Patch 8.3 Visions of N'Zoth Battle for Azeroth Content Overview

14.01 .2020

Major Highlights New Allied Races - Mechagnomes for the Alliance and Vulpera for the Horde New 12 boss raid - Ny'alotha, the Waking City New PvP and Mythic+ Season, with a new affix - Awakened Worgen and Goblin heritage armor Mage Tower inspired challenges designed for 1-5 players called Horrific Visions Old God Assaults on Titan Facilities in Uldum and the Vale of Eternal Blossoms which has finally been restored...

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Major Highlights

New Allied Races - Mechagnomes for the Alliance and Vulpera for the Horde

New 12 boss raid - Ny'alotha, the Waking City

New PvP and Mythic+ Season, with a new affix - Awakened

Worgen and Goblin heritage armor

Mage Tower inspired challenges designed for 1-5 players called Horrific Visions

Old God Assaults on Titan Facilities in Uldum and the Vale of Eternal Blossoms which has finally been restored

More Heart of Azeroth levels, a 3rd minor slot, and 7 new Essences

Obtain a Legendary Cloak!

Titanforging system replaced by Corrupted Items

Blackrock Depths Battle Pet dungeon

New pets, mounts, toys, transmogs, and secrets

Patch 8.3 will go live on January 14th, with the raid opening the following week on the 21st.

Allied Races: Mechagnomes and Vulpera

Mechagnome and Vulpera have been added as Allied Races for the Alliance and Horde respectively. Unlocking each race requires exalted with their respective factions and earning the achievement for completing their respective zone storylines. See the individual race pages for more details, racials, available classes, and the like.

Allied Race Death Knights

While initially announced as a feature of Shadowlands, ALL Allied Races will be eligible to become Death Knights in patch 8.3, along with a new starting scenario featuring Bolvar as the Lich King. While the scenario has not been seen yet, we've datamined several meshes and models for the new class/race combinations and our PTR Dressing Room now depicts Death Knight eye glows for ALL races, as Allied Races and Pandaren can be Death Knights with pre-purchase of Shadowlands.

New Raid: Ny'alotha, the Waking City

Ny'alotha, the sleeping city, has awakened. For the first time in millennia, N'Zoth sits on his throne within the Black Empire. His armies flood from their dark halls, once again wreaking havoc on Azeroth. As the world shudders from these invasions, a desperate plan is hatched. Champions from the Horde and Alliance are gathered to face this ancient enemy within his own realm for one final confrontation that will decide the fate of the universe. The 12 boss raid features many corrupted former friends and a few returning foes - Wrathion, Ra-Den, Queen Azshara, Vexiona and even Il'gynoth all make an appearance before a final confrontation with N'Zoth himself.

Who is N'Zoth?

N'Zoth is the great corruptor, god of the deep, and the ultimate schemer. Although regarded as the weakest of the Old Gods, he was also the most mysterious and seldom faced defeat. Very little was known about N'Zoth prior to his recent resurfacing, imprisoned for millennia, he waited, plotting, scheming, and whispering dark secrets to mind which would listen. Through these dark whispers, he was responsible for the madness that changed Neltharion the Earth Warder into Deathwing the Destroyer, he "saved" Queen Azshara and her Night Elves by corrupting them into the Naga, he formed the Emerald Nightmare, and he spread his dark influence through the Tidesages of Kul Tiras. Using agents such as Xal'atath and Queen Azshara, he engineered his own jailbreak in order to form a new Black Empire which would once again spread to encompass all of Azeroth.

New Activity: N'Zoth Assaults

Assaults are a Patch 8.3 activity in which the forces of N'Zoth attempt to overrun key titan facilities in Uldum and the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. The zones will change drastically while under assault and include various new enemies, interactable objects, temporary quests, and a progress bar - filling it will allow players to face the enemy leader.

The Vale of Eternal Blossoms has finally healed from the devastation inflicted upon it toward the end of Mists of Pandaria, however it too will suffer during these assaults. Not to fear, however, as it will return to its previous glory once the current assault has ended.

Assault World Bosses

Two new World Bosses are featured in Visions of N'Zoth, appearing in the corrupted assaults of Uldum and the Vale of the Eternal Blossoms. Both of these World Bosses will drop ilvl 445 loot.

