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Dragonflight Twitch Drops Coming with Embers of Neltharion

Quote from: Blizzard

Celebrate the upcoming release of Embers of Neltharion with more Twitch Drops! Watch any Dragonflight stream on Twitch.tv From May 2 at 10:00 a.m. PDT until May 9 at 23:59 p.m. PDT, and you can earn the Ethereal Portal, so you can always go home in style. Then starting on May 9 until may 17th, you’ll be able to earn the fiery Blazing Hippogryph mount!

Eligibility

To participate, you must link your Twitch account by visiting https://account.battle.net/connections. If you have changed your password or made any changes to your Twitch or Battle.net account, you will have to relink your accounts. When you relink, there will be a 7-day cooldown before you can relink a new Twitch account. After you’ve claimed your rewards on Twitch, please make sure you’re logging into the Battle.net region you’d like to receive the drop(s) on, as the first region you log into will be where your items will be delivered. It can take up to 24 hours to receive your reward(s) in game after claiming. Read our Frequently Asked Questions section for more information.

How do I Earn Twitch Drops?

Start Time: May 2nd, 10:00 a.m. PDT

End Time: May 9th, 9:59 a.m. PDT

Watch at least four hours of WoW: Dragonflight content while this Twitch Drop is active on any channel to earn the right to travel home using the techno-sorcery of K’aresh: the Ethereal Portal.

Ethereal Portal

Start Time: May 9th, 10:00 a.m. PDT

End Time: May 17th, 10:00 a.m. PDT

Watch at least four hours of WoW: Dragonflight content while this Twitch Drop is active on any channel to earn the Blazing Hippogryph, which will make your friends burn in jealousy as you soar the everlasting skies.

Blazing Hippogryph

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How do I link my battle.net and Twitch account?

A. Sign into your Battle.net account at https://account.battle.net/connections and click the Connect link for Twitch, then follow the instructions to sign-in and link your Twitch account to Battle.net.

Q. What devices can I use to earn and claim drops?

A. You can earn and claim drops using your PC/Mac web browser or on the Twitch app for Android or iOS. Twitch apps on game consoles, smart TVs, and other TV apps do not support drops.

Q. Do I need to watch the same channel the entire time to earn my drops?

A. You can earn progress towards a drop on any eligible channel in the World of Warcraft category on Twitch. You can, for example, watch half an hour on one channel and then switch to another channel without losing your progress. You cannot earn progress faster by watching more than one channel at a time.

Q. Will I receive my drop rewards in-game automatically?

A. To receive your rewards, you must claim the drop on the channel you’re watching or in the Drops Inventory menu on Twitch.

Q. Do Twitch Drop rewards expire?

A. Earned Twitch Drop rewards will expire 7 days after they’ve been claimed if a Battle.net account has not been linked.

Q. As a streamer, how do I get Twitch Drops on my channel?

A. All you need to do is make sure your Twitch and Battle.net accounts are linked, and that you’re opted into Drops (see Drops Streamer Home).

Q. What regions are eligible for these Twitch Drops?

A. Participating regions include North America, Latin America, Europe, The Middle East, Africa, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.

Patch 10.1 Release Developer Interview Roundup

With the release of patch 10.1 next week we’re getting a new wave of Developer Interviews with content creators.

Below is a roundup of new information:

Content Cadence

  • The goal is to keep doing .x.5 and .x.7 content patches. The goal of .x.5 patches is to add evergreen content and systems changes like heritage armor and class updates and the goal of .x.7 patches is to add catchup gear and a prologue to the next major story beat. (Maximum)

Gear/Itemization

  • The Onyx Annulet missed its goal and they will look at it later in the patch 10.1 cycle. They don’t want to nerf it too quickly. (Maximum)
  • The team is open to suggestions for improving the Great Vault (Maximum)

Classes

  • There is no third spec for Evoker in 10.1 but anything is possible in the future (MrGM)
  • The process to tune classes hasn’t changed much. However the frequency is the thing that has changed. They review the numbers on a weekly basis now. (Maximum)
  • One tuning philosophy has changed is that they now want to maintain the order  of best specs. If one spec is by far the best they will nerf it but to a point that they are still one of the best. (Maximum)
  • If new tier set bonuses are solving core problems a spec has then they are open to putting it into the talent tree. An example of this is the Evoker instant living flame (Maximum)

