Fire & Water: Changes to Arena

Another exciting aspect of BlizzCon's PvP panel focused on two new upcoming arenas, and some fun dynamic changes featured in these new arena grounds, which are sure to change play style and strategy significantly.

Orgrimmar
My first thought on seeing this arena was: gladiatorial combat. This arena has the look and feel of a colosseum, complete with some ingenious devices the Romans would have adored. Players are even raised up to the arena floor in caged elevators. And the teams start combat very close together.

Now for the dynamic elements. The arena is divided in three sections, and at timed intervals during the fight, the lines between these sections will catch fire. The fire, as you would expect, gives players a DoT debuff should they pass through it.

In addition this arena has two pillars which move up and down, also at timed intervals. These provide periodic line of sight barriers, but can also take players up out of melee range should they stand on top of the pillars when they rise.

Dalaran Sewers
This arena is much smaller than most, and features an interesting change: players cannot stay inside the arena's starting gates, which really consist of sewer pipes set part-way up the wall of the arena. Any player who remains in these pipes after the match has started will be "washed out" of the pipe and onto the arena floor.

The arena itself is small and consists of a circular room with a raised platform in the center. The platform can only be mounted at two staircases placed at opposite ends. Two permanent barricades of boxes and barrels also face each other across the platform, providing cover.

The dynamic feature of this arena is the column of water which drops, at timed intervals, into the center of the platform. When running, this water serves two purposes - it is impassable, and in fact will give players a slight knockback if they venture too close to it - and it blocks line of sight. One more thing - mounts are not permitted in the sewers of Dalaran.

All in all, two very exciting new places in which to fight, and ones which will certainly require some new strategies from arena teams.

Fortune Favors the Casual: Changes to Instances

Because I am perhaps best defined as a "jack-of-all-trades" WoW player as opposed to a hard-core PvE-er/raider, I was probably more excited than some at the news that all endgame content will be available to 10-man groups. I was even more excited at BlizzCon's Dungeons and Raids panel to discover some more exciting news about running instances, which are a considerable boon to the casual player:

• Instances are supposed to be shorter. They may look bigger (Blizzard want us to really feel how epic the dungeons are), but the days of 4-hour Karazhan runs may be over. This means shorter distance to dungeon bosses, and, as it seems in raids, bosses which are easier to get to but harder to kill, emphasizing interesting play style over marathon raiding (Naxxramas will be an exception to this, weighing in with 15 total bosses.).
  
• Most raids will have player-defined "difficulty settings" which will allow for adjusting the dungeon on the fly depending on experience and preference. For instance, Chamber of the Aspects has a main boss along with three sub-bosses. Players can choose to attack the main boss with all three sub-bosses (hardest difficulty) or to kill one, two, or all three of the sub-bosses beforehand, thus making the encounter easier. Raid rewards will scale depending on how these bosses are killed.
• Raid sets can be completed by both 10- and 25-man items. While items will be divided by one tier, they will be related, much like arena gear is. So a player can combine any ratio of 10-man and 25-man raid items and still achieve a complete set.
• There is no "lockout period" between 10- and 25-man raids. Players can run a 10-man raid, and then turn right around and run the 25-man version without having to wait.
• Instances do not require attunement. The one exception is the Eye of Eternity raid. All other raids and heroic instances can be entered by anyone upon achieving the appropriate level.
  

Some very nice new developments which should make it easier for those without a lot of time, or a consistent raid group to enjoy end-game content.

Pick the Losing Side: Changes to PvP

If you're like me and got into WoW "incidentally" after the free 10-day trial, you happily rolled a character on whatever realm was recommended without giving it much thought. I had played for more than 8 months before I realized there are ways to research each realm based on guild progression or percentage of Horde versus Alliance on the server.

I also didn't realize how much the number of Horde versus that of Alliance can change gameplay on a server where the ratio isn't equal. A server where one faction outnumbers the other 2:1 can have a marked effect on battlegrounds and world PvP.

As a denizen of two servers where I am on the outnumbered faction, I was a little concerned about the ramifications of opening up PvP to an entire zone in Northrend. While I love PvP, I wasn't looking forward to visiting Wintergrasp and getting continually pwned by legions of the opposing faction.

My concerns were put to rest at BlizzCon. In fact, it looks like Wintergrasp will be my new zone of choice for many reasons:

• Immediate action with instant results. There is no "team play" in this zone. You don't queue to get into the battle at Wintergrasp, you walk (well, really fly) in and start fighting. And your kills are your own, so there is no one to go AFK and get a "free ride" from your hard work.
  
• The zone rank system resets every fight. Every fight, you have a new chance to pilot new siege engines, set new traps, and, best of all, blow up new stuff.
• The winning side gets access to very cool stuff. For 2.5 hours after winning, the victors can access special items, daily quests, even a whole dungeon with a special raid boss, available only to them.

But, most importantly to me:

• The outnumbered faction receives a buff to damage done and defense against damage received. Even better, this buff scales in proportion to how badly the faction is outnumbered.

This last aspect of Wintergrasp combat is, to me, the perfect answer to every faction that has long suffered from being outnumbered in PvP. While it is likely that this buff will only apply to the fighting in Wintergrasp, it is still a giant step forward. I can't wait to see it implemented. Kudos, Blizzard!

Mages Come to Diablo III!

Okay, so they're technically not called mages, but I was nevertheless overjoyed, despite the name difference, to hear this weekend that the newest class to join the forces of Diablo III is going to be the Wizard. And, having experienced a bit of what this arcane magic user can do at BlizzCon, I can happily state that all is well and good with magecraft in this newest installment of one of the most iconic action-RPG games.

Like her predecessor the Sorceress, the Wizard wields potent raw magical spells which can blast her enemies to smithereens, both at close range and afar. Unlike the Sorceress, whose abilities were based on elemental magics, the Wizard's power comes from "High Magic," and consist of spells which alter or transform the world around her, including what may well be my favorite: Slow Time.

Some of the old favorites from the Sorceress' arsenal will be back, however, like Blizzard and Teleport. But even these old standbys have been revamped to offer a high level of customization because of the Rune system, which allows players to add Runes which give special modifiers such as Multistrike or Lethality, to each spell they possess.

Not only does each Rune dramatically change the properties of each spell (I for one was thrilled to see that Teleport can be modified to do damage to surrounding enemies), they also change the spell's animation. And in the case of the Wizard, spell animations are wild, beautiful, and extreme.

As far as questing goes - playing the Wizard as opposed to the Barbarian or Witch Doctor will give you a whole new line of quests to work with. It was announced at BlizzCon that each character class will interact with game NPCs differently. Also, each character will have the ability to go on class-only quests which have been tailored to their unique abilities. So when you roll up your Wizard, you are guaranteed a gameplay experience unlike any other class.

All in all, the Wizard is the class to play for anyone who wants a lot of explosions, crackling lightning, and wild arcane lights; a wonderful addition to Diablo III, and fitting evidence that all is well and good for magic users in this upcoming title.

On the Road to BlizzCon!

We're headed to BlizzCon! While the blog won't be updated until we get back, we'll be sure to have all sorts of yummy details upon our return!


Remember - if you aren't headed to the Con and didn't want to shell out all sorts of cash for Direct TV, you can tune in to WoW Radio for their free coverage!

Have a great Blizzard weekend!