arenas
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Arena gear swapping looking at a nerf
Currently, in Arena matches, once in the arena, you can still swap your gear before combat starts. Why would you want to do this? There is an immense amount of difference in what my resto Shaman can do depending on whether he's wearing his healing gear of his damage gear, and being able to choose my set after I've seen the other team can be an advantage.Too much of an advantage, says Blizzard. Even though they haven't changed things on the PTRs yet, Drysc says that when DoTs are affected by resilience, Arena players will no longer be able to swap their gear once inside. Apparently the reasoning is that when opposing players see a Warlock/Shadow Priest combo, they real quick switch on their shadow resist gear, and so casters are hoping for a nerf to gear swapping to come at the same time the DoT resilience shows up (which is what Drysc promises).It's an interesting little QQ session, and like all good PvP worries, it means a whole lot to the people who are affected by it, and not much to anyone else. Still, nerfing gear swapping seems like a big change to make just to deal with folks who are trying to duck shadow damage in 2v2 Arenas. But it seems like, as soon as 2.2, Blizzard might be telling arena players to pick a set and stick to it.
What we learned from BlizzCon
Here it is-- a comprehensive, one-post guide to everything we learned at BlizzCon 2007. From Alleria to Zul'Aman, it's all here. Everything we know about Death Knights, Wrath of the Lich King, what's happening in Azeroth between now and the next expansion release, what Blizzard thinks about midlevel content, and how they're going to deal with the AFKers in Alterac.From top to bottom, in alphabetical order, here's every single new thing WoW Insider learned (and confirmed-- no speculation here) in Anaheim this weekend. If you have questions or additions, add them below, and I'll either update the list, or answer them to the best of my knowledge. Enjoy.
A few details on Arena Season 2
It was recently announced that the second Arena season would be starting on June 12th, and now we have a few details about the new Gladiator items that will come along with the new season (courtesy of Drysc):Yes, new Arena weapons are included. All of the current items will see new versions for season 2, with some new additions. The new honor rewards will be new versions of the epic items (boot, belt, bracer). A new back-slot item won't be added, but a new ring will be available. The arena set items are always intended to match their equivalent tier sets in appearance to easily link them through visual recognition to their PvE counterparts. Arena season 1 item cost reduction will be about 15%. There are more healing-centric items planned for season 2. I honestly hadn't noticed the similarity between arena items and tier items, but it makes sense. That's not a very big cost reduction: gloves, for instance, will go from 1125 to 956 arena points or so. I was expecting a much bigger discount. With prices like that I don't predict many people will opt to buy the season one items, unless it's to get set bonuses.One more tidbit that's come to light about arena seasons is that it is currently planned to keep two seasons' worth of items available at all times. That is to say, when Season 3 comes out, Season 1 items will no longer be available (though Season 2 items will be). [via World of Ming]
PTR notes: All PvP gear upgraded
My previous post on this topic seems to have been a little misguided; apologies for that. With today's PTR patch it would appear that Blizzard have upgraded the PvP items for real, including Arena weapons and armor as well as honor rewards. The weapons seem to have gained somewhere in the range of 1-4 DPS, and World of Raids has great comparison pics of the stats on live vs. the new PTR stats for all the upgraded gear. This patch also hit items from Kazzak and Doomwalker, as well as some of the Lower City rep rewards.These are much more substantial buffs then what I had previously reported; the new Arena items' item level is 123 as compared to 115 on the current live realms. For reference, Karazhan (T4) items are now ilvl 120 (up from 105), with Serpentshrine/Eye (T5) items at 133 (from 120); those changes were made in an earlier PTR patch. The new Arena items are still between T4 and T5, but they have received a fairly solid boost. And yes, Multikast, the War Staff is on there.
