WoW Classic Post BlizzCon Developer Q&A - Cataclysm & Season of Discovery

Classic Posted 2023/11/10 at 12:37 PM by Rokman

Classic Developer Q&A Begins at 36:22 in the VideoProgression Realms Cataclysm Classic

There are many offerings for players in Classic, such as Classic Era, Hardcore, Season of Discovery, and soon Cataclysm. Blizzard states they do not have plans for Wrath Era Realms.

Outland and Northrend Leveling will be increased to get players into the new Cataclysm Classic sooner. Won't be addressing 1-60 leveling speed too much, outside of Joyous Journeys.

Guilds will see some adjustments for Guild Perks, to make smaller guilds more viable.

Disenchant option will make its return in Cataclysm Classic for the Loot Roll Windows.

Blizzard will monitor the gear requirements for Random Dungeon Finders, to make it smoother for players to find groups appropriate for their gear levels.

WoW Classic Season of Discovery

Phase 1 will be Level 25, Phase 2 will be Level 40, Phase 3 will be Level 50, and Phase 4 will be Level 60. Blizzard hasn't decided entirely on the time durations for each phase.

Level-Up Raids and Open World events from previous phases will still be relevant in later phases, as Season of Discovery progresses. Blizzard believes players will certainly go back into previous raids while leveling up.

Raids from WoW Classic will make a return in Season of Discovery in later Phases after Level 60. Blizzard might make changes to those raids, still developing that.

Blizzard said they maybe will create new Legendary items for Season of Discovery. Blizzard is excited to explore new areas and some quest chains that never were completed in original Vanilla.

Gold buying, selling, and Botting are hard for Blizzard to discuss openly, because it is an arms race with Botters. Blizzard is making changes and monitoring it closely. Blizzard is committed to continue fighting this battle, even if it is endless.

Blizzard has been making adjustments to realms and realm caps over time. Blizzard also believes by having fewer realm options, it could lead to a healthier balance of faction population on PvP Realms.

Azeroth should feel challenging and exciting for players, so Blizzard is aware of the player power gained from Runes in the new Season of Discovery. Where it will be appropriate to balance the open world, Blizzard will do it. The same goes for Raids and Dungeons.

For Season of Discovery, Blizzard has focused Shaman's Enhancement damage to be more focused on the Burning Crusade version, which is Dual wield focused with Lava Lash. Blizzard is listening to player feedback regarding that.

Blizzard "accidentally" teased Scarlet Monastery at BlizzCon and there are tons of new things Blizzard is creating that wasn't teased at all. There will be brand new, never before seen content added into Season of Discovery.

There might be Runes in future Phases that might make hybrid classes more viable, such as Holy Smite Priest.

The world is the main character in Season of Discovery, Blizzard likes the level banded content because they can really focus on various parts of the world and create new content for that.

Racial Skills are important for Class fantasy and defines characters. Blizzard will not do anything specific for Racial abilities. But Blizzard does hint that maybe Weapon Skill related Racials will be available through rewards in Level-Up Raids. This will make some Weapon Skill Racials potentially less desirable, and maybe an item like Edgemaster's Handguards won't be as necessary.

Blizzard is open to exploring potentially adding in Priest Racials as Runes in later phases. Like non-Dwarf Priests maybe using Fear Ward.

Blizzard is really excited for Season of Discovery, but wants to see how players react to Season of Discovery. Seasonal Realms are meant to be temporary, but Blizzard will always guarantee that you'll be able to keep the characters you create. But they aren't sure if the Seasonal changes will have a permanent home or not. They are still discussing it and listening to feedback.

Comment by TsazaThey really need to add a system to switch layers manually. Other MMOs have this with channel system.Comment by Manashi- There might be Runes in future Phases that might make hybrid classes more viable, such as Holy Smite Priest.

If they do that, they better equally make Holy PvE DPS Paladins aka "Shockadins" viable as well then, I'd play one in a heartbeat, imagine wielding a mace and a proper holy PvE shield going around and spamming Holy Shock, Exorcism, Holy Shock, Exorcism, Holy Shock, Exorcism on literally everything around you. The DPS output doesn't have to be super OP, just sufficient enough to have fun in 5 man~10 man instanced content.

Do you need a tank? Okay, I'll tank it in holy DPS spec, Righteous Fury, taunt targets, spam Holy Shock, generate threat, hold aggro.

Do you need a healer? Okay I'm already in my holy spec, let me swap a few runes, here we go, Holy Shock, Holy Light, Flash of Light.

