WoW Insiderhttp://wow.joystiq.comWoW Insiderhttp://wow.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gifWoW Insiderhttp://wow.joystiq.comen-usCopyright 2015 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only.Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/WoW Insider ShowEvery week, the WoW Insider Show brings you news and views from the World of Warcraft and the site that covers it all, WoW Insider. We introduce a panel of rotating guests, including bloggers from WoW Insider and other WoW blogs, and many popular personalities from around the WoW community. From the live listener chat and polls during the show, to the emails direct from listeners (reach us at theshow@wow.com), right on to the "meat" of the show -- in-depth discussion of the most popular news and posts on WoW Insider -- the WoW Insider Show is a terrific source of news and entertainment about what's going on with Blizzard and their World of Warcraft. Listen live every Saturday at 3:30 pm Eastern on our Ustream page (http://www.ustream.tv/channel/wow-insider-show) or subscribe to the feed and let us know what you think by reviewing the show right here in iTunes.Warlords of Draenor PvP: Everything is awesome!http://wow.joystiq.com/2014/02/19/warlords-of-draenor-pvp-everything-is-awesome/http://wow.joystiq.com/2014/02/19/warlords-of-draenor-pvp-everything-is-awesome/http://wow.joystiq.com/2014/02/19/warlords-of-draenor-pvp-everything-is-awesome/#commentsFiled under: , ,

I was already excited for PvP in Warlords of Draenor. I was already looking forward to the stat squish and the ability squish and the changes to casting while moving and the lowering of CC. Senior PvP Designer Brian Holinka has been tweeting about the internal testing in 6.0 environments, and I was already excited. You had me at the squish, Blizzard. You already had me.

And now, the latest PvP blog's arrival has basically blown my mind. If you missed it, WoW Insider published a short summary of the key changes. Skirmishes are in, Trial of the Gladiator is out. Spectator invitations are in, for wargames, as well as an API allowing addon creators to build interfaces around the invitations. And all these are really, really exciting changes.

Before you accuse me of being overly positive, I've been critical of PvP this expansion, highly critical in places, because I think it's had real problems. And it has -- it's fair to say that Mists of Pandaria has been an expansion of experimentation for PvP, and as is often the case with experiments, some are more successful than others.

Continue reading Warlords of Draenor PvP: Everything is awesome!

WoW InsiderWarlords of Draenor PvP: Everything is awesome! originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 19 Feb 2014 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>arenaarena-guidearena-stratsarena-tipsarenasfeaturedguidehow-to-play-battlegroundshow-to-pvppvp-guidewarlords-of-draenorwarlords-of-draenor-featureswarlords-of-draenor-gearwarlords-of-draenor-pvpwow-arenawow-arena-guidewow-guideOlivia GraceWed, 19 Feb 2014 20:00:00 ESTWhy do we still have separate PvP and PvE gear?http://wow.joystiq.com/2014/01/29/why-do-we-still-have-separate-pvp-and-pve-gear/http://wow.joystiq.com/2014/01/29/why-do-we-still-have-separate-pvp-and-pve-gear/http://wow.joystiq.com/2014/01/29/why-do-we-still-have-separate-pvp-and-pve-gear/#commentsFiled under: , ,

While seeking out questions to a Queue I wrote, I was asked by a Twitter follower why we had separate PvE and PvP gear in the first place. A question I love, and that I wouldn't be able to respond to briefly enough for The Queue. I'm not going to go into a complete, exhaustive history of PvP gear. For starters, I didn't play in Classic, so I can't really comment on the gear then, but I gather that there was a lot more overlap between the two.

Then, with Burning Crusade, back in 2006, the combat rating system and Resilience were both introduced, along with arenas. PvP gear was born. It's been through many different iterations since then -- too easy to get, too hard to get, too bad for PvE, too good for PvE, different effects, stat budgets, you name it. But history, while it merits repetition, shouldn't have too much bearing on this question in today's game.

Continue reading Why do we still have separate PvP and PvE gear?

WoW InsiderWhy do we still have separate PvP and PvE gear? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 29 Jan 2014 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>arenaconquestflexgearhonorlfrpvepve-gearpvegearpvppvp-gearraidingsame-gear-for-pvp-and-pveseparate-gear-for-pvp-and-pvevalorOlivia GraceWed, 29 Jan 2014 20:00:00 ESTPatch 5.4.7 PTR: 5 minute Dampening reverted to 10 minutes for 3v3 and 5v5http://wow.joystiq.com/2014/01/28/patch-5-4-7-ptr-5-minute-dampening-reverted-to-10-minutes-for-3/http://wow.joystiq.com/2014/01/28/patch-5-4-7-ptr-5-minute-dampening-reverted-to-10-minutes-for-3/http://wow.joystiq.com/2014/01/28/patch-5-4-7-ptr-5-minute-dampening-reverted-to-10-minutes-for-3/#commentsFiled under: ,

Community Manager Lore has delivered some news to the official forums that has made me rather cheerful.
Lore
After some additional discussion, we've decided to make this change only apply in the 2v2 bracket. Dampening will remain at 10 minutes in 3v3 and 5v5 arenas.

