Patch 4.2 Public Test Realm Guide [Updated: 16/06]

May 4th by Zarhym

Patch 4.2 is now available on the Public Test Realms! A sizable portion of this content has been in development for some time, so let’s get it in gear! With a new raid, a legendary questline, the most diverse daily quest hub to date, major story developments, user interface enhancements, and much more, patch 4.2 is certain to have something for everyone. Check out some of the major patch features you need to know about, followed by the initial patch notes.

Through the Fire and Flames

Feast your eyes on the adventures that await when World of Warcraft patch 4.2 takes you through the fire and flames and into the Firelands.

The Firelands

World of Warcraft patch 4.2 will offer hardy adventurers an opportunity to turn the tide in the Firelands, a huge outdoor raid of the highest difficulty, with 10-person and 25-person normal and Heroic modes. It will be a scorching opportunity to delve into this Elemental Plane, where six unique bosses stand between you and the reinvigorated Ragnaros.

A Legendary Engagement

Patch 4.2 introduces an epic quest that will challenge those daring enough to complete the legendary staff Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa's Rest. The great staff duplicates destructive magics, and also bestows upon its wielder the ability to transform into a member of the Blue Dragonflight. Those who complete the staff won’t be the only ones to receive a reward, though. As this task requires the dedication of an entire guild, upon completion of the staff all guild members will receive a unique non-combat pet to call their own.

The Regrowth and Molten Front

In patch 4.2, stalwart adventurers will have the opportunity to test their mettle at two new daily quest areas located in the fertile hillsides of Mount Hyjal and the burning depths of the Firelands. Known as the Regrowth and Molten Front, these areas will offer an unprecedented amount of daily solo content for level-85 players to enjoy -- including over 60 new quests, four "unlockable" iLevel 365 gear vendors, and a world that evolves right before your eyes.

Elemental Bonds

After the druids and their allies thwarted the invasion of Hyjal by the Twilight's Hammer and Ragnaros, an air of peace settled on the sacred mountain. As new growth bloomed across the region, members of the Earthen Ring and Cenarion Circle, along with the noble Dragon Aspects, convened at the ancient World Tree of Nordrassil. Among the gathered heroes were the legendary archdruid Malfurion Stormrage, the former Horde warchief and accomplished shaman Thrall, and his strong-willed companion, Aggra. Together, this illustrious assemblage was to unite its wondrous powers and restore the World Tree for the good of Azeroth.

Yet this auspicious event ended in tragedy. The details are still unclear, but word has spread that an incredibly powerful Twilight's Hammer agent, shrouded to hide his identity, interrupted the ceremony and struck down Thrall with dark magics... casting his spirit into the four domains of the Elemental Plane. If these terrible rumors hold true, the Earthen Ring -- indeed, all of Azeroth -- has potentially lost one of its greatest champions.

…Is this the end of the Son of Durotan?

BlizzCast 16 on Patch 4.2

We're excited to present the first-ever video BlizzCast, now in beautiful full-motion 2D! (Don't forget to wear your 2D glasses.) We've also jam-packed this episode with juicy information on World of Warcraft patch 4.2. Rob “The Voice” Simpson sits down with Game Director Tom Chilton to find out what the patch is all about, Lead Quest Designer Dave Kosak lays out info on the new Firelands quest hub, and Lead Content Designer Cory Stockton spits and flows on Ragnaros and the upcoming raid content.

Now, wasn’t that some good, clean fun? On top of these features we're adding a new tier of armor and a nifty Dungeon Journal. I know I’m burning to join the Guardians of Hyjal in their fight against Ragnaros and his quest for flame and fortune. Now it's time for the patch notes. Please keep in mind that this isn’t the complete list of 4.2 features or the final patch notes. Stay classy. Stay tuned. Keep the joy alive.

World of Warcraft Patch 4.2

Click a link to be taken directly to the corresponding section of the patch notes.

Elemental Bonds

What was to be an auspicious event at the ancient World Tree Nordrassil has ended in tragedy. There, members of the Cenarion Circle and Earthen Ring, including former warchief Thrall, had gathered with the noble Dragon Aspects to unite their powers and restore Nordrassil for the good of Azeroth. Yet word has now spread that a shadowy Twilight's Hammer agent interrupted the ceremony and struck down Thrall with dark magics... casting his spirit into the four domains of the Elemental Plane. If these terrible rumors hold true, the Earthen Ring--indeed, all of Azeroth--has lost one of its greatest champions.

