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Author: Mezzy

Host and author of WoW Weekly podcast, guides and website. I have played WoW since classic, enjoy MMORPG’s and game design in general.

Hotfixes: 4 November 2022, Changes to Tanks in Solo Shuffle, PvP with the Blues on Beta

A new week means new hotfixes! We start the week with a couple of bug fixes and class tuning coming with this week’s weekly reset for Holy Priests, Resto Shamans and Warlocks.

Those aren’t the only announced changes though. With the launch of the second phase of the prepatch Solo Shuffle is being adjusted so that tanks fill a dps or healer role. And to top it off there will be a play with the Blues event on the beta this weekend, specifically for PvP!

Quote from: Blizzard

NOVEMBER 7, 2022

Classes

  • Mage
    • Fixed an issue that caused Cascading Power to not grant the correct version of Clearcasting when Arcane Empowerment (PvP Talent) was selected.
  • Paladin
    • Protection
      • Fixed an issue where Sentinel was not benefiting from Righteous Protector’s cooldown reduction.
  • Priest
    • Holy
      • [Live with weekly restarts] Empyreal Blaze now has a 60 sec cooldown (was 30 sec).
  • Shaman
    • Restoration
      • [Live with weekly restarts] Lightning Bolt damage increased by 20% (Restoration only).
      • [Live with weekly restarts] Chain Lightning damage increased by 20% (Restoration only).
      • [Live with weekly restarts] Lava Burst damage increased by 20% (Restoration only).
      • [Live with weekly restarts] Flame Shock damage increased by 20% (Restoration only).
      • [Live with weekly restarts] Acid Rain damage increased by 20%.
  • Warlock
    • [Live with weekly restarts] Soul Leech now grants you and your pet shields that absorb 6% (was 8%) of the damage dealt.
    • [Live with weekly restarts] Soul Link now increases Stamina by 5% (was 10%) if Grimoire of Sacrifice is active.
    • [Live with weekly restarts] Profane Bargain now increases Stamina by 3/5% (was 5/10%) if Grimoire of Sacrifice is active.
    • [Live with weekly restarts] Demonic Fortitude increases you and your pets’ maximum health by 5% (was 6%).
    • [Live with weekly restarts] Inquisitor’s Gaze now casts Fel Blast more often.
    • [Live with weekly restarts] Inquisitor’s Gaze damage increased by 30%.
    • [Live with weekly restarts] Summon Soulkeeper damage increased by 30%.
    • Fixed an issue where Greater Banish was increasing the duration of Banish in PvP.

Changes to Tanks in Solo Shuffle

Quote from: Blizzard

Hello,

We have been following the conversation about tanks in our new PvP mode, Solo Shuffle. Tanks have long been a design challenge for PvP as their abilities and tuning are intended to allow them to survive against multiple enemies or Dungeon and Raid bosses. In Battleground modes, like Capture the Flag, where a large team killing a specific player is the primary objective, the existing design for tanks can work well. One team needs to coordinate their burst and crowd control against the other team’s tank and healers use of their defensive abilities and positioning. But, in the case of Arena, the general survivability of tanks (particularly when they are also good at dealing damage or healing their teammates) can be a frustrating experience to play against.

Our first attempt at addressing this problem in Solo Shuffle was to replace healers with tanks in matches where they were involved and to pair strong off-healing tanks (specifically Protection Paladins) against each other. The feedback we have heard from you is that these matches are not enjoyable for the other players and more needs to be done.

We want to make it clear though, excluding tanks from Arena or Solo Shuffle is not an option we are exploring. We create content that is available to everyone no matter their specialization and there are some players who enjoy playing one class or specialization. We do not want to isolate those players and believe there are more design options for us to explore.

As we continued to discuss the best solutions to the system and how to create a more positive experience in Solo Shuffle for all players, we decided to make the following changes to tanks in Solo Shuffle:

  • Protection Paladins will remain classified as “healers” and will only be placed in matches where the other healer is also a Protection Paladin.
  • The remaining tank specializations will be classified as a damage dealer, with a maximum of one tank damage dealer permitted in the match.
  • Alongside these updates, we will be looking closely at and actively tuning tank abilities in PvP, specifically around how they fit in Solo Shuffle.

These changes will soon be live in the Dragonflight beta and are planned to be available in the Dragonflight pre-expansion patch with phase 2 during the week of November 16.

As always, we appreciate your feedback. Please continue to provide feedback via the forums or to @WarcraftDevs on Twitter.

PvP with the Blues

Quote from: Blizzard

This Friday, November 11, come join members of the World of Warcraft development team on Valdrakken realm on Beta as we playtest Dragonflight’s new talent trees in a PvP environment. We will be observing and looking for areas of feedback on general PvP, focused on talent builds and the recent adjustments made to player health and dampening.

We’ll get underway at 3:00 p.m. PST (5:00 p.m. CST, 6:00 p.m. EST) with an hour of random Battlegrounds. To playtest this with us, log into the Beta and open Group Finder (default hotkey: i), then select Random Battlegrounds and click Join Battle.

Then starting at 4:00 p.m. PST (6:00 p.m. CST, 7:00 p.m. EST) we’re going to switch over to Rated Solo Shuffle for two hours. To playtest this with us, log into the PTR and open Group Finder (default hotkey: i), then select Rated Solo Shuffle and click Join Battle.

Before then, get your PvP character ready on Valdrakken, by simply creating a character on the realm that will be set at level 70 and you’ll be near the various gear and professions vendors in Orgrimmar and Stormwind, depending on your faction.

We look forward to playtesting with you and reading your feedback afterward, see you there!

