#322 - For Azeroth!: “Taking the Gamble on Balance"

The spirit of player housing has inspired Lex, Manny, and even Sean to decorate. Midnight Raid testing may have broken the crew; but, dungeons give hope to the improvements through Midnight Beta testing.

Lex is decking the halls. Sean searches for mistletoe. No, wait. That is later in the month. Right now, housing is the talk of the town! Midnight continues to develop with news that is giving Sean reason to cheer. The schedule for season 1 of Midnight is revealed as Sean worries for the poor 0.1%. News Housing 1st Impressions The talk of the town is the town as Warcraft early access opens up to all who have purchased the upcoming Midnight expansion. Links Housing Early Access Trailer | World of Warcraft: MidnightWhat's Next for WoW Housing? Interview with Devs Jay Hwang and Garth DeAngelis 11.2.7 is Here The prologue to the midnight expansion is live in NA and EU. Midnight Prologue CampaignRevamped New and Returning Player ExperienceLorewalking: ElvesPandaren Heritage ArmorTurbulent Timeways (through to Feb 9th)Brawler’s Guild (Next Week) Links https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/news/2424444211.2.7 The Warning Launch Trailer | World of Warcraft Dungeon Philosophy in Action Changes to the dungeons begin reflecting the team’s new philosophies. Standardized short castImportant casts with 4 sec or greater cast timeReduced number of castersBolt-slop reduced damageAnti Focus Fire behaviorCast Audio Notification (player and target) Links New Interrupt Philosophy Showcased in Midnight's Mythic+ Testing - Wowhead News Seeing Red Combat Addons are still allowed to provide a competitive advantage as Blizzard reneges on the entire reason for the addon de-escalation. Through a use of conditionals Platynator was able to color code:BossesLieutenantsCastersMeleeMinor enemiesCasters would only change to their colour when they first cast an interruptible spell.Blizzard has said this is okay but has not made any commitment to put this functionality into the default UI.  Links Color-Coding Enemy Nameplates is Returning in Midnight - Wowhead News Midnight Epic Edition Contest is over Congratulations to Pandachow, NickBeresford, and Random.ffxiv

Sean and Manny discuss the developments on the Midnight Beta as the next expansion gets a release date. We enter the home stretch with pre-expansion events and early access on our doorstep. Launch Date Revealed Mark your Calendars. Midnight launches on the 2nd of March, 2026. World of Warcraft®: Midnight™ Goes Live March 2!Midnight Arrives 3.2.26 | World of Warcraft World of Decorcraft: Azeroth’s Next Top Builder A Panel of judges are searching the neighbourhoods of Azeroth to find the most beautiful and most creative player houses. Check Out World of Decorcraft December 2-10Apply here Damaged Meters Over the weekend, Kaivax took to the forums to provide context to the state of the damage meters on the beta. Feedback: Damage Meters - Page 2 - Midnight Beta Test - World of Warcraft Forums. Transmog Troubles Datamined transmog details created an uproar amongst the community. It Costs Up to 5,700 Gold to Save a Full Set of Transmog to an Outfit Slot in Midnight - Wowhead NewsTransmog Beta Updates - November 25Warband transmog slots - #2 by Kaivax - Midnight Beta Test - World of Warcraft Forums Mythic+ Changes and Impressions Changes have come fast and without preamble on the beta. The 2 of the 4 returning dungeons for Midnight season 1 have received adjustments.  Feedback: Midnight Season 1 Dungeon Testing November 18 - December 2Nameplates somewhat improved Voidspire Last Boss The Last Boss of Midnight's First Tier Shows Off Blizzard's New Encounter Design - Wowhead News

Raid Testing and Dungeon testing have commenced and the current reality of the add-on replacements hits home. Was last week's anxiety justified?