The Regrowth and Molten Front

Although the night elves and their allies repelled Ragnaros's initial invasion of Hyjal, their work on the sacred mount is far from over. Archdruid Malfurion Stormrage has gathered his comrades at the Sanctuary of Malorne within the newly healed Regrowth to invade Ragnaros's domain: the Firelands. Once inside the Elemental Plane, Hyjal's defenders hope to establish a permanent stronghold. Yet these plans have come under threat by a ferocious new elemental assault that has swept through the Regrowth. Despite this setback, Hyjal's protectors remain steadfast in their mission, for they know that it is in the molten heart of the Firelands that the fate of Mount Hyjal will be decided.

The Firelands

The time to strike at Ragnaros draws near. The battle to protect Mount Hyjal now rages in the depths of Ragnaros's smoldering realm. As territory is gained by Azeroth's defenders and they draw closer to the inner sanctums of the Firelands, a monumental task awaits. Ragnaros's lair--Sulfuron Keep--is closely guarded by his most loyal servants, including the traitorous Druids of the Flame and their mysterious leader. Yet the brave heroes who have ventured into this ash-choked domain cannot afford to shy away from any danger. The outcome of the battles that lie ahead will determine the very survival of Azeroth.

Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa's Rest

Uncertainty looms over the blue dragonflight's domain, the Nexus, as its members struggle to appoint a new leader. Split between the two likeliest successors--Kalecgos and Arygos--the flight has agreed to meet during a rare celestial event known as the Embrace in the hopes that a new Aspect will finally be chosen. The bronze dragon Anachronos, however, has detected something sinister at work around the Nexus, threatening to compromise the ceremony. If a hero does not rise to investigate these dark forces and uncover their intentions, Anachronos believes that Azeroth's doom is imminent.

Table of Contents

Click a link to be taken directly to the corresponding section of the patch notes.

 

 

General

  • New Daily Quests: The Regrowth and Molten Front
    • A large assortment of all-new daily quests and rewards are now available in Hyjal, where players can help the Guardians of Hyjal push back the allies of Ragnaros and establish a forward operating base in the Firelands! In order to partake in the Regrowth and Molten Front daily quests, players must have at least completed Mount Hyjal up to and including the quest Aessina's Miracle. Once this quest has been completed, players should speak with Matoclaw in the Sanctuary of Malorne to take part in the Regrowth efforts.
  • New Quest Chain: Elemental Bonds
    • A New quest line is now available to level-85 Horde and Alliance characters, bringing brave adventurers to Thrall's aid. The Call of the World-Shaman, the quest which will point players toward Thrall and The Nordrassil Summit, can be obtained at the Earthshrines in Stormwind or Orgrimmar.
  • New Raid: The Firelands
    • Located within the Elemental Plane, the Firelands is an all-new 10- and 25-player raid featuring normal and Heroic difficulties! Battle-hardened veterans of the Horde and Alliance now have an opportunity to strike at Ragnaros the Firelord and his loyal servants by venturing into their domain via Sulfuron Spire in Mount Hyjal.
  • New Legendary Item: Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa's Rest
    • Steadfast raiders have an opportunity to embark on a series of quests to create an all-new legendary caster staff. In order to begin the process of assembling the staff, players must first kill a Molten Lord in the Firelands. Once a Molten Lord is killed, players can accept the quest A Legendary Engagement from Ziradormi in Grommash Hold in Orgrimmar, or Coridormi atop the Wizard's Sanctum in Stormwind. The legendary item questline is only available to druids, mages, priests, shaman, and warlocks.
  • New User Interface Feature: Dungeon Journal
    • A host of dungeon information is now built into the user interface via the all-new Dungeon Journal. This feature can be accessed via a new button in the Navigation tray from anywhere in the world. Boss background story, encounter details, abilities, and loot can be viewed with the Dungeon Journal for all bosses which have been integrated into the new system (this includes bosses for all Cataclysm dungeons and raids). Additional dungeons are planned to be incorporated in future updates.

 

Achievements

  • Bear-ly Made It (new achievement): Save all four prisoners before they are sacrificed in Zul'Aman on Heroic difficulty.