Grand Empress Shek'zera
The Mantid have a new queen, Grand Empress Shek'zera, successor to the former Grand Empress Shek'zeer who was defeated inside the Heart of Fear early in Mists of Pandaria. We learned in the Sonic Stone quest that she has been procuring Azerite for unknown reasons, and now appears to be aligned with N'Zoth, similar to the Klaxxi Paragons, a friendly faction turned foe once they discovered the presence of Y'Shaarj during the Siege of Orgrimmar. Grand Empress Shek'zara will be found in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms while that Assault is active.
With the awakening of N'Zoth, Shek'zara, empress of the mantid, pledged her swarm to the Old God's will. In service of her dark master, she unleashed her forces upon the Vale of Eternal Blossoms to claim Pandaria in N'Zoth's name.

Overview: Grand Empress Shek'zara uses her powerful voice and Zara'thik Swarmguard to overwhelm enemies.

Healers:
Seek protection inside of a [Sound Barrier] during [Force and Verve].
Avoid sound waves emitted during [Song of the Empress].

Tanks:
Protect allies from Mantid summoned by [Summon Swarmguard].
Seek protection inside of a [Sound Barrier] during [Force and Verve].
Avoid sound waves emitted during [Song of the Empress].

Damage Dealers:
Defeat waves of Mantid summoned by [Summon Swarmguard].
Seek protection inside of a [Sound Barrier] during [Force and Verve].
Avoid sound waves emitted during [Song of the Empress]

Abilities

Song of the Empress: Shek'zara chants the Song of the Empress, emitting sound waves that travel outwards from her.
Players that come into contact with Song of the Empress are Silenced and suffer 4 Nature damage every 0.5 sec for 3 sec.

Force and Verve: Shek'zara shouts, inflicting 20 Nature damage every 1 sec for 6 sec.
Players standing in a Sound Barrier take 99% reduced damage from Force and Verve.

Sound Barrier: Reduces damage dealt by Force and Verve by 99%.

Summon Swarmguard: Shek'zara summons her Zara'thik Swarmguard to aid her in battle.

Zara'thik Swarmguard

Bladestorm: Charges to a player's location and spins a blade around the caster, inflicting 25 Physical damage to all nearby enemies every 1 sec.

Zara'thik Ambershaper

Amber Bolt Volley: Fires bolts of hardened amber at all nearby enemies, inflicting 25 Nature damage.

Loot

Greaves of Shattered Thoughts

Chitinous Conqueror’s Legplates

Loop of Abhorrent Celerity

Guise of the Voracious Prowler

Maniacal Speaker’s Cover

Vuk'laz the Earthbreaker
Vuk'laz the Earthbreaker is an insectoid Aqir world boss found in Uldum while that Assault is active.

Plumbing the forgotten depths of Azeroth, Prophet Skitra unearthed a devastating aqir known as Vuk'laz the Earthbreaker. Now freed from his subterranean slumber, Vuk'laz turns its destructive power against those who oppose N'Zoth.

Overview: Vuk'laz is a living weapon of war that attempts to overcome its enemies with devastating physical attacks. As the battle rages Vuk'laz summons scarabs to its aid from beneath the [Writhing Sands].

Damage Dealers:
Position carefully when Vuk'laz creates a [Tremor Wave].
Quickly dispatch scarabs that emerge from the [Writhing Sands].

Healers:
Position carefully when Vuk'laz creates a [Tremor Wave].
[Crushing Claws] inflicts heavy unavoidable damage.

Tanks:
Position carefully when Vuk'laz creates a [Tremor Wave].
[Crushing Claws] inflicts heavy unavoidable damage.

Abilities

Vuk'laz the Earthbreaker

Tremor Wave: Vuk'laz unleashes a mighty tremor, knocking back all players in a 40 yard frontal cone and inflicting 50 Physical damage.

Writhing Sands: Vuk'laz summons a horde of Aqir scarabs from beneath the sands.

Aqir Scarab: Aqir Scarabs emerge from the sands to swarm and overwhelm players.

Razor Spines: Vuk'laz shoots razor sharp spines from its carapace, inflicting 30 Physical damage to all players within 40 yards.

Crushing Claws: Vuk'laz lashes out with both claws, inflicting 160 Physical damage to its current target.

Loot

Grotesque Mutilator’s Leggings

Breeches of Faithful Execution

Band of Insidious Ruminations

Greathelm of Indiscriminate Brutality

Psyche Tormentor’s Visage

New Activity: Horrific Visions

Horrific Visions are a new Mage Tower and Death of Chromie scenario inspired challenge system meant for 1-5 players to fight their way through an alternate version of Orgrimmar and Stormwind in which N'Zoth has succeeded in revitalizing the Black Empire and corrupted the land. In them, players will face a new mechanic, Corruption, which slowly drains their sanity while within these realms.

