Rise of Azshara Preview: Heart of Azeroth Updates

Rise of Azshara Content Preview Live Stream

Patch 8.2 - Water Strider Changes
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
A small clarification to our plans with Mount Equipment–
Hitting level 100 on one character will unlock this system. Once unlocked, the system will be available to all characters, and the equipment pieces themselves will require level 20. If your goal is to have waterwalking while leveling, you can just enable the waterwalking Mount Equipment (there will be one available via Anglers reputation that will be bind-on-account), and it’ll work exactly as before, with the benefit of making all of that character’s mounts walk on water

Taliesin and Evitel Patch 8.2 Information
The popular Youtubers Taliesin and Evitel got to visit Blizzard headquarters to play Rise of Azshara and have a lot of new information not seen in the livestream!


  • Heart of Azeroth
    • The Heart of Azeroth UI shown in the live stream is unfinished and will have a lot more as BfA progresses.
    • In between the major and minor abilities are smaller traits to unlock similar to the Legion artifact.
    • There are unique essences for each type of content, such as one for reputation grinds, raiding, dungeons, etc.
    • You get a new rank for each of these as you progress in the content relevant to it. Example - Rank 1 for honored, Rank 2 for revered, etc for reputation essence.
    • Each essence has a major and minor effect. If you place an essence into the major slot, it will get both benefits. In a minor slot, it will only get the minor benefit.
    • The visual effect for max rank will be impressive.
    • All essences will work in PvP according to Holinka.
    • Some of the essence effects affect a spec/class specific spell.
    • Blizzard expects people to have about 6 different essences unlocked by the end of the first week.
    • Essences work exactly like talents, meaning they can be freely swapped in a rested zone or with a tome.
    • There are new raid and dungeon specific Azerite Traits, dungeon ones being from Mechagon.
    • By the end of 8.3 you will probably have 4 minor essence slots and possibly 2 major.
  • Mechagon
    • Mechagon is bigger than the Timeless Isle, but not as vertical. Nazjatar is HUGE.
    • Mechagon and Nazjatar will be fully open on day 1, while the dungeon and raid will launch either the second or third week.
    • The Mecha-wheel mount special has the wheel spin around while you do a backflip with fire effects.
    • The Mecha-wheel is the reward for completing the meta achievement for Mechagon.
    • Mechagon is a grinding island, with the potential to be an endless grind if you want.
    • The Prince of Mechagon is the leader of the resistance you do quests for on the island.
    • Constructions pop up all over the island that you need to donate resources to build up.
    • Almost all mobs on the island drop relevant resources for the constructions.
    • Mechagon is a big "collect stuff for rewards" island.
    • Mechagon is not timegated, but it is impossible to complete it in one day.
    • Mechagon has the most secrets per square inch than any other place in the game.
    • The gameplay affecting systems like customizing your trinket will not take too long. Collecting all the rewards, however, will take some time.
    • Resources are not just used for building, but for progressing in the island's secrets.
    • War Mode is enabled in Mechagon, but the central hub is neutral and you will be attacked by guards if you initiate combat with the opposite faction. The turrets are not PvP enabled, but it seems like Ion wanted them to be now that Taliesin mentioned it.
    • The trinket has slots like gem slots, and you collect schematics and recipes to build punch cards, or the cards themselves to slot into the trinket.
    • They start by just giving stat boosts, but eventually will also give you effects as you find better ones.
    • There will be the return of "actual" rares that don't pop up often.
    • You can paint and customize your mechano-cat mount by earning resources.
  • Operation: Mechagon Dungeon
    • The Mechagon dungeon starts outside and eventually you move into the heart of the city.
    • There is a stealth portion of the dungeon where you have to stand on vents to keep hidden.
    • The loot in Mechagon will be similar item level compared to Karazhan/Emerald Nightmare, however, there will be unique schematics for punch cards in the dungeon that mythic raiders will want.
    • Some of the punch cards for the trinket interact with the Azerite traits from Mechagon.
  • Nazjatar
    • Nazjatar is the big story focused island.
    • The Nazjatar zone is not really time gated, but the story will progress over weeks.
  • Flying
    • Pathfinder Part II will take as long as it did in Legion, involving rep from both Nazjatar and Mechagon.
  • Mount Equipment
    • The Mount Equipment that prevents being dazed is created by blacksmiths.
    • These equipment slots are like gems. They last until you replace them with another one.
    • If you have the Water Strider mount, you receive the water walking mount equipment for free in the mail on patch day.
    • Furthermore, if you already have the strider you can buy the water walking mount equipment for a substantially reduced price from the vendor who sold you the mount.
    • The Water Strider will no longer be able to walk on water without the equipment slot.
    • The Sky Golem will still be able to harvest herbs, but it will not benefit from mount equipment.
    • Natural abilities like tanks not getting dazed or Death Knights water walking will stack with equipment.
    • More mount equipment items will be added in the future.
    • Lvl 100 is the current requirement to equip mount equipment, but it will likely be changed. (confirmed that you need to have a level 100 character and then the equipment can be used from level 20 on all other toons, with the equipment being BoA.)
  • Azshara's Eternal Palace
    • The underwater boss is the second boss in Azshara's Eternal Palace. There is no mechanic that requires 3D mechanic knowledge. The boss has platforms that you fight on and you basically swim through a gauntlet to get to him on other platforms.
    • Swim speed is actually the same as run speed without a mount.
    • Breath is not an issue in the fight.
    • Druids will have a speed advantage in the fight during platform transitions with aquatic form.
    • We will know who the final boss of Battle for Azeroth is after the events of this raid.
    • Taliesin will reveal who they think the final boss of the expansion is in their weekly video.
    • Lady Priscilla Ashvane is a boss in Azshara's Eternal Palace and her model is a sea giant.
    • At one point in the fight, Ashvane comes out of this form, but her new form is a secret.
  • Miscellaneous
    • They both felt that the developers really do feel like making the best game possible for players and care about player feedback.


