on 2015-12-04 11:35 AM
36 Comments
Comments 35 Comments
  1. Zannypants's Avatar
    Fuck off Ghostcrawler.
  1. mmoc8b742e5a94's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Zannypants View Post
    Fuck off Ghostcrawler.
    He actually makes sense generally speaking.
  1. Zabatakis's Avatar
    Discussion topic: If someone said, "DPS performance is measured granularly. HOW MUCH dps did you do? Tank performance is measured mostly...
    ...in binary terms. Did you mess up a taunt swap, forget to cooldown, lose aggro? DPS and Mitigation hardly matter."
    Would you agree/disagree with this statement? Do you think it's a good or bad thing?
    As far as non mythic raiding this is spot on. Tank DPS and mitigation are not a huge deal. I would say this is a bad thing, but that is my personal opinion and depending on who you ask your mileage may vary. For hard core mythic raiders I would assume everything matters.

    Personally I would like to see the dps loss from not doing the "optimal" rotation to be marginal, and instead give the dps more things to do such as debuff or cc adds, activate switches or other mechanics, and avoid more things. Someone who gets paid to think of these things could likely come up with more interesting things than I just mentioned. Currently a dps has 2 real jobs: Maintain best uptime on the boss/adds and maintain best dps order on boss/adds. Are there any debuffs a class brings that benefit another class anymore?

    I dunno. I just do not feel the dps job is dynamic enough for me to want to do it.
  1. Logwyn's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Zabatakis View Post
    As far as non mythic raiding this is spot on. Tank DPS and mitigation are not a huge deal. I would say this is a bad thing, but that is my personal opinion and depending on who you ask your mileage may vary. For hard core mythic raiders I would assume everything matters.

    Personally I would like to see the dps loss from not doing the "optimal" rotation to be marginal, and instead give the dps more things to do such as debuff or cc adds, activate switches or other mechanics, and avoid more things. Someone who gets paid to think of these things could likely come up with more interesting things than I just mentioned. Currently a dps has 2 real jobs: Maintain best uptime on the boss/adds and maintain best dps order on boss/adds. Are there any debuffs a class brings that benefit another class anymore?

    I dunno. I just do not feel the dps job is dynamic enough for me to want to do it.
    Not sure why we can't have a few bosses where their really isn't an enrage timer so dps doesn't matter but we require the dps to do something other than dps or it won't work. Dispell or debuff or something or than stay out of the fire. I kinda miss the dynamics of a dpser having to tank something like gruuls lair. Maybe not every boss but one here and there. In this day and age why can't we have a boss out on a platform that melee tank can't tank and have a mage or lock or hunter or etc "tank" it. And everyone else switches to dps mode except healers and do something else... heh
  1. mmoc073dc338b6's Avatar
    can we unlock ALL artifact traits or do we have to choose certain paths?
    You will eventually be able to unlock the entire tree. (WarcraftDevs)

    Well, thats a bit disappointing... It would be better, in my opinion, to have a limited "points" to choose from. Kinda like the old talent system. That way, if the talents were well balanced, we could have more diversity between players.
  1. Vark's Avatar
    Discussion topic: If someone said, "DPS performance is measured granularly. HOW MUCH dps did you do? Tank performance is measured mostly...
    ...in binary terms. Did you mess up a taunt swap, forget to cooldown, lose aggro? DPS and Mitigation hardly matter."
    Would you agree/disagree with this statement? Do you think it's a good or bad thing?
    Imho, DPS job should be doing damage, Healers job should be doing healing, and Tanks job should be doing selfabsorb - it's kind of countable reduction. Maybe change for tanks so 50% of damage done is converted into selfabsorb. That would solve ridiculous tanks' dps too.
  1. mmoc7321d21558's Avatar
    I like all this Hall of Valors thing.
    Nice viking mythology inspiration, nice graphics, nice fight mechanisms.

    Hope it will keep being intersting once everything is balanced.
  1. Super Kami Dende's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Zannypants View Post
    Fuck off Ghostcrawler.
    His comments are far more useful than yours. Maybe follow your own advice?
  1. MikeBogina's Avatar
    So no Warcraft 4... thanks mobas
  1. Necrotica's Avatar
    I miss Command and Conquer...
  1. MasterHamster's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Zannypants View Post
    Fuck off Ghostcrawler.
    Are you some kind of GC-Version of Shudder? You seem to comment this every time GCs views are quoted.
  1. Trinora's Avatar
    Isn't the ideal MMO where all content is always relevant in some way and new content is icing on the cake?
    This is exactly how I feel too, and the biggest problem I have with wow and games like it. An expansion should add to the game, not make old content irrelevant.
  1. Manhands's Avatar
    Probably the best looking dungeon I've seen in several expansions. Jaw-dropping.
  1. ZeroWashu's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by darlissa View Post
    He actually makes sense generally speaking.
    Very true, having insights from a known game developer can provide valuable information to the rest of us. I don't always agree with his opinions but I am not in the industry and haven't the best ideas for how it can or cannot work
  1. mmoc70db07e931's Avatar
    They really had to bring vrykul back? I hate Halls of Valor already
  1. Raetary's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Azurae View Post
    They really had to bring vrykul back? I hate Halls of Valor already
    why? what's wrong with the vrykul?
  1. AriochIV's Avatar
    Am I the only one who thinks that taking the pantheon of Norse gods, changing one letter in each name, and cramming them into WoW is incredibly lame?

    Not to mention lazy?
  1. Tomana's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by AriochIV View Post
    Am I the only one who thinks that taking the pantheon of Norse gods, changing one letter in each name, and cramming them into WoW is incredibly lame?
    Thorim and Freya didn't seem to bother anyone in Ulduar...
  1. Aelric70's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by AriochIV View Post
    Am I the only one who thinks that taking the pantheon of Norse gods, changing one letter in each name, and cramming them into WoW is incredibly lame?

    Not to mention lazy?
    No more lame or lazy than "original" myths featuring the Norse characters borrowing\adapting\renaming characters from the myths of earlier civilizations. Storytellers have been doing the same thing for millenia. Romans, Greeks, Babylonians, Sumerians... all are rampant plagiarizers. It helps the audience understand whatever variation the storyteller makes because the audience can fill in the context with minimal help. Is Marvel lame for featuring Thor and Loki prominently in their comics?
  1. thorvath's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by AriochIV View Post
    Am I the only one who thinks that taking the pantheon of Norse gods, changing one letter in each name, and cramming them into WoW is incredibly lame?

    Not to mention lazy?
    Hey they mostly change/add at least two letters! Thorim, Loken, Freya, Mimiron.. AND a few times it's the Egyptian gods Isiset, Ammunae, Rajh. But no, in general it's no less or more lame than the countless other references Blizz makes in their games. Certainly not 'incredibly.'
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