Battle for Azeroth Season 2 - Live This Week

[chaud]

Battle for Azeroth Season 2 - Live This Week
Battle for Azeroth Season 2 launches this week, bringing a new raid, PvP Season, Mythic+ season, increased caps, and more!

Content Difficulty and Rewards Changes
With a new raid opening, the item level of many rewards are going up!

• New Maximum Item Level: The maximum possible item level will go up to 425.
• Battle for Darkshore Warfront: Rewards will increase to item level 400 for both the outdoor boss and the Warfront quest that can be completed once per cycle. The difficulty of the Warfront will increase bu 15%, and the item level required to queue will increase to 335. These changes will go into effect after the current Warfront cycle has ended. Until that time, players will still receive Season 1 rewards.
• World Quest Emissary Rewards: World Quest Emissary weapon and armor rewards will also now scale up to 385 based on the player’s own item level. Rewards from the original Battle for Azeroth Launch World bosses will remain at item level 355 to stay on par with Uldir.
• Dungeon Rewards and Difficulty: The item level of rewards from max-level Normal, Heroic, and Mythic dungeons will go up by 30. Baseline rewards will be 340 from Normal, 355 from Heroic, and 370 from non-Keystone Mythic. Difficulty of Heroic and Mythic dungeons will also go up by roughly 30%; Normal dungeons are unchanged.
• Mythic Keystone Dungeons: Mythic+ rewards will also go up by 30 item levels. During the first week of Season 2 Mythic Keystone Dungeon rewards will be capped at Mythic 6 quality (item level 385). Mythic Keystones will go down by an additional 3 levels when the season transition occurs.
• PvP: PvP Season 2 end-of-match rewards will be capped at 385 for the first week of the season. Rewards from rated PvP sources are 30 item levels higher than they were in Season 1, including Conquest rewards and the weekly chest.
• Seals of Wartorn Fate: Seals of Wartorn Fate are not being reset and this same currency can be used for Battle of Dazar’alor and Season 2 bonus rolls; the cap on how many can be held at once remains at 5.

New Raid - Battle of Dazar'alor
Normal and Heroic Battle of Dazar'alor open this week, with Mythic and Raid Finder (item level 350 required) opening next week.

War Campaign Continues
The War Campaign quests are live!

• The Fall of Zuldazar (A) - The Kul Tiran fleet is preparing to attack Zuldazar. To guarantee victory, the Alliance must create a distraction in Nazmir to lure away the armies of the Horde and Zandalari.
• War Is Here (H) - The Alliance attack on Zandalar has begun! Their forces march through Nazmir under the guise of a mysterious fog.

Dungeon Changes
Rewards and difficulty are being buffed with the start of Season 2.

• The new seasonal affix is Reaping!
  
  • Bwonsamdi will offer you Bwonsamdi's Bargain, increasing damage and healing, but this comes at a price.
  • Every 20% of the Enemy Forces completion, ghost versions of the mobs that you've killed will spawn and rush to the group to engage you.
  • These ghosts have half the HP of the mobs, won't aggro regular mobs, and have a large aggro radius.
  • Some ghosts apply a stacking DoT, some need to be interrupted, and some put bad things on the ground that you need to avoid standing in.
• The item level of rewards from max-level Normal, Heroic, and Mythic dungeons will go up by 30. Baseline rewards will be 340 from Normal, 355 from Heroic, and 370 from non-Keystone Mythic.
• Difficulty of Heroic and Mythic dungeons will also go up by roughly 30%; Normal dungeons are unchanged.
• Mythic Keystones will go down by an additional 3 levels when the season transition occurs, to account for this difficulty increase. So if you do an 11 this coming week, instead of getting a Level 10 keystone when Season 2 starts, expect a 7.
• Mythic+ rewards will also go up by 30 item levels; however, during the first week of Season 2, rewards from end-of-run chests will be capped at Mythic 6 quality (item level 385), and the chest you open next week will contain Season 1 rewards if you do a Mythic+ run this week. (So, for example, if you do a Mythic 10 during the final week of Season 1, you’ll get a Season 1 item level 380 piece and 60 Residuum from your first Season 2 chest.)
• The weekly cache that becomes available in the second week of the season will not be affected by this cap, so if a player does a Mythic 10 dungeon during the first week, they will get a Mythic 10 reward (item level 410+) from their cache the following week.

