The all-devouring God-MMORPG World of Warcraft is soon to update unto the 3.2 patch, and word on the street says this patch is good. At least, I think that’s what “…yes, yes, oh god, oh god, YES YES!” and a cigarette after means.
Big ticket items on the patch include the Crusaders’ Coliseum, new druid Cat and Bear forms, and Battleground twinks enjoying a prostate massage from Blizzard’s steel-toed boot thanks to a Battleground experience mechanic.
Here are the official patch notes as they stand. The unofficial patch notes might be quite a bit larger, and not yet public knowledge outside the Elitist Jerks member forums.
General
* Construction of the Crusaders’ Coliseum is complete. New raid normal and Heroic modes for the Crusaders’ Coliseum can be toggled using the Dungeon Difficulty setting. This applies to 10 and 25-player versions. 10-player (normal), 25-player (normal), 10-player (Heroic) and 25-player (Heroic) all share separate raid lockout timers.
o Trial of the Champion
+ 5-player (normal and Heroic mode) dungeon.
+ Daily quest added to the Heroic daily dungeon quest giver.
o Trial of the Crusader
+ 10 and 25-player (normal mode) raid dungeon.
o Trial of the Grand Crusader
+ 10 and 25-player (Heroic mode) raid dungeon.
+ Crusaders’ Tribute: Active on Heroic difficulty only, the tribute system will limit players on the number of attempts the raid is allotted each week. Additional rewards can be earned depending on the number of attempts left in the tribute run each week when the final boss is defeated.
* Isle of Conquest, the new 40 vs. 40-player siege-style battleground is now available for testing.
o Two level brackets are available: 71-79 and 80.
o Defend the walls of your keep and protect your general by killing enemy players and destroying their siege vehicles.
o Capture the Docks, Airship Hangar, or Siege Workshop for access to destructive siege vehicles or strategic attacks on your enemy’s base.
o Capture the Oil Derrick or Cobalt Mine for their resources to garner reinforcements and a steady flow of bonus honor.
o To claim victory, bust through the enemy’s keep walls (or find other ways to get inside) and kill their general, or obliterate your opponents until their reinforcements are depleted.
* The Argent Tournament Expands
o All new Argent Crusader daily quests and rewards have been added for players with the Crusader title. Rewards include a new Argent Crusader banner and tabard (which can port players to the tournament grounds), a mounted squire (can periodically run bank, mail or vendor errands for the player), a paladin-exclusive Argent Crusader Charger mount, and new heirloom items.
o All new Silver Covenant and Sunreaver daily quests and rewards have been added for players exalted with these factions. Rewards include tabards, new ground and flying mounts, and a new pet.
o Just when you thought you had seen the last of the Black Knight, he makes his astonishing return to the tournament. Wait, didn’t you kill him?
* New druid art for Cat Form and Bear Form has been added. There are now five unique color schemes for each form and faction. Changing hair color (night elves) or skin tone (tauren) via the barbershop will change the look of one’s cat and bear forms.
* Copied Test Realm characters will no longer be copied with their achievement history in order to better facilitate the character copy process.
PvP
* Arenas
o The newest season of Arena gear can only be purchased if you meet the requirements with your 3 or 5-player team rating. Rating requirements from 2-player teams can still be used to purchase the previous season of gear.
o Dalaran Sewers
+ The entire Arena has increased in size by 25%.
+ Mounts can now be used in this Arena.
+ The position and collision of the crates on the central platform has been modified.
o Ruins of Lordaeron
+ Alcoves have been removed from the starting chambers.
+ Two line-of-sight tombstones have been added to the slime pool on the southern side of the map.
+ The collision around the central tomb has been smoothed out to prevent players from becoming stuck on the terrain as often.
* Battlegrounds
o Battleground experience has arrived!
+ Players will now be awarded experience for completing objectives and actions that yield honor in Battlegrounds (honorable kills not included).
+ Players who do not wish to gain experience through PvP can visit Behsten in Stormwind or Slahtz in Orgrimmar – both located near the Battlemasters in either city – and turn off all experience accumulation for the cost of 10 gold.
+ Disabling experience gains will prevent a player from gaining experience through any means available in the game.
+ Players with experience gains turned off who compete in Battlegrounds will face off only against other players with experience gains turned off.
+ Behsten and Slahtz can reinstate experience gains for players, for a 10 gold fee of course. Any experience that would’ve been accumulated if experience gains were enabled cannot be recovered.
o Battlemasters in major cities affiliated with specific Battlegrounds have been replaced with a Battlemaster for each faction that will allow players to queue for any Battleground. Battlemasters for specific Battlegrounds will still be seen around the cities during corresponding Battleground holiday weekends.
o When standing at a capture point that you control, you will gain a buff called Honorable Defender. This buff grants +50% honor gained from kills. This currently affects Arathi Basin, Eye of the Storm and Isle of Conquest.
o Arathi Basin
+ The time it requires to capture a base has been reduced to 8 seconds, down from 10 seconds.
