Blizzard has released new information about the upcoming expansion Shadowlands for World of Warcraft in a developer update. Included is a change to the PvP system that is met with much joy in the community.
What is changing? In the announcement, that the first alpha invitations for Shadowlands will soon be sent out, Blizzard also announced that there will be PvP vendors in the new expansion.
The new expansion Shadowlands will also give PvP players the opportunity to equip themselves with strong gear again, even without having to do PvE for it. At least, that is currently the hope of the fans.
Whether and how all the new (and reintroduced) features will ultimately prevail remains to be seen. At the moment, Shadowlands is still in Closed Alpha and is unlikely to be released before October.
Until then, the systems and features can still change and community feedback be implemented. If you want to get involved, you can find out here how to sign up for the Shadowlands beta.
PvP Vendors in Shadowlands
How do the vendors work? In Shadowlands, the conquest points, with which you can earn a weekly chest in Battle for Azeroth, will again serve as currency. You can then use these points to purchase items from vendors in the capital Oribos.
The points can also be used to upgrade the gear. However, the developers have not provided a specific item level or a comparison with PvE gear yet. It is supposed to function similarly as the, at least among hardcore players, quite unpopular system of benthic gear and mana pearls.
According to the post, there is conquest for rated PvP. Currently, it is also possible to obtain it through other sources, such as drop boxes, daily quests, or weekly challenges and events. Further information about the system is yet to follow.
Why now vendors? Those who have only started with Battle for Azeroth will likely not know PvP vendors in this form. These NPCs were present in earlier expansions to exchange PvP currency for top gear for PvP players.
This way, players could also equip themselves well for PvP without a significant participation in PvE. However, this system was continuously scaled back until it no longer existed in BfA.
This particularly angered the PvP community, which felt obliged to engage in PvE content to have a chance in PvP. They saw no other way to obtain their best gear.
Community is satisfied – still some grumbling
The announcement of the PvP vendors has been received positively for the most part. They seem to be a feature that most players actually missed and wish to have back. Even those who are still skeptical see it at least as a “step in the right direction”, at least in this thread on the official forum.
However, there are some voices that view the situation critically. They are dissatisfied with the current state of WoW and fear that even this change will not lead to improvements.
However, the announcements and information about new content always lead to heated discussions in the community, such as the recent announcement of the first covenant abilities of Shadowlands.
