-
Recently Browsing 0 members
No registered users viewing this page.
-
Similar Content
-
By Starym
There's a lot of changes coming with 8.3, and pet battles aren't getting excluded. We have a preview of the way in which pet battles will be affected come the next patch: the blizzard and mudslide weather effects are getting buffed and there's a new weather type; world quest enemies will now scale to the highest level pet you have equipped; the way % damage reduction abilities stack is changing. There's also a planned re-balancing of certain pets and abilities, but that probably won't happen until after 8.3.
You can also check out our 8.3 content hub for all the info on the upcoming patch.
Pet Battles (source)
Hello pet battlers!
We’ve seen some discussion around pet battle changes coming in Visions of N’Zoth, and we’d like to discuss those, as well as changes we currently have planned for a future content update.
The Weather Outside is Fight-ful
Weather effects have always been intended to slightly change the rules of pet battles. Sandstorm is great against pets that do weaker attacks, Sunlight is great for healing abilities, and Cleansing Rain is great for aquatic abilities. However, Mudslide and Blizzard both fell by the wayside in terms of being impactful or rule-changing outcomes. So in Visions of N’Zoth, both of these weather effects are being updated with new added effects in addition to their existing effects:
Blizzard Now also increases all elemental ability damage by 25%. Mudslide Now also increases all critical damage dealt by 25%. To be really clear about the Mudslide change: Critical strikes usually hit for 150% of normal damage. Mudslide will now increase that to 175% of normal damage.
We’ve also been thinking for a while that we should add a new weather type to the game, so Visions of N’Zoth will also introduce a new weather type: Toxic Fumes. This deals Dragonkin damage to the current enemy pet and applies the Toxic Fumes weather effect.
Toxic Fumes
Increases the duration of all hostile damage over time effects by 1 round. All pets are considered Poisoned while Toxic Fumes is active. Max No More
In Visions of N’Zoth, all of the new outdoor pet battle World Quests in Uldum and Vale of Eternal Blossoms will scale their level to match the highest level pet currently slotted on your team, instead of always being a level 25 enemy pet. This will also be the case for Nazjatar and Mechagon – all of the pet battle World Quests there are being updated. You can check them all out with a team of three level 1 pets!
Stat Changes
In Visions of N’Zoth, we’re also changing how percent-damage reduction abilities stack with each other. Currently, if you’re fighting a pet like Unit 17 in Mechagon (a Boss pet that passively takes 50% less damage), and Unit 17 uses Crouch, Unit 17 becomes immune to damage because the two 50% damage reduction effects are added to each other. In Visions of N’Zoth, the plan is to cap damage reduction at -75%. Using Unit 17 as an example, while Crouch is active, it will take 75% reduced damage instead of 100% reduced damage. This will smooth out the challenge with some enemy bosses.
Please note that abilities like Dodge or Deflection will continue to avoid all damage. Those will not be impacted by this change.
What the Future Holds
In a future update, we’re targeting a number of balance changes we want to make, which will amount to lowering the effectiveness of some pets and strategies. Again, these changes will not be happening in Visions of N’Zoth, but we wanted to give you ample warning time that changes are coming. While we don’t have specific numbers or details to share right now, here are some examples of abilities that we’re going to take a close look at:
Black Claw and similar abilities that increase damage taken by a flat amount. Hunting Party and similar abilities such as Flock. The Shattered Defenses debuff effect from abilities such as Hunting Party or Flock. Any large percent-damage-taken or percent-damage-dealt buffs or debuffs. Twilight Meteorite and similar long-cooldown damage-splitting abilities. The Jar of Smelly Liquid ability. Hermit Crab Of course that last one isn’t an ability, but Hermit Crab incorrectly has a higher stat budget than it should, and it will have its stats reduced to bring it in line with other similar pets.
A goal we have when making many new pet battle World Quests or encounters is to create puzzles that players can counter and “solve”-- ideally with the option to use a variety of pets and tools to do so. When a few pets have such strong synergies that they can deal massive damage in just a few rounds and almost trivially beat these enemies, it becomes problematic. Do we make new challenges only beatable by the highest damage combos, or do we make them generally solveable and therefore immediately smashed by massive damage?