I've been posting a lot about this potential change, since Senior PvP Designer Brian Holinka tweeted about it a while back when changes went in by accident after BlizzCon. And while I am still not a fan of the change, I can agree with it way more in 2v2 than in 3v3 or 5v5.

Why is that? Well, in 2v2, especially in healer-DPS versus healer-DPS, matches can go on longer, and even result in draws far more often than in the other sizes. Simply, a healer is not designed to be easily killable by a single DPS. As a result, it's harder work to take them down in 2v2. I won't pretend that I like the Dampening system, but it's better at 5 minutes in 2v2 for (hopefully) just one season.

What we don't know yet is just how far it will go.

Continue reading Patch 5.4.7 PTR: 5 minute Dampening reverted to 10 minutes for 3v3 and 5v5

WoW InsiderPatch 5.4.7 PTR: 5 minute Dampening reverted to 10 minutes for 3v3 and 5v5 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 28 Jan 2014 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>arenaarena-guidearena-stratsarena-tipsarenasbreakingbrian-holinkadampeningguidehow-to-play-battlegroundshow-to-pvppvp-guidethe-crowd-chose-youwow-arenawow-arena-guidewow-guideOlivia GraceTue, 28 Jan 2014 13:00:00 ESTHow can Blizzard improve Honor with Warlords?http://wow.joystiq.com/2014/01/17/how-can-blizzard-improve-honor-with-warlords/http://wow.joystiq.com/2014/01/17/how-can-blizzard-improve-honor-with-warlords/http://wow.joystiq.com/2014/01/17/how-can-blizzard-improve-honor-with-warlords/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

If you read my recent initial PvP gearing post, you'll know that we're in a bit of a strange situation right now with earning honor. Honor points are the points for the mid-level PvP gear, where the entry level is crafted gear and the top level is Conquest gear. They are currently not earned at their best rate via PvP. Instead, in order to maximise your Honor point gains and gear up with Honor gear as quickly as possible, players would be best advised to do a few different things.

First up, you should farm the three rares in the opposing faction's Krasarang base. They drop 275 honor per kill, more if you have a Guild Standard or similar. Their respawn time averages out at around 30 minutes. There are sometimes oQueue realm-hopping groups, which, while frowned upon by many, are the most efficient ways to farm them.

Other than that you should do Wintergrasp and Tol Barad whenever they're up, they're usually deserted and an easy way to get some fast honor. And if that all seems too much waiting around doing nothing, then you can farm Justice Points by running heroic dungeons, and converting them to honor. Yes that was changed with patch 5.4 to be less efficient, but it's still far more reliable than what you should be doing: random battlegrounds. Yes, your first win of the day is worth getting, it nets you conquest points too, but if it takes you five tries to win one, you're wasting your time.

Continue reading How can Blizzard improve Honor with Warlords?

WoW InsiderHow can Blizzard improve Honor with Warlords? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 17 Jan 2014 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>arenaarena-guidearena-stratsarena-tipsarenasfeaturedguidehonor-pointshow-to-play-battlegroundshow-to-pvppvp-guidewarlords-of-draenorwow-arenawow-arena-guidewow-guideOlivia GraceFri, 17 Jan 2014 09:00:00 ESTBattlegrounds in 5 seconds: Deepwind Gorge, Temple of Kotmogu, Silvershard Mineshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2014/01/13/battlegrounds-in-5-seconds-deepwind-gorge-temple-of-kotmogu-s/http://wow.joystiq.com/2014/01/13/battlegrounds-in-5-seconds-deepwind-gorge-temple-of-kotmogu-s/http://wow.joystiq.com/2014/01/13/battlegrounds-in-5-seconds-deepwind-gorge-temple-of-kotmogu-s/#commentsFiled under: ,

One of the things which came up from my earlier posts about the basics and mentality of how to PvP, as well as the initial gearing and more in-depth gearing post, was that it might be helpful for some players to put together a Bosses in 5 seconds-style guide for battlegrounds. No, I'm not going into in-depth strategy here, that's something for another day, these are just quick, light guides for each BG to help someone out who has no idea what they're doing.

