Rise of Azshara Preview: Navigate the Perils of Nazjatar in New Benthic Gear
Originally Posted by blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
The odds are stacked against you in Queen Azshara’s home territory—but with the right equipment, you can turn the tides in your favor.

In Rise of Azshara, we’re introducing a new type of equipment called Benthic gear, which you’ll earn and collect while adventuring in the naga domain of Nazjatar.

As you explore Nazjatar, you’ll collect Prismatic Manapearls—soulbound currency you can spend to purchase Benthic tokens and upgrades. These bind-to-account tokens can be used to gain a piece of upgradable Benthic gear specific to your armor type (cloth, leather, mail, plate), starting at item level 385. With enough time and effort, players can dedicate their hard-earned Manapearls to upgrade pieces to ilvl 425, just shy of Heroic-level raid gear (ilvl 430).


Speak with Voidbender Zorlan in Newhome (Horde) or Voidbinder Sturzah in Mezzamere (Alliance) to upgrade your Benthic gear.

Besides purchasing Benthic tokens with Manapearls, you’ll also sometimes find them in treasure chests and on enemies throughout the zone.

Each piece of Benthic gear boasts a thematic bonus that applies in Nazjatar and the upcoming Azshara’s Eternal Palace raid. These bonuses might provide effects that boost your damage, slow down your foes, or even increase your mount speed while adventuring through this perilous region. Customize your character with up to six unique bonuses. Put together pieces to create a powerful set for combat, collect a set optimized for exploration, or mix and match to have the best from both worlds. Additionally, each piece has predetermined secondary stats which allow you to have more control over your character’s build.

Benthic gear is currently available for early testing on the Rise of Azshara Public Test Realm, so make sure you jump in to check it out!

Forbes Interview - Why Rise Of Azshara Is The Fix-It Patch For World Of Warcraft
Forbes recently interviewed Ion Hazzikostas again on the upcoming Patch 8.2.



  • Heart of Azeroth and Essences
    • Rise of Azshara is the fruits of a lot of Blizzard's reflection on feedback they've been hearing from the community since Battle for Azeroth first came out.
    • You will unlock the first major socket for your Heart of Azeroth just by being 120 and doing the Nazjatar introduction followed by the Magni quest chain to unlock it. There is no neck level requirement for the first major slot.
    • Smaller sockets on the neck will give boosts to stamina as you progress your neck between neck level 52 to 67 so that health pools stay in line with the damage and healing increases.
    • Heart of Azeroth Levels 55 and 65 are the unlocks for the two minor slots.
    • The Essence system functions much like the glyph system in that once you learn as essence, you are free to switch them in and out in either a rested area or by using a Tome of the Clear Mind.
    • The tuning of essences is on par with the Legion legendaries.
  • Nazjatar and Mechagon
    • There are cosmetic perks that come with leveling up your bodyguard in Nazjatar.
    • Is seems as if Nazjatar will not have any Jeremy Feasel "mad science" WoW Secret Finding Discord secrets.
    • The team is aiming for more variety in Nazjatar world quests. There are still some kill quests, however.
    • There is no emissary for Mechagon.
    • There will be no time-gating in Nazjatar, but some reputation requirements to pieces of the major story for pacing and passage of time.
    • Using reputation thresholds to advance the story feels better than rigid weekly chapters that you have to just wait until next week to unlock. There's something the player can do to speed it up.
    • The Mechagon dungeon and Eternal Palace raid will not be available on day 1 of the patch, but when season 3 starts a couple of weeks into the patch.
  • Season 3 Affix - Beguiling
    • Beguiling is the new affix for Mythic + Season 3. It represents the minions of Queen Azshara invading the dungeons of Kul Tiras and Zandalar. There are three types of handmaidens that will be present in a variety of pulls in different configurations from week to week.
    • These handmaidens can have shadow, arcane, or frost powers. They have different effects that will change the way you approach certain pulls. Certain pulls that you skip might have to be done this time around.
  • Flying
    • The Rustbolt Resistance reputation will be available on day 1.
    • They made sure to make Pathfinder Part II tied to outdoor content. There are no requirements to do any dungeons or raids.
    • They believe the amount of time it takes to unlock flying this time around will be on par with Legion.
  • Benthic Gear
    • Benthic gear will help fill gaps in gear acquisition.
    • The baseline Benthic tokens are BoA so you can use them to catch up your alts.
  • Rare Spawns
    • The rare spawns in Mechagon that have longer timers involve hours, not days.
    • Silver-bordered mobs these days have evolved into named targets, not rares. These new ones are more true rares in the style of Timeless Isle.
    • They have been looking at coordinating these spawns across servers ans shards so that there isn't any shard hopping.
    • These rares can have cosmetics, pieces of gear, and punch cards for the Mechagon trinket.
  • Operation: Mechagon Dungeon
    • The bosses in the dungeon are meant to feel more like a small raid encounter.
    • There are some hidden challenges in the dungeon for the more mythic-raiding types who want a bigger challenge, much like the Nightbane run from Legion Karazhan.
    • Mechagon dungeon loot is on part with the normal mode raid, and then scaled up a little bit beyond that.
    • Some of the most powerful punch cards for the Mechagon trinket are found in the dungeon.
    • There is an essence you can unlock from the dungeon.
  • Class Changes and Revamps
    • Full class overhauls are something that happens in a new expansion update and not a patch.
    • Legion was an exception because it reinvented so many specs from the ground up.
    • Rotational changes, removing/adding abilities, etc are a jarring experience. This is the sort of change that is best received within the broader sweeping changes of a new expansion.
    • They will always address under performing talents or classes in patches.
    • There are definitely specs on the radar for a rework, but nothing to announce now.