4FanSites Patch 8.2 Information
German fansite 4FanSites also has some new information form their time at Blizzard for the 8.2 announcements.


  • Blizzcon will happen this year.
  • Housing is a big topic at Blizzard. The developers are still thinking about how to implement it so that it does not feel so clumsy.
  • Blizzard wants to change warforged and titanforged items, but they don't have a solution in place for it. Without this system, some players would have their maximum gear after only a few weeks and thus have nothing left to aim for gear wise.
  • The team has discussed having only 1 reroll per week, but have it be an 100% chance to get an item.
  • There will be new pets to fight as well as a new Pet Battle Dungeon.


Method Patch 8.2 Information
Method also went to Blizzard and have some information from their visit.


  • The new resource gathering system at various points around the island provides small goals to work towards by yourself or with friends.
  • The new Heart of Azeroth traits are mostly shared between everyone, with a few spec specific traits.
  • The system is similar to glyphs, with one Major and two Minor slots. You start with just the one Major slot, then level up the Heart of Azeroth to unlock the Minor slots.
  • You fill the slots with essences, which can be found from world quests, reputations, PvP, raids, or various other sources.
  • Essences have ranks, with the top rank being a cosmetic effect.
  • Essences have a Major and Minor power. You get both powers when an essence is in a Major slot.
  • Essences are unique, so you can't stack 3 of the same essence.
  • Essences can be respeced at no cost in a rested area.
  • Mount equipment items work similar to gems, they can be swapped but the old one will be consumed in the process.
  • Stormwall Blockade to Jaina had too much of an increase in difficulty, but this was due to the bosses before Jaina being too easy rather than Jaina being too hard.
  • Crucible of Storms starts at middle of Battle of Dazar'alor difficulty, with the last boss being similar to Jaina in difficulty


Forbes Developer Interview
Forbes released another article with a bit of information prior to the live stream today.