Deepwind Gorge
  • First team to 1600 gold wins.
  • Capturing mines earns gold per mine per second.
  • There are three mines in a line. From north to south, Pandaren, Center, Goblin.
  • Horde have a minor advantage capping the Goblin mine, Alliance with the Pandaren mine.
  • Carts can be picked up by clicking them. Picking up a cart removes 200 gold from your opponent's total, capturing the cart adds 200 gold to yours. If they return the cart before it's captured, they get that 200 gold back.
  • You pick up the cart in the opposing faction base, and carry it all the way back to your own base. Killing the cart carrier makes them drop it, then it can be picked up or returned. Some speed boosts work while you're pulling the cart.
  • Priority to win: Hold 2 bases, prevent the enemy from capturing your cart, capture the enemy cart. More detail here.

Continue reading Battlegrounds in 5 seconds: Deepwind Gorge, Temple of Kotmogu, Silvershard Mines

WoW InsiderBattlegrounds in 5 seconds: Deepwind Gorge, Temple of Kotmogu, Silvershard Mines originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 13 Jan 2014 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>arenaarena-guidearena-stratsarena-tipsarenasbattlegrounds-in-5-secondsdeepwind-gorgefeaturedguidehow-to-play-battlegroundshow-to-pvppvp-guidesilvershard-minestemple-of-kotmoguwow-arenawow-arena-guidewow-battleground-guidewow-guideOlivia GraceMon, 13 Jan 2014 09:00:00 ESTWarlords of Draenor: A peek at Diminishing Returns changeshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2014/01/10/warlords-of-draenor-a-peek-at-diminishing-returns-changes/http://wow.joystiq.com/2014/01/10/warlords-of-draenor-a-peek-at-diminishing-returns-changes/http://wow.joystiq.com/2014/01/10/warlords-of-draenor-a-peek-at-diminishing-returns-changes/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Senior PvP designer Brian Holinka has been on Twitter today clarifying the changes to diminishing returns in Warlords of Draenor. Along with the recently posted indications of changes to CC, Community Manager Lore tweeted and then posted about the changes to DR, or Diminishing Returns:

Lore
One other thing I just mentioned on Twitter that I'd like to bring up here as well -- we're also planning on having fewer DR categories (and thus, more shared DR's) in WoD. Again, still in development, anything can change, but that's what we're looking at.

The reduction in DR categories is welcome indeed, as we've discussed here in the past, there are 117 abilities across 13 categories, excluding things which CC and don't DR at all. This is baffling for new PvPers, and even advanced players often won't know every spell's category. As part of the big CC cull in Warlords, Blizzard's devs are looking to simplify DR. And Holinka has added more detail to their plans.

Continue reading Warlords of Draenor: A peek at Diminishing Returns changes

WoW InsiderWarlords of Draenor: A peek at Diminishing Returns changes originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 10 Jan 2014 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>arenaarena-guidearena-stratsarena-tipsarenasbreakingCCdiminishing-returnsDRfeaturedguideholinkahow-to-play-battlegroundshow-to-pvppvp-guidewarlords-of-draenorwow-arenawow-arena-guidewow-guideOlivia GraceFri, 10 Jan 2014 20:00:00 ESTHow to PvPhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2014/01/06/how-to-pvp/http://wow.joystiq.com/2014/01/06/how-to-pvp/http://wow.joystiq.com/2014/01/06/how-to-pvp/#commentsFiled under:

Recently I've written a couple of guides on initial PvP gearing and the most efficient ways to get honor, and on PvP gearing in more detail. Along the way in those two guides, I've been touching briefly on various aspects of how you can get started in PvP, but what I've never done here at WoW Insider is just spell out what to do from the ground up. Let's say you've never PvP'd before. Let's say you've never even dueled. You might be a high-end heroic raider, you might be someone who's just got their first level 20. What do you need to know?

Death is not a failure

Honestly, if you only read one line of this article, make it that one. And this one, I guess, or you wouldn't know which one to read. If you're a PvE-er it's particularly relevant. You'll have the mentality of wiping, of death being the end of a pull, the end of a run, a failure. And this mentality will cause you to hate PvP. In random battlegrounds, where the majority of PvP takes place, death should be treated as a time-out.

