Don’t cry for the old ways: Blizzard talk three tier system for Warlords of Draenor PvP gear

Warlords of Draenor

The World of Warcraft dev team tweak, update and revamp, but most of the time they simply watch – they’re the invisible sentinels in the corners of its servers. Lately, they’ve noticed the “ever-increasing” item level gap between the PvP gear you can purchase with honor points and their higher level equivalent, conquest points.

To tackle that great fissure in PvP progression, they’ll introduce a middle tier of gear in Warlords of Draenor.

Today’s honor gear will be refitted in the new system as an introductory set, earned much faster than before. It’ll most often be found in strongboxes – the post-match bronze, silver and gold rewards Warlords of Draenor will bestow on players based on their team’s performance.

A second tier, named Veteran gear, will occasionally appear in silver or gold strongboxes – but will for the most part have to be purchased with honor points. It’ll have a PvP item level halfway between the starter gear and Gladiator’s gear, the third and highest tier.

“Adding the Veteran’s tier accomplishes a lot of things for us,” explained Blizzard. “First, it helps make sure that someone who wants to step into rated PvP later on in the season isn’t nearly as far behind their opponents in gear.

“Second, since the basic gear is earned so quickly, that helps ensure players get those important set bonuses, trinkets, and so on without too much trouble, and helps put everyone on a decent baseline in their ability to compete,” they added. “For players who enjoy PvP but aren’t really interested in jumping into rated competition, earning Veteran’s gear will feel a lot more rewarding.”

Gladiator’s gear will continue to be purchasable with conquest points in the fashion it has throughout Season 15. However, if players win rated battlegrounds they’ll be allowed to cash in a bonus roll token for a chance at a piece of Gladiator’s gear.

Will this, or perhaps the choice to use your PvE gear competitively in PvP, finally make a player-killer of you in Warlords of Draenor?