Zek'voz, Herald of N'zoth Preview, Blue Posts, Build of the Month, WoW History

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Overwatch League 2018: Stage 3 Week 4 Recap

Zek'voz, Herald of N'zoth - Battle for Azeroth
Our friends at Fatboss are back with a preview of Zek'voz from the Technical Raid Test during the Battle for Azeroth alpha.


Originally Posted by MMO-Champion
  • Overview - Zek'voz attacks players while the compromised Titan Discs come online, calling forth powerful Old God magics and summoning their lesser servants. As new Titan Discs come online, previously activated Discs will power down.
    • Tanks -
    • Healers -
      • Titan Spark strikes random targets peroidically.
      • Surging Darkness inflicts substantial damage to all party members in addition to the lethal damage within each eruption.
    • Damage Dealers -
      • Keep a safe distance from your allies when Eye Beam is preparing to fire.
      • Consider your positioning when Roiling Deceit is about to expire.
  • Titan Spark - Titan energy arcs from the damaged Titan Disc, striking several targets for 16 Nature damage.
  • Surging Darkness - Upon reaching 100 energy, Zek'voz unleashes a series of eruptions in quick succession. Each eruption inflicts 175 Shadow damage to players caught within it. In addition, each eruption inflicts 15 Shadow damage to all players.
  • Might of the Void - Zek'voz performs a series of powerful attacks.
    • tank.png
      Void Lash - Zek'voz summons lashing tentacles, inflicting 50 Shadow damage in a frontal cone, and reduces healing received by 25% for 8 sec. This effect stacks.
    • tank.png
      Shatter - Zek'voz strikes the target, inflicting 200 Physical damage and increasing Physical damage taken by 50% for 40 sec.
  • dps.png
    Stage One: Chaos - At 90% health remaining Protocol: Chaos begins. Summoning projections of C'Thun and replicating minions from the Qiraji empire.
    • Eye Beam - The Eye of C'Thun penetrates the soul of the target, dealing 47 Shadow damage and leaping to any nearby allies for increased damage.
    • Qiraji Warrior -
      • tank.png
        Fixate - A Qiraji Warrior sets its attention on an enemy. Lasts 15 sec or until it strikes its target.
      • tank.png
        Jagged Mandible - The Qiraji Warrior's melee attacks maim the target, inflicting 8 Physical damage every 2 sec. This effect stacks.
  • dps.png
    Stage Two: Deception - At 60% health remaining Protocol: Deception begins. Summoning projections of Yogg-Saron and replicating servants from Azjol-Nerub.
    • Roiling Deceit - Yogg-Saron corrupts the target, inflicts 29 Shadow damage every 3 sec and forms an Ominous Cloud upon expiration.
      • Ominous Cloud - Ominous Clouds slowly drift through the area and will Boil Ominously if an enemy strays too close, summoning a Guardian of Yogg-Saron.
        • Guardian of Yogg-Saron - Casts Shadow Nova upon reaching 100 energy or when defeated.
          • tank.png
            Shadow Nova - Self destructs, Inflicting 81 Shadow damage to all enemies.
    • Anub'ar Voidweaver -
      • tank.png
        dps.png
        Shadowbind - The caster binds itself, preventing forced movement effects.
      • tank.png
        Void Bolt - Launches Shadow energy towards an enemy, inflicting 66 Shadow damage.
  • dps.png
    Stage Three: Corruption - At 30% health remaining Protocol: Corruption begins. The magic released from the damaged Titan Discs appears to be unchecked and more than a mere demonstration of power...
    • Overload - The damaged disc activates, increasing the frequency of Titan Spark.
    • Orb of Corruption - Explodes on impact with the ground, inflicting 26 Shadow damage to all players. Pulses every 5 sec while grounded for 100% increased damage. Intercepting the Orb of Corruption launches the orb foward and afflicts the intercepting player with Corruptor's Pact.
      • Corruptor's Pact - Overwhelming power courses through you. Maximum health, damage done, and healing done increased by 100%.
        Afflicted by Will of the Corruptor upon expiration.
    • Will of the Corruptor - The mind of the victim is overtaken, forcing them to attack their allies until they are slain.
      • dps.png
        Entropic Wave - Releases a wave of pure void energy, causing 26 Shadow damage to players within 0 yards and causing them to flee in fear for 6 sec.
      • Entropic Blast - Blasts the target's mind for 17 Shadow damage and causes them to flee in fear for 6 sec.
  • dps.png
    Stage One: Chaos and Deception - At 90% health remaining Chaos and Deception Protocols begin. Summoning projections of C'Thun and Yogg-Saron along with their minions.