Continue reading How to PvP

WoW InsiderHow to PvP originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 06 Jan 2014 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>arenaarena-guidearena-stratsarena-tipsarenasfeaturedguidehow-to-play-battlegroundshow-to-pvppvp-guidewow-arenawow-arena-guidewow-guideOlivia GraceMon, 06 Jan 2014 19:00:00 ESTPvP gearing in detail, and what next?http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/12/29/pvp-gearing-in-detail-and-what-next/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/12/29/pvp-gearing-in-detail-and-what-next/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/12/29/pvp-gearing-in-detail-and-what-next/#commentsFiled under:

I wrote recently about how to get started with PvP gearing, focusing on the most efficient ways to gain honor points for your initial PvP gearing, when to replace PvE gear and so on. I was pleased to get many messages saying that it was helpful, and a fair few more asking what they should do next. People wondered what gear they should buy first for Conquest, how they should find arena teams and RBG teams and so on. So I thought I'd help you out with some of that information too.

Updated for Season 15

Gear Purchase Order

This was the topic of much discussion, as all I did was give a few suggestions for priority pieces, rather than a hard-and-fast gearing order. A big part of the reason I did that was that it's very personal, it's up to you, and some people will prefer one approach over another. There are various things to consider, so let me spell them out:
  • There are bonuses to be had from various items:
    • Bonus to a key ability on gloves
    • +2600 +5280 PvP Resilience from having 2 PvP trinkets
    • 2-set bonus: spec specific bonus and +500 PvP Power
    • 4-set bonus: spec specific bonus and +1000 PvP Power
  • There is a points earned requirement of 7250 on any weapon except Honor point off-hands.
  • Weapons cost 3500, so starting from 0 you have 3750 to spend before you start saving for weapons.
  • Unless you are a human, you really need a trinket that removes movement-impairing effects, or "freedom trinket" on your character.

Continue reading PvP gearing in detail, and what next?

WoW InsiderPvP gearing in detail, and what next? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 29 Dec 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>arenaarena-guidearena-stratsarena-tipsarenasfeaturedgearingguidehow-to-play-battlegroundshow-to-pvpmists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-pvpmists-pvppatch-5.4patch-5.4-pvppvp-gear-guidepvp-gearingpvp-guidewow-arenawow-arena-guidewow-guideOlivia GraceSun, 29 Dec 2013 18:00:00 ESTHow to gear for PvP right nowhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2013/12/22/how-to-gear-for-pvp-right-now/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/12/22/how-to-gear-for-pvp-right-now/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/12/22/how-to-gear-for-pvp-right-now/#commentsFiled under:

It's that time in the expansion again, the time I love, when people have killed Garrosh enough times that they're tired of it, and are looking for something else to entertain themselves. They're leveling alts, and farming or doing pet battles, but the rep grinds and scenario runs seem futile, given how the resultant loot will be replaced by greens come Warlords.

So what do they turn to? PvP! I can see this starting to happen already, with the influx of tweets and emails asking me about the best way to gear up for PvP. And it's a good question, because with the current standing of PvE gear in PvP, you might need a little guidance on where to start.

Item Levels

In instanced PvP right now, item level scaling is in place. Your PvE gear is downscaled to a shifting item level between 496 and 512. The current ilvl is 508, and it's increasing by 1 per week. The best your PvE gear will ever be in instanced PvP is 512. PvP gear purchased for honor is ilvl 496. PvP gear purchased for conquest is ilvl 522, and is not downscaled.

Continue reading How to gear for PvP right now

WoW InsiderHow to gear for PvP right now originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 22 Dec 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>arenaarena-guidearena-stratsarena-tipsarenasfeaturedguidehow-to-play-battlegroundshow-to-pvppatch-5.4pvp-guidewow-arenawow-arena-guidewow-guideOlivia GraceSun, 22 Dec 2013 18:00:00 ESTMy Warlords of Draenor PvP wishlist, and looking back at Mistshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2013/12/06/my-warlords-of-draenor-pvp-wishlist-and-looking-back-at-mists/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/12/06/my-warlords-of-draenor-pvp-wishlist-and-looking-back-at-mists/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/12/06/my-warlords-of-draenor-pvp-wishlist-and-looking-back-at-mists/#commentsFiled under:

So, let's have at this again. A fair while back I wrote a similar article for Mists of Pandaria PvP, and in all honesty, I was giggling to myself looking back at it. At the time I wrote it, I'd been chatting with Eldacar, PvP theorycrafter extraordinaire, and bouncing ideas around. We both felt, ironically, that CC was a little out of hand. We were worried that too much existed, and that it had the potential to become a problem. And how right we were! Fortunately, a CC squish is inbound.

But I did get a lot of what I wished for. Role-specific queues in random battlegrounds, and associated matchmaking was introduced in 5.3, and bots are slowly being whittled down. PvE gear has been squashed a lot better in instanced PvP, although it still massively prevails in world PvP. Burst damage is becoming less and less of a problem, with a few notable exceptions (I'm looking at you, elemental shaman).

