wow The War Within Developer Group Interview Summary: April 16th

[Staff 1,382]

We had the opportunity to attend a group interview where developers answered some interesting questions about The War Within.

Production Director Michael Bybee and Senior Game Designer Sean McCann had a lot to say during the interview, thanks to many great questions from the many WoW community figures asking them!

• Delves:

  • Delves will be cross-faction.
  • There will be Warband-bound rewards from Delves.
  • Levels and Gear:
    • 11 difficulty tiers total, with tier 9 and above not offering any new loot, mainly for bragging rights.
    • Tiers 1 and 2 immediately selectable, 3 at max level, 4-11 when season 1 starts.
    • There might be higher tiers as well, some possibly with just a boos room.
    • Included in the Great Vault; gear for Tiers 8-9 equivalent to Mythic+5.
    • Most delves will have static maps, with the dynamic part being enemy spawns, treasures and similar.
      • The rotation of these dynamic changes are currently on a daily basis, but that may change as it's still being decided.
    • Unlimited entries, but restrictions on the number of rare and epic keys.
    • No downscaling in higher tier Delves, they can be outgeared.
  • Companions:
    • Brann progresses up to level 50, advancements shared with your Warbound.
    • Brann is the companion for Season 1, with different companions planned for future seasons.

• Warbands:

  • No account-wide gold, but you will be able to deposit your gold to the Warband bank, where other members can take it out.
  • Double click to log in Warband chars should be available, but not 100% sure yet.
  • No plans to add more than 4 characters in Warband screen.
  • Unclear if there will be additional poses and other options for the Warband screen, it's still being discussed.

• Events

  • More Holiday event updates, as there is now a "Live Team" that only focuses on the ongoing events in the game, including adding new ones like Azeroth Archives.
  • Each zone will have its own world event, and the Hallowfall one is particularly special (no details shred though).

• Itemization:

  • Discussions about Legendaries are not ready to be disclosed.
  • Aiming to broaden the sources for acquiring class sets in The War Within.

• Game Mechanics and Systems:

  • Archaeology: Not included at the launch of The War Within.
  • Dragonriding: Leaderboards considered for future updates but not confirmed.

• Professions:

  • NPC work orders for professions, mostly for skilling up.

• Raids and Mythic+:

  • Heroic week is coming back! Mythic difficulty will unlock a week after the raid releases once again.
  • Dungeon rotations from season to season will remain, as well as adding old ones in to the rotation.
  • Plans underway to enhance the soloability of Battle for Azeroth raids; details to be announced.
  • Mythic system has been reset: Mythic +10 is now the starting point.
  • Discussions ongoing for more affix combinations; no new affixes announced yet.
  • Raid testing coming later on in the Beta.

• Engine and Feature Updates:

  • Major updates include the Warbands system and improved ocean visuals at Isle of Dorn.
  • Overhaul of the Group Manager to simplify group coordination.
  • Follower Dungeons available from the start for leveling, allowing dungeons to be part of the zone story; potential expansion to include Follower Raids based on player feedback.

• Early Access and Launch:

  • Set to start at the end of the week with a Tuesday game launch.
  • New raid opening delayed to prevent early access advantages, ensuring no unfair benefits from the most expensive pre-order options.

• Customizations:

  • No new glyphs for character customization at launch, with a commitment to add more customization options throughout the expansion.
  • An idea for sharable links/codes for transmog setups was mentioned, and while they did not confirm it was being worked on, there was a seeming hint that it may be, even with the code showing where to get parts you're missing from the transmog set.

• Feedback and Development:

  • Evaluating player feedback on Brann’s performance in Delves and overall class balance in the Alpha.
     

You can check out all our War Within Alpha preview content in the hub.