    $[!16 In Mythic difficulty, activated Titan Discs remain powered on indefinitely.
    • Eye Beam - The Eye of C'Thun penetrates the soul of the target, dealing 47 Shadow damage and leaping to any nearby allies for increased damage.
    • Roiling Deceit - Yogg-Saron corrupts the target, inflicts 29 Shadow damage every 3 sec and forms an Ominous Cloud upon expiration.
      • Ominous Cloud - Ominous Clouds slowly drift through the area and will Boil Ominously if an enemy strays too close, summoning a Guardian of Yogg-Saron.
        • Guardian of Yogg-Saron - Casts Shadow Nova upon reaching 100 energy or when defeated.
          • tank.png
            Shadow Nova - Self destructs, Inflicting 81 Shadow damage to all enemies.
    • Qiraji Warrior -
      • tank.png
        Fixate - A Qiraji Warrior sets its attention on an enemy. Lasts 15 sec or until it strikes its target.
      • tank.png
        Jagged Mandible - The Qiraji Warrior's melee attacks maim the target, inflicting 8 Physical damage every 2 sec. This effect stacks.
    • Anub'ar Voidweaver -
      • tank.png
        Shadowbind - The caster binds itself, preventing forced movement effects.
      • tank.png
        Void Bolt - Launches Shadow energy towards an enemy, inflicting 66 Shadow damage.
  • dps.png
    Stage Two: Corruption - At 30% health remaining Protocol: Corruption begins. The magic released from the damaged Titan Discs appears to be unchecked and more than a mere demonstration of power...
    • Overload - The damaged disc activates, increasing the frequency of Titan Spark.
    • Orb of Corruption - Explodes on impact with the ground, inflicting 26 Shadow damage to all players. Pulses every 5 sec while grounded for 100% increased damage. Intercepting the Orb of Corruption launches the orb foward and afflicts the intercepting player with Corruptor's Pact.
      • Corruptor's Pact - Overwhelming power courses through you. Maximum health, damage done, and healing done increased by 100%.
        Afflicted by Will of the Corruptor upon expiration.
    • Will of the Corruptor - The mind of the victim is overtaken, forcing them to attack their allies until they are slain.
      • Entropic Wave - Releases a wave of pure void energy, causing 26 Shadow damage to players within 0 yards and causing them to flee in fear for 6 sec.
      • Entropic Blast - Blasts the target's mind for 17 Shadow damage and causes them to flee in fear for 6 sec.



Blue Posts
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
images.gif
Mage (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator / Artifact Calculator / PvP Talent Calculator)
[Arcane] Mana Adept Discussion
A version of Mana Adept that read "Clearcasting causes Arcane Missiles fires 2 additional missiles." would solve a lot of problems
This is an option we've been considering (though nothing specific for next build). It would be a simple and effective talent in its own right. We do like having a talent that preserves the Mana Adept mana gameplay, but whether that belongs on an Arcane Missiles talent does depend, as people are saying, on whether it can be done without causing rotational problems. Arcane is a rotation that is unusually--for lack of a better word--fragile, so it's always helpful to keep an eye out for issues like this. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

ipaladins.gif
Paladin (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator / Artifact Calculator / PvP Talent Calculator)
Aura of Sacrifice
Aura of Sacrifice should not be damaging the user below 75%HP in any case (same as on live). It's not clear from this discussion whether people are actually seeing that happen on beta. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

ipriests.gif
Priest (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator / Artifact Calculator / PvP Talent Calculator)
BfA Discipline Priest Feedback
The talent row balancing comments are something we'll probably look at in a little more detail slightly later, though there is a simple buff in the pipeline for Luminous Barrier.

On the base rotation: while we don't want it to be as burst-oriented as it was in Legion due to Light's Wrath, we are looking to add a little more texture back as far as moments of higher damage/healing. In the next build, we're trying out Power of the Dark Side as a baseline part of the spec.

