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Overwatch Retribution Trailer, Overwatch Digital Comic - Retribution Patch 7.3.5 Hotfixes - April 3rd
Battle for Azeroth Alpha - Vol'dun Now Open for Testing
The latest build for the Battle for Azeroth Alpha has opened the Horde zone of Vol'dun for testing. This is the desert zone that largely involves the conflict between the Vulpera and the Sethrak.
Battle for Azeroth Heart of Azeroth Preview
In Battle for Azeroth, our Artifact Weapons will be retired and a new Artifact system will come in the form of the Heart of Azeroth, an artifact quality neck piece that builds on and evolves Legion's Artifact Power and Netherlight Crucible systems. The line in the sand has been drawn, and the Horde and Alliance are at each other's throats. Because of this, they fail to notice the world around them is dying. Magni Bronzebeard, speaker for Azeroth's slumbering titan, gives player characters a gift from Azeroth herself in the form of this artifact neck piece.
The Basics
- The Heart of Azeroth will be a neck slot artifact that is used for all of Battle for Azeroth.
- The Heart of Azeroth requires Azerite to empower it. Gaining enough Azerite eventually levels up the artifact and unlocks four tiers of traits on your head, shoulders, and chest items.
- Each tier has options that either empower spells/abilities, grants temporary buffs, or survivability traits. You can choose a single option from each tier as you unlock them.
- Empowering your Heart of Azeroth will also come with visual upgrades and item level increases.
- As it stands in the Alpha, the traits offered are class specific and not spec specific. To clarify, the choice of options give you one option from each of your specs along with one option that grants a temporary secondary stat increase upon killing an enemy. It is unknown if this is just because it's the initial testing or if this is Blizzard's intention.
- The initial testing chest piece is a level 110 chest piece and so the talent options seem a bit lackluster. Blizzard has stated that higher item level gear will have better options and so it can be assumed that once you reach max level and receive higher item level gear, the options will have much more impact, but we will have to wait and see.
- Currently, the trait selection on the Alpha is final and locked once you make a selection. It is unknown if this is a design decision or just temporary.
In Depth Look
Let's break this system down a bit further. In the Blizzcon In Depth panel for the system, a UI was shown that has changed a bit on Alpha. The Alpha UI does say that it is temporary, however, and so we currently are not sure what the final UI will look like. The Heart of Azeroth is directly connected to your head, shoulders, and chest item slots. Each of these items have four tiers that you can progressively unlock when your Heart of Azeroth receives enough Azerite.
- The outer tier is the first to unlock and presents a choice between 4 traits to empower your character.
- Gaining more Azerite will eventually unlock the middle band and present you with 3 set of traits to choose from. On the Alpha, these options are temporary stat increases based on different triggers.
- Next, the inner band can be unlocked to present you with another 2 choices. In Alpha testing, this was a choice between two different survivability options such as a shield or heal on hit.
- Finally, the innermost ability will be unlocked. On the Alpha, this is currently just a 5 item level increase to the gear in the item slot.
The team wants to make sure that this system improves upon our current artifact progression system and lessens the amount of RNG involved. Here are some ways that this new system address these concerns:
- The Heart of Azeroth is utilized between all of your character's different specializations and so each spec does not need to be leveled up individually. However, as stated above, the choices presented on the empowered item slots are class specific and not spec specific and are locked when chosen. If this stays the case, players would most likely need to have separate pieces of the same item slot for each spec, but no additional Azerite will be needed between specs.
- Head, shoulder, and chest items cannot Warforge or Titanforge.
- The abilities that each piece of gear contains is the same for all pieces of the same name. Higher item level pieces will have a better selection of traits, but they can all be seen in the Dungeon Loot Journal and are chosen by the design team when creating the item. There is no RNG involved.
- Abilities on each band will be paired with other abilities of the same type. For instance, one band will give you an option between different utility traits while another will ask you to choose one from a group of offensive traits.
- You do not lose any Azerite when upgrading an item.
Gaining Azerite
Azerite is the lifeblood of the planet. Because of this, both factions are very interested in acquiring as much of it as possible. Much like Artifact Power, Azerite is gained by doing a multitude of different activities within the game.
- Nodes
- Chests
- Creatures
- Questgivers
- Bosses
- Island Expeditions
- Warfronts
- More!
