Whenever an expansion is nearing release for World of Warcraft, Blizzard releases a “pre-expansion” patch that helps adjust the game to whatever changes will be coming with the new expac. The pre-patch for Battle for Azeroth arrives today bringing with it a whole slew of new content and features. Players will be able to start a quest chain that was added to help shift the story from battling Sargeras to becoming re-centered on the Alliance vs. Horde conflict. Outside of the story evolution, here are three of the other biggest changes coming to WoW in this update.
1. No more PVE/PVP server differentiation.
This patch takes away something that has been constant since the very beginning of World of Warcraft – PVP vs. PVE server types. Instead, Blizzard is implementing a new feature called “War Mode” which can be toggled on or off while in a major city. The toggling of War Mode is essentially enabling or disabling world PVP. By choosing to participate in world PVP, players can earn extra experience while leveling as well as other perks.
2. Loot is individualized
Instead of having to roll for loot, all drops will now be personalized. In other words, as soon as an enemy mob is defeated, the loot he drops is specific to the player and other party members cannot access it unless traded. This is borrowing from the Diablo 3 loot structure which so far has received very few complaints as it definitely makes things more fair.
3. Stat squish
The BfA pre-patch brings with it a stat squish that will have stats values dropped significantly across the board for all players and NPCs. There isn’t any real need to be doing 1 million damage to a boss that has 100 million HP when it’s just easier to display dealing 1 damage to a boss that has 100 HP. It’s essentially the same thing and isn’t nearly as tough on the eyes.
The newest expansion launches August 14 so players have less than a month to wait before they can get the full Battle for Azeroth experience. Given that classes have already been adjusted to resemble how they will play in the new expac, now would be a good time to get a feel for them to see which you’d like to main in the coming expansion.
Image Credits: Blizzard Entertainment