On Power Word: Shield (based on various comments in a lot of different places): Power Word: Shield will definitely be used a lot more than it was in Legion (obviously, due to not having a cooldown). But, we neither expect nor want it to be like the PW:S spam of Mists or Warlords. In those days, a rotation based almost entirely on PW:S did sufficient healing to make a Disc using that rotation into a top healer. Therefore it was doing roughly an entire healer's worth of healing in the form of absorbs.

Disc in BFA should not be able to put out that level of absorption, even if it uses a higher portion of casts on PW:S. Using PW:S, and absorbs generally, is still a core part of Disc's identity, but reaching full healing potential still requires a significant contribution of other mechanics like Atonement. We don't see it as a problem if PW:S is a major workhorse spell of the rotation in all contexts, but the opportunities to apply very high amounts of shielding are cooldown-limited (Rapture and Luminous Barrier), and current talents that buff PW:S generally do so without adding absorption (Lenience and Orison). (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Mythic Dungeon Invitational APAC Rescheduling
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker
/ Official Forums
)
During last week’s broadcast of the Mythic Dungeon Invitational Asia Pacific Region, numerous recurring issues with an Australian internet service provider caused significant internet outages for a large number of our competitors. Due to these extreme circumstances, we had to postpone several of the remaining matches in order to preserve tournament integrity.

In order to fit the remaining matches into the current MDI schedule, 4 of the remaining 7 matches will be played off-broadcast over the next week, and we will share the outcome of those matches with you!

However, we will be broadcasting the APAC Upper, Lower, and Grand Finals on Saturday, May 5th, after the Day 1 Broadcast of the MDI Americas Group Stage. Broadcasts for the APAC Upper, Lower, and Grand finals will begin approximately:
  • PDT: 18:00, Saturday, May 5
  • EDT: 21:00, Saturday, May 5
  • AEST: 11:00, Sunday, May 6
These matches will determine which teams get to advance to the MDI Global Finals on June 22nd, so don’t miss them!

(Both Days of the Americas Group Stage broadcast will begin at their originally scheduled time of 1pm Eastern/10am Pacific. Day 1 will have 6 matches, and then the 3 APAC final matches. Day 2 will have the remaining 8 matches of the Americas Group Stage).

Build of the Month - April 2018
Each month or so we will post a couple of hardware setups for those of you who are thinking of upgrading their computer!

All of the parts on this page are Amazon affiliate links. When you purchase your parts through them it helps support the site!

This month
The current SSD prices are fairly flat right now, with most SSDs under $0.50 per gigabyte when on sale.

Graphics card prices are still somewhat inflated due to cryptocurrency mining right now. There isn't much you can do beyond waiting for prices to come down or purchasing from somewhere that offers a bundled card with other hardware.

Depending on how much you want to overclock, you may need to spend a bit more for a better CPU cooler like the NH-D15.

Unless you are doing a lot of video rendering or streaming, you do not need the 8700K and would get more performance from spending that money elsewhere.

Make sure to keep your AMD and Nvidia drivers up to date.

Don't forget to visit the Computer Forum for any extra questions!

New AMD Ryzen CPUs
This month AMD released their 2nd generation of Ryzen CPUs. They come fairly close to their Intel counterparts at various price points when it comes to gaming, so we've listed a few comobs below:

CPUs
Motherboards


Peripherals

Puppy
MonitorASUS VS228T-P 22-Inch Monitor$95
KeyboardMicrosoft Wired Keyboard 600$13
MouseLogitech G Pro$49
SpeakersCreative A250 2.1$30
Dolphin
MonitorASUS VS248H-P 24-Inch Monitor$132
KeyboardCorsair K55$48
MouseRazer DeathAdder$50
SpeakersLogitech Z313$33

Narwhal
MonitorDell U2414H Monitor$208
KeyboardLogitech G710+$100
MouseLogitech G502$50
SpeakersLogitech Z323 2.1$45
Unicorn
MonitorDell U2717D Monitor$399
KeyboardCorsair K70$100
MouseCORSAIR SCIMITAR Pro RGB$64
SpeakersLogitech Z523$69


Puppy and Dolphin
All of these parts can be mixed and matched to create a build between Puppy and Dolphin.​

Puppy

Updated April 29, 2018
$664
Case Carbide Series 200R$60
Power Supply EVGA 600B$40
CPU Intel i3-8100$119
Heatsink Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO$30
Motherboard MSI Z370-A PRO$90
Memory 8GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4$110
Graphics Card Gigabyte GTX 1050$150
Hard Drive Western Digital Blue 1TB$44
DVD Asus 24X SATA DVD+/-RW$21
Dolphin

