This new mode seems very well thought out. I can’t wait to try this out!
As a rogue, I’m very excited to be able to sap/blind cap again - and the shadow sight buff sounds like an interesting and fair way to balance this.
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My favourite spec to play in BGs is Blood DK, but they are definitely NOT a flag carrier.
I hope I can play blood without taking up a VDH / Bear tank spot and trolling my team.
All in all I am really excited for this! Thanks Blizz!
Its not opening up the game mode, the game mode wasn’t closed and this is an entirely different game mode.
Just like solo shuffle, this is just a worse version of a mode we already have to appease people who don’t play those modes.
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From what I’ve seen the Sight buffs are about 15-20 yards next to the flags. So if you go to pick them up, a Rogue can Sap you and snag the node uncontested. The Sight buffs should be far enough away that you aren’t vulnerable to losing the objective by picking them up.
And the more I look at it, the 4 second cap time is too short if 5 bases are contestable at a time.
There’s simply no way for most classes to outplay a Rogue (and to a lesser extend Druid) to capture bases in 1v1s, which will most likely be frequent if 8 people are trying to cover 5 bases.
You can’t fight near the flag, or else the Rogue/Druid will Stun>Cap the base. If you trinket, they can Blind/Cyclone/Root Beam/etc or whip out another Stun after DR falls off.
This allows the Rogue/Druid to move near the flag defensively, walling off all damage from other melee as needed, whereas the opposing melee won’t have a safe zone.
If you try to fight 40 yards off the flag, then you fall prey to getting Smokebomb capped, which not every spec can AOE into.
There’s also a new buff that grants stealth to non rogues/druids, though I have no idea how useful it will be since I haven’t seen it yet. So it might not just be rogues and druids stealth capping bases.
The strategy will likely be the same as it was before - to prevent getting stealth capped by rogues, defend from far away. If you stand on the top of the flag you’re just asking for it to get stolen.
Keep in mind too that I believe the point is for bases to flip often to keep the pace fast. They are targeting faster games for solo Q. I don’t want stealth classes to feel OP in this mode, but I’m excited to see something like this because current BGs are too one dimensional ever since the CC nerfs. Only way to take a base is with a team fight, or to have two stealthies coordinating together, which is just making the need for stealth classes worse.
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Thanks to everyone who have shared their thoughts so far on Battleground Blitz. We’ve seen a lot of feedback here and elsewhere that we’d like to respond to and hopefully provide some additional information about the game mode for clarity.
Arathi Basin and Deepwind Gorge
As indicated in a screenshot in the initial preview, there are objective timers for these maps to indicate when bases will be reset and this functionality is implemented on PTR. Currently, these timers are located under “Objectives”, which may be initially minimized for some players. Placing them under objectives will allow players to utilize Edit Mode and move them on their UI as best fits.
One thing we didn’t specify in the initial post is: during the time a node is fully captured and your team controls it for 45 seconds, the enemy team cannot recapture the base until it deactivates and resets. A node that cannot be captured will have a shield visual on it.
Ping System
The new Ping System feature that is now in-game is something we’d like to point out, as it’s a feature that lends itself well to Battleground Blitz. To adjust settings for the ping systems, navigate to Options, then Ping System in the UI.
We’re eager to see more feedback as more testers have the opportunity to check out this new game mode. We’re hosting a Brawl with the Blues event tomorrow, so please join in the battle and share your thoughts with us here thereafter.
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Thanks for the update! A few people were wondering where the timers where, this may explain it! So excited for this game mode!
Unrelated question, but from what I know back in 8.1.5 (?) there were voiceovers datamined where the battlemaster NPCs comment on what’s happening during the bg, at least for Arathi Basin and Warsong Gulch.
Would be cool if these were finally implemented.
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Best PDT time to queue and pop? thank you!
This is good. Really good. Adding information that addons typically give you to the default UI is what a significant number of people have been asking for in the PvP community.
Every addon you don’t need, is one less barrier to entry for PvP.
Now I can uninstall Capping.
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Is it faction locked?
Will some of us need to merc or race change our PTR characters to even up queue times?
Same, yay!