+ The game now ends when one team reaches 1600 victory points, down from 2000.
o Eye of the Storm
+ The time it requires to capture the center flag has been reduced to 8 seconds, down from 10 seconds
+ The game now ends when one team reaches 1600 victory points, down from 2000.
o Strand of the Ancients
+ The faction starting on attack/defense will now be randomized at the start of each match.
o Warsong Gulch
+ There is a now a 20-minute timer on this Battleground. After that time, the team with the most flag captures wins. If this would result in a tie, the team that captured the first flag wins. If neither side has captured a flag, then the game ends in a tie.
* Wintergrasp
o To provide players with a more transparent notification of when Wintergrasp battles occur, as well as better control zone population and stability, several changes have been made.
+ Players now have the option to queue for Wintergrasp from a Wintergrasp Battlemaster in any capital city or by simply entering the Wintergrasp zone.
+ Queuing will begin 15 minutes before each battle. If chosen, you will automatically be teleported to the zone. Any players in the zone who have not been chosen from the queue will be teleported out when the battle begins.
+ The queue system remains active for the entire battle. As soon as a player leaves, a new one will be chosen from the queue.
+ Trying to enter Wintergrasp during an active battle for which you have not been chosen will teleport you out. Please note that, as you are now able to fly over Wintergrasp, you will only be teleported out if you try to land and join the battle.
+ Level 80 players get higher priority in the queue than lower level players. In addition, a random selection of queued players will be taken from both the Battlemasters and the zone itself.
+ The queue will accept up to 100 players from each faction, resulting in a maximum battle of 200 players at a time.
o Wintergrasp factories can no longer be damaged or destroyed.
Dungeons and Raids
* Dungeon and Raid ID Extensions
o In order to allow for parties and raids to progress through instances at their own pace, players can now extend a dungeon or raid ID on an individual basis.
o Existing or recently expired IDs can be extended via the Social tab under Raid by clicking on Raid Info.
o The ID of any instance to which a player is saved can be extended. Doing so will extend the lockout period by the same amount of time as the original lockout (i.e. extending an Ulduar raid ID will add 7 days, a Heroic: Halls of Lightning dungeon ID will add 24 hours, and a Zul’Gurub raid ID will add 3 days to the lockout time).
o An ID can be extended more than once.
o An extension can be reversed on an individual basis provided the player does not do anything in the instance during the extended lockout period that would save that player to the instance.
* 25-player raids will no longer be referred to as Heroic versions of a raid, as there is a new distinction between normal and Heroic modes for both 10 and 25 player versions of the Crusaders’ Coliseum.
* The Nexus: The Oculus & The Eye of Eternity
o Drakes used by players in these instances will now scale in health and damage according to the rider’s average item level.
* Ulduar
o Players can now use Blink, Shadowstep, and Demonic Teleport while participating in the illusion events in the Yogg-Saron encounter.
o Ominous Clouds in the Yogg-Saron encounter are now more vocal about touching players.
o Winter Jormungars will no longer put everyone in the zone in combat when they emerge from a Snow Mound. Additionally, Snow Mounds will now disappear when all their jormungars have emerged.
Races: General
* Axe Specialization (Orc): The weapon bonus from this effect now applies to fist weapons in addition to axes.
* Tauren now have the option of changing skin tone by visiting the barber shop.
Items: General
* Agility: The amount of agility required per percentage of dodge has been increased by 15%. This change required recalibrating the amount of dodge a player has with 0 agility by a slight amount as well, so all players will see their dodge percentage vary a small amount.
* Block Value: The amount of bonus block value on all items has been doubled. This does not affect the base block value on shields or block value derived from strength.
* On-Use Block Value Items: All items and set bonuses that trigger temporary increases to block value have been modified. Instead of increasing their block value amount by 100% like other items, they have all had their effect durations doubled. This applies to Glyph of Deflection, Gnomeregan Autoblocker, Coren’s Lucky Coin, Lavanthor’s Talisman, Libram of Obstruction, Tome of the Lightbringer, Libram of the Sacred Shield, the tier-8 paladin Shield of Righteousness bonus, the tier-5 paladin Holy Shield bonus, and the tier-5 warrior Shield Block bonus.
* Dodge Rating: The amount of dodge rating required per percentage of dodge has been increased by 15%. This is before diminishing returns. Combined with other changes, this makes dodge rating and parry rating equally potent before diminishing returns apply.
* Emblem System Changes
o Both the 10 and 25-player instances of the Crusaders’ Coliseum drop a new Emblem of Triumph.
o Any dungeons that previously dropped Emblems of Heroism or Valor, such as Naxxramas or Heroic Halls of Stone, will now drop Emblems of Conquest instead. Emblems of Conquest can still be converted to Valor or Heroism.
o The Heroic dungeon daily quest will now reward 2 Emblems of Triumph and the normal daily dungeon quest will reward 1 Emblem of Triumph.
o The existing achievements to collect 1, 25, 50, etc. Emblems of Heroism, Valor, and Conquest have been converted to Feats of Strength since Heroism and Valor Emblems are no longer attainable.
o New achievements have been added to collect various amounts of any combination of emblems.
