World of Warcraft News and Raiding Strategies

After careful deliberation and debate, we were able to sift through the amazing submissions by talented World of Warcraft community members and identify three (3) Grand Prize Winners and ten (10) runners-up in the Shadows of Argus Art Contest.

Grand Prize Winners


Tina Wei


Tim Guo


Alejandro Reynal

Runners-Up


Congratulations go out to all the winners! Your talent shines even among the shadows.

Once antorus releases, will mythic+ gear still be capped at +10? or will it be changed to +15 again?
The ceiling on Mythic Keystone rewards will go up to 15 the week of Dec. 5, when the Mythic difficulty of Antorus opens. If you did a Mythic Keystone 11-15 the prior week, that effort will be reflected in your weekly chest on Dec. 5. (WarcraftDevs)

What is the current year lore wise in WoW? I'm saying 33, my friends are saying 38. Which of us is right?
I believe we'd be going into 33 with BFA (Alex_Afrasiabi)

Hey Alex! May daily question in hopes that you'll respond: Will the Ebon Blade continue to create new death knights in BFA?
DK creation exists in a pocket of time (Wrath) which is why you start at 55 and also why we have to be careful about what races can be DK. So DK creation will continue to exist in that fashion. (Alex_Afrasiabi)
Sorry for the many replies, but here is the quest: https://t.co/yokb4XF3Vs - notice what he says upon completion
It doesn’t change how death knights are created in WoW. Which is back during the Wrath era. They are not mutually exclusive. (Alex_Afrasiabi)

With the next weekly maintenance, we'll be shifting around some of Shadow Priests' damage sources with the goal of improving their AOE damage performance in short-duration multitarget situations - namely dungeon trash packs.

The nature and lifetime of dungeon trash packs makes it hard for Shadow Priests to ramp up to their full damage potential as part of their rotation. These changes should improve that situation, with a mostly neutral effect for overall performance in longer-duration raid fights.

• Void Eruption
  
  • No longer deals a separate damage event for each of your Shadow Word: Pain or Vampiric Touch on each target. Instead, deals a single damage event to all targets that have EITHER your Shadow Word: Pain or Vampiric Touch.
  • Void Eruption damage increased by 700%
• Shadow Crash
  
  • Cooldown reduced to 20 sec. (down from 30 sec)
  • Insanity generation increased to 20. (up from 15)
  • Missile speed increased by 60%.
• Mind Sear (Passive)
  
  • Damage increased by 50%.
• Heart of the Void (Legendary)
  
  • Increases Void Eruption’s damage by 75% (down from 300%) and heals you for 25% (down from 40%) of the damage done.
  • Developers Note: This is compensation for the Void Eruption buff. The overall effect is mostly neutral.
• Shadow Word: Pain/Vampiric Touch
  
  • Damage reduced by 4%.
  • Developers Note: This is compensation for the Void Eruption buff in extended fights.

Dungeons and Raids

• Siege of Orgrimmar
  
  • Paragons of the Klaxxi and Siegecrafter Blackfuse are much better hosts and no longer lock their doors if you leave the raid early.
    

Items

• Death Knight: Dreadwake Armor
  
  • Frost
    
    • 4-piece bonus now deals 210% weapon damage per tick (was 420%).
      
  • Unholy
    
    • 2-piece bonus now deals 35% of direct damage (was 25%) from Death Coil over 4 seconds.
      
  
  
• Demon Hunter : Felreaper Vestments
  
  • Havoc
    
    • 4-piece bonus now increases haste by 15% (was 40%) for 8 seconds.
      
  
  
• Druid: Bermantle Battlegear
  
  • Balance
    
    • 4-piece bonus now increases the damage of Moonfire and Sunfire by 20% (was 10%) for 6 seconds.
      
  
  
• Hunter : Serpentstalker Guise
  
  • Beast Mastery
    
    • 4-piece bonus now reduces the cooldown of Aspect of the Wild by 1.5 seconds (was 2.0 seconds).
      
  • Survival
    
    • 2-piece bonus now increases the critical strike damage of your next Raptor Strike by 100% (was 50%) within the next 20 seconds.
      
  
  
• Mage: Runebound Regalia
  
  • Arcane
    
    • 2-piece bonus now increases your damage by 2% (was 4%) for 8 seconds per Arcane Charge spent.
      
