My Thoughts on Azerite and its Future

Azerite is one of the few features for Battle for Azeroth that I have yet to formally give my thoughts on. Considering my past thoughts on Artifacts and, more importantly, what I believed should have been done with them in future iterations, one might expect me to think poorly of the Azerite system. To a degree, this expectation is correct but much like with Artifacts, Azerite has changed greatly throughout the expansion to the point I believe it would be a mistake to ruthlessly discard many aspects of the feature during the transition to Shadowlands. This was more or less stated in the Blizzcon interview late last year since Azerite as a system will remain as a leveling feature but will be unusable in Shadowlands content.

Because I think Azerite should have more of a future than planned and also because this article is being published at the conclusion of the Battle for Azeroth expansion, I will be approaching the topic in a different manner. Specifically, I will deconstruct the Azerite system and review its components, such as Azerite gear and Essences, then determine if and how they can be adapted to work with changes made in the Shadowlands expansion so that they are available for Shadowlands content. I will also determine if it's worth keeping various components of the Azerite system at all. Much like previous articles on Battle for Azeroth features, this one will also be rife with (pretentious) suggestions regarding theoretical future iterations that will likely not be considered by the development team, let alone implemented on test or live realms. I hope my musings are enjoyable to read despite this.

Future of Artifact Power

Azerite, which is the resource gathered to empower the Heart of Azeroth and unlock the many features of the Azerite system, is essentially just Artifact Power. In fact, the terms seem to be used interchangeably, so I will do the same.

Much like the past Artifact system, Artifact Power can be gathered from much of the expansion's content, especially endgame content. This in turn is used to increase the Heart of Azeroth level, which in this case provides three distinct benefits. The first is that Azerite traits on armor become available at specific Heart levels, with higher requirements for stronger equipment. The second is that major and minor Azerite Essence slots and modest stamina bonuses can be unlocked. These additional benefits unlock starting at level 52 up to level 80. Finally, the Heart of Azeroth's stats increase slightly with each Heart level, which can happen endlessly and serves as a form of power-based Paragon progression.

In addition, there is also an Artifact Knowledge system that allows players to reach higher Heart levels over time without grinding an unreasonable amount. Unlike the previous expansion, Artifact Knowledge occurs automatically by decreasing the amount of Artifact Power needed to level the Heart of Azeroth. The decrease is done in such a way that the Heart of Azeroth levels roughly 30% faster each week, much like Artifact Knowledge in the previous expansion but without the insane numerical inflation.

I personally didn't have as much of an issue with how Artifact Power worked this time around compared to in Legion. While there is a Paragon progression system, the benefits are even weaker than traits such as Concordance of the Legionfall. Artifact Knowledge is also more refined because players don't have to grind for currency to upgrade it and the numerical inflation issue from last expansion is addressed in a way even better than what I suggested in my article discussing the future of Artifacts.

With that said, the system was and is far from perfect. I personally never felt compelled to grind for Heart levels, but some of the Heart requirements to unlock gear traits prior to patch 8.2 were a bit high and absurd to grind for without Artifact Knowledge. I also was not a fan of the addition of the unlockable Stamina bonuses since they cause a stat inflation problem similar to Legion's Artifacts where player health ballooned because of similar Stamina bonuses. Finally, I continue to wish that endless Paragon progression which directly increases character power was entirely abolished in favor of cosmetic or utility Paragon progression (which some other Blizzard games have!). I would go as far as to say I think Heart level should be capped at 80 immediately and players earn another reward instead of Artifact Power if their Heart of Azeroth is capped (such as more Echoes of Ny'alotha).

