Patch 10.2.0 has been announced and that means there’s new developer interviews! Below is a roundup of new information:
World content/Reputation
- The Dreamwardens will have 20 levels of renown. (MrGM)
- It won’t be in this patch but they might update existing renown tracks later on. (MrGM)
- You will get the biggest reward from the Superbloom event the first time you do it per week. (MrGM)
- The owl dragonriding mount cannot be used outside of the Dragon Isles. (MrGM)
Gear/Itemization
- The item upgrade system continues into season 3 but there will no longer be fragments. And crests will now be in the currency tab! (MrGM)
- If you’re capped on a type of crest for the week and you do an activity that rewards you another crest, it will be converted to the next lower crest level! (MrGM)
- To slow down gearing a bit you’ll be able to earn 6 crests per week per type, down from 10 in season 2. (MrGM)
- Heroic and M0 dungeons will also contribute to the Great Vault! (MrGM)
- The legendary two handed axe will be available to Paladins, Death Knights and Warriors. (Dot esports)
- The Creation Catalyst will be available in week 1 of the new season. However you will get 1 charge every 2 weeks instead of every week. (Forbes)
Classes
- No new class/race combinations coming in 10.2 (MrGM)
- Druids are getting new customisations. An example is moonkin forms and will be earnable through various sources, one of which is the raid. A certain flame druid boss’s form might be one! (MrGM)
- Rogues, Druids, Discipline Priests and healers are getting class/specialisation updates (Icyveins)
Dungeons/Mythic+/Raiding
- In combination with the item upgrade system adjustments they feel confident about where the new raid’s tuning will land (Fandy)
PvP
- The Battleground Blitz brawl is a test just like solo shuffle was for a potential solo queue rated battlegrounds (MrGM)
Lore
- Malfurion is staying in Ardenweald for now. Guardians of the Dream will have a large cast of other characters. (Fandy)
- Vyranoth and Wrathion are going to recruit the Netherwing in Outland and the Storm Drakes in Stormheim to help defend Amirdrassil (Icyveins)
- The new world tree Amirdrassil will not be in Kalimdor. It will be on the Dragon Isles. (Polygon)
Collectables
- No new mount collection achievement for 10.2. There will be one in the future. A question they have when adding new collection achievements is whether they should add 1 new high bar achievement for hardcore collectors or add multiple achievements for the average player. (Fandy)
- Fyrakk will drop 2 dragonriding customisations. One has a small chance to drop on all difficulties and the other will be rewarded by Ahead of the Curve (Icyveins)
UI
- They would like to hear from the community what they are still missing from the UI revamp (Fandy)
- Brewmaster Monks and Death Knights are getting updates to their resource UI elements (Forbes)
Misc
- They have nothing to say if 10.2 will be the last major patch of Dragonflight. There’s more story told. (MrGM)
- Nothing to announce yet on a pre- or post-blizzcon release date. (MrGM)
- Blizzard has noticed a staggering improvement in player retention thanks to the content releases every 8 or so weeks. (Gamespot)
- They plan to continue the 8 week release schedule in the foreseeable future. (Gamespot)
- The team has discarded the idea of an entire expansion being old god themed. It would “feel pretty oppressive” were the team to stick to the dark tone its subject matter demanded for an entire expansion. (Gamespot)
- An old world revamp is something that is “likely to happen” in the future, but that the team would learn lessons from Cataclysm (Gamespot)
- No Brawler’s guild in 10.2. They want to bring it back in an evergreen way in the same way they did for the Mage Tower (Icyveins)
Full Interviews/Sources:
Dev Interview MrGM
Dev Interview Fandy
Dev Interview Icy Veins
Gamespot Dev Interview
Forbes Dev Interview
Dot esports legendary weapon article
Polygon Guardians of the Dream Article