Hotfixes: November 4 2022, Creation Catalyst Plans, Beta Mythic+ Testing & PTR Prepatch Testing

Last night was a large news night! We got more bugfixes through hotfixes and Blizzard detailed the account wide way we’ll be able to earn charges for the Catalyst tier converter! Additionally Temple of the Jade Serpent is testable in Mythic+ this weekend and the Prepatch event is up on the PTR for the duration of the weekend as well!

Quote from: Blizzard

November 4, 2022

Classes

  • Monk
    • Fixed an issue where Tiger Tail Sweep rank 2 was not granting a bonus over rank 1.
  • Paladin
    • Holy
      • Fixed an issue that caused Recompense to not function with the Ultimate Sacrifice PvP talent.
  • Rogue
    • Assassination
      • Fixed an issue preventing the Exsanguinate talent from benefitting from increased range provided by the Acrobatic Strikes talent.
    • Outlaw
      • Fixed an issue that caused the Opportunity talent tooltip to display an incorrect value.
      • Fixed an issue that caused Skull and Crossbones (Roll the Bones effect) to provide a bonus much lower than intended.
      • Fixed an issue that prevented bonus Pistol Shots from the Fan the Hammer talent from triggering Blade Flurry.
      • Fixed an issue that prevented the Greenskin’s Wickers talent from benefitting from Echoing Reprimand’s Animacharge effect.
  • Warlock
    • Affliction
      • Fixed an issue where Inquisitor’s Gaze would attack enemies that were not in combat with you.

Quests

  • Fixed an issue with the “That’s a Good Trick” quest that was preventing players from interacting with Lady Moonberry and completing the quest.

User Interface and Accessibility

  • Fixed an issue where action bars could get cleared when switching loadouts.
  • Fixed an issue where some characters may be unable to change their talents.

Creation Catalyst Plans

Quote from: Blizzard

The future is now!

We’ve seen some recent feedback on the Catalyst that we’d like to speak to, with a bit of clarification on how we’re updating the Catalyst.

When the Catalyst becomes available in Dragonflight Season 1, there will not be a new currency. Instead, there will be a weekly quest that simply requires doing the same sorts of group content that provides you with Catalyst-eligible gear in the first place. Notably:

  • All characters on your WoW account can contribute progress towards completing this quest.
  • Completing the quest awards 1 charge to all current and future characters on your WoW account.
  • Each of your characters can spend charges individually.

So, if you have done the quest 3 three times, and used 3 charges on your main character, a new alt that reaches level 70 will have 3 charges of their own available.

Thank you very much for your feedback!

Beta Mythic+ Testing – Nov 4th-7th

Quote from: Blizzard

Greetings!

Dragonflight Mythic+ testing will once again be available on Beta this weekend. The test period will begin Friday November 4th at 16:00 PDT (19:00 EDT, 01:00 CEST), and end Monday November 7th at 16:00 PDT (19:00 EDT, 01:00 CEST). Please note that the test period may be adjusted in the event of technical difficulties.

This weekend mainly features a lot of tuning, bug fixes, and quality of life improvements. We’d particularly appreciate testing with affixes to help us identify any issues with affix interactions in specific dungeons.

During the test period you’ll be able to acquire and customize Mythic Keystones by talking to the Keystone Vendor in Stormwind or Orgrimmar, and the nearby Dungeon Teleports NPC will assist you with transportation.

We look forward to hearing your feedback!

Quote from: Blizzard

But wait, there’s more!

We’ve just confirmed that Temple of the Jade Serpent is stable enough be tested this weekend, and it should now be available on Beta. This dungeon received the most changes out of all our returning dungeons in the season 1 pool, so we’re excited to hear any thoughts you have on the updated experience.

Dragonflight PTR Pre-patch Events Testing and Feedback

Quote from: Blizzard

We have just updated the Dragonflight PTR to test the following over the weekend:

  • The Introductory Quest Line
  • Elemental Storms in Badlands and Un’Goro.
    • These Storms will change the surrounding area’s weather and enhance enemies with additional powers.
  • The Return of Uldaman as a level 60 dungeon.

This playtest will end on the Dragonflight PTR on Sunday, November 6 at 11:59 p.m. PDT.

Please provide any feedback you have in this thread.

See you there!

Hotfixes: November 3 2022, Dragonflight Beta: Priests, Crafting Orders & Dungeon Preview

Last night hotfixes were deployed to fix a bunch of bugs with mostly UI fixes. At the same time on the Beta side of things Blizzard detailed changes coming to Discipline Priests and the crafting order system. The blues also posted a preview describing the 8 new Dragonflight dungeons.

Quote from: Blizzard

November 3, 2022

Classes

Fixed an issue where some class abilities were inappropriately snaring certain bosses and boss mechanics.

  • Hunter
    • Beast Mastery, Marksmanship
      • Fixed an issue where Alpha Predator did not increase the damage of Kill Command.
  • Warlock
    • Affliction
      • Fixed an issue where Malefic Affliction would be removed when reapplying Unstable Affliction to the same target.

User Interface and Accessibility

  • Fixed an issue where the Void Storage NPC could not be interacted with if the UI was close with the ‘Esc’ key.
  • Fixed an issue where the “Friendly Players” option appeared twice in the Interface options menu.
  • Fixed an issue that caused gamepad bindings to disappear for ranged characters.
  • Fixed an issue where the cast bar would disappear when casting a spell while in edit mode.
  • Fixed an issue where max background FPS was uncapped if max foreground FPS toggle was unchecked.
  • Fixed an issue where users were getting an error when updating their UI through edit mode.
  • Fixed an issue where some non-PvP items were displaying PvP tooltips while browsing in the Auction House
  • Fixed an issue that was causing memory leaks for some Mac users when Alt-Tabbing.
  • Fixed an issue where some transmogs were not displaying correctly on Worgen when changing forms.
  • Fixed an issue where several objects in the Legion Mage Class Order Hall appeared unlit.