* Item Buy Back Feature Revised
o The Item Buy Back time will now expire if the player enchants or sockets an item. Players will see a confirmation dialog box now when they attempt to enchant or add gems to an item giving them a last chance to reconsider.
* Mounts
o The cast time for summoning any ground mount is now 1.5 seconds, down from 3 seconds.
o Apprentice Riding (Skill 75): Can now be learned at level 20 for 4 gold. Mail will be sent to players who reach level 20 directing them to the riding trainer.
o Journeyman Riding (Skill 150): Can now be learned at level 40 for 50 gold. Mail will be sent to players who reach level 40 directing them back to the riding trainer.
o Expert Riding (Skill 225): Can now be learned at level 60 for 600 gold from trainers in Honor Hold or Thrallmar. Faction discounts now apply (Honor Hold for Alliance; Thrallmar for Horde). Flight speed at this skill level has been increased to 150% of run speed, up from 60%.
o Artisan Riding (Skill 300): Faction discounts now apply (Honor Hold or Valiance Expedition for Alliance; Thrallmar or Warsong Offensive for Horde).
o In order to further equalize the number of purchasable mounts available to each race, a new 60% speed ground mount has been added for night elves, and a new 100% speed ground mount has been added for the undead.
o Flying over Dalaran and Wintergrasp is now possible so long as players keep a healthy distance above the ground.
* New Dungeon Loot Feature
o Players will now be able to trade soulbound items with other raid or group members that were eligible for the loot. This system will work like the Item Buy Back system and allow 2 hours for players to trade an item after it has been looted. Players who choose to enchant or add gems to the item will get one last confirmation before losing the ability to trade the item.
* Mana Regeneration: All items that provide “X mana per five seconds” have had the amount of mana they regenerate increased by approximately 25%.
* Parry Rating: The amount of parry rating required per percentage of parry has been reduced by 8%. This is before diminishing returns. Combined with other changes, this makes dodge rating and parry rating equally potent before diminishing returns apply. Parry still diminishes more quickly than dodge.
* Resilience: No longer reduces the amount of damage done by damage-over-time spells, but instead reduces the amount of all damage done by players by the same proportion. The other effects of resilience (reducing critical chance, critical damage and mana drain effects) have not changed.
Classes: General
* All pets now receive 40% of their master’s resilience and 100% of their master’s spell penetration. In addition, if a player is at their appropriate spell hit chance or hit chance maximum, their pet will be at the maximum for spell hit chance, hit chance, and expertise. If they are below the maximum, their pet will be proportionately below those maximums.
* Replenishment: This buff now grants 1% of the target’s maximum mana over 5 seconds instead of 0.25% per second. This applies to all 5 sources of Replenishment (Vampiric Touch, Judgements of the Wise, Hunting Party, Enduring Winter Frostbolts and Soul Leech).
* Silence, Strangulate, Silencing Shot, and Arcane Torrent: These abilities will also apply a 3-second interrupt effect against non-player controlled targets, making them more versatile against creatures immune to silencing effects.
Death Knights
* Due to significant talent changes, all death knight talents will be reset for players.
* Blood Plague: Damage done increased by 15%.
* Blood Strike: The bonus damage this ability receives from diseases on the target has been increased to 25% per disease.
* Chains of Ice: Now reduces movement by 95% instead of 100%. The main effect of this change will be that targets of Chains of Ice will not have to re-issue a movement command to continue moving.
* Frost Fever: Damage done increased by 15%.
* Frost Presence: 10% bonus health reduced to 6% bonus stamina.
* Frost Strike: This ability can now be dodged, parried, or blocked. Weapon damage bonus reduced to 55%, down from 60%.
* Icebound Fortitude: Cooldown increased to 2 minutes.
* Talents
o Blood
+ Bloody Strikes: This talent now provides 5/10/15% increased damage to Blood Strike instead of 15/30/45%.
+ Dancing Rune Weapon: This ability now has a fixed duration of 12 seconds (which can still be modified by its glyph) and a fixed cost of 60 runic power.
+ Veteran of the Third War: Stamina bonus reduced to 1/2/3%.
o Frost
+ Blood of the North: Reduced to a 3-point talent. Increases Blood Strike and Frost Strike damage by 5/10/15%. There is now a 33/66/100% chance whenever you hit with Blood Strike or Pestilence that the Blood Rune will become a Death Rune when it activates.
+ Lichborne: Duration reduced to 10 seconds, and cooldown reduced to 2 minutes.
+ Threat of Thassarian: New 3-point talent. When dual-wielding, your Death Strikes, Obliterates, Plague Strikes, Blood Strikes and Frost Strikes have a 30/60/100% chance to also deal damage with your off-hand weapon. Off-hand strikes are roughly one half the effect of the original strike.
+ Toughness: This talent now grants 2/4/6/8/10% armor instead of 3/6/9/12/15%, placing it in line with similar abilities of other classes.
o Unholy
+ Desecration: This talent has been reduced to 2 points for 25/50% snare and no longer increases damage done by the death knight. It has also been moved one tier earlier in the tree and its spell effect has been made more transparent.