When it comes to the future of Artifact Power, I see no reason to keep it around since Anima appears to be the new version of it in Shadowlands and other suggestions I plan to make will remove the need for it during leveling. When it comes to Anima, it seems to be more like a currency such as Valor Points since acquisition is said to have a daily (or other time-gated) cap and Anima can be spent on multiple things. One of these things is Soulbinding, which seems to serve as Artifact-style progression since players gradually unlock a set of benefits, though there appears to be a distinct end to this progression. In any case, considering I already suggested Artifact Power should be treated as a currency before Battle for Azeroth even came out, I approve of the possibility of that happening. In fact, I would specify that it would be nice if bonus roll currency could be purchased with Anima if that's not already the case.

Future of Heart of Azeroth

As mentioned above, the Heart of Azeroth serves as the gear piece used to unlock various features such as traits on Azerite equipment and slots to use Azerite Essences. The necklace itself also increases in power with level, though it can also be upgraded through certain quests.

I personally think there's no need to tie any Artifact-like system to equipment and it's easy enough to use an interface for choosing benefits such as traits instead. This will come into play in a greater way in later sections, but what I'm basically trying to say is the Heart of Azeroth as a piece of equipment is entirely unnecessary and has served its purpose so it's fair game to remove entirely.

Future of Azerite Equipment

Azerite equipment covers the head, shoulder, and chest equipment slots and provides a significant boost to Stamina and primary stats while featuring Azerite traits that provide major passive benefits. I find they serve a role similar to the now defunct tier sets except instead of relying on having a specific amount of equipment pieces in the set, players need a sufficient Heart level to unlock Azerite traits on the equipment.

Equipment itself didn't change much over the course of the expansion, but acquisition methods improved because of the addition of Titan Residuum, Benthic armor pieces, and Horrific Visions. The former addition primarily helped to address an issue with being unable to acquire Azerite equipment from Mythic+ while also making scrapping and disenchanting unneeded Azerite equipment more worthwhile. The latter two additions made solo content a better source of decent Azerite equipment, though not at the level of the ever-vaunted content known as raiding.

I will talk about the traits themselves in the next section, but when it comes to the equipment itself, I think there's no need to have it even if there were plans to keep Azerite traits in a major way. This is because it's possible to reimplement them in a different way that is not reliant on equipment. Furthermore, I think this would be better for leveling from 10-50 since it would encourage players to try a greater variety of gear for the equipment slots associated with Azerite gear, which does not appear to be the case at the moment.

Considering I want Azerite equipment gone, one may wonder what I think about bringing tier sets back. In regards to that, I agree with Watcher's remark that tier sets basically "locked" equipment slots and basically limited options in terms of the equipment one may put into specific slots. However, I do think having more cosmetic gear sets for each class would be nice since the lack of tier gear sets appears to have resulted in what mostly consisted of cosmetic gear sets based on armor type rather than class. I also do not oppose the idea of adding more equipment with fairly generic set effects like the few that have been added in Legion and Battle for Azeroth. To put all of what I said another way, as long as class armor sets don't have set effects that are basically mandatory to have, I'm all for having more class tier sets or something similar to it.

Future of Azerite Traits

Azerite traits are passive effects that are available on Azerite equipment. They consist of multiple categories that are grouped into rings based on power level. The outer ring traits are the most powerful and provide at least one specialization-specific benefit along with some generic benefits usually based on the tier the Azerite equipment itself is from. Middle ring traits increase power to a generally lesser degree and consist of a set of generic benefits to choose from. Inner ring traits provide a modest level of utility such as healing and damage reduction and while there may be some class-specific benefits, these traits are generally quite weak. Finally, there is a center trait that increases the item level of the Azerite equipment by 5. Each piece of Azerite equipment has its own specific set of traits, meaning the acquisition of Azerite traits do not have an additional layer of randomness.

Initially, there were only up to 4 rings, which includes the center. The Heart level needed to fully unlock all Azerite traits on higher item level gear pieces was fairly demanding and mostly reserved for the more hardcore players who would need them most. A 5th ring was added in patch 8.1, which made it so each piece of new gear had two sets of outer ring traits. The center trait was also updated to empower all other chosen Azerite traits, which made it more important to unlock and therefore increased the demand to grind for Azerite. This ultimately caused frustration for certain players. This was then addressed in 8.2 by shifting the Azerite grind away from unlocking Azerite traits on gear to unlocking Azerite Essence slots. Heart level requirements were generally low as a result and this design choice has remained since then.

