wow What's Changing in Season 3

[Stan 5,021]

In this article, we're taking a closer look at what's changing in Season 3 and how the transition will be handled.

Season 3 Changes

Game Director Ion Hazzikostas confirmed on Twitter that the latest seasonal transition will be handled the same way as Season 1, so we adjusted this post by 30 item levels to give you an idea on what to expect.

Blizzard

Loot

General

• The maximum possible item level will go up by 30 item levels to 455.

World Quests

• Emissary weapon and armor rewards will scape up to 415 (based on a player's own item level).
• The loot from Kul Tiras and Zandalar world bosses remains at 355.

Dungeons

• The item level of rewards from max-level Normal, heroic, and Mythic dungeons will go up by 30. Baseline rewards will be 370 from Normal, 385 from Heroic, and 400 from non-Keystone Mythic.
• The new Operation: Mechagon dungeon offers rewards with a base item level of 415.
• Difficulty of Heroic and Mythic dungeons should go up by roughly 30%; Normal dungeons should remain unchanged (needs confirmation).
• 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 week, instead of getting a Level 10 keystone when Season 3 starts, expect a 7.
• Mythic+ rewards will also go up by 30 item levels; however, during the first week of Season 3, rewards from end-of-run chests will be capped at Mythic 6 quality (item level 415), and the chest you open next week will contain Season 2 rewards if you do a Mythic+ run this week.
• 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 of Season 3, they will get a Mythic 10 reward (item level 440+) from their cache the following week.
• Baseline rewards will be 395 from Timewalking dungeons, and 415 from Timewalking raids. Wrath Timewalking will be available the week of July 16th.

PvP

• Season 3 rewards from rated PvP sources are 30 item levels higher than they were in Season 2, including Conquest rewards and the weekly chest.
• End-of-match rewards will be capped at 415 during the first week of the season, to maintain parity with other endgame systems until Mythic Eternal palace becomes available.

Azerite Armor

Thaumaturge Vashreen will be selling new wares starting Tuesday. Check out Azerite Armor Prices & Titan Residuum in Season 3 for further details.

• Titan Residuum is not reset or capped between seasons.
• The Residuum vendor will offer item level 415, 430, and 445 pieces for sale in Season 3.
  • A random item-level 415 token costs 1,725 (as it does today)
  • A random 430 costs 9,000
  • A random 445 costs 47,500
  • A specific item-level 445 armor piece costs 200,000.

Mythic Season 3 (End-of-Dungeon & Weekly Loot) Details

To sum up:

• The first week of Season 3, rewards are capped at item level 415 (Mythic 6) until July 16th.
• Your weekly cache will contain Season 2 rewards the week of July 9th when Season 3 goes live.

Starting with Season 3, the rewards found in the end-of-dungeon chests and the weekly chest are as follows:

Keystone Level	End of Dungeon Loot	Weekly Chest Loot
Mythic 2	405	410
Mythic 3	405	415
Mythic 4	410	420
Mythic 5	415	420
Mythic 6	415	425
Mythic 7	420	430
Mythic 8	425	430
Mythic 9	425	435
Mythic 10	430	440

Mythic+ Essences

There are three Essences gated behind Mythic Season 3 in Rise of Azshara.

• Anima of Life and Death (Tank Essence)
• Essence of the Focusing Iris (DPS Essence)
• Life-Binder's Invocation (Healer Essence)

They all share the same unlock requirements:

• Rank 1: Obtained from Mythic 4+ End-of-Dungeon Challenger's Cache.
• Rank 2: Obtained from Mythic 7+ End-of-Dungeon Challenger's Cache.
• Rank 3: Obtained by combining 15 Focused Life Anima found in Grand Challenger's Bounty.
• Rank 4: Earn the Battle for Azeroth Keystone Master: Season Three achievement.

Read our Heart of Azeroth Essence Guide for more information about Essences! You can find a complete list of Season 3 Essences in this post.

Mythic Season 3 Affix

Reaping is retiring and all Keystone 10+ runs will now come with a new Nazjatar-themed affix called Beguiling. There are three types of handmaiden with different abilities present in each dungeons and their configurations will vary each week.

