Word of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor Devs Talk PVP and Skirmishes

In the latest episode of World of Warcraft Source, Lead Encounter Designer Ion Hazzikostas, Lead Class Designer Kris Zierhut, and Senior Game Designer Brian Holinka sit down to talk about their upcoming expansion Word of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor. 

The developers first answered questions regarding troubles players encountered in Mists of Pandaria wherein players would come in new areas only to be stunned repeatedly until they die. They noted that they have a system of diminishing returns in place to remedy this problem. All spells are noted to have different diminishing return categories and there are five all in all.

Consequently, they touched upon PVP and PVE wherein they acknowledged that their respective gears have different needs. It was noted that the levels of weapons and armor will be more clear since players will see the PVP and PVE level of their gear. 

Of course, they also talked about the game's new PVP zone Ashran. It is an island where the hoard alliance landed and the developers call it an "ancient Ogre island" and a "savage island." They emphasized that they didn't want it to be too much of a battleground since they wanted to focus on exploration and a PVP wide unstructured environment.

There will also be a separate alpha level that only lets in max level players during the Word of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor beta. This was done so that they could get better feedback early on. Additionally, skirmishes will also be making a return. Holinka noted that new players will be able to get into arenas that have never been there before since skirmishes are a popular solo queue experience

We previously reported that the expansion will raise the player level cap when it was announced. In addition, it will be getting new PVP mechanics.

Word of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor is set to release this fall.