WoW WotLK Classic: Blizzard finally strives for clarity
Yesterday, on August 8th, 2022, we only discussed it: The launch of WoW: Wrath of the Lich King Classic is not too far away (September 27th, 2022), so the pre-launch phase must start soon. Nevertheless there is unusually many questions that were not answered by the Blizzard developers despite the beta and PTR. And as if WoW developer Pazorax had read our article, there was one a few hours ago extensive thread in the official WoW forum finally some answers.
What about WotLK Classic raid lockouts?
Blizzard has decided that Heroic and Normal difficulties will share a raid lockout. So you have to decide whether you want to tackle the normal or heroic version of a raid instance in a week. Within the selected level of difficulty, you can then equally visit the 10 and 25 variants.
With this restriction, Blizzard wants to ensure that nobody feels forced to visit the same raid several times a week in order to be able to keep up. However, many players wished they could visit a raid instance with the guild in 25 and then tackle the same raid in 10 with a “PUG” group. Blizzard would like to comply with this wish.
Important: The trinkets from Normal and Heroic should have a Unique quality, so you can only use one version of each trinket. Back then, in the original WotLK, this was still possible, but not intended by the developers. We now want to correct this error from back then.
Race and faction change
As far as race and faction change is concerned, the Blizzard developers have changed their previously held opinion. In the course of WotLK Classic, a paid service will make these changes possible. Don’t expect the service to launch in September, though. And why did Blizzard change their minds here? Let Pazorax answer:
“We originally didn’t want to offer the race and faction changes at all because we felt that it took away some of the fantasy feel of having dramatically different physical attributes that affect gameplay. We were also a little concerned that players would be chasing the “flavor of the month” for racial abilities. However, we’ve been persuaded by the argument that being able to play with your friends is more important and that you should be able to take your achievements with you when you do.“
Mounts and achievements – account wide?
Account-wide unlocks for mounts and achievements were briefly discussed to give players a way to keep their achievements even if they were starting somewhere new. However, now that the developers want to offer race and faction switching, there’s no reason to grant progress account-wide. So it remains the case that you unlock mounts and achievements per character.
What about patch 3.3’s matchmaking?
The developers continue to rely on their “new” group search system in the style of a bulletin board, which they want to refine even further. Nothing has changed in the plans to completely remove the dungeon finder from patch 3.3. The developers are confident that their recent anti-boosting changes will liven up lower tier dungeons at launch – especially on fresh start realms.
Arena achievements and titles
Originally in Wrath of the Lich King, the achievements and titles for the 2v2 Arena category were dropped, but due to popular demand, the devs are keeping them in Wrath Classic. Back when the developers stopped awarding titles and achievements for the 2v2 arenas, it was because 2v2 was difficult to balance. Today, however, the team no longer seeks to balance all classes equally well in all brackets, but rather to maintain the existing class balance and celebrate the unique playstyles of the classes that perform well in each class.
More info nuggets from the comments
In the course of the discussions, there were several official posts from Blizzard to address further questions from players.
- Name changes will be possible with the launch of WotLK Classic.
- The fresh start servers come with the pre-launch phase. The date for this phase will be revealed in the near future, as well as other dates relevant to the context.
- There will be no additional difficulty for Ulduar. If you want to play the hard modes of the raid, you have to control them – like back then – via the associated mechanics.
- Of course, Blizzard’s new LFT tool won’t teleport you directly into the dungeon. However, you can use the meeting stones in front of the dungeon to bring in the stragglers.
- The developers would love to allow you to switch between Normal and Heroic per boss in both Trial of the Crusader and Icecrown Citadel, but they’re not ready to commit to that just yet. Developers will know more as ToC’s release approaches and devs have more time to look at how it’s built and how difficult it would be to change.
Reference-www.buffed.de