Dungeons/Mythic+/Raiding

  • The new mega dungeon’s theme in 10.1.5 was teased with the fact that mega dungeons give the team a chance to make a different turn in the story from the expansion’s main storyline to explore something different. (MrGM)
  • They feel 8 dungeons in the Mythic+ dungeon pool in each season is a good number (Maximum)
  • They are not closing the door on seasonal affixes but there are so many things changing upcoming season that they did not think it was needed for season 2 (Maximum)
  • The encounter team is open to hearing feedback about bosses  needing to be adjusted to no longer parry when melee are required to stand in front of the boss. However they will not change the core system of parrying (Maximum)

Cross Faction Gameplay

  • They will continue breaking down barriers. Things like world content and queued LFG content are things they have heard feedback on. They don’t want faction choice to be a barrier to play with friends but they do want to want to keep some semblance of Alliance vs Horde. The next step is likely queued content when you queue with a full group of friends. (MrGM)

UI

  • Default nameplates are often discussed for a next step in improving the UI (Maximum)

PTR

  • 10.1.5 PTR will be up shortly after 10.1 launches (MrGM)

Timewalking

  • BfA timewalking is still on the menu in the future (MrGM)
  • They would still like to find a way to make timewalking expand to outdoor world content (MrGM)
  • They recognise that having to queue for timewalking raids causes issues and would like to know from the community how they would feel if a raid was timewalking only on the relevant timewalking week. This means players would not be able to go to the low level version of it in that week. (MrGM)

Legacy Content

  • Siege of Orgrimmar skip is something they’ll discuss with the team again (MrGM)
  • A tuning pass to solo BfA raiding content is likely to happen in 10.1.5 (MrGM)
  • They need more conversations to turn Warfronts into solo’able content given the way they were built. (MrGM)
  • A Shadowlands LFR queue npc will also likely be added in 10.1.5 (MrGM)

Misc

  • They don’t have immediate plans to make legacy reps account-wide but they hear the feedback about it holding players back when switching characters (MrGM)
  • While not in Dragonflight, they intend to eventually update the outdated guild Tabard system. (MrGM)
  • The slow updates on different character customisations will continue throughout Dragonflight (MrGM)
  • An update to the bank/reagentbank is not planned for the shortterm in Dragonflight but they are actively talking about updating it for a future expansion (MrGM)

Full Interviews/Sources:
Dev Interview MrGM
Dev Interview Maximum

Patch 10.1 PTR Notes 21 April 2023

Quote from: Blizzard

We’ve deployed the following changes to the PTR realms:

CLASSES

  • ROGUE
    • Outlaw
      • Fixed an issue that caused the Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible 4-Set Bonus to deal less damage than intended.
  • SHAMAN
    • Enhancement
      • Vault of the Incarnates 4-Set Bonus has been adjusted – Consuming Maelstrom Weapon stacks increases your Haste by 1% per stack for 3 seconds (was 4 seconds).

ITEMS AND REWARDS

  • Algeth’ar Puzzle Box (Trinket) on-use effect duration has been increased to 30 seconds (was 20 seconds) and its Mastery bonus has been decreased by 38%.
  • Furious Ragefeather (Trinket) damage decreased by 10%.

PLAYER VERSUS PLAYER

  • CLASSES
    • DEMON HUNTER
      • Havoc
        • Fel Lance (PvP Talent) damage increased to 10% of target’s max health (was 6%).
    • ROGUE
      • Dismantle (PvP Talent) energy cost reduced to 15 (was 25).
      • Death from Above (PvP Talent) energy cost reduced to 15 (was 25). Damage bonus increased to 15% (was 10%).
      • Outlaw
        • Combat Stamina now increases Stamina by 15% (was 5%) in PvP combat only.
        • Take Your Cut (PvP Talent) duration increased to 12 seconds (was 8 seconds).
        • Turn the Tables (PvP Talent) duration increased to 12 seconds (was 6 seconds).
      • Subtlety
        • Thief’s Bargain (PvP Talent) damage penalty reduced to 6% (was 10%).

PTR Class Tuning Hotfixes – April 21

Quote from: Blizzard

In addition to the class changes that were implemented in yesterday’s new PTR build, we’re making the following adjustments to classes on the Embers of Neltharion PTR today via hotfixes. These changes will all be in place before our Mythic Raid testing later today.

