wow WoW: Legion details at gamescom: Interview with Tom Chilton & Ion Hazzikostas

[Odinn 95]

 

The Icy Veins team sat down with Tom Chilton and Ion Hazzikostas from the WoW development team to ask questions about Demon Hunters, Artifacts, the story in Legion, and what to expect for changing game play in the new expansion.

 

Note: Icy Veins shared this interview time with Wowfan.cz, and some of the things we present here were answers to their questions.
 
Here is what we learned:
 

Demon Hunters

• As it stands, Demon Hunters are slated to wear Leather armor. The developers used to feel that having too many classes on one armor type could cause problems, but as the game has moved towards Personal Loot, that has become less of an issue.
• An all-new weapon type, Glaives, will be the only weapon type that Demon Hunters can use. They are a weapon 'pair' that comes together and fills both hand slots. Having only one available weapon type for the class will not be an issue in Legion, as you mostly focus on your Artifact throughout this expansion. In the future, Demon Hunters might eventually dual wield the 'standard' agility weapon types.
• Demon Hunter starting level has not been set, but a starting level between 95-100 is currently being debated (as it is a Hero Class). It's "hard to imagine a Level 1 Demon Hunter running around Elwynn Forest."

 

Artifacts

• You obtain your Artifact early on in the Legion experience. This is the weapon you will use throughout the expansion. You will not get weapon drops in Legion. Something that wasn't mentioned during the reveal is that each Artifact has a number of Relic slots, which will determine its raw item stats (DPS, ilvl, etc.) and modifiers to the traits you've chosen, so the Artifact's stats will still improve as you defeat bosses.
• It will be very important to see how the story plays out regarding Artifacts that come from characters like Tirion. No spoilers!
• Existing Legendary weapons (and items) are unchanged. Artifacts will be presented differently. There will not be any Legendary weapons in Legion.

Update: Artifacts can still be transmogrified into other items! Other items cannot be transmogrified into Artifacts.
 

 

 

Story Line

• This is the main universe Illidan. There is no 'alternate universe' Azeroth going on. Gul'dan was banished through the Twisting Nether into our world, into our time today. The scene where Gul'dan discovered and awoke Illidan is part of the Demon Hunter experience and why the Legion is at this place - they came specifically for Illidan. "Maiev was out at the pub." 
• The only time you spend inside the Emerald Nightmare is in the raid zone. Its influence will be felt outside, but only the raid takes place inside the Nightmare. The Emerald Dream/Nightmare might be expanded on further in the future.
• The Mists of Pandaria story saw the Horde expelled from Dalaran, but with Khadgar as the leader of the Kirin Tor, he has worked with the Horde and feels responsible for Gul'dan, and wants help from both sides.
• Asked if Wrathion will be back, as he foretold the coming of the Legion? "We'll see."
• Karazhan's brief appearance in the cinematic teaser was important. Karazhan is an 'important place'.
• Dalaran is more or less lifted from Wrath of the Lich King, and will be a neutral capital city for both factions. For game play purposes, it will still also be in Northrend - it won't be 'moved' the way it was for Wrath. Some things will have changed.
• Regarding the new Violet Hold and other Dalaran changes, the devs noted that Dalaran has some ancient purposes that weren't fully understood, and it is affected by being brought this close to the Tomb of Sargeras.

 

Game Play

• Classes will evolve in a number of ways in Legion. The development team is looking closely at the core fantasy for each class. Talent changes and class changes are being made - stay tuned. The PvP talent system also gives the developers room to take PvP-type talents out of the current talent trees. PvP talents will not function in PvE environments.
• As an example of class changes, the Survival Hunter 'spear' Artifact was brought up. In Legion, Survival Hunters will be a melee spec that utilizes a pet. To differentiate specializations, the developers will try to de-homogenize the classes. Further to this, Beast Mastery Hunters will fight at range with a pet, while Marksmanship Hunters will fight at range with NO PET.
• Demonology Warlocks will be masters of summoning and controlling demons. Metamorphosis sort-of came to dominate the class, but the devs are refocusing the spec on demons. Affliction will continue to be about 'decay', and Destruction about 'bursts of fel fire'.
• No stat squish is planned for Legion. Health numbers are 'fairly high', but that is because health was intentionally increased to manage the feel and flow of healing. DPS is still 'easily an expansion away' from the numbers players were seeing in Siege of Orgrimmar.
• Professions are getting a lot of new stuff. The professions team for Legion is the largest that Blizzard has ever had for WoW, and they clearly heard the feedback that professions were underutilized in Warlords and overlapped with the Garrisons too much.
• Realm firsts are not coming back. There was value in some (Ion mentioned things like the first player to beat Brawler's Guild, Mythic guild firsts, etc.), but the general philosophy is to allow players to take their time and enjoy the content at their own pace. Plenty of third parties actively track 'first to 100', etc.

Update: Other Warlock specializations will not be losing access to demon pets. All three Warlock specs will still utilize demons.
 

