WoWCast key moments: Delves, Warbands, PvP, raids, and more
Great news, heroes of Azeroth! The official World of Warcraft YouTube channel released a 20-minute interview with the WoW developers, so here are WoWCast key moments for your convenience.
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Lead UX Designer Laura Sardinha, Associate Game Director Morgan Day, and Lead Gameplay Engineer John-Mark Hemphill sat for an interview with WoWCast. They discussed Delves, Warbands, PvP, raids, and other features that await us in The War Within. We’ve gathered all the essential details in this handy article.
WoWCast key moments: Everything about Warbands
How Blizzard decided what’s in store for players at level 80 in The War Within
Blizzard has centered its endgame content on three key pillars: diversity, progression, and narrative. According to Morgan Day, the goal is to offer a variety of activities, both in the open world and through unique features like Delves, which bring fresh and exciting experiences to players. The team has also focused on progression by adding new challenges while seamlessly integrating the story into the endgame, ensuring it unfolds captivatingly as players progress, Associate Game Director shares.
Challenges behind developing Warbands
The biggest challenge is updating Blizzard’s systems in a modern context, especially considering WoW’s 20-year history. As Morgan Day mentioned at BlizzCon, Warbands might appear like “several features in a trench coat,” but they actually shift from focusing on individual characters to considering the player’s journey. John Mark noted that they would’ve structured things differently if they could go back 20 years with today’s knowledge.
This overhaul has been one of Blizzard’s biggest undertakings, touching every engineering sub-team. The developers are now building systems from the ground up with this account-wide philosophy in mind, making it easier for players to transfer items, currency, and even gear between characters, Mark concludes.
How the UI has evolved to support Warbands
According to Laura Sardinha, the UI revamp has been a key part of integrating Warbands. The development team has updated the character select screen, keeping the familiar right-side list while adding drag-and-drop functionality and a favorites section for easy access to your cross-realm characters. The tooltips are also new, providing a more intuitive experience.
Aside from that, Blizzard has introduced a Warband Bank, which allows you to craft directly from it. For those involved in group content such as Mythic+ or dungeons, the left panel has been revamped to simplify applying raid markers and adjusting instance difficulty. Lead UX Designer also mentions that hubs have been introduced to consolidate vital content, reduce map clutter, and simplify prioritizing key activities.
WoWCast key moments: Everything about Delves
How Delves reflect the empowerment of players to play how they want
Morgan Day explains that Delves are created for players who like outdoor progression but prefer to avoid group or queued content. Even though the rewards only go up to Tier 8, the difficulty go up to Tier 11, providing a solo challenge similar to the Mage Tower. If you complete the most difficult Delve, you’ll receive a unique version of the customizable Delver’s Dirigible mount.
There are 13 distinct variations of Delves, and Blizzard’s main goal was to ensure each Delve offers multiple unique experiences. While you’ll explore all of them, with a couple in each zone, the team wanted to go beyond minor tweaks like changing enemy spawns or trap placements. Instead, they focused on significantly altering the objectives and layouts. This means that sometimes you’ll navigate the Delve completely differently or even start at the end and work your way backward.
As Morgan Day admits, the aim was to make each variation feel distinct and offer a fresh experience every time. If you want to learn more about Delves, including Tiers and item-level requirements, make sure to check out this comprehensive guide:
WoWCast key moments: Everything about Mythic+
How Mythic+ has evolved in The War Within
Not only has Mythic+ seen changes, but the core dungeon progression has also evolved considerably. With The War Within, Mythic 0 will now be on par with what used to be considered a Mythic 10 difficulty, making it more challenging and equally rewarding. Blizzard wanted to appeal to players who enjoy mega-dungeon progression without the pressure of a timer. If the timed nature of Mythic+ wasn’t your style, you can now tackle it at your own pace with your friends, taking breaks as needed.
For Mythic+, the team also took a step back and focused on a major overhaul of the affix system. They reviewed several iterations during the Beta, responding to player feedback and making important changes. Blizzard realized that different groups of players wanted different challenges within the same Mythic+ system. Previously, affixes followed a one-size-fits-all approach, but this feedback inspired the developers to create a more tailored system where affixes now target specific level ranges instead of applying universally.
This design solution came together beautifully and quickly, allowing Blizzard to implement it within two weeks and get the revamped system back on the Beta for testing. Aside from that, in The War Within Season 1, players will experience the presence of Xal’atath, playing a significant role in the affixes and adding a narrative element to the end-game content. We have a dedicated article providing information about the affixes this mysterious Harbinger influences, so make sure to check it out to be prepared for The War Within:
WoWCast key moments: Everything about PvP
How Blizzard makes PvP more accessible
Blizzard is excited to introduce Rated Battleground Blitz, a more accessible version of Rated Battlegrounds where you can earn Conquest and other PvP rewards without the pressure of arenas. This mode is ideal for players who prefer the larger scale and strategic objectives of battlegrounds but find arenas too intense. The development team has also improved how PvP rewards are spread, reducing dependence on the Great Vault and enhancing catch-up mechanics, making it easier for new and returning players to dive into PvP.
WoWCast key moments: Everything about raids
What to expect from raids in The War Within
One of the cool new features in The War Within is the ability to play through the raid — or at least experience the ending with Queen Ansarek — solo. This way, if you are more into the story but don’t want to join a raid group, you can still see this epic finale!
Blizzard also accommodates different player skill levels with various difficulty options. Even within a single raid, there’s a lot of room for progression. Despite introducing a new item upgrade system in Dragonflight that allows you to enhance your gear, some players have struggled to overcome specific challenges, such as defeating the end boss or the penultimate boss.
To help with that, the developers are adding a new quest that unlocks about a month into The War Within, thanks to which you will become more powerful each week. It’s similar to how Hellscream’s Warsong worked in Icecrown Citadel. This buff will apply across your entire Warband, not just a single character.
Blizzard also introduces a self-highlight option, allowing you to highlight yourself with an icon no one can take away, making it easier to find yourself in the chaos of a raid or Mythic+ run. Additionally, a “Show Silhouette When Obscured” feature outlines your character when something is blocking your view, which is especially useful when dealing with environmental obstacles during fights.
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