And what's more, while the implementation had some ill effects, one thing I wanted to see but was conflicted about came into play with The Crowd Chose You, and later with Dampening and the fix to make teams who've lost more players lose the arena too. We did pretty well, altogether.

But there were plenty of things we didn't get. Has my wishlist changed? Yes, in that I now want an even bigger moon on an even longer stick. Again, do note that these are just desires. Where I am aware of Blizzard talking about things being done, I'll say so.

Continue reading My Warlords of Draenor PvP wishlist, and looking back at Mists

WoW InsiderMy Warlords of Draenor PvP wishlist, and looking back at Mists originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 06 Dec 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>arenaarena-guidearena-stratsarena-tipsarenasfeaturedguidehow-to-play-battlegroundshow-to-pvppvp-guidewarlords-of-draenorwow-arenawow-arena-guidewow-guideOlivia GraceFri, 06 Dec 2013 12:00:00 ESTWarlords of Draenor: What CC needs to be cut?http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/12/04/warlords-of-draenor-what-cc-needs-to-be-cut/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/12/04/warlords-of-draenor-what-cc-needs-to-be-cut/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/12/04/warlords-of-draenor-what-cc-needs-to-be-cut/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Blizzard Community Manager Lore posted yesterday about the devs' plans to reduce CC with Warlords of Draenor's changes to abilities. If you haven't been keeping up, their general plan is a so-called ability squish, removing certain skills from every class, with a particular focus on those suffering from button bloat, such as hunters and shaman. We spoke a little while back about how they should cut abilities, and what you could stand to lose, and now Lore's weighing on CC.
Lore
We are planning to take a strong look at CC in Warlords with the intent of dialing things back a little. We do think it's important that players are rewarded for using CC intelligently (by coordinating usage, being mindful of diminishing returns, etc), but we think we can approach things in a way that allows us to tone down CC overall while still providing that gameplay.

To me, the key here is this: "We do think it's important that players are rewarded for using CC intelligently..." CC, in my opinion should have to be used intelligently. It shouldn't be something you use just because it's off cooldown, because there's no risk to using it, because it's effectively a surefire thing. That is not intelligently using CC, that's using CC blindly, and it's because there's no risk to doing so. So, what's bad CC? What would I cut, if it was up to me?

Continue reading Warlords of Draenor: What CC needs to be cut?

WoW InsiderWarlords of Draenor: What CC needs to be cut? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 04 Dec 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>ability-squisharenaarena-guidearena-stratsarena-tipsarenasbutton-bloatcc-removalfeaturedguidehow-to-play-battlegroundshow-to-pvppvp-guidewarlords-of-draenorwow-arenawow-arena-guidewow-guideOlivia GraceWed, 04 Dec 2013 13:00:00 ESTWarlords of Draenor's Trial of the Gladiatorhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2013/11/19/warlords-of-draenors-trial-of-the-gladiator/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/11/19/warlords-of-draenors-trial-of-the-gladiator/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/11/19/warlords-of-draenors-trial-of-the-gladiator/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Warlords of Draenor is bringing some big changes to many parts of the game and PvP is no exception. Not only are there various long-overdue UI changes coming in, but we're also going to be seeing a whole new PvP island zone, a new system of measuring battleground performance and a new arena ladder: Trial of the Gladiator. Of these, the biggest change, the biggest thing people are worried about is certainly the Trial of the Gladiator system. So, let's dispel some myths about that.
Lore
I don't know where this idea came from, but just to clear things up, we have no plans to remove the current Arena ladder.

World of Warcraft Senior PvP Designer Brian Holinka was also very clear on the BlizzCon Global Invitationals stream, on the virtual ticket videos, at 8:43:28 on the second video of the first day's play, that the existing ladder wasn't changing. The Trial of the Gladiator is going to be a completely new system on top of what currently exists.

Trial of the Gladiator: What is it, and why?

Trial of the Gladiator is, on a very basic level, a system that allows players to gain rating and ladder position at specific times through the week. So, for example, if you want to gain rating and try for a title this season, you'd want to be playing at these times. They might be Saturday at 10am, maybe also Wednesday at 6pm, Monday at 8pm, Tuesday at 4pm, and so on.

