Blizzard has released the full details on everything come with patch 8.2 for World of Warcraft. Titled Rise of Azshara, the update releases June 25. Let’s take a look.
New Zone: Nazjatar
Alliance heroes will come upon a new faction of deep-sea warriors, the Waveblade Ankoan, while Horde heroes will meet the Unshackled, a group of races who have escaped the naga’s clutches. Both sides offer champions who offer their services as combat allies and grow in power over time as players prepare for their epic confrontation with Queen Azshara.
Adventurers who are level 120 and have unlocked Battle for Azeroth World Quests, completing the quest “Uniting Kul Tiras” or “Uniting Zandalar,” will receive a summon from either Genn Greymane or Nathanos Blightcaller, kicking off the events that bring them to Nazjatar.
Nazjatar World Bosses
Ulmath, the Soulbinder: Ulmath, the Soulbinder, seeks to enthrall the restless spirits of Nazjatar. If left unchecked it will amass an unstoppable undead force bound to its malevolent will.
Wekemara: Summoned from the depths by an ancient naga ritual, Wekemara arises once more to wreak havok upon the surface.
PvE world events
While in Nazjatar, Queen Azshara will periodically rally her naga forces to summon forth a powerful creature from the depths for a zone-wide event. Each such event will occur in two phases: The first phase will require you to clear out some of Queen Azshara’s elite naga forces within a limited amount of time, while the second phase will require players to work together to defeat the monstrosity the naga have called. Keep an eye out for a skull-shaped icon on your map indicating that one of these events is underway.
Special world rares: From time to time, players will be called upon to face five of Azshara’s elite commanders, who will appear in various locations throughout Nazjatar (available only when War Mode is off). Defeating any of these five formidable foes will provide you with Prismatic Manapearls—and the more you take down, the more Manapearls you’ll have to spend at your favorite vendor.
Battle for Nazjatar PvP event
Players who have War Mode enabled in Nazjatar will be able to take part in a new PvP event to earn rewards and achievements. During the Battle for Nazjatar event, the Horde and the Alliance will need to coordinate their forces to capture and hold five points across the zone: Ala’thir Spire, Lemor’athra Spire, Thoras’tal Spire, Tidal Conflux, and Zin-Azshari.
Once towers are captured, the Horde and Alliance will begin to accumulate points for each tower under their control. The first faction to reach 10,000 points, or whoever has the most points at the end of 45 minutes, will claim victory.
If you’ve defeated at least one enemy player during the event, the first win of the day will reward 200 Conquest and 10 Nazjatar Battle Commendations, while the losing faction will still receive a small amount of Conquest and Nazjatar Battle Commendations, which can be exchanged for rewards including the imposing Inkscale Deepseeker mount.
New Instances
Azshara’s Eternal Palace: The 8-boss raid will be centered around Queen Azshara. Azshara’s Eternal Palace Normal and Heroic difficulties will open on July 9, two weeks after Rise of Azshara goes live on June 25. Raid Finder Wing One and Mythic will open the following week on July 16.
Operation: Mechagon: This mythic-only dungeon will be tied to the Rustbolt Resistance reputation quests and is an 8-boss “mega dungeon”. Operation: Mechagon will open to players at the start of Season 3, July 9, after accepting the quest “Operation: Mechagon – The Mechoriginator.”
Heart of Azeroth update: Essences
Essences will be an item type equipped to our Heart of Azeroth with two powers: Major Power is a single powerful active ability and Minor Power is a passive effect. You can slot up to three Essences in your Heart with one Major Essence slot and two Minor slots. Placing an essence in the Major slot will activate both Powers while the two Minor slots will activate only the Minor power.
- Essences will have upgrade ranks from 1 to 4. Ranks 2 and 3 will upgrade the abilities and rank 4 will add additional cosmetics to the Major power effect. You can freely swap out your Essences in slots in the same ways you can swap Talents.
- Essences will be available as rewards from PvP, raids, and World Quests. These Essences will offer role-specific bonuses or role-agnostic effects.
Players will need to complete a new quest line to unlock the Heart Forge before infusing Essences into the Heart of Azeroth. This will unlock the Major slot, and will reward them with their first Essence. The two Minor slots will unlock at Heart of Azeroth levels 55 and 65 respectively. Players with a Heart of Azeroth below level 35 will have it raised to level 35 upon unlocking the Heart Forge.