    • 4-piece bonus now has a 10% chance (was 8%) to increase your haste by 15% (was 20%) for 6 seconds.
      
  • Fire
    
    • 4-piece bonus now increases your critical strike damage by 10% (was 12%) while Combustion is active.
      
  • Frost
    
    • 2-piece bonus now increases the damage of Flurry by 15% (was 25%) for each successive ice bolt.
      
    • 4-piece bonus now increases the damage of your next Ice Lance by 20% (was 25%).
      
  
  
• Monk: Chi’Ji’s Battlegear
  
  • Brewmaster
    
    • 4-piece bonus now reads, “Every time you dodge an attack, the remaining cooldown of Breath of Fire is reduced by 1.0 sec.”
      
  • Windwalker
    
    • The 4-piece bonus is now the 2-piece bonus, and still has a 10% chance to generate 1 Chi when you consume Blackout Kick!
      
    • The 2-piece bonus is now the 4-piece bonus, and now it increases the damage of your next Blackout Kick by 175% (was 150%).
      
  
  
• Paladin: Light’s Vanguard Battleplate
  
  • Retribution
    
    • 2-piece bonus now increases the damage of Judgment by 40% (was 60%).
      
  
  
• Priest: Gilded Seraph’s Raiment
  
  • Shadow
    
    • 4-piece bonus now increases the critical strike chance of Mind Flay, Void Bolt, and Mind Blast by 0.5% (was 1%) per stack of Void Form.
      
  
  
• Rogue: Regalia of the Dashing Scoundrel
  
  • Assassination
    
    • 2-piece bonus now increases the critical strike chance of Deadly Poison and Wound Poison by 60% (was 15%) for 6 seconds.
      
    • 4-piece bonus now has a chance to grant 2 Energy (was 4 Energy) when your Deadly Poison or Wound Poison critically strikes.
      
  • Outlaw
    
    • 2-piece bonus now increases the damage of your next Run Through by 15% (was 5%), stacking up to four times.
      
    • 4-piece bonus now has a 16% chance (was 12%) to grant you a random Roll the Bones effect, that is not already active, for 10 seconds.
      
  • Subtlety
    
    • 4-piece bonus now has a 3% chance (was 5%) to grant Shadow Gestures when using Gloomblade, Backstab, and Shadowstrike.
      
  
  
• Shaman: Garb of Venerated Spirits
  
  • Enhancement
    
    • 2-piece bonus now has a 30% chance (was 15%) to increase the damage of your next Rockbiter by 100%.
      
    • 4-piece bonus now causes the target to take 15% (was 10%) increased Fire and Nature damage from your attacks for 4.50 seconds after using Rockbiter.
      
  
  
• Warlock: Grim Inquisitor’s Regalia
  
  • Affliction
    
    • 4-piece bonus now increases Corruption, Siphon Life, and Agony damage by 10% for 8 seconds (was 6 seconds).
      
  • Destruction
    
    • 2-piece bonus now increases the critical strike chance of Incinerate by 40% (was 20%).
      
  
  
• Warrior: Juggernaut Battlegear
  
  • Arms
    
    • 2-piece bonus now increases your critical strike damage by 7% (was 10%) after using Colossus Smash.
      
    • 4-piece bonus now increases the damage and critical strike chance of your next Whirlwind or Slam by 12% (was 15%), stacking up to three times.
      
  • Fury
    
    • 2-piece bonus now causes the target to bleed for an additional 18% (was 30%) of the direct damage dealt by Rampage, over 4 seconds.
      
    • 4-piece bonus now increases the damage of your Rampage by 25% (was 75%) for 8 seconds.
      

Events

• WoW’s 13th Anniversary
  
  • Anniversary boss bonus rolls now reward Artifact Power instead of gold if you do not receive an item.
    

It’s been 13 epic years since the World of Warcraft opened its doors to millions of heroes! To commemorate the occasion, we’re asking you to bring forth your talents to capture your favorite, themes, places, or moments from World of Warcraft.

Let the very spirit of Azeroth herself inspire your creativity to create a piece of artwork using pens, pencil, paints, or your favorite art program. You could win one of the following items:

First Place: Illidan Statue, choice of one (1) Elekk plushie or one (1) Raptor Plushie, and one (1) World of Warcraft Classic Hoodie in the winner’s size.

