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Category: Warcraft

PvP Hotfixes 6 Sept, 2018

While a class balancing pass is still due somewhere in the coming weeks, the first set of PvP balance hotfixes have gone out! In addition to these, more hotfixes are coming for specs such as Beast Mastery Hunters, Discipline Priests, and Arms Warriors.

Quote from: Blizzard

Hey everyone,

We applied a hotfix earlier today that affected a number of specs in PvP, listed below. In a future hotfix, we’re going to be addressing other over-performing specs such as Beast Mastery Hunters, Discipline Priests, and Arms Warriors.

Player vs Player

  • Healer specialization mana regeneration reduced by 30% when engaged in combat with enemy players.

Mage – Arcane

  • Overpowered causes Arcane Power to increase damage by 40% when engaged in combat with enemy players, down from 60%.
  • Mana Shield now drains 150% of damage taken as mana when damaged by enemy players and pets, up from 50%.
  • Rune of Power increases spell damage by 30% when engaged in combat with enemy players, down from 40%.
  • Incanter’s flow increases damage by up to 15% when engaged in combat with enemy players, down from 20%.
  • Arcane Pressure (Azerite Trait) effectiveness reduced by 50% when engaged in combat with enemy players.
  • Galvanizing Spark (Azerite Trait) effectiveness reduced by 25% when engaged in combat with enemy players.

Mage – Frost

  • Glacial Spike damage reduced by 20% when attacking enemy players.
  • Ray of Frost damage reduced by 15% when attacking enemy players.
  • Concentrated Coolness (PvP Talent) increases Frozen Orb damage by 10%, down from 30%.

Monk – Windwalker

  • Meridian Strikes (Azerite Trait) effectiveness reduced by 60% when when engaged in combat with enemy players.

Rogue – Subtlety, Assassination

  • Sharpened Blades (Azerite Trait) effectiveness reduced by 65% when when engaged in combat with enemy players.

Rogue – Subtlety

  • Phantom Assassin (PvP Talent) increases critical strike chance by 10%, down from 35%.
  • Shadowstrike damage reduced by 10% when engaged in combat with enemy players.
  • Eviscerate damage reduced by 15% when engaged in combat with enemy players.

Rogue – Outlaw

  • Deadshot (Azerite Trait) effectiveness reduced by 45% when engaged in combat with enemy players.
  • Turn the Tables (PvP Talent) increases damage by 10%, down from 15%.
  • Dispatch damage reduced by 15% when engaged in combat with enemy players.
  • Killing Spree damage reduced by 20% when engaged in combat with enemy players.
  • Between the Eyes damage reduced by 20% when engaged in combat with enemy players.

Druid – Balance

  • Streaking Stars (Azerite Trait) damage reduced by 50% when engaged in combat with enemy players.

Hotfixes: September 5, 2018, Ranked PvP Item Levels

A new set of hotfixes has been released and there’s been a blue post clarifying the PvP reward item levels.

Hotfixes: September 5, 2018

Quote from: Blizzard

September 5, 2018

Classes

  • Warlock
    • Demonology
      • Diabolic Raiment 2-piece set bonus chance to activate reduced to 4% (was 20%).

Items

  • Khor, Hammer of the Guardian is now item level 120 to signify that it is a Transmog weapon.

Island Expeditions

  • Seafarer’s Dubloon items may no longer be used in PvP Island Expeditions.
    • Developers’ notes: We’re looking for ways to use Dubloons in the future, but for the time being, we do not feel that Dubloon use makes for a good experience in a PvP setting.
  • Demolishers and Siege Tanks have been tuned to do less damage, with longer cooldowns on several of their abilities.

Missions

  • Stealth missions now only have two bosses or objectives to counter.

Player versus Player

  • Relentless (PvP Talent) and Hardiness (Orc Racial) no longer stack their Stun duration reduction effects.
  • Fixed a bug that was preventing the weekly Conquest turn-in quests from being pushed to some players.
  • Bonus Rolls for Rated Arena and Rated Battleground matches will now be removed when leaving the instance.

Professions

  • Engineering
    • The F.R.I.E.D., Organic Discombobulation Grenade, and Thermo-Accelerated Plague Spreader all now require fewer materials to craft. Rank 3 versions of their recipes should now also require fewer materials than Rank 2.
  • Inscription
    • Glyph of the Headhunter has been removed, as it is no longer a viable glyph.