Players will need to complete Titan Assaults in order to gain access to these visions, and they're intended to have a rogue-like high degree of failure, but with upgrades that allow players to get a bit further each time. In the visions, players will experience various effects, some of which will be only cosmetic, but others which will include serious mechanical hindrances, which they may not be able to overcome on their first trip.

Legendary Cloak

Wrathion will help players improve their defenses against the forces of N'Zoth by empowering them with an upgradeable Legendary Cloak, Ashjra’kamas, Shroud of Resolve. Upgrading the cloak with materials obtained within the Horrific Visions will not only increase its item level, but also upgrade its appearance, offer better protection against sanity loss in both the Horrific Visions encounters, and reduce player corruption gained from new items dropping in Patch 8.3. Fully upgrading your Legendary Cloak will also open access to a new item that will add further Corruption Resistance to it.

Titanic Research

In addition to Wrathion's legendary cloak, fragments of N'Zoth's corruption can be taken back into the real world for M.O.T.H.E.R. and Magni to analyze. This will unlock a tiered progression of research which can better protect you against the Horrific Visions, similar to Chromie's upgrades in the Legion scenario. Upon earning the achievement for unlocking all research, Wrathion also becomes a vendor, selling items various items for leftover Corrupted Mementos obtained from Horrific Visions.

Season 4

A new PvP and Mythic+ Season will launch alongside the new raid, with new systems and rewards from PvP and Mythic+.

Awakened will replace Beguiling as the seasonal level 10 Mythic+ affix. While active, interactable Black Empire obelisks will be present inside dungeons, which pull players into an alternate world inhabited by N'Zoth's lieutenants instead of the regular mobs. Defeating the mini-boss will open a portal back to the regular reality in that current location, creating dungeon skips without the need for Rogues or consumables. Any undefeated lieutenants will ambush you while fighting the final dungeon boss.

Similar to Season 3, rewards from various content including Mythic+, Dungeons, PvP, World Quests, and Emissaries will be increased by approximately 30 item levels. Difficulty of said activities will also increase by a relative amount.

Titan Residuum will reset in Season 4, converting to 1 silver per point in order to combat stockpiling and inflation. Purchasing Specific Mythic item level 475 Azerite will cost 20,000 Titan Residuum, while random pieces will cost 175 (N), 900 (H), and 4,750 (M).

Operation: Mechagon

The Operation: Mechagon mega-dungeon will be available on Heroic and Mythic+ difficulties, split into two smaller instances similar to Return to Karazhan in Legion.

Mechagon Junkyard will include King Grobbamak, Gunker, Trixie & Naeno, and end with the HK-8 Aerial Oppression Unit

Mechagon Workshop will begin with Tussle Tonks, K.U.-J.0., Machinist's Garden, and end with King Mechagon himself.

Mythic+ Rewards

There are two new rewards for completing Mythic+ keystones have been discovered coming in Patch 8.3.

Battle for Azeroth Keystone Conqueror: Season Four will award the Awakened title for completing all dungeons on Mythic +10.

Battle for Azeroth Keystone Master: Season Four will unlock the Awakened Mindborer mount for completing all dungeons on Mythic +15.

PvP

In addition to the expected season of rankings, PvP gear, and rewards, a few new activities have been added.

World PvP: N’Lyeth, Sliver of N’Zoth allows players to go rogue in service to N'Zoth, becoming hostile to all others, similar to previous expansion versions such as Censer of Eternal Agony. Those who defeat enough players without dying will earn a title and achievement.

New Brawl: Teeming Islands is a large scale 10v10 PvP Island Expedition on the Havenswood and Jorundall islands.

Titanforging Replacement: Corruption

In Season 4, loot from Ny'alotha raids, Titan Invasions, Mythic+, PvP, and Horrific Visions will not Warforge or Titanforge. Instead, gear will have a chance to become Corrupted. Blizzard has already confirmed that Corrupted Items are NOT a permanent addition to WoW, exclusive and themed our battle against the Old Gods in Visions of N'Zoth.
Items coming from non Season 4 content (such as older Battle for Azeroth raids) will continue to Titanforge up to a level of 455 (the Season 3 cap) and cannot become Corrupted.
Corrupted items will have additional positive effects similar to Nazjatar's Benthic Gear, but will also carry some amount of the Corruption stat within them. As players accumulate Corruption, they will be subject to increasingly negative effects, mitigated by Corruption Resistance gained from various essences and Wrathion's legendary cloak. This system creates a risk/reward system which increases player power without affecting item level so that the best rewards come from the highest content, but maintains a reason to continue to farm content for new and different affixes. However, unlike Titanforging, you'll have to be careful about equipping too many Corrupted items as a high Corruption stat will eventually become debilitating.

