Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsPatch 4.1: Blizzard explains new valor point mechanics
by Mathew McCurley 
Mar 18th 2011 at 5:30PM
Blizzard has finally commented on (and explained) the incoming valor point change, which will hopefully make gearing up and gaining valor points easier for players who don't have the time or want to play each and every night to run a random for their points. Lylirra explains:
Valor Points in Patch 4.1
Nope. In fact, this is exactly what we're doing in 4.1. :)
Right now, you receive 70 VP for the first random Cataclysm Heroic dungeon you complete each day. In 4.1, you'll receive 70 VP for the first seven random Cataclysm Heroic dungeons you complete each week. Similarly, you'll receive 140 VP for the first seven random Rise of the Zandalari Heroic dungeons (the new Zul'Aman and Zul'Gurub instances) you complete in the week, too. Collectively, you'll be able to earn up to 980 VP exclusively from Heroic dungeons, which in turn will count towards your weekly 1250 VP cap.
By transitioning random Heroic dungeon rewards from a daily format to a weekly one, we'll be able to give players more control and flexibility over how they can earn VP -- which is cool! -- but this also means that we've a lot more bookkeeping to do in terms of where those points are coming from. To help with that, we're adding a "Valor Point bar" (similar to an XP bar) to the top of Dungeon Finder UI that will track your weekly cap, as well as how many Heroics you can still run for VP during the week.
We're going to be writing up a pretty big blog about that system since it's somewhat complicated, but here's what you can take away right now:
Right now, you receive 70 VP for the first random Cataclysm Heroic dungeon you complete each day. In 4.1, you'll receive 70 VP for the first seven random Cataclysm Heroic dungeons you complete each week. Similarly, you'll receive 140 VP for the first seven random Rise of the Zandalari Heroic dungeons (the new Zul'Aman and Zul'Gurub instances) you complete in the week, too. Collectively, you'll be able to earn up to 980 VP exclusively from Heroic dungeons, which in turn will count towards your weekly 1250 VP cap.
By transitioning random Heroic dungeon rewards from a daily format to a weekly one, we'll be able to give players more control and flexibility over how they can earn VP -- which is cool! -- but this also means that we've a lot more bookkeeping to do in terms of where those points are coming from. To help with that, we're adding a "Valor Point bar" (similar to an XP bar) to the top of Dungeon Finder UI that will track your weekly cap, as well as how many Heroics you can still run for VP during the week.
We're going to be writing up a pretty big blog about that system since it's somewhat complicated, but here's what you can take away right now:
- In 4.1, running random Heroic dungeons for VP is now something you can do on your own schedule. Feel like spending your entire Saturday queuing up as random? No problem!
- The first seven random Rise of the Zandalari Heroics you run for the week will award 140 VP each. This is double the VP that you'll receive from your first seven random "tier 1" Cataclysm Heroics, since the dungeons are considered a "step up" in difficulty.
- You'll be able to randomly queue for the Rise of the Zandalari Heroics separately from the tier 1 Cataclysm Heroic dungeons.
- Each week you can earn up to 980 VP just by running random Heroic dungeons. If you want to maximize your VP gains, you can still reach the overall weekly cap of 1250 by defeating raid level content.
It looks like the amount of valor points you will be able to collect weekly will be 980, but to reach the cap you'll have to do some raiding.
This is an absolutely wonderful change and it's a fantastic quality-of-life change for all of us that like to play on our own time. Plus, you'll be able to chain some heroics with a great group and not have to hope for the perfect group each and every night. I like!
WoW Patch 4.1 is on the PTR and WoW Insider has all the latest news for you. From previews of the revamped Zul'Aman and Zul'Gurub to new Valor point mechanics to the new Archaeology items.
Filed under: Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 6)
pancakes Mar 18th 2011 8:12PM
This is a similar problem to what my guild is facing on live. We hit the daily cap very, very quickly on nights when we raid, and so a lot of XP from bosses goes to waste, but on days when we don't raid, we don't usually hit the cap.
LdyDrgn Mar 18th 2011 6:16PM
i think the way this reads is that there is a new weekly cap of 980 VP that can be earned through the dungeon finder. weithor it be tier 1 or tier 2 or any combination of the 2 tiers.
SINisterWyvern Mar 18th 2011 6:24PM
to earn the 980 cap you must do 7 tier 2 heroics or a combination of both.
Maybe someone who has done algebra in the last... 12 years can solve for all variations of
x(70) + y(140) = 980
Jorges Mar 18th 2011 6:26PM
Amazing and welcome changes.
Now, if only DPS queues were shorter =/
Mr. Crow Mar 18th 2011 6:27PM
Some updates from Lylirra on the thread spawned by this help to answer a lot of the questions asked in the comments:
http://blue.mmo-champion.com/topic/164622/abolish-the-daily-valor-points-from-heroics
Long story short: Yes, there will be a soft cap on 980 VP from Dungeon Finder, by design.
jp Mar 18th 2011 6:32PM
Ouch!