  • Crucible of Storms begins to set the stage for what is going on beneath the waves
  • Pathfinder Part 2 allows players to fly in Nazjatar, Mechagon, Kul Tiras, and Zandalar
  • The world is more intimidating when you can't just fly over everything. You also get a better sense of place when exploring from the ground.
  • There may be restrictions on flying if you have recently been in War Mode combat, or some other restrictions that aren't overly punishing.
  • War Mode has been successful. In the past you may have quested next to someone of the opposite faction and not fought, but now both people have opted in to War Mode and fights are more common.
  • Tortollan quests had a few more quests added to the pool so that you have a choice and can avoid a heavily camped quest if you don't want to fight.
  • War Mode participation has increased over the last couple months.
  • The team doesn't have a solution to the raid faction imbalance right now, but there may be something to learn from with the War Mode incentives. Any incentives would need to be balanced to avoid encouraging massive faction migration.
  • It's a question of, how can we build a healthier high-end Mythic Plus scene, or a healthier high-end raid scene on the Alliance side, among the Alliance population. Horde and Alliance populations are actually well balanced across the world, there is just less of a raiding community on the Alliance side.
  • War Mode offers bonus rewards for the outnumbered faction proportional to how outnumbered you are, which is because they face a greater challenge. An Alliance Mythic Plus group and a Horde Mythic Plus group are doing the exact same dungeon with the exact same difficulty once they're in it, so giving one more rewards than the other doesn't make sense.
  • It's very unlikely we'll see a mercenary system for PvE, as the divide is such a core part of the story and game. It also does more to help queue times, as it switches a player from one side of the queue to another. Mercenary mode doesn't let you make social connections, so it wouldn't help the long term health of the PvE community on a faction.
  • The Heart of Azeroth, Islands, and Island Expedition rewards were some of the challenging new systems. The team made the short term changes that they could make with Tides of Vengeance.
  • From just a few weeks in, the team has been planning to shift the Heart of Azeroth to a more Legion artifact style. This gives a longer-term progression system that offers a lot more choice, a lot more customization, goals to work towards, and choose from.
  • The team heard the frustration at the lack of agency and progression with the Heart of Azeroth.
  • The team wants to lessen the negative feeling of bad RNG when it comes to Mythic Plus rewards, but they are sufficiently rewarding already, so they can't make the system more generous.
  • Your helm, shoulders and chest will still be Azerite gear, they will have their rings. But the level requirements will not continue to increase, so you'll have access to all of them.
  • There aren't any plans to set the new NPC AI loose into the world, as people expect mobs to behave a certain way and the team wants to be careful about changing that.
  • We could see the AI in other battlegrounds in the future, such as a Warsong brawl.
This article was originally published in forum thread: Patch 8.2 Rise of Azshara - Information Roundup from Content Creators started by Stoy View original post
Comments 115 Comments
  1. Mendzia's Avatar
    I am not playing from Emerald Nightmare but this patch seems to be really good i have to admit.
    We will see if it is going to be that good tho...
  1. morph4037's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by coprax View Post
    To get this straight: The equipment for mounts is not on a per-mount basis but rather affects all of them at once?
    So if I choose to have the no-daze effect active and come by a river I want to cross, I cannot swap to my strider anymore, I would have to insert a different mount item and afterwards switch back to the no-daze effect?

    How is that a good system?
    It's not, but can't wait to see them patting themselves on the back for this new revolutionary and interesting system!
  1. Amerissis's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by TristanTaylor View Post
    On WoW Head it says Mechagon is War Mode compatible, and mentions should be fun if people opt into it.
    Thank God. Thanks for checking that.
  1. MrLachyG's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Rogalicus View Post
    Because you said so? Using random mount in the water summons water striders.
    I always use it before going over the water, not when I am already in the water. either way, my point stands - now any mount can walk on water
  1. fooliuscaesar13's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by det View Post
    It is more the "forumbase" and really there is nothing surprisingly or wrong about millions of people having so many different opinions. And with so many things in the game, even people who disagree on X will agree on Y.

    But for everything people agree with, it needs to be torches and pitchforks and the sky is falling over every last bit. (that said, I have no idea why they needed to change the mount system)
    My kid and his friends (who are adults, because I'm old...lol) do not frequent the forums and tbh...they're just as cranky and negative as the forumbase. A lot of what I hear them say is what I see people here typing out. So to me (and everyone else has their own experience), it's all one and the same. Everyone always thinks that the sky is falling, and the only way they can save the game is getting out said pitchforks and torches.
    Agreed, though, that there's nothing surprising/wrong with people having an opinion.