We don’t want to ruin the feel of combination abilities, so we aren’t going to make Black Claw no longer interact with Hunting Party or Flock, but we want to make sure these abilities are dealing appropriate damage. And we want to make sure that secondary effects such as Shattered Defenses are being accounted for with regards to balance.
When we have further specifics, we will be sure to let you know.
-
By Starym
It's time to take a real look at the Corruptor in his home of Ny'alotha, as he's currently being tested on Heroic difficulty on the PTR! There are plenty of streams to check out, but we picked out a few you can check out here. You can also check out the mount rewards for killing the big tentacle/eye thingy, as well as for the Glory of the Raider, and the Ahead of the Curve one.
<br>
<br>
-
By Starym
This is a weird one, even by weird bug standards. Apparently there's a bug in the Anniversary Event Firelands raid that will randomly teleport any rogue that uses Killing Spree during the Ragnaros encounter to another part of the Firelands. The devs are aware of the issue and are working on a hotfix, but for now maybe don't use Killing Spree Rag!
Check out our WoW 15-year Anniversary Event guide to get all the rewards from it!
Outlaw in Firelands (source)
Could somebody explain how this works? I queued for all 3 stood around and waited for 15 minutes. I then proceed to kill 2.5 bosses, with the 3rd being ragnaros. However I randomly get teleported out to firebreach or something and then i just hang around there for a few minutes until everyone leaves the raid. What am i doing wrong? This keeps happening and it’s not like i’m dying or something. It’s also happened with another instance but the rag 1 has happened like 4 times now.
Just to add some Blue to this, we have seen an issue that causes Outlaw Rogues to be teleported to another part of the Firelands after using Killing Spree during the Ragnaros fight of the Anniversary Event.
It’s something the WoW Team are looking into and working on a fix for, in the meantime another spec or simply not using Killing Spree in that encounter should let you finish it off.
Sorry for any hassle there, will try update again with any news but keep an eye on the Hotfix posts too incase it’s posted there before I get a chance to share it.
-
By Stan
A compilation of everything we know about the alternative to Titanforging coming in Patch 8.3.
Note that Patch 8.3 won't be out before next year and the current iteration of the system will be changed in future builds.
The Successor to Warforging and Titanforging
In Visions of N'Zoth and Mythic Season 4, Blizzard is effectively changing Warforging/Titanforging to a system called Corrupted items, which:
Come with Benthic-like effects in three tiers (Tier 1/2/3); Come with a +Corruption stat in three tiers (Tier 1/2/3) which activates negative effects based on your Total Corruption accumulated on all gear; Random Corruption ranges have become changed to static in the recent 8.3 PTR build.
"Benthic" Effects on Corrupted Items
Corrupted items have the following Benthic-like effects on them:
Avoidance
Tier 1: Your Avoidance is increased by an amount equal to 3% of your Haste. Tier 2: Your Avoidance is increased by an amount equal to 6% of your Haste. Tier 3: Your Avoidance is increased by an amount equal to 10% of your Haste. Critical Strike
Tier 1: Increases the amount of Critical Strike you gain from all sources by 2%. Tier 2: Increases the amount of Critical Strike you gain from all sources by 3%. Tier 3: Increases the amount of Critical Strike you gain from all sources by 4%. Critical Damage Bonus
Tier 1: Increases the damage you deal with Critical Strikes by 2%. Tier 2: Increases the damage you deal with Critical Strikes by 3%. Tier 3: Increases the damage you deal with Critical Strikes by 4%. Damage Taken Reduction
Tier 1: Reduces your damage taken from periodic effects by 2%. Tier 2: Reduces your damage taken from periodic effects by 4%. Tier 3: Reduces your damage taken from periodic effects by 6%. Haste
Tier 1: Increases the amount of Haste you gain from all sources by 2%. Tier 2: Increases the amount of Haste you gain from all sources by 3%. Tier 3: Increases the amount of Haste you gain from all sources by 4%. Healing Received Increase
Tier 1: Increases your healing received from all sources by 2%. Tier 2: Increases your healing received from all sources by 4%. Tier 3: Increases your healing received from all sources by 6%. Health Regen