PvP

PvP is getting the same treatment as PvE content, meaning loot is going up by 30 item levels as well. Here's a table of rewards you can expect based on your rating from all sources:

Tier	Rating	End of Match Item Level	Weekly Cache Item Level	Weekly Azerite Item Level
Unranked	0 - 1399	400	415	415
Combatant	1,400 - 1,599	410	425	415
Challenger	1,600 - 1,799	420	430	430
Rival	1,800 - 2,099	425	435	430
Duelist	2,100 - 2,399	430	440	445
Gladiator	2,400+	435	445	445

PvP Essences

Conflict and Strife allows you to use a predetermined Honor Talent in PvE and it's gated behind Rated PvP Season 3. The following steps are required to get it:

• Rank 1: Claim a weekly PvP War Chest.
• Rank 2: Reach 1,000+ rating then claim your next weekly PvP War Chest.
• Rank 3: Collect 15 Burgeoning Battlefield Furor from your weekly PvP War Chest.
• Rank 4: Reach the rank of Elite in the week then claim your next weekly PvP War Chest.

You can find a complete list of Season 3 Essences in this post.

A new affix, Essences, and rewards capped at item level 415 until July 16th await in Season 3.

[Cntrl 4]

1 hour ago, Stan said:

Mythic+ rewards will also go up by 30 item levels; however, during the first week of Season 3, rewards from end-of-run chests will be capped at Mythic 6 quality (item level 415), and the chest you open next week will contain Season 2 rewards if you do a Mythic+ run this week

Is the ending a typo? Because the following statement says if we do a +10 it won’t be capped but 440 ilvl

[Stan 5,021]

42 minutes ago, Cntrl said:

Is the ending a typo? Because the following statement says if we do a +10 it won’t be capped but 440 ilvl

The first week of Season 3 is July 9th. If you've done a Mythic dungeon the previous week, the chest on the 9th when Season 3 goes live will still contain Season 2 rewards. Items from Mythic+ runs and other sources will be capped at ilvl 415 until July 16th. The chest that you loot the second week of Season 3 when Mythic Eternal Palace opens won't be affected by the cap, going all the way up to 440, if you've completed a Mythic+10 the week of July 9th.

I'm assuming each week starts with the weekly reset on Tuesday, which makes sense, because you're still able to complete your weekly Mythic Keystone run before that.

[dasByte 2]

Eternal palace opens on the ninth... You will be able to get 430 starting the ninth for mythic 10s and heroic EP. This article makes it sound like you can only get 415 gear for the first week of s3

[jinsu2301 273]

2 hours ago, dasByte said:

You will be able to get 430 starting the ninth for mythic 10s

That is incorrect:

Quote

Mythic+ rewards will also go up by 30 item levels; however, during the first week of Season 3, rewards from end-of-run chests will be capped at Mythic 6 quality (item level 415),

 

[Yllana 3]

Does anyone already know how the essences from M+ will be handled? Will I receive the Rank 1 essence item at then end of the week depending on my Spec Role at that moment (opening the chest), or do I get all the Rank 1 essence items available for my class?

And If I do a M+7 in my first week do I get both the Rank 1 & 2 items? 

[ResoWho 68]

On 7/7/2019 at 7:23 PM, Stan said:

rewards from end-of-run chests will be capped at Mythic 6 quality (item level 415)

does that mean the items cant war- or titanforge higher then 415 ?

[Radek 9]

On 7/9/2019 at 9:47 AM, Yllana said:

Does anyone already know how the essences from M+ will be handled? Will I receive the Rank 1 essence item at then end of the week depending on my Spec Role at that moment (opening the chest), or do I get all the Rank 1 essence items available for my class?

And If I do a M+7 in my first week do I get both the Rank 1 & 2 items? 

Having done a 7 just now, I can confirm you get the Rank 2 item for your loot spec, which you can slot directly in to the forge - you don't need to have already gained the Rank 1.

Edited July 10, 2019 by Radek
Clarifying number of items and type.

[Yllana 3]

19 hours ago, Radek said:

Having done a 7 just now, I can confirm you get the Rank 2 item for your loot spec, which you can slot directly in to the forge - you don't need to have already gained the Rank 1.

Thanks for the information ? Good to know you get the item at the end of the dungeon, I read the original post as if you'd get it from the weekly chest