Dragonflight Beta: Priests & Crafting Orders

Quote from: Blizzard

Hello Priests!

Thank you for your feedback on our recent changes to Evangelism. Discipline healing scales faster than other healing specializations, as target count increases, which makes it challenging for us to tune the spec to be competitive in both small-scale and large-scale content.

To address this, we’re changing Sins of the Many to a low-level passive and increasing its effectiveness. Discipline is currently overperforming our tuning targets in raids in Dragonflight, so we’re doing this alongside several changes to decrease the specialization’s overall power.

You’ll see the following changes as hotfixes to the Dragonflight Beta over the coming days.

Discipline

  • Sins of the Many is now a passive learned at level 12.
    • Increases damage by 30% (was 12%).
    • Damage increase diminishes above 5 Atonement applications (was 1).
  • In the talent tree, Sins of the Many has been replaced with Blaze of Light.
  • Blaze of Light increases the damage of your Smite and Penance by 8%/15% and Penance increases or decreases your target’s movement speed by 25%/50% for 2 seconds.
  • Blaze of Light is no longer a PvP Talent.
  • Evangelism once again has a 1.5 minute cooldown (was 3 minutes).
  • Spell damage heals all targets affected by Atonement for 40% of damage done (was 50%).
  • Power Word: Radiance now applies Atonement for 60% of its normal duration (was 50%).
  • Schism increases spell damage to the target by 15% (was 25%).
  • Malicious Intent increases the duration of Schism by 6 seconds (was 3 seconds).
  • Harsh Discipline has been redesigned.
    • Every 10 / 5 casts of Smite, your next Penance is free and fires an additional 3 bolts. (Was: When Atonement has healed a total of 200 / 100 times, your next Penance is free and fires 3 additional bolts).

Please note: these changes will not be applied all together to the Dragonflight Beta. We expect to deploy them for testing separately over the next few days.

Thanks again for all of your feedback.

Quote from: Blizzard

Hello.

We’ve been closely following all of your feedback here as we’ve also been playtesting and iterating on this system. As a result, we have developed some changes to Crafting Orders.

For public crafting orders, the customer will now have to provide all basic reagents.

  • Optional reagents that previously could be provided by either party (such as missives) are unchanged.
  • This change does not affect guild or private orders.

This is to help streamline the process of deciding on a commission for the customer, and figuring out if an order is worth filling for the crafter.

When a customer places an order, there will be a track recipe checkbox in the bottom right of the reagents that tracks the recipe for them to easily see what reagents they need in order to assist in gathering reagents to place the order.

  • This will not show for recrafting orders.

If there are any public orders posted for the recipe you are placing an order for, the commission field should auto-fill to match the highest commissioned existing order, +1 silver.

  • Recrafting Orders are now limited to personal and guild orders only. We hope to re-add Public Recrafting Orders in a later patch. This is primarily to protect customers from having their crafts inadvertently lowered in quality.

Items with different iLvl for each quality now display a + next to their iLvl in the customer’s list of recipes they can place orders for. Mousing over the iLvl will display a tooltip with the iLvl at each quality as well as a disclaimer about optional reagents.

When the customer is viewing an order (including placing an order and looking at existing/completed orders) there will be a button in the top right near the recipe name to favorite that recipe.

  • This will not show for recrafting orders.

We currently have a known issue:

  • If reagents are supplied for Crafting Orders and the reagents are in two separate item stacks in the player’s inventory, the Crafting Order can sometimes fail to be created or fulfilled.

The changes above have now been implemented in the Dragonflight Beta, and are ready for further testing.

Thank you very much for testing and providing feedback.

Adventure Lies Ahead in the New Dragonflight Dungeons

Quote from: Blizzard

Four new level-up dungeons and four maximum-level dungeons await players who venture into the Dragon Isles. Whether you’re looking for loot, a new challenge, or to learn more about this ancient land, you’ll need to gather your courage— and your allies— for the trials ahead.

Level-up dungeons:

  • Ruby Life Pools
  • Brackenhide Hollow
  • The Nokhud Offensive
  • Uldaman: Legacy of Tyr

Max-level dungeons:

  • Neltharus
  • The Azure Vault
  • Halls of Infusion
  • Algeth’ar Academy

Zone: The Waking Shores

Ruby Life Pools

As the ancestral nesting grounds for the five flights, the Ruby Life Pools is a sacred place. The Red Dragonflight, whose charge it is to nurture all life, protect these pools and the future of all dragonkind held within them.

However, Raszageth and her Primalists have come to steal that future away and infuse their own powers into the sacred pools. They must be stopped for dragonkind to thrive.

  • Melidrussa Chillworn: Melidrussa Chillworn leads the Primalist infusion efforts in the Ruby Life Pools. Her fervent belief is that she is protecting young dragon eggs from the influence of the titans and cleansing them from the stain of Order magic. She will stop at nothing to fulfill her calling and return the eggs to what she believes is their natural state.
  • Kokia Blazehoof: As Primalist forces assault the Ruby Life Pools from all sides, it falls to Kokia and her Blazebound lieutenants to capture precious eggs from overwhelmed defenders, spreading flame and havoc as they go.
  • Kyrakka and Erkhart Stormvein: Kyrakka and Erkhart roam the skies above the Ruby Life Pools coordinating attacks on the shrine below while also taking out any interfering dragons. If left unchecked, they burn the Life Pools to the ground and blow the remaining ash away in a cleansing elemental storm.