Excited to test this and hopefully it gets to be implemented down the road. These are some great changes and should be highly fun.
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Are you excited for the massive Pandaren master race movement that will come with Quaking Palm node capping?
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Will you be able to queue as tank AND dps? I want to play tank on flag maps but I absolutely do not want to play tank on any other map, will this be possible?
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In regards to the concerns some people have with rogues sapping n’ capping flags, could you not work something in like a consumable flare item (with limited stacks and perhaps sold for honor or gold), at the faction base that players can use to help them from being taken by surprise? It would probably help mitigate countless sneak caps from players utilising the ‘into the shadows’ buff, too. Just seems good to me.
Shadowsight orb will be very cool though. I encourage cool buffs they put together.
Just played EOTS.
Map UI needs a lot of work.
Right now it’s impossible to tell what bases are inactive or active without keeping an addon map open in minimized mode. There should be something under the score screen they displays a yellow tower icon if a tower is inactive.
Also, there should be timers for when the nodes will rotate.
There also arent the same objective timers as there are in AB/DWG, so there is no “uncontestable” phase for towers?
Additionally, there are no timers that tell you how long it’ll take before a base is fully controlled. We will have to download addons for that. Right now I can’t tell where is the best place to go on 5 node maps, so I just go to whats about to become contestable again.
Always were.
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Alright I’ve done like 4 hours worth of the brawl. Feedback time!
Easy fixes:
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Forced mercenary mode doesn’t feel good. People want to play with their chosen racial.
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Spec-stacking shouldn’t be a thing. The game is never balanced and when one team gets 4 fotm specs, and the other has none, things will be pretty lopsided.
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EOTS needs some way to communicate what towers are inactive/active so players don’t have to constantly open up the map.
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There needs to be a default UI element that shows timers on when bases are going to fully cap in Arathi and related maps. Not just when flags are uncontestable. (Addons already do this, so it’d be nice to have default in-game option.)
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The availability of potions and consumables in the brawl makes for hilarious but unfair burst. They should be disabled like rated pvp.
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Kotmogu should probably be a tank-only map. That way each team has a dedicated flag carrier. It’s pretty unfair when one team has tanky specs that work as FCs and the other doesn’t. Boomie/Warlock/Augmentation are much better FCs than Devastation/Mage/Warrior for example. It’d be good to have at least one designated tank per side.
Controversial take:
The flag cap times should be 6 seconds, or at least only 3 bases should be contestable at a time in Deepwind Gorge and Arathi Basin.
What’s fun about having all five bases active is there are more opportunities to 1v1 players, so there are more opportunities to see your individual efforts in the match. However, the downside is the game isn’t balanced around 1v1, and it definitely wasn’t balanced around 4 second+ CC being such a strong win condition per objective.
For example, to my knowledge, Rogues have Cheap Shot, Kidney Shot, Gouge, Sap, and Blind as instant CC all at or above 4 seconds. That’s 5 attacks all across 3 DR pools. Plus they have Smoke Bomb, which not every spec can AOE into. Warriors have a single CC at/above 4 seconds. I think Monk has Paralysis and that’s it.
For most specs, there’s simply no way to effectively duel a Rogue for a flag with that kind of kit. If you try to fight in melee range of the flag, you’ll get CC’d with 1 of 4 available options, even if you trinket. If you try to fight outside of melee range, they can Smoke Bomb the flag.
Druids can similarly counter melee with Stun>Clone or situationally Root>Beam on casters.
The 4 second cap time just creates too many large disparities where (at higher rankings) players that know they can’t win the CC trades just have to poke their heads out behind LOS to spin flags while hoping a Rogue doesn’t show up with Smoke Bomb. Additionally, on nodes like Quarry and Shrine, there’s no way to spin nodes from 40 yards away. You have to get close.
So, I think having a 6 second cap time would be better. I can’t think of a spec that has access to 6 second CC on multiple DR pools. The 6 second cap times would encourage players to fight more and not play games of cat and mouse to spin flags. And, because duels are imbalanced too, it’d probably be better to encourage smaller scale skirmishes by making only 3 bases active at a time.
Thank you for coming to my ted talk.
4 Likes