Warfronts - Battle for Darkshore
Rewards from the Battle for Darkshore warfront are being buffed with the start of Season 2.

• Arathi/Stromgarde rewards will remain as they were previously.
• Darkshore rewards will go up by 15 item levels, so that the outdoor world boss and the once-per-cycle quest both award item-level 400 gear.
• The power of all enemies in the Darkshore Warfront will also go up by roughly 15%, and the item level required to queue for Darkshore will go up from 320 to 335.
• Special note: The two Darkshore changes will only take effect after the current Warfront cycle has ended. So if Alliance is attacking Darkshore in a given region when Season 2 begins, and has 3 days left in that attack cycle, that Darkshore will still give Season 1 rewards. This is being done to avoid any unfairness to people who had already completed the Warfront or done the world boss just prior to the season rollover.

Artifact Knowledge
The Heart of Azeroth will once again begin gaining Artifact Knowledge!

• Artifact Knowledge will resume accruing starting from January 22nd, increasing the effect of AP earned by 30%.
• A total of 10 new ranks will be granted and Knowledge will pause again after the week of March 26th
• Note that the Heart of Azeroth currently has a maximum level of 50. This cap will increase in the Rise of Azshara update, along with significant changes to the underlying system.

Azerite Armor and Traits
A fifth ring with new traits is coming in Season 2, as well as a vendor that sells random and specific Azerite Armor pieces.

• Gear from the Battle of Dazar'alor raid, Season 2 PvP, World Quest Emissaries, and the Mythic Keystone vendor will all have the new fifth ring.
• Gear from previous seasons and sources will not have the new traits or ring.
• The fifth ring unlocks at Heart of Azeroth level 15.
• The fifth ring has two spec specific trait options for each spec.
• The fourth ring continues to have one spec specific trait for each spec or the option of a general trait.
• Battle of Dazar'alor gear has more Stamina than expected for the item level in the dungeon journal.
• Emissary caches and similar rewards like Assault wrapper quests will award loot based on your spec (or loot spec, if chosen) instead of your class.

Azerite Armor - Ring Unlock Levels
The outermost ring unlocks at Heart of Azeroth Level 15 for gear from any difficulty.

• Raid Finder (Item Level 370)
  
  • Head - Level 15, 26, 30, 34, 38
  • Chest - Level 15, 27, 31, 35, 39
  • Shoulders - Level 15, 28, 32, 36, 40
• Normal (Item Level 385)
  
  • Head - Level 15, 29, 32, 35, 38
  • Chest - Level 15, 30, 33, 36, 39
  • Shoulders - Level 15, 31, 34, 37, 40
• Heroic (Item Level 400)
  
  • Head - Level 15, 30, 34, 38, 42
  • Chest - Level 15, 31, 35, 39, 43
  • Shoulders - Level 15, 32, 36, 40, 44
• Mythic (Item Level 415)
  
  • Head - Level 15, 31, 36, 41, 46
  • Chest - Level 15, 32, 37, 42, 47
  • Shoulders - Level 15, 33, 38, 43, 48

Titan Residuum

• Titan Residuum will be rewarded from Mythic+ weekly chests, occasional Treasure Map missions, and by scrapping or disenchanting Azerite armor.
• Titan Residuum is not reset or capped between seasons.
• Thaumaturge Vashreen will offer item level 385, 400, and 415 pieces for sale in Season 2.
  
  • A random item-level 385 token costs 165 (as it does today)
  • A random 400 costs 675
  • A random 415 costs 1725
  • A specific item-level 415 armor piece costs 7150
• Just as Residuum costs roughly triple with each 15-ilvl tier, so will rewards:
  
  • Disenchanting an item level 400 Azerite piece yields 115 Residuum
  • Disenchanting an item level 415 Azerite piece yields 365 Residuum
  • A weekly cache for a Mythic 4 in Season 2 awards roughly the same 60 Residuum that a Mythic 10 did in Season 1; a Mythic 10 in Season 2 will award ~625 Residuum

Battle for Azeroth Pvp Season 2
PvP Season 2 introduces an updated Conquest reward schedule, mounts, and gear. Players who earn 500 Conquest points in a given week will be still be able to choose a piece of gear from each week’s selection; in addition, they’ll now earn a Quartermaster's Coin, which can be collected and ultimately used to upgrade pieces from this season’s Sinister Gladiator PvP set.

