With Battle for Azeroth, WoW players gain access to a new artifact, the Heart of Azeroth. We explain to you where to get it, how to upgrade it, and what you can do with it.
The Heart of Azeroth is the new centerpiece of equipment in Battle for Azeroth. It accompanies you throughout the addon and enhances your Azerite armor pieces. As you progress through Battle for Azeroth, the Heart becomes stronger.
The first quest – how to obtain the Heart of Azeroth
The Heart of Azeroth is the quest reward for the first quest in the new WoW expansion Battle for Azeroth. You receive it from Magni Bronzebeard after completing the quest “The Heart of Azeroth” in Silithus.
What are the requirements? You must complete the scenario “The Battle for Lordaeron” before you are called to Silithus by your faction leader and Magni himself.
The Battle for Lordaeron takes roughly half an hour for Horde and Alliance players. However, you can skip the scenario if you have already played it with a character of the same faction.
How do I get the Heart? After the scenario, you will be called to Silithus by Magni. You will find the Speaker of Azeroth directly at Sargeras’ sword at the great scar.
Talk to him, and you will be guided through a short quest chain, during which you will receive the Heart of Azeroth itself, as well as the first upgrade and your first Azerite armor piece.
Upgrading the Heart of Azeroth
Similar to artifact weapons in WoW: Legion, you can power up the Heart of Azeroth with Azerite using Artifact Power. This increases its level. The higher the level, the more Azerite you will need. However, the required amount decreases at certain intervals.
Where do I get Azerite? Azerite is a resource that you obtain through various activities in Battle for Azeroth. Even on your way to level 120, you will stumble upon several quests that provide you with Azerite or find it on rare enemies and treasure chests.
Also, Island Expeditions, dungeons, raids, PvP, and some world quests reward you with Azerite. Therefore, you can farm it specifically or simply collect it along the way. Azerite is directly added to the Heart, and you don’t need to use items in your inventory.
How does the item level increase? The Heart of Azeroth starts with an item level of 280. As its level increases, so does the item level of the Heart of Azeroth. Additionally, you will receive a quest from Magni Bronzebeard at certain intervals.
If you raise your reputation with the “Champions of Azeroth” faction, you can complete a quest from Magni upon reaching a new reputation level. This increases your Heart’s item level by another 15 item levels.
Azerite Armor – the armor for the Heart of Azeroth
Azerite armors are parts of your equipment whose strength is directly influenced by the Heart of Azeroth. You receive Azerite armor for the equipment slots head, shoulder, and chest.
Where do I get Azerite armors? You receive the first piece of your Azerite armor from Magni after the first quest of Battle for Azeroth. All further pieces you can obtain through various sources such as quests, world quests, or dungeons.
Azerite armor is equipped with your primary stat and grants various talents that you can choose.
How do I upgrade Azerite armor? Azerite armor cannot be warforged or titanforged. The value it has upon acquisition can only be increased through the Heart of Azeroth. For this, the Heart of Azeroth must level up.
You cannot upgrade the Azerite armor itself; it only becomes stronger through the Heart of Azeroth. However, by Shift-right-clicking on an Azerite item, you can view and select the talents.
This is how the talents of Azerite armor and the Heart of Azeroth work
Azerite armors are equipped with three or four rings with different talents. The talents vary depending on class and specialization and can only be selected for the current specialization.
Depending on the strength of the Azerite armor, various levels of the Heart are required to fully upgrade the armor. In the tooltip, you can see how strong the Heart must be to unlock the next talent.
Azerite armors currently have three or four rings with talents. The first ring generally adds a similar talent to the character as the legendary items used to in Legion.
The talents in the first ring change with class and the area where the item was obtained (via wowhead). Items may have different talents here depending on whether they were obtained in dungeons, various areas of the open world, or PvP.
The second ring (for four rings) grants you a ability that enhances your role. The penultimate ring provides you with a defensive talent, and the last ring increases the item level.
The talents that an Azerite armor can have are bound to the item. So if you find the same item again in a dungeon, it will always have the same talents to choose from. This allows you to specifically seek out the best items.
How do I unlock talents?
To unlock a talent in an Azerite item, you simply need to select it in its view. Shift-right-click on the item and you will see the possible selection for that armor piece.
The possible selection of talents is different when you are in different specializations. Even within the same role, you can only choose specific talents. A Subtlety Rogue cannot select Assassination talents.
Can I reforge the Azerite armor?
Yes. Once you have made a selection, it is not final. You can reset and redistribute the talents for an Azerite armor piece at any time with the Ethereals in your capital city.
Visit the respective Ethereal in Boralus (Razzi the Former, Alliance) or in Atal’dazar (Nadura the Former, Horde).
What does it cost to reforge? For the first use of reforging, you pay 5 gold pieces. Each time you want to reforge again, this amount doubles.
If you wait three days, the amount of gold you need to pay will be halved again. So after some time, you can redistribute the talents at a lower cost.
Benefits of Azerite Armor
With Azerite armor and the Heart of Azeroth, you always have four item slots that you don’t have to worry too much about.
While there are items with different talents, they make little difference in utility for many specializations. If you don’t want or need to get the absolute maximum out of your class, you have plenty of choices and little obligations.
Additionally, some effects of the Azerite armors stack when they are not limited by maximum values according to description. This allows you to continue to strengthen specific spells or effects.
Disadvantages of Azerite Armor
The talents of Azerite armors are bound to your specialization, which is why you cannot simply change them on the go.
If you play a class with multiple roles or frequently switch specializations, you will either need to carry several sets of Azerite armor with you or pay a lot of gold for reforging.
Especially when you are in a group in dungeons or later in raids and need to change specialization, it can quickly become annoying.
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