PvP Changes in Season 3 of TBC – Phase 3

• Author: Pride
• Date: January 13, 2022
• Updated: January 13, 2022
• Expansion: TBC Classic

Along with the announcement of an official release date for phase 3 content, Blizzard sneakily made a smaller, but surely just as impactful for many, PvP-related announcement.

In specific, Kaivax announced that after monitoring season 2 queue data, Blizzard are unhappy with the length of queues and will be expanding the range of possible opponents. That means that players with a higher difference in rating (such as a 2400 rating vs 1800 rating, f.e.) will now be able to face off against each other, should one of them experience a queue that Blizzard considers too long. The matchmaking system will still try to prioritize opponents of similar ratings, however.

More importantly, it would appear that Blizzard was not very happy with the engineering / use item metagame that has developed, with Kaivax announcing that the following items will no longer be usable inside the arena:

• Nigh Invulnerability Belt
• Net-o-Matic Projector
• Dazzling Longsword
• Silent Fang
• Skull of Impending Doom

Furthermore, the omni-present Mind Quickening Gem mage class trinket will see a nerf to its haste rating, from 330 down to 100. While this nerf will surely impact mages negatively, phase 3 sees the addition of The Skull of Gul’dan trinket, which many mages were already planning on using, thus mitigating this nerf somewhat.

Meanwhile, Skull of Impending Doom being disabled will result in a rather substantial indirect buff to mages and rogues, as it was a common counter item for those classes. The latter of whom are already expected to start dominating arena even more than they did in previous seasons, thanks to the addition of the Warglaive of Azzinoth swords.

One thing is for sure — the totality of these changes will surely have a drastic impact on the meta-game, which will likely be significantly different to that of season 2 as a result. Many players, including top rated gladiators, were calling for nerfs to these items already, and it’s refreshing to see Blizzard listening and taking action in time, so we can only hope that they keep addressing issues that come up as a result of these changes in time as well.

What are your thoughts on these changes? Are they something you expected or wanted, or did you like the season 2 use item meta and would prefer that things stayed true to original TBC? Let us know in the comments below!