Hello there, Stormforge!

The holiday season is approaching rapidly, along with the next stage of content on Mistblade, and a plethora of attractions and events to celebrate Winter Veil. Check out what you can expect in the coming weeks on Stormforge.

Raid for Realm First on Mistblade

We've been observing your struggles in Mogu'shan Vaults, and we are delighted to announce that the first guild to defeat the Will of the Emperor is the "Rivals" guild! Congratulations!

The next challenge (in addition to the upcoming Raid Finder: MSV, available on December 20th) will be the Heart of Fear, with the Sha-infested Queen of the Klaxxi, Grand Empress Shek'zeer. Her enemies will be awaiting the assistance of adventurers on December 27th at 18:00 PM CET. The Heroic version of HoF will open a week later, on January 3rd, along with the first half of Raid Finder after the New Year. You can already test HoF encounters on our MoP PTR.

Observing your struggles with the Mogu'shan Vaults tomb guardians, we have decided to make a change in achieving Realm First. Realm First for future content, starting from Throne of Thunder, will be recognized only in the 25-man version to raise the bar a bit.

1v1 Bracket & Arena Quests

The promised new PvP gameplay model is ready and will be introduced on Wednesday, December 20th. Rewards in this bracket will be significantly lower than those for 2v2 and 3v3 to maintain activity in those brackets - for a victory, you will only receive a small amount of Conquest Points. Joining the queue will be the same as for other games - 1v1 has been added to the UI. We realize there is slightly less activity in arena games than expected, and the first step to encourage players is to add several daily quests for each bracket. By completing them, you will have the opportunity to earn additional Conquest Points and Black Market boxes. Last but not least Conquest Catch-Up system is now up and running so you can gear up and join the fray even faster.

Faction Balance Perks

There’s a fair bit of concern regarding the faction balance - we were analyzing potential solutions before launch but it’s a difficult decision to make and there isn’t a clear and obvious option without any downsides so we couldn’t reach a clear consensus as to what would be the best approach then. Crossfaction in its’ current state certainly helps, but it seems to be not enough. The current Alliance numbers are below what we anticipated and are willing to accept, so we want to act fast and are planning to add the following perks for Alliance to entice players to pick that faction:

• x2 Profession Gain Rates
• x2 Reputation Gain Rates
• 50% increased Justice Point gains
• 10% increased Valor Point gains
• Free Faction Change to the Alliance

Perks are going live on 21st of December.

Christmas on Stormforge

We want to spend Christmas together with our community, so we've prepared a few attractions for you. To make this festive season even more special, we have decided to double the experience gained on both our realms - Mistblade & Netherwing. Additionally, starting from the 21th of December, our store will feature special Christmas Bundles containing items at attractive prices. But that's not all! Follow our Facebook page, as there will be holiday contests with Stormforge Essence as prizes!

As we are getting warmer with Winter Veil’s mood, the Essence of Competition also notices rising spirits among the fighting soldiers at this time of year on Netherwing. It seeks the bravest and wishes to join them on their adventure for the next year.

From 20th of December 2023 to 3rd of January 2024, up to two randomly chosen players from a winning team after any Battleground will receive “Essence of Competition” - a dragon hatchling pet otherwise unobtainable in-game. Make sure to check your in-game mailbox!

PvP changes for Zul’Aman release

With Patch 2.3 going live on Netherwing, players will be able to purchase new PvP-tailored cloaks and Battlemaster trinkets from the Badge of Justice vendor in Shattrath City at the cost of 60 and 75 badges respectively. At the same time, faction quartermasters will now sell a new epic Insignia for 40000 Honor Points and Battlemaster trinkets at a discounted price. The price of old insignia will be drastically reduced to make it easier for newcomers to get ready for PvP combat.

We do not have any plans to split Arena Season 3 for the moment. We are currently working on improving our team pairing system for arena matches to ensure fair matches as much as possible with reasonable queue times. Please note, that this is not the same thing as an MMR system.

You can read more about the Zul’Aman release here: Netherwing Patch 2.3 Announcement

The entire Stormforge Team hopes you’re getting to experience everything that Christmas is all about this year. We wish you a blessed and joyful time with your friends and family, tons of love, and may all your dreams come true in the upcoming New Year.

See you in 2024!