Tier 1: 20% of total Health regeneration now continues during combat. Tier 2: 30% of total Health regeneration now continues during combat. Tier 3: 40% of total Health regeneration now continues during combat. Leech
Tier 1: Increases your Leech by 2%. Tier 2: Increases your Leech by 4%. Tier 3: Increases your Leech by 6%. Mastery
Tier 1: Increases the amount of Mastery you gain from all sources by 2%. Tier 2: Increases the amount of Mastery you gain from all sources by 3%. Tier 3: Increases the amount of Mastery you gain from all sources by 4%. Versatility
Tier 1: Increases the amount of Versatility from all sources by 2%. Tier 2: Increases the amount of Versatility from all sources by 3%. Tier 3: Increases the amount of Versatility from all sources by 4%. Spell Cast
Tier 1 & Tier 2: Not Available / Implemented Yet? Tier 3: Your spells and abilities have a chance to grant you a Flash of Clarity, reducing the cooldown of your next 3 spells cast by 2 sec. Corruption Stat
Based on your Total Corruption accumulated from all gear, there are four side effects that activate at various Corruption Levels:
Corruption Level Side Effect Description 10+ Corruption Grasping Tendrils Taking damage has a chance to slow your movement speed for 5 sec. The magnitude of the slow increases with further Corruption. 20+ Corruption Corrupted Zone Your spells and abilities have a chance to create a corrupted zone at your location, dealing Shadow damage to you every 2 sec. The size and damage of the corrupted zone increases with higher Corruption. 40+ Corruption Grand Delusions Taking damage has a chance to summon a Thing from Beyond, which pursues you for 10 seconds. Its speed increases with further Corruption. 60+ Corruption Creeping Death Damage taken increased by 10% and healing reduced by 10%. The negative effects are not static and grow in power with increasing Corruption on your gear. For example, Creeping Death at Corruption Level 106 increases your damage taken and reduces your healing taken by 56%, which is a significant increase over 10% at Corruption Level 60.
Higher Corruption increases the number of side effects and their strengths.
Character Appearance
Your character becomes darker and pulses with Void energy based on your Corruption Level.
Azerite Powers
We datamined the Heart of Darkness Azerite Power which increases all your secondary stats by 54 while your Corruption Level is 25 or higher.
Corrupted Rings in Patch 8.3
Certain rings from Ny'alotha come with Benthic-like effects and a debuff with side effects.
Corrupted Ring - Face the Truth Corrupted Ring - Last Grasp Corrupted Ring - Masochistic Corrupted Ring - Mesmerizing Corrupted Ring - Overconfident Corrupted Ring - Revel in Violence Corrupted Ring - Spontaneous Fury Corrupted Ring - Thing From Beyond Corrupted Weapons in Patch 8.3
Certain weapons from Ny'alotha also have Benthic-like effects and a flat +25 Corruption Stat Increase which isn't currently reflected on the tooltip.
Weapon Effect Description An'zig Vra Devour Vitality Your autoattacks bite into the target's soul, dealing 2% of your health in damage and healing you for that amount. Devastation's Hour Twilight Devastation Your attacks have a chance to trigger a beam of Twilight Devastation, dealing damage equal to 5% of your health to all enemies in front of you.
Eyestalk of Il'gynoth Ineffable Truth Your Spells and Abilities have a chance to show you the Ineffable Truth, increasing the rate your cooldowns recover by 20% for 12 sec. Faralos, Empire's Dream Searing Flames Your damaging abilities build stacks of Searing Flames. When you reach 30 stacks, exhale a Searing Breath, dealing damage equal to 5% of your health to all targets in front of you. Mar'kowa, the Mindpiercer Flash of Insight Your mind's true potential is unlocked, causing your spells to grant you flashes of insight. Gain between 1% and 8% Intellect at all times. Qwor N'lyeth Echoing Void Your damaging abilities build the Echoing Void. Each time it builds, Echoing Void has a chance to collapse, dealing 1% of your Health as Shadow damage to all nearby enemies every 1 sec until no stacks remain. Shard of the Black Empire Twisted Appendage Your attacks have a chance to spawn a tentacle which Mind Flays your target for [ 3,110 + 25% of Spell Power ] Shadow damage every second for 10 sec. Shgla'yos, Astral Malignity Infinite Stars Your spells and abilities have a chance to strike a nearby enemy with an Infinite Star, dealing [ 60% of Spell Power ] Arcane damage and increasing their damage taken from your Infinite Stars by 25%, stacking up to 10 times. Sk'shuul