WoW Classic Feedback - Bug Hit Table Thread
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
[Bug] Hit tables
As I suggested in my first reply, we did a deep dive on this one to compare combat table values directly between our Reference client and WoW Classic. Apologies for the data dump, but because your observations were so detailed, we wanted to be equally detailed in our reply!
We created Troll Warriors in both games and watched the combat table values for auto-attacks.

  • We checked three player levels – Levels 15, 40, and 60.
  • At each level, our weapon skill was maxed, and we used the same weapon for all tests.
  • All attacks were against enemy creatures, not other players, to remove any additional variables.
  • We tested attacking creatures at -5, +0, +1, +2, +3, +5, and +15 levels relative to our level (so for the level 15 test, we attacked level 10, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, and 35 mobs).
    • For our level 60 test, there were no normal mobs available at higher levels. We instead attacked elite raid creatures at +1, +2, and +3 levels.
  • The exact same creature IDs were tested against on both clients.

In all cases, the Reference client combat table values matched the Classic combat table values:
  • Creatures that are 3 levels above the player have a 14% Parry chance in our Reference client. This holds true for our Classic client as well.
  • Creatures at your level have a 5% chance to Dodge your attacks. Each additional level the target has over the player grants them 0.5% additional chance to dodge. This is observed in Reference client and in Classic.
  • Players have an 8% chance to miss a creature that is 3 levels above them in our Reference client. This holds true for our Classic client as well.
  • Critical Strike chance is reduced by 1% per each additional level the target has over the player. (So if you have a 4% chance to crit an at-level target, you have a 1% chance to crit a +3-level target, in both clients.)

A briefer look at having non-maxed weapon skills also showed identical values between the Reference client and Classic. We also ran several tests while dual wielding, and the results from those tests was also identical between Reference and Classic.

Based on these results, we are confident that the combat behavior in Classic properly reflects the combat behavior of 1.12 WoW. However, we’re always grateful for players looking out for discrepancies, so keep your feedback coming!

Stress Test Feedback
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Stress Test Complete -- THANK YOU!
We have now completed the WoW Classic Stress Test that began yesterday at 2:00 p.m. PDT. We’re very pleased with the amount of participation we saw, and we’re happy to report that we got a great deal of highly useful data, as well as new issues that were uncovered by your efforts to log in and play.

The closed beta realms remain available for those testers.

