Garrison Monuments, Orc Posture, BMAH Update, Blue Posts, Blue Tweets, DLC #450

[chaud]

Patch 2.1 - Legendary Item Changes, DH Cosplay Interview, Legendary Gems for Demon Hunters

Weekly News Recap, Deck Spotlight: Crusher's Egg-Watcher, New Hearthstone Feedback Survey Details

Update on Artifacts and Talent Unlocks - Artifacts Being Removed

Warlords of Draenor - Garrison Monuments
Along with all of the other features in your garrison, there is a spot for monuments. These statues are currently earned through achievements and only some of the monuments have faction specific art. You can see the existing statues and achievements required to earn them below.

• Draenor Pet Brawler - Win 2000 pet battles in Draenor.
• Master Draenor Crafter - Craft 50 Epic items with an item level of at least 600.
• Defender of Draenor - Get 5000 honorable kills in Draenor.
• Mythic Draenor Raider - Complete the mythic raiding achievements listed below.
• Master of Apexis - Collect 25,000 Apexis Crystals.

Warlords of Draenor - Orc Posture
Chris Robinson mentioned that the straighter Orc posture would be optional, if and when it is introduced.

Warlords of Draenor - Black Market Auction House Update
Kalidiar has been keeping an eye out for new BMAH items, and spotted the Kor'kron Shaman's Treasure up for sale. This is the Shaman transmog set from Siege of Orgrimmar.

Blue Posts

Garrison Lumber
We're watching the spawns and experiences people are having. It's an easy enough number to tune. The question is: Are you just hanging around one zone or are you moving around? What tier is your LM? At level 1 it's going to be more difficult to fill your work orders since you can only log small timber. Also, timber spawns are much more plentiful in Spires/Nagrand.

Good feedback. Few notes:

• Lumber Mill level 2 (and all medium plot blueprints for that matter) unlock at level 98 on the blueprint vendor. You can also get a token for a medium building by completing the Spires of Arak building quest chain.

• Small timber exists in every zone (except Frostfire). Spires is probably the most densely spawned with small timber, with Talador a close second.

• You can currently use timber to buy a few more things and we'll try to add more. At the very least if you ever manage to get Phylarch you'll likely want a steady supply on hand for Everbloom Seeds.

That said, we'll take a look at the spawn points. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Next Beta Build
We weren't able to get a new full build deployed this week (aside from the minor fastpatch we did on Wednesday to fix some Garrison issues), but we're hoping to get a beta build out to you all early next week.

Thanks for being patient, and thanks for testing! (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Blood Elf Model Delay
yes but it was expected to be more than one race. Not having half done for the release actually feels better to me than leaving out one.
Yeah I understand that, feeling like the odd one out. But just think about that patch when you do get your updated model. Everyone else's models will be common by then, everyone will have been seeing them every day. But when the new Blood Elf model goes in it's going to be a new thing, and everyone will be focused on you and how fancy you look.

Sounds like the kind of 'fashionably late' style a Blood Elf would appreciate. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Warlords of Draenor Theorycraft Discussion
On beta, haste is not affecting Healing Stream Totem nor Healing Tide Totem tics. Is that intended?
Rejoice, for we have rebuilt Healing Stream Totem and Healing Tide Totem. They now will function 100% like any other periodic effect. No more fuzzy haste breakpoints due to server laziness of despawning totems. You even get partial ticks of them due to haste.

Check it out in the next beta build. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

US Connected Realms - Update 8/01

As previously announced, we’ve been working toward connecting realms to increase the number of players on low-population realms. Here's a continuously updated list that contains currently planned connections, future plans, and completed realm connections, all in one convenient location.

*Please note this list does not encompass all potential future connections. Please check back for further updates.

Next Connections
We will be connecting the realms listed below on Thursday, August 7 during a scheduled maintenance beginning at 5 a.m. PDT through approximately 1:00 p.m. PDT. Once maintenance is finished, these realm connections will be complete.

• Shadowmoon and Detheroc

We will be connecting the realms listed below on Thursday, August 14 during a scheduled maintenance beginning at 5 a.m. PDT through approximately 1:00 p.m. PDT. Once maintenance is finished, these realm connections will be complete.>

• Burning Legion and Agamaggan, Archimonde, Jaedenar, and The Underbog

Future Connections
We do not have a date for the following realm connections, but will update this post when we do.

• Shattered hand and Dark Iron

*Plans for these connections may change at any time, but we’ll provide additional updates on specific dates for future connections here as we can. Please note that as a part of the connection process realm times may change to match each other.

