WoW Patch 6.2.3 Announced

[Smitten]

Blizzard today announced Patch 6.2.3 will be on the PTR soon - a patch which was known to be coming in the future, but not its contents nor release date. With a near constant discussion from players about the lack of relevant 5-man dungeons in Warlords of Draenor, Blizzard are planning a number of updates to address this, as well as some surprises that not many people saw coming.

The Return of Valor Points

Widely cited as one of the reasons that Heroic dungeons are underplayed, the removal of Valor Points in Warlords of Draenor has been a contentious issue for many players. It provided a way to purchase gear and upgrade items, affording players who didn’t want to, or have the time to raid the ability to maintain a respectable item set.

Blizzard is bringing back Valor Points in Patch 6.2.3, allowing players to upgrade their existing by up to 10 item levels. Valor Points will be available from both Heroic and Mythic difficulty dungeons, as well as Raid Finder and Bonus Events.

Additional Timewalking Dungeons

With the popularity of Timewalking Dungeons evident, Blizzard has expanded the lineup of dungeons available through Timewalking to include Cataclysm Dungeons - The Vortex Pinnacle, Stonecore, Throne of Tides, Grim Batol, the Lost City of Tol’Vir and End Time. The Pit of Saron will be added to the Wrath of the Lich King lineup, and Magister’s Terrace to the Burning Crusade.

But that’s not all. An Infinite Timereaver mount will be a new rare drop mount available exclusively during any of the Timewalking events, dropping from any dungeon boss. Looking like a mix between the Infinte Dragonflight models from Black Morass and the Burning Crusade Gladiator mounts, it is sure to be a highly sought after mount.

Cross Realm Mythic Raiding

As has been the norm for the past few expansions, the final tier will have its hardest difficulty opened to cross-realm play, and this will be coming to Hellfire Citadel with Patch 6.2.3. Blizzard hopes that, like previous expansions, it will allow you to raid with friends on other realms, fill missing raid slots or give people on smaller, less progressed realms a chance to tackle Mythic Hellfire Citadel.

Gift of the Grove Warden is NOT a Store Mount

The Grove Warden, a mount which was originally tagged to be an in-game shop mount with the release of Patch 6.2.2, has been repurposed. Once Patch 6.2.3 releases, players who defeat Archimonde on Heroic or Mythic difficulty will receive the mount as a reward from a small quest chain. Much like the Heirlooms from Garrosh, the mount will be a limited-time reward.

Other Additions

In addition to the changes and additons above, there are a number of additional rewards that will be included in the patch. Players participating in Mythic Dungeons and Tanaan Jungle will have the chance of obtaining even higher item level gear, with a revised version of the Warforged and Baleful system. Mythic Dungeons will provide the opportunity to obtain items from Item level 685 all the way up to 725 in 5 level increments, each rarer than the previous. Similarly, Baleful can be Item level 655 to 695. To finish off the five-man love, Mythic Dungeons will have the chance to drop a Heirloom trinket that will scale up to item level 110, allowing players to use it while levelling in the upcoming expansion, Legion.

For players with a more PvP-oriented focus, the third Arena season of Warlords of Draenor will start with Patch 6.2.3. Though not much information is available at this stage, Blizzard has said that the Aspirant Gear will be PvP Item Level 715, Combatant will be 730 and Gladiator at 740. Whether there will be class and balance changes is yet to be seen.

It is likely that given the content being released with this patch, it will be the final before Legion's pre-patch that Blizzard discussed at gamescom. Do you think the changes and additions here will be enough to restore faith in the 5-player dungeon system? Are you looking forward to the additions, or is it more of the same old, same old for you?

[Torpedoes]

So looking at the schedule, we should expect this to drop after Blizzcon, probably near the end of November in time for the holiday season. The Moose mount will probably last until the new year, possibly even up to the Legion prepatch. And people are speculating there will be a recolor on the store mount later next year. But either way, exciting, I'll probably resub :-D

[Smitten]

I'll probably resub :-D

I haven't really been playing lately... but I want both those mounts.

The Infinite Timereaver is a bit awkward for me. It's not like a raid mount where you have one chance per character per week, and you can do it at your leisure throughout the week. It's not like a Heroic Dungeon mount where you can do it once per day whenever you want. It's not like normal modes where you can sit down and have a grinding session when you feel like it. It's something You can only do during specific periods, and will likely need a pre-formed group to get through them quickly enough for it to be worthwhile.

Won't stop me trying though!

[Bambusbar]

It's not going to bring me back.

They've continuously catered to casuals, and I know that people say that shit often- But I feel like before Cata I could do and play exactly how I wanted to, but as time progressed and got more "user friendly" they're taking the bite out of everything. With my Monk tank, I can go into any area pull almost everything there and survive like it was nothing.

Now I'm not saying that's a bad thing, or that anyone can do it- Because I've clearly seen many many people attempt such things only to fail miserably.

Raids are easy if you have a competent group that doesn't rage.

PvP is always about finding the easiest quickest build to kill the other player with- It's not even tedious or hard, it's just about being patient and knowing your skills. Which yet again... Isn't hard... I was up to around like 2k barely trying, just doing it for points and boredom with friends.

What I'm saying though, is that there's no spice to life. There's nothing that makes the game challenging.

inb4 - show us all your mythic and gladiator achievements (I don't got them, because it's not worth getting them.)

[rdruid69]

The Moose mount will probably last until the new year

I think it last until prepatch... or you are thinking they are doing cause subs numbers keep going down and don't wanna announce an under 4M sub this quarter?

[Torpedoes]

They've continuously catered to casuals, and I know that people say that shit often- But I feel like before Cata I could do and play exactly how I wanted to, but as time progressed and got more "user friendly" they're taking the bite out of everything. With my Monk tank, I can go into any area pull almost everything there and survive like it was nothing.

I feel like they haven't done enough for casuals, the only thing Blizzard seems to care about is raiding and what little casuals get is either too easy or boring.

Raids are easy if you have a competent group that doesn't rage.

inb4 - show us all your mythic and gladiator achievements (I don't got them, because it's not worth getting them.)

Yeah... if you haven't done Mythic then you can't say raids are easy.

Game needs a balance, needs more content that matters for casuals to be able to do. if you follow the Vanilla model you're gonna get vanilla numbers.

[Smitten]

Game needs a balance, needs more content that matters for casuals to be able to do. if you follow the Vanilla model you're gonna get vanilla numbers.

I couldn't agree more. I've been at both ends of the spectrum in WoW, Top 5 US guilds, R1 PvP, and playing on dead RP realms doing nothing but collecting pets and 5 man dungeons, logging on once a week at most, which is where I'm at right now. Friends (and even myself to an extent) have quit left, right and center because of the raid or die mentality this expansion.

There's not much to do if you're not raiding regularly. PvP is in shambles balance wise, and rated participation is near an all time low. LFR isn't entertaining, even talking to my guild who have done nothing but play casually, they don't find it very fun. Dungeons are pointless, there's no reward for running them other than some gold which you can get from so many other sources for much less effort. Pet battles are alright, but not really a way to spend all your WoW time, you may as well play a game dedicated to that sort of thing.

That said, even dedicated, long term, hardcore raiders are calling it a day. They've beat Archimonde, there's no new raid coming out for them to gear for - there's nothing left for them to do now.

We need to remember that casual doesn't equal bad player. I think the changes here are a good step towards giving more casual players, or even hardcore players who don't want to raid content to do.