Quests

  • Fixed a display issue when interacting with the Injured Zandalari Soldiers on “The Road of Pain”.

World Quests

  • Fixed a bug causing Ji’arak and Warbringer Yenajz to fail to offer a bonus roll prompt in some situations.
  • Fixed an issue that could cause “Save Our Scrolls!” to go away and not reappear until the player exited and re-entered Torga’s Rest.
  • Sabertron should no longer fail to spawn after you “Kill the Sabertron Technician”.

Ranked PvP Item Levels

Quote from: Blizzard
Now that BFA Season 1 is underway, we’ve seen a number of questions about the item levels of various rewards and reward tiers. Here’s an outline of the current item levels you’ll see when you receive rewards from ranked PvP:

  • Tier, Rating, End of Match iLvl, Weekly cache iLvl, Weekly Azerite item iLvl
  • Unranked, 0 – 1399, item level 340, item level 355, item level 355
  • Combatant, 1400 – 1599, item level 350, item level 365, item level 355
  • Challenger, 1600 – 1799, item level 360, item level 370, item level 370
  • Rival, 1800 – 2099, item level 365, item level 375, item level 370
  • Duelist, 2100 – 2399, item level 370, item level 380, item level 385
  • Gladiator, 2400+, item level 375, item level 385, item level 385

Some reminders:
End of match rewards are occasional.
For your weekly Azerite item Conquest turn-in, see Marshal Gabriel in the Salt and Shanty Inn near the Ashvane Docks in Boralus or Xander Silberman at Mugambala in Zandalar.
You’ll loot your weekly cache reward from a chest in that area.
The weekly cache items can Warforge/Titanforge.

Now go strike down your enemies!

Hotfixes: September 4, 2018

We get our first set of hotfixes in almost a week, this time with some azerite power changes and dungeon changes as we go into the first mythic+ week!

Quote from: Blizzard

Here you’ll find a list of hotfixes that address various issues related to World of Warcraft: Battle For Azeroth. Some of the hotfixes below take effect the moment they were implemented, while others may require scheduled realm restarts to go into effect. Please keep in mind that some issues cannot be addressed without a client-side patch update. This list will be updated as additional hotfixes are applied.

Hotfixes


September 4, 2018

Azerite Powers

  • Bracing Chill healing increased 10%.
  • Brain Storm’s Intellect increased by 66%. Duration increased to 15 seconds (was 10 seconds).
  • Everlasting Light healing increased 20%.
  • Fungal Essence healing increased 15%.
  • Gushing Lacerations’ Rip damage bonus increased by 37.5%.
  • Martyr’s Breath healing increased 50%.
  • Niuzao’s Blessing healing increased 100%.
  • Shadow’s Bite damage increased by 170%.
  • Spouting Spirits healing increased 60%.
  • Strength of Earth damage increased by 20%.
  • Fixed Umbral Blaze to address an issue where its periodic damage could not critically strike. Also fixed an issue where its periodic damage would not correctly extend its duration if it was refreshed early.
  • Unbound Chaos should now behave correctly on transports.

Character Services

  • Fixed an issue that prevented some players from reclaiming War Campaign outposts if they moved the character to a new World of Warcraft account.

Classes

  • Shaman
    • Enhancement
      • Windlash correctly ignores armor.
  • Warlock
    • Demonology
      • Demons from the Inner Demons and Nether Portal talent now correctly match the Warlock’s level.

Creatures and NPCs

  • Zooka no longer wanders around.

Dungeons and Raids

  • Freehold
    • Ludwig Von Tortollan’s shell bounce damage has been increased.
  • Temple of Sethraliss
    • The Arrow Gauntlet is now less daunting on Mythic difficulty.
  • Waycrest Manor
    • Raal the Gluttonous now casts Tenderize earlier and more often. Additionally, his health has been increased.

Items

  • Fixed an issue causing the Briny Barnacle to gain too much benefit from the player’s Haste.
  • Disc of Systematic Regression damage and Vigilant’s Bloodshaper damage reduced by 10%.
    • Developer’s notes — These two trinkets now deal 15% more damage for each additional target they hit, up to 75% increased damage if at least 6 targets are hit. The damage is still split among all targets. Their tooltips will not reflect this change until corrected in a future patch.
  • Marie’s Famous Cookies can now only be used in the outdoor areas of Kul Tiras and Zandalar.
  • Fixed an issue causing the Risen Ravasaur from the Ravasaur Skull Bijou to not be able to critically strike.
  • Fixed an issue causing the healing effect from Siren’s Tongue to not be able to critically heal.

