Patch 8.1 - Tides of Vengeance Live This Week!

Patch 8.1 - Tides of Vengeance Live Today
Patch 8.1 - Tides of Vengeance is live today!



What is Not Coming This Week?
Certain things will unlock on January 22, 2019 and a few things are a little further off than that!







New and Updated Azerite Powers
Patch 8.1 continues to improve the Azerite Power system with changes to existing powers and a plethora of new ones added to the available options!




Mythic Plus Azerite Armor Vendor
Thaumaturge Vashreen in each capital city sells Mythic Plus Azerite Armor caches and specific pieces for the new currency, Titan Residuum. Titan Residuum is rewarded from your mythic plus cache or breaking down Azerite Armor pieces at the scrapbot.





Class Guides
Icy Veins is ready to go with updated class guides!
Originally Posted by MMO-Champion

Spells Being Taken off the Global Cooldown
Several abilities are being removed from the global cooldown!
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker)
I believe it was Ion that said in a dev chat movement abilities were coming back off the GCD. So is this actually happening?
This is something that is still happening. Here is the list I have so far of abilities that are for sure coming off the GCD:
  • Havoc - Vengeful Retreat
  • All Druids - Wild Charge
  • Arms - Charge
  • Fury - Charge
  • Protection Warrior - Ignore Pain
  • Protection Warrior – Intercept
  • Protection Warrior (PvP) – Dragon Charge
  • Survival – Harpoon (Source)

Well that’s nice I guess, what about all the other categories?
This is just what we have confirmed so far. There could potentially be more added to the list, but I personally just don’t know of any others yet.

We’d love to hear from you guys on more examples of abilities that you feel should be off the GCD and why. (Source)

New Warfront - Battle for Darkshore
A new warfront is being introduced to go alongside with the Battle for Stromgarde. This warfront continues the story of the Night Elves after the loss of Teldrassil and their fight to reclaim Darkshore from Horde control. Check out our preview below and for more information on how the cycle will work, refer to Blizzard's official preview!




Warfront Rewards Vendor
Patch 8.1 adds a new currency called 7th Legion Service Medal / Honorbound Service Medal. These are acquired from Warfronts as well as Incursion World quests and can be spent at a vendor near your Warfront table in your capital city.



Warfront World Quests
Arathi Highlands now has a variety of world quests added to it instead of just the world boss quest. In addition, Darkshore also has many world quests. These are most likely available to the faction in control of the map.




Night Warrior Scenario
The Night Warrior scenario is a new series of quests that advances the story of the Night Elves after the events of the Burning of Teldrassil. Both Horde and Alliance have separate scenarios to tell the sides to the story. Alliance venture into Darkshore with Tyrande while the Horde attempt to resurrect fallen Night Elves with Nathanos, culminating in a showdown that leads to the Darkshore Warfront.



Night Warrior Night Elf Customization Options
Completing the Night Warrior Scenario unlocks a new skin tone option for Night Elves that grants them darker purple skin and black eyes.




Fate of Saurfang Quest Chain
There is a new quest chain that continues the story of Saurfang from the point he is released by Anduin in the Lost Honor cinematic. This chain culminates in a choice that will have consequences in the future!




Faction Assaults
Much like the Legion Invasions from the Legion expansion, Tides of Vengeance adds new limited time world quests that cycle between each faction defending or attacking an area of Zuldazar or Kul Tiras. If your faction is defending, you finish the Faction Assault by completing four of the world quests and then attacking the opposing faction's air ship. These are also a new way to level alts as characters 110 or above can complete a Faction Assault and receive the Taste of Victory buff for an hour after completion.




Paragon Reputations for Battle for Azeroth Factions
The Paragon Reputation reward system is returning from Legion for the Battle for Azeroth factions. Every 10,000 reputation you earn past exalted will now reward you with a container that can contain fun rewards! In addition, contracts for the 7th Legion and Honorbound factions have finally been added.





Horde and Alliance War Campaigns Continue
Both the Horde and Alliance will be able to advance their war campaign with tons of new story content that leads up to the events of the new raid, the Battle for Dazar'alor. The large chunks of each story will likely continue in installments for the next month, with the PTR calendar having the part releases listed as follows:

  • December 11 - Part 1
  • December 18 - Part 2
  • January 8 - Part 3
  • January 22 - Part 4
  • January 29 - Part 5




Blood Elf and Dwarf Heritage Armor
Players with maximum-level (120) Blood Elves or Dwarves who are Exalted with their faction (Silvermoon City or Ironforge respectively) will be able to embark on a new quest line for each race to learn more about their history. Once you complete your quest, you’ll gain a new Heritage Armor transmog set unique to your race and be able to show off your pride. Click the banners below to learn more about the quest chains!




