With Battle for Azeroth, the Alterac Valley of WoW gets its bite back. The NPC guards become real threats.
The guards of the bunkers, towers, and the final bosses in the battleground “Alterac Valley” of World of Warcraft become more resilient with Battle for Azeroth. Even as player levels increase, they are meant to constantly present a challenge.
What was the problem? NPC soldiers in Alterac Valley lose their terror with increasing gear. At the beginning of an expansion, you still panic when three Alliance archers fire on our character simultaneously; later on, this only elicits a weary smile.
Pre-addon Alterac is the best. Many players believe that Alterac Valley just before the release of a new expansion is the best battleground of all. Because then the NPCs are already ten levels higher than the players (so already level 120) and pose a real danger. The fights go long, and even the boss fights are often so demanding that half the raid gets wiped. This reminds many players of the “good old days,” when Alterac Valley lasted for hours or even days.
New scaling gives guards bonus strength. On the PTR of Battle for Azeroth, Blizzard has also equipped the NPCs of Alterac Valley with the scaling system. The strength of the NPCs adjusts to the level and gear of the players. Thus, it is hoped to maintain the “difficulty of the guards throughout Legion.”
Better rewards. In addition to the changes, Alterac Valley is considered one of the “Epic Battlegrounds” due to its size and potential duration. These will be provided with special rewards in Battle for Azeroth – the increased time investment should also be compensated with more honor.
Fan opinions are mixed: The player base does not have a unified opinion on the changes. Some fans welcome that the guards remain a threat. Other players criticize that Alterac Valley thus becomes even more of a “PvP map” where not other players but NPCs pose the real threat.
Alterac Valley is so popular, by the way, that it will soon even appear in Heroes of the Storm:
Do you think the changes are good? Or was it always a nice thing that the NPCs of Alterac Valley no longer posed a threat later on?