Blue Tweets

Classes
this is the same for most hybrids, 1 gcd vs scores to throw out rejuvs, healing touches
We absolutely do not balance utility by expecting anyone to switch to primarily healing. (Celestalon)
The fact that a Boomkin could stop DPSing and throw Rejuvs on the raid does not factor into it at all. (Celestalon)
The fact that they could keep DPSing and let Ysera's Gift or Nature's Vigil do a ton of healing *does* though. (Celestalon)
Sorry if I ever gave the impression that we are counting "stop DPSing and Flash of Light" as raid utility. (Celestalon)
Dream of Cenarius, Heart of the Wild? If NV healing is = increased healing from amp magic, that's nice.
Heart of the Wild is a separate beast of its own. It's an option to provide *WAY* more utility, at a DPS loss. (Celestalon)
The availability of HotW is not what Druid utility is based around. (Celestalon)

Death Knight (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
In the simplest possible terms, using other abilities other than Frost Strike is punitive and inefficient.
Not if it doesn't cause you to lose Frost Strikes... (Celestalon)
Except it does, runic power becomes runes, runes become RP, it is all connected, inefficient in 1 area affects all
The conversion from RP to Dmg/Runes is better for Frost than the others. But so what? They're balanced around it (Celestalon)
It's a leaky bucket. As long as it never overflows, it doesn't matter whether you pull RP or Runes out first. (Celestalon)

What would your response be to nixing 2H out of Frost entirely? Would save yourself from further headaches.
Response would be "No." (Celestalon)
May I ask why? I am honestly trying to figure out the need for both, no trolling.
Because that's the defined style of the spec. Changing that now would be gigantic. (Celestalon)

Druid (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
This makes 2 niche talents for Feral at level 100. Are you that confident that the majority of Ferals will be happy with LI?
I don't understand. Shirvallah is the opposite of a niche talent. (Celestalon)

Paladin (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
Why not just make the Divine Storm free of cost? That way it's less clunky and people who want DS happy?
That'd make it used for single target. (Celestalon)

I'm curious is there any reason why DS shouldn't be allowed single target? I mean both DK's and Warriors AoE single target.
It's not that it's AoE so much as it's added complication. That talent is intended to be the one with minimal gameplay impact. (Celestalon)
However, I'm not quite sure how the Divine Storm proc from Final Verdict being free would add much more complication.
It adds an additional button to your single target rotation. That's pretty objectively added complication. (Celestalon)
True, but would it not be more confusing to people to see they have a Divine Storm proc that they *Shouldn't* use single target?
A fair question. It's something we're weighing. (Celestalon)

So for AoE you want to weave in Final Verdicts everytime you want to Divine Storm? Or is the proc worth it ST?
Proc will not make it worth it, single target. But it will make it so you want to alternate them for AoE. (Celestalon)
wait...if it's a 100% buff, isn't it a complete wash compared to just using DS exclusively?
Except you can do it ahead of time, and you also got the FV damage too. (Celestalon)

So, Rets had too much raid utility...if that were true they'd be guaranteed spots in raid/wanted a lot more.
No, damage throughput has a lot to do with that too. (Celestalon)

Don't know how I feel about this...I would like to ask you why remove raid utility from a hybrid but give to a pure dps?
Because pure vs hybrid isn't relevant to this. The goal is parity for all. Anyone we removed it from had too much. Some had none. (Celestalon)
Do you value all utility as equal or is there more to it?
The value of utility is very hard to balance; commonly totally subjective. Tough calls to make, but we try. (Celestalon)
You are taking away from a class that sees little play and giving to a class that was already well off.
There are no 'giving from one to the other' things here. And many other changes are involved. (Celestalon)
Remember, the goal is *balance*. Equality. That should be what you want. (Celestalon)
Devo Aura was the only reason Rets were used in MoP. We will be in less raids now.
You lost Devo... Others lost a ton too. Overall raid cooldown utility went way down. Again: *balance*. (Celestalon)

... I understand if offheals are far stronger than live/healers weaker but ret flash of light vs smoke bomb?
Ret utility is easy to overlook because it's not as blatant as Smoke Bomb. (Celestalon)
There is, however, a ton of it. Many are situational, but some subsection is always useful. (Celestalon)
Hand of Sacrifice. Hand of Protection. Hand of Purity. Double all those Hands. Sacred Shield. Lay on Hands. ...(cont) (Celestalon)
Lay on Hands. Level 90 talents' offhealing. Hand of Freedom. Divine Shield. (Celestalon)
So how do you balance this? Do we do more damage than rogues seeing as we trade massive dmg for our utility compared?
What? How do you trade "massive damage" for your utility? (Celestalon)
Considering you count exec sentence as part of our utility, which is a pretty large dmg loss to use that way.
I was mostly referring to Light's Hammer (or Holy Prism, if we tune that better). (Celestalon)
That's still a single target dmg loss to take those...(I assume you wouldn't tune them better single target)
But most fights are not single target. Light's Hammer is the top simcraft DPS talent on many fights, anyway. (Celestalon)