Azerite to Item Level
The Heart of Azeroth starts at Azerite Power level 1, and this power level increases as you earn Azerite. As your power level goes up, so does the item level. For reference, item level 265 is equivalent to item level 985 today.
- Azerite Level 1 - Item Level 265
- Azerite Level 10 - Item Level 274
- Azerite Level 20 - Item Level 284
- Azerite Level 30 - Item Level 294
- Azerite Level 40 - Item Level 304
- Azerite Level 50 - Item Level 314
- Azerite Level 60 - Item Level 324
- Azerite Level 70 - Item Level 334
- Azerite Level 80 - Item Level 344
- Azerite Level 90 - Item Level 354
- Azerite Level 100 - Item Level 364
- Azerite Level 150 - Item Level 414
- Azerite Level 200 - Item Level 464
- Azerite Level 250 - Item Level 514
- Azerite Level 300 - Item Level 564
The Spring AWC Finals Champions are Crowned
The winners of the AWC Finals were announced recently.
Fifty-thousand dollars. The pride of a continent. A spot at Blizzcon.
That is what the top teams in the world had in mind while competing at the AWC Spring Finals. With everything on the line, teams showed that tournament seeding meant little and the regular season was in the past.
Day 1 was full of surprises with Method Orange and XRB both losing in the first round even though both came in as tournament favorites. As the day progressed, the upsets kept on rolling in with the upper bracket final featuring Reformed (European #4) vs The Rejects (North America #2). Reformed enjoyed a Cinderella run as the destroyer of North American hopes, taking down both Method Orange and Super Frogs. In the lower bracket, the shock of the tournament happened with Method Orange being eliminated without a match win in the tournament, losing to XRB 3-1. With Sneakier Snakes following behind Method Orange, the European dominance continued, leaving only two North American teams in the Spring Finals after the first day.
The shocking results continued on Day 2 with Skill Capped Black(without Shaun Andreas ‘Raiku’ Meaney) eliminating tournament favorites XRB. In the semifinals, things evened out for the regions with one team from each region on either side of the bracket. In the most unexpected winner’s bracket final Reformed and The Rejects fought a very interesting stylistic matchup with the Jungle Cleave’s burst*fighting going against the dynamic compositions of The Rejects. In the end, Reformed took the series, booking their spot in the finals and sending another North American team to the lower bracket. Europe’s domination continued in the other semifinal of the upper bracket as a surging SCB came out and swept Super Frogs before falling in a tight series to The Rejects 3-2.
The pride of a region was on the line in the grand finals with a tidy European vs North American championship match. It was over quickly as the pressure from Reformed’s Jungle Cleave was just too much leading to a convincing 4-0 sweep of The Rejects. Reformed secured the $50,000 top prize as well as a spot in the Arena World Championship Global Finals on the back of an incredible run as the 4th seed from Europe.
The European dominance from the Spring Finals was complete with the region besting North America in eight of 13 matches played between the regions. With Reformed as the Spring Finals champions, the first team going to the World Championship is locked in. Now it’s time to turn toward the Summer cups which begin on May 12th with European Cup #1.
That is what the top teams in the world had in mind while competing at the AWC Spring Finals. With everything on the line, teams showed that tournament seeding meant little and the regular season was in the past.
Day 1 was full of surprises with Method Orange and XRB both losing in the first round even though both came in as tournament favorites. As the day progressed, the upsets kept on rolling in with the upper bracket final featuring Reformed (European #4) vs The Rejects (North America #2). Reformed enjoyed a Cinderella run as the destroyer of North American hopes, taking down both Method Orange and Super Frogs. In the lower bracket, the shock of the tournament happened with Method Orange being eliminated without a match win in the tournament, losing to XRB 3-1. With Sneakier Snakes following behind Method Orange, the European dominance continued, leaving only two North American teams in the Spring Finals after the first day.
The shocking results continued on Day 2 with Skill Capped Black(without Shaun Andreas ‘Raiku’ Meaney) eliminating tournament favorites XRB. In the semifinals, things evened out for the regions with one team from each region on either side of the bracket. In the most unexpected winner’s bracket final Reformed and The Rejects fought a very interesting stylistic matchup with the Jungle Cleave’s burst*fighting going against the dynamic compositions of The Rejects. In the end, Reformed took the series, booking their spot in the finals and sending another North American team to the lower bracket. Europe’s domination continued in the other semifinal of the upper bracket as a surging SCB came out and swept Super Frogs before falling in a tight series to The Rejects 3-2.