Corrupted Ny'alotha Weapons

In addition to randomly rolled corruptions, several Ny'alotha raid weapon drops come with guaranteed corruptions of a predetermined effect. While most of these corruptions can also be found on random items, a few are only found on these raid weapons, making them a bit more unique. Keep in mind these weapons, like all corruption, can be cleansed for players who don't want to deal with the negative side effects.

Cleansing Corruption

For the very low cost of 5 Corrupted Mementos, players can choose to cleanse corrupted items, removing both the positive affix and the Corruption stat, functionally restoring it to a normal item. This cost is very cheap, as a minimum of 500 can be earned per Horrific Vision, but keep in mind that corruption cannot be added back to items, making this a permanent choice.

Add Sockets to Gear

The Gouged Eye of N’Zoth sold by Wrathion for 25,000 Corrupted Mementos grants a socket to any unsocketed piece of gear. Despite the confusing wording, it does not require or remove corruption from items.
The item can currently only be purchased after earning the achievement We have the Technology, which itself will cost a good amount of Corrupted Mementos, so it doesn't replace normal socket drops and serves as more of a long term currency dump.

Heart of Azeroth Updates

The Heart of Azeroth is also receiving updates in Visions of N'Zoth:

Three new power unlocks: A new Minor Slot unlock at level 75 and new Perseverance traits at levels 71 and 80.

The progression on the Heart of Azeroth effectively ends once you reach the final Perseverance trait at level 80, but you are able to continue grinding Artifact Power for more levels to further increase the item level of your Heart of Azeroth and power of your Azerite Essences by a small amount per level.

New Essences

Seven new Azerite Essences can be earned in Visions of N'Zoth. In addition to providing the player with more options, each of the new minor essences grants 10 Corruption Resistance (does not stack with other essences).

Magni's Questline will award Breath of the Dying (DPS), Touch of the Everlasting (Tank), and Spirit of Preservation (Healing).

Horrific Visions will award Spark of Inspiration (DPS), Strength of the Warden (Tank), Unwavering Ward (Healing).

Ny'alotha will award The Formless Void (All roles).

Reduced Requirements

Essences are not being made account-wide, but the Mechagon and Nazjatar Essences will have their unlock requirements reduced.

Class Changes

In addition to several existing essences being retuned and new essences being added outright, there are several class changes which we have consoldiated on our Patch 8.3 Class Changes Guide. To give a short overview:

Buffs

Balance Druid nerfs and corresponding Azerite trait buffs.

Arcane Mage buffs.

Frost Mage Ice Lance buffs.

Mistweaver Monk Rising Mist and Life Cocoon buffs.

Windwalker Monk Rising Sun Kick and Blackout Kick buffs.

Affliction Warlock Drain Soul & Nightfall buffs.

Nerfs

Brewmaster Monk Stamina and Stagger nerfs.

Holy Paladin Glimmer of Light target cap.

Discipline Priest Atonement nerfs and Mastery: Grace buffs.

Shadow Priest Auspicious Spirits nerfs.

Affliction Warlock Deathbolt nerfs.

Minor Activity Updates

Several minor activities and Holidays have received small updates, though they are not the major content focus in Patch 8.3.

Island Expeditions

A new Dubloon vendor will allow players to purchase Salvage Crates, each of which will contain random loot from pre-determined creature types, allowing players to use their stockpiled Dubloons to target certain Island Expedition drops.

