Aug 11 Hotfixes, Netherlight Crucible Clarifications, Warcraft III PTR, WoW History

[chaud]

Community Highlights: Perfect Jesseth Scythe, Fan Art Wallpaper

Top 5 Best Ladder Decks to Play From Knights of the Frozen Throne

Patch 7.2.5 Hotfixes - August 11

Dungeons and Raids

• Darkheart Thicket
  
  • Dresaron has reorganized the eggs in his lair ... again.
    
• Tomb of Sargeras
  
  • Kil’jaeden
    
    • Reduced Kil’jaeden’s melee damage by 15% on Normal difficulty.
      
    • Armageddon Hail damage reduced by 15% on Normal difficulty.
      
    • Rupturing Singularity cast during Deceiver's Veil now spawn in fixed locations on Mythic difficulty.
      
    • Shadowsouls are no longer immune to Death Grip on Mythic Difficulty.
      

Netherlight Crucible Clarifications

Okay, here's a first pass at some answers. Thanks for all the discussion so far.

Q: Why are you adding this system? What’s with the RNG?

A: The Netherlight Crucible (aside from being an important part of the 7.3 storyline) is intended to help with an issue with Relic availability that players have been reporting for some time now. As Ion explained during our last Q&A, there are technical issues with the way Relics were built that limit which bonus traits can be available from raids. This has caused a number of raiders to feel as though their best bet is to run Mythic Keystone dungeons constantly in the hopes of having a Relic with their ideal bonus trait drop (and Titanforge for a high item level).

Those who were following development of Patch 7.2 may recall an earlier take on an improvement for this issue, where we experimented with adding a single, randomized second bonus trait to Relics. Ultimately, we decided that was the wrong approach, and wanted a system that put a little more control in players’ hands. So, while the Netherlight Crucible does still have an element of randomness, it presents you with several options to choose from.

To be clear: we believe that having some element of randomness is important. Our goal was not to simply allow players to choose the precise bonus traits they wanted (you already do that, more or less, when spending Artifact Power). We still want there to be those exciting moments where a Relic gives you a great outcome. The Netherlight Crucible is intended to make Relics more valuable on average, not to make all Relics be equal value.

Q: Will I be able to trade Relics with other players to see who gets the best options at the Crucible?

A: No. Previewing a Relic at the Netherlight Crucible will bind it to your character and remove the ability to trade it. This is because those trait options don’t actually exist on the Relic until you attune it to the Crucible, in a process similar to enchanting a piece of gear. It also prevents raid teams from feeling like they need to send everyone who might be interested in a Relic back to the Vindicaar before continuing.

Q: Will the Netherlight Crucible work on Relics acquired prior to 7.3 release?

A: Yes. However, keep in mind that it will take some time (likely several weeks) to unlock the later stages of the Netherlight Crucible, where the additional bonus traits come in. We don’t expect that stockpiling Relics prior to 7.3 will give any real advantage in practice.

Q: Doesn’t this just mean I’ll want my best two traits on each Relic now?

A: For the hardcore min/maxer, yes, there will still be a “best” outcome for your Relic configuration. However, there are now more Relics that can achieve that state (as Relics with your second-best trait can now roll your best trait at the Crucible), and you’ll encounter fewer “bad” Relics along the way.

Q: Why do I have to go back to the Netherlight Crucible to upgrade my Relic? Didn’t you want to get away from mechanics like that?

A: Players often compare this to the old Reforging system, and our dislike of having to visit a vendor after each and every upgrade. That hasn’t changed. The Netherlight Crucible only affects Relics – you won’t need to visit the Crucible every time you pick up a new pair of boots.

Blue Posts

Raid Finder Difficulty Kil'jaeden
Some quick philosophy points on Raid Finder in general.

As mentioned in the last developer Q&A, our philosophy toward Raid Finder in Legion has been to reduce the overall number of mechanics, but keep one or two important ones that players will need to react to in order to succeed. We believe this is preferable to having many mechanics visually present in Raid Finder, but not actually requiring players to react to them. By limiting the number of visual mechanics, but making sure the ones that remain are important, we believe that the Raid Finder experience will feel more in-line with that of higher difficulties.

While we've used the phrase "tourist mode" to describe Raid Finder in previous expansions, that is no longer indicative of our design philosophy. We want to make sure Raid Finder players are still getting an engaging gameplay experience (even if it is overall less intense than in higher difficulties).

