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Greetings dear community!

It's time to dive into Patch 8.1.0 and welcome the start of Season 2!

In this announcement, you'll find everything you need to know about the new patch, including all the available content, upcoming features, and some exciting extras. 

SUMMARY:

• WAR CAMPAIGN & OTHER QUESTLINES
• NEW RAIDS
• DARKSHORE & FACTION ASSAULTS
• NEW SEASON PVP & MYTHIC
  • Mythic
  • Pvp
  • Heart of azeroth
  • Azerite Power
  • World content
  • New item levels
• END OF SEASON 1 PVP REWARDS
• MORE CONTENT
  • Reforged systems in season 2 (Fated Might, Weekly Challenges, Catch-up and vendors and more)
  • Interface overhauls (Weekly Challenges panel and Item upgrade window)
  • Pings (Getting started, The ping wheel, What your group sees and Macros)
  • Adventure Mode (Opening it, Zones, Experience, Storylines, Journey and Settings)
  • United Effort (How a cycle works and Rewards)

 

WAR CAMPAIGN & OTHER QUESTLINES

 

• 8.1 War campaign continuation:
  • Tides of Vengeance 
  • Tides of Vengeance 
     
• Other storylines · HORDE 
  • Lost Honor  from patch 8.1 (Blood Gate questline from previous patch required)
  • Testing loyalties  from patch 8.1.5
     
• Other storylines ·  ALLIANCE 
  • ​My Brother's Keeper
  • The Gathering Storm
     
• Hati questline (ONLY hunters) · Never Hunt Alone
  This one should please all Hunters... They received a message from Mimiron: I have wondrous news! A recent energy signature tripped several detection relays I installed after that unfortunate incident with Sargeras. I require further data to know for certain, but initial diagnostics suggest that these energies are coming from Hati! We might still be able to save him! Hati's spirit is still bound to your own, so I'll need your help. Meet me at my library in the Storm Peaks right away!
  
  

 

 

NEW RAIDS

Battle of Dazar'alor

The second Raid of the expansion, involving Jaina Proudmoore and the Alliance's invasion of Dazar'Alor, the Zandalari capital!
What makes this raid special is the fact that your faction will be changed during certain fights, to reflect on each faction's story during the attack.

• Champions of the Light
• Grong
• Jadefire Masters
• Opulence
• Conclave of the Chosen
• King Rastakhan
• High Tinker Mekkatorque
• Stormwall Blockade
• Lady Jaina Proudmoore
   

BoD will be available in LFR, Normal and Hero difficulties. Mythic mode will be available later.

Crucible of Storms 

Similar to Trial of Valor from Legion in size (this one only has 2 bosses), this raid will make you uncover the secret that lies beneath Shrine of the Storm... 
What's unique about this raid is the loot you can get: there are no azerite armor, but all the gear you can get is filled with the Old God's unstable powers, and will grant you unique effects!

This raid will be available later, along with its related questline Crucible of Storms

We will provide updates via Discord and our website when it becomes available.

 

 

DARKSHORE & FACTION ASSAULTS

Darkshore
Darkshore is to the 8.1 patch what Arathi Highlands were to the 8.0, so you can expect to find the same kind of content available here; It's a whole new zone filled with special World Quests, and rare mobs that can reward equipments, mounts, toys or pets.

The whole zone will be controlled by one faction, switching every week: while your faction holds the reins, you will get access to world quests in the area, and to the corresponding world boss: Ivus the Forest Lord for the Horde, and Ivus the Decayed for the Alliance.

Warfront scenarios won't be available.

 

The Faction Assaults
Similar to the Legion Invasions, following a rotation some BFA zones will get invaded by either the Horde or the Alliance.

Depending on the zone and your faction, you will either act as an invader, or a defender and will get access to specific world quests: once you've completed 4 of them, you will unlock a quest asking you to do one last effort to help your faction, which will reward you with gear, war resources, ap and reputations.

For more information, you can read Battle for Azeroth Faction Assaults (Incursions)

 

NEW SEASON

The Season 2 of Mythic and PvP will begin once the servers are back online and the update is live.

MYTHIC  :

• Mythic Season Two starts with Reaping as the seasonal affix. Season One had Infested.
• Mythic rating and the leaderboard start fresh.
• Dungeon gear is 340 Normal, 355 Heroic and 370 Mythic. Mythic Azerite pieces have five rings.
• Heroic and Mythic dungeon creatures use retail's 8.1.5 tuning.
• Weekly chest items stay Bountiful, 5 item levels above the end-of-dungeon chart, as in Season One.
• Rewards stop rising at 10.
• Weekly chests opened before the season's first weekly reset still pay Season One item levels, since they reward last week's runs.
• The timer on your keystone is now only a countdown to the weekly reset.