Updated April 29, 2018
$931
Case Carbide Series 200R$60
Power Supply Seasonic S12II 620$61
CPU Intel i5-8400$179
Heatsink Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO$30
Motherboard MSI Z370-A PRO$90
Memory 8GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4$110
Graphics Card GTX 1060 3GB$270
Hard Drive Western Digital Black 2TB$110
DVD Asus 24X SATA DVD+/-RW$21


Narwhal and Unicorn
All of these parts can be mixed and matched to create a build between Narwhal and Unicorn.​

Narwhal

Updated April 29, 2018
$1322
Case Cooler Master HAF 912$58
Power Supply SeaSonic Focus+ 650W$90
CPU Intel i5-8600K$239
Heatsink Noctua NH-U12S$58
Motherboard ASUS TUF Z370-Plus Gaming$127
Memory 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4$190
Graphics Card GTX 1060 OR
GTX 1070 Ti $354
$510
Hard Drive Western Digital Black 2TB$110
SSD Crucial MX500 275GB OR
Samsung Evo 850 250GB$75
$113
DVD Asus 24X SATA DVD+/-RW$21
Unicorn

Updated April 29, 2018
$1683
Case Corsair Air 540$125
Power Supply SeaSonic Focus+ 650W$90
CPU Intel i5-8600K$240
Heatsink Noctua 6 NH-D15$90
Motherboard ASUS TUF Z370-Plus Gaming$127
Memory 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4$191
Graphics Card GTX 1070 Ti OR
GTX 1080 $510
$600
Hard Drive Western Digital Black 2TB$110
SSD SAMSUNG 850 Pro 256GB$179
DVD Asus 24X SATA DVD+/-RW$21


This Week in WoW History
We're taking a look back at old MMO-Champion posts and World of Warcraft news that occurred during this time in previous years.

Patch 4.1: Rise of the Zandalari
The first content patch of the Cataclysm, Rise of the Zandalari, brought quite a few changes to the game. The Call to Arms system, which we are already used to by now, saw its introduction in this patch, rewarding players who queue up as roles that there are few of in the dungeon finder. The rework of Zul’aman and Zul’gurub were fully revamped and introduced as 5-man dungeons. Features such as Guild Challenges, and the Guild Finder also saw addition to the game.


Patch 4.2 Preview
A blue post, and developer interview gave us a glimpse into what to expect from the second major patch of the Cataclysm. Firelands was announced as the new raid, with Ragnaros being the last boss. In this raid, caster DPS also got access to a Legendary questline which would take several weeks to complete, and reward players with a weapon they would use for the rest of the expansion. The Molten Front daily quest hub was also previewed, where players got access to a new faction, and plenty of rewards.


Item Restoration
Have you ever destroyed, vendored, or disenchanted an item by mistake? In 2012, the Battle.net Item Restoration was announced. This feature allows players to restore items every 30 days, with some limitations. This system is still in the game today, and can be easily accessed through the Battle.net website.


Deepwind Gorge
The last battleground of Mists of Pandaria was added in Patch 5.3. Deepwind Gorge is a 15 player battleground for players above level 90. This is a hybrid map, the objective of which is to control the three flag points, and capture the enemy cart. Both of these objectives give resources, and the team which reaches 1600 first wins.


Legion Pre-Expansion Event
The Legion Pre-Expansion Event brought some interesting changes to the capital cities. Players will get whispers, corrupting their minds, turning them into a tool for the Legion. After 9 stacks of Frail Mind, players gained 5 abilities which allowed them to turn allies into Legion sympathizers, take on the appearance of targets, vanish, or corrupt the minds of targets causing mass Hysteria.


World of Warcraft on NES
Rkade Soup on Youtube made a short video of what World of Warcraft would look like on the NES. This video walks us through the story of a new Orc, and his journey through his first dungeon run.


Hayven Games
Last year, on the 18th of March we lost one of our beloved World of Warcraft content creators, Hayven Games. He passes away from epithelioid sarcoma at the age of 26 years old. A short tribute video titled “Last Video - Rest in peace, Hayven” was posted on his channel. All funds that go through his Patreon after his passing get directly donated to Cancer Research.


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