Vaz Obsidian Skin Gain Obsidian Skin, increasing your Armor by 5%. Every 100% of your Max Health lost, explode with Obsidian Destruction, dealing Shadow damage equal to 1,000% of your Armor to all enemies within 20 yds. Unguent Caress Lash of the Void Your attacks have a chance to lash your target with a living tentacle, dealing [ 30% of Attack Power ] Shadow damage and snaring them by 30% for 6 sec. Vorzz Yoq'al Void Ritual Gain Void Ritual, giving your spells and abilities a chance to increase all secondary stats by 10 every sec for 20 sec. This chance is increased if at least 2 nearby allies also have Void Ritual. Whispering Eldritch Bow Whispered Truths Your auto-shots reduce the remaining cooldown of a random Hunter ability by 1.0 sec. Corruption Resistance
There are various ways to decrease your Corruption Level in Patch 8.3:
New 8.3 Essences will reduce your Corruption by 10. You can talk to MOTHER and cleanse an item off Corruption, but that will also remove its beneficial effect. Ashjra'kamas, Shroud of Resolve (Wrathion's Legendary Cloak) comes with +5 Corruption Resistance at Rank 1. The Heart of Azeroth will have an infinite trait to aid you against N’Zoth’s Corruption at max level (Purity of the Worldsoul). The trait's available at HoA Level 85 and more details can be found here. Blizzard's Goals with Corrupted Items
Finally, Blizzard shared their thoughts on the new Corrupted Items system in a blue post on October 24.
Blizzard (Source)
The most recent PTR build introduced an early version of our Corrupted Items system, and we’d like to highlight a few aspects of how the Corruption system works, and our goals as we iterate on it.
How Corruption Works
Items from Ny’alotha, Mythic Keystone dungeons in Season 4, BfA PvP Season 4, the Heroic Darkshore Warfront, and other new sources of loot that are updated with Season 4 will not be able to Warforge or Titanforge. Items from older content will retain an effective “ceiling” of item level 455, as they do today.
There will be a chance for these new items to be Corrupted by N’Zoth. A Corrupted item has a powerful beneficial property, similar to many of the Benthic effects seen in Nazjatar, but has a new detrimental stat: Corruption. Items can have varying levels of Corruption, with the amount of Corruption present correlating directly with the power of the beneficial upside (for example: an item might give 4% Critical Strike damage and 10 Corruption, or 6% Critical Strike damage and 15 Corruption).
Corruption represents the influence of N’Zoth, which will have negative effects on the wearer. As Corruption increases, a series of drawbacks are activated. You might remember how Corruption worked on the Cho’gall encounter back in Bastion of Twilight – that was a source of inspiration here. The drawbacks currently on the PTR are works-in-progress and not-yet-tuned, and we have changes already implemented in the next PTR build. Our general intent is for low Corruption to activate a minor effect that most people can play around without too much difficulty, medium levels of Corruption to activate a couple more effects that have a higher skill cap (nd may be more situational in where and when someone can handle having them active), and high levels of Corruption to be prohibitive, and virtually never worth it.
Gear that makes your character worse when you equip it doesn’t sound terribly appealing, but fortunately there will be a few ways of dealing with Corruption. The legendary cloak that players will earn from Wrathion early on in Visions of N’Zoth will negate some Corruption, and can be upgraded through entering and completing Horrific Visions to provide even more of a bulwark against Corruption.
Early on, we expect that players might wear one or maybe two pieces of Corrupted gear at a time. Later on, three or four pieces might be manageable. The vast majority of the gear players wear, even later on, will not be Corrupted. And these perks aren’t planned to be slot-restricted, so if there’s a specific power you want, there should never be a concern that your item needs to roll with that affix to be useful.
We also never want an item that would otherwise be an upgrade to feel unusable as a result of being Corrupted, so any Corrupted items can be taken to the Heart Forge and purified without restriction . If you get that trinket you’ve been hoping for, but it’s Corrupted with a beneficial effect you don’t like, or wearing it would push you above a Corruption threshold you’re comfortable with, just purify the item and carry on.
