heart-of-the-valorous
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Heart of the Valorous returns this weekend
Heart of the Valorous, a buff increasing all valor point gains by 100%, will be active beginning Friday, August 8 at 10:00 a.m. PDT through Monday, August 11 at 9:00 a.m. PDT. For those of you keeping count, this is the fifth Valorous weekend so far.
Heart of the Valorous active this weekend
Heart of the Valorous returns yet again. The buff will be active starting Friday, July 11 at 9:00 a.m. PDT, through Monday, July 14 at 9:00 a.m. PDT. Heart of the Valorous increases all Valor Point gains by 100%. We're curious if these buffs will become a weekly occurrence until the release of Warlords of Draenor. While a Valor buff is certainly nice to have, it loses its luster with each repetition. If the intent of the buff is to keep people playing until Warlords, something more compelling will need to come along sooner or later.
Heart of the Valorous now live
So, in case you were wondering where that Heart of the Valorous buff was, here it is. From today (May 30th) till Tuesday, June 10th at 9:00 AM PDT, the Heart of the Valorous buff will be active. It increases all valor points gained by 100%, meaning that (as an example) a daily quest that grants five valor points will now grant ten - it's essentially double your normal valor point acquisition. All you have to do to earn valor at this rate is log on and do what you would normally do to gain it - there's no special item or requirement. So if you're trying to gear up a series of alts, now's basically the time to get on and play them. You have until June 10th, so get started.
Patch 5.4.8 and the wait for Patch 6.0
With patch 5.4.8 we're seeing a new way to achieve an old goal - allow players to get further in established content while it remains the most recent content available. In essence, with this patch, we will be able to buy slightly increased ability to progress with valor points. This isn't new - it's what the item upgrade system has always been. I've been thinking about the new item upgrades and the Deeds of Valor since they were announced. I haven't been able to play WoW as I'd like lately (health reasons) but one of the things that immediately came to mind when they announced Deeds of Valor was that this was an entirely new way to nerf raid content at the end of an expansion. Instead of a progressive buff to the players, or a progressive nerf to the bosses, we're seeing a mechanical way to spend valor points to gain the same ultimate aim. Making it possible to trade in your Timeless Coins for valor points is a good way for players who are flush from constant Timeless Isle grinding to convert them to something useful, and allowing players to upgrade items an additional 2 times (for a total of four upgrades) serves to nerf content without nerfing it. Everyone will be stronger, will hit harder, will have more mana for heals. I have some opinions about this, of course. Others have already expressed theirs - and to be fair I accept the basic premise that these are quality of life changes that will cease to matter in patch 6.0. And I'm okay with that, because again, I see this primarily as a way to nerf Siege of Orgrimmar without actually doing so. It gives us another valor dump, of course. But with changes like Heart of the Valorous (which won't be live when 5.4.8 drops) it feels as if valor itself is being made into a progression mechanic.
Patch 5.4.8 introduces Heart of the Valorous
In addition to the Valor Point changes mentioned earlier this week, the patch 5.4.8 PTR has enabled a passive buff called Heart of the Valorous. Heart of the Valorous appears to be baseline, applied to all players upon login, and increases Valor Point accrual by 100%. Every point of valor you earn will be doubled. That includes the new Deeds of Valor, increasing its value to 200 Valor Point per 3,000 Timeless Coins. Wowhead reports that Heart of the Valorous stacks with Valor of the Ancients. With both buffs active, a daily quest that normally awards 5 Valor Points yields 12 Valor Points instead.
