Summary
One of the major raid attack indicators inWorld of Warcraft, the “swirly” marker, will soon get a facelift, as the upcoming Patch 11.1 update has given it a brighter outline and a clearer indicator of where an enemy’s area-of-effect (AoE) attack will land. The change is now available on theWorld of Warcraftpublic test realm (PTR) for players to try out ahead of Patch 11.1’s release.
The change to the AoE attack marker is just one facet ofWorld of Warcraft’s Undermined content update.Patch 11.1 will take players to the Undermine, the fabled underground home of Azeroth’s goblin cartels. However, the Undermine has since fallen into chaos with the return of Jastor Gallywix, the ousted leader of the Bilgewater Cartel. Having allied with Xal’atath, the overarching antagonist ofThe War Withinexpansion, Gallywix will be the final boss of the Liberation of Undermine raid. Other features of Patch 11.1 include the D.R.I.V.E. mount system, the Operation: Floodgate dungeon, and changes to classes and Hero Talents.
WithWorld of WarcraftPatch 11.1 offering a plethora of featuresfor players to look forward to, one change will have an impact on endgame content.According to Wowhead, the Patch 11.1 PTR made a change to the “swirly” AoE marker that makes it easier to see where the attack’s border is compared to the environment. The marker itself dates back toWorld of Warcraft’s 2004 launch, where it was used to indicate where an attack will land and give players an idea of where to avoid standing. In contrast to the current swirling marker’s cloudy border, the updated AOE marker has a brighter outline and is no longer one big swirl. The rest of the circle was made more transparent, which will give players a better idea of where to stand to avoid taking damage from bosses unnecessarily.
World of Warcraft Is Updating Its Swirling AoE Marker After Two Decades
The change is now available on the Undermined PTR client, so players will have some time to test it and provide feedback on the change. In response to the updated swirling AoE marker,World of Warcraftplayers praised Blizzard for prioritizing functionality and accessibility. Some players compared the new AoE markers to the ones usedinFinal Fantasy 14’s raid content, while others questioned if the swirling AoE change would be retroactive to olderWorld of Warcraftcontent.
Betweenthe return of Turbulent Timewaysand the upcoming Undermined content patch,World of Warcraftplayers have a busy start to 2025. Only time will tell if other raid mechanic markers will receive updates down the line.
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World of Warcraft is an incredibly successful MMORPG that has been going strong for almost two decades. It’s one of the highest-grossing franchises in history and is widely considered the most popular MMORPG ever made.