 

Classes: General

  • All healing critical strikes now heal for 2 times a normal heal (+100%), up from 1.5 times a normal heal (+50%).
  • Players are once again free to dance in combat (without causing graphic errors). Other animations, such as attacks, will take precedence over dancing. The dance animation will be suppressed until the higher priority animation is complete. Fun has been unnerfed.
  • Buffs
    • All class abilities which place a buff on friendly targets no longer generate any threat. This goes for raid-wide buffs like Mark of the Wild and Power Word: Fortitude, as well as triggered effects such as Blessed Resilience or Fingers of Frost, and single-target buffs like Dark Intent and Hysteria. The exception is buffs which directly cause healing or damage, such as Thorns or Renew. Abilities such as these still generate normal threat.
  • Crowd Control
    • Many crowd control abilities no longer cause creatures to attack players when they are cast. The creature will not attack the player when the crowd control wears off, and nearby creatures will not become hostile to the player either. However, if a visible player gets too close to the target creature, the creature will remember and attack the player when the crowd control effect wears off. The intent is to make it easier for dungeon groups to manage crowd control assignments and pulling packs of hostile NPCs. The abilities affected by this change are: Hibernate, Entangling Roots, Wyvern Sting (will still cause hostility when it begins to deal damage), Freezing Trap, Polymorph, Repentance, Shackle Undead, Blind, Hex, Bind Elemental, Banish, Seduction.
  • Pets
    • The Aggressive pet stance has been removed and replaced with the Assist stance. This stance will cause the player's pet to attack the player's target. The pet will not change targets unless the master attacks a new target for a few seconds.
    • The Defensive pet stance will now only cause the player's pet to attack enemies which attack the pet or the master.
  • Spell Interrupts
    • When interrupted while casting a single-school spell such as Mind Flay or Frostbolt, players will now be able to cast dual-school spells such as Mind Spike (Frost and Shadow schools) or Frostfire Bolt (Frost and Fire schools). However, being interrupted while casting a dual-school spell will still interrupt all respective schools as intended.
  • Stats
    • Death knights, paladins, and warriors no longer receive any bonus to their chance to dodge from Agility. Their base chance to dodge is now a fixed 5%.
    • Death knights, paladins, and warriors now receive 27% of their Strength bonuses as parry rating, up from 25%. This conversion still only applies to Strength above and beyond their base Strength.
  • General Class Bug Fixes
    • Players should no longer incorrectly receive a message stating they interrupted a spell cast when they did not.
    • Actions bars will no longer briefly disappear when characters that have a stance bar enter a vehicle.

 

Death Knights

  • Obliterate base damage has been reduced to 150% weapon damage, down from 160%.
  • Talent Specializations
    • Frost
      • Hungering Cold now has a 1.5-second cast time.
      • Might of the Frozen Wastes now increases two-handed weapon damage by 3/7/10%, down from 4/8/12%.
    • Unholy
      • Unholy Might now increases Strength by 20%, up from 5%.
  • Glyphs
    • Glyph of Dark Succor has been redesigned. Rather than placing a 15% maximum health floor on Death Strike healing while in Frost or Unholy Presence, it causes the next Death Strike within 15 seconds after killing a foe that yields experience or Honor Points to heal for at least 20% of the death knight's maximum health (still requires Frost or Unholy Presence).
  • Death Knight Bug Fixes
    • The talent Killing Machine can now properly be triggered from off-hand attacks as well as main-hand attacks.

 

