Greetings Fellow Explorers,

In preparation of Swords of Chult we wanted to go over the great PvP changes coming your way! While we plan to continue making additional adjustments in the future, these are the specific changes we have planned for the upcoming release.

Tenacity Rework

After seriously examining tenacity and how it affects the barrier to entry in PvP, we have removed the tenacity stat from the game altogether. In accordance with this change we have added a visible buff that will be applied to everyone when entering a PvP area.

A similar buff has always been used to help tune the PvP experience but, as part of these changes, we’ve added an icon so you can see what is going on when you enter a PvP arena. The values represent the benefits an average amount of tenacity was giving previously. Basically this buff helps everyone get over the tenacity barrier without needing tenacity. Now everyone can join in the carnage and have some fun. YIPEE!!!

With that out of the way let’s focus on what you really want to know, what happens with the tenacity on PvP gear? We have redistributed the tenacity stat into stats already on the equipment or replaced it outright.

PvP Item Scaling

With tenacity gone, we still want to make sure PvP equipment is competitive or superior to similar PvE equipment in PvP. As such, endgame PvP equipment will now receive an item level boost when in a PvP area. When looking at the tooltip on a piece of PvP gear you will now notice some additional text on the item level row.

The level in the parenthetical is the item level that the gear will be raised to when in a PvP area.  To compensate for this scaling of item levels the base values for certain PvP gear has been reduced. The reasoning behind this is to continue to support the paradigm of equipment earned from PvE sources remaining the most effective for that activity. In either case strong PvP gear should become more viable in PvE, and vice versa.

CC Diminishing Returns

In further efforts to address some of the issues in PvP, we have added diminishing returns to control effects in PvP. Any powers that have a control element will incur a 15 second diminishing returns effect on the target that will reduce the overall effectiveness of any additional control effects applied to that same target.

This effect can stack up to 4 times with each stack further reducing the duration of control effects by 25%, eventually rendering them ineffective. Each stack is independent meaning that each time a player is hit they gain a separate stack that starts its own timer. If at any time you have all 4 stacks then you will be immune to control effects for the length of your oldest stack.

Rewards

A new set of PvP gear has been added to Kyrian Foss in the Trade of Blades.  Pay him a visit and examine the Strategist gear set!

The weekly reward “Cache of the Fallen” has been removed as a reward for winning Stronghold PvP matches. Its contents are now a part of a new weekly quest, Storming the Castle.

Solo PvP Queue

After the success of the temporary solo PvP queue we have decided to make it a permanent feature with the release of Swords of Chult. Solo queues will be available for level 70 Domination only.

Miscellaneous  Bug fixes and Tuning

While the information above highlights the big changes there were a few other impactful bug fixes and adjustments made to the Leaderboard, buffs from consumables, and more to help improve the overall PvP experience.

This blog is a summary of the detailed changes discussed in the Preview Forums so if you’re looking for a breakdown of how these changes will be implemented, join the forum discussion!

Salim Grant
Senior Systems Designer