9.0 speculation.

[Muajin76]

Has Blizzard hinted at/mentioned anything about azerite gear for 9.0 or can we safely assume it's gone after this expac?

[mojamonk123]

I hope it stays, I love azerite

[Big Thanks]

There is only ONE reason for me to want azerite gone.

All traits are nerfed 50% in PvP...

Apart from that i love the potential of the azerite system. And i farmed A LOT of specific azerites PRE NERF (when it was fun)

[gushDH]

It will be gone. Just like artifact weapons are gone. Blizzard has said that they want to have expansion specific progressions.

[Muajin76]

It will be gone. Just like artifact weapons are gone. Blizzard has said that they want to have expansion specific progressions.

I think it would be gone, azerite gear was connected to the whole *save azeroth* theme. Having a new theme means new system hopefully.

[Nathanyel]

Has Blizzard hinted at/mentioned anything about azerite gear for 9.0 or can we safely assume it's gone after this expac?

Exactly as gone as Artifact Traits after Legion, which we knew from the start, yet obviously people will still bitch about power loss and "actually having to play the new expansion".

Azerite pieces will likely just receive a good amount of secondary stats, the neck might auto-level 110-120, but of course there will be no power increase at 120 just from these items.

[Th3Scourge]

Expect a return to "traditional" gear. No artifact power hamster-wheel grind. No azerite armor, no gimmicky essences

[huth]

And then they said they should not be so afraid of making permanent changes.

Imo if Artifact weapons had come AFTER Azerite, they might have stayed for good. We could have had new skins and new transmogs every expac after.

IMO they should just have had Azeroth re-empower the weapons, giving you a new system, but keeping the item. And rebuild the transmog system to remove weapon type restrictions.

[redfinale]

Even if they wanted to keep it, given the generally negative reception to the system, they'd be shooting themselves in the foot if they did keep it. I understand it didn't allow the most variety in gear, but I think bringing back tier sets it the way to go.

[Niffo]

No please, please god no.

They should rather invest all those extra perks into making the talents system a little more fun to play around with.

[Nixiuz]

Sylvanas will be end boss, calling it now. An emergency Warchief like Thrall or Baine or even Saurfang will be installed into The Horde.

[crusadernero]

We dont even know anything about 8.3, let alone next xpac.

I doubt azerite gear will be a thing come 9.0, but I bet the system of AP will be there in one way or another.

the idea of AP and the stuff it gives is decent enough. The azerite gear/armor sets is crap compared to tier sets and class sets.

hopefully they keep AP and goes back to creating tier sets & class sets. The sets dont need to have powerful abilities, but cool effects etc.

[Th3Scourge]

I am very much certain that AP is here to stay. It will exist in some form for the rest of WoW.

Ion said in an 8.2 interview that they wanted to move away from expansion-specific systems to more permanent systems

[Swnem]

Azerite traits could work if they were tied to the artifact rather than the gear, or whatever other customization system.
Like, i still like the idea of being able to choose what are essentially my set bonuses, but as it is now it's not good.

Having to regrind the same gear every tier feels terrible.

I guess another way of doing it is like SWTOR. Make a new gear slot for it. Have it just be the traits and not the stats/ilvl.


Also, the devs need to check other mmorpg's for end-game progression systems. AP is awful! It feels awful and pointless. Also takes too effin long to get level ups. Heck, again if they fixed it to be a sort of experience you get from doing anything in the game, including killing mobs, looting nodes, etc. then it might feel better.
Atl, both system feel terrible and the devs really aren't getting the picture. I know they are trying to fix things their own way, but more drastic changes need to be made.

Also, i hate saying this, but it would be great if the team wasn't stuck on their own little bubble and saw what other games are doing that players enjoy.

It will be very interesting to see what they announce at blizzcon.

My wish list is:
1. New gearing system and new end-game progression system that it's not AP. Don't want no artifacts anymore either.
2. Raid structure and content patch pace changes (smaller raids coming every 3 months), hopefully with only one or two difficulty levels and no fixed size. Aka i want both lfr and mythic gone and the difficulty of the remaining ones bumped up.
3. Tinker class.

- - - Updated - - -

Sylvanas will be end boss, calling it now. An emergency Warchief like Thrall or Baine or even Saurfang will be installed into The Horde.

Sylvanas needs to be a raid boss and be killed. I still believe it will happen in BfA. Defeating N'zoth accomplishes nothing to end the battle for Azeroth. Only way is to kill Sylvanas for good. Even if she just leaves the horde, the remaining forces will be going after her. This expansion has to end with her. I don't see any other way. N'zoth is best saved for next xpac.

[HuxNeva]

Unless the philosophy of 'cross mode' benefits changes drastically, there will probably be item sets with a configurable set of traits rather than just a universal 'set bonus'.

[slime]

It will be gone - but I'm sure this new model of having us endlessly farm up 'power' for an item will continue.

[klaps_05]

I will be ok if we only keep the Neck with essences (with new essences/upgrades added) with all other gear back to regular drops.

[matrix123mko]

https://www.wowhead.com/news=292244/...-edition-print

Will Yrel be big bad of next expansion then?

[Nyel]

Has Blizzard hinted at/mentioned anything about azerite gear for 9.0 or can we safely assume it's gone after this expac?

Judging on the massive failure the system has been from scratch to release I'd say it's safe to say it will be removed entirely.

[Swnem]

https://www.wowhead.com/news=292244/...-edition-print

Will Yrel be big bad of next expansion then?

Dunno if it's next expansion, but it is clear stuff will go down eventually.