World of Warcraft has plenty of different facets of gameplay to enjoy once you find yourself in the endgame. Heroic and Mythic dungeons, four different difficulties of raids, world quests, and a variety of other options fill the PvE category for the titanic MMORPG.
However, some players just can’t get rid of that bloodlust that calls you to take down some members of the opposing faction. This can be done in more than a few ways, such as activating War Mode in your capital and taking the fight through the world.
Players also are able to join battlegrounds – PvP war games that take the form of deviations of Capture the Flag, King of the Hill, and other variations. One could also hop into Arenas for 2v2 and 3v3, with rated options for all of the above.
Unfortunately, it can be difficult for players that focus on one section of gameplay to easily go over to the other. The strategies, gear, essences, and abilities needed for PvP and PvE are drastically different, with some not even available for the other.
This is especially shown with essences and PvP talents. Players focused on PvE might have grabbed entirely different azerite essences or traits for their armor and necklace, which can drastically lower their effectiveness and can be difficult to switch over.
But with all these things in mind, players must contend with another penalty as well. Players with socketed gems in their gear – which provide bonuses, generally to secondary stats – were penalized to equalize them against players that didn’t.
This comes with a number of consequences. For one thing, socketed gems are incredibly common in PvE content, with no class not needing them. While they’re optional, they’re an incredibly powerful bonus, and socketed gear will almost always be stronger.
This also leads many PvE-minded players to socket as many gems into their gear as they possibly can. However, doing so makes it so that the switch over to PvP for any of a variety of reasons is incredibly difficult.
Players that are choosing to farm rep, transmogs, titles, achievements, and the like that are taking their PvE-focused character into PvP are then at a massive disadvantage. This can make an already-lengthy grind agonizing, as you’re outclassed against those around you.
Blizzard, thankfully, have chosen to lower this penalty. According to their announcement previously, they have “Corrected an issue that could cause socketed gems to slightly reduce players’ effectiveness in PvP combat under some circumstances.”
The patch is decidedly vague – there’s no word on what circumstances, what the penalty is, if there are certain gems, certain settings, or any other specifics. Still, knowing they’ve altered the issue a bit is still enough to have some PvP players celebrating.