Heart of Azeroth System in Rise of Azshara - Theorycrafting Details from Sloot Stream

PTR Posted 2019/04/11 at 2:33 PM by Anshlun

This Article is part of our Patch 8.2 Announcement Coverage

Liveblog of the 8.2 Content Preview Stream
Heart of Azeroth:
Heart of Azeroth System in Rise of Azshara
Heart of Azeroth Essences - All Revealed Major and Minor Powers
Theorycrafting Details about the Heart of Azeroth in Rise of Azshara from Sloot

Dungeons and Raids:

Mechagon Zone - Secrets and Exploration

Mounts - New Mounts, Mount Equipments, and Water Walking
Customizable Trinkets - Pocket-Sized Computational Device

Pathfinder Part 2 - Flying Unlock Requirements and Rewards

Rise of Azshara Community Interview Spotlight
Taliesin & Evitel Information - Nazjatar, Mechagon, and Mounts

already shared presentationblog posthis stream

The flow at start of the patch will be simple: Patch hits, new questline open with Magni, completing it opens the Heart Forge and the Essence system within the neck.

AP not gone, AP will be used to unlock Essence slots at levels 55, 60, & 65, with small stamina bonuses in between. The new neck cap will be 70.

AP concerns should be reduced, as the slot breakpoints should be either very easy or impossible (i.e World First race raiders shouldn't be able to unlock 65 before the raid).

Each Essence has a Major active ability and Minor passive effect, with the big central socket applying both bonuses of whatever Essence is socketed within it, and the two smaller sockets only applying the minor bonus. This gives a total of four bonuses (1 major active, 3 minor passives) at one time at the start of 8.2. More sockets may be added in the future.

Major Essence Powers are very impactful, comparable to artifact abilities from Legion.

Essences come from all sources of content: PvP, Raids, Reputations, Mythic+, etc, but their acquisition is deterministic rather than RNG drops.

Essences have four ranks - the first three add effects/power, with the fourth adding a cosmetic visual.

For instance, the Reputation Essences have their rank 1 unlocked from Honored, rank 2 from Revered, Rank 3 from Exalted.

All majors have visual effects, plus an amazing effect if you unlock the legendary, cosmetic-only, version.

Legendary essences can have some RNG tied to their unlock process, i.e. the rep one is tied to their Paragon Chest, but this doesn't mean that all of them will be RNG. The M+ Essence will likely require completing all +15s in time.

Rank 1 and 2 are really easy to unlock, most players should have them before the raid opens.

Rank 3 will likely be unlocked during progression, around the time you kill heroic Azshara

Tooltips from Essences tell you where to get the next rank, similar to profession recipes.

Legendary ranks currently don't cite where they come from, but they are considering adding them, as it will be all over the internet anyway once they are found.

Swapping essences work like talents, rested zones or under the effects from a Codex. No exponential gold cost!

8.0 Azerite still exists. New pieces will have everything unlocked if you are up to date with your Azerite, with the only possible unlock being the ilvls during progression

There is still no cap on 8.0 Azerite Respec costs, but Essences don't use this system.

Many Essences passives seem really overpowered and you'd imagine they have an internal cooldown. But no, they really are OP.

Currently, there are no PvP reductions planned for them, but the team is keeping an eye on it.

Comment by WillbladeDamn I'm surprised, essences AREN'T rng based? Will we finally be getting actual decent progression systems again? Caught me completely by surprise, well done. I wish theyd remove the AP requirements since the idea of infinite progression is not on my alley, but finally a step in the right direction at leastComment by Grengarm"While this sounds lame..."

Yes, it does.

And this is Blizzard trying to impress us to bring us back for 8.2. Pathetic.Comment by TusknoirHuge improvement. Let's hope it's a good as it sounds.Comment by LulumiaLumiaOn one hand, this seems like a really earnest effort to make the system better.

On the other, deterministic extra drops that you slot into your Artifact Wep... I mean, Necklace, is awfully similar to that Relic system we just abandoned for some reason.Comment by Snowy6Would be nice if Blizzard shared the information with the players rather than us getting it second hand from some streamer!Comment by WowheadCommenterWould be nice if Blizzard shared the information with the players rather than us getting it second hand from some streamer!Comment by Mclaggin"While this sounds lame..."

Yes, it does.

And this is Blizzard trying to impress us to bring us back for 8.2. Pathetic.Comment by CornbreadPopsMythic+15 for the cosmetic.. I wont ever see those lol! I wonder if some of these will be account wide since they require rep... if not let me get back to doing emissariesComment by dvisChakI thought Jeremy, on the livestream, said that after you've set up your base at Nazjatar (unless thats a simple foothold quest that takes 5min) then the Magni questline would be available to start the new and improved HoA system. This makes it seem like it'll be available as soon as we log in on patch day?Comment by WokkytonTHIS IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING BLIZZARD CANNOT WAIT FOR 8.2. keep up this good developing work! lovely and amazingComment by Sh3phrdThat is correct, and they expect you should 1 or 2 levels of about 6 essences unlocked easily in the first week or 2. It's the lvl 3 and 4 that will actually take time and effort to unlock.Comment by XaleaSo the essences are RNG drops. What kind of drop rate?

I think my highest AP level is around 42. So 65 seems way far off for me. What happened to not having to grind out abilities on this stuff? Now it’s RNG plus grind?

As someone already stated, why didn’t they just keep the system from Legion? This whole expansion has been an embarrassment.Comment by grayshirtWhy am I going to spend time unlocking the Legendary Essence for their spell visual effects when this system will likely be ripped out of the game completely when BFA ends?

Not to mention what happens when they decide to remove a spell the visual applies to? ( The mock-up Crucible of Flame shown on stream seemed to imply that the Legenday Essence granted an enhanced visual to the active ability of the Essence itself. Meaning slotting a Legendary Essence as anything but the major slot is pointless?)

I guess it works fine for the short term but... losing everything that was worked for after BFA end is gonna suck hard.Comment by SoeroahSo the essences are RNG drops. What kind of drop rate?

I think my highest AP level is around 42. So 65 seems way far off for me. What happened to not having to grind out abilities on this stuff? Now it’s RNG plus grind?

As someone already stated, why didn’t they just keep the system from Legion? This whole expansion has been an embarrassment.Comment by webzagarOn one hand, this seems like a really earnest effort to make the system better.

On the other, deterministic extra drops that you slot into your Artifact Wep... I mean, Necklace, is awfully similar to that Relic system we just abandoned for some reason.Comment by webzagarWhy am I going to spend time unlocking the Legendary Essence for their spell visual effects when this system will likely be ripped out of the game completely when BFA ends?

Not to mention what happens when they decide to remove a spell the visual applies to? ( The mock-up Crucible of Flame shown on stream seemed to imply that the Legendary Essence granted an enhanced visual to the active ability of the Essence itself. Meaning slotting a Legendary Essence as anything but the major slot is pointless?)

I guess it works fine for the short term but... losing everything that was worked for after BFA end is gonna suck hard.Comment by Pyrite13RemovedComment by blupachebut their acquisition is deterministic rather than RNG dropsComment by shwarzkopfThe difference is that you used a Relic like you use a Gem.
The new system - you learn the new 'talent' and can shuffle them around into your Heart as you see fit.

It is predictable, reusable and effectively a new set of talents to use.Comment by ka1z0ku1337So the essences are RNG drops. What kind of drop rate?

I think my highest AP level is around 42. So 65 seems way far off for me. What happened to not having to grind out abilities on this stuff? Now it’s RNG plus grind?

As someone already stated, why didn’t they just keep the system from Legion? This whole expansion has been an embarrassment.