Thank you very much to everyone who participated in this stress test!
This article was originally published in forum thread: Benthic Preview, Forbes Interview - Rise of Azshara, WoW Classic Hit Table Feedback started by Stoy View original post
Comments 109 Comments
  1. natham's Avatar
    Classic can't come soon enough. WoW is freakshow now.
  1. Beatman's Avatar
    Class Changes and Revamps

    Full class overhauls are something that happens in a new expansion update and not a patch.
    They will always address under performing talents or classes in patches.
    Haha, ~10-20% of talents are worthless and aren't getting fixed.

    Mirror Image?
    Second Wind?
    Divine Judgement?
    Piercing Shot?

    All of them have been trash for months or even years. And nobody demands complete spec overhauls. We simply want unplayable specs to be brought in line with the good ones.
  1. Queen of Hamsters's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by natham View Post
    Classic can't come soon enough. WoW is freakshow now.
    Classic can't come soon enough, so that we can start laughing at the inevitable fall from grace whilst finally be rid of the constant screeching every time a private server is shut down.
  1. Segus1992's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Beatman View Post
    Haha, ~10-20% of talents are worthless and aren't getting fixed.

    Mirror Image?
    Second Wind?
    Divine Judgement?
    Piercing Shot?

    All of them have been trash for months or even years. And nobody demands complete spec overhauls. We simply want unplayable specs to be brought in line with the good ones.
    "changes are jarring for players" am I out of touch? Class changes have been what I've looked forward to the most of anything in the game since TBC was first announced.
  1. Smeller's Avatar
    And still no release date for 8.2. We probably have to wait until July. Lazy devs...
  1. Beatman's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Segus1992 View Post
    "changes are jarring for players" am I out of touch? Class changes have been what I've looked forward to the most of anything in the game since TBC was first announced.
    Yeah, Idk what kind if players they are talking about.
  1. Drub's Avatar
    It's nice that Blizz is giving the non-raiders something to do. What about the players who actually play the game?
  1. SirBeef's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Segus1992 View Post
    "changes are jarring for players" am I out of touch? Class changes have been what I've looked forward to the most of anything in the game since TBC was first announced.
    This board is fill with crybabies that complain about changing up classes every expansion, when in reality it really is like every other. There was even a new thread started on this exact topic recently.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by THCRaven View Post
    Weren't you banned not too long ago ?

    OT : Preach was kind of right, they are making the current game more casual friendly and accessible while waiting on the classic feedback.
    Moreover I don't know if it's just me or the classic team is passionate about the game, I know it's crazy maybe I'm wrong.
    The game, outside of raiding and top end PvP has always been casual, raiding since WotLK and PvP has been super accessible to everyone. WoW was intended to be the casual MMO from day one and was super casual friendly compared to others out at the same time and before.
  1. Queen of Hamsters's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by THCRaven View Post
    Weren't you banned not too long ago ?

    OT : Preach was kind of right, they are making the current game more casual friendly and accessible while waiting on the classic feedback.
    Moreover I don't know if it's just me or the classic team is passionate about the game, I know it's crazy maybe I'm wrong.
    "Were" being the operating word here, don't you think?

    And any lack or surplus of passion projected onto the teams from players is just that. Projection. It's easy to come across as "listening to players" when remaking a game that was already known though, aka no new stuff to be added, as few changes as possible. The current team has to be passionate in order to still be making a title that's 15 years old for the players. The art team's work alone speaks volumes.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Drub View Post
    It's nice that Blizz is giving the non-raiders something to do. What about the players who achtually play the game?
    If people log in and do anything besides standing around in 1 spot, they're actually playing the game.
    Raiders always have content. They were literally the ONLY ones catered for during WoD.
  1. Pakheth's Avatar
    I hated what they did to rares in WoD and onwards. They are now just a checklist, nothing rare about them.
  1. Kataroku's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by SirBeef View Post
    This board is fill with crybabies that complain about changing up classes every expansion, when in reality it really is like every other. There was even a new thread started on this exact topic recently.
    I can kind of understand where people are coming from.

    As an example, I loved playing shadow priest back in MoP, but its playstyle has been completely overhauled in the expansions that followed.

    Being an altoholic meant that I could simply choose another class and be on my merry way - but what if that was your only character and suddenly you couldn't bear to play it anymore? It wouldn't surprise me if people quit because of it.

