The 8.2 patch is here! We will do several updates over the next couple of weeks to fully rank and support all of the new loot.
We also have a blog post describing some of the new stuff: 8.2 patch blog post
There are a ton of new items with wacky special effects, so it is taking us a bit longer to figure out and rank them than usual. We are working around the clock to ensure that we have solid rankings before the raids open on July 9th. Below is our tentative update schedule, and we will update this post as we make progress.
I’m sure there will be something unexpected that comes up, but we can pretend that we’ll be able to stick to a schedule for now!
8.2 Patch Day (June 25th)
This update will have all of the new gear available to choose from in the Simulator and Optimizer. It will include new UI options to pick Heart of Azeroth essences, handle the fancy Mechagon punchcard trinket, settings for the gear that only works in Nazjatar and the Eternal Palace, new filters, etc.
This update will also have almost all new gear and essences implemented in the simulator for people to try out. There are only a couple that we couldn’t get enough data to implement and will be adding soon.
This update will not have rankings for most of the new stuff yet. We will be cranking out new data all week, and will make frequent progress posts to let you know what has been finished. Usually we like to rank stuff before the patch goes live, but there was simply way too many new effects, and some of them very complicated. Also, we were not able to test many of them – in particular the new raid and mechagon dungeon loot. We fully expect Blizzard to re-balance several items and essences before the raid opens anyway… so be prepared for things to change frequently over the next 2 weeks.
July 1st
By one week after 8.2 goes live, we hope to have updated rankings for most classes completed, though they will not be final – we are not sure when Blizzard will post balance tweaks, so we’ll have to play it by ear. Some of the raid loot might be put off until closer to Season 3 start.
Season 3 Starts (July 9th)
By the start of Season 3 we will have everything ranked. This is also when they will up the difficulty of Mythic+, so the item level of dungeon drops will increase. We may or may not make that change before Season 3 actually starts – in particular it could impact tank toughness threshold rankings, so we might need to do that earlier so that the global network can crank out new tank rankings before Season 3 hits.