Blizzard held a panel at BlizzCon this morning to let us in on some of the upcoming plans for the world of PvP in Wrath showing us some content from arenas, battlegrounds and Wintergrasp the new open PvP zone.
The Ring of Valor
Dalaran Sewers
Strand of the Ancients
Wintergrasp
What's Next?
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The Ring of Valor
- Looks similar to Gurabashi Arena
with two pits in the middle surrounded by spikes
- Arena located in Orgimar
- Animated Platforms – pillars
that rise up and down on specific times, block LoS, can be ridden on
also
- Dynamic Fire Hazard – timed
intervals on the strip on the ground, 10% of HP damage 3 ticks
- Very close starting positions –
rise on elevators in the middle of the arena, and start up very
close to each other, almost Roman gladiator style, very dynamic and
different from other arenas
- Pillars all have unique symbols so
that more complex matches (5v5) can have more coordination
Dalaran Sewers
- Small and compact, but wanted
unique gameplay decision
- Simple layout
- Dynamic Water Feature, not random
specific timer, creates LoS block; if you're standing on it when it
is coming up it will knock you back; not too much damage; brings a
much more dynamic feel to arena
- No Mounts allowed in this arena
- Starting areas off-limits
- Crates on corners of raised
platform for some permanent LoS strategy
Strand of the Ancients
- Attack/Defend type
- Upgrading it to 15/15 and double
the amount of siege vehicles
- Siege combat and destructible
buildings
- Colored walls to allow for easier
calling out
Wintergrasp
- Non-instanced PvP Zone
- Siege Vehicle Combat
- Something for players to do that
they cannot do anywhere else in the game
- Attack/Siege Map
- Rank system, checks to make sure
people are contributing
- Still find tuning the amount of
kills required to be able to get siege vehicles
- Destructible Buildings
- Coodown in between each game,
currently 2 ½ hours
- Benefits include daily quests, a
unique raid instance for the winning faction that drops PvP and PvE
loot and has a 1-day cooldown; all bosses will drop a form of
currency that you can use to purchase items in Wintergrasp
What's Next?
- Revisit PvP itemization, including
arena vs. battleground rewards
- Queue from anywhere
- Competitive battlegrounds or guild
battlegrounds (“TBD”)
- Experience gain in battlegrounds
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