The Midnight Beta is Live. Raid Testing is Scheduled. As the March on the next Warcraft Expansion moves on the crew questions if we are going too fast, too slow, or both simultaneously. The Warning Overlooked Midnight Prologue: The WarningDec 2nd in NAVereesa Windrunner and Arator investigate visions and prophesiesAs a part of the content update, players who have added Midnight to their account will gain access to Housing Early Access.Updated New Player ExperienceNew Lorewalking: The Elves of Quel'Thalas allows players to learn about the origins of the Blood Elves and the Void Elves.The Lich King’s assault on the SunwellThe tainting of the Sunwell by Alleria Windrunner, and the creation of the Void ElvesPandaren Heritage ArmorTurbulent Timeways returns10 weeks of Timewalking6 new dungeons from the ShadowlandsThe Brawler’s GuildDec 9New bossesRevised encounter orderRewards including Housing Decor Links Midnight Prologue: “The Warning” Content Update Goes Live December 2! Play with the Blues: Midnight Pre-Launch Event Mon Nov 1711:00 PST - 13:00 PSTRealm: Midnight Prelaunch EventThe realm will become available when the event begins and will remain open after the event ends for a short period of time for those who still want to test out the pre-launch event.Requirements: Copy a character from the live servers to participate in the test.The quest “The Cult Within” will begin a chain that will lead players to the Twilight Highlands in the Eastern Kingdoms.The event repeats quickly and can be tracked in the map.The build will be based on Midnight so there will be class changes Links Play with the Blues: Midnight Pre-Launch Event - November 17 Midnight Beta New with the beta: Allied Race: HaranirCOMBAT TUNINGDevelopers’ notes: As Midnight transitions into beta, tuning will quickly start happening at a much more rapid pace. We are working to get things into a better tuned state to ensure quality playtesting and feedback from both internal and external sources. This tuning will come in various stages and won’t all happen at once, but a few notable changes are happening that feel worth discussing slightly more:Several classes will see some generic increases or decreases to their overall throughput amounts. Most of this right now is to coincide with “zeroing out” some passive modifiers attached to the class or spec that was adjusting their throughput. Rather than continue to tweak this number up and down, most of them have been set to zero. In some cases, we adjusted the spec’s tuning up or down to compensate for the change. In other cases, we felt it was ok to not adjust the spec’s throughput and just return the values to zero.Melee classes are starting to see an increase to their auto-attack damage dealt either in this week’s update or in the coming week’s updates. Auto-attacking is a part of melee characters, and we want to make sure that an appropriate amount of damage is being attributed to your auto-attacks while engaged in combat.All healers had a 20% increase to their damage dealt this week. We are monitoring the rate at which they can complete content while solo and felt that a boost to their offensive throughput would be appropriate.NEW ACCESSIBILITY FEATURE: COMBAT AUDIO ALERTSCombat audio alerts have been added for reading your target’s name and announcing when your target dies, when combat starts, and when combat ends.Transmog is disabled for the week.Next Week: Limited Raid TestingUpdated Transmog SystemMythic+ DungeonsMidnight Season 1 DungeonsUpper-tier DelvesHousing - Night Elf and Blood Elf exterior decorAdditional User Interface Updates Links Midnight Beta Test Development Notes - #18 by Linxyhttps://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe26_kqAy4ypSkmpRiO_eJQyvcp0el5PKcUTO0ZrYu4qi3-eQ/viewform Raid Testing Midnight Raid Testing Schedule