Neltharus

Beneath the Obsidian Citadel lies Neltharus, home of the black dragonflight’s hoard and the secrets behind their legendary forging. When the djaradin woke from their slumber, they chose Neltharus as the point of entry for their attack. Surprised to find it deserted, they quickly laid claim to its secrets for themselves… as well as the rest of the Obsidian Citadel.

  • Chargath, Bane of Scales: This veteran dragon hunter’s title was given eons as a mark of legend. While the Qalashi hunters under his command train, he plans their next offensive and awaits with eager anticipation the opportunity to display his expertise.
  • Forgemaster Gorek: As one of the djaradin’s most distinguished craftsmen, the Forgemaster Gorek now resides in his sweltering chamber of the black dragon barracks. There, he harnesses the igneous power of the massive forge to construct deadly weaponry.
  • Magmatusk: The djaradin discovered many of Neltharion’s secrets while plundering Neltharus. An experimental potion gone awry created Magmatusk, a behemoth of a mammoth bent on sheer destruction.
  • Warlord Sargha: Leader of the Qalash djaradin, Warlord Sargha has been in search of anything that would increase the power of her clan and help take down their draconic enemies. In the hoard at the heart of Neltharus, she may have found exactly what the djaradin need.

Zone: The Azure Span

Brackenhide Hollow

Brackenhide Hollow is the largest gnoll settlement in the Dragon Isles, and home tounspeakable danger. Decay seeps from the Hollow, spreading among the gnoll tribes of the Azure Span and threatening to rot away all life. In the heart of the Hollow lies the leader of the Brackenhide, and the knowledge she gleefully shares with her withered kin.

  • Hackclaw’s War-Band: Rira Hackclaw and her compatriots, Gashtooth and Tricktotem have risen up as a deadly warband among the Brackenhide. Their tactics are the reason tuskarr never travel alone, and their strength is the reason Wratheye has them guarding the gate to the Hollow.
  • Treemouth: Withered by decay, this once proud ancient has been dubbed Treemouth by the gnolls. As the rot settled into its branches, so too did it settle in the poor creature’s mind, leaving a creature bent on nothing more than the need to feed and spread decay.
  • Gutshot: This sharpshooting gnoll has mastered the art of hunting, trapping, and killing her prey. Impressed by her abilities and cunning, the Decatriarch has assigned Gutshot to oversee and train the other hunters…and take out any interlopers that might venture too far into Brackenhide.
  • Decatriarch Wratheye: Wratheye discovered decay magic in her thirst for power, and declared herself the Decatriarch after mastering it. She now builds the strength of the Brackenhide by spreading her dark magic among her tribe so the tuskarr, and all of the Azure Span, will rot in its wake.

The Azure Vault

Long ago, Malygos created the Azure Vault as a place for Sindragosa to catalogue and store away curious magical artifacts he found. Locked away and deserted millenia ago, the Vault has since fallen into disrepair, leaving it vulnerable to attacks from without… and within.

  • Leymor: Leymor was born of a humble seedling that Malygos found in a pool of ley energy. Once but a small sprout in Sindragosa’s garden, over millenia Leymor has shot up like a weed. Left to its own devices, the looming giant would surely overrun the entirety of the Azure Vault.
  • Azureblade: As security for the Vault, Azureblade refused to leave when it was sealed, choosing duty over safety. When the blue dragons failed to return, her bitter resignation drove her to eventual madness. Extending her own life with the magics she was sworn to protect, Azureblade now claims ownership over all the blue dragonflight left behind.
  • Telash Greywing: Furious at the blue dragonflight, Telash Greywing is determined to find the secrets that Sindragosa has been hiding in the Arcane Vault. Together with the Sundered Flame, he is certain he will discover more about the origins of the dracthyr… and incriminating evidence against the blue dragonflight.
  • Umbrelskul: Millenia ago, Umbrelskul unwittingly meddled with raw arcane power. Riddled with crystalline growths, he was taken to the Azure Vault until a cure could be found. Sadly, the Vault was sealed away before the research was completed, leaving Umbrelskul sleeping in stasis… until now.

Zone: Ohn’ahran Plains

The Nokhud Offensive

After Clan Nokhud captured the ancient eagle spirit, Ohn’ahra, civil war spread across the Ohn’ahran plains like wildfire. To the other clans, Ohn’ahra is more than a mere spirit: she is their goddess. Primalists summon elemental forces, and necromancers command the spirits of legendary centaur. Beset by enemies, the other Maruuk clans rally. The Nokhud tyrant, Balakar Khan, watches from afar, bellowing commands. Relentless enemy offenses will continue until his forces submit. The battlefield awaits.

  • Granyth: Granyth casts his shadow over the plains of Ohn’ahra appearing as an omen of death and destruction. As battles between centaur clans rage across the plains, he knows it is time to destroy his ancient enemies once and for all. Soon he will land on the battlefield. Clan Shikaar’s ballistae will be ready.
  • The Raging Tempest: Violent storm winds that ravage the plains of Ohn’ahra have coalesced into an avatar of the storm. The Raging Tempest continues to gather power to devastate not only the plains of Ohn’ahra, but eventually the entirety of the Dragon Isles. Unless champions can defeat the stormcasters and dispel their relentless elemental, Primalist chaos will reign on the plains.
  • Teera and Maruuk: Ukhel necromancers are resurrecting legendary centaur. The spirits of the first matriarch, Teera, and the centaur’s greatest warrior, Maruuk have risen from their graves. Once their furty has abated, perhaps they can find rest again…and eternal peace.
  • Balakar Khan: Balakar Khan is the ruthless and mighty leader of the Nokhud clan. His stormcasters have captured the great eagle spirit Ohn’ahra, and he wants to seize the Windmother’s power. Hatred unites his clan against all “outsiders.” As the relentless offensive continues, someone must stand up to this tyrant.

