Dragonflight 10.1 Ion Hazzikostas Interview: Raid, M+, and More
In a recent interview, Bellular, a popular WoW YouTuber, had the chance to sit down with Game Director Ion Hazzikostas. They discussed a wide range of topics. Thus, viewers are able to get the hang of Ion’s insights on Dragonflight Patch 10.1’s exciting features, from the challenges of creating engaging raid and Mythic+ content to the Great Vault and Catalyst. If you haven’t had the chance to watch the full 30-minute interview, don’t worry. We’ve summarized the highlights for you here. However, there are many interesting and important details that Bellular covered in the full version. So, we highly recommend you check it out.
IN GENERAL
- Dragonriding won’t be restricted to Dragon Isles forever. The developers want to broaden it and bring it forward. But before that, they will need to address some nuances first. For example, how to utilize players’ existing mount collections instead of just having them around for cosmetic purposes
- Archeology may return to Dragonflight. However, it won’t be in Ember of Neltharions. They have yet to bring it back to the game because they want to renovate it and put in something special. They want players to feel more engaged and rewarded doing it by implementing lore-related and meaningful relics
- There is no plan for other races to become Evokers, as they don’t have dragon wings. But the Dracthyr can certainly choose to be other classes in the future
- UI improvements are incoming
- Outdoor Timewalking content is likely on the way
- The team wants to continue working on public events like cooking soup, group hunting, and the like, but with more emphasis on serious conflicts
- Cross-faction guilds are expected to solve the problem of people’s connection. The guilds remain divided into Horde and Alliance, but players can now join the opposite faction guilds to be with their friends. Consequently, the Hall of Fame will be unified. Thus, RWF Vault of the Incarnates was the last time we see the two factions’ Hall of Fame in action
MYTHIC+
- Seasonal affix is not suitable with Dragonflight. So, they won’t be seen in the game any time soon. The developers are focusing more on improving the rotating Mythic+ and affix pools
- There won’t be positive affixes. According to the game director, Affixes are extra challenges. They were not created to make the dungeon easier. They should provide an appropriate level of challenge for players. If they are too weak and can be ignored or overly powerful, then that hardly counts as a success. The same goes for anything that makes players think about them more than the mechanics of the dungeon itself
- Key depletion stays the same. It pushes players to play better and adds an extra layer of challenge to spice up the game. At least the key doesn’t break if you don’t complete the dungeon in time, like back in the day
RAID
The developers are happy with how Vault of the Incarnates turned out to be. However, Ion acknowledged that there were tuning issues during the first two weeks on the highest difficulty. Going into Season 2, they believe they better understand each class’s capabilities, enabling them to fine-tune the game more precisely.
THE GREAT VAULT AND REVIVAL CATALYST
- They are not planning to change or adjust anything regarding The Great Vault. The system is not ideal, but at the moment, the team’s resources are distributed to more important things
- The Catalyst will be unavailable at the beginning of Season 2. There has yet to be any information about when it will be activated again
- The Revival Catalyst system in its current form has some issues, such as the lack of catch-up mechanics for players who miss a week of the game. To address this, the developers are considering reverting to a previous system version with a specially designed currency
- While it can be satisfying to receive items from a class set in a predictable manner, such as obtaining a complete Tier Set of armor after 1/2/3 weeks. They believe that the prospect of getting a random number of pieces in the first few weeks is more thrilling
- The team liked the idea from Season 1 that items from Mythic Raid are bind-on-equip. This solves the problem of pay-to-win players gaining unfair advantages. Ion encourages gamers to upgrade their character with the Mythic piece instead of rushing to sell it at the Auction House
For more information, make sure to check out Bellular’s interview with Ion Hazzikostas.
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