It's good to note here, that with Kil'jaeden, we do believe that the experience should be an engaging and dramatic fight at the end of Tomb of Sargeras regardless of difficulty. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Recent Actions Against Terms of Use Violations
Ban EU guilds then.
We did. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Auction House Flipping
Simply put, you buy something from AH because you want to use it.
Simply put, no.

The Auction House is a place to facilitate trading between players. If someone purchases something, it is entirely up to them whether they use the item, attempt to flip it for a profit, give the item to a friend, or sell it to a vendor for whatever reason, etc. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Warcraft III PTR - Patch 1.28.6

Hail Warchiefs,

Warcraft III's first official PTR lives. Join us on the field of battle as we test the new Map Pools for 1's, 2's, 3's, 4's and Free-for-All.

Windows and Mac

General Improvements & Gameplay Objectives

• Balanced creep camp difficulty progression from early to late game
• Balanced creep drop tables for better item progression from early game to late game
• Item diversity: Varied Level 1 though 6 charged items and Level 1 through 6 permanent items
• Balanced all start locations: total amount and starting distance from lumber, equal amount of spacing, equal size choke points, et cetera
• Balanced expansion distance from start locations
• Decluttered points of interest to reduce visual competition during gameplay
• Retextured map surfaces for better visual clarity - both on screen and mini-map
• Minimized the size of trees and doodads that obstructed player view of points of interest
• Added cliff lines or deep water to edges of the map - removing hard edges (aesthetic choice for immersion)
• Properly placed trees and doodads on the pathing grid: full-cell Medium Grid to half-cell Medium Grid alternate
• Removed the rolling shoreline waves from rolling hills to remove the noise the waves created - remains for cliff shores

List of Maps

• 1 v 1 Map Pool (New)
• 2 v 2 Map Pool (New)
• 3 v 3 Map Pool (New)
• 4 v 4 Map Pool (New)
• FFA Map Pool (New)

Known Issues

• We are aware Warcraft III matchmaking is a bit long in the tusk; we will be improving matchmaker logic for a future patch
• Automated Tournaments and Ladder Board are not functional for PTR
• Latency was improved with 1.28, but still needs work to meet modern standards

Cheers,
Classic Games

PvP Like a Pro - Team Composition

Last week, we kicked off the PvP like a Pro series, where we talk to some of the best Arena players in the world and gain their insights. In case you missed our interview with Alec of team ABC, you can go and check it out in Part 1 here:

PvP Like a Pro: Finding the Right Partners

Part 2 - Team Composition
It doesn’t take a BlizzCon Champion to know that the strongest 3v3 Arena comps usually feature one Healer and two DPS. However, there's more to the fight than your team's lineup. Luckily, we’ve enlisted FabsS—the only three-time Arena World Champion—from team Method: Triforce to help us!

What to Look for when Building a Composition
If you find a new comp, and a new way of playing that comp, you cause people problems.

When building a composition, the first thing to do is look at what the pros play and check the current meta. If you want to make a new team comp yourself, it's important to have a good knowledge of all these classes—to know their strengths and weaknesses. In FabsS' own words, “Making a new comp that no one plays is all about looking at what’s good in the meta right now and trying to find something that counters it.”

Once you’ve thought about which compositions are currently popular, you can start to use that knowledge to build your counter. For example, at the time of this interview, Holy Priests were strong in the meta. Their strengths include mana efficiency and healing AoE damage. They're weaker when it comes to single target healing, healing reduction effects (such as Mortal Strike), and crowd control. To counter them, FabsS and his team played Warrior, Death Knight, and Restoration Shaman and went on to win European Cup #4. FabsS sums it up by saying “If you find a new comp, and a new way of playing that comp, you cause people problems.” This is the essence of high level Arena—being ahead of the meta by countering the current top team comps or best represented classes.

Composition Strengths and Weaknesses
If I can shut you down and do more damage than you, I win.

The main defining factor in a matchup is your team’s ability to deal damage versus your ability to avoid it. Simply put, FabsS says, “If I can shut you down and do more damage than you, I win.” Take the example of a Frost Mage versus two melee classes: while the two melee classes might have a higher potential damage output, the mage can use slows to keep the enemy at a distance, reducing damage taken and gaining the upper hand.

A few factors that you should consider when deciding whether you have the edge over another comp are damage uptime, interrupts, and crowd control.

