We all knew it was coming with the traditional "end of the PvP season" two week warning, but the Legion pre-patch has officially been announced by Blizzard. Coming to US realms on the 19th of July and EU realms of the 20th of July, the pre-patch has been heavily anticipated for months. As usual with these types of patches, there will be a large number of game play and mechanic changes that are coming to World of Warcraft, so let's go through them.
Account Wide Transmogrification
Perhaps one of the most widely praised features announced for Legion, the account wide transmog feature will be launched with the pre-patch. For those unaware, this update to the system allows you to collect an items appearance, and be able to use it on any of your characters without having to keep the item. This counts for items you already own, items from quests you've completed in the past (even if you no longer have the items) and items you'll earn in the future.
However there are some caveats. Firstly, items will only be added to your "wardrobe" if it is your main item type - such as Plate for Warriors, Leather for Rogues and so on. For weapons, it will only be counted if you can equip the weapon. That doesn't mean it's all subtractive, though! Items such as Gladiator tabards and cloaks, "elite" PvP gear and Challenge Mode gear will also become account wide.
You can read all about the transmog updates here.
Class Changes
As with every expansion pre-patch, the class changes are coming. New spells being added, old spells being removed, talent tree overhauls and more. This time Blizzard has gone a bit further than usual by adding some quality of life changes to the way that specialisations work.
One specific example given is the ability to queue for content as one role while playing in the world as another role, and upon entering that content as the queue pops, they'll automatically be switched to that role, and switch back when they leave. While it's nice for a majority of players, it's also very likely it was added to help curb the amount of DPS players queuing as healers for faster queues.
If you haven't had the chance to play Legion on Beta or the PTR, Blizzard has a writeup about each of the class changes on their site, which you can read here.
The Future
As the release date for Legion gets closer, there will be further content unlocked. This includes the Burning Legion Invasion event, where the demons of the Burning Legion will roam the world and players can collect tokens and drops for items and transmogrification appearances. Those who have pre-ordered Legion digitally will have their promised early access to the Demon Hunter class, and eventually all players will be able to access the Broken Shore scenario.
While there are no specific dates set for these events, Blizzard assured players that they'll be able to play Demon Hunters no later than the 17th of August. More information, including dates, will be shared in the coming weeks.
Ashoran- 07-16-2016vBulletin Message