News BlizzCon 2026 Blizzard announced today that BlizzCon 2026 Passes will go on sale November 7th. Friday, November 7, 2025, at 9 a.m. PST through Sunday, November 9, 2025, 11:59 p.m. PST$249.99 USD eachMaximum number of passes a single account can purchase raised from two to fourTuesday, November 18, 2025, at 9 a.m. PST at $289.99 USDBlizzCon Charity Night Addon for $499.99 USDBlizzard will donate 100% of the purchase price to Make-A-WishDarkmoon Faire After Hours for $89.99 USDThree-hour event Saturday evening, September 1220 Faire Tokens and a collectible credentialRough outline provided for the eventOpening CeremonyShow floor playable gameplay for WoW, Diablo IV, Overwatch 2, Hearthstone, and Diablo Immortal.The Blizzard ArcadeDev Stages including a separate Classic StageEsports return with the AWC, MDI, and competitions from other games (Overwatch World Cup) Links BlizzCon 2026 Passes go on sale November 7! Unshackled Fury Ion Interview To celebrate their 10th anniversary the Unshackled Fury podcast with hosts Berzerker and Jez sat down with World of Warcraft Game Director, Ion Hazzikostas. During the interview they talk about Ion’s life outside of the game, his early years and how he ended up at Blizzard. It humanized him in a way most interviews never do. Links Interview with World of Warcraft Director Ion Hazzikostas! Midnight, Madness, and Mayhem! The Conversation Continues Ion and Andy Churchill met with the BW/DBM authors to discuss the state of Combat Timeline and find solutions to their biggest pain points. There was a lot of good detail to come from this meeting and I suggest watching Adam’s video where he goes through it in detail. Player Spell Casts are no longer secret values (even in combat)Addons will be able to filter spells in the timelineNo ability renamingNo ability timers on nameplatesWill not allow warnings when a debuff/target of a spell is appliedCustom sounds for Cooldown Manager will be permitted Links Boss mod addon authors talked to Ion Hazzikostas about Midnight Prey Midnight unleashes the Prey system as a new endgame activity. Role agnosticEach difficulty presents 4 hunts per week.The same Target can be at a different difficulty and location when encountered in a new week.You can do any activity in the zone that will help your hunt progress3 Difficulties 🚨  EPIC EDITION GIVEAWAY 🚨  Thanks to the team at Warcraft we have 3 Epic Edition codes to giveaway! HOW TO ENTER Twitter: Like, Follow and Retweet THIS tweet Instagram: Like, Follow and Repost THIS post Youtube: Like, Subscribe and comment FAZ GIFT on THIS video All 3 winners will be drawn on November 10th 2025 Outro Be part of the conversation and join us on Discord bit.ly/fazdiscord Thank you so much for supporting the show!

Lex can no longer trust the developers as chaos continues to unfold for add-ons. The trio discusses WoW for consoles; and Sean relishes in the snarkiness. News WoW on the Next Xbox Windows Central released an article with some confirmed and some speculated details of the next Xbox console. The next Xbox is reported to have a PC experience not dissimilar to the SteamOS interface.The system is expected to run Game Store Fronts such as Steam, Epic Games Store, the Riot Client, and notably Battle.netThe article points to quotes from senior officials as well as undisclosed insider sources.Phill Spencer speaking of the Xbox Ally to see the direction of the next console.Sarah Bond hinting at 1st party hardware made in partnership with AMDInternet pundits reignited the conversation that WoW is being reworked for consoles. Addressing Addons Team 2 posted a message about Midnight’s Impact of Combat Addons. The initial version of the new API logic was the most restrictive iteration and the team had a (uncommunicated?) expectation that feedback would guide where they loosen restrictions.The team has been providing detailed technical updates directly to addon devsThe post includes a section about customization.Addons should not be able to automate combat decisions for the player.Addons should retain their ability to customize how information is presented to the player.Team 2’s post speaks briefly about a focus on accessibility.Text-to-Speech support or other audio alertsExamples of the ability to announce when combat begins and ends, to announce your health and resources at regular intervals, to play sounds when you gain or lose a secondary resource (e.g., combo points), to announce your target’s name and health, and more.Healing and Raid FramesNew display for Major defensives (or similar ability)Role specific debuffs (ie: tank swaps) Additional buffs displayed on raid frames beyond the previous limitation3 different layouts with 2 being inspired by popular addons.Border visualization and colour highlights for Curses, Diseases, Magic, or Poison effects. Additional Authors announce a pause in support of popular addons.Latest Updates provided to addon authors include changes listed under Alpha Phase 6 Links How Midnight’s Upcoming Game Changes Will Impact Combat Addons Midnight Alpha Phase 5 A little earlier than in weeks past, the next phase of the Alpha is here! Level 90Story and Quests: Level 90 Campaign - Chapter 1Arcantina Visitor QuestsWeekly Quests (must complete the main campaign or use the skip)All previous content is once again availableHousingBudgets for room placement and decor have been returned to levels closer to week 3Dyes are re-enabledDelves: Parhelion PlazaThe DarkwayTorment’s Rise (Nemesis delve)PreyWorld Boss availableThorm’belanFound in the Encroaching Bloom of HarandarLevel 90 Activities: Saltheril’s SoireeAbundanceLegends of the HaranirStormarion CitadelAmani AbyssProfessionsSparks are available for testingClass Sets addedBalance Druid, Feral Druid, Guardian Druid, Brewmaster Monk, Protection Paladin, Affliction Warlock, Demonology Warlock, Destruction Warlock, Fury Warrior, and Protection Warrior.Class changes Links In Development: Phase Five of the Midnight Alpha — World of Warcraft — Blizzard NewsMidnight Alpha Test Development Notes - #16 by Linxy Outro Be part of the conversation and join us on Discord bit.ly/fazdiscord Thank you so much for supporting the show!