    I kind of dig the mount system changes, but I hope they do something more with it (armors / bridles / flags, for example).
  1. Amerissis's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by MrLachyG View Post
    ok I don't know where you got that quote from...... but no, PvP has NEVER been mandatory unless you want to do PvP content. which Mechagon is definitely not a part of
    From this post... obviously. But apparently it is opt in, so that’s great.
  1. MrLachyG's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by justandulas View Post
    Mrlaghy, not to be rude but that does mean war mode will be active in mecha. Just that you’re safe in the capital city. No where have I read anything about mecha being a friendly place.

    It’s forced war mode for the rares. Until you can prove that it’s safe outside the capital, I’ll assume it’s pvp only
    it is NOT forced war mode.... war mode CAN be enabled but you don't have to have it on to do the content, rares or otherwise

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Amerissis View Post
    From this post... obviously. But apparently it is opt in, so that’s great.
    yeah like war mode has been from the very beginning...... it has always been opt in
  1. Amerissis's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by MrLachyG View Post
    it is NOT forced war mode.... war mode CAN be enabled but you don't have to have it on to do the content, rares or otherwise

    - - - Updated - - -

    yeah like war mode has been from the very beginning...... it has always been opt in
    Saying explicitly that warmode is enabled strongly suggest it is ENABLED. Not that it’s a choice. They never say warmode is enable anywhere else, because it’s not. It’s never just enabled, it’s optional. So this wording has me worried that it’s always on, in which case I’ll miss out on a lot of content. Fortunately, wowheas says it’s ‘warmode compatible’ and that means it’s opt in. So it’s all good.
  1. Thetruth1400's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Rogalicus View Post
    What the actual fuck?
    Yeah, no idea why they didn't remove that one from the table like they did with the herbalism mount, which can't benefit from the slot but keeps its ability to herb and not dismount.

    That aside, my big WTF of the roundup was this:
    - Blizzard wants to change warforged and titanforged items, but they don't have a solution in place for it. Without this system, some players would have their maximum gear after only a few weeks and thus have nothing left to aim for gear wise.

    There was a great system for this back in the day, it was called; don't hand out the best gear in the game like candy. Just like gear in Vanilla - WotLK, don't make it infinitely farmable and don't hand it out from every single source you can. Warforged and Titanforge don't need to exist when you give the best gear on a limited amount each week from the best content in game only. For PvP, that means the highest ranking. For PvE, that means Mythic raid and maybe Mythic + at a comparable level to Mythic raiding, but having the gear on a similar percentile chance to drop as Mythic raiding.

    After that, again, return to the old ways, and don't build the game around the extreme minority who push for their gear that fast. Those people want to push, push, push; rush, rush, rush; to the end game gear, then after they've reached max gear they can focus on all the other things the game has to offer instead.
  1. MrLachyG's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Amerissis View Post
    Saying explicitly that warmode is enabled strongly suggest it is ENABLED. Not that it’s a choice. They never say warmode is enable anywhere else, because it’s not. It’s never just enabled, it’s optional. So this wording has me worried that it’s always on, in which case I’ll miss out on a lot of content. Fortunately, wowheas says it’s ‘warmode compatible’ and that means it’s opt in. So it’s all good.
    well yeah. as I said, warmode has always been an opt in feature. yeah it says it was enabled but maybe they wanted to test war mode with the content creators doing it - who knows. but yeah warmode has never been forced upon anyone, it has always been optional so I don't know why people would suddenly think that now
  1. Surreality's Avatar
    Still not interested in playing World of Dollhouse.
  1. dranlord's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Thetruth1400 View Post
    Yeah, no idea why they didn't remove that one from the table like they did with the herbalism mount, which can't benefit from the slot but keeps its ability to herb and not dismount.

    That aside, my big WTF of the roundup was this:
    - Blizzard wants to change warforged and titanforged items, but they don't have a solution in place for it. Without this system, some players would have their maximum gear after only a few weeks and thus have nothing left to aim for gear wise.