Zone: Eastern Kingdoms: Badlands

Uldaman: Legacy of Tyr


Zone: Thaldraszus

Halls of Infusion

Deep beneath Tyrhold lies the Halls of Infusion. Its structure was built upon an ancient wellspring, the waters of which were channeled by Keeper Tyr to feed the Life Pools of the red flight. Now that the Dragon Isles have reawakened, Primalist forces have invaded these halls. Have they come to destroy the facility…or to reveal secrets that Tyr left behind?

  • Watcher Irideus: Tasked by Tyr to protect and maintain the Halls of Infusion, Watcher Irideus has performed his duties to perfection…until now. Caught off guard by the Primalists’ incursion, he was overwhelmed by the elemental forces they unleashed. A mistake he does not intend to make again.
  • Gulping Goliath: Deep within the caverns of the halls of Infusion lurks the Gulping Goliath. Sire to countless generations of hornswogs, the Goliath and his brood have thrived upon the unprocessed waters of the wellspring. Driven by an insatiable hunger, he will eagerly devour any creature that strays too close to his lair.
  • Khajin the Unyielding: Khajin the Unyielding seethes with hatred for Keeper Tyr for tampering with the ancient wellspring beneath Tyrhold. Waters that once flowed with the eternal essence of Azeroth have been polluted by Order magic. Khajin would see the world freed from the malignant legacy of the titans…at any cost.
  • Primal Tsunami: Infuser Sariya is driven to restore the world to what it once was: a primal elemental landscape of unfettered power. She has used all her will and cunning to summon the Primal Tsunami, an elemental being mighty enough to topple Keeper Tyr’s facility and return the waters of the wellspring to their natural state.

Algeth’ar Academy

Long ago, the great Algeth’ar Academy was a place of higher learning for all dragons. Though it fell dormant with the rest of the Isles, it has reopened and is back under the guidance of Headteacher Doragosa. In a series of exciting, new changes, the Academy is currently seeking new students from all walks of life, not just dragons, as well as volunteers, to help get it back to the bustling halls of education it once was. Those who walk the Academy grounds are sure to learn something new.

  • Vexamus: As one of the most tenured professors in the academy, Maxdormu uses his powers as a bronze dragon to help bring his history lessons to life.
    While this proves to be quite an educational and fun experience, it can occasionally go awry. Vexamus is one of Professor Maxdormu’s favorite lessons, but if any historical detail is inaccurate, he will be quick to scold any rowdy students.
  • Overgrown Ancient: Professors Mystakria and Ichistrasz have used just a touch too much magic in an effort to clear the botany labs. Now they have a big, leafy problem on their hands in the form of an Overgrown Ancient that threatens to undo all their hard work.
  • Crawth: The Lish Lirath, or Talon Toss, arena is quite literally for the birds these days. Crawth has taken up residence in the center of the arena and has no immediate plans to move out soon. Let’s see if we can get her to play ball…and leave.
  • Echo of Headteacher Doragosa: Headteacher Doragosa thought of everything when it came to Algeth’ar Academy. Including a complex simulacrum of herself to take care of any day-to-day tasks and upkeep while the isles lay dormant. Now that the Academy is open once again, perhaps she can use it to help keep track of all the new students. It’s done a fine job in the interim and is absolutely the one spell that did not degrade after all these years. Perfectly stable and helpful. Right?

Challenging new adventures and glittering treasures await with the release of Dragonflight!

Hotfixes: November 2 2022, Dragonflight Mythic+ Rating Adjustments & Player Health and Creature Damage at level 70

This morning we have a smaller list of hotfixes for various bugs including one that should punish those who leave Rated Solo Shuffle early.

On the Dragonflight Beta side of things Blizzard announced an increase in earned rating for keys at 11 and higher to offset the increased difficulty as well as an increase in player health and creature damage at level 70.

Quote from: Blizzard

November 2, 2022

Classes

  • Druid
    • Guardian
      • Fixed an issue that prevented Scintillating Moonlight from reducing damage taken.
  • Monk
    • Mistweaver
      • Clouded Focus now correctly buffs the Enveloping Mist healing from Tear of Morning.
  • Paladin
    • Fixed an issue preventing Avenging Wrath nodes from being draggable from the talent pane.
  • Warlock
    • Affliction
      • Malefic Affliction is now applied to the caster rather than an enemy target for easier tracking.
      • Fixed an issue where Dread Touch was not correctly being applied.
      • Fixed an issue where Doom Blossom was not gaining an increased chance of occurring from your stack count of Malefic Affliction.
    • Demonology
      • Fixed an issue where Annihilan Training would not be reapplied to your Felguard if learned while your Felguard was active.

Player versus Player

  • Players who leave Rated Solo Shuffle early now are appropriately penalized.

Quests

  • Fixed an issue where the quest “A One-Way Ticket to the Heart” couldn’t be completed

Wrath of the Lich King Classic

  • Achievements
    • The Battlemaster achievement should now correctly grant the Battlemaster title.

Mythic+ Difficulty and Rating Adjustments

Quote from: Blizzard

As we previously noted, we’ve increased the difficulty of Mythic+ dungeons at keystone 10 and higher in Dragonflight, to better match the quality of rewards offered by those difficulties.

Following testing and feedback, and considering how much players enjoy pursuing Keystone Master as a seasonal goal, we’ve decided to make an adjustment to grant additional Mythic+ Rating for keys above Level 10:

  • M+ keys at each keystone level from 11 and up are now worth an additional 2 points of Rating. For example, in Shadowlands Season 4, completing a dungeon exactly on time on both Fortified and Tyrannical would net you a Rating of 250 for that dungeon. In Dragonflight Season 1, you will now earn 270 Rating.

