wow The Jailer's Torments, New Level and Difficulty Selection, Hunter and Monk and More: Big Torghast Update for May 13th

[Starym 3,800]

 

There are some massive changes coming to Torghast this week and Blizzard has detailed them all! Here's a quick rundown of everything that's being added and you can check out the full details below:

• Covenant abilities added, preset, rotating daily
• Hunter and Monk Anima abilities available
• New level and difficulty selection method in the starting room
• Death changes, based on number of players
• You have to defeat the Empowered creature before moving up a floor
• Jailer's Torment debuffs on higher floors - different debuffs for different areas of the Tower, similar to M+ affixes
   

Torghast, May 13th (source)

We have a major update to Torghast in this new Alpha build for testers to experience.

Covenant Abilities

You will now be assigned a Covenant when entering Torghast, including that Covenant’s signature and class abilities.

• Your test character’s Covenant will change daily, cycling through all four Covenants.
  • Developers’ notes: The goal here is to get a look at some abilities before we’re able to fully test the Covenants/Zones they belong to. Please note that Anima Powers do not yet exist for Venthyr, Necrolord, or Night Fae abilities. Additionally, paladins, rogues, and death knights are not quite ready for Torghast, but they’re coming soon™.

Classes

The following classes now have Anima Powers available to them and can now access Torghast, Tower of the Damned:

• Hunter
• Monk
  • Developers’ note: Monks are still missing a few powers, but they can begin testing.

Starting Room of the Damned

The Wayfinder in the starting room has been removed, and “Easy”, “Normal”, and “Heroic” runs have been removed. Please pay your respects.

• Developers’ note: F

The Torghast entryway is now a room that allows you to pick which cell block you wish to attempt, through a series of portals. The portals are:

• Twisting Corridors
• Skoldus Hall (quest)
• Fracture Chambers (quest)
• The Soulforges (quest)
• Coldheart Interstitia (quest)
  • Developers’ Notes: To emulate Easy, Normal, or Heroic runs, enter the Twisting Corridors. Other doors will take you to the 6-floor quest runs, which are currently limited to floors 1-6.

All Twisting Corridors runs now end after 18 floors, regardless of difficulty. Delving deeper into the Twisting Corridors unlocks higher floor checkpoints from which to start a run. After entering the Twisting Corridors portal, speak to the Wayfinder to select your starting floor number.

· Gameplay Changes

• Deaths are now measured on a per-run basis:
  • 1 player: 5 deaths allowed (Tarragrue on 6th death)
  • 2 players: 8 deaths allowed
  • 3 players: 10 deaths allowed
  • 4 players: 13 deaths allowed
  • 5 players: 15 deaths allowed
• Players can no longer ascend to the next floor without first defeating the Empowered creature guarding the portal.
• Players who release their spirit after their party members have ascended to a higher floor will resume on the higher floor.
• Ashen Phylacteries no longer require a killing blow to trigger Maw Power effects that are triggered by destroying them.
• Shackled Brokers now have more distinct names, and if you snuff out their life force, that broker will remain dead for the remainder of your run.
• The Broker’s Purse now drops less Phantasma than before, and this amount is now affected by group size.
• Vendors should now instantly update their displays for all players when a player buys a limited-stock item.
• Animimics now have a chance to drop something valuable.
• The first Anima Cell of each run can now be found once you traverse through a portal.

The Jailer’s Torments

At higher floor difficulties, you’ll now find yourselves subjected to additional scrutiny from the Jailer in the form of stacking debuffs that will make your ascent more difficult.

• A safe area at the beginning of each floor protects players from the effects of the Jailer’s Torments. Players remain safe until they leave the safe area, enter combat, or loot something.
• The Torments differ by cell block:
  • Eye of Skoldus: The hounds of Skoldus periodically seek out players while they are out of combat.
  • Fracturing Forces: Mawsworn ambushers periodically hunt and stalk players while they are out of combat.
  • Soulforge Heat: The burning heat of the Soulforges constantly sears players for a percentage of their maximum health as Fire damage.
  • Breath of Coldheart: The life-sapping breath of the Coldheart Interstitia reduces player damage the longer they remain on a floor.
  • Mort’regar’s Echoes: Ghastly echoes of the dead haunt players, increasing the magic damage they receive the longer they remain on a floor.
  • Might of the Upper Reaches: The Jailer’s might crushes opposition, increasing the physical damage players receive the longer they remain on a floor.
• Developers’ Notes: Much like Mythic Keystone dungeons have dangerous affixes at higher Keystone levels, those who ascend Torghast will endure the Torments of the Jailer. This is very much a work in progress and an early look at a system we’re iterating on. Please post your feedback on it in this forum thread.

[Rag 16]

I actually think that aside from the decreasing damage one (Breath), the rest at least give you reasonable play around opportunities. The Breath is a soft enrage that weakens your character, which feels counter intuitive to what people have loved about Tor so far. Facing an increasing challenge in terms of powerful enemies means that your insane broken power gets tested against theirs, which sounds far more satisfying than getting a power setback just for being in a certain cell block. Ultimately the challenge is dependent on how fast Breath stacks, but it sounds like a situation where it will stack so slowly that its irrelevant, or so fast that you feel kneecapped. Reminds me of my feelings on the explosive affix; It may not be the hardest affix to deal with, but it makes the dungeons notably less fun.

Edited May 14, 2020 by Rag