Runner-Ups: Ten qualified entrants will be chosen to receive a choice of one (1) Elekk plushie or one (1) Raptor Plushie, and one (1) World of Warcraft Classic Hoodie in the winner’s size.

Entries can be submitted during the period of November 16 through November 30, 2017 to communitycontestsna [AT] blizzard.com. Each submission must be a high-resolution JPEG file of no more than 5MB in size to be considered for the contest. A submission must be your original work, and cannot include, in whole or part, any previously created work.

RP Realm Rules
Sorry guys for not catching this a bit sooner but I did want to reply to this.

Since it hasn't been stated recently that I can find anywhere I just wanted to reassure you guys that the usual rules as well as the subset of rules for RP servers still applies. So if you're being harassed by players or seeing players with non RP names that are clearly ridiculous, please report them. We rely on player reports so as long as you are reporting these players our lovely Game Masters can investigate.

While I love seeing the passion and influx that Project 60 has brought on and sparked into the community, its important to be respectful of players on these RP servers who are there because it is their place to have an RP focused community (hence the subset of RP server rules and server designation)."

I want to add an additional clarification that the naming rule is really the only thing that is separate from RP to other servers, and the rules on harassment are universal regardless of server type.

The blame is not on the Project 60 community itself and most of the people running it have not endorsed any harassment and have been encouraging the opposite. I would attribute any sort of harassment/negative behavior to be an outlier and someone that would probably be doing it anyway even if it wasn't for the Project 60 influx. If you encounter this please just report it so our Game Masters can look into it. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Miss any matches? Forget the final? Wonder who won? Look no further! We have all the action from the Arena World Championship world finals at BlizzCon 2017 right here.

Want the TL;DR? Watch the Recap Video



How Champions Are Made
In the opening week, ten teams descended on Anaheim in the run-up to the finals, with two teams eliminated on day one.

Panda Global took down Rockets Eclipse with relative ease, to be met by defending world champions Method: Triforce. Panda Global were on fire, with the fever-pitch energy of the crowd fanning the flames. They beat the champions 3-1 in the semi-final to win their place in the final.

EU vs NA

Across the bracket, the top-seeded North America team—Method Synergy—faced Europe’s second seeded team, ABC. ABC’s tried and tested formula of Alec on Mage and Niksi on Rogue, seen the previous year, worked like a charm taking down NA’s #1 team 3-2.

ABC Easy As 123…4
The finals in 2017 were once again NA vs EU. The comeback kids on Panda Global looked a little shaky and struggled to hold form, testing the limits of their passionate fans’ patience and creating a tense, exciting atmosphere throughout the arena. Sensing victory, ABC took full control; beating Panda Global in a nail-biting set of games 4-0—earning them their rightful place in World of Warcraft Arena history.

Congratulations to ABC: World Champions!


For more information on all our esports events, including announcements about our upcoming tournaments, head to our dedicated esports site for all the gory details. See you soon!

The holiday season is almost here—get ready to spread some epic cheer! From now through November 27, 2017, we’re offering some big savings around Black Friday on the following digital purchases for World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm, and Destiny 2—plus some Blizzard Gear Store goodies. Snag a little something for yourself, or send a gift to a friend.

Overwatch
Whether you're a soldier, scientist, adventurer, or oddity, you can jump into the fight for the future with savings of 50% on the digital versions of Overwatch and Overwatch: Game of the Year Edition for Windows PC.

Overwatch includes 26 heroes, 21 different maps, and endless fun for just $19.99 (reg. $39.99).

Overwatch: Game of the Year Edition includes all the excitement of Overwatch along with 10 Loot Boxes, five special hero skins, plus in-game goodies for Heroes of the Storm, World of Warcraft, Diablo III, and StarCraft II for $29.99 (reg. $59.99).


World of Warcraft
Explore Azeroth your way with savings on the base game and the latest expansion, Legion™!

Save 50% on World of Warcraft, which includes the base game and all expansions through Warlords of Draenor™ and lets you play up to level 100. (World of Warcraft Legion: expansion sold separately.)

World of Warcraft – $9.99 (reg. $19.99)

Explore the Broken Isles, play as the Demon Hunter class, and experience the latest chapter in the saga with savings of 50% on World of Warcraft: Legion. (Requires World of Warcraft, sold separately.)