 

Keystone	End of dungeon	Weekly chest (Bountiful)
2	375	385
3	375	390
4	380	395
5	385	395
6	385	400
7	390	405
8	395	405
9	395	410
10 and higher	400	415

 

PvP:

Regarding PVP, the Sinister Gladiator season will begin, with updated rewards! 
You will also find the same "conquest" system that was there in BFA's season 1, but with more flexibility in the rewards to help you get the gear you need. 

Information about NPCs:

• Mako, Lord of War sells Sinister Gladiator gear (item level 375).
• Taco, Duke of Conflict sells Sinister Aspirant gear (item level 340).

 

HEART OF AZEROTH:
 

• The level cap rises from 40 to 50.
• Artifact Knowledge starts at its Season Two maximum, so reaching the cap is a matter of weeks.

 

AZERITE POWER

• Heart of Azeroth cap is 50, and Artifact Knowledge starts at max. Level 1 → 50 costs ~390k AP. In Season One, 1 → 40 cost 18.8 million.
• About 6 weeks to level 50 for an average player at ~4h a day, from level 40 or from scratch.
• All AP rewards use their final Battle for Azeroth amounts.
• Raid bosses: 900 each, in every raid and on every difficulty, Uldir included. Uldir used to pay 125–500.
• Mythic weekly chest: 3,600 at 10 (was 1,400). End-of-dungeon chests pay more in longer dungeons.
• Weekly Challenges: claim every task, up to 12,000 a week (was 4,500).
• PvP weekly chest: 3,000–5,500 (was 1,000–6,000). Island losses now pay a share of the win reward.
• Smaller than before:
  • Emissaries: 600 one bonus (3,000 AP, War Resources, gear or gold), was 3,400 every time.
  • War Mode: 10% on world quests, emissaries and daily quests. A bug used to add it twice ( 21%) on almost every non-loot AP reward.
  • LFR wings: 350 once a week, was once a day.

 

WORLD CONTENT:
 

• World quest gear rises to 330 - 370 and emissary rewards to 385.
• The Kul Tiras and Zandalar world bosses drop 385. Doom's Howl and The Lion's Roar drop 400.
• Ivus joins the Darkshore world boss rotation.
• The Adventure Guide suggests the content that is available.

 

NEW ITEM LEVELS:

Every Reforged reward follows one rule: each season adds 30 item levels to Season One. The only exception is emissary rewards, which rise to 385.

Source	Season One	Season Two
Raid (LFR / Normal / Heroic / Mythic)	340 / 355 / 370 / 385	370 / 385 / 400 / 415
Dungeons (Normal / Heroic / Mythic)	310 / 325 / 340	340 / 355 / 370
Mythic end of dungeon ( 2 to 10)	345 - 370	375 - 400
Mythic weekly chest ( 2 to 10)	355 - 385	385 - 415
PvP vendors (Aspirant / Gladiator	310 / 345	340 / 375
World quests	300 - 340	330 - 370
Emissary rewards (the one exception)	340	385
Kul Tiras and Zandalar world bosses	355	385
Doom's Howl, The Lion's Roar	370	400
Highest item level	395	425

 

 

END OF SEASON 1 PVP

The current PVP season on BfA: Reforged just ended.

The rewards will be distributed to 2v2 and 3v3 regardless of the factions (since 2v2 is our most active ladder, we're extending rewards in this bracket).

Here is the list of rewards for 2v2:

• Top 1 to 13: Dread Gladiator Title, Dread Gladiator: Battle for Azeroth Season 1 and Dread Gladiator's Proto-Drake.
• Top 14 to 25: Gladiator Title, Gladiator: Battle for Azeroth Season 1 and Dread Gladiator's Proto-Drake.

Here are the rewards for 3v3:

• Top 1 to 7: Dread Gladiator Title, Dread Gladiator: Battle for Azeroth Season 1 and Dread Gladiator's Proto-Drake.

 

MORE CONTENT

REFORGED SYSTEMS IN SEASON 2

How the realm's own systems carry into the new season:

New · Fated Might:

Last season's content stays relevant instead of becoming obsolete.

