Blizzard recently rolled out Patch 7.2: The Tomb of Sargeras for World of Warcraft, introducing the Broken Shore and a new dungeon, The Cathedral of Eternal Night, to the long-running MMORPG, among many other things.
However, one addition that the patch added to World of Warcraft has players up in arms, as the MMORPG was secretly made harder.
Blizzard Changes Enemy Scaling In 'World Of Warcraft' Patch 7.2
In the changelog for Patch 7.2, Blizzard did not mention that it would be making any changes in relation to how enemies scale in World of Warcraft. However, players quickly found out that such a change has been implemented after installing the update.
In the latest Legion expansion, the power of mobs scaled up with the level of characters but stopped increasing at the max level of 110. However, players reported that high-end enemies in the MMORPG were scaling up in power according to the gear that players are wearing, proven by the findings of World of Warcraft player DarthKnight.
Enemy non-player characters, named mobs, featured improved health when the item levels of players were above 850. When facing a level 110 elite Illidary Enforcer, DarthKnight found the mob's health stayed at 15.6 million until item level 850. However, when the item level was increased to 857, the mob's health increased to 16.5 million, and at item level 875, it was further increased to 18.9 million. In addition, Blizzard also apparently increased the damage dealt by creatures.
Until Patch 7.2, the only way that item levels affected players was that some end-game dungeons and raids required players to have a minimum item level to be able to participate.
'World Of Warcraft' Enemy Scaling: A Mistake Or Intentional?
With the enemy scaling change not included in the changelog for Patch 7.2, many players initially thought that it was a bug. However, game director Ion Hazzikostas later revealed that it was an intentional change.
Hazzikostas added that the change is not working as the development team intended, though, as the scaling that Blizzard applied may have been too steep. In addition, with players abusing the system by unequipping gear to make enemies easier to beat, changes were needed to be done.
Fortunately, players did not have to wait for long for news on changes. Blizzard has already revealed its plan to address the complaints sent in by World of Warcraft gamers, including making a significant reduction to the rate at which the health of mobs scale with the item level of players and remove the damage boost given to creatures. These changes are now live in the game.
Why Was The 'World Of Warcraft' Enemy Scaling Kept Secret?
The enemy scaling changes took World of Warcraft players by surprise, not just because it was not mentioned in the Patch 7.2 changelog but also because Hazzikostas last year mentioned that scaling enemies according to the item level of players is something that Blizzard would not do for the MMORPG.
Hazzikostas said that the developers wanted to allow players to feel the change and then gauge the response, which is why the enemy scaling adjustments were not included in the Patch 7.2 changelog.
Despite the rollback of the changes, players remain unhappy with the move.
