Blizzard Explains Legion's PvP Changes

Gear stats will be nullified and all bonuses or effects related to gear will be deactivated.

In 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.

When a player gets to Honor Level 50, he will be presented with the choice to Prestige, resetting Honor Level back to 1, as well as losing any unlocked Honor Talents. However they will 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.

Gear stats will also mean almost nothing 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.

World of Warcraft: Legion was announced back in August at Gamescom 2015 and is expected to be released in Q3 2016.