Arena Season 6 details revealed
by Zach Yonzon 
Mar 25th 2009 at 8:00PM
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.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Lady Sith Mar 25th 2009 8:07PM
Pfffttttt!!! Arc mage & Aff/Dem Warlock stands no chance against a team of DKs.
Where's the love?
T Mar 25th 2009 8:24PM
WOW!!! You're first!!!!!!!! I'D BE TYPING THIS IN 40 POINT FONT IF COULD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lady Sith, we're proud to notify you that posting first in this thread has won you a brand new bass fishing boat and a life time supply of those little cans of beans and weiners. You've also won a free lifetime subscription to World of Warcraft, along with all the clothes, food, and alcohol you can eat, wear or drink (maybe not in that order) for the rest of your natural life.
This truly must be the pinnacle of your life. Really, there is no where to go from here but down. Unless you like bass fishing.
I mean really, what are you going to do with yourself now that you've reached the pinnacle of human achievement? Go to Disneyland? Buy a mansion and do nothing but hookers and blow for the rest of your days?
Wow, and it is an honor and a privilege to be with you in this thread on this epic day. I mean, forget about getting married, having kids, or even taking a well planned relaxing dump. You've surpassed all that tonight on WoWInsider.
Ashley Mar 25th 2009 8:51PM
Arenas are so unbalanced, when you first set eyes on your opponents in the arena, the worst first thought you should have is "OK this isn't going to be easy", yet if your a caster, you often feel you may as well /kneel, /cry and take your punishment for not rolling a melee. So then melees get arena gear faster, making it even more unbalanced.
Teams which have little chance in an arena should get a arena only buff of some kind like you do in WG when your fraction is outnumbered.
Lady Sith Mar 25th 2009 9:28PM
Hahaha thanks to downvoting my "FIRST" post. I was conducting an experiment, I wanted to see how those idiotic first posters must feel like when they post FIRST.
Anyway, back on topic.... we do win with our combo once in a while, we once won 10 in a row, we figured it's either because we've gotten better or that the teams were really shiet or that luck was on our side. LOL
Kakistocracy Mar 25th 2009 10:01PM
Lol, I also ran a mage/ affliction lock arena team, only most of the time I never bothered to respec from frostfire.
Lady Sith Mar 25th 2009 10:08PM
Yeah we used to play 2 Frost Mage team back in TBC and pwning most of the time. But when WotLK came out, he decided to play his lock and my mage. Failed with the frost mage so when I respecced to Arcane, we've been killing everything. He's usually my sacrificial lamb since he has 20k HP and I only have 16k lol.
On another note, I wish WG was on every hour!
nota Mar 26th 2009 1:17AM
to T
i love you your response was an inspiration to trolls everywhere, please for the love of god keep up the good work
F0REM4N Mar 26th 2009 9:58AM
Again about the number of TEAMS on the decline. Please quit acting like arena is dying Zach. I hope on the insider show this at least gets mention.
In regards to the post yesterday about number of arena teams on the decline - Please remember that the new rating system punishes team hopping and new teams for their first 50 games or so. This cut down significantly on the number of teams being created, ie total teams.
I would venture a guess that the number of actual players, not total teams, is relatively the same.
Noscy Mar 25th 2009 8:09PM
Lets just hope its an absolute zero starting point, negative ratings will just drive more away.
T Mar 25th 2009 8:25PM
Given Blizzard's handling of Arenas in the past, the idea of a negative rating has probably never occurred to them. Tons of teams will go negative and then that will require a patch to fix it.
Or, negative ratings are possible and Blizzard will respond that it is working as intended. They'll stick to that even when teams somehow manage to win against a superior team yet still get points docked.
Another season, another round of mystery mathematics and questionable programming.
Malody Mar 25th 2009 8:32PM
ur sub 0? lmao
Dreadskull Mar 25th 2009 8:34PM
Go figure that they're trying something new to try and get more players to play the arena.
Still seems like it'll be the same stuff, just with different numbers.
sephirah Mar 25th 2009 8:43PM
Let me understand... they lost 65% of arena teams and they want to introduce a system in which teams must slowly grind AR from 0 and give them, should they reach 2300 AR... a tabard?
Memzer Mar 25th 2009 10:02PM
With the changes made to the matching system the competition for rating starts at a much lower point than it did in previous seasons. In the bloodlust battlegroup you can expect to see teams wearing full 25m T7 from 1200+, full hateful or hateful w/ some deadly at 1500+ and full deadly at around 1750-1800.
People with less than 25mT7 or a full blue PvP set will stand absolutely no chance against these teams and are thus forced to loose a high percentage of matches until they begin competing against people with comparable gear. Loosing a large number of matches like this is obviously discouraging to people new to the arena and ultimately reduces the chance they'll come back.
epic Mar 27th 2009 9:07AM
good, they won't be missed
havitech Mar 25th 2009 8:50PM
How cool would it be if all the time and energy put into this hopeless system was instead spent on... 'gasp'.... content!
Dart Mar 25th 2009 9:01PM
A lot of new content is coming out.
Chill out havitech, they want to fix the most broken part of WoLTK, let them.
havitech Mar 25th 2009 9:04PM
Arenas aren't broken, they are just a bad idea period.
Battlegrounds, on the other hand, are broken. I think Blizzard would please many more people than they would make upset if they just dumped arenas all-together and reworked the battleground system.
Nadril Mar 25th 2009 9:10PM
Myself, and numerous others, would quit WoW if they dropped arenas. I swear, I hate that every single post about arenas there is always those people who feel the need to shout out REMOVE ARENAS BECAUSE I'M BAD AT THEM AND THEY HURT PVE. Perhaps I should start saying that blizzard should remove raiding in raid posts?
On topic, this is interesting. I hope that the point gain is faster under 1500 or it could get tedious.
sephirah Mar 25th 2009 9:22PM
@Nadril
"Perhaps I should start saying that blizzard should remove raiding in raid posts?"
Would blizzard start to nerf your dps, healing or whatever due to raid balance, you surely should.