New Island Expeditions and Changes
Changes are being made to the way Island Expeditions function. Click the banner to see Blizzard's full preview! Highlights include:

  • Two new islands - Havenswood and Jorundall
  • Two new events (akin to invasions currently)
    • Azerite Ruptures - Protect a device from waves of enemies
    • Azerite Extractors - Set up an extractor that will grant you azerite over time, but the enemy team can take it if not defended
  • More clustered NPCs for easier navigation




Seafarer's Dubloon Vendors in 8.1
Vendors have been added near the Island Expeditions Que Hub in both Boralus and Dazar'alor that offer a variety of rewards in exchange for your Seafarer's Dubloon.




Mysterious Treasure Map Reward
The World Quest to win 1 Island Expedition a week has been replaced with a new one that has you collect enough Azerite from Island Expeditions to receive a Mysterious Treasure Map. This item unlocks a rare mission at your mission table that rewards Azerite Power and either 5,000 gold or additional Azerite Power depending on the mission.



Island Expedition Rewards Update
Patch 8.1 will change Island Expedition rewards from being based on the NPCs you kill to the NPCs that are on the island.
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker)
In Tides of Vengeance, in addition to two new Island Expeditions, we’re making a number of adjustments and improvements to Islands. One of those changes will alter how various cosmetic rewards are determined, and we’d like to explain that further, as we promised here: https://twitter.com/WarcraftDevs/sta...80683058487297

Currently in Battle for Azeroth, Island Expeditions have a chance to reward cosmetic items based on which type of creatures you and your team defeated. For example, if the island theme of the week was Hozen, there’s a chance to receive one of the Banana toys. If the invaders were Nerubian, you could have a chance to receive the Voru’kar Leecher companion pet (among other things). They way this has worked is by means of a hidden scorecard that counted your group’s efforts against anything on the island that was part of the invaders’ ecology. So if anyone in the group earned some Azerite from killing invaders or mining Azerite near the invaders, everyone in the group had a chance at the cosmetic rewards. That chance grew based on how much invaders’ Azerite was obtained, and was also a higher chance in Heroic and even higher in Mythic difficulty Islands. We set the maximum chance you could earn at a reasonable threshold, in the hopes that players wouldn’t feel that they needed to only kill invaders and not complete the islands in a natural way.

Of course, that’s not how it worked out. Confusion around the best way to get cosmetics led to a divergence in playstyles, with some players wishing to focus exclusively on hunting specific creatures, while others wished to win the island efficiently to get Azerite. This caused a significant amount of tension between players who had differing goals.

In Tides of Vengeance, all players on an Expedition will have a chance to receive cosmetic rewards based on the island’s inhabitants, rather than which enemies were specifically defeated. That chance will again be higher on higher difficulties, but there will be no need to strategize around invaders. The most efficient way to receive cosmetic rewards will be whatever tactics cause you to complete the Island quickly, on the highest difficulty that you’re comfortable.

Thanks to everyone who has stormed our high seas with feedback on this. We really appreciate it.

New Pet Battle Dungeon - Gnomeregan
Another pet battle dungeon is being added in 8.1 with a variety of mechanical themed rewards to earn!


Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
It’s time to martial your menagerie and put your best battle pets forward within the halls of Gnomeregan.

To get started on your journey, you’ll need to have earned the achievement All Growns Up!, which requires you to raise a pet to level 25. This will make a new quest available to you from Radek Fuselock, who is located near the pet battle trainers in Dazar’alor, or Tizzy Gearjolt, who is located just outside of Dana Pull’s shop in Hook Point in Boralus. You won’t need to complete the Wailing Caverns or Deadmines pet battle dungeons to gain access, and with the release of the Tides of Vengeance content update, you’ll be able to play the three pet battle dungeons in any order.

Completing the quest and pet battle dungeon the first time earns you an Ultimate Battle-Training Stone. You’ll also be able to avail yourself of Manapoof’s aid to teleport directly to Gnomeregan’s dungeon entrance as a part of the quest reward.

For those daring to push your team, you can take on the Challenge Mode version of the dungeon, which requires you to have at least 15 maximum-level battle pets. This will open an account-wide weekly quest that you can pick up from Micro Zoox, who’s waiting outside the Gnomeregan instance portal.

Completing the Challenge Mode the first time will grant the achievement Pet Battle Challenge: Gnomeregan, which rewards a Mini Spider Tank battle pet. Return each week to complete the quest and you’ll earn the reward Pristine Gizmo, which can be exchanged for items from Micro Zoox including an Unopened Gnomeregan Supply Box, Mechanical Cockroach, Schematic: Mechantula, Leper Rat Tail, and Rechargeable Alarm-O-Dog Battery.

Whether you’re new to pet battle dungeons or a companion-combat veteran, you’ll want to get in on the ongoing story as it unfolds. Who are the shadowy figures that keep appearing? What do they want? What are their nefarious plans? Discover what awaits your critter pals next in Gnomeregan!