Legion Standard Edition – $24.99 (reg. $49.99)
Legion Digital Deluxe Edition – $44.99 (reg. $69.99)


Heroes of the Storm
Starting today, find epic savings on select Heroes of the Storm bundles, Heroes, skins, and mounts, all available in-game:

Save 33% on the Legendary Bundle, which includes playable Heroes Jaina, Li-Ming, D.Va, Muradin, and Diablo, along with the Legendary skins Abyssal Dreadlord Jaina, First Ascendant Templar Li-Ming, D.Va the Destroyer, Maraudin’ Muradin and Nightmare Prime Evil Diablo. The bundle also includes the Angry Cloud mount—previously only available for purchase with shards!

Save 29% on the Skin Bundle, which comes with the Oni Genji, Skeletal Raven Sylvanas, Dark Auriel, Blackrock Garrosh, Shadow Priestess Tyrande, Dark Seraphim Tyrael, Deadwalker Warmatron Cassia, Dominion Elite Agent Nova, Ashen Hellflame Nazeebo, Black Grand Marshall Uther skins.

Select Heroes, skins, and mounts will also be available for purchase with Gems at a 50% discount, see the Heroes of the Storm blog for more detailed information on individual purchases.

The 360-day Stimpack is also on sale for a limited time! Get boosted with 360 days of +100% bonus XP and +150% bonus gold!


Destiny 2
Take to the stars with epic savings of up to 35% on digital versions of Destiny 2: Standard Edition, Destiny 2: Game + Expansion Bundle, and Destiny 2: Digital Deluxe Edition.

Destiny 2 Standard Edition – Save 35%

Destiny 2 – Game + Expansion Pass Bundle – Save 25%

Destiny 2 Digital Deluxe Edition – Save 25%


Blizzard Gear Store
The Blizzard Gear Store has some deep discounts on Blizzard apparel, collectibles, and more. The week of Black Friday (November 20–November 26), we’re holding special Flash sales and Daily Deals on limited quantities of goodies.

We've got a few brand-new items launching November 27 for Cyber Monday, including Overwatch, Hearthstone, and WoW -themed goodies. Keep an eye out for discounted game-themed bundles for your favorite Blizzard universes, too!

Note: Overwatch, World of Warcraft, Heroes of the Storm, and Destiny 2 offers above are available digitally through Blizzard Entertainment. Retail prices may vary.

At the core of Argus lies Antorus, the Burning Throne. From this seat of power, Sargeras drives his Burning Crusade to ravage the cosmos.

Within the Throne’s nigh-impenetrable depths, primordial powers are being forged into weapons of utter annihilation. Should these voices rise to serve their master, the final hour will fall upon all of creation.

The time has come for the forces of the Alliance and Horde to confront the Burning Legion within Sargeras’ seat of power. Antorus, the Burning Throne, awaits—along with the formidable dangers within.

Location: Argus
Difficulties: Raid Finder, Normal, Heroic, Mythic
Level: 110
Bosses: 11

Raid Unlock Schedule

November 29 — Normal and Heroic difficulties
December 6 — Mythic difficulty and Raid Finder Wing 1: Light’s Breach
December 20 — Raid Finder Wing 2: Forbidden Descent
January 3 — Raid Finder Wing 3: Hope’s End
January 17 — Raid Finder Wing 4: Seat of the Pantheon

Antorus represents the center and source of the Legion’s power, and the team approached the design of the zone with several principles in mind. First off, Antorus is staggering in scale; this is not a mere terrestrial fortress or keep, but rather a sprawling complex carved into the depths of a shattered world, and while sections of the raid are traversable on foot, players will use the Vindicaar and other means of conveyance to span the great distances involved. Second, this is the culmination of a military campaign by the Army of the Light and our other major allies in this fight, and player champions represent the tip of the spear with an army at their back. As you carve a path through Antorus, a pitched battle rages all around you, and your actions help advance the cause of the Light in this battle for the fate of all worlds. And finally, we get a rare chance to delve into the Legion’s true origins—before the Fel, and before black and green corruption, there was a single mighty titan who embarked upon a crusade that would shape the fate of the universe. A glimpse of those ancient secrets awaits the bold and daring souls who venture into the innermost depths of Antorus.

Light’s Breach

Garothi Worldbreaker
Constructed deep within the core of Argus and outfitted with an arsenal to decimate worlds, this war machine has been designed for a single purpose: to bring the mortals’ invasion to its knees.


