A new visual effect in World of Warcraft ensures that you will no longer have excuses when the boss takes you down.
In World of Warcraft, there are plenty of ways to bite the digital dust. Falling meteors, void zones, fire, or pretty much any other ability from enemies can quickly and indisputably lead to your character’s death. However, sometimes it feels like you were actually safe – because the edge of the nasty effect was not clearly discernible.
This is being changed in Patch 11.1 Undermine(d). A new “Swirly” animation finally brings clarity.
Until Patch 11.1 drops, we will stay on the Sirens’ Isle and improve our ring:
What is Blizzard changing? With the upcoming Patch 11.1 and the start of Season 2 of the expansion The War Within, Blizzard is overhauling the visual effects of many enemy abilities. The effects previously known as “Swirly”, which are used in almost every dungeon and raid, will receive a significant update.
What does the effect look like now? The new Swirly effect is visually much “brighter” and stands out more from most surfaces. Additionally, the edge of the effect is a bit brighter and better defined, making it easier to see where the nasty effect will hit next.
The difference between “It will hurt here” and “I am safe here” is clearly recognizable. You can see a small example here in dorki’s stream:
Why is this being done? Swirly effects have repeatedly been considered a problem over the past few years. Generally, these are enemy abilities that one must avoid, and especially with raid bosses or high-level “Mythic+” dungeons, contact with a single area can already mean death.
However, these Swirly effects previously had a “soft” edge; the center was vividly colored, and the effect faded more and more towards the outside. This made it difficult – and on some surfaces nearly impossible – to recognize exactly where the effect ended and where a safe zone was. This will finally be fixed in the upcoming patch.
Here’s how the community is reacting: Whether in the WoW Subreddit or on wowhead, the reactions from players are mostly positive. The consensus seems to be that there will be more visual clarity in the future – something that World of Warcraft as a whole will benefit from:
- “Oh my god – thank you, Lord Ion!” – lmaotank
- “The Monkey’s Paw twitches – Now that you can clearly see the edges, we can make the effects so that they always kill you immediately, right?” – WitchSlap
- “I’m actually a bit annoyed that such an obvious solution took 20 years.” – Syrairc
- “Fantastic change. I support any update that makes visual effects clearer.” – Stinfectious
The hope is that these visual adjustments will also be adopted for other types of effects, making the game significantly easier to “read” – which would also help newcomers who currently feel a bit lost in the fireworks of effects, especially if they do not yet know all the abilities of all classes.
How you can nonetheless stay confidently in the fire: Eat pizza in WoW, because it makes you slower…
