Monday, March 7, 2011

PvP changes for 4.1 on the PTR

In the recent 4.1 Patch PTR Notes released by Blizzard on March 3, 2011, several changes we can expect to the game have been noted, including some PvP changes.  Below are the current battleground changes being implemented on the PTR:

Battlegrounds
        *         The Focused Assault and Brutal Assault buffs have changed.
                     o     After 3 minutes of both teams having the flag, both flag carriers will get Focused Assault, which increases damage taken by 10%.
                     o     Every minute afterward, an additional stack will be applied to increase damage taken by an additional 10%.
                     o     After 7 minutes, Brutal Assault will be applied in place of Focused Assault. In additional to the damage debuff, this debuff also caps the player's movement speed at 100%. The damage taken debuff works the same and will add 10% to the debuff up to a maximum of 100% damage taken.

        *         The Battle for Gilneas
                      o     Graveyard Changes
                               +       Players who die at a control point that they own will now be teleported to the next closest graveyard, instead of the one at which they died.
                               +       If a player's team owns the Mine and Waterworks, and dies at Waterworks, they will be teleported to the Mine.
                               +       If an Alliance player's team only owns Lighthouse, and dies at Lighthouse, they will respawn at their base.
                               +       If a Horde player's team owns Waterworks and Mine, and dies at Lighthouse, they will respawn at Waterworks.

          *         Twin Peaks
                      o     Graveyard Changes
                               +       Players will now only spawn at their base graveyard when they die in the enemy base.
                               +       Defending players will respawn at the middle graveyard.
                               +       Midfield players will respawn at the middle graveyard.
                               +       Attacking players will respawn at their base graveyard.



It appears to me that these changes are forcing more dynamic play within the pvp zone.  Flag carriers will not be able to sit on a flag for long stretches of time and with a good group of healers/cc never be touched by the enemy.  It makes it necessary for the teams to kill the opposing flag carriers and cap the flag faster now.  You could sit on the flag but that would require more people to help cc and heal, taking more from the attacking side.  We will have to wait and see how this plays out.

Also, a much needed tweaking of the respawn at graveyards was applied to the newest battlegrounds, Battle for Gilneas and Twin Peaks.  Before, you would respawn closest to where you died on the battlefield.  This gave an advantage to the defending or attacking players, depending on where you located.  There was no penalty in essence for dying, since you could respawn an reenter the fray seconds later to recapture the node.  Now with you being placed further from the spot you were attacking or defending, there is a slight penalty to your team in that you will need to travel further to recapture a lost objective.  This spreads out the battlefield a bit more.  I like this idea, but will have to see how this changes the dynamics of the 2 pvp battlefields.


Thank you for stopping by today, see you all soon.

Now to play an intense game of UNO with the boys...

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