Low level PvP in Cataclysm, part 3
by Zach Yonzon 
Aug 8th 2010 at 6:00PM
Warlock
Warlocks get a playstyle overhaul as well, with the new soul shard mechanic that acts a spell booster. Using Soulburn will use up one of three soul shards and empower a few spells and grant them a special effect. Soul shards do not generally regenerate in combat. For the first two battleground brackets, expect warlocks to use Soulburn to achieve the following effects: summon a demon instantly, reduce the cast speed of Drain Life, allow Healthstones to increase health by 20% for 8 seconds, get automatic crits for Searing Pain, and affliction warlocks can use it to detonate Unstable Affliction. This list of abilities and secondary effects are still in flux, but the idea is that warlocks get a lot of utility from the soul shard mechanic, even at lower brackets.
Because life spans in battlegrounds are pretty short, expect warlocks to use Soulburn more often than normal in an effort to expend all soul shards before taking the next trip to the graveyard. This means a huge playstyle change for warlocks in battlegrounds -- a marked difference from boss encounters where they're likely to be conserving their soul shards for optimal DPS or even arenas where they need perfect prudence in burning up their limited resource. There's the threat of it becoming an imbalanced mechanic in the battleground environment, but it remains to be seen how the developers pace soul shard recovery.
Affliction - As mentioned, affliction warlocks get the excellent PvP spell Unstable Affliction at level 10. Although there are far fewer magical dispels at lower levels, the secondary effect should come in handy. Affliction warlocks have excellent health recovery with Soul Siphon (especially when burning a shard to expedite Drain Life) and Siphon Life. The downside is that affliction warlocks get their complementary Felhound pet one level past the lower level brackets.
Demonology - On the other hand, demonology warlocks get their big, burly bodyguards right out the gate. Although the developers are currently exploring the option to make Soul Link baseline, it's currently exclusive to demonology warlocks and should be available from the 20-29 bracket onwards. There's little by way of pet killing on the battlegrounds as compared to arenas, so talents such as Fel Synergy and Master Summoner are devalued, especially at lower levels.
Destruction - Destro locks get Conflagrate but the more interesting mechanics and talents lie deeper in the tree, such as uses for Soul Fire and soul shard refund through Shadowburn, which becomes available at level 30 in the current beta. Destruction warlocks seem much more squishy at these levels than either of the other two specs, and consequently unlikely to be popular in these brackets.
Warrior
Arms - I don't think players can get any more excited about Mortal Strike coming in at level 10. With healers getting a formidable complement of heals at low levels, Mortal Strike comes in handy to balance it out. Passive rage regeneration and more rage generated mean that arms warriors can dish out a lot of damage. The first two tiers of the current arms tree give warriors a few good PvP talents such as Blitz, Second Wind, and even Field Dressing. In the case of the latter -- bandages will come in pretty handy.
Fury - Fortunately for everyone else, fury warriors don't get Field Dressing until much later, so Bloodthirst won't benefit from it in the lower level brackets. Unfortunately, fury warriors also get Blood Craze on the first tier to compensate. This means a lot of passive self-healing going on through an offense. Fury warriors also get the PvP favorite Piercing Howl.
Protection - Tanks get Shield Slam, but the more exciting PvP-viable talents and abilities come much later. This means that the biggest benefit players can get from PvPing in protection spec are the basic tank bonuses such as more stamina and better defense against melee. At these levels, protection warriors are actually the strongest against melee
Low level fun
Low level PvP seems set to be incredibly fun, mostly because the battlefield will be incredibly diverse. In the current environment, most classes start out pretty homogeneously, with one or two specs being preferred for PvP due to the availability of key PvP talents. In the new environment, most specs should be well-represented as it will come down more to preferred playstyle rather than purely what is optimal or imbalanced.
Of course, part of what should make low level PvP exciting is the gear. The developers have a chance to create new low level items with the resilience stat, as well as make distinctive armor and weapons for low levels. In the current beta, there are newly designed gear that come from quests that look very good compared to the hodge-podge designs from when the game was new. If you choose the right rewards from quests, you'll emerge from the starting area looking rather spiffy -- a lesson developers learned from the death knight starting area in Wrath.
Hopefully, the developers do something similar with low level PvP gear. With a new honor and conquest reward system in place, players should have access to gear that feels rewarding. Early on, there should be a distinction between PvP and PvE items, further reinforcing the different feel of both playstyles. Given that the devs have shown care to redesigning low level gear, let's hope they pay as much attention to PvP itemization. It should go a long way towards encouraging new and leveling players to try out PvP.
