wow Shadowlands System Updates: Legendaries, Weekly Chest, Class Identity, Level Squish

[Stan 5,240]

The removal of RNG elements from various aspects of the game in the Shadowlands expansion results in various quality-of-life improvements in system and rewards.

In Shadowlands, we're going to see less RNG tied to Crafting and Professions as a whole. Crafted items will come with specific gems slotted in, so you will no longer need to hope for the best as a crafter. This results in Professions being more relevant throughout the expansion.

The weekly loot chest (Grand Challenger's Bounty) currently pulls loot from a loot table of more than a hundred items, which can cause frustration, but in the next expansion, players will be presented with a list of multiple items and the ability to pick a useful one rather than waiting for another shot the following week. There will even be a failsafe mechanism in place when none of the items on the list suit you.

Legion Legendaries are returning, but the way you'll obtain them won't be random and you will be able to pick a specific one and craft it through your progression in Torghast.

Class identity will play a factor in Shadowlands, some class abilities will be made available to all specializations. The final goal is to even restore some abilities to account for the pruning.

The level squish is finally happening! Max-level characters will be downscaled to level 50 and level up to 60 in the new expansion. You will then be able to level from 10–50 in Battle For Azeroth or any expansion you wish to experience from start to finish and then move straight into Shadowlands.

Every level is meaningful after the squish, so you will receive a new ability, talent, dungeon access when you level up.

Check out our BlizzCon 2019 Content Hub for more news!

Blizzard (Source)

SYSTEM AND REWARDS

With Shadowlands, one of our core design philosophies is providing players with a better sense of agency. We want players to feel they have a choice over the destiny of their character and the types of rewards they want to earn. To that end, here’s some of the systems and themes we’re exploring in Shadowlands:

• Professions: We want to make sure that crafting professions have more options to create a specific item rather than making multiple items in the hope of one with just the right stats. Instead, you might craft an item with specific gems slotted in to make the item you want.
• Weekly loot chest: We’re looking into ways for providing players with choices between multiple items from loot chests so that each time they receive an item from the chest, they have more of an opportunity to choose an item they find useful rather than waiting for another chance the following week.
• Legendaries: We want to offer a way toward building a Legendary of your choice and imbuing it with powers that you’ve earned.

With the expansion, we want to step back and focus on class identity first over specialization identity. This means moving back some of the class abilities to all specializations that may have been moved into one spec or even restoring some abilities.

We’re still early in devising and refining these systems, but you can learn more in the Deep Dive panel.

LEVELING UPDATES

World of Warcraft: Shadowlands introduces a smoother, more streamlined leveling experience. World of Warcraft—and as that continues to grow, we wanted to find a way to better pace the experience for players as they level. Over the years, we’ve found ways to speed up the leveling process, but we did so at the cost of a providing a complete experience for players, who would outpace a zone’s content and miss out on the ongoing narrative.

It’s also important for us to return to a time when every level is meaningful. This means that when you go from one level to another, you get something new such as an ability or spell, access to a dungeon, the ability to use mounts, or a new Talent tier.

We’re also updating the new-player experience to showcase more of the best World of Warcraft has to offer. New players will begin their journey in a whole new level 1–10 experience. Players will then be able to level from 10–50 in Battle For Azeroth or any expansion they wish to experience from start to finish. Finally, they’ll move on into Shadowlands, where players can go from level 50–60. This ultimately means that leveling will be faster, and players will be able to experience the complete story of an expansion while preparing to journey to the Shadowlands.

More information will be available tomorrow after the Deep Dive panel.

[Baharok 234]

All i can say so far:

Thank you Blizzard and please dont mess it up. I really, REALLY like the announcement so far and i hope that they keep this journey until release.

 

edit.:

Btw, nice upgrades for the site @ icy-veins 

Edited November 1, 2019 by Baharok

[darkgreenwax 412]

1 hour ago, Baharok said:

All i can say so far:

Thank you Blizzard and please dont mess it up. I really, REALLY like the announcement so far and i hope that they keep this journey until release.

 

edit.:

Btw, nice upgrades for the site @ icy-veins 

From a role-playing perspective, this is a huge breath of fresh air for your alts. You could give them specific backstories and totally stay in those environments until max level now. A Dwarf Hunter in Northrend? A Zandalari Troll in Pandaria? Perhaps a Mag'har Orc in Outland? These gameplay tweaks are the freedom we solo nerds have been craving!

[Ragingwolf 310]

I really like this and hope to see more info on this expansion even further.

[dman59847 0]

Any info on when the level squish will happen? Like how the stat squish happened before BFA?

[Stan 5,240]

38 minutes ago, dman59847 said:

Any info on when the level squish will happen? Like how the stat squish happened before BFA?

Shadowlands pre-patch. No ETA, obviously.

[mtc51 0]

What will happen to the alts that ain't 120?

[Stan 5,240]

27 minutes ago, mtc51 said:

What will happen to the alts that ain't 120?

They will be scaled down to a level lower than 50.

[shanek 0]

The level squish may just be the DUMBEST thing Blizzard has ever done, narrowly beating out the garrison but not quite beating Classic in terms of stupidity

[LestatD 6]

Some of the changes seem ok, but I am not a fan of the "Level in one zone from 10-50". To me, I like going from zone to zone as I level, getting a different view, different experience. Also, I have been talking to a few people who never played before and are thinking about playing in the near future, if you level in one expansion before Shadowlands, it kinda takes away from the people experiencing each expansion on some level without having to make alts for each individual experience.
I also feel the level cap is too low.I can see reducing it instead of going to 130+ but I feel Max level should be roughly 70 like it was in BC. Thats just My 2 cents. *shrugs*

Edited November 27, 2019 by LestatD