Druids

  • Druids now gain 1 attack power per point of Strength, down from 2. They continue to gain 2 attack power per point of Agility while in Cat Form or Bear Form. In addition, Cat Form's scaling rate from gear upgrades was slower than other classes, which was causing them to fall behind in damage with higher item levels. To counter the Strength change and improve scaling, the following changes have been made. All numbers cited are for level-85 druids.
    • Ferocious Bite damage has been increased by 15%. In addition, its base cost has been reduced to 25 energy and it can use up to 25 energy, for up to a 100% damage increase.
    • Mangle (Cat) damage at level 80 and above has been increased to 540% weapon damage, up from 460%, and bonus damage has been lowered to 302.
    • Rake initial damage on hit now deals the same damage as each periodic tick (and is treated the same for all combat calculations). Periodic damage now gains 14.7% of attack power per tick, up from 12.6%, and base damage per tick has been lowered from 557 to 56. There is a known issue with Rake's tooltip being incorrect from this change will be corrected in a future patch.
    • Ravage damage at level 80 and above has been increased to 950% weapon damage, up from 850%, and bonus damage has been lowered to 532.
    • Savage Roar now grants 80% increased damage to melee auto attacks, up from 50%. The Glyph of Savage Roar remains an unchanged bonus of 5% to that total.
    • Shred damage at level 80 and above has been increased to 540% weapon damage, up from 450%, and bonus damage has been lowered to 302.
  • Entangling Roots and the equivalent spell triggered by Nature's Grasp no longer deal damage.
  • Innervate now grants an ally target 5% of his or her maximum mana over 10 seconds, but still grants 20% of the druid's maximum mana over 10 seconds when self-cast.
  • Omen of Clarity clearcasting buff from now lasts 15 seconds, up from 8 seconds.
  • Starfire damage has been increased by approximately 23%.
  • Swipe (Cat) now deals 600% weapon damage at level 80 or higher, down from 670%.
  • Wrath damage has been increased by approximately 23%.
  • Talent Specializations
    • Balance
      • Earth and Moon's duration has been increased to 15 seconds, up from 12.
      • Fungal Growth spell visual effect has been updated to be less visually intrusive and more aesthetic.
      • Lunar Shower has been redesigned. When casting Moonfire, the druid gains Lunar Shower. Lunar Shower increases the direct damage done by Moonfire by 15/30/45%, and reduces the mana cost by 10/20/30%. This effect stacks up to 3 times and lasts 3 seconds. While under the effects of Lunar Shower, Moonfire generates 8 Solar Energy, and Sunfire generates 8 Lunar Energy. The amount of Lunar/Solar Energy gained does not change based on the number of points spent in the talent, or stacks of Lunar Shower. Those druids who wish to delay transition in or out of an Eclipse state should now cast the one of their two basic attacks which will not move the Eclipse bar (either Starfire or Wrath).
      • Solar Beam has a new spell effect.
      • Wild Mushroom: Detonate can now also trigger Earth and Moon, in addition to Starfire and Wrath.
    • Feral
      • Bear damage abilities were scaling too fast with higher gear levels compared to other tanks, so the following balance changes have been made. All the numbers cited are for level 85 characters; numbers will be lower for lower-level characters.
        • Faerie Fire (Feral) base damage has been raised to 2950, up from 679. Attack power scaling has been decreased to 10.8%, down from 15%.
        • Maul base damage has been raised to 35, up from 8. Attack power scaling has been decreased to 19%, down from 26.4%.
        • Pulverize weapon damage percent has been decreased to 60%, down from 80%. Damage per Lacerate application has been increased to 1623, up from 361.
        • Mangle (Bear) weapon damage percent has been decreased to 190%, down from 260%. Bonus damage has been increased to 3306, down from 754.
        • Swipe base damage has been increased to 929, up from 215. Attack power scaling has been decreased to 12.3%, down from 17.1%.
        • Thrash initial base damage has been increased to 1042, up from 339. Initial damage attack power scaling has been decreased to 9.82%, down from 19.2%. Periodic base damage has been increased to 581, up from 189. Periodic damage attack power scaling has been decreased to 1.67%, down from 3.26%. In addition, a bug was corrected where armor decreased the periodic damage done by this ability.
        • Lacerate initial base damage has been increased to 3608, up from 2089. Initial damage attack power scaling has been decreased to 5.52%, down from 7.66%. Periodic base damage has been increased to 69, up from 16. Periodic damage attack power scaling has been decreased to 0.369%, down from 0.512%.
      • Natural Reaction damage reduction has been increased to 9/18%, up from 6/12%.
    • Restoration
      • Symbiosis (Mastery) has been removed and replaced with Harmony. Harmony increases direct healing by an additional 10%, and casting direct healing spells grants an additional 10% bonus to periodic healing for 10 seconds. Each point of mastery increases each bonus by an additional 1.25%. Healing Touch, Nourish, Swiftmend, and the initial heal from Regrowth are considered direct healing spells for the purposes of this Mastery. All other healing from druid spells is considered periodic.
  • Glyphs
    • Glyph of Berserk duration increase is now 10 seconds, up from 5.
    • Glyph of Ferocious Bite has been redesigned. It now causes Ferocious Bite to heal the caster for 1% of maximum health for each 10 energy used.
    • Glyph of Innervate now causes the druid to gain 10% of his or her maximum mana over 10 seconds when Innervate is used on a friendly target, in addition to Innervate's base effect.
  • Set Bonuses
    • The 4-piece Balance druid tier 11 PvE set bonus, Astral Alignment, now provides a total of 15% critical strike chance with 3 charges, decreasing by 5% per charge, instead of 99% decreasing by 33% per charge. This change was made because the set bonus proved so valuable it was not possible to upgrade out of the set into tier 12. To compensate, changes have been made to Starfire and Wrath (listed at the top of the druid class section).
    • The 2-piece Restoration druid tier 11 PvE set bonus has been redesigned to work with the new Restoration druid mastery. Druids with this bonus now receive the bonus to Spirit while the Harmony mastery bonus to periodic healing is active.
  • Druid Bug Fixes
    • It is no longer possible in some encounters to use Feral Charge when closer than its minimum range.

