Plunderstorm Returns to World of Warcraft with Enhanced Features and Rewards
Plunderstorm, World of Warcraft's pirate-themed battle royale, has returned, bringing with it a host of new features and quality-of-life improvements. While the end date remains unannounced, players can expect at least a month of swashbuckling action in the Arathi Highlands. This iteration boasts significant updates over its previous run.
Key Enhancements to Plunderstorm:
The revamped battlefield includes:
- Respawning Enemies: Non-elite enemies now respawn, offering a continuous supply of loot.
- Fast Travel Horses: Quickly traverse the map using strategically placed horses.
- Zone Threat Indicators: The map displays zone threat levels, highlighting areas of intense combat.
- Selectable Deployment Zones: Players can choose their starting location.
- Practice Lobby: A dedicated space to test abilities, adjust keybindings, and socialize.
- Plunderstore: A new hub for acquiring Plunderstorm rewards, accessible from the Practice Lobby, login screen, and the retail WoW PvP interface.
- Cross-Character Access: Play Plunderstorm while using your World of Warcraft: The War Within character.
New Abilities:
This update introduces new offensive and utility spells:
Offensive:
- Aura of Zealotry: Passively boosts ally movement speed. Casting consecrates the ground, periodically damaging enemies and further enhancing movement and melee attacks.
- Celestial Barrage: A damaging moonbeam barrage with an empowering option for increased range.
Utility:
- Call Galefeather: Summons Galefeather to knock back enemies with a gust of wind.
- Void Tear: Creates a Void mark. Recasting instantly teleports the player to the mark, damaging and slowing nearby enemies. The recast is instant, even while casting other spells.
Ability Balance Changes:
Existing spell cooldowns have been adjusted for improved balance:
- Earthbreaker: Cooldown reduced by 2 seconds at all ranks.
- Slicing Winds: Cooldown increased by 2 seconds at all ranks.
- Star Bomb: Cooldown reduced by 2 seconds at all ranks.
- Storm Archon: Cooldown reduced by 2 seconds at all ranks.
- Toxic Smackerel: Cooldown increased by 1.5 seconds at all ranks.
Notable Omission:
The three-person Trios mode is absent from this iteration. Blizzard has yet to comment on its potential return.
Overall, Plunderstorm's return offers a significantly enhanced battle royale experience with new features, abilities, and rewards for World of Warcraft players.
