The cursed swirlies in World of Warcraft have probably caught every hero off guard at least once. That is supposed to change in the future.
Those who have been playing World of Warcraft for many years are familiar with the basic rules. You stand in fire as little as possible, you do not touch slowly moving death lasers “for testing” just briefly, and you move out of the green healing area so that the druid in Discord can get all worked up.
A similar rule applies to the “swirlies” – whenever such an effect strikes somewhere, it is best to stand far away to avoid dropping out of the fight prematurely. But seeing this is sometimes not so easy. This is something that Blizzard also realizes.
What is a “swirly”? The “swirlies” (in German “Kringel”) are used in World of Warcraft in many different places. Almost all boss fights use some variation of them to indicate where a harmful mechanic is hitting that should be avoided. Usually, several of these swirlies hit at the same time, as seen in the fight against Ovinax. It is a fundamental mechanic that requires dodging.
What is the problem with this mechanic? There are several problems with it:
- Most swirly effects do not have a distinct edge, but fade outwards. This often leads to standing in an effect even though one thinks they have dodged it.
- Often the swirly effects have a less than optimal contrast, making them difficult to see. When red swirlies hit a red floor while fire sweeps through the room, it is very hard to see these effects clearly.
- In the general effect storm of modern WoW, the swirlies are often “under” other animations, so you might not see them at all when playing a caster class that is currently escalating through effects.
What does Blizzard want to change? In an interview with the professional guild Liquid, lead encounter designer Taylor Sanders and senior encounter designer Stevel Cavallaro discussed the upcoming patches. In Season 2, a new swirly animation will be used, which will be applied to the new raid and all dungeons of the new season. The intention behind this is clear: Such harmful effects should be easier and clearer to recognize.
Sanders mentions that he is bothered while playing that he is frequently hit by effects that are simply not easy to recognize because so much is happening on screen. He hopes there will be plenty of feedback on the new animation once it is ready for testing on the PTR of Patch 11.1.
How World of Warcraft will continue was explained in the roadmap.
