Arena Season 6 details revealed
Blizzard Europe poster Ancilorn posted the lowdown on Arena Season 6 (Bornakk posted the same on the US forums), which is slated to begin at around the same time that Patch 3.1 is released. There will be some key changes to this season, the biggest of which will be that all teams will start at 0 rating instead of the traditional 1500. This way, players will generally have an upward progression throughout the season before plateauing at their estimated skill level.
Another change is that Blizzard has reevaluated the item requirements, feeling that many of them were too difficult to obtain. The lowest rating requirement for an item is currently set at 1250, which may seem low but considering players will be progressing from 0, that's a 1250 point spread. In Season 5, the lowest rating requirement is 1615, which is a mere 115 points from the starting point of 1500. It remains to be seen how much of the continually changing Arena system will award points and how easy or hard it will be to move upwards from 0. More details on the ratings after the jump.
As with Season 5, all teams below 1500 will still earn points as though their team's rating was at 1500, allowing players to accumulate a decent amount of Arena Points while working their way to the required ratings. The current matchmaking system will still attempt to match teams against opponents at the same skill level, but the matchmaking rating will be transparent, appearing at the end of a match to give players an idea of where they are at. Hopefully these changes spark renewed interest in Arenas, which have seen its numbers decline sharply in Season 5.
Ancilorn listed the following items and expected rating requirements:
NO RATINGS REQUIRED
Hateful Gloves
Hateful Legs
Hateful Chest
Hateful Helm
Hateful Shoulders
Hateful Ring
Hateful Trinket
Deadly Bracer
Deadly Belt
Deadly Boots
Deadly Neck
Deadly Ring
Deadly Cape
Deadly Trinket
(Ancilorn didn't specify how these items would be purchased, although it's likely that the aforementioned gear will be available through Honor points)
RATINGS REQUIRED
1250+: Deadly Relics/Idols/Librams/Totems
1300+: Deadly Gloves
1350+: Deadly Legs
1400+: Deadly Chest
1450+: Deadly Helm
1500+: Deadly Shoulders
1400+: Furious Bracer*
1450+: Furious Belt*
1500+: Furious Boots*
1550+: Furious Neck*
1600+: Furious Gloves
1650+: Furious Ring*
1700+: Furious Legs
1750+: Furious Chest
1800+: Furious Trinket*
1850+: Furious Weapon
1900+: Furious Helm
1950+: Furious Wands/Relics/etc
2000+: Furious Cloak*
2050+: Furious Shoulders
2200+: 2nd Tier Furious Weapon
2300+: Furious Tabard
*purchased with Honor
Depending on how easy it is to move from 0 to 1250, this change can either be good or bad. Curiously, Deadly Gladiator weapons do not appear on the list but there appears to be a first tier of Furious Weapons obtainable at a formerly modest 1850. What's more significant is that there appears to be a second tier of Season 6 weapons available at 2200, with shoulders available at 2050. Hopefully the second tier of weapons 'evolve' from the first tier and aren't mere recolors. Traditionally, the shoulders have had the steepest requirement among the Arena PvP items, but a 2200 requirement -- an extremely prohibitive rating in any season -- now gives something truly functional and not just for show. On the other hand, the "awesome-looking" tabard that Kalgan promised is still at 2300, and only players at Gladiator-level of play will obtain it.