Personally, I find Azerite traits to be something of a tier gear set effect replacement with more choice involved. It also appears to draw inspiration from past systems such as glyphs, Artifact traits, and Legion legendary equipment effects due to the varying power level of traits along with the specific effects they have. While each ring didn't provide an abundance of choice, I believe they provided enough to encourage players to think critically about their choice without overwhelming them (assuming they are not using a guide). Furthermore, some traits, especially outer ring traits, could significantly alter playstyle and the value of certain talents, which allows for more diverse character customization.

Because of the aforementioned factors, I think it would be a huge mistake to obsolete Azerite traits and a major mistake to retain the trait effects but remove the ability to customize which Azerite traits a character has. However, the current Azerite equipment and trait system is too unwieldy and as I've mentioned, I don't want Azerite equipment to stay. To that end, I propose a new interface is implemented within the talent interface where players can choose outer ring, middle ring, and inner ring traits directly without the need for gear or Heart level.

When it comes to how this new Azerite trait system could work, the general idea is players gradually unlock outer, middle, and inner ring slots as they level up, which is a concept similar to how glyph slots in the now-defunct glyph system were unlocked. These level thresholds would be as follows:

• Inner Ring slot unlocks: 3, 13, 23, 33, 43, 53
• Middle Ring slot unlocks: 6, 16, 26, 36, 46, 56
• Outer Ring slot unlocks: 10, 19, 29, 39, 49, 59

As one may have noticed, the level requirements end near the level cap of 60. This helps to make players feel like they're gaining more out of each level. This is also why the last digit of each level threshold is a multiple of 3 since based on currently available Shadowlands leveling progression information, players are less likely to unlock anything else such as abilities and talents at such levels. It is worth mentioning this system can be expanded on further with additional expansions, adding one or more slots for traits every time the level cap is increased. It is also worth mentioning that Azerite traits would need to scale in a new way since they would be available at a wide range of character levels and the previous scaling with equipment item level would not work. To accomplish this, any previously flat values that scaled with equipment item level would scale with stats such as Attack Power or Spell Power.

When it comes to choosing traits, players can choose from all traits available to their specific specialization for each respective slot. The same trait can be chosen as many times as desired, but the effect will suffer diminishing returns based on how many times it is chosen. Specifically, the numerical effects that normally stack will diminish by 20% for each additional instance of that trait, dropping to a minimum of 60%. This would mean three stacks of a single trait would only provide 240% and the maximum benefit of 6 stacks of a single trait are chosen is 420%. My reasoning for adding this diminishing return is to discourage players from exclusively choosing the same trait. This is because while traits should ideally be somewhat balanced, without diminishing returns it would likely be optimal to simply choose a trait multiple times, which reduces or eliminates any semblance of choice.

My proposed system would also attempt to address issues with the previous Azerite system. Specifically, while Azerite equipment and traits were more friendly to multiple specializations than Artifacts, players still ideally needed multiple pieces of gear for the same slot with specific sets of traits since respeccing Azerite traits can get costly. In my system, chosen traits would be tied to specialization, which would eliminate this issue. Players would still have to spend gold to reset their chosen traits for a single specialization, but the cost would be low and cap at a fairly low amount such as 50 gold. Much like with talents, this would encourage players to think about the choices they make before leaving town.

Finally, I think it's important to keep adding new traits and rotate old traits out in addition to making appropriate balance changes. This keeps the feature fresh since the same choices may not always be the best depending on the player. Adding new traits also allows for the addition of traits themed to a specific tier much like during Battle for Azeroth, which helps to make each major (or even minor) content patch more distinct.