Epic: 175 Seafarer’s Dubloons	Rare: 120 Seafarer’s Dubloons
Snowblossom Salvage: Mantid, Mogu, Virmen	Whispering Reef Salvage: Makrura, Murloc, Naga
Skittering Hollow Salvage: Trogg, Kobold, Nerubian	Verdant Wilds Salvage: Furbolg, Druid, Keeper
Rotting Mire Salvage: Saurok, Jinyu, Pirate	Un’gol Ruins Salvage: Quilboar, Pygmy, Hozen
Jorundall Salvage: Vrykul, Vargul Taunka, Storm Dragon	Molten Cay Salvage: Ogre, Yaungol, Sand Troll, Jungle Troll
Havenswood Salvage: Feral Worgen, Old God Minion, Necromancer	Uncommon: 80 Seafarer’s Dubloons
Crestfall Salvage: Restless Orc Soul, Twilight Dragon, Pirate	Venture Co. ‘Salvage’: Venture Co, Tol'vir, Black Dragonflight
Dread Chain Salvage: Mogu, Kvaldir, Ice Troll, Yeti	Elemental Salvage: Elementals

Heroic Darkshore Warfront

Heroic Darkshore has been enabled, similar to Heroic Stromgarde before it. Only available to premade groups of 10-20 players, Heroic Warfronts are much more difficult and can be lost, though offer greater rewards.

Darkmoon Faire Arcade

The Darkmoon Faire Arcade is a new attraction built by the finest gnomish engineers is now ready for you to test your mettle! Play games inspired by World Quests including HexSweeper, Barrels o' Fun, Totemic Matrix, BULL-E, Remembery, and Rune Matching.
This mechanic marvel run by Lynnish Hardmode can be found when the Darkmoon Faire is in town, just behind the Darkmoon Faire Roller Coaster.

Collectibles (Mounts, Toys, Transmog)

Many collectibles have been datamined, including new pets, mounts, toys, and even some interesting items which we haven't quite figured out yet.

Highlights include:

World PvP: N’lyeth, Sliver of N’Zoth allows players to go rogue in service to N'Zoth, becoming hostile to all others, similar to previous expansion versions such as Censer of Eternal Agony. Those who defeat enough players without dying will earn a title and achievement.

Augment Rune: Lightning-Forged Augment Rune is an infinitely reusable rune purchased from the Rajani faction (exalted).

Weapon Illusions: Illusion:Voidwrath and Illusion: Void Edge are customizations obtained from Horrific Visions.

Mounts: Over 20 new mounts from various new activities, as well as a Mythic+ mount reward and brand new alpacas!

Pets: 22 battle pets most of which are unique rather color variations, as well as the Blackrock Depths Pet Dungeon, and Battle Pet Tuning.

Toys: Several rewards from various new activities, such as Void Tendril Pet Leash, Hell-Bent Bracers, and Nomi’s Vintage.

Goblin and Worgen Heritage Armor

Max level Goblins and Worgen will have new questlines that unlock their racial Heritage Armor in Patch 8.3.

The new Mechagnome and Vulpera Allied Races also have Heritage armor, unlocked once you level a Mechagnome or Vulpera character to 110 without any paid level boosts.

Legendary Transmogrification

Legendaries can be transmogged by any character able to equip that item, with a few restrictions.

Legendary transmogs are account-bound, so each character does not need to unlock them.

The Warglaives of Azzinoth are restricted to Demon Hunters as a unique reward from Black Temple Timewalking.

Equip restrictions apply, so classes unable to equip a specific legendary weapon may not be able to transmog to it.

Mighty Caravan Brutosaur Extinction

The Reins of the Mighty Caravan Brutosaur will no longer be directly purchasable in the Shadowlands expansion, instead being moved to the Black Market Auction House, and an achievement, Conspicuous Consumtion, is being added for players who obtain it before it goes away. Note that this does not affect Patch 8.3, except to alert players that it will soon no longer be obtainable.

Auction House Updates

The Auction House is undergoing several interface improvements in order to improve the user experience for buyers and sellers alike. Feedback has already been provided by the community, which Blizzard has already commented on.

Buying is streamlined in such a way that you no longer need to sift through several single stacks of various prices to find the quantity you need at the price you want. Instead, there's two new sections:

The middle section, which allows you to type in exactly how many items you want to buy, showing you the total price.

The right section, which allows you to see how many of each item are available at each listed price.

So in the screenshots below, if you want to buy 100 Storm Silver Ore, all you need to do is type 100 in the quantity box. The game then chooses the 100 Ore at the lowest available price and highlights it for you; you'll see the total price is 719g 95s and can buy all 100 immediately.
Alternatively, if you see a lot of items in the list at a cheap price and want to buy them all, the video seems to indicate that you can just click and highlight to buy them all out at once.

Selling is also improved to show a list of all items and their price condensed into a much cleaner interface, allowing players to see how the current price has inflated or undercut. There is also a message stating that "there's no need to undercut! Auctions posted later (at the same price) are sold first", to avoid the result of repetitive undercutting causing a plummeting value.