New Paladin Spell Animations
Paladins are receiving visual updates to Avenging Wrath, Beacon of Light, Beacon of Virtue, Holy Light, and Light of Dawn!




Leveling Changes
The experience required to level from 1 to 110 has decreased substantially, with extremely small changes to the 110 to 120 experience. Click the banner to see just how much the experience has been lowered.




War Mode Buff Changes
War Mode is getting a buff to encourage mode people to participate in world PvP. The faction that is less represented in War Mode will get a Call to Arms buff for activating War Mode, increasing the 10% experience/rewards buff to 20% for the duration that your faction is the minority.




Account Wide Quality of Life Alt Changes
Alts will have it just a bit easier in Patch 8.1. Here are a few changes:

  • Account Wide Reputation Transmog Unlocks - As long as one character on your account has the necessary reputation requirements and unlocks completed, alts that meet the level requirements will be able to transmog certain tabards and armor pieces!
  • Account Wide Champions of Azeroth Neck Ilvl Unlock - As long as one character on your account has the necessary revered reputation requirement with Champions of Azeroth, alts that meet the level requirements will be able to complete the quests from Magni to upgrade their Heart of Azeroth!
  • Account Wide Flight Paths - As long as one character on your account has completed the Battle for Azeroth Pathfinder, Part One achievement, you can purchase 7th Legion Scouting Map or Honorbound Scouting Map to trade to alts and unlock all Kul Tiras/Zanadar flight paths!





New Mounts
Patch 8.1 adds quite a few new mounts! Click the banner to see them all!




Profession Updates and Changes
Many new recipes have been added this patch. Some highlights are below, with a look at all the new recipes by clicking the banner below.





Miscellaneous Changes and Additions
A variety of many other changes and additions have been made to the game.

  • More World Quests have been added to Kul Tiras and Zandalar.
  • The reputation awarded for activities in Legion content for the Allied Race reputations has been increased.
  • 100 Exalted Reputations progress is now account wide, however, each reputation and its faction equivalent only count once across all characters. Having multiple alts will not get you the achievement any faster.
  • Blood-Soaked Tome of Dark Whispers - Allows hunters to tame crawgs and other blood beasts.


Solo Queue for Legion Raids
Patch 8.1 adds the option to solo queue for wings of Legion Raid Finder difficulty raids to Archmage Timear in Broken Isles Dalaran.



Boralus Update
Boralus has received a small tweak to the area leading to the War Campaign boat. Currently, there is a small gate separating the stairs from the 7th Legion Quartermaster. This has been removed in Patch 8.1 and replaced with an open plank to jump on from the stairs. The quartermaster has also been moved to compensate for this change.




New Music and Audio
A lot of new music and audio has been added in this patch.



Achievement, String, and Misc Changes
Take a look at the new achievements, strings, scenarios, mounts, and other misc changes coming in the patch!




Content Coming on January 22, 2019
Some content will not be available when Patch 8.1 launches on December 11th. Here is what you have to look forward to next month!

Battle of Dazar’alor Raid
For ages untold, Dazar’alor has stood at the center of the great and powerful Zandalari empire. Its guards have thwarted numerous attempts on King Rastakhan’s life, and it has endured trials both ancient and new. But as war reaches the shores of Zuldazar, the Alliance embarks on a daring gambit to besiege the golden pyramid and sever the Zandalari’s bond to the Horde.



Raid Unlock Schedule
  • January 22 — Normal and Heroic Difficulties
  • January 29 — Mythic and Raid Finder Wing 1
  • February 12 — Raid Finder Wing 2
  • February 26 — Raid Finder Wing 3


PvP Season 1 Ends and Season 2 Starts
Battle for Azeroth PvP Season 1 will end and Season 2 will begin at the same time as Battle of Dazar’alor opens on January 22.



Mythic Keystone Dungeon Season 2 Begins January 22
To align with the opening of the new raid dungeon, Mythic Keystone Dungeon Season 2 will begin on January 22.

  • Reaping - New Affix that causes previously killed trash to rise and rush your group every 20% on the progress bar.
  • Increased item level rewards
  • Additional ring on Azerite Armor
    • The fifth ring has two spec specific trait options to choose between for each spec for your class.
    • The fourth ring continues to have one spec specific trait for each spec or the option of a general trait.






Content Available in the Future
Some additional content will be released later than January 22nd, most likey around 8.1.5.

Crucible of Storms Raid
The Crucible of Storms raid will be a two boss raid that continues the story of Azshara and the Old God influences in Battle for Azeroth. This raid also has a series of quests related to Xal'atath.




Kul Tiran Human and Zandalari Troll Allied Races
At some point after the Battle for Dazar'alor, we will be recruiting the Kul Tiran Humans and Zandalari Trolls officially into the factions. For more information on these races, click the banners below.