+ Desolation: New talent. This talent is in the position formerly occupied by Desecration. It causes Blood Strikes to increase all damage the death knight deals by 1/2/3/4/5% for 12 seconds.
+ Scourge Strike: Weapon damage bonus reduced to 40%, down from 45%. Damage increased by 10% per disease on the target, down from 11%.
+ Summon Gargoyle: The gargoyle now flies lower to the ground, making it susceptible to melee attacks. This ability now has a fixed duration of 30 seconds and a fixed cost of 60 runic power.
+ Unholy Blight: This talent has been redesigned. It no longer deals damage to nearby targets. Instead, when you deal damage with Death Coil, the target will take periodic damage for 10 seconds equal to 20% of the damage done by Death Coil. This damage accumulates in the same way as Ignite and Deep Wounds.
Druids
* Enrage: This Bear Form ability now generates 20 rage initially, and 10 rage over the next 10 seconds. The armor penalty is unchanged.
* Flight Form: Can now be learned at level 60. Flight speed increased to 150%.
* Innervate: Duration reduced to 10 seconds, and cooldown reduced to 3 minutes. This means each use of Innervate will give half as much mana as before, but it will be available twice as often.
* Lifebloom: The final heal that occurs when this spell blooms has been reduced by 20% on the base and on the spell power coefficient.
* Mangle: Ranks 4 and 5 base points reduced by about 11%. Scaling from attack power unchanged.
* Rake: Ranks 6 and 7 base points on initial and periodic damage reduced by about 7%. Scaling from attack power unchanged.
* Rip: Ranks 8 and 9 base points and points per combo point reduced by about 6%. Scaling from attack power unchanged.
* Savage Defense: The animation for gaining this buff will no longer make the bear stand upright
* Shred: Ranks 8 and 9 base points reduced by about 10%. Scaling from attack power unchanged.
* Swipe (Cat): Percent of weapon damage done reduced from 260% to 250%.
* Travel Form: Can now be learned at level 16.
* Talents
o Balance
+ Balance of Power: Now reduces all spell damage taken by 3/6%, rather than reducing the chance to be hit by spells by 2/4%.
+ Eclipse: The Starfire and Wrath buffs from this talent are now on separate 30-second cooldowns. In addition, it is not possible to have both buffs active simultaneously.
+ Owlkin Frenzy: Now also restores 2% base mana every 2 seconds for the duration (10 seconds) in addition to its current effects.
o Feral Combat
+ King of the Jungle: This talent now reduces the mana cost of Bear Form, Cat Form, and Dire Bear Form by 20/40/60%.
+ Primal Tenacity: This talent no longer reduces the mana cost of Bear Form, Cat Form, and Dire Bear Form.
o Restoration
+ Empowered Touch: Now also increases the amount of bonus healing effects for Nourish by 10/20%.
+ Improved Barkskin: No longer provides dispel resistance to all effects on the druid, but now reduces the chance your Barkskin is dispelled by an additional 35/70%.
Hunters
* Aspect of the Cheetah: Can now be learned at level 16.
* Deterrence: This ability now allows the hunter to parry spells and attacks from behind as well as in front. Now has a new visual spell effect.
* The time that traps will exist in the world after being put down has been reduced to 30 seconds, down from 1 minute.
* Traps now have separate 30-second cooldown categories: Fire (Immolation Trap, Explosive Trap and Black Arrow), Frost (Freezing Trap, Frost Trap) and Nature (Snake Trap). A hunter can have one trap of each category placed at one time.
* Talents
o Beast Mastery
+ Catlike Reflexes now also reduces the cooldown of your Kill Command ability by 10/20/30 seconds.
o Survival
+ Entrapment: This talent no longer works with Immolation Trap or Explosive Trap.
+ Lock and Load: Now has a 22-second cooldown. The Lock and Load effect cannot be obtained on targets immune to snare effects when Frost Trap is used.
o Pets
+ Roar of Sacrifice: Redesigned. This ability can now be used on any friendly target to make that target immune to critical strikes, but the hunter pet takes 20% of all damage taken by that friendly target. Cooldown is now 1 minute, up from 30 seconds.
Mages
* Arcane Blast: Mana cost reduced by 12%.
* Frost Bolt, Cone of Cold, Frost Ward, Ice Armor, Frost Armor, Frost Nova, Ice Lance, and Ice Barrier: The mana cost on these spells has been reduced by approximately 15%.
* Invisibility: Can no longer be interrupted by a hostile action or damage done during the 3-second Fade time, however an invisible mage can still be stunned or silenced.
* Talents
o Fire
+ Empowered Fire: In addition to its existing effects, this talent now also grants a 33/67/100% chance to regain 2% of base mana each time the Ignite talent deals damage.
o Frost
+ Empowered Frostbolt: Instead of increasing critical strike chance by 2/4%, this talent now reduces the cast time of Frostbolt by 0.1/0.2 seconds.
+ Permafrost: In addition to its existing effects, this talent now also causes the mage’s Chill effects to reduce healing received by the victim by 7/13/20%.
Paladins
* Blessing of Sanctuary: This blessing now also increases stamina by 10%. This effect is not cumulative with Blessing of Kings.