This means that while keys above Level 10 will become more difficult and you may not be able to push as high as you did in recent Shadowlands seasons, you’ll achieve Keystone Master at lower keystones. We expect players who previously earned this achievement to find the challenge about the same as before.

Thank you very much for your testing and feedback!

Changes to Player Health and Creature Damage at level 70

Quote from: Blizzard

Throughout raid testing in the Dragonflight beta, we have noticed that healing has felt too powerful in level 70 content. This has largely been the result of the impact that 10 additional talent points can have on player damage and healing throughput at level 70.

Generally, we increase player health at the same rate as throughput. This ensures that the pace of the game feels relatively consistent across all levels. One recent example is the covenant renown reward, Deepening Bond, that increased player Stamina by 10% to offset the power gains of Covenant abilities, soulbinds and conduits. After further analysis and playtesting, we have decided that in an upcoming build we will bake the 10% increase to Stamina from Deepening Bond into the base stats of level 60 characters to offset power gained from the new talent system and change Deepening Bond to an increase to movement speed in the Shadowlands.

When damage mitigation abilities and healing are too strong relative to player health, the only way to threaten players is to make enemy damage very high and spiky. If healers can very quickly top off their teammates and mana isn’t a limiting factor, enemies have to be tuned to have the capacity to do burst damage that kills players before healers can react. That isn’t very satisfying gameplay. Increasing player health gives players more time to react to incoming damage, and it make players’ choices about cooldowns and mana management more meaningful.

To address this, we are increasing player stamina and creature damage by 40% at level 70 . This has an effect on the power of healing in PvP, so we will subsequently evaluate and consider adjusting the PvP trinket set bonus values and the tuning of Dampening in Arena. We’re also looking at how this change affects the balance of percentage-based healing versus other healing spells, and we’ll make targeted adjustments there if necessary.

We look forward to your feedback and experiences with these changes on the Dragonflight beta. Thank you!

Hotfixes: November 1 2022, Dragonflight Beta Development Notes, Update on Dragonflight Season 1 Rated PvP Rewards

Today’s hotfixes bring the tuning changes with the weekly reset as well as a fix for pet battle experience stones.

On the beta side of things we also got some class tuning as well as the possibility to test crafting orders on the Valdrakken (max level) realm and dungeon trinkets. Furthermore Blizzard has announced that due to some issues they are facing, not all rated PvP rewards will be available right away.