Felhounds of Sargeras
Infused with fire and shadow, F’harg and Shatug are the prized pets of Sargeras. Bred for carnage, these hounds delight in eviscerating their master’s enemies.

With the Army of Light and their allies advancing upon Antorus, the Legion prepares to unleash these vicious creatures onto the battlefield and put an end to the mortals’ invasion.


Gaze of the Legion

Antoran High Command
Long ago, in the golden age of eredar civilization, a council was formed to oversee the defense of Argus and maintain peace. But after their dark bargain was struck with Sargeras, these master tacticians used their military expertise to help orchestrate a Burning Crusade that ravaged countless worlds.

Now the full might of the Legion’s army is theirs to command, and they wield this terrible power to annihilate all who oppose the Dark Titan’s will.


Halls of the Boundless Reach

Portal Keeper Hasabel
Portal Keeper Hasabel maintains the nexus through which the Legion has unleashed its insidious armies upon countless worlds. With portals that open to myriad strategic locations throughout the Great Dark Beyond. Hasabel is capable of bringing the might of the Legion’s arsenal to bear upon any who oppose her.


Elarian Sanctuary

Eonar Lifebinder
Though she was felled by the blade of Sargeras, the Life-Binder’s essence escaped the grasp of the Dark Titan. After millennia spent hiding in isolation, Eonar’s sanctuary has been discovered by the Legion.

Should her soul fall into the enemy’s hands, Eonar’s powers of nature growth will be perverted to make the Burning Crusade unstoppable.


The Exhaust

Imonar the Soulhunter
The infamous Imonar serves as the Legion’s bloodhound, capable of tracking prey across the cosmos. With a vast array of gadgets and traps at his disposal, Imonar has yet to lose a bounty…and he certainly doesn’t intend to sully his perfect record by failing to fulfill his latest contract.


Kin’garoth
The design of every Legion war machine stems from the depraved mind of Kin’garoth. Obsessed with crafting implements of death, Kin’garoth infused his very body into the production machinery so he could more efficiently churn out a never-ending supply of destruction.

At the behest of the Legion’s dark master, Kin’garoth’s fevered brilliance has developed a new super-weapon which he plans to unleash upon the Army of Light.


The Burning Throne

The Coven of Shivarra
Having proven themselves to be the most depraved and fanatical of all his followers, Sargeras entrusted the Coven with the unholy task of twisting the minds of the fallen titans into an unstoppable Dark Pantheon.

Each sister employs her own signature brand of torture, eliciting screams which echo throughout the halls of Antorus. It is said that neither mortal nor demon can refuse their whispers, making it only a matter of time before the will of the titans is broken.


Chamber of Anguish

Varimathras
As one of the dreadlords overseeing the Legion’s forces during the Third War, Varimathras failed to stop the rebellious Lich King. He submitted to an ill-fated alliance with Sylvanas Windrunner, then made one last bid for power before facing a humiliating defeat.

In payment for his blunders, Varimathras has been tortured by the Coven of Shivarra. The vindictive sisters stripped away both flesh and sanity, leaving only a singular desire to inflict suffering upon the mortals who cost him everything.


The World Soul

Aggramar
Once the noble Avenger of the Pantheon, Aggramar was struck down by Sargeras and reborn as a titan of destruction. He now stands at the core of Argus, guarding a power that would unmake the universe.

Not even demons are permitted to tread within the titan’s halls, and any mortals bold enough to trespass will be reduced to cinders by Aggramar’s burning blade, Taeshalach.


Seat of the Pantheon

Argus the Unmaker
Bound. Broken.

Eons of existence, knowing only pain.

A shattered soul, fueling infinite evil.

The master beckons. Rise… Rise!

Begin the end of all things.

All week, open Group Finder (default hotkey: i) and then select Dungeon Finder to queue for any Legion dungeon on Normal or Heroic difficulty. Alternately, get a group of veteran dungeoneers together and travel to one of the Legion dungeons on Mythic difficulty.

Look for the following all week long:

• Archmage Timear near Violet Hold in Dalaran has a quest for you. Or, if you forget to pick it up there, you can start it from within the Adventure Journal.
  
  • Quest requirement: Complete 4 Legion dungeons on Mythic difficulty.
  • Rewards: One loot box containing a piece of gear from Heroic difficulty Tomb of Sargeras.
• Passive bonus: The final boss in each dungeon drop additional loot on all difficulties (except Mythic Keystone difficulties).