The new system is exciting because any player regardless of spec will feel that they have something to contribute on the battlefield. At low levels, it's also not quite necessary to have a 'PvP spec' and most of the talent choices will be useful for both leveling and in the battlegrounds. There will be much more variety in terms of playstyles and strategies even in the lower brackets. The new specialization system should make low level PvP in Cataclysm the most fun it has ever been. All it takes is a little push and a few more incentives in the game to have all the players going at it full bore. But here's the kicker -- as fun as everything will be at lower levels, imagine how it's going to be at level 85, once players finally unlock all the possible abilities and skills. It's going to be pretty crazy.
Zach delivers your weekly dose of battlegrounds and world PvP in one crazy column. He's written a primer on how the new talent tree redesign affects PvP, how sub-speccing will work at higher levels, and how the new Azeroth will affect world PvP.
Warlocks get a playstyle overhaul as well, with the new soul shard mechanic that acts a spell booster. Using Soulburn will use up one of three soul shards and empower a few spells and grant them a special effect. Soul shards do not generally regenerate in combat. For the first two battleground brackets, expect warlocks to use Soulburn to achieve the following effects: summon a demon instantly, reduce the cast speed of Drain Life, allow Healthstones to increase health by 20% for 8 seconds, get automatic crits for Searing Pain, and affliction warlocks can use it to detonate Unstable Affliction. This list of abilities and secondary effects are still in flux, but the idea is that warlocks get a lot of utility from the soul shard mechanic, even at lower brackets.
Because life spans in battlegrounds are pretty short, expect warlocks to use Soulburn more often than normal in an effort to expend all soul shards before taking the next trip to the graveyard. This means a huge playstyle change for warlocks in battlegrounds -- a marked difference from boss encounters where they're likely to be conserving their soul shards for optimal DPS or even arenas where they need perfect prudence in burning up their limited resource. There's the threat of it becoming an imbalanced mechanic in the battleground environment, but it remains to be seen how the developers pace soul shard recovery.
Affliction - As mentioned, affliction warlocks get the excellent PvP spell Unstable Affliction at level 10. Although there are far fewer magical dispels at lower levels, the secondary effect should come in handy. Affliction warlocks have excellent health recovery with Soul Siphon (especially when burning a shard to expedite Drain Life) and Siphon Life. The downside is that affliction warlocks get their complementary Felhound pet one level past the lower level brackets.
Demonology - On the other hand, demonology warlocks get their big, burly bodyguards right out the gate. Although the developers are currently exploring the option to make Soul Link baseline, it's currently exclusive to demonology warlocks and should be available from the 20-29 bracket onwards. There's little by way of pet killing on the battlegrounds as compared to arenas, so talents such as Fel Synergy and Master Summoner are devalued, especially at lower levels.
Destruction - Destro locks get Conflagrate but the more interesting mechanics and talents lie deeper in the tree, such as uses for Soul Fire and soul shard refund through Shadowburn, which becomes available at level 30 in the current beta. Destruction warlocks seem much more squishy at these levels than either of the other two specs, and consequently unlikely to be popular in these brackets.
Warrior
Arms - I don't think players can get any more excited about Mortal Strike coming in at level 10. With healers getting a formidable complement of heals at low levels, Mortal Strike comes in handy to balance it out. Passive rage regeneration and more rage generated mean that arms warriors can dish out a lot of damage. The first two tiers of the current arms tree give warriors a few good PvP talents such as Blitz, Second Wind, and even Field Dressing. In the case of the latter -- bandages will come in pretty handy.
Fury - Fortunately for everyone else, fury warriors don't get Field Dressing until much later, so Bloodthirst won't benefit from it in the lower level brackets. Unfortunately, fury warriors also get Blood Craze on the first tier to compensate. This means a lot of passive self-healing going on through an offense. Fury warriors also get the PvP favorite Piercing Howl.
Protection - Tanks get Shield Slam, but the more exciting PvP-viable talents and abilities come much later. This means that the biggest benefit players can get from PvPing in protection spec are the basic tank bonuses such as more stamina and better defense against melee. At these levels, protection warriors are actually the strongest against melee
Low level fun
Low level PvP seems set to be incredibly fun, mostly because the battlefield will be incredibly diverse. In the current environment, most classes start out pretty homogeneously, with one or two specs being preferred for PvP due to the availability of key PvP talents. In the new environment, most specs should be well-represented as it will come down more to preferred playstyle rather than purely what is optimal or imbalanced.