To conclude this section, I believe the Azerite trait system has potential to add another layer of character customization that increases the depth of the game without overwhelming the player too much. Having up to 6 unlocks for each of the three types of traits and balancing accordingly would allow for a very high level of customization. A rework like the one I proposed would also be beneficial to players who dabble in multiple specializations. Finally, tying unlocks to character level would eliminate a lot of the bloat of the existing system and serve to proactively resolve an issue with later leveling progression being underwhelming, which has been an issue since Warlords of Draenor and I predict it will happen again during or after Shadowlands due to the continued use of features that appear to be known as "borrowed power" being tied to later leveling progression.

Future of Essences

Azerite Essences are something I have mentioned a few times throughout the article already and, in my opinion, are the most notable part of the Azerite system. They can be found in the form of items that can then be added to the Heart of Azeroth and upgraded with other items that are typically more demanding to get. The Azerite Essence can then be used by placing it into an essence slot. Each Azerite Essence has a major active or passive effect and a minor passive effect. When an Azerite Essence is slotted into the only major essence slot, both effects will be active, while only the minor effect will activate if it's placed into one of up to three minor essence slots. This is similar to PvP talents in that players get a pool of abilities to choose from but can only have a limited number of them active at any given time. However, unlike PvP talents, Azerite Essences are active regardless of the situation.

While the many Azerite Essence effects are fairly generic, I believe they generally differentiate themselves enough from a mechanical standpoint to allow for significant customization. I also generally liked Azerite Essence progression since each one is unlocked and upgraded by doing a specific type of content, which encourages players to try a wide variety of content. However, rank 3 essences, while not as demanding as the cosmetic rank 4 essences, can be obnoxious to have to grind for repeatedly on multiple characters. Thankfully the addition of Echoes of Ny'alotha addressed this issue by making rank 3 essences buyable if a character on the account already has it.

Ultimately, I believe the concept of Azerite Essences should be preserved as a feature because I like the level of control players are given when it comes to customizing a set of active and passive abilities. The generic aspect may be advantageous since it can serve to make transitioning from playing one class or spec to another a bit easier regardless of how wildly different the gameplay otherwise might be. This in turn may encourage the design of more heterogeneous class and spec abilities without worrying about confusing or overwhelming players who want to try many classes and specs.

When it comes to making Azerite Essences a permanent feature, I would suggest a series of major changes that are as follows:

• Make Azerite Essences available at a low level such as level 15.
• Specifically, I would suggest the major essence slot would be available at level 15 and the 3 minor essence slots are earned at levels 25, 35, and 45. I'd consider adding a 4th minor essence slot at level 55 and an additional minor essence slot every 10 levels after for future expansions.
• New characters that reach level 15 will also automatically be given The Crucible of Flame, since that's the starting essence players received.
• Azerite Essences can be acquired from a variety of different activities that can be done while leveling that are more simplified compared to existing requirements. For example, Azerite Essences tied to certain factions or specific content such as Horrific Visions may need their acquisition requirements adjusted.
• This would be a good opportunity to add other leveling content where essences can be unlocked.
• Another alternative would be to use Echoes of Ny'alotha or another currency (such as Justice Points) as an acquirable currency from leveling activities that can then be used to purchase essences.
• Azerite Essences are available only in their rank 3 and 4 forms. Any acquired lower rank essences will be upgraded to rank 3.
• While the rank 3 version of the essence shouldn't be too demanding to acquire so that new and returning players can have access to it, the rank 4 version will be roughly as demanding as it previously was as it is an unlockable cosmetic upgrade. This allows players who unlocked rank 4 essences to continue to bask in their prestige.
• Specifically, I think it's fair that players get about 1 essence every 5 levels after level 15 on average.
• If necessary, rename the feature to something that's not associated with the Azerite system, such as Essences (the same can also apply to Azerite traits).
• Consider adding more essences in the future with more interesting unlock requirements. Such a reward may encourage players into trying certain types of content or the like, much like how unlocking essences currently does.
• For example, Torghast could feature a few unlockable essences.
• Many rank 4 essences could be added for all existing essences to provide players with many cosmetic options!