 

Miscellaneous

• Garrisons are staying in Draenor. If you want to go back and visit them, you can! They were always designed as something that you would leave in Draenor. The developers may revisit the system with something bigger, better, and different in the future.
• Order Halls are very different - they are a shared multiplayer space. They just happen to be the place you'll go to send your Champions on missions. They don't duplicate the functionality of cities (no AH, no bank) - think Acherus for Death Knights.
• A release date is not set yet. The full cinematic is being actively worked on, but it isn't quite complete yet.
• For new players who feel intimidated by the size and scope of the game, the developers feel that the character boost helps get people to playing with their friends faster.

Learn anything you're excited about in this interview? Still new things you're hoping to find out about Legion? Let us know.

 

Icy Veins gets exclusive details on the upcoming Legion expansion from Tom Chilton & Ion Hazzikostas.

[Peelyon 416]

First of all there's some great news and information in the above so great job folks!

 

I said to a few friends before the reveal that I was more interested in the "features" than the new expansion story / regular content such as zones raids and dungeons.  I feel they've got my attention with artifacts, changes to transmog and the Order Halls.

 

It's great to hear that the Order Halls will be a class hub without giving players a reason to stay there too long like garrisons (with regards to no AH, bank etc).

 

From a personal point of view I am really really looking forward to hearing more news about professions.  Hope we get some more info on those in the near future!  Glad they've taken on feedback from WoD as they are in a bad place right now!

[Archimage 98]

Will PvE talents function in PvP enviroments?

 

 

Will the honor v3 system start at level 100, or only at max level? There are players who want to level through Battlegrounds only, and would want tot unlock these early on.

 

They mentioned that they don't want gear to be the deciding factor for PvP, but will the gear play any factor at all in Legion? Is Honor (the currency system) going to be removed so people can buy gear according to their PvP level? 

 

I think its a great thing that Hunters can become melee, remembered all those melee spell back in WotlK. Wonder if they will be able to stealth via Camo, giving them a true Hunter-like feeling.

Demonology Warlocks becomes more like BM Hunters, are we going to see a massive imp swarm? 2 Infernals?

Edited August 7, 2015 by Archimage

[Lockybalboa 618]

Class mechanic revamp will be cool, we'll see how it works out. Melee hunter ftw - NEED ME RAPTER STRIKE BACK!!!

[Peelyon 416]

Raptor strike memories!

 

*Peelyon runs into melee range uses Raptor Strike*

 

"Peelyon what are you doing?! Did you run out of ammo AGAIN??!"

 

uhm maybe?!

[aerix88 0]

I'm pretty excited about the class changes! I want there to be more differences between the hunter specs, for instance. My main is a hunter, so I'm not 100% sure whether I'd want to be a melee pet spec, but what is really cool is I could switch as needed, for example, if the raid needed more melee over range for some reason (though range can still hang out with melee, I know :P).

 

I'm also excited for Demonology to go back to focusing on demons instead of Meta; I honestly didn't like Meta, which is the biggest reason I didn't like playing the spec (going Destro most of the time instead). I loved ALL THE IMPS so I'm excited to see how that changes in 7+!

[tensi 0]

i have so many questions about the expac.

 

will feral druids with claws of shirvallah still have the new updated catform?

will the artifact weapon traits be active/balanced in pvp?

do i still earn conquest gear (and weapons) from arenas/rbgs or is pvp gear gone completely?

 

i focus on those for now. im excited but also a little bit worried

[Vir 0]

It was neither Russian nor German - it was a French website: http://www.mamytwink.com/actualite/legion-armes-chasseur-de-demons-et-autres-informations

[stoppableforce 1]

An all-new weapon type, Glaives, will be the only weapon type that Demon Hunters can use. They are a weapon 'pair' that comes together and fills both hand slots. Having only one available weapon type for the class will not be an issue in Legion, as you mostly focus on your Artifact throughout this expansion. In the future, Demon Hunters might eventually dual wield the 'standard' agility weapon types

 

Are you sure it's that they're the only weapon that DHs can wield, and not that they're a weapon that only DHs can wield? Because this info directly contradicts Blizzard's own Demon Hunter page.

 

• AVAILABLE WEAPONS
• Daggers, Fist Weapons, One-Handed Axes, One-Handed Maces, One-Handed Swords

Edited August 7, 2015 by stoppableforce

[Odinn 95]

It was neither Russian nor German - it was a French website: http://www.mamytwink.com/actualite/legion-armes-chasseur-de-demons-et-autres-informations

 

That's their translation of this article. :p

[Vir 0]

That's their translation of this article.

 

Ah, my mistake then.

[SpecialAgentSkye 1]

Are you sure it's that they're the only weapon that DHs can wield, and not that they're a weapon that only DHs can wield? Because this info directly contradicts Blizzard's own Demon Hunter page.

 

I was thinking the same. It might have been some miscommunication. Till blizzarad officially changes the info on their website, i will assume that "Glaives is a weapon that only Demon hunters can wear", and not that "Demon Hunters can only wear glaives". 

[baneleaf 0]

Was there any mention about how dual spec or respec will be handled for artifact weapons? We have thrown some ideas around in guild but it would be nice to know if we will have to do the quest over, or if the weapons will just "change" to our new spec when we change. 