* Charger: Can now be learned at level 40.
* Exorcism: Now has a 1.5 second cast time, but can once again be used on players.
* Hand of Reckoning: Redesigned. Now does damage only when the target does not currently have the caster targeted, but damage done increased to 50% of attack power, occurring after the taunt effect is applied.
* Judgements: Some of these attacks were considered ranged and some melee. They are all now considered melee attacks that can’t be dodged, parried or blocked.
* Judgement of Light: Now heals for 2% of the attacker’s maximum health instead of a variable amount based on the spell power and attack power of the judging paladin.
* Lay on Hands: The buff from this ability now reduces the physical damage taken by the target by 10/20% instead of increasing the target’s armor.
* Righteous Fury: No longer has a duration, remaining until cancelled or death. Also cancelled when a Paladin activates a different talent specialization.
* Sacred Shield: When a paladin casts Flash of Light on a target with this buff, they also now place a heal-over-time effect on the target, healing that target for 100% of the Flash of Light amount over 12 seconds.
* Seal of Blood: This ability has been removed.
* Seal of the Martyr: This ability has been removed.
* Seal of Vengeance and Seal of Corruption: These seals have been redesigned to deal substantially more damage. Now, once a paladin has 5 copies of the debuff from these seals on his or her target, on each swing the paladin will deal 33% weapon damage as Holy, with critical strikes dealing double damage. In addition, the damage-over-time effect is now considered a melee attack instead of a spell attack.
* Shield of Righteousness: Now deals 100% of shield block value as damage instead of 130%.
* Warhorse: Can now be learned at level 20.
* Talents
o Holy
+ Beacon of Light: The healing amount on the Beacon of Light target is now based on the total healing done (including over-healing) instead of the effective healing done. Radius increased to 60 yards. Multiple Paladins can now have this active on the same target. Buff indicating a player is within range of the Beacon target is no longer displayed.
+ Divine Intellect: This talent now gives 2/4/6/8/10% increased intellect instead of 3/6/9/12/15%.
+ Illumination: This talent now returns 30% of the mana cost of the spell instead of 60%.
o Protection
+ Ardent Defender: Redesigned. Any damage that takes the paladin below 35% health is reduced. This reduction applies only to the portion that pushes the paladin below 35% health (example: a paladin at 50% health takes a 40% hit; the first 15% hits as normal while the next 25% is reduced). In addition, once every 2 minutes an attack that would have killed the paladin will fail to kill, and instead heal the paladin for up to 10/20/30% of maximum health depending on the paladin’s defense rating (example: a paladin with defense equal to only 5 times his or her level will receive no healing from the talent, while a paladin who is immune to critical strikes from boss creatures through defense will receive the maximum amount).
+ Guarded by the Light: This talent will no longer cause Divine Plea’s duration to be refreshed by using Judgement of Wisdom, Judgement of Justice, or Judgement of Light.
o Retribution
+ Art of War: Now only applies to melee critical hits, but will make your next Flash of Light or Exorcism instant. In addition, this talent now provides notification in the floating combat text when it activates.
+ Crusader Strike: Damage reduced to 75% weapon damage to match the new 4-second cooldown. Mana cost reduced to 5% of base mana.
+ Seal of Command: Redesigned. This seal now deals 36% weapon damage on every swing, and deals substantially less judgement damage.
+ Vindication: Redesigned. Now lowers target attack power, is consistent and does not stack with Demoralizing Shout.
Priests
* Prayer of Healing: The percentage of spell power this spell gains in healing (per target) has been reduced from 80.7% to 52.6%.
* Psychic Horror: This spell no longer has an invisible missile, so there is no travel time before the spell takes effect.
* Talents
o Discipline
+ Penance: Cooldown increased to 12 seconds, up from 10 seconds.
o Holy
+ Inspiration: The buff from this ability now reduces the physical damage taken by the target by 3/7/10% instead of increasing the target’s armor.
o Shadow
+ Dispersion: Cooldown reduced to 2 minutes, down from 3 minutes.
+ Improved Mind Blast: Redesigned. Now, in addition to reducing the cooldown of your Mind Blast spell by .5/1/1.5/2/2.5 seconds, while in Shadowform your Mind Blast also has a 20/40/60/80/100% chance to reduce all healing done to the target by 20% for 10 seconds.
+ Vampiric Touch: The amount of damage done when this spell is dispelled has been doubled.
Rogues
* After much quiet contemplation, rogues now possess the ability to learn how to use one-handed axes.
* Talents
o Combat
+ Sword Specialization: This talent is now called Hack and Slash and applies to axes as well as swords.
o Subtlety
+ Shadow Dance: Cooldown reduced to 1 minute. Now lasts 6 seconds, down from 10 seconds.
Shamans
* A customizable totem bar will now be available for shamans allowing the storing of 4 different totems. These totems can be placed on the ground at once in one global cooldown for the combined mana cost of all 4 totems.
* All Shocks now have a default range of 25 yards, up from 20 yards.
* Base health increased by approximately 7% to correct for shamans having lower health than other classes.