    I don't mind Blizzard overhauling broken classes, but taking a perfectly fluid spec and breaking it? Hard to justify that.
  1. Super Kami Dende's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by THCRaven View Post
    Weren't you banned not too long ago ?

    OT : Preach was kind of right, they are making the current game more casual friendly and accessible while waiting on the classic feedback.
    Moreover I don't know if it's just me or the classic team is passionate about the game, I know it's crazy maybe I'm wrong.
    The irony being that outside of just tedious grinding, Vanilla was know as the most casual and accessible MMO on the Market. Mostly due to the fact the combat was braindead.
  1. dhru2's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Pakheth View Post
    I hated what they did to rares in WoD and onwards. They are now just a checklist, nothing rare about them.
    Becuase it is so much fun to wait 4 hours for rares... DO you focking remember Tanaan Jungle's 4 rares in WoD? The bird, the draenei, the machine and the nasty big orc? Ohh boy those were SO MUCH FUN. Running your PC and wasting energy just to wait for 4 NPCs... while you were watching some garbage show...
  1. 8bithamster's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by SirBeef View Post
    This board is fill with crybabies that complain about changing up classes every expansion, when in reality it really is like every other. There was even a new thread started on this exact topic recently.

    - - - Updated - - -



    The game, outside of raiding and top end PvP has always been casual, raiding since WotLK and PvP has been super accessible to everyone. WoW was intended to be the casual MMO from day one and was super casual friendly compared to others out at the same time and before.
    Thank you.. someone with a brain. Vanilla WoW was super casual compared to the competitors. That has always, always been the main focus of Blizzard. Because casual = more players = more money. It's that simple.
  1. Greyvax's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Pakheth View Post
    I hated what they did to rares in WoD and onwards. They are now just a checklist, nothing rare about them.
    In timeless isle (MoP) everyone just used the raretimer add-on to track the rares. I'm sure the same will happen in mechagon.
  1. Alkizon's Avatar
    Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
    reinvented so many specs/definitely specs on the radar
    How about you forgetting your made-up specs and finally begin to talk about classes and their entire system and organization as a whole? This is absolutely clear that BfA train has already left, but it's necessary to start think in right categories already now.
  1. grexly75's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by THCRaven View Post
    Weren't you banned not too long ago ?

    OT : Preach was kind of right, they are making the current game more casual friendly and accessible while waiting on the classic feedback.
    Moreover I don't know if it's just me or the classic team is passionate about the game, I know it's crazy maybe I'm wrong.
    I have to laugh at what you are saying because when WoW was released back in 2004, Everquest players would hurl insults and shite in WoW's general direction for being too casual friendly..
  1. Sanguinerd's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by THCRaven View Post
    Casual back then is not casual today that's a total fallacy, how long do you take on current wow to reach max level and how long you did back then or in 3 months?

    How hard is to get geared now vs classic ? "Hard" oxford definition nº3 : "Requiring a great deal of endurance or effort". For the pedantic individuals.

    Also "Braindead" as your opinion.
    The whole 3 months thing is such nonsense. Maybe if you only get to play 1 hour each day or something.
  1. Nevcairiel's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Beatman View Post
    Haha, ~10-20% of talents are worthless and aren't getting fixed.
    That also means that 80-90% are useful, which seems like a decent statistic to me.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Segus1992 View Post
    "changes are jarring for players" am I out of touch? Class changes have been what I've looked forward to the most of anything in the game since TBC was first announced.
    Players that don't hang around MMO-C to read every single change all day and then login one day and have to re-learn their character. You know, 90% of all players, if not more.
  1. grexly75's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by THCRaven View Post
    I already replied to some ppl about that but, what exactly do you find laughable? I'm not criticising casual focused gameplay and classic wow is objectively less casual than current wow.
    Because you are saying in a round about way that to you WoW is hardcore, compare that to games like Everquest where the consequences of dying after level 6 will have you lose XP, and before it was changed you would also lose any gear that you had as well.. So yeah compared to Everquest, WoW is super casual friendly..

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