Continue reading Warlords of Draenor's Trial of the Gladiator

WoW InsiderWarlords of Draenor's Trial of the Gladiator originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 19 Nov 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>arenaarena-guidearena-stratsarena-tipsarenasbreakingfeaturedguidehow-to-play-battlegroundshow-to-pvppvp-guidetrial-of-the-gladiatortrial-of-the-gladiator-arenatrial-of-the-gladiator-systemwarlords-of-draenorwarlords-of-draenor-pvpwow-arenawow-arena-guidewow-guideOlivia GraceTue, 19 Nov 2013 14:00:00 ESTArena stealth changes coming soonhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2013/10/16/arena-stealth-changes-coming-soon/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/10/16/arena-stealth-changes-coming-soon/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/10/16/arena-stealth-changes-coming-soon/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Patch 541 Arena stealth changes
With the announcement of the upcoming replacement of The Crowd Chose You with the Dampening mechanic, many players have been worried about stealth classes, particularly rogues, being able to abuse the Shadow Sight system currently in place in arenas to stealth until the Dampening debuff starts to ramp up. At the moment, rogues can grab the crystals, intended for their opponents to be able to see them, and immediately disappear. This is most notably the case for rogues, although night elf feral druids can put Shadowmeld to use here. Blizzard CM Lore has posted on the forums about an upcoming change to remove this issue from arenas:
Lore
Quick update: several of you have expressed a concern about stealth teams staying hidden until late in the game, when Dampening starts to stack. This would require them to grab Shadow Sight orbs as much as possible, which would be tricky but is actually possible (particularly with mechanics like Vanish).

We're not totally sure it would be a problem, as it would require quite a bit of skill and more than a little luck to pull off, but we do see the concern and want to avoid promoting that sort of behavior. So, when the Dampening change goes in, we'll also be changing the Shadow Sight debuff to prevent the player who picks up the orb from using stealth mechanics while it's active. That will also include abilities like Vanish or Shadowmeld.

Continue reading Arena stealth changes coming soon

WoW InsiderArena stealth changes coming soon originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 16 Oct 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>arenaarena-guidearena-stealth-changesarena-stratsarena-tipsarenasbreakingfeaturedguidehow-to-play-battlegroundshow-to-pvppvp-guideshadow-sightstealth-changeswow-arenawow-arena-guidewow-guideOlivia GraceWed, 16 Oct 2013 13:00:00 ESTThe future of CC and Diminishing Returnshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2013/10/16/the-future-of-cc-and-diminishing-returns/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/10/16/the-future-of-cc-and-diminishing-returns/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/10/16/the-future-of-cc-and-diminishing-returns/#commentsFiled under: , ,

The future of Diminishing Returns
Following his post on Friday listing out the giant categorization of Diminishing Returns (DR) in PvP, Blizzard Community Manager Lore has posted again regarding the future of DR and its PvP implications.
Lore
As our senior PvP designer Brian Holinka tweeted over the weekend, we've got some pretty solid goals for the future regarding crowd control. We do think it needs to be toned back a bit, both in the amount of CC effects available and in how frequently they can be used.

That said, CC is still an integral part of World of Warcraft PvP. Dealing with it intelligently, both in choosing when to use your own CC as well as reacting to opponent CC's, does have strong gameplay value.


Quote:

Honestly going to guess they're getting the exact opposite of what they planned from it.

Our only "plans" were to try to make an admittedly confusing system less so. Confusion about which CC effects share DR's doesn't help anyone.

So where do we go from here? First up, the post he's referring to in the section about their "plans" is the Diminishing Returns list published last week. This is an incredibly useful resource, which all teams should have at least a cursory glance at before they start trying to make CC chains. There's no need to memorize it, but it's good to have an idea of how your comp's CC works. But that aside, it's a pretty scary list. As Lore mentions above, Brian Holinka tweeted about their plans to rectify the issues behind the DR system in the next expansion. What are the options? What should they do? What shouldn't they do?

Continue reading The future of CC and Diminishing Returns

WoW InsiderThe future of CC and Diminishing Returns originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 16 Oct 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>arenaarena-guidearena-stratsarena-tipsarenascccrowd-controldiminishing-returnsfeaturedguidehow-to-play-battlegroundshow-to-pvppvp-guideresolve-barresolve-systemswtor-resolvewow-arenawow-arena-guidewow-guideOlivia GraceWed, 16 Oct 2013 12:00:00 ESTThe Crowd Chose You: ruining arena for everyone?http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/09/28/the-crowd-chose-you-ruining-arena-for-everyone/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/09/28/the-crowd-chose-you-ruining-arena-for-everyone/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/09/28/the-crowd-chose-you-ruining-arena-for-everyone/#commentsFiled under: ,

The Crowd Chose You
Season 14 has got off to a rather inauspicious start. We've had some big problems with conquest points, caps, weapons, vendors and more, which means that some players have rampaged through the ratings with full Grievous gear, which, of course, isn't scaled down to the same level as everything else. Blizzard is working on fixing the issue, but they've made no comment about resetting rating for the worst offenders.