• Every hostile creature in Uldir, trash included and on every difficulty, gains 30% health and 30% damage for each season the raid is behind.
• Season One's world bosses carry it too: T'zane, Ji'arak, Hailstone Construct, Azurethos, Warbringer Yenajz, Dunegorger Kraulok, Doom's Howl and The Lion's Roar.
• Their loot drops at Season Two item levels.

 

Reworked · Weekly Challenges:

• You can claim every task you complete, not only one per category.
• Each claim pays 1,500 Azerite Power and 4 Echoes of Mortality.
• Your first claim in each category also pays (both cap at three a week):
  • a Pinnacle Cache for that character
  • an Echo of the Crucible for your whole account.
     
• The World Awaits now asks for 15 world quests instead of 20.
• Two new tasks join the list.

Category	Tasks
PvE	Champions of the Raid, Emissary of War, Empowered Rares (new)
PvP	A Call to Battle, The Arena Calls
World	The World Awaits, Call of the Islands, Tools of the Trade (new)

 

Empowered Rares:

• Two rares in every Battle for Azeroth zone are Empowered. They have 100% health and 50% damage, are larger, and are marked on the map.
• When one dies, another rare in that zone becomes Empowered.
• The task asks for 5 Empowered rares in Zandalar and 5 in Kul Tiras.

 

Tools of the Trade:

• Earn 100 profession points.
• Each herb or ore node gathered and each fish caught in Kul Tiras or Zandalar is worth 1 point.
• Each Battle for Azeroth recipe you craft is worth 1 to 5 points.

 

Reworked · Pinnacle Cache:

• The cache now comes from your first claim in each Weekly Challenges category.
• It holds 500 War Resources (was 300), 100 Conquest and 3 Marks of Honor.
• It has a chance at a Sigiled Shard: Dusk 30%, Day 10%, Dawn 5%, Darkness 1%.
• It has a 60% chance at Spoils of War.
• It always holds one Battle of Dazar'alor raid item:
  • the Heroic version if your equipped item level is 400 or more, otherwise Normal;
  • once Crucible of Storms opens, with a 20% chance of a Crucible item instead.

 

Chrono-Shard Reforgers and Sigiled Shards:

Reforger	Works on	Raises to
Dawn	385–394	395
Day	395–404	405
Dusk	405–414	415
Darkness	415–424	425

 

• Sigiled Shards keep dropping from Mythic keystones, and drop in all three raids:
  • Dawn on Normal (10 a week);
  • Day on Heroic (5 a week);
  • Dusk on Mythic (3 a week).
     
• Sigiled Shard: Darkness comes from two sources:
  • the Mythic catch-up, once for each Mythic Battle of Dazar'alor or Crucible of Storms boss killed that week;
  • the Grand Challenger's Bounty at 15.

 

Raid Renown:

• The Battle of Dazar'alor renown track opens. Crucible of Storms' track opens with the raid, and Uldir's stays open.
• Each new raid starts with its first two levels already available.
• Renown is account-wide and never resets. Each raid's weekly ceiling rises by two levels, up to 15.
• Your pets now share your Forbidden Studies buff. This covers hunter pets, warlock demons and guardians.
• Echoes of Mortality carry over from Season One.

 

New · Cleansing Tears:

Cleansing Tears replaces Call to Arms, the extra reward for queuing as a missing role in the Dungeon Finder. Tanks and healers earn extra Azerite Power and Echoes of Mortality:

• A maxed Heart of Azeroth takes the bonus as gold instead.
• Dungeons, walked in: one tank and one healer per run, who must hold the role before half the bosses are dead. They get the dungeon's boss Azerite plus 1 Echo.
• Dungeon Finder: the finder's Azerite and the clear's Azerite, plus 1 Echo.
• Mythic : the chest's Azerite and Echoes.
• Raid bosses:
  • Azerite scaled by difficulty. Battle of Dazar'alor and Crucible of Storms bosses pay more once Crucible of Storms opens.
  • Echoes: 1 on Normal, 2 on Heroic, 3 on Mythic.
  • Walk-in raids pay one tank and one healer per five players.

 

Catch-up and vendors:

• Mythic catch-up: it starts over and now pays for Battle of Dazar'alor and Crucible of Storms Mythic bosses.
• Resonant Knowledge: it must be earned again. Its ranks unlock at item level 385, 400, 415 and 425, for 10% to 40% currency from scrapping and disenchanting.
• Azerite Vendor achievements: the Season Two versions unlock Thaumaturge Vashreen's Season Two stock. Keystone Conqueror now asks for 15 instead of 10.
• William Midnight: Season Two essences still cost 3 Echoes of the Crucible each, and you can buy rank two directly.