This article was originally published in forum thread: Patch 8.1 - Tides of Vengeance Live This Week! started by chaud View original post
Published on 2018-12-11 10:16 AM
46 Comments
Comments 46 Comments
  1. Muajin76's Avatar
    Do you know if the service medals will be boa or bop?
  1. stresskiller's Avatar
    still no flying , so no need to return to he game yet
  1. MasterMirror's Avatar
    Pretty solid patch, even if it will be surely somewhat underestimated.
    I hope that, now and in the future, the devs will listen to the players' feedback about classes' gameplay, because I'm fine with it but A LOT of players don't so there may be an issue there.
  1. mmoc4359933d3d's Avatar
    Literally who cares.
  1. TheDeeGee's Avatar
    On my third month of BfA now, which will be my last.

    I might Sub again near the end when EVERYTHING is released and available.

    This time gating of quests simply sucks donkey balls.
  1. Beefkow's Avatar
    Class design is still broken.

    Virtually zero hype for this patch.
  1. La's Avatar
    I love how the front page has been constantly spammed with all this "new content" to make it seem like 8.1 has ridiculous amounts of useful things added to it.
  1. Teph's Avatar
    That's a long post for basically nothing substantial. I will log in tomorrow and there is nothing new to do.

    Selling updates for broken stuff (azerite, islands, gcd reversals) as content... .
    Also did they just remove all charge like abilites of the gcd but forgot SHAMANS again? Do they even know they exist?
  1. unbound's Avatar
    Congratulations on not fixing Ele Shaman at all.

    Congratulations on putting out a patch that took twice as long as Legion.

    Congratulations on putting out a 2nd raid that will take three times as long as Legion.

    But, look, there are new mounts and transmogs!! Squirrel!!
  1. morph4037's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by unbound View Post
    Congratulations on not fixing Ele Shaman at all.
    In the immortal words of the newest president of Blizzard "You think you want ele shaman fixed, but you don't".
  1. athrun7189's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Smrtby View Post
    Literally who cares.
    You I guess since you came on a dedicated wow website this morning to tell us you don't care?
  1. Ophenia's Avatar
    Wow that's an impressive list of nothing. The most exciting thing is probably the Paladin spells visual updates

    Battle for Azeroth dungeons now automatically change you to a spec that matches the role you chose when you queued.
    Wow, took time. That will probably be expanded to LFR too I guess (if it isn't already, it's stating only Dungeons right now), which will probably suck when there is an awesome heal in your group and you could respec to DPS. Or even some cases where the tank can solotank stuff (happened on the Antoran FelHounds for example)
    Also prevents the Heroics rush. But I guess that's no longer relevant since M+ exist and negated the entire point of Heroics anyway.
  1. Reman's Avatar
    So the allied races are delayed again, this is beyond ridiculous.
  1. meroko's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Ophenia View Post
    Wow, took time. That will probably be expanded to LFR too I guess (if it isn't already, it's stating only Dungeons right now), which will probably suck when there is an awesome heal in your group and you could respec to DPS. Or even some cases where the tank can solotank stuff (happened on the Antoran FelHounds for example)
    Also prevents the Heroics rush. But I guess that's no longer relevant since M+ exist and negated the entire point of Heroics anyway.
    I don't think it prevents you from changing spec, all that's saying is that it automatically switches to what you queued for when you ENTER the dungeon, so you don't have to manually switch. If you truly wanted to go DPS or whatever, you can still switch manually.
  1. mmoc217b3a527e's Avatar
    If you check the notes it seems like a HUGE patch with a lot of changes...but unfortunately it's not much to get excited about, mostly things that should've been there at launch or even some that should've been added years ago (account wide rep),
  1. tyrlaan's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Reman View Post
    So the allied races are delayed again, this is beyond ridiculous.
    Define "again", because the release timing of kul tirans/zandalari that's listed here is completely consistent with what we were told at Blizzcon.
  1. Trumpcat's Avatar
    They are adding lots of stuff with this patch, but the problem is it capitalizes on features that are universally disliked: Islands, Warfronts, Azerite. Which is basically everything new the expansion brought, the rest is Legion features. And it doesn't make any big moves to fix the other big concern: boring classes and specs where the choice is often between fun or viable talents.
  1. DesoPL's Avatar
    Can i buy on my mage plate transmog, and use it on my warrior that transmog please?
  1. Eleccybubb's Avatar
    While it's most certainly not a meaty patch I will admit it'll be nice to level some alts in a smooth fashion again as well as try my hand at the pet battle dungeon since I enjoy pet battling.

    Some of this should have definitely been in for launch like the Island and Azerite vendors.
  1. Triggered Fridgekin's Avatar
    Future
    The amount of restraint they have on the Zandalari trolls annoys me because it's the only reason I'd come back to the game.
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