Itemization Philosophy
With itemization, we’re always looking for opportunities to create moments of excitement and choices and options to customize your gameplay to suit your playstyle and the content you choose to play. Warforging created some of this by allowing useful rewards to come from a wide range of content, and ensuring that there was almost always at least the chance of an upgrade from any repeat boss kill or other source of loot. However, as we’ve seen and heard clearly in feedback over the past years, it has also brought significant downsides: Progression feels less rewarding, as players killing a raid boss on a new difficulty for the first time often disenchant much of the loot because they have equal or better Warforged items from lower difficulties or other sources. In addition, the feeling that a given item could have Warforged more and been even better can leave a sense of disappointment at what should have been a clear reward moment. And the sense that these systems are out of players’ direct control makes it harder to work towards a clear goal or state of completion.
The Corruption system isn’t a permanent addition to World of Warcraft, but it is an extension of the theme of N’Zoth’s pervasive and growing influence over Azeroth. As we explore this over the course of the PTR, we’d love to hear feedback about the initial round of powers showing up on items, Corruption drawbacks that may be excessively punitive, and the system as a whole.
Please feel free to reply with your feedback here in this thread. Thank you very much!
Check out our Patch 8.3 Hub for more information about Visions of N'Zoth.
Here's everything we know so far about the Corrupted items system coming in Visions of N'Zoth.
-
By Stan
Visions of N'Zoth is Battle for Azeroth's final major content patch, where we take the battle to N'Zoth himself and visit Ny'alotha. Our hub covers everything you need to know about Patch 8.3 and helps you stay on track if you haven't been playing the game for a while.
Patch 8.3 Release Date
Blizzard revealed after BlizzCon that Patch 8.3 will go live in January 2020.
Game Director Ion Hazzikostas talked about Visions of N'Zoth in the latest Content Preview on October 7. We learned pretty much everything about the new patch, and in the following section, you're going to find its main features:
Assaults
Invasions return to the game once more, and this time, they're called Assaults. The Vale of Eternal Blossoms and Uldum will be periodically under assault by N'Zoth's forces, and your goal is to drive them back by completing quests and interacting with various objectives to complete the "emissary." Blizzard uses technology and everything they've learned from Mechagon and Nazjatar in this new iteration of Assaults to ensure dynamic replayability. Assaults are mandatory if you want to enter Horrific Visions.
Initial Preview of Assaults in Visions of N'Zoth Horrific Visions
Described as alternate realities where N'Zoth's power is ascendant, these are 1-5 player "scenarios" of Stormwind and Orgrimmar, where you need to complete various objectives for rewards. Horrific Visions revolve around a new mechanic called Sanity, which starts draining as soon as you enter a Horrific Vision. Your goal is to complete as many side objectives as possible and defeating the mini-boss before your Sanity is completely depleted.
To help you with that, we've got Wrathion with a new Legendary Cloak and a Titanic Research Archive for Horrific Visions with perks that gradually trivialize the feature. You will be also able to buy various items from Wrathion after completing the Black Empire intro questline.
Wrathion Selling Various Items in Patch 8.3 Ny'alotha, the Waking City
We will be facing N'Zoth in Ny'alotha, the new twelve-boss raid located in Uldum. It comes with a raid skip quest after you defeat the first boss.
Check out the sets you will be able to obtain in the new raid:
Ny'alotha Cloth Sets Preview Ny'alotha Leather Sets Preview Ny'alotha Mail Sets Preview Ny'alotha Plate Sets Preview In the raid, we find out N'Zoth's true size and interesting loot which revolves around Corruption:
Corrupted Weapons from Ny'alotha, the Waking City We've also covered the continuation of the story in Patch 8.3 and what happens in the raid in the articles below:
New Forsaken Leadership in Patch 8.3 (Spoilers) Azshara's Bargain and the Key to Defeating N'Zoth (Spoilers) I'lgynoth's Whispers in Patch 8.3 (Analysis) Tyrande Whisperwind VO (Patch 8.3) N'Zoth's in-game model has been updated multiple times and you can check out N'Zoth's VO as well if you're interested what the Old God has to say based on the latest sound files.
Rewards Updates
Visions of N'Zoth comes with two new factions, six new Essences, a brand new Mythic Season, a new Seasonal affix, Profession updates, and more that we'll cover soon. On top of that, Essences from Mechagon and Nazjatar will be easier to acquire for alts. You can also add your own sockets to gear which currently does not have any, and more.
