What happens to Prestige? How do the Honor Levels work? What do you lose? We show the new Honor System in WoW: Battle for Azeroth.
With the upcoming expansion Battle for Azeroth, World of Warcraft once again overhauls the PvP system that players had just gotten used to. The feature of Prestige Levels from Legion will be eliminated and replaced by a new system: Honor Levels. We want to break down how this works.
Honor Levels replace Prestige
With the pre-patch 8.0 for Battle for Azeroth, the old Prestige system will be completely abolished. However, your earned Honor will not be lost; it will be fully transferred to the new “Honor Level” system without any losses. However, “one level of Prestige” does not mean that you will also receive “one level of Honor” – the conversion is a bit more complicated.
- In Legion, the first Prestige Level required 22,000 Honor.
- Each additional Prestige Level required 44,000 Honor.
With Battle for Azeroth, the Honor Levels are introduced:
- At the beginning, an Honor Level requires 5,000 Honor.
- The value increases rapidly with each level until it eventually stabilizes at 8,800 Honor.
So it can be said that each level of Prestige (after the first) is worth 5 Honor Levels.
A small calculation example: A character with Prestige Level 4 has 154,000 Honor, specifically 1x 22,000 Honor (Prestige Level 1) and 3x 44,000 Honor (Prestige Levels 2 to 4).
Converted to Honor Levels, this means: 154,000 / 8,800 = 17.5.
After the system switch, your character would thus have an Honor Level of at least 17.5 – additionally a few more points, as the first Honor Levels require less Honor.
You earn Honor as usual – the values do not change. In addition to visiting battlegrounds and arenas, participating in Open PvP can also be rewarding, but for this, you must switch to the new War Mode in Battle for Azeroth.
Honor from all characters is aggregated
However, the special twist in Battle for Azeroth is that not every single character has its own Honor Level. Instead, all the Honor of your account is pooled and aggregated (even retroactively!) – the Honor Level applies to your entire account. If you have multiple heroes with a high Prestige Level, you will be pleased after the conversion, as you will start in the game with a lot of Honor.
Even cross-faction: Every Honor you earn will contribute to this Honor Level. It does not matter which character you play; even across Horde and Alliance, the Honor Level remains consistent. It is tied to your account.
New rewards
With the system change, there are also some new rewards that players can earn. They will be integrated into the system and await players upon reaching certain Honor Levels. These rewards are completely new:
- Glorious Pennant – a toy for Honor Level 175
- Sir Snips/Bucketshell – crab with bucket as armor, battle pet for Honor Level 400
- Prestigious Bloodforged Courser – new mount for Honor Level 500
This list of rewards will surely be expanded and filled by Blizzard in the future as more players approach Honor Level 500.
It is important to note: Not every new Honor Level grants a special reward. Particularly later on, there may be up to 100 Honor Levels between individual achievements if Blizzard does not add anything here.
Previously earned rewards remain
Some rewards require more Honor after the system change than before, such as the title “Tactician”. Previously, a Prestige Level of 25 was necessary, which translates into 128.5 Honor Levels. The new requirement for the title is, however, the impressive Honor Level 300!
In such cases, you don’t have to worry. If you received the title in “Legion”, you will still retain it in Battle for Azeroth, even if you have not yet met the new requirements for the title.
Conversely, it will take longer for all players to earn the title, as more Honor is required in Battle for Azeroth.
List of all rewards for PvP Honor Levels in Battle for Azeroth
Here we have the current list of all rewards that will be available for Honor Levels (or “Honor Stages”) in Battle for Azeroth.
- Honor Level 5: Conscientious Grunt / Conscientious Squire (battle pet)
- Honor Level 10: Honor Banner (toy)
- Honor Level 15: Prestigious Bronze Runner (mount)
- Honor Level 20: Enthusiast of the Alliance / Fanatic of the Horde (battle pet)
- Honor Level 25: “the Honorable” (title)
- Honor Level 30: Prestige Banner (toy)
- Honor Level 40: Prestigious Ivory Runner (mount)
- Honor Level 50: “the Prestigious” (title)
- Honor Level 60: Elite Banner (toy)
- Honor Level 70: Prestigious Azure Runner (mount)
- Honor Level 80: “the Unrelenting” (title)
- Honor Level 90: Dignity Banner (toy)
- Honor Level 100: “the Unstoppable Force” (title)
- Honor Level 125: Prestigious Forest Runner (mount)
- Honor Level 150: Prestigious King’s Runner (mount)
- Honor Level 175: Glorious Pennant (“Glory Banner”, toy)
- Honor Level 200: “bound by Honor” (title)
- Honor Level 250: Prestigious Midnight Runner (mount)
- Honor Level 300: “the Tactician” (title)
- Honor Level 400: Sir Snips/Bucketshell (battle pet)
- Honor Level 500: Prestigious Bloodforged Courser
What else changes in Battle for Azeroth has been explained in our comprehensive overview article.