Class Guides
Icy Veins is finishing updates to their class guides, including spec specific advice for Battle of Dazar’alor!

Death Knight

• Skills
• Talent Calculator
• Class Forum
• Blood Death Knight Guide
• Frost Death Knight Guide
• Unholy Death Knight Guide

Demon Hunter

• Skills
• Talent Calculator
• Class Forum
• Havoc Demon Hunter Guide
• Vengeance Demon Hunter Guide

Druid

• Skills
• Talent Calculator
• Class Forum
• Balance Druid Guide
• Feral Druid Guide
• Guardian Druid Guide
• Restoration Druid Guide

Hunter

• Skills
• Talent Calculator
• Class Forum
• Beast Mastery Hunter Guide
• Marksmanship Hunter Guide
• Survival Hunter Guide

Mage

• Skills
• Talent Calculator
• Class Forum
• Arcane Mage Guide
• Fire Mage Guide
• Frost Mage Guide

Monk

• Skills
• Talent Calculator
• Class Forum
• Brewmaster Monk Guide
• Mistweaver Monk Guide
• Windwalker Monk Guide

Paladin

• Skills
• Talent Calculator
• Class Forum
• Holy Paladin Guide
• Protection Paladin Guide
• Retribution Paladin Guide

Priest

• Skills
• Talent Calculator
• Class Forum
• Discipline Priest Guide
• Holy Priest Guide
• Shadow Priest Guide

Rogue

• Skills
• Talent Calculator
• Class Forum
• Assassination Rogue Guide
• Outlaw Rogue Guide
• Subtlety Rogue Guide

Shaman

• Skills
• Talent Calculator
• Class Forum
• Elemental Shaman Guide
• Enhancement Shaman Guide
• Restoration Shaman Guide

Warlock

• Skills
• Talent Calculator
• Class Forum
• Affliction Warlock Guide
• Demonology Warlock Guide
• Destruction Warlock Guide

Warrior

• Skills
• Talent Calculator
• Class Forum
• Arms Warrior Guide
• Fury Warrior Guide
• Protection Warrior Guide

[Drejjmit]

Give us thin Kul Trian.

[Waldor666]

So, are we gonna be able to kill Jaina or not?

[MakeMeLaugh]

Current invasion shows a 370 reward, is that correct? I'm 384ilvl, was expecting 385 loot.

[Grimalkin of Old]

Is there anything worth subscribing for, non-raid related?

[rooris]

So if I bought certain 385 Azerite piece before the raid opened, I need to buy another exactly same item to get that extra trait?

[Kathranis]

So if I bought certain 385 Azerite piece before the raid opened, I need to buy another exactly same item to get that extra trait?

Which is why everyone suggested saving your Residuum for Season 2.

[Pratt]

Is there anything worth subscribing for, non-raid related?

Extended war campaign and better gear from most sources. You could probably do the new stuff and hit the gear soft cap in 1 month.

[Bane-Thunder-God]

I still don't understand why EU still get these patches a day later, is this really necessary anymore?

We just had a all region/same time expansion release for the first time ever. How about we drop this regional patch days crap?

[frackas]

Is there anything worth subscribing for, non-raid related?

Save your money and wait till the next major update.....hopefully?

[ProfesorX]

Yes, it is correct, Current invasion grants 370 reward

[saidolol]

Patchnotes: bliblablobla ilvl bliblablobla bliblablobla bliblablobla

[oathy]

Just want this part of the Expansion over.
find the entire faction war really putting me off the Game,

[Ealyssa]

So if I bought certain 385 Azerite piece before the raid opened, I need to buy another exactly same item to get that extra trait?

That's why nobody bought useless gear and hoarded them for this tier...