Do you need a DPS? Okay I'll DPS in holy spec, swapping a few runes, Righteous Fury off, Holy Shock, Exorcism, Holy Shock, Exorcism.

- Seasonal Realms are meant to be temporary, but Blizzard will always guarantee that you'll be able to keep the characters you create. But they aren't sure if the Seasonal changes will have a permanent home or not. They are still discussing it and listening to feedback.

Oh that one is easy, just like they did with Season of Mastery sending us over to the regular Wrath of the Lich King realms, this time send us over to the regular Cataclysm realms. Just strip the sent characters of the rune engraving system as they are not meant to co-exist outside of the seasonal realms.

That one is a no brainer, in fact it's almost a deal breaker for many of us, imagine playing SoD investing time for over a year only to be told "your toons are being sent to this Era only realm with no progression path whatsoever", not respecting the player's time, that's a deal breaker for anyone around I have discussed this with.Comment by RosallindaBlizzard please fix mage solo farming in ZF, ZG and Maraudon. It will save wow economy for a long timeComment by MadSoritmihcraLmi wish the one thing that the SSF feature for hardcore would add is your own layer. i know it's probably technically out of their scope due to the amount of resources that would be required, or just make it an option that you can select, but i wanna play the game without seeing other people when doing hardcore SSF.Comment by ThagomizersBlizzard said they maybe will create new Legendary items for Season of Discovery. Blizzard is excited to explore new areas and some quest chains that never were completed in original Vanilla.Comment by blernsterfresh vanilla server pleaseComment by Manashifresh vanilla server pleaseComment by MiriandandesVanilla ashbringer? Eranikus? A brief foray into the dream and outlands? South seas content?

What if the Nightsquall wasn't for retail content? What if it was hinting as SoD content?Comment by AedionMorrisNo Wrath era feels like a big mistake.Comment by mrtievWe had Titan Rune dungeons in Wrath of the Lich King that would make it easier for alts to be able to get the item they need to eventually jump into "raids".

I think he means Raid. Singular. Because Titan Rune dungeons create a spammable AoEfest (in fairness that's also a byproduct of running older dungeons with raid gear without a considerable increase in the dungeon difficulty. Which they can't do because they're now daily) that allow you to bypass raids and only run the current one.Comment by SaintlelWe had Titan Rune dungeons in Wrath of the Lich King that would make it easier for alts to be able to get the item they need to eventually jump into "raids".

I think he means Raid. Singular. Because Titan Rune dungeons create a spammable AoEfest (in fairness that's also a byproduct of running older dungeons with raid gear without a considerable increase in the dungeon difficulty. Which they can't do because they're now daily) that allow you to bypass raids and only run the current one.Comment by mrtievWe had Titan Rune dungeons in Wrath of the Lich King that would make it easier for alts to be able to get the item they need to eventually jump into "raids".

I think he means Raid. Singular. Because Titan Rune dungeons create a spammable AoEfest (in fairness that's also a byproduct of running older dungeons with raid gear without a considerable increase in the dungeon difficulty. Which they can't do because they're now daily) that allow you to bypass raids and only run the current one.Comment by xposeThey really need to add a system to switch layers manually. Other MMOs have this with channel system.Comment by CampfireBandit+Comment by cptvtdThis interview was a big fat W. Most comments here are a big fat L. Thank you Classic WoW Team. <3Comment by mrtievfresh vanilla server pleaseComment by FrancoportoThe big problem with lvling in Classic WoW is this game doesn't want you group to quest together.
Low droprate + having to clean 2-3-4 times the entire area of the quest for everyone + you have to loot 8 tails of the wolfs but there is only 5 wolfs spawn every 5min.

They really need to change this.

Also, i want to see Gilneas, Grim BatolComment by Deezers"For Season of Discovery, Blizzard has focused Shaman's Enhancement damage to be more focused on the Burning Crusade version, which is Dual wield focused with Lava Lash. Blizzard is listening to player feedback regarding that."

Ohh come the **** on, 2H enhance is why it's so cool to be a shaman in Classic.
This just ruins that

Let retail shaman be what it is and let Classic shaman be what it is, don't change it.Comment by Bisalissy"There might be Runes in future Phases that might make hybrid classes more viable, such as Holy Smite Priest."

Looking at the runes, talents and Spell Ranks available, Holy Smite Priest will already be quite strong for the Lv. 25 bracket :D

Certainly stronger than Shadow DPS.Comment by seanothan7Agree that 2H enh is cool in pvp, I would love to actually play it in pve though. Being restricted to like two classes is cringe and boring when raiding.