The pride of a region was on the line in the grand finals with a tidy European vs North American championship match. It was over quickly as the pressure from Reformed’s Jungle Cleave was just too much leading to a convincing 4-0 sweep of The Rejects. Reformed secured the $50,000 top prize as well as a spot in the Arena World Championship Global Finals on the back of an incredible run as the 4th seed from Europe.
The European dominance from the Spring Finals was complete with the region besting North America in eight of 13 matches played between the regions. With Reformed as the Spring Finals champions, the first team going to the World Championship is locked in. Now it’s time to turn toward the Summer cups which begin on May 12th with European Cup #1.
Announcing the Blizzard Entertainment Student Art Contest Winners!
Blizzard recently announced the winners of the Seventh Annual Blizzard Student Art Contest!
Presented by Blizzard Entertainment’s University Relations and World of Warcraft development teams, the seventh annual Blizzard Student Art Contest has drawn to a close. After some fervent debate and impassioned deliberation, our judges sifted through the many remarkable entries and identified the winning entries.
Check out the winners and runner-ups below for each of the four categories.
Environment Art Contest
Winner
“Yang’s Moving Bar” by Zhuoyang Liu
Academy of Art University
Runners-Up
“Corrupt Chicken Coop” by Julian Elwood
Gnomon School of Visual Effects
“Highmountain Shaman’s Longhouse Retreat” by Kevin Young
Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University
“The Sporelight Marsh” by Qinglin “Cherlin” Mao
University of Utah
“Garden of Deep” by Yang Li
University of Utah
Character Art Contest
Winner
“Frostwhisker Otter Mount” by Natacha Nielsen
Laguna College of Art & Design
Runner-Up
“Naga Royal Mage” by Yang Li
University of Utah
FX Contest
Winner
“Shadow Priest Void Dome” by Jason Chisolm
Ringling College of Art and Design
Runner-Up
“Void Corruption” by Trevor McTavish
Ringling College of Art and Design
Animation Contest
Winner
“Skeleton Rises” by Marlowe Lexvold
Savannah College of Art and Design
Runner-Up
“Spear Attack Combo” by Henry Villarta Cardoso
Full Sail
As a part of their prize package, winners from each category were invited to Blizzard Entertainment’s campus for a tour, 1-on-1 mentorship with senior artists and more. Here are just a few of the photos from their visit.
Winners also received One (1) Wacom Cintiq 22HD. Visit our contest announcement to see a complete list of prizes.
Congratulations to all the winners and we look forward to seeing what you have in store next time!
Check out the winners and runner-ups below for each of the four categories.
Environment Art Contest
Winner
“Yang’s Moving Bar” by Zhuoyang Liu
Academy of Art University
Runners-Up
“Corrupt Chicken Coop” by Julian Elwood
Gnomon School of Visual Effects
“Highmountain Shaman’s Longhouse Retreat” by Kevin Young
Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University
“The Sporelight Marsh” by Qinglin “Cherlin” Mao
University of Utah
“Garden of Deep” by Yang Li
University of Utah
Character Art Contest
Winner
“Frostwhisker Otter Mount” by Natacha Nielsen
Laguna College of Art & Design
Runner-Up
“Naga Royal Mage” by Yang Li
University of Utah
FX Contest
Winner
“Shadow Priest Void Dome” by Jason Chisolm
Ringling College of Art and Design
Runner-Up
“Void Corruption” by Trevor McTavish
Ringling College of Art and Design
Animation Contest
Winner
“Skeleton Rises” by Marlowe Lexvold
Savannah College of Art and Design
Runner-Up
“Spear Attack Combo” by Henry Villarta Cardoso
Full Sail
As a part of their prize package, winners from each category were invited to Blizzard Entertainment’s campus for a tour, 1-on-1 mentorship with senior artists and more. Here are just a few of the photos from their visit.
Winners also received One (1) Wacom Cintiq 22HD. Visit our contest announcement to see a complete list of prizes.
Congratulations to all the winners and we look forward to seeing what you have in store next time!
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