Of course, part of what should make low level PvP exciting is the gear. The developers have a chance to create new low level items with the resilience stat, as well as make distinctive armor and weapons for low levels. In the current beta, there are newly designed gear that come from quests that look very good compared to the hodge-podge designs from when the game was new. If you choose the right rewards from quests, you'll emerge from the starting area looking rather spiffy -- a lesson developers learned from the death knight starting area in Wrath.
Hopefully, the developers do something similar with low level PvP gear. With a new honor and conquest reward system in place, players should have access to gear that feels rewarding. Early on, there should be a distinction between PvP and PvE items, further reinforcing the different feel of both playstyles. Given that the devs have shown care to redesigning low level gear, let's hope they pay as much attention to PvP itemization. It should go a long way towards encouraging new and leveling players to try out PvP.
The new system is exciting because any player regardless of spec will feel that they have something to contribute on the battlefield. At low levels, it's also not quite necessary to have a 'PvP spec' and most of the talent choices will be useful for both leveling and in the battlegrounds. There will be much more variety in terms of playstyles and strategies even in the lower brackets. The new specialization system should make low level PvP in Cataclysm the most fun it has ever been. All it takes is a little push and a few more incentives in the game to have all the players going at it full bore. But here's the kicker -- as fun as everything will be at lower levels, imagine how it's going to be at level 85, once players finally unlock all the possible abilities and skills. It's going to be pretty crazy.
Zach delivers your weekly dose of battlegrounds and world PvP in one crazy column. He's written a primer on how the new talent tree redesign affects PvP, how sub-speccing will work at higher levels, and how the new Azeroth will affect world PvP.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
finalmasterm Aug 8th 2010 6:14PM
Wonderful article. As an alt-a-holic and also a twink-a-holic, lowbie battlegrounds have always been my favorite stomping grounds. There aren't ever any AFKers in lowbie brackets, mostly everyone is working together to accomplish the BG, and by now, everyone should have an 80 to spoil their alts with heirlooms or some blue gear.
The latter isn't always the case as I still see people complain on the forums that even heirloom gear shouldn't be allowed in BGs and twinks ruin the fun of those leveling. Perhaps when a player enters level 10 they receive ingame mail from Thrall/Wrynn stating that battlegrounds are now open to them and also a reminder that going in at level 10 isn't very wise.
Grumblecakes Aug 8th 2010 7:12PM
I agree; low-level BGs are already my favorite. A friend and I once made characters and leveled them solely through PvPing. I fondly recall getting Ironman at level 22 on a discipline priest, after fearing them, bubbling, and running like heck. It quickly quieted the others complaining about having a level 22 in the BG. :)
woshiernog Aug 9th 2010 4:06PM
I really wish there was a battle ground just for lvl 10. Don't they already do that for max level?
Dreamstorm Aug 8th 2010 6:22PM
/troll
What about Death Knights?! D:
/end troll
Bain Aug 8th 2010 6:28PM
do not feed this troll
Magicslime Aug 9th 2010 9:28AM
I bet he's a troll dk.
ct Aug 8th 2010 6:47PM
Turning off xp gains would be great but then it bumps you into a different bg group, and for myself, there are no gains beyond a few rare level 19 wsg games.
Bossy Aug 9th 2010 2:53AM
You didn't understand the article here.
You only turn off experience when doing PVE. At certain intervals you turn it ON again when you go to BG's.
Good scheme would be: level to 34 (doing PVE SM, some open world quests etc), then do Bg's, at level 37 shut down experience and do the remaining dungeons and rewarding open world quests to get excellent gear. Then open up the experience again to do Bg's with superior gear and even some small enchantments.
The motivation to do this:you could combine it with PvP titles (Justicar/Conqueror). At level 34 I am good on my way to be honored in WSG already.
Several advantages: no end game threadmill, varied PvP possibilities open up while leveling and you "work" hard for the superiority. No grind either if you love doing BG PvP.
Try it, fun indeed, it could easely take you a year or more to even reach max level. Marvellous playing in my view.
ct Aug 8th 2010 6:48PM
*gains = games
MusedMoose Aug 8th 2010 6:49PM
I've been looking forward to doing quite a bit of PvP come Cataclysm, and I have to say, this has only fueled those particular fires. Being stuck in only Warsong Gulch for 10 levels doesn't sound so bad anymore. ^_^
krusty_burger Aug 8th 2010 7:09PM
too bad we get less talent points per bracket in cata: 6 points at 19 and 11pts at 29. that really slows stuff down.