* Chain Heal: Jump distance increased by 25% to 12.5 yards. In addition, the amount of healing now decreases by 40% as it jumps to each new target, instead of 50%.
* Ghost Wolf: Can now be learned at level 16. While in this form, snaring effects may not bring the shaman below base normal run speed.
* Talents
o Enhancement
+ Shamanistic Rage: Cooldown is now 1 minute, down from 2 minutes. Successful melee attacks now have a chance to generate mana equal to 15% of the shaman’s attack power, down from 30%.
o Restoration
+ Ancestral Healing: The buff from this ability now reduces the physical damage taken by the target by 3/7/10% instead of increasing the target’s armor.
+ Cure Poison and Cure Disease: Combined into a single spell, Cure Toxins.
+ Earth Shield: Dispel effects will now remove charges of Earth Shield rather than the entire aura.
+ Healing Way: Redesigned. Rather than providing a chance of increasing Healing Wave spells on a friendly target, this talent now innately increases the effectiveness of the shaman’s Healing Wave by 8/16/25%.
+ Mana Tide Totem: Totem health now equal to 10% of the shaman’s health.
+ Nature’s Guardian: Redesigned. Now has a fixed 100% proc rate, has a 30-second internal cooldown and increases the shaman’s maximum health by 3/6/9/12/15% for 10 seconds.
+ Nature’s Swiftness: Cooldown is now 2 minutes, down from 3 minutes.
+ Tidal Waves: No longer reduces the cast time of Lesser Healing Wave by 30%. It instead now provides +25% critical strike chance to Lesser Healing Wave, along with the previous 30% cast time benefit to Healing Wave.
+ Improved Water Shield: This talent now has a 10/20/30% chance to be triggered by Chain Heal, and the charges of Water Shield are no longer consumed by this talent.
Warlocks
* Banish: Effect will now be cancelled if Banish is recast on a banished target.
* Dreadsteed: Can now be learned at level 40.
* Felsteed: Can now be learned at level 20.
* Shadowflame: The angle of the cone effect on this ability was inadvertently very small, making it difficult to use. Its cone is now the same size as similar spells, such as Cone of Cold.
* Soulshatter cooldown reduced to 3 minutes, down from 5 minutes
* Talents
o Affliction
+ Pandemic: Now also increases the critical damage bonus of Haunt by 100%.
o Demonology
+ Fel Domination cooldown reduced to 3 minutes, down from 15 minutes.
o Destruction
+ Empowered Imp: The warlock’s critical hit chance is increased to 100%, up from 20% for the next spell cast after the Imp critically hits a target.
+ Fire and Brimstone: Reduced to 2/4/6/8/10% increased damage from Incinerate and Chaos Bolt on targets afflicted with Immolate, down from 3/6/9/12/15%.
Warriors
* Bloodrage: This ability now generates 20 rage initially, and 10 rage over the next 10 seconds. The health cost is unchanged.
* Execute: This ability now never costs more than a total of 30 rage. The tooltip for Sudden Death has been revised to remove reference to that maximum, since the ability now behaves that way even when untalented.
* Shield Block: Shield Slam no longer benefits from the increased block value granted by this ability. However, while Shield Block is active, Shield Slam generates 100% additional threat.
* Talents
o Fury
+ Armored to the Teeth: This talent now provides 1/2/3 attack power per 108 armor, up from per 180 armor.
+ Bloodsurge: Notification that Slam has become instant now appears in floating combat text.
o Protection
+ Devastate: Weapon damage increased to 60% and bonus per Sunder Armor on the target increased by 20%.
+ Shield Specialization: Now provides 5 rage on a block, dodge or parry instead of 2 rage on a block.
User Interface
* Quest creatures and objects will now show on the player’s world map.
o A skull graphic will be placed on the map in the general area where players can find creatures they must kill for a quest.
o A skull graphic with red eyes will be placed on the map in the general area where creatures can be found that must be killed in order to collect quest objects.
o A gear/cogwheel graphic will be placed on the map in the general area where players must loot quest objects found in the world.
o A chat bubble graphic will be placed on the map in the general area where players must interact with a specific NPC for a quest.
o A yellow question mark graphic will show on the map to provide the location of a NPC whose quest the player has completed.
* The quest log is now double-paned for more easily viewing quest information. The list of all quests a player has will show in one pane, while the quest details of any highlighted quest will display in the next.
* Character name auto-completion for the chat frame, pop-ups, and mail interface can be enabled through an interface option in the Development settings.
* Character names can now be colorized according to class in the chat frame through an interface option in the Development settings.
* Casting bars under a target’s portrait will now indicate whether or not the cast can be interrupted.
* Druids will now be able to see their mana bars when shape-shifted.
* Item Comparisons: Holding the shift key while hovering over an item will now display the stat differences with the item currently equipped in the relevant slot.
* Item Level: A new option has been added under Display in the Interface Options to show the item level on item tooltips.
* Macros and scripts will no longer be able to target totems by name.
* Vendor prices will now be listed on items whether or not players are at a vendor.
