BlizzConline 2021 Recap

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BlizzConline 2021 Recap

We learned about Shadowlands Patch 9.1: Chains of Domination, Burning Crusade Classic, Forged in the Barrens Hearthstone Expansion, Rogues coming to Diablo IV, Diablo II: Resurrected, and more!



World of Warcraft

Shadowlands Patch 9.1: Chains of Domination

• Korthia - New section of the Maw with a new art kit, mounts, pets, and more.
• Sanctum of Domination - New raid with Eye of the Jailer, Tarragrue, Kel'Thuzad, and Sylvanas
• Tazavesh, the Veiled Market - New eight-boss Mythic mega-dungeon
• Torghast - New wing, floors, enemies, powers, and art
• Flying - Unlock flying by completing covenant activities and campaign chapters, earning your Covenant mount
• Covenant Cosmetic Armor Sets
• Shadowlands Season 2 - New Mythic+ Affix, Honor Talent refresh, PvP rewards, and more

Burning Crusade Classic

• Release in 2021 with Beta soon
• Spell batching is removed
• Draenei and Blood Elves in pre-patch
• Current Classic Servers become Progression Servers
• Choose on a character by character basis to progress with the server or move the character to an Classic Era server.
• Paid option to make a copy of your character so you can keep it in Classic and move on to Burning Crusade.
• One paid Level 58 boost per account including a mount, dungeon blues, and limited to Classic races.

World of Warcraft Q&A Panel

• The faction imbalance has become a social issue that will likely require a social solution and it is a top priority for the team.
• You cannot fly directly from zone to zone in Shadowlands. You will still need to use the a flight path to enter a zone.
• Your name will be saved for both server options in Burning Crusade Classic. If there are server connections they will likely play out like in modern WoW having names with servers appended.
• The team wants to address faction imbalance in BC Classic with small changes such as Paladin seals being available to both factions.
• There are no plans right now to add more race/class combinations in Shadowlands, but never say never.

Diablo II, Diablo IV, and Diablo Immortal

Diablo IV: What's Next?

• Rogues can use Swords/Daggers, and Bows/Crossbows
• Three Specializations - Shadow Realm, Combo Points, Exploit Weakness
• Rogues can imbue their attacks with different elements like poison or frost
• More classes will come in the future
• There are optional PvP areas called Fields of Hatred

Diablo II: Resurrected Deep Dive

• On PC & consoles with cross-play & cross-progression
• All cinematics modernized and recreated shot for shot
• The game will be playable in its original 2D form, like Starcraft Remastered.
• 8-Player multiplayer

Diablo Immortal: Alpha & Beyond

• A large variety of ways to progress your character gives players things to do each time they log in
• The new Paragon system is less linear than in Diablo III, and allows for specialization which can be expanded upon over time
• Controller support is the most requested thing coming out of Technical Alpha
• The level cap of Technical Alpha was 45, but release is planned to be 60

BlizzConline Diablo Q&A

• Resurrected is remaking all cinematics shot-for-shot.
• For Immortal, they are focusing on the content updates. There is no intention to reset progress like in Diablo III seasons.
• There will be controller support for D2 on PC.
• Immortal is focused on the span on time between Diablo II and Diablo III as far as lore goes
• The level cap of Technical Alpha was 45, but release is planned to be 60

Hearthstone

You can see all of the new Forged in the Barrens cards that have been revealed so far here.

Hearthstone Deep Dive

• Forged in the Barrens Expansion
• Spells now have schools
• Ranked spells grow with you through the game, having different effects on below 5 mana, above 5 mana and at 10 mana
• New Keyword: Frenzy, first time your minion takes damage and survives, it triggers this effect
• Core set - 235 cards. Buffed, revived and revolutionized cards as well as new ones. Get the Core set by leveling all your classes to level 10
• Hearthstone Mercenaries - Tactical RPG and Roguelike type game mode. Single Player progression.

Hearthstone Q&A

• They would love to do a Murloc Expansion, like they did Dragons. They would have to increase the range of Murloc sizes
• Core Set is great for new and returning players, due to better quality of the set compared to Basic and Classic and the unlock requirements are low
• Quests are something they love. They learned a lot from the previous editions. If they do it again it will be with a twist and not the same.
• They want to do Random Hero Skin and Random Coin, like they have the Random Card back, but don't have a fixed point yet when that is coming, but it IS coming

Overwatch

Behind the Scenes of Overwatch 2

• New Maps - Rome and New York City
• Hero Missions - PvE Co-Op Missions
• Progression - Level up your heroes as you play Hero missions and fill out skill trees
• More Story
• Updated Hero appearances

Blizzard Arcade Collection

Blizzard announced the Blizzard Arcade Collection today, a collection of three older games.

• The Collection includes The Lost Vikings, Rock N Roll Racing, and Blackthorne.
• The Blizzard Arcade Collection is included as part of The Celebration Collection on PC.
• Consoles will also be able to play the collection.
• Players that didn't purchase the Celebration Collection can purchase the Arcade Collection for $20.
• The games in the Blizzard Arcade Collection come in their Original Editions and also upgraded Definitive Editions, with each version featuring custom key mapping and the ability to rewind up to 10 seconds.
• The Original Editions of The Lost Vikings and Blackthorne also include “watch mode,” which lets players watch a playthrough of the game and jump in to take control at any point.
• The ability to save progress anywhere is also included in all versions of each game, with the exception of the Definitive Edition of Rock N Roll Racing.
• An array of bonus materials rounds out the Blizzard Arcade Collection, including game art, development assets, unused content, lore, interviews, and more

Blizzard Gear Store

Blizzard has put up some new BlizzConline merchandise on the Blizzard Gear Store, all with free shipping. When you purchase through our link it helps support the site. Some interesting items:

• Helm of Domination Replica - Full size replica helmet meant for display purposes
• You Are Not Prepared T-Shirt
• World of Warcraft: New Flavors of Azeroth: The Official Cookbook
• World of Warcraft: Folk & Fairy Tales of Azeroth

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