Quests

  • Resolved an issue preventing additional characters on an account from being eligible for Arathi Highlands Warfronts quests.
  • The Nightfallen quest “The Stuff of Dreams” no longer requires defeating Xavius in Emerald Nightmare.
  • Kua’fon should now be available to accept “Nature Versus Nurture” or “Room to Grow”.
  • Torrention will once again arrive to slay you when you retrieve the Thelgen Seismic Record to start “The Floodsurge Core”.

World Quests

  • The number of Forsaken needed to complete “Emergency Management” has been reduced.
  • On “Azerite Madness”, players will now get the correct amount of Azerite based on the number of enemies hit.
  • The Sethrak have grown more courageous and will once again respawn after seeing countless numbers of their friends mercilessly slaughtered. In fact, they’re bringing even more Sethrak in to try to get all the new “Azerite Mining” that’s happening in the area.

The Gates Are Open and New Challenges Await!, Warfronts Are Rolling In – Will You Weather the Storm?, Unintended Character Progress

Week 4 of Battle for Azeroth is about to start, which means we’re going to get the second round of endgame content to unlock! Raiding, Mythic+, PvP Seasons and Warfronts will unlock with the weekly reset this week! In addition to that, those who abused a bug to progress through reputations quickly will now face the consequences of doing so!

The Gates Are Open and New Challenges Await!

Quote from: Blizzard

The time is at hand to take on new challenges across Azeroth, including the Uldir raid, new world bosses, and the first season of Rated PvP and Mythic Keystone dungeons. Which will you take on first?

Within the Depths of Uldir . . . .

Normal and Heroic difficulties are now available for Uldir, Battle for Azeroth’s first raid!

Millenia ago, seeking to understand the nature of their eternal foe, the titans constructed this sprawling underground facility to research and quarantine captured specimens. They hoped that by studying the void energy that bound the Old Gods, probing it for weaknesses and reactions, they could find some way to neutralize it. They were horribly, horribly wrong. The facility was sealed away so that the horrors within would never be unleashed upon Azeroth. But now those seals have broken. . . .

Raid Bosses: 8
Difficulties: Raid Finder, Normal, Heroic, Mythic
Level: 120

September 4 – Normal and Heroic open
September 11 – Mythic, Raid Finder Wing 1: Halls of Containment (Taloc, MOTHER, Zek’voz, Herald of N’zoth)
September 25 – Raid Finder Wing 2: Crimson Descent (Fetid Devourer; Vectis; Zul; Reborn)
October 9 – Raid Finder Wing 3: Heart of Corruption (Mythrax the Unraveler, G’huun)


World Bosses Now Available!

While many of the greatest threats to peace in Azeroth are locked away in ancient vaults or perched atop soaring fortresses, others walk brazenly beneath the open sky. As self-preservation drives the wise to seek shelter from these terrors, glory awaits any brave heroes who wish to test their mettle against the most powerful foes.

Several new world bosses are now available across Zandalar and Kul Tiras.

T’zane (Nazmir)- Animated by the powerful voodoo of the nearby Necropolis, Tzane stalks the swamps of Nazmir in search of more souls to consume.

Ji’arak (Zuldazar)- This mighty pterrodax has a roost high up in the mountains of Zuldazar, where the air is too thin for most lungs to draw breath, and life struggles to take hold. Occassionally she descends upon the swamps below in search of heartier meals to bring back to her brood.

Hailstone Construct (Drustvar)- Built by the original inhabitatns of Drustvar, the Hailstone Construct was built to defend these lands from any invaders. However, years of dormancy have left it addled, and it now sees all residents as threats, vowing to destroy them all.

Azurethos, The Winged Typhoon (Kul Tiras)- Azurethos, the terror of the Kul Tiran seas, marshals the power of wind to force enemies out of its roost, cause waterspouts, and capsize ships. He has earned his reputation as one of the deadliest beasts in Kul Tiras.

Warbringer Yenajz (Stormsong Valley) – Dark whispers shroud Stormsong Valley, as rumors of eldritch creatures spread throughout the countryside and families mark their doors with runes from the local scribes. Often dismissed as exaggeration, sometimes housewives’ tales fall far short of the true horrors that lurk in the realm beyond our sight.

