Aloha! Summary of the Q&A with Ion Hazzikostas from yesterday, March 15, on the development and plans to be carried out in Battle for Azeroth.
Q & A Recap with Ion Hazzikostas March 15 - Battle for Azeroth
- The allied races Dark Iron Dwarves, Kul Tiran Humans, Mag'har Orcs, and Zandalari Trolls are confirmed in Battle for Azeroth.
- Blizzard plans to remove the Master Loot system entirely in favor of Personal Loot.
Allied races
- The Paladin Zandalari combination is likely in the future.
- Zandalari height increased by 10-15% during Alpha.
- The Allied Races will always come in pairs, it all comes down to faction balance.
- Humans of Kul Tiras will be an allied race in Battle for Azeroth.
- Mag'har means "incorrupt" in orc.
Weapons Artifact
- Once the pre-expansion patch is live, the Artifact will still be available, but the traits will be removed.
- Battle for Azeroth will be as friendly an expansion as Legion. The Azerite system will work in a similar way to artifact lore.
Character space
- Blizzard will increase the number of slots with the arrival of the new allied races.
Class balance
- If there is a class that does not contribute much, it is a problem that should be solved.
- Blizzard stopped adding new abilities to classes beyond MoP. If a skill fills a certain slot, it will add it, but having too many reference skills is confusing. Azerite Armor mods will work the same way as Active Skills / Legendary Items in Legion.
- It was not very comfortable to farm traits. It is a short-term sacrifice that you are making for the sake of balance. Two years from now, no one will remember that an ability was provided by an artifact weapon in Legion.
Customization options
- Non-Allied Races customization options are in the works, but there is no set time frame. The team is currently working on animations for the new allied races.
- There is no immediate plan at this time to add dynastic armor to Non-Allied Races, but it is a great idea. The team should figure out how to get them, as most players have non-allied races at max level. However, the identity of expression should be available to all races.
Brotherhoods
- Guilds automatically inherit all the characteristics of the community. Communities are "lighter" versions of guilds and are not meant to overshadow them.
Objects
- The ilv will allow for well-defined decisions about upgrades in Battle for Azeroth. The team doesn't want to go back to Legion, where secondary stats were prioritized over ilv.
Legendary
- Legendaries that are available to classes as skills / talents / passives in Battle for Azeroth will stack with Legendary Legion items equipped on your character, providing double the bonus during leveling.
Top level experience
- When you reach the max level in Legion, there is Suramar. In Battle for Azeroth, you can explore the entire continent of the opposing faction.
Mission table
- The quest table is returning to Battle for Azeroth. It is an outlet for war resources. No gigantic changes are planned. No more 12 hour missions to unlock content.
Mythical dungeons
- The system has worked well in Legion, no major changes are anticipated in Battle for Azeroth.
- Tyrannical and Reinforced affixes will move to Cornerstone level 2 to avoid uncomfortable power spikes.
- New level 10 affixes will be added soon. The team is experimenting with affixes like Blighted.
- The team wants to improve the interface.
Careers
- Changes to profession creation are coming in Battle for Azeroth. Skill point cap during expansions felt awkward and led to the removal of skill point requirements.
- Profession items tied to certain expansions are now separate categories such as Outland Blacksmithing.
- No skill point is required to start professions in Battle for Azeroth.
PvP
- Any plans to adjust CC in PvP in addition to its duration? If the CC is too limited, the game turns into DPS racing in PvP. Obviously, extremely long CCs are frustrating, but it's the result of being blocked by multiple players without being interrupted by your team. Many characters who possess instant CC are involved in this, because there is little to no counterattack and the team would like to solve it.
- Prestige rewards in Battle for Azeroth include titles and cosmetic items.
- In the future world defense will return to the RP-PVP realms with the new war system.