Quote from: Blizzard

November 1, 2022

Classes

  • Death Knight
    • Fixed an issue where both charges of Death’s Grip could be accidentally used in quick succession when talented into Death’s Echo.
  • Demon Hunter
    • Havoc
      • Chaos Strike and Annihilation damage reduced by 5%.
      • First Blood damage bonus reduced to 75% of attack power (was 85%).
      • Inner Demon damage increased by 25%.
      • Fixed an issue that prevented Inner Demon damage from being increased by Havoc’s Mastery and Demon Soul effects.
  • Druid
    • Feral
      • Brutal Slash is now usable in Bear Form and replaces Swipe while in Bear Form. It does not generate combo points or cost energy while in Bear form.
  • Hunter
    • Beast Mastery
      • War Orders now grants Barbed Shot a 25/50% chance to reset the cooldown of Kill Command (was 50/100%)
      • Healing done to your pets from Mend Pet or Exhilaration no longer grants any healing to the Hunters from Leech.
    • Marksmanship
      • Corrected an issue where Chimaera Shot had two chances to trigger the Lethal Shots talent.
      • Aimed Shot damage reduced by 15%.
  • Mage
    • Fixed an issue with Summon Water Elemental where it was persisting in situations where it shouldn’t
  • Monk
    • Windwalker
      • Fists of Fury damage reduced by 20%.
      • Rising Sun Kick damage reduced by 20%.
      • Blackout Kick damage reduced by 10%.
      • Storm, Earth, and Fire damage transfer reduced by 6.66(repeating, of course)%.
      • Serenity causes the Monk to deal 15% increased damage (was 20%).
      • Invoke Xuen duration reduced to 20 seconds (was 24 seconds).
      • Shadowboxing Treads increases Blackout Kick damage by 10% (was 20%).
      • Teachings of the Monastery now causes Blackout Kick to have a 12% chance to reset the remaining cooldown on Rising Sun Kick (was 15%).
      • Fury of Xuen haste bonus has been reduced to 5% (was 8%).
      • Whirling Dragon Punch damage reduced by 10%.
      • Forbidden Technique now causes Touch of Death to deal 20% increased damage (was 40%) in addition to its current effects.
      • Rushing Jade Wind damage reduced by 10%.
      • Xuen’s Battlegear now causes Rising Sun Kick critical strikes to reduce the cooldown of Fists of Fury by 4 seconds (was 5) and when Fists of Fury ends, the critical strike chance of Rising Sun Kick is now increased by 40% (was 50%).
        • Developers’ note: Windwalker Monks are dealing too much damage across the board. As a result, we’ve reduced the damage of most Chi spenders (Spinning Crane Kick and the recently improved Strike of the Windlord being the notable exceptions), reduced the throughput of major cooldowns (Storm, Earth, and Fire, Serenity, and Invoke Xuen), and reduced the effect of some powerful talents with the goal of preserving build parity after these changes.
  • Paladin
    • Fixed an issue where the Hallowed Ground talent was incorrectly increasing all Holy damage dealt, rather than just the damage of Consecrate.
  • Priest
    • Crystalline Reflection reflects 6%/12% of damage absorbed (was 10%/20%).
    • Mindgames damage reduced by 25% for Shadow and Holy.
    • Mindgames damage reduced by 50% for Discipline.
    • Discipline
      • Power Word: Radiance applies Atonement at 50% duration (was 60%).
      • Power Word: Radiance healing increased by 30%.
      • Ultimate Radiance increases the healing of Power Word: Radiance by 100% (was 150%).
      • Evangelism cooldown increased to 3 minutes (was 1.5 minutes).
      • Light’s Wrath damage increased by 25%.
      • Light’s Wrath gains 6% damage per ally affected by Atonement (was 10%).
    • Holy
      • Renew healing reduced by 5%.
      • Prayer of Mending healing reduced by 5%.
      • Flash Heal healing reduced by 5%.
      • Heal healing reduced by 5%.
      • Prayer of Healing healing reduced by 5%.
      • Holy Word: Sanctify healing reduced by 5%.
      • Holy Word: Serenity healing reduced by 5%.
      • Circle of Healing healing reduced by 5%.
      • Cosmic Ripple healing reduced by 5%.
      • Divine Hymn healing reduced by 5%.
      • Divine Word: Sanctuary healing reduced by 5%.
      • Holy Word: Salvation healing reduced by 5%.
    • Shadow
      • Shadow Word: Pain damage increased by 10%.
      • Mind Blast damage increased by 10%.
      • Inescapable Torment damage increased by 10%.
      • Shadow Word: Death damage increased by 10%.
      • Vampiric Touch damage increased by 10%.
      • Mind Spike damage increased by 10%.
      • Mind Flay damage increased by 10%.
      • Devouring Plague damage increased by 10%.
      • Mind Sear damage increased by 10%.
      • Shadowy Apparition damage increased by 10%.
      • Void Torrent damage increased by 10%.
      • Shadow Crash damage increased by 10%.
      • Idol of N’zoth’s Echoing Void damage increased by 10%.
      • Idol of Yogg-Saron’s Thing from Beyond Void Spike damage increased by 10%.
      • Dark Void damage increased by 10%.
      • Unfurling Darkness damage increased by 10%.
      • Void Eruption damage increased by 10%.
      • Void Bolt damage increased by 10%.
      • Void Tendril’s Mind Flay damage increased by 10%.
      • Void Lasher’s Mind Sear damage increased by 10%.
  • Rogue
    • Ambush damage increased by 20%.
    • Rupture damage increased by 5%.
    • Assassination
      • Garrote damage increased by 5%.
      • Mutilate damage increased by 5%.
      • Deathmark damage increased by 15%.
      • Amplifying Poison – Envenom damage bonus increased to 35% (was 30%).
      • Scent of Blood maximum Agility bonus increased to 24% (was 15%).
    • Subtlety
      • Backstab damage increased by 5%.
      • Eviscerate damage increased by 5%.
      • Shadowstrike damage increased by 5%.
      • Gloomblade damage increased by 5%.
      • Secret Technique damage increased by 5%.
      • Deepening Shadows cooldown reduction per combo point spent increased to 0.7 seconds (was 0.6 seconds).
  • Shaman
    • Elemental
      • Lightning Bolt damage increased by 10%.
      • Chain Lightning damage increased by 10%.
      • Lava Burst damage increased by 18%.
      • Flame Shock damage increased by 10%.
      • Frost Shock damage increased by 10%.
      • Elemental Blast damage increased by 10%.
      • Lava Beam damage increased by 10%.
      • Earthquake damage increased by 10%.
      • Earth Shock damage increased by 10%.
      • Icefury damage increased by 10%.
      • Liquid Magma Totem damage increased by 10%.
      • Fire Blast damage increased by 10%.
      • Primal Fire Elemental’s Meteor damage increased by 10%.
      • Primal Fire Elemental’s Immolate damage increased by 10%.
    • Enhancement
      • All damage dealt reduced by 25%.
  • Warlock
    • Affliction
      • Fixed an issue where your Malefic Affliction would be removed if another Warlock applied Malefic Affliction.
      • Vile Taint now applies Curse of Exhaustion with a 6 second duration (was 12 seconds).
      • Sacrolash’s Dark Strike now extends Curses by 0.2/0.4 seconds (was 0.5/1.0 seconds).
    • Demonology
      • Implosion damage increased by 25%.
      • Bilescourge Bombers’ damage increased by 20%.
      • Hand of Gul’dan damage increased by 35%.
      • Guillotine’s Fel Explosion damage increased by 25%.
      • Guillotine’s Fel Explosion radius is now 8 yards (was 4 yards).
      • Vilefiend damage increased by 20%.
      • Grimoire: Felguard damage increased by 20%.
      • Annihilan Training now increases the damage of Felguard by 20% (was 10%).
      • Wild Imps now have a 15/30% chance to become an Imp Gang Boss (was 5/10%).
      • Imp Gang Bosses now deal 50% increased damage (was 20%).
      • Pit Lord (from Gul’dan’s Ambition) damage increased by 25%.
      • Demonic Tyrant’s Demonfire damage increased by 10%.
    • Destruction
      • Rolling Havoc now lasts 6 seconds (was 5 seconds).
      • Madness of the Azj’Aqir now lasts 5 seconds (was 4 seconds).

Pet Battles

  • Fixed an issue that could cause a miscalculation when leveling up a battle pet with Battle-Training Stones.

Wrath of the Lich King Classic

  • Art
    • Several ability’s animations and visual effects should now be displaying correctly (i.e. Will to Survive and Divine Storm).
  • Character
    • The Tauren Endurance racial bonus now works as expected.
    • Fixed an issue where sometimes after a name change there are some areas in-game where the previous character name shows up.
  • Classes
    • Fixed an issue where Shamans could summon more than one elemental at a time.
  • Player versus Player
    • Losing a Random Battleground at max level will now correctly reward zero gold.
  • User Interface and Accessibility
    • Fixed an issue where some areas in the game would sometimes show your previous character name after a name change.

