Blizzard is about to completely overhaul PvP in the upcoming World of Warcraft: Legion expansion.

According to a detailed post on Battle.net, under a new Honor system, players will no longer acquire gear from vendors using Honor and Conquest. Instead, Blizzard is adopting a system inspired by Call of Duty’s Prestige leveling system.


Earning Honor Points increases Honor Level to a maximum of level 50. Players will be reward with “gold, artifact power, and a brand new set of PvP-only Honor Talents.” Honor Talents are abilities earned through increased levels in PvP and are activated while players engage in PvP.

Once a player hits Honor Level 50, they have the choice to Prestige, resetting Honor Level back to 1, as well as losing any unlocked Honor Talents. Of course, there are rewards for choosing to Prestige. Players earn badges and titles to show off their Prestige Levels, a wearable faction pennant, a new appearance for your Artifact, and a unique mount and pet.

“We see the Prestige system as a great way for players who aren’t interested in pursuing higher rating, but still enjoy PvP, to have their own unique rewards to chase after,” Blizzard said.

Since players will no longer buy PvP gear from vendors, Blizzard is also making changes specifically to gear and how it affects PvP.


Gear stats will be nullified and all bonuses or effects related to gear will be deactivated, with the exception of Artifacts and related Artifact Powers. Instead, Legion will pre-determine a set of stats configured to a player’s specialization. However, a player’s average item level will still factor into PvP. A one point increase in average item level will result in a 0.1% increase to PvP stats.

Other changes coming to PvP in Legion include shorter PvP seasons and “end-of-season” PvP awards, gear that can be earned by completing Battlegrounds or Arenas, and two new Arena maps.



World of Warcraft: Legion was announced back in August at Gamescom 2015 and is expected to be released in Q3 2016. The long-running MMO celebrated its 11th anniversary this year. Don’t expect a World of Warcraft 2 as Blizzard feels “there’s not really a great model for a successful sequel MMO.”