 

Hunters

  • Multi-shot damage has been reduced. It now deals 120% weapon damage at level 80 or higher, down from 137%.
  • Traps now scale with hunter stats such as hit, expertise, spell penetration and attack power as intended.
  • Talent Specializations
    • Marksmanship
      • Careful Aim now grants additional critical strike chance against targets over 90% health, up from 80% health.
    • Survival
      • Black Arrow damage done has been increased by roughly 40%.
  • Pets
    • 10 new rare tamable beasts have been added, each of which provides a unique taming challenge. Will you be the first hunter to tame Deth'tilac, the rarest and most powerful of them all? Players will need to progress through the Hyjal Regrowth and Molten Front daily questing areas in order to unlock access to the full gamut of taming challenges.
    • Intervene (Pet Tenacity) has been redesigned. The pet runs at high speed toward a group member, reducing the damage done by the next melee or ranged attack made against them equal to 50% of the pet's total health.

 

Mages

  • Arcane Blast damage done has been reduced by 5%.
  • Pyroblast cast when Hot Streak is not active was doing slightly less damage than the Hot Streak version. Its damage has been increased so that both versions of Pyroblast now do the same amount of damage.
  • Spellsteal mana cost has been increased by 100%.
  • Talent Specializations
    • Fire
      • When Impact spreads Living Bomb, it will only be spread to two additional targets. The net effect is that if the mage's most recent Living Bomb target is the same as their Impact target, that target will no longer lose the Living Bomb effect. If Living Bomb is active on multiple targets when the Impact effect is cast, Living Bomb will remain active on the most recent Living Bomb target, and will be added to two other nearby targets.
    • Frost
      • Deep Freeze and Ring of Frost will cause diminishing returns on each other, in addition to the spells they normally share diminishing returns with.

 

Paladins

  • Divine Light mana cost has been increased to 35% of base mana, up from 30%.
  • Flash of Light mana cost has been increased to 31% of base mana, up from 27%.
  • Guardian of Ancient Kings uses the new Assist pet stance functionality.
  • Holy Light mana cost has been increased to 12% of base mana, up from 10%.
  • Rebuke, Divine Shield and Divine Protection have new icons.
  • Seal of Righteousness now can be activated by any melee ability, not just single target melee abilities. This adds Hammer of the Righteous (the physical component) and Divine Storm to the list of abilities that can activate this seal. In addition, Seal of Righteousness procs can now be critical effects.
  • Talent Specializations
    • Holy
      • Beacon of Light can no longer be dispelled. In addition, it now transfers 100% of the heal from Holy Light, but still 50% of the heal from other spells.
      • Denounce has been redesigned. It still reduces the mana cost of Exorcism. However, it no longer has a chance on Holy Shock of making Exorcism free and instant. Instead, it has a 50/100% chance to prevent the Exorcism target from causing critical effects for the next 6 seconds. This effect can be dispelled.
      • Holy Shock mana cost has been decreased to 7% of base mana, down from 8%.
      • Illuminated Healing (Mastery) has been adjusted slightly so that if a paladin refreshes an existing copy of his or her own Illuminated Healing on a target, the new absorption amount will be added into the old absorption amount and the duration will be reset. The total absorption created can never exceed 1/3 of the casting paladin's health.
      • Infusion of Light can now lower the cast time of Flash of Light by 0.75/1.5 seconds, in addition to Holy Light and Divine Light. In addition, the old Denounce spell overlay effect has been transferred to Infusion of Light since Denounce is no longer a proc.
      • Speed of Light now increases movement speed when Holy Radiance or Divine Protection are cast. In addition, this talent now reduces the cooldown of Holy Radiance by 13/26/40 seconds, up from 10/20/30.
      • Walk in the Light now improves Word of Glory healing by 30%, in addition to its current effects.
    • Protection
      • Ardent Defender has a new spell effect.
      • Guarded By The Light no longer interacts with Holy Shield in any way.
      • Hammer of the Righteous mana cost has been lowered to 10%, down from 12% to match Crusader Strike.
      • Holy Shield has been redesigned. This talent is now an activated ability off the global cooldown. It grants 20% increased block amount to a paladin's shield blocks for 10 seconds, with a 30-second cooldown.
      • Judgements of the Wise now procs on attempt rather than on strike, which means judgements that miss can still grant mana. This is to help ensure Protection paladins are not starved for mana if they aren't capped on hit rating.
    • Retribution
      • Inquiry of Faith now increases Inquisition duration by 66/133/200%, up from 50/100/150%.
      • The Seals of Command talent now makes Seal of Righteousness hit an unlimited number of melee targets, instead of only 2 additional targets.
      • Selfless Healer can no longer be dispelled and cannot be stolen via Spellsteal; and, in addition to its current effects, it lowers the cooldown of Word of Glory by 5/10 seconds.
  • Glyphs
    • Glyph of Seal of Truth expertise bonus now also works when Seal of Righteousness is active.