As always, we really appreciate your testing and feedback!

Death Knight

Unholy

  • Fixed an issue with Gargoyle stutter casting when the cast time of Gargoyle Strike was lower than 1 second.
  • Gargoyle Strike damage reduced by 8%.
    • Developers’ note: Now that Gargoyle properly casts without stuttering when falling below 1 second cast times, we are reducing the damage of Gargoyle Strike to counter the extra casts.
  • Reaping damage bonus increased to 30% (was 25%).
  • Festering Wound damage increased by 10%.
  • Scourge Strike/Clawing Shadows damage increased by 15%.
  • Death Coil damage increased by 10%.
  • Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible: 2-Set Bonus has been adjusted – The duration of Death Dealer has been increased to 25 seconds (was 20 seconds).

Druid

Balance

  • Starfall damage reduced by 5%.
  • Full Moons generated by Orbit Breaker now generate 80% Astral Power, in addition to its current effect.
  • Starfire now deals reduced damage beyond 8 targets. Starfire’s tooltip will be updated in a future patch.

Mage

Arcane

  • Radiant Spark duration increased to 12 seconds (was 10 seconds).
  • Touch of the Magi duration increased to 12 seconds (was 10 seconds).
  • Arcane Blast damage increased by 10%.
  • Arcane Missiles damage increased by 8%.
  • Arcane Barrage damage increased by 8%.
  • Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible 2-Set Bonus has been adjusted – Arcane Surge’s spell damage increased by 10% (was 5%).
  • Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible 2-Set Bonus has been adjusted – Duration increased to 18 seconds (was 12 seconds).

Fire

  • Pyroblast damage increased by 8%.
  • Fire Blast damage increased by 10%.
  • Fireball damage increased by 15%.
  • Scorch damage increased by 15%.
  • Improved Combustion now grants Mastery equal to 75% of your Critical Strike stat (was 50%).
  • Improved Scorch duration increased to 12 seconds (was 8 seconds).

Frost

  • Glacial Assault damage increased by 20%.
  • Comet Storm damage increased by 10%.
  • Snowstorm’s Cone of Cold damage increased by 12% per stack (was 10%).
  • Frozen Orb damage increased by 8%.
  • Blizzard damage increased by 12%.
  • Brain Freeze now causes Flurry to deal 65% additional damage (was 50%).
  • Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible 2-Set Bonus has been adjusted – Flurry and Ice Lance damage is increased by 20% (was 15%).

Priest

Holy

  • Dazzling Lights healing from Divine Image reduced by 50%.
  • Empowered Renew now only triggers when casting Renew.
  • Empowered Renew now causes Renew to instantly heal your target for 40% of its total periodic effect (was 10%).
  • Healing Chorus now causes Renew to increase the healing done by your next Circle of Healing by 2%, stacking up to 50 times (was 1%).

Shadow

  • Psychic Link now causes your direct damage spells to inflict 30% of their damage on all other targets afflicted by your Vampiric Touch (was 40%).
  • Mastermind now increases the critical strike damage of Mind Blast, Mind Flay, Mind Spike, and Shadow Word: Death by 20%/40% (was 13%/25%).

Shaman

Elemental

  • Lava Surges triggered by Primordial Surge increase the damage of your next Lava Burst by 15% (was 25%).
  • Primordial Surge’s damage bonus is no longer reduced in PvP combat.
  • Lava Burst damage increased by 12%. Does not affect PvP combat.
  • Elemental Blast damage increased by 6%. Does not affect PvP combat.
  • Earth Shock damage increased by 6%. Does not affect PvP combat.
  • Lightning Bolt damage increased by 6%. Does not affect PvP combat.

Community Council Live Chat with Mythic+ Developers – April 20, 2023

Quote from: Blizzard

Today, several members of the WoW Community Council met with World of Warcraft designers Morgan Day, Matt Villers, and Andrew De Sousa.

The discussion covered many topics related to the development of Mythic+ Dungeons, especially in Dragonflight going from Season 1 to Season 2, thoughts about players’ experiences with affixes, and how the Encounters team approaches making improvements to the system.

Please feel free to use this thread for any follow-up questions or discussion that you might have.

Thank you!