 

 

INTERFACE OVERHAULS

Reworked · Weekly Challenges panel:

• Layout: one window shows all three categories, opened from a side tab on the Adventure Guide.
• Claiming: each task has its own Claim button, and the per-claim rewards are listed under each category.
• First-claim rewards: they show Available or Earned this week, marked (character) for the Pinnacle Cache and (account) for the Echo of the Crucible.
• Echo tracker: shows how many of the week's three Echoes your account has taken.
• Empowered Rares: shows progress for each continent.
• Window: you can scale and move it, and reset its position. Icon borders are colour-coded.

 

Reworked · Item upgrade window:

ITEMS FROM A PREVIOUS SEASON CAN'T BE UPGRADED WITH CHRONO-SHARD REFORGERS. THEY CAN ONLY TAKE INFUSIONS.

• Redesigned: the Before and After preview is easier to read and fits the window.
• PvP: a PvP Ranks row handles Warlord's Trophies and Battleborn Sigils.
• Items: it works on equipped and bagged items. A status line explains why an item can't be upgraded.
• Window: you can resize it and reset its size.

 

 

PINGS

New · Mark targets and places for your group without typing:

Getting started

• Every character learns six Ping spells automatically. They sit in the Ping flyout in your spellbook, so you can drag them to your action bars.
• Pings are instant and off the global cooldown, and reach 300 yards.
• They work while dead, mounted, stunned, casting or in a vehicle, and need no line of sight.
• The ground pings use the targeting circle, and work in /cast [@cursor] macros.
   

Spell	What it does
Ping Menu	Opens the ping wheel. The ping you pick marks your target, or your position when you have none.
Ping: Location	Marks a spot: "Look here".
Ping: Attack	Marks your target for your group to attack. Needs an attackable target.
Ping: Warning	Marks a spot to watch out for.
Ping: Assist	Marks any unit that needs help.
Ping: On My Way	Marks where you are heading.

 

The ping wheel

• It opens at your cursor, with Warning at the top, Attack on the left, Assist at the bottom and On My Way on the right.
• Attack is greyed out until you target something attackable.
• It closes after 15 seconds, on Escape, or with the X in the middle.
• The cog opens Ping Settings:
  • Chat on or off, saved for your whole account.
  • For group leaders, who may ping: Everyone, Leader, Assistants, or Tanks and Healers. The group is told when this changes, and it resets when the group disbands.

 

What your group sees

• Members of your party or raid on the same map and in the same instance see your pings. Players who ignore you don't, and on your own only you see them.
• Each ping shows as a coloured rune on the unit or spot for 5 seconds, plus a minimap ping. Attack is orange, Warning yellow, Assist green, On My Way blue and Look purple.
• A pinged unit gets a badge for 10 seconds on its nameplate, its portrait and the party and raid frames.
• A chat line names who pinged what. Attack pings also show in the raid warning area.
• You have one ping at a time, and each unit holds one ping per group: a new ping replaces the old one.
• Pinging is limited to 3 pings every 2 seconds and 8 every 10 seconds.

 

Macros

• /ping [@unit] attack | warning | assist | onmyway | threat | look pings your target or the unit you name.
• With no type, /ping picks one for you: Threat on an enemy, Look on anything else.
• The same settings are available as /ping chat and /ping restrict none | lead | assist | tankhealer.
• /ping help lists the commands.

 

 

ADVENTURE MODE

New · A levelling companion for Kul Tiras and Zandalar, on for every character of either faction:

Opening it

• Use the Open: Adventure Mode spell in the Reforged Utilities flyout, which every character learns.
• Click the round Adventure Mode button on the world map. It opens on the zone you are looking at.
• Use the side tab on the Adventure Guide.
• Type /adventure, /aj or /journey.
• The panel can't be opened in combat.
• Its tabs are United Effort, Zones, Journey, Storylines, Experience and Settings.