To summarize, I think Azerite Essences were a great addition that made a lot of the endgame activities more rewarding to do. They also provided a form of customization that outcompeted anything the Artifact or previous iterations of the Azerite system had. If there's any one part of the Azerite system I want to see remain as a form of character progression until the end of WoW, it is this feature. In addition to making it a more prominent part of the leveling experience, I believe the feature also has great potential to make endgame content more exciting or at least rewarding. This is because of the effects essences can provide, but also because more essences or cosmetic essence effects can always be added as rewards for certain types of endgame content. However, I must note that such a feature should not be a replacement for adding more content especially for leveling players that I have enjoyed plenty of in rival MMORPGs such as Final Fantasy 14.

Conclusion

While it improved upon the Artifact system in some ways, Azerite was far from a perfect feature at the start of the expansion. Fortunately, much like with the quality of the expansion (or any expansion, really), significant improvements were made over time that addressed some player concerns. Additions were also made that made the feature more interesting than it did frustrating and the power creep was also less absurd than what was ultimately added to the Artifact system in 7.2 and 7.3. I'd go as far as to say the changes convinced me that Azerite traits and especially Azerite Essences need to stay in the game in a big way that doesn't involve shoving them into the talent tree somewhere or relegating them to a temporary leveling feature.

Unfortunately, Blizzard seems rigid in executing the plan they stated at Blizzcon and Azerite-related features will indeed be unusable in Shadowlands content. I am not particularly surprised by this since Blizzard seems obsessed with the idea of "borrowed power" and to a degree, I can understand why since such a feature can help to make each expansion more distinct from a gameplay perspective. However, I think both Battle for Azeroth and Legion had other forms of borrowed power that are better suited to expiring. Specifically, I am referring to Legion legendaries and corrupted gear (the removal of which is mentioned in that article I linked) since both are types of equipment that have already been featured numerous times throughout WoW's history, so they're easier to part with in my opinion. In fact, players were sometimes encouraged to do so because they found a better piece of equipment, proving the power gains from such equipment were temporary.

Meanwhile, Artifacts and Azerite were baked into character progression before players even reached level cap and were completely irreplaceable over the course of the respective expansions they featured in. They also typically provided more significant mechanical alterations or additions compared to what Legion legendaries and corrupted gear had. Finally, in the case of Azerite specifically, there is a massive amount of character customization that, if retained and re-implemented properly, may even address concerns over the removal of talent trees and the level of "customization" they provided (even if it largely consisted of "fake depth" and illusion of choice in my opinion). While it's nice that Azerite progression to a degree remains and has some relevance while leveling, showing Blizzard realized their mistake of removing Artifacts, it could absolutely be expanded upon in my opinion and should not suffer the obsolescence it's planned to bear.

The point I'm trying to make it that sometimes borrowed power should not always be so staunchly treated as a temporary feature and adaptations should be made accordingly. As I've already mentioned a few times throughout the article, it would be a mistake to discard so much of a feature that has great potential to remain and enrich the gameplay experience. Doing so is reminiscent of how some players reacted to their abilities being pruned, which is a decision I understood but didn't entirely agree with. Incidentally, this is why I'm glad there's apparently some "unpruning" happening in Shadowlands. Furthermore, unlike the early stages of the Warlords of Draenor expansion, the changes being made are fairly modest, which in my opinion is a better approach to addressing what could be vocal minority complaints.

In any case, since Azerite is sticking around to a degree, Blizzard could potentially backpedal on how they handled the feature in the future. It would require a significant amount of work to rework the feature into something players may consider more acceptable for endgame though, so I'm not expecting anything major soon assuming the developers have a change of heart.