Pelion Aug 8th 2010 7:26PM
That picture is full of win. "Oh boy!"
Noyou Aug 8th 2010 7:27PM
I will be partaking in the low lvl cata PvP as a druid and a shaman. I hope lots of new people also check out the PvP action but am afraid it will be met by a lot of /yelling noob this and noob that followed by language not suited for a PG-13 audience. But definitely a lot of good things to look forward to.
Rude Hero Aug 8th 2010 7:47PM
I love low-level battlegrounds. I'm excited about these changes, because it'll bring some of the more awkward and un-fun specs up a few notches.
The only time I get frustrated is when I look around at my team before the match begins and my grid is filled with numbers like 41, 42, 41, 40, 43, 44, 42... when we're in the 40-49 bracket. It's true that skill is greater than gear and level (and heirlooms can make up for being low-level to a certain extent)... but not *that* much better.
Coldhearth Aug 8th 2010 7:59PM
Wow, all these changes look incredible.
One thing I wish they would address is the level disparity in the brackets. Instead of 10-19, 20-29, they should change it to 10-14, 15-19, 20-24, 25-29, etc. With the battlegroups being merged anyway, I think it would be the perfect time to do it since there will be a larger playerbase to draw from.
Either that or simply remove hit cap in the lower brackets.
finalmasterm Aug 8th 2010 9:07PM
Breaking the Battlegroups up even more would only cause more grief. Longer queue times, different sets of gear to be considered twink at that bracket, etc. The change into world-wide BGs won't completely fix everything, just as exp gains didn't stop twinks.
Please name one good reason to break up battlegroups in sets of 5 other than the fact you're more likely to be grouped with people your own level.
Coldhearth Aug 8th 2010 9:30PM
@finalmasterm:
1. 80-85 is already going to create a bracket like this naturally. The 80-85 bracket. Why not just apply it to the other levels as well?
2. Q times won't be any longer than they are now. They are merging the battlegroups.
3. More players on the lower end of the brackets would be more inclined to play if they're not going to get facerolled.
4. Twink gear and how it would affect twinking is not my concern, just as they aren't Blizzard's concern. Best thing Blizzard ever done was remove them from the battlegrounds. If they really wanted to play other twinks, that playstyle would be alive and well. It isn't. They just wanted to roll lesser geared players. The fact they can't get games anymore is proof right there.
5. It would make BGs much more enjoyable for players on the lower end of the brackets and keep things less frustrating for players on the higher end.
yodarunamok Sep 2nd 2010 1:27PM
@Coldhearth:
Just wanted to contradict a couple of your assertions on twinks here.
1) Not all twinks are simply looking to roll lesser geared players. Were that the case, we wouldn't hear about impossible queue times for twinks now would we? On the contrary, there would be no twinks looking to play, and so the whole twink thing would have died quietly. The fact that there are twinks complaining means that there is a vocal minority that doesn't mind playing equals. (In the "old days", the most fun was rolling the twinks who were there to roll lowbies -- turns out there was a reason they only targeted lowbies :-p)
2) Also, perhaps Blizzard does care about twinks... One effect of merging battlegroups is liable to be lower queue times for twink BGs... And then, once again there would be meaningful PvP at low levels. Here's hoping.
Zoomer Aug 8th 2010 8:10PM
I'm glad to see that twinking may now be viable again from whatever realm you are on, and in experience off battlegrounds. Twinks got kind of a bad rap from casual players leveling up that entered battlegrounds and weren't as geared. Strangely enough the ultimate twinks are at level 80 (soon to be 85), and the same thing happens to any casual player that enters a battleground at endgame. Twinks are actually some of the most casual friendly (time wise) toons you can play. You can level, and gear up a competative twink in the lower brackets fairly quickly, and don't have to commit the countless hours required at endgame. I have a few old twinks I'm looking forward to playing again come Cataclysm.
finalmasterm Aug 8th 2010 9:04PM
It usually comes down in argument that non-twinks will get over it fast as they'll level while twinks wouldn't.
And at 80 there are still twinks, players who are in good arena teams or pvp frequently will better survive fresh level 80s, but that point is always ignored by those who complain about twinks in lower brackets.