Add Sockets to Your Gear in Patch 8.3 Heart of Azeroth will have a new Minor slot, two Stamina nodes, the maximum level increased to 85 (was 70). Coming in a later PTR update, Blizzard will be adding an infinite progression slot to aid you against N'Zoth's corruption at max level.
New Factions
Uldum and Vale of Eternal Blossoms will be under attack by N'Zoth's forces and both zones host new factions. You'll learn more about the Rajani in Pandaria and Uldum Accord resides in Ramkahen.
Rajani & Uldum Accord Overview New Allied Races: Vulpera & Mechagnomes
Another pair of Allied Races will become available in Visions of N'Zoth. Alliance players will be able to recruit Mechagnomes, and their Horde counterpart are the Vulpera of Vol'dun.
Official Mechagnomes & Vulpera Preview Mechagnomes & Vulpera Racials Mechagnomes & Vulpera Unlock Requirements Vulpera Heritage Armor Preview Mechagnome Heritage Armor Preview Mechagnome & Vulpera Dance Animations Vulpera Tidbits: Racial Mount, Shaman Totems, Hunter Pet New Heritage Armor: Goblins & Worgen
Goblins and Worgen received new models and animations in Patch 8.2.5, but no Heritage Armor, which is added in Patch 8.3.
Goblin & Worgen Heritage Armor Sets Preview Auction House Overhaul
The Auction House will be completely revamped. No more lag caused by the system being clogged with single stacks. Stackable items are no longer purchased or sold in stacks; copper is no longer displayed in the Auction House, but used for calculations. If you regularly forget the name of goods, you can create a shopping list, and more!
Auction House Revamp Preview The Alternative of Titanforging
The Corrupted Items System is the alternative to Warforging and Titanforging in Patch 8.3. Items that would Warforge/Titanforge will drop with a +Corruption stat which grants side effects at various Corruption Levels.
Everything We Know About the Corrupted Items System So Far Cleansing Corrupted Items Class Changes
No patch would be complete without some class changes, and you can find all class changes planned for Visions of N'Zoth here.
Allied Race & Pandaren Death Knights
We found encrypted sound files of Bolvar and Mograine together with Death Knight creature textures for Allied Races and the Pandaren, and new Death Knight Swords of the Ebon Blade.It was confirmed at BlizzCon that all races will be able to roll Death Knights in Patch 8.3. The new Allied Races Death Knights will have a slightly updated starting experience similar to intros of Allied Races.
Decrypted Bolvar & Darion Mograine Sound Files Improved Eye Glow for Night Elves and Death Knights Mythic Season 4 Season
A brand new Season awaits in Visions of N'Zoth and players will be able to earn a title and a mount!
New Mythic Season 4 Achievements & Rewards Quaking Affix Changes New Mounts
As usual, with every content update, multiple mounts are coming with placeholder descriptions, sources, and whatnot.
Alpaca Mounts - Presumably, new reputation mounts available for purchase at Exalted. Chalcedony Cloud Serpent - A new recolor of the existing serpent, possibly tied to the Assault on Vale. N'Zoth Serpent - New Stormsong Valley Rare Mount from the Adherent of the Abyss. Aqir Flying Mount Ahead of the Curve N'Zoth Mount: Uncorrupted Voidwing Mythic N'Zoth Mount (Ny'alotha Allseer), Glory of the Ny'alotha Raider (Wriggling Parasite) Island Expedition Vendors
In Patch 8.3, you will be able to purchase Island-specific and Invasion-specific crates for Dubloons.
New Dubloon Vendors Selling Island Expedition and Invasion Crates 3 New World Bosses
Blizzard is adding three new world bosses to the game, which drop item level 445 loot.
New World Bosses in Visions of N'Zoth Miscellaneous
Other minor things planned for Patch 8.3 include:
A new PvP event where players can serve N'Zoth, similar to Talon's Vengeance. Heroic difficulty for the Darkshore Warfront. Division of Operation: Mechagon into two wings, each with Heroic and Mythic Keystone difficulties. Darkmoon Arcade, allowing you to play your favorite mini-games at the Darkmoon Faire. Deepwind Gorge updated to be a capture point map. New Battle Pets and Pet Battle Dungeon - Blackrock Depths. New Story Quests: Rise of N'Zoth ...and more! We'll be periodically updating this hub with more details!
Vision of N'zoth is the final major content patch of BfA, and here's our hub with everything you need to know.
-