Dunegorger Kraulok (Vol’dun) – Revered by all trolls but the Zandalari especially, the bones of the giant reptiles of Zandalar dot the landscape. But as dark energies stir beneath the sands, sometimes that which was meant to remain dead, does not. Kraulok walks the sands once again, blinded by rage and the endless agony of his dying moments. Woe to those who find themselves in the beast’s path.

Defeating Warbringer Yenajz, T’zane, Dunegorger Kraulok, Hailstone Construct, Ji’arak, and Azurethos will reward the achievement Unbound Monstrosities.


PvP Season 1 Begins Soon!

Do you have what it takes to climb the ranks? Battle for Azeroth PvP Season 1 kicks off with new rewards and two new Arenas — Hook Point and The Mugambala.

PvP Rewards

Now, every week brings new rewards for PvP, and Conquest points are back as a measure of PvP activity. You’ll earn a specific piece of raid-quality PvP gear each week, adding up to full sets of increasing quality over the course of a season. Players who participate in rated PvP can now begin climbing the ratings to receive more-powerful rewards. Both weekly rewards and the occasional end-of-match piece of PvP gear will have higher item levels based on your rating:

PvP Tier

Rating

Unranked 0-1399
Combatant 1400-1599
Challenger 1600-1799
Rival 1800-2099
Duelist 2100-2399
Gladiator 2400+

As you earn Conquest, visit Marshal Gabriel in the Salt and Shanty Inn near the Ashvane Docks in Boralus or Xander Silberman at Mugambala in Zandalar to exchange it for new PvP items. Those are also the locations where you’ll find the new PvP weekly cache chest.

Read about rated PvP updates and rewards here and prepare to leap, blink, sneak, or charge your way into the action. Check out the Player vs. Player Leaderboards to keep track of who has what it takes to make it to the top.


Mythic Keystone Dungeon Season 1

We’ve added a new layer to Mythic Keystone dungeons with the introduction of Mythic dungeon seasons that align with the latest content and rewards. As a part of Season 1, we are introducing the use of a new seasonal affix—Infested—which will appear on level 10 or higher Keystones.

The Infested affix reflects the extent of the corruption of the blood god G’huun as it seeps out into Azeroth to infect select denizens of each dungeon. With each new season, we’ll be changing out this third affix to keep players on their toes.

Who will make it to the top of the Mythic Keystone Dungeon Leaderboards?


What are you waiting for? Get in there!

Warfronts Are Rolling In – Will You Weather the Storm?

Quote from: Blizzard

Are you ready to Battle for Stromgarde? This new Warfront is the ultimate tug-of-war over control of a key location in the war between the Horde and Alliance.

What Are Warfronts?

Warfronts represent large-scale war on the homefront as members of each faction fight for control of a location critical to the war effort between the Horde and Alliance.

Anchored in the real-time strategy (RTS) origins of Warcraft, you play the role of a lieutenant leading the charge on the ground of a massive battle. Together with 19 fellow allied players, you will create an outpost, secure resources, set up supply lines, and train troops to help push forward and assault an enemy stronghold. Unlike Warcraft III, you’ll be fighting in this conflict firsthand rather than commanding from a top-down perspective—putting you on the front lines of a large-scale, 20-player PvE experience.

Once your faction controls the Stromgarde Warfront, you’ll be able to reap the rewards: access to a variety of new outdoor content for your faction in the nearby Arathi Highlands zone.

Senior Producer Michael Bybee and Senior Game Designer Andrew Chambers sit down to give an overview of the new Warfronts feature.

How It All Begins

Arathi Highlands starts off in the hands of the Alliance, with the Horde preparing to launch their assault on Stromgarde to claim Arathi for themselves. But before they can go on the offsensive, the entire Horde faction across the entire game region (e.g. the Americas) will need to come together and provide war contributions to supply their army.

While the Horde prepares to launch their assault during their contribution phase, the Alliance will have access to a variety of new quests in Arathi Highlands—as well as a special World Boss: Doom’s Howl.

As long as your faction controls the Arathi Highlands, you’ll gain access to a new World Boss. The Alliance will need to defeat Doom’s Howl, while the Horde will need to face The Lion’s Roar—two fearsome engineering feats built to dominate the battlefield.