Shaman (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
Tremor is not an immunity, it pulses every second to break fears. You can definetly be feread again during Tremor's duration...
It pulses every second. In one way it's better than immunity as it will put you on DR. (holinka)

Warrior (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
Even Gladiator Warriors dislike Bonus Armor despite being touted as "Best DPS Stat for Gladiator" By Celestalon himself.
Bonus Armor isn't competing with Strength. Strength doesn't give Armor. (Celestalon)
Stat priorities:PrimaryStats > Spirit/BonusArmor > AttunedSecondary > OtherSecondariesSome flexibility to that, but rare. (Celestalon)

Art
Claws of Shirvallah female model?
It's something we're considering for the future, but didn't have a female equivalent ready in the available time. (Celestalon)

I dont get why the Claws of Shirvallah model has to use all fours. Makes more sense to stand upright but love it regardless.
It runs on all fours, fights while standing (hunched forward a bit). (Celestalon)

I've just seen the warrior elite pvp set. who am i buying drinks for to repay them?
We haven't really assigned the art for the PvP gear yet. The Elite set will share a model with Mythic. (holinka)
wasn't it scraped a few days ago? same model mythic = elite pvp? Thought it was canceled^^
I think some models are getting datamined as elite but we really haven't setup all the armor yet (holinka)

Lore
Which gods is the Raven Mother referring to here? Rukhmar and Anzu? http://t.co/w6VLUVxp9Y
She is referring to Rukhmar and Sethe. (_DonAdams)
Are Rukhmar and Anzu children of the Raven Mother?
No, the Raven Mother is Anzu's consort - a demigod he left in charge of the ravens. (_DonAdams)

So Terokk and Anzu were definitely presented as evil in tBC. Now they're painted in a much more positive light. So, what happened? Did they turn evil in those 30 years? Or are we missing something?
Sorry if it's not totally clear! It's a story-heavy zone, and we are missing a few events to help explain things. (_DonAdams)
They are both grappling with the curse and on the downward spiral. In BC Anzu is called back by the Sethekk. (_DonAdams)
Terokk was pretty dark in his final days. Ultimately it's the player who sways the arakkoa away from evil in the WoD timeline. (_DonAdams)
Without you they have no champions. They become increasingly dire and desperate. The Sethekk gain power. It just spirals from there (_DonAdams)

did garrosh want to come to our timeline? Or he wanted to come to 35 years ago azeroth (first war) and kairoz changed it?
Yes, Garrosh wants to come after US, in the present. (DaveKosak)

UI / Addons
I know was investigating combat log working in all phases. Maybe he can comment. I deferred merging because of that.
There are a number of technical issues still to work through; wouldn't count on it for 6.0, alas. (WatcherDev)

World
Why not work on both cities? Maybe patch Bladespire and Karabor later on to fortify our presence on Draenor?
If we had infinite time might be a fun thing to return to in patches for sure. (Muffinus)

I'm also not a fan of how the Ashran hubs use 100% Garrison assets. It doesn't feel unique or fun. It feels forced and stale.
Happy to report that lots of level design work still being done here! (Muffinus)

There is level 100 content in all the Draenor zones. We gotta portal to get back there. Boy, Ashran bases sure are near the fun.
Your garrison is the centerpoint between all of these things, and is really your main "hub," filled with many races/factions. (Muffinus)
I really don't get why "Garrison 2" is better than interaction between the garrison and the important location it is defending.
Totally agree with you, needs to feel important to the world, lots of work still being done on this! (Muffinus)
You CAN'T make it important to the world. It's a second, public garrison. All it does is make YOUR garrison feel LESS important.
Oh, you meant Ashran, I meant Garrisons in general (Muffinus)

Uhh... I've seen Stormshield, and I've seen Karabor... You tell me which is more aesthetically pleasing.
Karabor will have vendors, and you can go there and do w/e you want, it's not going anywhere. Not sure why the anger on this. (Muffinus)
I just think players are tired of the Orcs and Humans thing. It'd be really cool to see Kara/BSF actually being used by players.
TBH If I had infinite time, I'd rather do a shared hub in Auchindoun or somewhere new/cool that has that Shatt/Dal vibe. (Muffinus)

Poll - Orc Posture
Which posture would you use for an Orc?

Dark Legacy Comics #450 - Climb Every Mountain
DLC #450 takes a look at how the clones are keeping busy while waiting for the next expansion.

[moveth]

I want me a scarecrow.