Patch 10.1 PTR Notes 20 April 2023

Quote from: Blizzard

Hello everyone! Here are the changes in today’s PTR update:

CLASSES

  • DEMON HUNTER
    • Havoc
      • Serrated Glaive now causes enemies hit by Throw Glaive to take 20% increased damage from Chaos Strike, in addition to its current effect.
      • Accelerating Blade has been renamed to Accelerated Blade.
      • Accelerated Blade now causes Throw Glaive to deal 60% increased damage (was 20%) and its damage is reduced by 30% for each previous enemy hit.

DUNGEONS AND RAIDS

  • Updates to many non-boss enemies and all 3 bosses in the Vortex Pinnacle.
  • Update to improve spawn consistency for the Afflicted and Incorporeal affixes.

PLAYER VERSUS PLAYER

  • ITEMS
    • Gladiator’s Distinction (PvP trinket 2-set bonus) now provides 300 Stamina (was 2703) and 1600 primary stat (was 300).
    • Developers’ note: We are adjusting the bonuses from the PvP set bonus, Gladiator’s Distinction, to be percentage based so that it properly scales with new seasons. At the same time, we’ve noticed battleground fights and arena matches in Embers of Neltharion resulting in stalemates now that critical strikes are dealing less damage. To improve the experience, we’re reducing the primary stat granted to healers from the PvP set bonus. We also are aiming to give healers more opportunities to survive when being attacked, so we’re increasing the amount of Stamina healers receive from the PvP set bonus.
    • Gladiator’s Distinction now increases primary stat by 25% and increases Stamina by 5% for damage dealing and tank specializations.
    • Gladiator’s Distinction now increases primary stat by 15% and increases Stamina by 15% for healer specializations.
  • CLASSES
    • DEATH KNIGHT
      • Blood
        • Decomposing Aura (PvP Talent) can now stack up to 4 times (was 5).
    • DRUID
      • Guardian
        • Grove Protection now reduces damage taken by 50% for affected allies (was 40%).
    • HUNTER
      • Beast Mastery
        • Dire Basilisk (PvP Talent) damage increased by 100%.
    • MAGE
      • Fire
        • Flamecannon only applies to enemy players and NPCs. Pets and summons will no longer cancel the stacking effect.
    • WARLOCK
      • Soul Rip souls are fractured up to 20 yards (was 16 yards) and now costs 1 Soul Shard (was 2).
      • Call Observer (PvP Talent) demon health increased by 100%, range increased to 30 yards (was 20 yards), and cooldown decreased to 60 seconds (was 90 seconds).
      • Call Observer (PvP Talent) damage increased to 10% of a player’s max health (was 5%).
      • Affliction
        • Rapid Contagion (PvP Talent) duration decreased to 10 seconds (was 20 seconds) and now causes damage over time effects to occur 45% more often (was 33%).
    • WARRIOR
      • Protection
        • Bodyguard (PvP Talent) now has a 20 yard range requirement (was 15 yards).

Conquer the Challenges of Dragonflight Season 2 on May 9

Quote from: Blizzard

Dragonflight Season 2 is coming soon, bringing a new raid, an updated rotation of challenging Mythic+ dungeons, and a new PvP Season. This season will also feature familiar exclusive rewards such as the Ahead of the Curve and Cutting Edge achievements for raids, Keystone Master achievements, rewards for Mythic+, and Gladiator rewards for PvP.

Read on for more details, and prepare to take on all new challenges.

New Raid

Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible

Millennia ago, Neltharion established Aberrus, a secret laboratory where he conducted world altering experiments. Recently rediscovered, Aberrus is now under attack from all sides as forces seeking to claim the Earth-Warder’s legacy search for any power that remains. The champions of Azeroth must venture into the shadows and ensure Neltharion’s dark power doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.

Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible
Explore Aberrus, Neltharion’s secret laboratory.

For more information on the new raid including boss encounters, achievements and release schedule, check out our raid preview article.

Cross-Faction Mythic, Cross-Realm, and Hall of Fame Eligibility

Cross-faction Mythic Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible will be available from the start. Hall of Fame entries will require at least 16 out of 20 raiders from the same guild to be eligible for rewards. Cross-realm will unlock later in the season.

New World Boss

The Zaqali Elders

Vakan and Gholna, powerful djaradin elders, are each a master over their respective element. Gholna with lava and Vakan with shadowflame, they are locked in constant conflict over who is stronger. Through devastation and chaos, each elder attempts to outdo the other until one of them is crowned victor.