Dragonflight Beta Development Notes

Quote from: Blizzard

Hello adventurers! Here are this week’s changes in Dragonflight Beta!

CLASSES

  • Druid
    • Feral
      • Brutal Slash now replaces Swipe in bear form as well. Brutal Slash does not cost energy or generate combo points while in Bear Form.
    • Guardian
      • The Guardian druid tree has undergone changes to its node connections and talent positions.
        • Scintillating Moonlight, Twin Moonfire & Galactic Guardian are now after the 20 point gate.
        • Survival of the Fittest, After the Wildfire/Guardian of Elune choice node & Soul of the Forest are now after the 8 point gate.
        • Dream of Cenarius has been split out of it’s choice node with Ursoc’s Fury.
      • Maul – Damage has been increased by 40%
      • Mangle – Damage has been increased by 15%
      • Twin Moonfire – Damage bonus to Moonfire has been reduced to 10% (was 20%) in addition to its existing effects.
      • Guardian of Elune – Mangle now increases the duration of your next Ironfur by 3 sec (was 2 seconds) in addition to its existing effects.
      • After the Wildfire – Healing from this ability has been increased by 50%.
  • Evoker
    • Tail Swipe radius increased to 8 yards (was 6 yards).
    • Time Stop (PvP talent) is no longer on the global cooldown.
    • Deep Breath deals 40% increased damage in PvP combat.
    • Devastation
      • Pyre damage increased by 30%.
      • Volatility’s chance increased to 15% at rank 1, 30% at rank 2.
      • Eye of Infinity now generates 1 Essence when Eternity Surge critically strikes (was granting Essence Burst).
  • Hunter
    • Survival
      • Deadly Duo has been redesigned – While Spearhead is active, Mongoose Bite increases the damage of your next Kill Command by 40% and the reset chance of your next Kill Command by 25%, stacking up to 3 times. Kill Command cooldown resets extend the duration of Spearhead by 1.5 seconds.
  • Monk
    • Mistweaver
      • Unison – Now additionally functions with Jade Serpent Statue’s Soothing Mist.
      • Resolved an issue that cause Misty Peaks Enveloping Mists to not be extended properly by Rising Mist.
  • Paladin
    • Holy
      • Light of the Martyr – Now costs 9% of base mana (was 7%).
      • Barrier of Faith – Now costs 16% of base mana (was 9.5%).
      • Tyr’s Deliverance – Now costs 12% of base mana (was 0%).
      • Crusader Strike – Now costs 10% of base mana (was 11%).
      • Holy Light – Now costs 16% of base mana (was 15%).
  • Priest
    • Power Infusion can now only be cast on players.
    • Discipline
      • Light’s Wrath now has 5% damage variance.
    • Shadow
      • Insanity should always display now as Shadow whether in Shadowform, Voidform, or not in any form.
      • Mind Sear now requires Shadowform for it to be cast.
  • Warlock
    • Dark Pact is no longer increased by 20% in PvP combat.
  • Warrior
    • Class
      • Shattering Throw – Now correctly removes immunities.
    • Arms
      • Made some under the hood changes to try and unsure Fatal Mark cannot be parried.
      • Executioner’s Precision – Execute increases the damage of your next Mortal Strike by 30%, up from 25%.
      • Hurricane – Updated Icon and Hurricane now causes you to go into an unstoppable Bladestorm.
      • Whirlwind – No longer shows an incorrect Range on the tooltip.
    • Fury
      • Reckless Abandon – Fixed an issue that caused an error when using Annihilator in combination with Reckless Abandon.
      • Berserker’s Torment – Avatar and Recklessness now last 6 seconds.
      • Onslaught – Now generates 30 Rage (was 20).
      • Onslaught – Now correctly modifies the tooltip to mention enrage if you have Tenderize talented.
      • Tenderize – Now also causes Onslaught to grant you 3 stacks of Slaughtering Strikes.
      • Enraged Regeneration – Now appears on the personal resource bar.
      • Titanic Rage – Now causes Odyn’s Fury to Enrage you, deal 10% increased damage and grants you 2-4 stacks of Whirlwind.
      • Dancing Blades – Multiple instances of Dancing Blades now partially overlap.
    • Protection
      • Execute – Fixed an issue causing Execute to sometimes incur a cooldown if you had Improved Execute talented on a different spec.
      • Fueled by Violence – Should again trigger correctly.
      • Whirlwind – No longer shows an incorrect range on the tooltip.

PROFESSIONS

  • Crafting Orders have been enabled on the Valdrakken Realm. Players can submit Crafting Orders via the Clerk Galesong NPC in both Stormwind & Orgrimmar. For Crafters that would like to fulfill Crafting Orders, players can open their Professions UI and navigate to the Crafting Orders tab to view and fulfill orders while they are near the Profession Vendor NPCs in the Trade District & the Valley of Strength.

ITEMS AND REWARDS

  • Dungeon trinkets are now available to test. You can pick them up from Trinketaur in Orgrimmar. He’ll be making his way to Stormwind over the next day or two.

Update on Dragonflight Season 1 Rated PvP Rewards

Quote from: Blizzard

Some issues were found which affect the Season 1 Rated PvP rewards. Due to these issues, the cloak, weapon enchant, and tabard rewards will not be available for their respective Duelist and Elite ranks until later in the season. At the start of the season, these rewards will also not be listed in-game for these ranks.

Players who meet the necessary rating requirements for Duelist and Elite ranks will receive their appropriate rewards retroactively once they are implemented and listed in-game in a future update.

Thank you for your understanding.

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Quote from: Blizzard

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