Cooldowns and Win Conditions
Unlike previous expansions, FabsS feels that cooldowns are less impactful on Arena matches in Legion. It's still important to make equal trades—such as a Death Knight using Anti-Magic Zone against a Frost Mage with Icy Veins—but overall, your ability to pressure a team and beat their win condition is more important.

Most teams think ‘how do we win?’ But they don’t think about the other team and figure out what they'll be trying to do.

For this reason, FabsS highlights the importance of understanding your enemies' win conditions. It’s very easy to get caught up in your strategy and forget that your opponent has their own plan as well. As the former champion says, “The first thing that comes to mind when building a comp is understanding the win conditions of the enemy. Most teams think ‘how do we win?’ But they don’t think about the other team and figure out what they'll be trying to do.”

Following his victory at BlizzCon last year, Fabs tweeted an image of his team’s preparation for the Grand Finals match-up, showing that hard work really does pay off. He says that team work is more important than ever in Legion, and it’s crucial to make sure you get along with your squad. You can catch him and his team Method: Triforce live at gamescom on August 23-26 on our official Warcraft Twitch channel.

Stay tuned next week when we'll be hearing from Minpojke of team Northern Blue Gaming for the third and final installation of this series, PvP like a Pro: Practicing Effectively.

This Week in WoW History
We're taking a look back at old MMO-Champion posts and World of Warcraft news that occurred during this time in previous years.

Legion Officially Announced
At GamesCom in 2015, Blizzard revealed that Legion was going to be the next World of Warcraft expansion. Working with the Kirin Tor and using Dalaran as the central hub, the heroes of Azeroth would take the fight to the Burning Legion on the Broken Isles. GamesCom this year is August 23-26.

World of Warcraft 10 Year Anniversary Preview
During this week in 2014, we learned about Blizzard's 10 Year Anniversary Celebration events that would be going live later that year. WoW players would have a chance to experience some classic areas from Vanilla, although the areas weren't exactly the same; Tarren Mill vs Southshore was turned into a battleground with a clear victor, and Molten Core was turned into a 40 man raid-finder experience. The 10 Year Anniversary Celebration would also include the chance to obtain a title from Tarren Mill vs Southshore, a Core Hound mount, and a Molten Corgi pet.

Mists of Pandaria World Boss Preview
In early August 2012, the community got a sneak peek of the new world bosses that would be coming with the Mists of Pandaria expansion. Salyis’s Warband, also known as Galleon, could be found in the southeastern area of Valley of the Four Winds, and the Sha of Anger spawned in various locations throughout Kun-Lai Summit. You can still get Son of Galleon's Saddle and Reins of the Heavenly Onyx Cloud Serpent from them!

World First Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa’s Rest
By mid-August in 2011, we had seen the world first Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa’s Rest acquired! This incredible legendary staff came with a lengthy quest line, an incredible time investment, and a neat effect that would allow the player turn into Tarecgosa as a mount, though they were unable to carry other players. Siiz of Premonition on US-Sen’jin was the first to acquire this legendary.

[KefoAtleta]

WC3 ptr?... what year is it?!!!

[Shinrael]

Sup with the WC3 ptr? Am I missing something??

[Super Kami Dende]

WC3 PTR

Hopefully this is a precursor to an update in graphics/remaster like SC1 got. I enjoy WC3 but these days avoid playing it due to the assault on my eyes it's graphics/resolution currently gives.

[Deleted]

A: No. Previewing a Relic at the Netherlight Crucible will bind it to your character and remove the ability to trade it. This is because those trait options don’t actually exist on the Relic until you attune it to the Crucible, in a process similar to enchanting a piece of gear. It also prevents raid teams from feeling like they need to send everyone who might be interested in a Relic back to the Vindicaar before continuing.

imagine actually believing the implicit downside of never knowing who can actually use the gear you're about to award is at all acceptable

The Netherlight Crucible is intended to make Relics more valuable on average, not to make all Relics be equal value.

However, there are now more Relics that can achieve that state (as Relics with your second-best trait can now roll your best trait at the Crucible), and you’ll encounter fewer “bad” Relics along the way.

imagine actually believing this is how the system will work

[Daedius]

Got to say it, Blizz finally having the balls to up the ante with regards to make it possible to die in LFR again.

[Polarthief]

imagine actually believing this is how the system will work

Yeah now it's "if a previously great relic rolled like shit, it's now bad, resulting in significantly more 'bad' relics".