There are some bright sides, though, as the new downscaling system means that Conquest gear is categorically the best for PvP in all but the most extreme of cases. What's more, cross-realm arenas remove a restriction that previously stood in players' way. However, the much-celebrated fix to the RBG element of the conquest cap hasn't worked, and some people really miss having teams.

But the biggest change, the one that is causing the most complaints, is the controversial match-ender, The Crowd Chose You. Why is it causing complaints? Well, where should I start...

Continue reading The Crowd Chose You: ruining arena for everyone?

WoW InsiderThe Crowd Chose You: ruining arena for everyone? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 28 Sep 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>arenaarena-guidearena-stratsarena-tipsarenasfeaturedguidehow-to-play-battlegroundshow-to-pvppatch-5.4pvp-guidetccytcythe-crowd-chose-youwow-arenawow-arena-guidewow-guideOlivia GraceSat, 28 Sep 2013 20:00:00 ESTPatch 5.4 PTR: PvP changes thus farhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2013/07/10/patch-5-4-ptr-pvp-changes-thus-far/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/07/10/patch-5-4-ptr-pvp-changes-thus-far/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/07/10/patch-5-4-ptr-pvp-changes-thus-far/#commentsFiled under: ,

Patch 54's Arena changes
A week or so back, I made a rather rash promise on Twitter. Blizzard Lead Systems Designer Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street and Senior PvP Designer Brian Holinka were teasing their joint follower base about "exciting PvP work being done" on the PTR. I responded to this tweet, saying that if the exciting work was cross-realm arenas, I would bake them a million cookies. Each. You can see from the header image, and indeed from a recent update to the patch 5.4 PTR notes just exactly what happened next.

Blizzard announced, with those notes, that cross-realm arenas were here. They followed this up with a blog on the subject, so let's take a look at just exactly what the changes entail.
  • Arena teams have been removed. All you need to queue for arenas is a party of the appropriate size, so two, three, or five players.
  • You can make cross-realm groups to queue for arena, with friends of the same faction from anywhere in your region
  • The arena rankings, along with the titles and rewards associated with them, will be region-wide, instead of by battlegroup
  • Conquest point cap, MMR, ranking, and overall rating will now be based on you as a player, not on your team.

Continue reading Patch 5.4 PTR: PvP changes thus far

WoW InsiderPatch 5.4 PTR: PvP changes thus far originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 10 Jul 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>arenaarena-guidearena-stratsarena-tipsarenasfeaturedguidehow-to-play-battlegroundshow-to-pvppvp-guidewow-arenawow-arena-guidewow-guideOlivia GraceWed, 10 Jul 2013 20:00:00 ESTYour PvP Questions: Spell announcers, MMR and patch 5.3http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/05/15/your-pvp-questions-spell-announcers-mmr-and-patch-5-3/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/05/15/your-pvp-questions-spell-announcers-mmr-and-patch-5-3/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/05/15/your-pvp-questions-spell-announcers-mmr-and-patch-5-3/#commentsFiled under: ,

Your PvP Questions
It's been a little while since I last did a PvP mailbag, and the emails have been piling up! So, if you have PvP questions, do drop me a line, I will do my best to respond to them, possibly in columns such as this one, or if I can fire off a quick email I will. Do note that I'm far from a PvP specialist in all the classes in WoW, and PvP questions which are class-specific would probably be better directed to the relevant class columnist.

Janrana wrote:

Hi Olivia, since reading about it a while back in one of your columns I've been a big fan of SpellAlerter, but it doesn't seem to have had any updates in a long while and is a bit broken for me. It doesn't seem to have all the spells any more and it also causes some errors to appear when it's on. Do you know of any alternative?

As it happens, I do! First and foremost SpellAlerter is alive and well... ish. It was updated for patch 5.1, but hasn't had any further updates since then. It still works at least fairly well, but I wouldn't rely on it completely. At least, it still allows you to set up custom alerts, so if there are spells it's missing you can add them in.