PTR notes: Arena weapons buffed slightly
In the wake of the sweeping PvE epic buffs in a recent PTR patch, we've expected corresponding buffs to the PvP epics. Well, they're here (partly), but they don't correspond as well as I would like. While Karazhan epics were buffed by 15 item levels, taking them from ilvl 100 to 115, Arena weapons were buffed by a mere 2, going from ilvl 115 to 117. Essentially, this puts them between T4 and T5, much closer to T4.Stats-wise, this seems to mean a gain of under 1 DPS (depending in the weapon), as well as sometimes small quantities of other stats (I'm talking things like 2 AP here). No question, gladiator weapons did not get buffed anywhere near as much as raid epics. As far as I can tell, the gladiator armor has not been buffed yet, but I'm sure it will be. What do you guys think about this? Reaction in the forums ranges from outrage to smug satisfaction, apparently based on whether the poster PvPs much or not.[via Shadow Gaming]Here's all the new stats on the weapons:%Gallery-3107%
Arena titles revealed
I've just got a small news update today, while the 2.1 background downloader chugs away. When last we spoke of Arenas, Drysc didn't know what exactly the Arena titles would be, nor what percentages of people would get them. Wonder no more, for here they are:Q: What ranks can we earn? A: There will be 4 titles total for players to earn. The ranking needed for each Arena title is as follows: (Rankings are based by Battlegroup): % - .5%: Gladiator (and Armored Nether Drake sent in mail) .5% - 3%: Duelist 3% - 10%: Rival 10% - 35%: Challenger Sadly, I'm fairly sure my PvP skills are not elite enough to even make me a Challenger. Oh, and by the way, the Armored Nether Drake requires 375 300 riding skill, the same as the regular epic flyers, so get your farm on if you don't have the skill or 5000 gold already (and are in the top half-percent of Arena fighters on your battlegroup).These titles are nice and all, but seeing as PvE is my main focus, I'd like to see some more PvE-oriented titles, along the lines of "Scarab Lord." Maybe special titles for raiders who are at the forefront of a realm's progression, or for killing a bazillion of a certain type of mob, or completing every quest in a zone. In general, I'd like to see WoW take some inspiration from LoTRO's excellent titling system. What titles would you like to see?
New Arena items every season
Alright, this is a little surprising. Aeus, from the European WoW forums, is now telling us that all the Arena rewards will be updated every Arena season, and the items for the upcoming season 2 are already created and ready to go. Of course, we still don't know when season 2 is, but it's bound to happen sometime. The reason this surprises me is that the CMs have previously said that Arena itemization would be tied into PvE progression, such that the Arena rewards would be commensurate with the epics people were getting from raids; that implied that there wouldn't necessarily be new items every season. I'm pleased with this change, though; new items seem vital to keep people interested in the Arena system. Here's what Aeus had to say, in full: With the recent addition of Arenas, we thought we'd share some information to try and answer some player questions as well as address concerns: There should be no downtime between Arena Season 1 and Arena Season 2. Arena Season 2 is planned to start the week right after Arena Season 1 ends. There are plans to update all Arena items with each new Arena season. The items for Arena Season 2 are already done and ready to go. Players will be able to save up to 5.000 Arena points at any one time, and currently we do not plan to reset these points with the start of a new Arena Season. The top 0.5% of the teams of each bracket will receive the Netherdrake epic flying mount, as well as the top Arena title. This means that the top 0.5% of the teams in the 2v2 bracket, the top 0.5% of the teams in the 3v3 bracket, and the top 0.5% of the teams in the 5v5 bracket will all receive the Netherdrake and the title. Every player on these top teams who has played at least 20% of the total games of the team for the Arena Season will receive these rewards. There will be 4 titles total for players to earn. The highest ranked title is for the top 0.5% of the teams. The specific % needed for the remaining 3 ranks will be revealed as they become finalised. This in-game Arena Season is completely separate from the Arena Tournament. Tournament qualifiers will not receive a Netherdrake mount by default
Arena teams fight for the top spot