[Runeweaver]

Apexis Crystals? Damn its been a while since I saw those.
The information that possible optional things like straight standing Orcs is also great news!

[Deadhank]

Any info about this being available in WoD? I know that not everything in BMAH is unobtainable, but idk.

Hope not! Love this thing

[Lockula]

Hmm maybe the dps shammie in my group can actually get the transmog set then. For it has only dropped once this entire tier, and it went to the resto shamman.

[st3alth]

Am I the only one that's excited about the orc posture news? Really looking forward to that.

[Deleted]

"TBH If I had infinite time, I'd rather do a shared hub in Auchindoun or somewhere new/cool that has that Shatt/Dal vibe."

so, instead of one cool hub they dont have time for,they opted for 2 crap ones which aparantly they do....

[Keleri]

Master Draenor Crafter - Craft 50 Epic items with an item level of at least 600.

This boggles my mind. Maybe it's the norm on big servers? Can you sell epic items there regularly?

[Deleted]

lol at the comic XD


"Sounds like the kind of 'fashionably late' style a Blood Elf would appreciate"

he had a good point there im on board with it now ! inb4 new belf models on mailboxes !

[Deleted]

Hmm maybe the dps shammie in my group can actually get the transmog set then. For it has only dropped once this entire tier, and it went to the resto shamman.

You make it sound like "it drops" which it does not.

It is personal loot and each shaman who kills Dark Shaman has a chance of getting it.

It was bugged on flex though, so it never dropped till a couple of months back.

[DeathKnight Guy]

NON-HUNCHED ORC NEWS YAAAY!

Seriously that is actually amazing, I really hope they're serious about it and it happens soon. Perhaps even with the bloodelf release? Who knows...

[MikeBogina]

mmmmm Orc Posture... me gusta

[MrExcelion]

Master Draenor Crafter - Craft 50 Epic items with an item level of at least 600.

This boggles my mind. Maybe it's the norm on big servers? Can you sell epic items there regularly?

Yeah, every 21 days I make new belts. Some achievements can be crazy though with arbitrary big numbers [5000 pvp wins, 250 hks], this one will still take a bit at the start prolly. Start of MoP though I was pumping out 476 chests

[Palemaster]

I wonder if "Defender of Draenor" will count Ashran HKs, since it's not technically in Draenor.

[Rioo]

Don't they pretty much have "infinite time" with WoD, since it's coming out a year and several months after SoO? I don't see their reasoning.

[Phood]

Great. Shattered Hand is Horde heavy and their adding it to Dark Iron et al. Horde gank-fest. Guess I'll get nothing done at Half Hill anymore.

[Arkthus]

The monuments are a complete failure IMHO... They make us achieve specific things to get monuments, when we could just show off with waht we already acomplished.

I mean... I had a hard time doing Herald of the Titans, I could have Algalon as a monument to state that I did this, or why not a statue of Garrosh ? And every final boss of a raid or something ? instead of that we have 5 achievements that have a very huge amount of things to do (25k apexis crystals might be the easiest I think).

A monument for mythic difficulty, nothing for normal and heroic....

That bugs me a lot, it is a feature that is very underdeveloped, it could be so much better !

[Awbee]

The Pet Battle monument is the only one I'm ever going to display (if I build a garrison). So adorable. :3

The monuments are a complete failure IMHO... They make us achieve specific things to get monuments, when we could just show off with waht we already acomplished.

I mean... I had a hard time doing Herald of the Titans, I could have Algalon as a monument to state that I did this, or why not a statue of Garrosh ? And every final boss of a raid or something ? instead of that we have 5 achievements that have a very huge amount of things to do (25k apexis crystals might be the easiest I think).

A monument for mythic difficulty, nothing for normal and heroic....

That bugs me a lot, it is a feature that is very underdeveloped, it could be so much better !

Agreed, having all those options would be nice.

Also some silly stuff like "has changed her hair 1000 times at the barbershop" or an adorable squirrel for the pet hugging achievement ^^

[Deleted]

The monuments are a complete failure IMHO... They make us achieve specific things to get monuments, when we could just show off with waht we already acomplished.

I mean... I had a hard time doing Herald of the Titans, I could have Algalon as a monument to state that I did this, or why not a statue of Garrosh ? And every final boss of a raid or something ? instead of that we have 5 achievements that have a very huge amount of things to do (25k apexis crystals might be the easiest I think).

A monument for mythic difficulty, nothing for normal and heroic....

That bugs me a lot, it is a feature that is very underdeveloped, it could be so much better !

those are just outside statues there is an entire room in the lvl3 garrisons that looks like iy has places to put trophies in it

[Littlestroker17]

what about troll posture? when the trolls stretch and actually stand up they look so badass