Heart of Azeroth and Azerite Traits

[Zenethen]

Hey all, it’s that time of year for a big ol’ announcement about Azerite! Well, specifically Azerite traits, not the substance itself. Since compiling all of this into one big blob of text wouldn’t do so well, it’s going to be in a bulleted list. The following is regarding the Heart of Azeroth itself, then we will cover the traits therein.

• The Heart of Azeroth will be available to everyone that is on the ‘good’ side of things in BfA. This means champions that are not strict antagonists or openly loyal to clearly defined evil organizations. However, there is a ‘lower limit’ to who gets a Heart. It is not going to be handed out to every Farmer Joe who happens to come to a main event, but if your character would be regarded as an adventurer, hero, or champion, then having a Heart of Azeroth is available as an option.
  

• Having a Heart of Azeroth is technically optional. If you do not want your character to have one, they do not need to have one. However, they will be unable to use any Azerite traits without one, and may miss out on specific story beats surrounding them. Additionally, if your character has a Heart, and we observe the character abusing its power IC, or you abusing its power OOC, we reserve the right to remove it from a character - it is a lore item, after all!
  

• Acquiring a Heart of Azeroth is simple: attend the intro event where Magni passes them out. If you miss this event, don’t worry! You can assume that Magni passed it along to your character, whether offscreen or in a little thing run by a staff member wherein Magni hands you one.
  
  
• The Heart of Azeroth will have three Azerite traits initially. April 27th, 2024 will be the day of the first trait’s unlock. The second will be unlocked in a mini event during a main event break in July or August. The third will be unlocked similarly during the next holiday break (November 2024 to January 2025). There may be a fourth trait coming during 8.2, but that is a very long way away.
  
  
• Those who have a Heart of Azeroth will be unable to use Relics (the specific keyworded items from Legion). Those who do not have a Heart of Azeroth can still use Relics. However, for you Heart of Azeroth wearers who like your Relics, there is an option below. Bear in mind for those considering keeping their Relics as Relics, they will not continue to be made by us.
  

With the Heart of Azeroth itself covered, now it’s on to the traits of it. They are essentially Gold Traits, but as opposed to prior days, there are a whole lot of them to choose from. And they’re available, generally speaking, to everyone. You are limited to what you choose at the start of an event. Traits can be swapped out with each other, but only between events.

• These are the three methods to making traits:
  
  
  • Choosing from staff-generated traits. These will be released separately from this announcement. Each patch will add new ones. Some new ones may be added based on certain locations.
    
  • You can generate your own! Just submit via CtS the traits you think you’d like to have, and we’ll consider them in a meeting.
    
  • Transform your Relic(s) into traits. This will intertwine the Relic with your Heart of Azeroth, but it will allow you to stay better within our usual item limits. This does, however, permanently disenchant the Relic as its effect is absorbed by your Heart of Azeroth.
    
  
  

• Regarding generating your own traits, we will not consider any traits which use “hard” interactions with the counter system. This means;
  
  
  • No bonuses or negatives.
    
  • No advantage
    
  • No disadvantage
    
  • Relics with the above that are turned into Azerite traits are okay, but no NEW traits with the above.
    
  • Blocking counters is okay
    
  • Debuffs are acceptable, so long as they do not ‘hard’ interact with the counter system.
    
  • Out of turn cleansing/dispelling is acceptable.
    
  
  

• Additionally, regarding generating your own traits:
  
  
  • We will not consider a trait which allows you to slot in extra traits. Nice try, Genie!
    
  • Traits cannot refresh other traits.
    
  • Traits cannot be used to swap traits in the middle of an event.
    
  
  

• There will be no class specific Azerite traits! Any class can slot in any Azerite trait.
  

There is one final matter to address: Azerite traits and the Heart of Azeroth will not be usable on other planets or in other realms, unless they are specifically tied to Azeroth itself. For example, the Emerald Dream or Ny’alotha are okay. However, the Heart of Azeroth will not function in the Nether, the Shadowlands, Outland, etc. We realize this isn’t strictly-speaking relevant, given that BfA takes place effectively always on Azeroth, but we wanted to make it known regardless.

As always, if you guys have any questions, please feel free to submit them via Questions for Staff on the discord, or by submitting a CtS.