    There was a great system for this back in the day, it was called; don't hand out the best gear in the game like candy. Just like gear in Vanilla - WotLK, don't make it infinitely farmable and don't hand it out from every single source you can. Warforged and Titanforge don't need to exist when you give the best gear on a limited amount each week from the best content in game only. For PvP, that means the highest ranking. For PvE, that means Mythic raid and maybe Mythic + at a comparable level to Mythic raiding, but having the gear on a similar percentile chance to drop as Mythic raiding.

    After that, again, return to the old ways, and don't build the game around the extreme minority who push for their gear that fast. Those people want to push, push, push; rush, rush, rush; to the end game gear, then after they've reached max gear they can focus on all the other things the game has to offer instead.
    WotLK isnt a good comparision since you have 2 item level dif base on raid said. 10 man used to droop worst gear that 25man, so as a raider you progress first on 10 and them move to 25.

    now we only have 1 item level that droop the same if you do 10 or 25man. meaning that you get the gear faster. So WF and TF isnt a issue if you dont aim to get it. Is just a bonus
  1. huth's Avatar
    So Ashvane took a diet, then?
  1. dranlord's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Surreality View Post
    Still not interested in playing World of Dollhouse.
    good for you go play Final Dollhouse or Elder Dollhouse or whatever other mmo you like. (every single mmo fallow copy pastes formular and are grind fest)
  1. Raetary's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by gutnbrg View Post
    so am i reading this right? I have to buy water walking for any mount i want to walk on water now?
    No, you buy the water walking equipment and use it, all of your mounts can now walk over water.

    It's applied to all mounts, not just one at a time.
  1. Escepticus's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Arafal View Post
    No, you buy the water walking equipment and use it, all of your mounts can now walk over water.

    It's applied to all mounts, not just one at a time.
    Wait wait wait...It's applied to ALL MOUNTS...AT THE SAME TIME? Meaning, I can't have one with the daze thing, another with the slow fall, and another with the walking on water at the same time?
  1. Raetary's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Escepticus View Post
    Wait wait wait...It's applied to ALL MOUNTS...AT THE SAME TIME? Meaning, I can't have one with the daze thing, another with the slow fall, and another with the walking on water at the same time?
    As far as i understood it, that is the case.
  1. fooliuscaesar13's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by det View Post
    You can still get your negativity from other echo chambers :P Do I need to say influencers (the hint is in the name right there) on youtube channels.
    Righton, and agreed. It's why I don't follow retail WoW youtubers any longer (I still follow a few Classic youtubers). I have my beefs with certain parts of the game, I don't need to listen to some dipshit (or pair of dipshits) make passive aggressive attacks disguised as a joke. All that does is irk me, as they usually grab whatever the community is currently upset at and run with it to generate views.

    Quote Originally Posted by det View Post
    But whatever. Maybe it is just me...I generally stop doing things that I enjoy when I cannot be arsed to try and give feedback to change things. Not that I really expect to change things, especially in systems where millions play and and contribute and my opinion is just a drop in the ocean of rage....or approval really. And if you don't know what I mean, it is things like the Star Wars films. I literally thing all I can do is stay away and not give them my money. As long as everyone hates them (apparently) and they still make a billion dollars...I am giving up....aka just not spend money anymore on this franchise.

    I will do the same when WoW fails me...as I did when I lost interest in Diablo (to bring my examples closer to home)
    That's the best way to handle things - vote with your wallet. Forum noise does work on occasion, but removing your cash from their revenue stream screams much louder than words on the forums.
  1. crewskater's Avatar
    Mechagon is not timegated, but it is impossible to complete it in one day.
    What does that even mean? That sounds like timegating to me...
  1. Tazr's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by crewskater View Post
    What does that even mean? That sounds like timegating to me...
    Probably means that there are items to gather that requires more effort/more quest turn-ins than are available for a 24-hour period. I mean, grinding Ogres in a cave to get from unfriendly to exalted would have taken more than a day back in BC.

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