Also WC3 PTR what? This is going to lead to great speculation about WC3 Remastered (PLEASE LET IT HAPPEN).

[Teri]

Blizz trying to put some life into Warcraft 3 again, /happy.

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Also WC3 PTR what? This is going to lead to great speculation about WC3 Remastered (PLEASE LET IT HAPPEN).

Yes please, would be amazing.

[Polarthief]

Blizz trying to put some life into Warcraft 3 again, /happy.

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Yes please, would be amazing.

Imagine a new and improved map editor too. We might actually see more games like we used to besides 95% of them being DOTA.

Except for MMOs, I've probably sunk more hours into WC3 than any other game, and I almost exclusively played the fun custom games people came up with like TDs, RPGs, Mauls, etc. I'd kill to see that come back.

[Teri]

Imagine a new and improved map editor too. We might actually see more games like we used to besides 95% of them being DOTA.

Well, some of those things look like major balance passes, on items/map designs, surely not a simple "bug fix".

WC3 was one of my first and most played online games via dial up. Especially customs and not just dota.

My first guildmaster in WoW was the designer of Silx Spiral Defense

[f3llyn]

imagine actually believing the implicit downside of never knowing who can actually use the gear you're about to award is at all acceptable




imagine actually believing this is how the system will work

Imagine being a blizzard employee and seeing all the complaints about relics and rng and then thinking more rng is definitely what the system needs.

Seems like blizzard wants to make sure everyone is completely burnt out on wow by the end of the expansion.

[FelPlague]

First person to get dragonwrath ever
now looks like this

siiigh....

[Imag3x]

@FelPlague: so what? What's the point you're trying to prove here?

[FelPlague]

@FelPlague: so what? What's the point you're trying to prove here?

that its sad to see a player who was once the FIRST PERSON EVER to get a legendary
now bottom of the barrel...
why? what are you trying to prove here?

[Imag3x]

He got the legendary of that content first because the guild supported him; nothing else. Dragonswrath's now an outdated legendary, so are many others, and I bet many of those who had got a certain legendary first in the game do not play (or play on a serious level) anymore. People get bored, and abandon the game or just lower the pace and enjoy it for what it is. Maybe they rerolled to another class. That's how stuff works.
I'm not trying to prove anything, but sometimes I get tired of your constant complaints on MMOC (nitpicking and etc).

[Aesahaettr]

that its sad to see a player who was once the FIRST PERSON EVER to get a legendary
now bottom of the barrel...
why? what are you trying to prove here?

So what?

Firelands was years ago. Peoples priorities change. Maybe he doesn't have enough time to raid much. Maybe he doesn't to raid much.

I don't see how it's "sad".

[GSN]

why? what are you trying to prove here?

Proving that it could be worse, the account could've been taken over and be used as a goldfarmer bot.

[FelPlague]

Proving that it could be worse, the account could've been taken over and be used as a goldfarmer bot.

yeah that woulda been pretty gross....

its no where near as bad as the person who has the only one of that legendary necklace who quit mid wrath and has never returned.
sadly the neck no longer shows since the updated armory, since it was the only one of the item, and he doesent play anymore.
https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/ch...ackrock/savorx

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So what?

Firelands was years ago. Peoples priorities change. Maybe he doesn't have enough time to raid much. Maybe he doesn't to raid much.

I don't see how it's "sad".

i mean yeah, but its like seeing your favorite actor, major roles in holywood, huge big budget movies, like lets say... Patrick Stewart, Xmen, startrek, he is so well known, such a great actor, such a great person, such a great face, and only a few years later they have gone....

down the toilet...

[Shadowfury]

Darkheart Thicket
Dresaron has reorganized the eggs in his lair ... again.

I m interested to how they changed this, again? From my alt ranged perspective, it was a decent change, because the winds were almost always pushing you back to the eggs no matter what you do, while now it's manageable.

[yoeljavao]

So what?

Firelands was years ago. Peoples priorities change. Maybe he doesn't have enough time to raid much. Maybe he doesn't to raid much.

I don't see how it's "sad".

Right not everyone plays wow 24/7 every single expansion.

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that its sad to see a player who was once the FIRST PERSON EVER to get a legendary
now bottom of the barrel...
why? what are you trying to prove here?

Why is it sad? you act like playing this game is mandatory for people.