Prismatic Manapearls are your reward currency in Nazjatar
Spend this new currency on many different items within Nazjatar including Benthic tokens and upgrades for Benthic gear, pets, and a mount. Earn Prismatic Manapearls by completing a variety of activities such as World Quests and daily quests, looting treasure chests, and slaying rare enemies.
Benthic Gear is the new armor token
Benthic armor pieces will start at item level 385 and be upgradable to 425 (Eternal Palace raid gear is at 430). Buying armor tokens and upgrading pieces will require Prismatic Manapearls. Benthic gear will be purchasable by armor type. Set bonuses will activate on Benthic pieces and will be geared towards Nazjatar enemies and the Eternal Palace raid.
New Zone: Mechagon
Heroes who arrive upon Mechagon’s shores will soon meet Prince Erazmin and the Rustbolt Resistance, and after completing a series of new faction-based quests, they’ll join their fight to overthrow Erazmin’s tyrannical father and put an end to his mad designs. The zone is primarily focused on world quests to progress with the Rustbolt Resistance faction. There will be a mythic dungeon included.
Collectable items will be crafted in the zone
As they traverse the zone, players will have access to Pascal-K1N6, a giant iron robot who will help players craft equipment, mounts, toys, consumables, and more in exchange for Spare Parts and Energy Cells found across Mechagon. Recipes to craft more items can be found around the island.
Pocket-sized Computation Device is a customizable trinket
The Pocket-Sized Computation Device is a trinket that players can customize via three Punchcard Sockets, into which players can insert one Red, Yellow, and Blue Punch Card. Punch Cards can be collected by questing, exploring the Mechagon zone, and advancing through the new Mythic-only dungeon Operation: Mechagon. Players will receive their Pocket-Sized Computation Device after completing the “Upgraded” quest, available shortly after landing in Mechagon.
Flying unlocks for BFA
Earn Revered with Rustbolt Resistance and your faction-specific reputation on Nazjatar to unlock Battle for Azeroth Pathfinder, Part Two. Complete both Pathfinder achivements for flying in all BFA zones and a new mount, the Wonderwing 2.0.
Mount Equipment will bring special properties to all mounts
Upon reaching level 100 on one character, a new mount equipment slot will become available in the Mounts interface on all characters. Mount equipment can be crafted by Enchanters, Tailors, and Leatherworkers and can be listed in the Auction House or purchased directly from the artisans themselves. Players that already have Water Strider mounts should check their mailbox for one free piece of water-walking mount equipment.
Epic Battleground: Ashran
The large-scale PvP instance introduced in Warlords of Draenor will join the Epic Battleground map pool. Players will be eligible to queue for Ashran starting at level 100. As with the other Epic Battlegrounds, Ashran will be 40v40.
Additional updates
New questlines: Magni Bronzebeard will offer the first Essence to the player in his own introductory questline. The War Campaign continues with an effort to rescue Baine Bloodhoof from being executed for treason against Sylvanas.
Heritage Armor updates: Gnome and Tauren are the next to receive heritage armor sets. Reach level 120 with the race and exalted with their capitol city faction to unlock the questline.
New Mounts: Azshari Bloatray, Crimson Tidestallion, Royal Snapdragon, X-995 Mechanocat (crafted in Mechagon), Scrapforged Mechaspider (quest reward in Mechagon) and Mechacycle Model W (achievement reward for Mecha-Done).
Pet Battle updates: Stratholme is the next Pet Battle Dungeon. Completing the dungeon on Challenge mode will reward the exclusive Minimancer.
Transmog updates: All outfit pieces except for leg slot can be hidden in the same way as helmets or cloaks. New items are eligible for transmog such as Nat’s Hat.
Brewfest update: New mini-games are added to Brewfest, and a Brawler’s Guild style challenge will be added to the event. Prizes such as the Bottomless Brewfest Stein and Tabard of Brew are rewards in the new mini-games.
Experience-freeze tweak: Players who group up with XP-frozen players will receive 95% less experience from all sources. This does not apply to instance matchmaking.
Island Expedition updates: Crestfall and Snowblossom Village will join the expedition map pool. They are expected to bring new transmog armor and weapons, and new pets. Additionally, you will be able to recruit NPC followers to battle. New event-themed missions will be added to drop Brewfest and Timewalking currencies.
Keep it here for coverage of the 8.2 update. The full balance change log and other notes are available in the official content updates notes.
