Fandy's Patch 10.2 Guardians of the Dream Interview - Morgan Day & Patrick Scarborough

Posted 2023/09/07 at 2:25 PM by Jaydaa

Gear Progression Changes in 10.2

Very pleased with the universal upgrade system. Coming back tentatively full-time.

Quicker ilvl progression than in previous content patches, but still a lot of positives.

Reducing the amount of upgrades you can make per week. 10 upgrades in Season 2 vs 6 upgrades in Season 3.

Making the tracks larger for smoother late-patch progression.

Fragments are going away, so you'll only need the currency to upgrade now. Bag space for everyone!

If capped on a certain type of crest, players will now receive the crest just below that one when completing content.

Aberrus & Amirdrassil Raid Tuning

Very connected to the Gear Upgrade system. Players hit gear saturation point much earlier than previous content patches.

Better understanding of these upgrade systems and gear progression should lead to smoother difficulty tuning.

Rare Items in Amirdrassil & Loot Targeting

Rare items will be continuing in Amirdrassil. Like how it improves farm bosses.

At launch they were too powerful and too rare. Pendulum swung the other way for 10.1. Should be interesting and not just the best items in the game.

Hope to land in that sweet spot of where everyone has something they're interested in.

We hear a lot of feedback on loot targeting. Shadowlands Season 4 was an experiment that they'll continue to explore, but it's not something they have lined up for Dragonflight Season 3.

Augmentation Evoker & Community Reception

Overall, adding a spec mid-expansion went over well. Many players enjoyed the support playstyle. Happy with reception.

Tuning was more interesting. Players were very creative with how they utilized Augmentation and they launched the spec when they did for that reason.

Feedback is still being listened to and they'll continue to make changes in Patch 10.2.

Not closing the door on other support classes as there's a lot of opportunities, but it's not something they're looking at for Patch 10.2.

Mythic Raid Size

If a change were to be mythic raid size, it'd almost certainly happen at an expansion boundary rather than a content patch.

Felt like they hit the sweet spot with flex scaling while still maintaining that Mythic difficulty static size. Consistent over recent expansions.

20 players still allows for a lot of variety and flexibility. Encounter designers can design with certain utility in mind. (eg. Painsmith & Warlock Gateway)

Still discussed every expansion.

Race & Class Customization Options

Always looking to increase race and class diversity with inclusivity in mind. Nothing in 10.2.

Druid are a unique case due to their shapeshift forms. There's not new druid races in 10.2 but there's new customizations...Moonkin! Should feel similar to the Warlock pet update from 10.1.5.

Expect a lot of different ways to collect these new Druid customizations.

Allied Races

No allied races in Patch 10.2. Always kept in mind when introducing new cultures each expansion.

Still a feature they want to support when there's a perfect opportunity.

PvP Battlegrounds

New Brawl coming in Patch 10.2 called Battleground Blitz, a solo queue for BGs. Lowers max player size, and smaller map pool to help with match length.

New 10.1.7 ping system should help with coordinating your group.

UI Updates & Changes

Easier tracking of player resources coming in 10.2.

Want additional feedback from healers about what's not working with unit frames and in-game tools that's not hitting the mark.

Default UI should cater to as many players as possible, but always looking to expand customization.

Mount Collection Achievements

No new collection achievement coming in Patch 10.2. It's more of question of when not if.

Question is really how frequent and what goal line feels achievable and for what playerbase.

Malfurion in 10.2?

He's holding down the fort for Ysera in Ardenweald. There will be plenty of iconic characters that we'll meet in Patch 10.2.

Vyranoth is one of Morgan's favorites in Patch 10.2. Wrathion & Vyranoth team up to gather new allies like the Netherwing and the Stormdrakes in defense of Amirdrassil.

Comment by KarthusTeemoFor her first dev interview she did really good and pushed on the topics that needed pushed on.Comment by WeryxQuicker ilvl progression than in previous content patches, but still a lot of positives.Comment by JaxondiirSo in the patch about defending both the emerald dream and the new night elves world tree, Malfurion who is basically the emerald dream guy and the leader of the night elves won't be making an appearance? I am so over blizzards !@#$%ic story choices. How $%^&ing hard is it?Comment by cheesystuffThe gear progression info contradicts everything else that's been said. Gear will progress slower than before because there are more ilvls. They've also said nothing about flightstones changing. 6 upgrade cap combined with more ilvls is slower. And we don't know anything about drop chances. Are we guaranteed a crest after a mythic+?Comment by dembonezWhy did WoWhead miss that dinars are coming back? That's huge news.Comment by JeoporOn the topic of UI changes, any chance to add health percentage to nameplates, would help for a couple specs I play =)Comment by klarLet's go Fandy!Comment by Raynuruso i guess the "Druids, Shamans and Paladins for everyone" has to wait for 11.0
to bad ;/Comment by darkyxyzWhy did WoWhead miss that dinars are coming back? That's huge news.Comment by AlakeiThancanso i guess the "Druids, Shamans and Paladins for everyone" has to wait for 11.0
to bad ;/Comment by gusttWhere’s Druid rework? No new races for Druid? A 2H Axe Legendary and not a Druid-specific? A Druid-themed patch, and Druids was completely forgotten! Blizzard is giving a $%^& on communityComment by WildwalkSo you're telling me the Tree the Night Elves sacrificed so much for is under attack... and Malfurion is sat in Ardenweald just doing the Queen's Conservatory and cannot help us at all?Comment by rezzyk"Reducing the amount of upgrades you can make per week. 10 upgrades in Season 2 vs 6 upgrades in Season 3."

Can someone explain this to me? I don't understand. I'm pretty sure I've upgraded more than 10 times on gear some weeks.Comment by sheutSo in the patch about defending both the emerald dream and the new night elves world tree, Malfurion who is basically the emerald dream guy and the leader of the night elves won't be making an appearance? I am so over blizzards !@#$%ic story choices. How $%^&ing hard is it?Comment by Weryx"Reducing the amount of upgrades you can make per week. 10 upgrades in Season 2 vs 6 upgrades in Season 3."

Can someone explain this to me? I don't understand. I'm pretty sure I've upgraded more than 10 times on gear some weeks.Comment by MyFingerIsOnCDSo basically:

Devs like rare items, don't care if you can't get them

Devs like RNG, don't care that you want to target loot

Devs think augvoker was a massive success and as it's the only support it will become mandatory for the foreseeable

Devs don't know how healers use vuhdo and grid

Comment by Renegade8995So basically:

Devs like rare items, don't care if you can't get them
Devs like RNG, don't care that you want to target loot
Devs think augvoker was a massive success and as it's the only support it will become mandatory for the foreseeable
Devs don't know how healers use vuhdo and grid

Comment by iettlopp"Reducing the amount of upgrades you can make per week. 10 upgrades in Season 2 vs 6 upgrades in Season 3."

Can someone explain this to me? I don't understand. I'm pretty sure I've upgraded more than 10 times on gear some weeks.Comment by iettloppWhere’s Druid rework? No new races for Druid? A 2H Axe Legendary and not a Druid-specific? A Druid-themed patch, and Druids was completely forgotten! Blizzard is giving a $%^& on communityComment by dabone1337Quicker ilvl progression than in previous content patches, but still a lot of positives.