Group PVP
PvP Combat is one of the cornerstones of Ascension. As Heroes build and master their classless champions, many seek to challenge themselves against others for gear, glory, and rewards. Ascension is shifting towards balancing PvP around group combat, making it more rewarding–and more fun–to fight with your friends!
Since its release, heroes have naturally gravitated towards 1v1 arena combat: it’s quick to queue into, it’s a straight test between two Heroes and their builds, and you’re not reliant on anyone else to move you towards success. However, balancing a game around 1v1 combat tends to lean towards lower complexity, cooldown swapping, and similar feeling builds and fights and compromises for great group pvp.
Ascension is taking the first step towards making group PvP more appealing, engaging, and rewarding. By prioritizing balance around group PvP, Ascension is better able to lay the groundwork for more diverse and interesting builds in broader areas including Arenas and Open World PvP. It also sets the stage for potential additions like Rated Battlegrounds down the line.
By balancing abilities, Mystic Enchantments, and the game in general around group-oriented combat, it adds more opportunities for heroes to define themselves and their builds in the ways that are meaningful to them.
Ascension’s first step towards encouraging group pvp will be through 2v2 on Malganis
2v2 Arena Matches are receiving some updates to make them extremely appealing for both casual and competitive Heroes on all realms!
2v2 Victories now award:
- 100 Arena Points (Up from 50)
- 50 Marks of Ascension (Up from 25)
- 3 Mystic Orbs (Up from 2)
- 5 Mystic Runes (NEW)
2v2 Losses now award:
- 50 Arena points (Up from 25)
- 25 Marks of Ascension (Up from 10)
- 2 Mystic Orbs (Up from 1)
- 2 Mystic Runes (NEW)
PvP Progression 3
Mal’ganis’ third PvP progression will be released April 2nd, at 18:00 Server Time. New Epic Arena gear will be purchasable for Arena Rating and current Arena Weapons will be purchasable for honor or for arena points without a rating requirement. Only Arena Rating and MMR will be reset with this release. Following suit with the other changes, Head, Chest and Leg items will now require 1600, 1500, 1400 2v2 personal and team-rating respectively.
Additional Changes
In addition to the above changes, you can look forward to some cool new things coming alongside 2v2 updates:
- Tiger’s Peak is now available on Area 52
- Arathi Basin and Warsong Gulch Winter variants are now available on Area 52
- A new 2v2 Skirmish Daily is available on the Callboard
- Proving Grounds: Rated 2v2
- Now gives 20 Mystic Orbs
- Now gives 30 Mystic Runes
- Now Grants a Callboard Cache with equipment (These will be swapped out for PvP specific Callboard Caches in the near future).
The first step in the shift towards a group PvP meta is to make 2v2’s rewarding, competitive, engaging. As this shift occurs, both casual and competitive Heroes can expect more attention towards balancing for fun and exciting fights–certainly more engaging than fighting the same few people with the same few toolkits all day.
A 2v2 meta offers different builds the opportunity to shine, allows for interesting combinations of classless heroes, and increases the health of PvP. Though Ascension has tried a shift towards 2v2s in the past, it’s grown a good deal in the following ways:
- 2v2 has a Solo-Queue
- Making it accessible to anyone to queue at any time
- Exponentially more Heroes
- Meaning quicker queue times and more interesting matchups
- See a wider variety of builds, playstyles, and archetypes
- Better Systems to Balance PvP Brackets
- Much more competent systems to determine matchups and brackets, ensuring Heroes get paired against others who will challenge their skill level
- Shifted from Group to Personal Rating
- Allowing for flexibility and not needing dedicated partners
These changes set the foundation for better, more interesting, and more engaging PvP balance now and into Ascension’s future.
Good luck with your allies in PvP, Heroes!