This week, Blizzard has highlighted the top US 5v5 arena teams (one from each battlegroup). These teams are currently competing for spots in the first ever arena tournament. Included are Power Trip from Bloodlust/Tichondrius, Fuddruckers from Cataclysm/Auchindoun, Outplayed from Cyclone/Daggerspine, Front Line Assembly from Emberstorm/Tortheldrin, ATM from Frenzy/Area 52, C A P S L O C K C R E W from Nightfall/Kel'Thuzad, Dejthstoneibilyfunecima from Rampage/Cho'gall, Portable Hotdog Steamers from Reckoning/Smolderthorn, Rerolled from Ruin/Azgalor, The Challenge from Shadowburn/Dark Iron, Yea We Lift from Stormstrike/Mal'Ganis, The Fighting Mongooses from Vengeance/Mug'thol, Clan HeX from Vindication/Lightning's Blade, Game blouses from Whirlwind/Cenarius. In the end, the tournament will determine the best PvP team in the world (of Warcraft and otherwise) -- so good luck to all competitors![Thanks, Dark Yoshi]
Arena rewards pages
Interested parties have probably already gone up to Area 52 to check out the arena rewards vendor, but this may be a little more convenient. Blizz have posted pages on the arena weapons and armor available for purchase with arena points, and they look pretty sweet (although not as overwhelmingly awesome as the top-rank PvP stuff was pre-BC). One thing that always surprises me a little bit is how much resilience is scattered all over PvP gear. All the sets have +35 resilience as a 2-piece bonus; according to WoWWiki, 39.4 resilience at level 70 gives -1% to be crit and -2% damage done by crits against you. All in all, the priest sets have 156 resilience (other sets, at a glance, look to have similar values), which is a 3.96% lower chance to be crit (and twice that knocked off crit damage against you). More and more, it seems PvP is about crits, both scoring and avoiding them. I guess crits were pretty important before, but this resilience bonanza makes it more obvious.
Breakfast Topic: Best Arena Group Composition
If you wish to compete in arena PvP matches in the expansion, you'll have to be part of an arena team. Formed and organized similarly to guilds, these teams will have a set membership and a maximum size (4 for 2v2 arenas, 6 for 3v3 arenas, or 10 for 5v5 arenas). So the question is - what's the best class makeup for an arena group? I'm considering a priest/hunter team - but more because my best in-game friend plays a hunter than because I think it's the perfect class combination. I honestly can't decide on the best combination for these arena battles. Would you attempt to stack multiples of powerful classes - a pair or trio of shadow priests, for example. Or try to cover all of your bases with hybrid classes - pairing a druid off with a shaman or paladin. So what do you think the ideal class balance will be for these arena matches - and do you have your dream team ready to go yet?
More Details on the Arena System
We didn't know much about the upcoming arena PvP system that's coming with the expansion. However, this afternoon CM Drysc graced us with some additional details on how the arenas will work, and a bit about how the new ranking system will work - and how Blizzard is trying to make these arenas an even playing ground. So without further ado, here's what we know about the arena: When a player enters an arena battle, all buffs and conjured items are purged/deleted. This is done to ensure no outside buffs or items from members outside of your team are able to be used in an arena battle. No consumables other than bandages and conjured items can be used while in the arena. There will be a waiting area similar to the current battlegrounds where players on the team will be able to conjure items and cast buffs. Abilities/spells/items with cooldowns longer than 15 minutes cannot be used while in the arena. Each arena team will be given a rating, and will be matched up in the arena queue against teams of a similar rating (matching within that specific cross-realm battlegroup). As time progresses the matching system will broaden its search up to a limit if a closely rated team cannot be found. Ratings adjustments are made in the same way that ELO ratings adjustments are made. This system works by adjusting each arena team's rating from a specific match based on the rating of the team they are up against. If a team wins against a team of a higher rating, the increase of their arena rating would be much higher than if they had won against a team of a lower rating. This system will help promote players improving their skill and besting teams which may have previously held the top spots. At the end of each week, characters receive arena points based on their team's rating. A team must have fought a minimum number of battles for the week, which we have announced as currently set to 10 games. A player must have played in at least 30% of the team's battles that week in order to be eligible to receive arena points. Each eligible player will then receive a fraction of the teams total awarded points to spend on arena rewards. Players may spend their points on arena rewards, or save their points until they have enough to get the rewards they desire. There is a limit to the number of points a player can stockpile, which is currently planned to be as high as the most expensive item. At the end of a season, players on a team are given a title based on their team's relative position on the ladder which will last through the next arena season. [Fan art by Guillaume Bonnet]