Once enough contributions have been supplied by Horde players in your region, the Warfront: Battle for Stromgarde unlocks, and Horde players are able to queue for the experience. This queue remains open for a set duration, allowing players enough time to complete the Warfront on a schedule that works for them. Alliance players will be able to continue questing in Arathi Highlands during this time.

After the Horde’s attack on the Warfront is complete, players can no longer queue for it, and the Horde takes control of Arathi Highlands—and all of the benefits that come with it. At this point, the Alliance begins their own resource contribution phase, and the cycle of war begins anew.

To check the status of who has control of Arathi Highlands, visit the War Table either in Boralus Harbor for the Alliance or Port of Zandalar for the Horde.

The cycle begins this week in each region with Horde players contributing war resources first. Players will need to head to Zuldazar Harbor to make their contributions, and you’ll be able to view your faction’s progress on the map. Once your faction reaches 100%, players from the Horde will be able to queue to enter the Warfront battle.

There are many ways to contribute through a variety of quests, fueled by professions including Fishing, Herbalism, Alchemy, Mining, Blacksmithing, or even just a donation of gold you have on hand. Every little bit matters as you prepare to confront the opposing faction.

In return for your efforts, you’ll gain Azerite Power and reputation with either The Honorbound or 7th Legion as a reward.

Weathering Your First Warfront

Once your faction gains the ability to enter the Warfront, you’ll need to queue by using the War Table in either Boralus Harbor for the Alliance or Port of Zandalar for the Horde, where you’ll join with 19 other players to begin the Battle for Stromgarde.

You’ll begin by gathering resources, Iron and Wood, to build out your base of operations and upgrade them. Some of the buildings you’ll be able to create include:

  • Great Hall – This mandatory “home base” is the first structure you’ll need to build before you begin pushing further into the map. It’s needed to construct other buildings.
    • Upgrades Available: Stronghold, Fortress
  • Barracks – This building will produce various troops which will follow you through the battlefield as your personal units.
  • Armory – This building will allow you to upgrade the weapons and armor of units produced in the Barracks.
  • Altar of Storms – This building bestows powerful player buffs (for a price).
  • Workshop – Here you can produce powerful siege vehicles to destroy the enemy’s gates.

As in the Warcraft RTS games, you’ll need to balance out your team strategy and focus on coordinating attacks on key points of interest throughout the map to maximize your success.

Taking Key Points of Interest

As you build up, create troops, and siege weapons, you’ll need to work your way through the map and claim various points of interest. As the aggressor, you’ll need to defeat the sitting lieutenant for that base and capture the base flag. The reverse isn’t true for your opponents, however, and if you let them get a foothold or overwhelm your newly captured location, you’ll lose it to them.

These points of interest provide interesting new challenges, access to some new troops, and sometimes some additional bonuses for your base or troops.

The Avenue to Victory

If you’re participating in the Warfront as the Horde, you’ll need to push your way through the map, shoring up your defenses, creating troops, and defeating the enemy along the way toward your ultimate goal – Stromgarde Keep.

If you’re participating in the Warfront as the Alliance, it means reestablishing yourself in Stromgarde and marching on the Horde stronghold, Ar’gorok.

It won’t be easy as you push your way through the opposing forces, batter through the gates, and confront the final boss within these strongholds—you never know who could be waiting for you.

To the Victors . . .

There are plenty of spoils to be had within the Warfront, whether you’re a collector of pets, mounts, and toys, or you’re looking to bolster your Azerite and War Resources. You’ll also be able to gain new transmog set tints to add to your collection. View more of the available rewards on Wowhead’s guide.

Unintended Character Progress

Quote from: Blizzard

Recently, many players brought an alleged exploit to our attention. These reports purported a method involving manipulating raid status in order to repeatedly gain reputation and other rewards from World Quests. We quickly investigated and found no truth to these claims. However, in the course of that investigation, we uncovered a different exploit that could have a similar effect.

The actual bug could cause characters to get into a state where they could complete World Quests repeatedly, receiving full rewards each time.

After fixing the bug, we felt it necessary to take action against a very small number of players who used it extensively to their advantage. One of our core values is ‘Play Nice; Play Fair’, and we take seriously the responsibility to maintain a level playing field for all players. No one wants to see a player use an obviously unintended shortcut to progress far beyond all other players.

You’ll find the Blizzard End User License Agreement here for reference.