Queue times will skyrocket.
Mr. Crow Mar 18th 2011 6:39PM
I expect queues might be affected slightly by this, but not as dramatically as you might think. Players are playing at all times of the week. I think it's a very small portion of the tank-playing playerbase who are going to chain heroics together on Tuesday Night and then not tank heroics for the whole week after.
By that argument, tanks would only tank for the one heroic a day and then not tank at all afterward.
Suss Mar 18th 2011 6:32PM
I just hope Blizzard doesn't balance VP in 4.2 around the increased VP available in dungeons. If a chest now costs 2200, Blizzard should not up the weekly amount of VP a player can earn and then raise the price of the chest to 3300.
blkdrgn613 Mar 18th 2011 6:36PM
the problem with allowing the chaining of heroics is that most of the tanks will do their 7 on tuesday or wednsday leaving massive queues for the rest of the week
Amanda A. Mar 18th 2011 9:32PM
Who does 7 heroics in a row, even with no queue? I can't stand more than 2 or 3....
Xantenise Mar 20th 2011 2:28AM
@Amanda No, but there's still the possibility they might knock 'em all out over two or three nights and leave queues for the rest of the week hellish.
Neirin Mar 18th 2011 6:46PM
I'm glad that they are making the normal heroics and t2 heroics share the same 7/week cap (7x140 is 980, which was the stated cap on VP from heroics) rather than letting you completely cap just from heroics. Still, to reach 1250 only requires another 270 VP which is 3 raid bosses (4 on 10 man). Feels odd to me that someone clearing 12/12 would be getting the same number of points as someone who pugs BH, Magmaw, and Halfus. It's not so much the gear creep I mind, but at the end of the day if everyone has the exact same armor as you it feels a lot less special. The memories that led to getting the gear are why I still play WoW, but that didn't stop me from being sad that the t10 I worked my ass off for was worn by every single person in Dalaran by the end of Wrath.
omedon666 Mar 18th 2011 7:15PM
So... Stop "working" your ass off, play for fun, and stop grading the value of your fun by other people's progress?
Crazy, I know. It's worked for me!
Neirin Mar 18th 2011 8:19PM
I don't mind working my ass off if I like the work. Read the part where I said the reason I still play WoW is the memories of how I got my gear. However, when I work to earn something whether it be a raise or some extra pixels in WoW I want to feel like my work made a difference. I don't want some schmuck that had been lazing around for 3 months to get the same raise I had worked for because my company did some restructuring. Whenever something like that happens I have to look back at what I've done and ask "what was the point?" I could have spent that time I invested into something else and ended up at the same place. In WoW it's not as bad because I can get my enjoyment out of the journey, not just the destination, but every time I saw a rogue in full t10 pulling 3k dps in ICC with a 30% buff I was reminded that I hadn't really accomplished much more than that lazy schmuck and I don't think that's something anyone should be expected to enjoy.
Tonez Mar 18th 2011 7:20PM
Nice, now all they need to do is allow you to do your daily quest in a weekly format. For Example you could do 7 daily cooking quest in one day but no more than 7 per week.
michael.mosteller Mar 18th 2011 7:58PM
This is a good change for guilds that like to send the night running heroics instead of raiding. Also will help alts gear faster.
Desten Johnson Mar 18th 2011 8:04PM
The math behind the new reward system is confusing.
I am excited that i will finally get all my points on my one day off.
This change is make the wow experience much better for most casual players.
Hardcore as well.
This should be great fun!
Revynn Mar 18th 2011 8:59PM
Works for me. By the time I get home from work, eat dinner and put the kids to bed, I usually only have an hour or so before raid invites go out. If there isn't a tank in guild looking for people to queue with the minute I log on, I don't have time to finish my daily. On the other hand, Saturdays and Sundays are usually wide open.
I never liked the idea of getting raid gear from running 5-man's as it only serves to reinforce the "LFM Naxx weekly, 6.2K GS + achievement REQUIRED" or the "Yeah, I have 25M level gear and am totally ready to tank Hard Modes for you even though I've never set food inside a current raid instance" stupidity we saw towards the tail end of Wrath, but it seems to be a system that Blizzard refuses to abandon.
Kaphik Mar 18th 2011 9:08PM
The one downfall I see to this change is that it will enable me to play more alts and get them geared. Damn you Blizzard with your awesome changes! When am I supposed to do my laundry???
neminem Mar 19th 2011 1:20AM
That is... totally amazing. The ability to do randoms, get twice as many badges, and never get GB ever again? *And* not feel as guilty that I usually don't random during the week? I fail to see anything not to like about this, or any way this could be better (other than not having to heroic at all, to hit max badge cap... but that seems unlikely to happen any time soon).
Now I just have to hope the new dungeons won't be as annoying and add-ful as GB...