Rise of Azshara Preview: Heart of Azeroth

We just posted some information on the Heart of Azeroth changes coming with the next content update (that we just dove into on the live stream).

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Hopefully I can still heal them WOONS!

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yesssssss!! ty ty ty all.

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Exciting stuff!

hands the CM a PIN :stuck_out_tongue:

Cant wait! More character customization is always a good thing in my book! <3

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This looks to be a great step in the right direction.

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So am I reading right in that these are talents we COLLECT? And that once we get the Essence itā€™s logged in our Heart forever?

Good to see Glyphs made it back into the game.

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Can we expect a class balance (read: tank balance) pass in this patch release?

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Have to see what datamining turns up next week. Hopefully there are Essences that are specific to each class as well as more generic ones.

Otherwise, it is great that we got a new trinket slot. Would be much better if we could improve our classes and the gameplay they provide.

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You mean more false character customization where one essence ends up being BIS and the rest are orders of magnitude behind that essence (because blizzard canā€™t balance) and then people who get lucky with the RNG enjoy vastly more power?

Sounds like legion legandaries all over again to me.

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This system looks good to me. (Yes, I know haters will scream at me, I donā€™t care, itā€™s my opinion :woman_shrugging:) Iā€™m glad we get more customization with this and the trinket. I know people want things handed to them without putting in the work, but itā€™s good that we finally get to work toward choice.

Itā€™s like weā€™re forgetting everything prior to Legionā€¦ when literally we had tier. And thatā€™s it. There was no choice to work for at all, was RNG and ā€œif you donā€™t have this tier set, sorry, youā€™re out of luckā€.

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Looks good.

My main concern is how essence acquisition is worded on the blog. Iā€™m hoping essences only drop for your loot spec (or are spec dynamic) so we can target specific roles, and not get stuck with dps or tank specific essences when Iā€™m healing for instance.

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The difference is tier set is easy to acquire. Boss loot was set in stone, and ilvl used to be as well. I doubt any of the essences will be targetable. It will be legion legos again, where if you have bad RNG youā€™re vastly weaker than someone who got ā€œa good oneā€.

Your vision of customization is a lie. Thanks to blizzardā€™s track record for balancing things like this (just look at AZ traits), there will be no choice. The best will be eons ahead of the second best, making choosing anything else just being a bad player.

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Where does it say ā€œnot targetableā€ o.o Also where does it say that itā€™s going to be harder to get this stuff than tier or raiding gear in general? They gave many, many examples of where you can get this stuff.

In that case itā€™s never been different in the history of the game because people will ALWAYS min-max, so why is it an issue now, suddenly, and more importantly if itā€™s been this way alwaysā€¦ why are you still playing?

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So, from the looks of things, itā€™s just a ā€˜heart of azerothā€™-theme for the original Glyph system?

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ā€œOne thing thatā€™s BISā€ is not an issue. I just preferred it when it was easy to min/max because of how gear acquisition worked.

For instance, in legion Whispers was a 25% damage increase for ret, whereas the next best one was like 5%. If you got whispers, you were vastly more powerful. You couldnā€™t target whispers. It was just random. Thatā€™s why I hate legos and thatā€™s why Iā€™ll hate this.

I had bad luck and didnā€™t acquire ā€œthe right legosā€ until like half way through legion. Iā€™m not doing that again.

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ā€¦When it was easy? So youā€™re mad that you have to put the work into getting this stuff? Also I donā€™t think itā€™s going to be like legion leggos. If It is, yes, youā€™re right, that was a major complaint for many people. It seems like though itā€™s similar to targeting a regular gear piece drop. If anything, similar to artifact relics that you donā€™t have to replace and get forever.

They made it seem like you can target specifics, in the stream. ā€œWork for multiple or just oneā€ I remember him saying.

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Ok, Iā€™m excited!

Looking forward to Mechagon, the new HoA system, flying, and the mount equipment(s).

I donā€™t know what the anti-daze bit is going to require, but Iā€™m going to spend ludicrous amounts of gold getting this for EVERY. ONE. OF MY CHARACTERS.

The water walking one is really cool too, really looking forward to that.

Overall: Well done Blizzard!

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