You can face this menacing new World Boss duo at the Zaqali Caldera in Zaralek Cavern.

New Dungeon Rotation

Freehold
Freehold returns in Dragonflight Season 2

Dragonflight Season 2 will feature a new dungeon rotation for Mythic+. Four dungeons from Dragonflight are included, and four returning dungeons from previous expansions. Here’s the full lineup:

  • Brackenhide Hollow
  • Halls of Infusion
  • Neltharus
  • Uldaman: Legacy of Tyr
  • Freehold (from the Battle for Azeroth™ expansion)
  • The Underrot (from the Battle for Azeroth™ expansion)
  • Neltharion’s Lair (from the Legion™ expansion)
  • The Vortex Pinnacle (from the Cataclysm™ expansion)

Mythic+ and PvP Season 2 will also begin the week of May 8 with regional maintenance. For Dragonflight, the item level of rewards from completing Mythic+ runs will not be capped on the first week, as Mythic Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible will open simultaneously.

The Inspiration Catalyst used to turn non-set pieces of the appropriate slot into a new set piece of the same item level will be available later in Season 2.

Seasonal Affixes

Here are all of Mythic+ Affixes for Season 2. Keystones from levels 2 through 6 will have either the Tyrannical or Fortified affixes. Starting at Keystone levels 7 and 14, an additional affix will be present, as per the lists below:

Keystone level 7 affixes:

  • Afflicted
  • Entangling
  • Incorporeal
  • Storming
  • Volcanic

Keystone level 14 affixes:

  • Bolstering
  • Bursting
  • Raging
  • Sanguine
  • Spiteful

Mythic+ Rewards

The following rewards can be obtained by completing Mythic Keystone Dungeons in Season 2:

  • Dragonflight Keystone Conqueror: Season 2 – Attain a Mythic+ Rating of at least 1500 during Dragonflight Season 2.
    • Reward:  “the Smoldering” title
  • Dragonflight Keystone Master: Season 2 – Attain a Mythic+ Rating of at least 2000 during Dragonflight Season 2.
    • Reward: Mount: Inferno Armoredon
  • Dungeon Teleports
    • Earned for each dungeon by completing a +20 or higher in that dungeon.
  • Title awarded to players in the top 0.1% of Mythic+ rating in each region at the end of the season.
    • Reward: “the Smoldering Hero” title

New PvP Season

A new PvP Season will also kick off, allowing heroes all over Azeroth a chance to obtain glory in the Arenas and Battlegrounds. The new item level caps for Honor and Conquest gear shake up as follows:

  • Crafted PvP gear is Obsidian Combatant and has a PvP item level of 424
  • Honor PvP gear Obsidian Aspirant and has a PvP item level of 437
  • Conquest PvP gear is Obsidian Gladiator and has a PvP item level of 450
Rewards
  • Title: Obsidian Gladiator for rated 3v3, and Obsidian Legend for Rated Solo Shuffle
  • Mount: Obsidian Gladiator’s Drake
  • Dragonriding Appearance: Winding Slitherdrake: Embodiment of the Obsidian Gladiator
  • New Vicious mounts–Alliance and Horde-themed Snails (Vicious War Snail)
  • New Weapon Illusion–Shadow Flame
  • New Tabard and Cloak–Obsidian Gladiator’s Tabard, Obsidian Gladiator’s Prestigious Cloak
  • New Pennant–Obsidian Legend’s Pennant
  • New Elite Weapon Appearances – Obsidian Gladiator’s

Also, Season 2 of Dragonflight, features an updated weekly map rotation for Rated and Skirmish Arenas that you can check out below:

Pool A Pool B Pool C
Nagrand Arena Nagrand Arena Nagrand Arena
Dalaran Sewers Ruins of Lordaeron Hook Point
Tiger’s Peak Tol’viron Arena Empyrean Domain
Enigma Crucible Tiger’s Peak Ashamane’s Fall
Empyrean Domain Blade’s Edge Arena The Robodrome
Ashamane’s Fall Maldraxxus Colliseum Mugambala
Maldraxxus Colliseum Black Rook Hold Arena Enigma Crucible
Nokhudon Proving Grounds Nokhudon Proving Grounds Nokhudon Proving Grounds

See you on the Dragon Isles!