* For additional notes on Lua and XML changes please visit the UI & Macros forum.
Graphics
* The frame rate for those with Shadow Effects enabled under the Ultra Video settings has been improved.
World Environment
* Northrend Children’s Week has arrived in Dalaran! Players can find out more by visiting the Eventide District.
* Portal areas in all major cities now offer a portal to the Blasted Lands near the Dark Portal.
* Once crossing through the Dark Portal, players can access a flight path directly from the Stair of Destiny to Shattrath.
* A new zeppelin docking ramp has been added to Thunder Bluff allowing Horde players easier transport to and from Orgrimmar.
* The local Postal Service has grown tired of walking so far each day to collect mail and has decided to install a large number of new mailboxes in Stormwind, Undercity, Darnassus and Orgrimmar.
* Mathiel in Darnassus has finally earned himself enough money from your repair bills that he was able to buy himself an anvil.
Quests
* The ravasaur trainer Mor’vek has returned to Un’Goro and will offer to help Horde players raise and train a Venomhide Ravasaur as a mount… if they can survive the creature’s deadly poison.
Achievements
* A Brew-FAST Mount: A new Feat of Strength achievement for acquiring any epic Brewfest mount.
* Have Keg, Will Travel: Now requires either a Brewfest mount or using Brewfest Hops to transform yours into one.
Professions
* Alchemy
o All stackable potions now stack to 20.
o Added a new pattern for Flask of the North, usable by players with a high alchemy skill. The recipe is purchased from Northrend trainers. Flask of the North increases your spell power, attack power or strength for 1 hour and is usable in Arenas. It is not consumed when used.
o Endless Healing Potion and Endless Mana Potion no longer usable in arenas. Amount of health and mana has been increased, and the cooldown reduced.
o Five new epic gem transmute recipes are available from the Northrend trainer. The recipe for transmuting a Cardinal Ruby can be learned from a quest, given by Linzy Blackbolt in Dalaran.
o The Mixology benefits from Northrend elixirs and flasks have been increased.
o Rage potions can now be used by druids.
* Cooking
o Blackened Dragonfin Recipe: Now only requires 1 Dragonfin Angelfish.
o Chef’s Hat is now superior quality and allows the chef to cook faster.
o Increased the drop rate for recipes from the Outland Daily Cooking quests.
o Increased the chance to get a bonus Dalaran Cooking Token from the Spice Bag.
o The recipe for Captain Rumsey’s Lager can now be randomly found in the quest reward Crate, Barrel, or Spice Bag from the cooking dailies.
* Enchanting
o Values on Northrend ring enchants increased.
* Engineering
o Added a new Mind Amplification Dish attachment for helmets, allowing engineers to control other humanoid targets. Some restrictions apply: does not work in Arenas, dish sometimes reverses targets, unable to stack with other stat-improving head enchantments and makes your helmet look… stylish? This attachment provides a passive bonus of 45 stamina.
o Added a schematic for a Goblin Welding Beam that can heal friendly mechanical or vehicle units.
o Alarm-o-Bot functionality changed. Materials required reduced.
o Box of Bombs no longer requires an anvil.
o The Cobalt Frag Bomb now incapacitates enemies within a 3-yard radius. A short cast time was added, but they are usable while moving. This change applies to any Cobalt Frag Bombs already created. The existing recipe now makes 3 at a time.
o Engineers can now learn to create a portable Wormhole Generator for Northrend. The Wormhole allows them to travel to different locations in Northrend, although the locations are sometimes in dangerous places.
o Gnomish Engineers and Goblin Engineers can now switch profession specializations for a fee.
o Increased benefits from Hyperspeed Accelerators, Hand-Mounted Pyro Rocket and Reticulated Armor Webbing glove modifications.
o Increased the passive bonuses provided by Springy Arachnoweave, Flexweave Underlay and Nitro Boosts.
o Increased siege damage caused by Saronite Bombs and the Global Thermal Sapper Charge.
o Mote Extractor now has innate tracking for gas clouds while it is in your inventory. Tracking of gas clouds has been removed from goggles.
o A new repair bot has been added, and his name is Jeeves. He is the ultimate gentleman robot butler, able to perform all the mundane tasks of repairing, selling and buying junk for your entire raid. Additionally, he can open bank boxes for skilled engineers (350+). Jeeves is not destroyed when used, but due to pressing engagements, can only be summoned once an hour. The schematic for this handsome robot was said to be hidden within the parts of another robot – hoping to be found by an engineer one day.
o Nitro Boosts: Now have a 5-second duration.
o Potion Injectors now increase the amount gained by 25% when used by engineers. Quantity produced by recipes for Runic Healing and Mana Injectors has been increased.
o Reduced the materials needed to create all engineering Dragonlings, and reduced their cooldowns, although they still cannot be used in Arenas.
o Significantly reduced the cooldown on MOLL-E.
o The Spynocular belt attachment has been changed to a Frag Belt. The Frag Belt periodically produces a Cobalt Frag Bomb that can be used from the belt every 6 minutes (never runs out!).
o A Steam-Powered Auctioneer has been added to the Dalaran Like Clockwork engineering shop, allowing access to one’s faction Auction House. The Steam-Powered Auctioneer was programmed with a superiority chip, and will only interact with Grand Master engineers.
o Transporter devices are no longer classified as trinkets and can be used directly from your inventory.
o The Ultrasafe Bullet Machine and Saronite Arrow Maker schematics have been simplified to create a full stack of the appropriate ammunition. No longer requires an anvil. Reduced the materials required to make this ammunition.
o World Enlarger: Cooldown reduced to 15 minutes, down from 1 hour.