Continue reading Your PvP Questions: Spell announcers, MMR and patch 5.3

WoW InsiderYour PvP Questions: Spell announcers, MMR and patch 5.3 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 15 May 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>arenaarena-guidearena-stratsarena-tipsarenasfeaturedguidehow-to-play-battlegroundshow-to-pvpmatch-makingmatch-making-ratingMMRpersonal-ratingpvp-guideratingteam-ratingwow-arenawow-arena-guidewow-guideOlivia GraceWed, 15 May 2013 20:00:00 ESTTie-breakers in the arenahttp://wow.joystiq.com/2013/05/06/tie-breakers-in-the-arena/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/05/06/tie-breakers-in-the-arena/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/05/06/tie-breakers-in-the-arena/#commentsFiled under:

Arena tiebreak systems
An interesting discussion began on Twitter a few days ago, between ArenaJunkies moderator QTPawzz and Blizzard's Senior PvP Developer, Brian Holinka. The two were discussing arena draws. If you're not familiar with the current system, if in 2v2, team A kills one member of team B, but cannot kill the other, meaning that at the point where the match times out there are two of team A but only one of team B remaining, there is a draw. QTPawzz was complaining specifically about his experience as an affliction warlock, trying to take down a discipline priest 1v1, his own partner presumably having died.

QTPawzz' suggestion was a shorter time limit, as well as a mechanic whereby the team that did the highest damage would win. It's an interesting idea, and something Holinka didn't seem averse to, given his responses. It's certainly a question that is likely to be both divisive and highly subjective, depending on the class or role that a player has adopted in PvP. For example, as someone who principally plays healing classes, with a side of DPS, the idea that the team with the highest damage should win in the event of a draw is immediately offputting.

Continue reading Tie-breakers in the arena

WoW InsiderTie-breakers in the arena originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 06 May 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>arenaarena-drawarena-guidearena-stratsarena-tie-breakarena-timeoutarena-tipsarenasfeaturedguidehow-to-play-battlegroundshow-to-pvppvp-guidetime-outwow-arenawow-arena-guidewow-guideOlivia GraceMon, 06 May 2013 19:00:00 ESTPatch 5.3: New Battleground Deepwind Gorgehttp://wow.joystiq.com/2013/04/17/patch-5-3-new-battleground-deepwind-gorge/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/04/17/patch-5-3-new-battleground-deepwind-gorge/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/04/17/patch-5-3-new-battleground-deepwind-gorge/#commentsFiled under: ,

Patch 53 PTR New Battleground Deepwind Gorge
The battleground is set in a relatively large map, reflective of its 15v15 size, with three mines in a north-south line across the middle. From the top to the bottom of the map, they are the Pandaren Mine, the Center Mine, and the Goblin Mine. The Alliance base is at the eastern end of the map, with the Horde starting at the western end. There is only one graveyard on either side.

As can be seen from the screenshot in the header image, there's a pretty open central run from the Alliance to the Horde bases, both of which look down on the Center Mine, which is indicated by the vertical beam of light in the middle of the image, and in the middle of the map!

Continue reading Patch 5.3: New Battleground Deepwind Gorge

WoW InsiderPatch 5.3: New Battleground Deepwind Gorge originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 17 Apr 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>featuredgold-rushnew-battlegroundpatch-5.3patch-5.3-battlegroundpatch-5.3-ptrpatch-5.3-pvpOlivia GraceWed, 17 Apr 2013 15:00:00 ESTPatch 5.3 PTR: Role Check in Battleground queueshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2013/04/15/patch-5-3-ptr-role-check-in-battleground-queues/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/04/15/patch-5-3-ptr-role-check-in-battleground-queues/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/04/15/patch-5-3-ptr-role-check-in-battleground-queues/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Patch 53 PTR Role Check in Battleground queues
One interesting change to be added to the patch 5.3 PTR is shown in the above screenshot: role check. It will be familiar to any player who has previously used the Dungeon Finder and Raid Finder tools, with the three available roles that we're all used to.

So what is it doing in the battleground finder? This is all part of Blizzard's renewed efforts to bring much-needed changes to PvP. The plan behind this alteration is to balance the number of healers on each side of a battleground, to within a tolerance of one, as Blizzard PvP Designer Brian Holinka clarifies on Twitter. What does this mean? The plan is that, while there's no set number of healers for a battleground, there should never be more than a difference of one healer between two teams in a random battleground. Gone are the days of four healers on one team and none on the other, now, if one team has two healers, the other will either have one, or three. If one team has five healers, the other will have either six or four.

While my PTR shaman can't choose it, the tank selector is still active, for now at least. Certainly, there are several battlegrounds in the random queue where a tank isn't really a useful addition to a team, and so far we haven't seen any specific mention of an attempt to balance tank numbers, but it's possible that, in a flag-capture battleground like Warsong Gulch, there is an attempt to get each team a tank.

Continue reading Patch 5.3 PTR: Role Check in Battleground queues

WoW InsiderPatch 5.3 PTR: Role Check in Battleground queues originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 15 Apr 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>role-checkOlivia GraceMon, 15 Apr 2013 17:00:00 EST