With Netherwing's release just around the corner, here's a rundown of the upcoming enhancements to the PvP side of the game. We're retaining most of the changes we made during our last server while adding in a few extra features. The goal is to ensure that PvP is enjoyable and easy to get into.
Base Honor Points gain is set to 1.5X, 2.0X on weekends, and 2.5X for a chosen battleground holiday from a rotation. At the same time, Alterac Valley has been removed from the battleground holiday rotation to promote more PvP-focused Battlegrounds like Warsong Gulch or Arathi Basin. To encourage Arena and Battleground participation, especially among players focused on the PvE aspect of the game, we are adding/changing PvP-related daily quests:
You will also have the ability to queue for Battlegrounds and Arena from anywhere in the world using the .join command, which saves your character’s position when entering an instance. This allows you to roam the world and do other activities while waiting in the queue.
Gameplay-wise, we’ve opted for Dynamic Diminishing Returns, varying from 15-20 seconds, as it was in the original release of The Burning Crusade expansion. Additionally, we are pairing this with NO Heartbeat Resists in any PvP encounters.
We also want to kindly remind you that Multiboxing in designated PvP scenarios (Arenas, Battlegrounds and Open World PvP Objectives) is not allowed on Netherwing and might result in a temporary suspension.
Since Season 1 is shorter to keep up with PvE progression, we've sped up gear acquisition while ensuring Battlegrounds remain relevant. Reputation PvP Gear (Battlegear) will be available for Honored standing with Outland Factions (Lower City, Cenarion Expedition, etc.). Because Level 70 Rare Honor Points gear is on par (stat-wise) with Battlegear, it won’t be available for purchase, except for Weapons and Shoulders, which can be purchased from Quartermasters in Stormwind City and Orgrimmar. You will also be able to purchase Unique-Equipped Gems for 8000 Honor Points from capital city quartermasters. Non-Unique-Equipped Gems will be available for Arena Points instead.
Arena Season 1 Gear with all variations (Mooncloth, Salvation, Dragonhide etc.) will now be available for Honor Points besides:
Don’t worry, for those less interested in Battlegrounds, you can still purchase Arena Season 1 gear for Arena Points from a vendor in Area 52. After hearing your feedback, we’re also making it possible to buy off-pieces for Arena Points, which are sold by Lieutenant Tristia and Doris Volanthius in Stormwind City and Orgrimmar, respectively.
To start things off, the Shattrath Arena Battlemaster has been moved to a more neutral location, under the tent between faction battlemasters (same as on our previous realms).
We’ve disabled the 5v5 Arena to increase the popularity of the 3v3 bracket, which is less RNG-based and more focused on proper PvP gameplay. Additionally, the base cost of creating an arena team has been reduced to 20 gold.
We are adding an additional Arena Points flush on Sundays (6:00 AM Realm Time) in addition to the base Wednesday flush, meaning you can earn twice as many Arena Points in one week, increasing arena activity over the weekend. To reflect the closure of the 5v5 bracket, point distribution will now look as follows:
Additionally, you can earn daily Arena Points for winning matches: 2v2 (maximum of 25) and 3v3 (maximum of 50). Remember to pick up the “Arena Calls!” quest from Horde Warbringer and Alliance Brigadier General before entering the Arena!
To combat inactive teams holding up ladder spots, a decay of 25 team and personal rating above 2000 team rating will occur with each flush for teams that didn’t play at least 10 games since the last flush. This should ensure that players who want to keep their spot on the ladder play at least 10 games.
All engineering items, certain other profession and classic items for example: Nigh Invulnerability Belt will be disabled on the Arena.
We understand that sometimes it takes too long for arena matches to start, so there are now NPCs on each Arena map that allow matches to start earlier if all players declare themselves as ready.
We’ve introduced a Battleground Queue Announcer that lets you know when any Battleground is starting. This pairs nicely with the option to queue for Arenas and Battlegrounds from anywhere in the world using the .join command.
We are also increasing Honor Points gain from completing Battleground objectives in Warsong Gulch, Arathi Basin, and Eye of the Storm to encourage more objective-focused gameplay. At the same time, the maximum duration timer for Warsong Gulch has been reduced to 20 minutes, leading to shorter, action-packed games with less graveyard camping and flag stalling.
After hearing from many players that Open World PvP is being neglected, we’ve made some adjustments. From now on, the main PvP Objectives (Twin Spire Ruins, Hellfire Fortifications, Spirit Towers) in Outlands will have scheduled reset times as follows:
Before each reset, there will be a zone-wide announcement that objectives are going to unlock again. This means that once a faction captures all towers at the same time (Hellfire Fortifications) or captures the flag (Twin Spire Ruins), the objective will be locked until the next reset. The reset times were set to ensure they’re doable for both EU and NA players.
Since the Twin Spire Ruins (Zangarmarsh) PvP objective was underpopulated, we are adding a new daily quest, “Twin Spire Blessing,” which you can accept from Alliance/Horde Field Scouts located in Zangarmarsh. This quest rewards 1x Mark of Honor Hold/Thrallmar and some Honor Points. All Hellfire Fortification quests/daily quests now reward only 1x Mark of Honor/Thrallmar. The Spirits of Auchindoun daily quest now additionally rewards 1x Mark of Thrallmar/Honor Hold. At the same time, we’ve removed the Mark of Honor Hold/Thrallmar reward for Honorable Kills within the Twin Spire Ruins and Hellfire Peninsula objectives.
We’ve also noticed that Auchindoun Spirit Towers, as PvP objectives, required a lot of PvE effort to purchase items. Now, each Honorable Kill in the Bone Wastes and Auchindoun will reward a Spirit Shard for the faction controlling the Spirit Towers.
Vendors related to the Zangarmarsh, Hellfire Peninsula, and Terokkar Forest PvP objectives are now selling dungeon reputation items for Honor Points:
Staying on the topic of Open World objectives, we are planning to make adjustments to Halaa and add more items worth spending Mark of Thrallmar/Honor Hold and Halaa Tokens on. Additionally, we will make minor adjustments to ensure PvP remains enjoyable. Finally, there is a big discussion (still ongoing) about introducing PvE items available for PvP currency as an alternative for players focused solely on arenas (e.g., Nether Vortexes for Arena Points?).