* Fishing
o Players with 300 or higher cooking have a chance to find a Waterlogged Recipe in the Bag of Fishing Treasures awarded by the Northrend fishing dailies. This item can be traded to other players and rewards several Dalaran Cooking Rewards when turned in.
* Herbalism
o Increased healing from Lifeblood (Rank 6).
o Lifeblood now scales slightly with maximum health. No longer affected by global cooldown.
* Inscription
o Added a new Glyph of Claw for young feral druids who haven’t yet obtained Mangle. Scribes can learn this glyph from the trainer.
o Master’s Inscriptions increased.
* Jewelcrafting
o Dragon’s Eye gems stat bonuses increased.
o New recipes have been added for cutting epic gems and can be purchased using Dalaran Jewelcrafter’s tokens.
o Icy Prism now has a chance of yielding an epic gem.
o Raw epic gems can be obtained via the following means:
+ Prospecting Titanium Ore
+ Alchemy transmutations
+ Purchased with honor
+ Purchased with Emblems of Heroism
* Leatherworking
o Added recipe for Heavy Knothide Leather to leatherworking trainers (rather than a vendor recipe). Changed several recipes to use Heavy Knothide Leather instead of regular Leather.
o Fur Lining values increased.
* Mining
o Toughness (Rank 6) provides more stamina.
* Skinning
o Master of Anatomy (Rank 6) provides more critical strike rating.
* Tailoring
o Embroideries improved.
Items
* Feral Druid PvP Gloves (seasons 3 and 4): Maim bonus changed from the interrupt bonus used in The Burning Crusade Arena seasons to the cost reduction used in Wrath of the Lich King Arena seasons.
* Glyphs
o Death Knights
+ Glyph of Unholy Blight: Changed to increase damage done by the updated Unholy Blight talent by 40%.
o Druids
+ Glyph of Innervate: Duration reduced to 10 seconds.
o Paladins
+ Glyph of Righteous Defense: Now also increases the chance for Hand of Reckoning to hit.
+ Glyph of Seal of Command: Redesigned to cause the Paladin to gain 8% of base mana each time the paladin judges Command.
+ Glyph of Seal of Blood: Changed to Glyph of Holy Wrath, which reduces its cooldown by 15 seconds.
o Rogues
+ Glyph of Shadow Dance: Now increases the duration of Shadow Dance by 2 seconds, down from 4 seconds.
+ Glyph of Tricks of the Trade: Now increases the duration of the damage bonus effect instead of increasing the damage bonus.
o Shamans
+ Glyph of Healing Wave: The amount of healing the shaman receives is now based on the entire healing amount, including over-healing.
o Warlocks
+ Glyph of Lifetap: Duration of the buff from this glyph increased to 40 seconds.
* Idol of the Corruptor: The agility buff from this idol is now exclusive with the agility buff from Idol of Terror.
* Mage Tier-7 2-Piece Bonus: Now grants 25% additional mana from mana gems, down from 40%.
* Non-Combat Pets: 8 new pets have been added (not including Argent Tournament rewards). Raptor Hatchlings can be found on rare and elite raptors throughout the game world. In addition, an Obsidian Raptor Hatchling can be purchased from Breanni in Dalaran.
Bug Fixes
* Corrected a tooltip issue with Pandora’s Plea.
* Randomly generated uncommon (green) and rare (blue) quality items in Wrath of the Lich King had stat values that were lower than intended. All Wrath of the Lich King uncommon and rare items with random suffixes (“of the Bear”) have had their stat values increased significantly.
* The leatherworking item Guardian Gloves is now correctly marked as uncommon quality.
* Death Knights
o Rune of Razorice: Corrected a bug where this applied to frost damage done by others.
* Druids
o Druids should no longer be removed from a form after using any engineered bombs.
* Hunters
o All ranks of Sonic Blast now properly have an 80 Focus cost.
o Black Arrow Ranks 5 and 6 training costs have been lowered significantly.
o Lock and Load: The tooltip for this talent has been updated to indicate that it also works with Explosive Trap.
o The tooltip for Improved Tracking has been slightly re-written to indicate that it only works on the hunter, and works on melee damage as well.
o T.N.T. (Rank 3): Now indicates that the talent works with Black Arrow.
* Priests
o The heal from Glyph of Power Word: Shield can now cause Divine Aegis.
o Mana Burn: Fixed a bug where Mana Burn did not cause fear effects to break when the fear victim had an absorb shield on.
* Shamans
o Fixed a bug where Frostbrand Weapon (Rank 9) was not scaling properly with a shaman’s spell power.
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