[bonespike 0]

I would love to see unholy DKs take a bit more 'lich' to them - instead of a single pet that you make big, summoning short-lived minions of different types (spellcaster, archer, soldier, tank) would fit better - add in a chance of summon minion on enemy kill and you'd have some serious bad a$$-ness

[Hanzik 0]

Hey, this was us with you at the interview. Check us out at Wowfan.cz. We are a Czech fansite, so I get the confusion with Russia. ;)

[Amos 0]

I was thinking the same. It might have been some miscommunication. Till blizzarad officially changes the info on their website, i will assume that "Glaives is a weapon that only Demon hunters can wear", and not that "Demon Hunters can only wear glaives". 

 

My bet is that Glaives will effectively be a two-handed weapon, like a staff or polearm, but it will be unique to Demon Hunters and unable to transmog into anything else.  And they'll probably be a fast weapon.

 

Then, Demon Hunters will also have access to the agility one-handers listed on the website, but will prefer quick weapons (like most rogues).

 

What you end up with is a choice similar to what Monks or Frost DK's have today: whether a single big two-hander is better than two smaller one-handers.  It will probably cause some alteration to optimal rotations, allowing a bit more variety to the DH gameplay without having huge spec-level differences.

[AstanoVidatu 4]

The problem with that theory is that it showed the game play of it during the stream and they were dual wielding them. The chances of dual wielding 2h weapons for a class focused on speed and agility is rather slim

My bet is that Glaives will effectively be a two-handed weapon, like a staff or polearm, but it will be unique to Demon Hunters and unable to transmog into anything else.  And they'll probably be a fast weapon.

 

Then, Demon Hunters will also have access to the agility one-handers listed on the website, but will prefer quick weapons (like most rogues).

 

What you end up with is a choice similar to what Monks or Frost DK's have today: whether a single big two-hander is better than two smaller one-handers.  It will probably cause some alteration to optimal rotations, allowing a bit more variety to the DH gameplay without having huge spec-level differences.

[Amos 0]

The problem with that theory is that it showed the game play of it during the stream and they were dual wielding them. The chances of dual wielding 2h weapons for a class focused on speed and agility is rather slim

I'm not talking about the animation.  They'll still make it look like the DH is wielding two separate glaives, and the attack rates will match accordingly.

 

What they have said is that "glaives" will be a single item.  This means that it's effectively a single two-handed weapon for balance and mathematics purposes, even though the graphics and animation will show otherwise.

[kinsho5864 0]

I was thinking the same. It might have been some miscommunication. Till blizzarad officially changes the info on their website, i will assume that "Glaives is a weapon that only Demon hunters can wear", and not that "Demon Hunters can only wear glaives". 

 

I was thinking the same. It might have been some miscommunication. Till blizzarad officially changes the info on their website, i will assume that "Glaives is a weapon that only Demon hunters can wear", and not that "Demon Hunters can only wear glaives". 

Not sure how far down this post will go, but while I suspect you're probably right that it's a typo or mistake (kinda), They could also just be focusing on the fact that the Artifact weapons are the only weapons you should really be using this expansion and the demon hunters one will almost definitely be Glaives of some sort. So for this expansion demon hunter will/should only use Glaives. Also if anyone else has already pointed this out then sorry, only read through so many of the replies :D.

[Damien 1,514]

Hey, this was us with you at the interview. Check us out at Wowfan.cz. We are a Czech fansite, so I get the confusion with Russia.

Haha, when we arrived they were like "You're with the Russian guys, so our Russian CM will take care of you!", so that confused us Didn't we have an interview together last year too? Heroes maybe. And btw, feel free to use all our questions/answers, no worries

[f0nZi3 7]

Class mechanic revamp will be cool, we'll see how it works out. Melee hunter ftw - NEED ME RAPTER STRIKE BACK!!!

Agreed! They better bring back Volley too while they're at it. ;)

[taliesin52 3]

Garrisons are staying in Draenor. If you want to go back and visit them, you can! They were always designed as something that you would leave in Draenor. The developers may revisit the system with something bigger, better, and different in the future.

 

Something bigger.

 

 

*Shudder*

[Lockybalboa 618]

Raptor strike memories!

 

*Peelyon runs into melee range uses Raptor Strike*

 

"Peelyon what are you doing?! Did you run out of ammo AGAIN??!"

 

uhm maybe?!

 

 

Dude I still have 2,410 rounds of ammo in my hunters bank. Just cant bring myself to delete it.

[Peelyon 416]

Dude I still have 2,410 rounds of ammo in my hunters bank. Just cant bring myself to delete it.

 

The wife still has her ammo bag - won't let go!

[Zenithar 0]

They say new weapon type and its the only one they can wield, yet on warcrafts main website. it says otherwise.

 

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/game/class/demon-hunter

 

 

"

• AVAILABLE WEAPONS: Daggers, Fist Weapons, One-Handed Axes, One-Handed Maces, One-Handed Swords. "