Sean love affair with Lemix is more fickle the fel-flame. Lex laments some aspects of Delves. The crew weighs in on the must-have features for the integrated UI in Midnight. News Legion Remix: Rise of the Nightfallen The 2nd wave of content for Lemix is now live in NA and EU, after a long extended maintenance. Return to KarazhanNightholdSuramar CampaignLegion Remix Helper Links Legion Remix: Rise of the Nightfallen Now Live!World of Warcraft on Instagram: "The story continues in Legion Remix Phase 2! Relive the Suramar Campaign, return to Karazhan, and defeat Gul’dan at Nighthold!"https://www.curseforge.com/wow/addons/legion-remix-helper Turbo Boost is Now Live! The 2nd part of Turbo Boost is Mythic+ drop rates from Mythic+ dungeons and Manaforge Omega are greatly increased for Warband until Equipped gear. Valorstones may now be transferred across Warbands.Two vendors this time.First quest for 3 Puzzling Cartel Chips.Players will be able to earn a maximum of 9 Puzzling Cartel Chips per character.Weapons, trinkets, and cantrip items. Links https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/news/24242856 Midnight Delves In the upcoming expansion Delves are being integrated into the leveling experience and continue to be an endgame pillar. We’re taking some time to talk about Delves so far on the alpha. What did we think about Delves last tier?Experience in alpha with Delves so farWhat would make delves a joyous experience for us? Story Title Phase 4 of Midnight Alpha allows players to level up to Level 90, and includes the following content: Zone: Voidstorm Dungeons:  Voidscar ArenaNexus Point XenasMagister's Terrace Delves:  Shadowguard PointSunkiller Sanctum PvP:  Slayer's Rise PvP zoneSlayer's Rise 40v40 battleground Classes: Apex Talents Links In Development: Phase Four of the Midnight Alpha - General Discussion - World of Warcraft Forums iTunes // Bonus Roll Production Directory Thanks Special thanks to all our patrons. FAZ will always be free, but if you enjoy the content we produce, consider pledging to our Patreon at Patreon.com/FAZ Subscribe to For Azeroth!  UI Feature Shortcomings We are beyond the halfway point Raid Frames Sean: Raid frames ability to adjust tracking, position and size of debuffs CD Manager Sean #1: Tracking for Racials and TrinketsLex: Alert for resource thresholds (below or above a certain amount of a resource)Sean #2: CDM still needs some way to track debuffs with white/blacklisting   Nameplates Sean: Health bar color change based on aggroSean #2: Nameplates need a way to color mobs based on type (casters, lieutenants, etc).Sean #3: White/blacklist for buffs/debuffs tracked   Encounter Warnings Lex: Sound CustomizationSean: Ability to turn on/off warnings based on rolePlatynator: [addon] Introducing Platynator, a new customisable nameplate addon : r/WowUI Outro Be part of the conversation and join us on Discord bit.ly/fazdiscord Thank you so much for supporting the show!

Sean, now corrupted by the Legion, dives into Lemix; Lex is too good for the rest of us and is all Alpha all the time; and Manny is stuck editing as Sean leads this episode of For Azeroth!

The conversation about Add-ons reaches a new frenzy as details about new API restrictions come to light. Legion Remix crashes onto servers but maybe eclipse by Blizzards other offerings. This and more on the latest episode of For Azeroth!