This week we learn a little bit more about the WoW Token, take a look at the latest Warcraft character to enter the Nexus and Blackrock Mountain gets a release date!
WoW Token
Patch 6.1.2 was deployed last week and contained the framework for the WoW Token. In the coming weeks Blizzard will slowly roll out the WoW Token beginning in the Americas region. The reason the rollout is happening separate to the release of Patch 6.1.2 is to ensure that the patch and everything under the hood is working as intended.
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We have also learned how much the WoW Token will cost: $20. Once purchased from the in-game shop players can sell the token on the auction house for gold. The gold value will be determined by the supply and demand of the WoW Token. If there are many Tokens available with not as many being purchased the gold price will decrease. If players are buying WoW Tokens with gold faster than they are being placed up for auction then the gold price will increase. This leaves us with two big questions yet to be answered.
First, what will the initial gold cost of the WoW Token be at launch? In other words, how much gold does Blizzard think is worth $20? From the official blog post on the WoW Token:
The starting gold value in each region will be based on several factors, including regional in-game economies, but ultimately our goal is to select a fair and reasonable starting price.
The second question is how fast and drastically will the price fluctuate over time? Will it be possible to see wide swings in value of the token over the course of a day or more like weeks? This also makes me wonder how drastically the costs will shift during the first few weeks as there will undoubtedly be many transactions occurring. It will be very interesting to watch the prices as we’ll likely see tons of players cashing in their surplus of gold immediately. I can’t wait to see all the web sites that will be popping up tracking this new market.
Blackrock Mountain Release Date
Blackrock Mountain, the next Hearthstone adventure has a release date: April 2nd! The original announcement had a vague release time frame of sometime in April, but now we know exactly when. Keep in my mind this release date is for the first wing with the other wings opening one after another, one consecutive week at a time.
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Several new cards that can be earned in the new adventure have been revealed. Here are a few of them:
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In just a few days we’ll start getting our hands on new cards and I’m really looking forward to how this new set alters the meta. It’s always fun to analyze the new cards and then see how people find unexpected uses for them. Have you started thinking about new deck ideas?
Sylvanas Enters the Nexus
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Sylvanas, the Banshee Queen, has recently been added to the ever increasing roster of heroes in Heroes of the Storm. Alongside a hefty patch full of numerous updates for existing heroes and UI tweaks, the fan favorite Dark Lady is finally playable since her announcement at BlizzCon.
Sylvanas has three primary abilities. Withering Fire attacks the nearest enemy prioritizing heroes over minions. This ability has five charges and each attack consumes one charge. Charges are gained when nearby minions and heroes are killed. This attack offers great mobility options as she can be running away from a hero while still attacking them. Her Shadow Dagger ability damages an enemy with a small burst of initial damage along with additional damage over two seconds. This damage will spread to nearby enemies making it ideal for clusters of enemies and group fights. Her last primary ability is Hunting Wave which sends a wave of banshees in front of her that deal damage and allow Salvanas to teleport to them if she casts the ability again before the banshees dissipate.
Her Heroic abilities are Wailing Arrow and Possession. Wailing Arrow fires a shot that will explode causing massive damage and stunning anything hit by it for 2.5 seconds. The arrow that is fired can be detonated at any point in its path by activating the ability again. Possession mind controls an enemy minion to fight for you and grants the unit a 20% increase to health and damage. The Wailing Arrow is incredibly powerful and can very easily turn the tide of a team fight. The 2.5 second stun is devastating on top of the initial damage the ability causes.
Sylvanas also has a Ranger-General skin and players can purchase it along with Sylvanas as a discounted bundle.
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Have you played with Sylvanas yet? Let us know in the comments below!
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