 

Zones

All six zones count for everyone. Each zone has five objectives:

Objective	Needed	What counts
World Quests	8	World quests completed in the zone, from level 110
Rares	5	Each rare once. Only rares shown on the minimap count, and everyone who tagged it gets credit.
Treasures	6	Each treasure chest once
Side Quests	15	Battle for Azeroth quests. Daily, weekly and repeatable quests don't count.
Dungeon	1	Any of the zone's dungeons, on any difficulty

 

• Credit goes to the zone you are standing in; a dungeon credits its own zone.
• Each completed objective pays exactly 10% of your current level. No other experience bonus applies to it, and 30 objectives come to three levels.
• Finishing all five objectives masters the zone for your whole account. Mastery has no reward yet.

 

Experience

• Boosted experience: double experience on everything, on by default. Each character can switch it off and back on.
   
• Warband Mentor:
  • 10% experience for every class your account has taken to level 120, up to 120% with all twelve classes.
  • It is on by default, and each character can turn it off.
  • The card shows which classes still count towards it.
     
• Zone objective experience:
  • Each character can turn off the experience zone objectives pay.
  • While it is off, the Zones tab is greyed out and shows a notice with the switch to turn it back on.
  • Objectives still count while it is off, but one completed during that time doesn't pay later.
     
• Levelling estimate: shows the objectives and time left to your next level, and your pace.
   
• World quests while levelling​:
  • Battle for Azeroth world quests open from level 110 once your account has united a continent.
  • Below level 120 they pay the experience of a normal quest of your level instead of their usual rewards.
  • Elite and assault quests keep their own experience.

 

Storylines

• Every Battle for Azeroth questline, grouped as In your quest log, Campaigns, Zones, Allied Races and Other storylines.
• Warfront and repeatable lines are hidden, along with lines for the other faction or other classes.
• Search by storyline, quest name or quest ID.
• Each storyline is drawn as a graph:
  • quests are coloured by their state;
  • a progress bar and a line show your next step.
• Clicking a quest:
  • one you have is tracked and the map opens on it;
  • one you don't have gets a glowing gold pin on the world map where it starts.
• As you approach a marked quest giver, a light beam that only you can see shines on them.
• If you can't take a quest yet, the guide sends you to the earliest quest you can do and tells you so in chat.

 

Journey

A checklist of the expansion's account milestones. Each one points at its next quest:

• Heart of Azeroth: the necklace.
• Uniting your continent: world quests from level 110 for your whole account, with the three reputation bars it needs.
• Pathfinder, Part One: flying in Kul Tiras and Zandalar, with every requirement expanded.
• The Heart Forge: essences.
• Heart of Azeroth upgrades I to IV: its item level.

 

Settings

Levelling helpers, all on by default and saved for every character on your account:

• Navigation arrow: points to your next objective from your quest log.
• Adventure targets: also points at the rares, treasures and world quests your zone still needs.
• Hand-ins on the way: a finished quest's hand-in comes first when it is close by.
• Minimap marker: shows the arrow's target on the minimap.
• Click to complete: quests that finish from the log get a prompt in the tracker.
• Level-up summary: a short recap each time you level.
• Levelling estimate: the card on the Experience tab.

Using the arrow: left-click opens the map, right-click skips the target, and Shift-right-click brings skipped targets back. You can drag it anywhere. Clicking a quest you have in the panel pins it as the arrow's target.

 

 

UNITED EFFORT

New · Horde and Alliance work together on four fronts for a shared reward. It is the first tab of the Adventure Mode panel.

How a cycle works?

• The whole realm shares one cycle of up to four hours. A cycle ends early when all four fronts are complete.
• The four fronts are PvE, World, PvP and Professions. Each shows how full it is.
• Your contribution shows when your deeds have earned you this cycle's Supply Satchel.
• When a cycle ends, the realm is told which fronts were completed and which satchel contributors earned. Then a new cycle begins.

 

Rewards

The more fronts the realm completes, the better the satchel every contributor receives:

Fronts completed	Satchel	Reagent stacks	Supply Requisitions
0 - 1	Apprentice's Supply Satchel	3	15
2	Journeyman's Supply Satchel	6	25
3	Artisan's Supply Satchel	14	40
4	Grand Master's Supply Satchel	20	60

 

• The reagents favour your own professions, and the Grand Master's satchel always holds a rare reagent.
   
• Each account receives one satchel per cycle:
  • if any of your characters is online, it goes straight to their bags, or to their mailbox when the bags are full;
  • otherwise it is mailed to the character who contributed most.
     
• Spend Supply Requisitions with the Tortollan Requisitioner in Plunderforged Bay. They sell 67 Battle for Azeroth reagents for 1 to 35 Requisitions each, including herbs, ore, leather, cloth, enchanting materials, gems and cooking ingredients.