 

Priests

  • Devouring Plague damage done has been decreased by 12%.
  • Mind Blast damage done has been increased by 12%.
  • Shadowfiend uses the new Assist pet stance functionality.
  • Shadow Word: Death damage done has been increased by 12%.
  • Shadow Word: Pain damage done has been decreased by 12%.
  • Talent Specializations
    • Shadow
      • Mind Flay damage done has been increased by 12%.
      • Psychic Horror no longer has a forward facing requirement, making it consistent with other non-projectile-based crowd control spells.
      • Sin and Punishment's Vampiric Touch backlash fear effect no longer has diminishing returns.
      • Vampiric Touch damage done has been decreased by 12%.
  • Priest Bug Fixes
    • Players will no longer prematurely cancel a channeled spell when clicking on the Lightwell.

 

Rogues

  • Cloak of Shadows cooldown is now 2 minutes, up from 90 seconds. In addition, Cloak of Shadows is no longer on the global cooldown.
  • Combat Readiness and Cloak of Shadows now share a cooldown.
  • Blind duration against enemy NPCs is now 1 minute, while the duration against players remains 8 seconds.
  • Stealth now once again begins its cooldown once the rogue leaves Stealth.
  • Talent Specializations
    • Assassination
      • Assassin's Resolve damage bonus has been increased to 20%, up from 15%.
      • Vile Poisons now increases poison damage by 12/24/36%, up from 7/14/20%.
    • Combat
      • Savage Combat now increases attack power by 3/6%, up from 2/4%.
      • Vitality now increases attack power by 30%, up from 25%.
    • Subtlety
      • Elusiveness now reduces the cooldown of Cloak of Shadows by 15/30 seconds, up from 10/20, and now also reduces the cooldown of Combat Readiness by 15/30 seconds.
      • Hemorrhage base damage has been increased by 40%.
      • Sanguinary Vein damage to bleeding targets has been increased to 8/16%, from 5/10%.

 

Shaman

  • Fire Nova damage has been increased by 15%.
  • Lightning Shield and Water Shield can no longer be dispelled.
  • Unleash Elements is now in the Nature school, and thus can no longer be used if a shaman's Nature school has been locked out.
  • Unleash Wind now deals 175% weapon damage, up from 125%.
  • Water Shield has had its internal cooldown reduced to 3.5 seconds, once again matching other shields. The amount of mana restored when Water Shield procs has been reduced by 50%.
  • Talent Specializations
    • Elemental
      • Call of Flame now also causes Fire Nova to add 3/6 seconds to the duration of Flame Shock auras on targets that Fire Nova damages.
      • Lava Flows now grants a 30/60/90% haste buff when a Flame Shock effect is dispelled, up from 10/20/30%.
      • Thunderstorm now reduces the movement speed of players it knocks back by 40% for 5 seconds.
    • Enhancement
      • Stormstrike now deals 225% weapon damage, up from 125%.
    • Restoration
      • Improved Water Shield has been redesigned and renamed Resurgence. When Water Shield is active, Resurgence causes critical direct heals to restore mana (Resurgence rank 2 is roughly equal to 150% of the old Improved Water Shield value when a Healing Wave or Greater Healing Wave critically hits, and scaled down accordingly for faster or multi-target spells).
      • Mana Tide now grants 200% of the caster's Spirit, down from 400%.
  • Glyphs
    • Glyph of Unleashed Lightning (new Prime glyph) allows Lightning Bolt to be cast while moving.
  • Set Bonuses
    • The 4-piece Elemental shaman PvP set bonus (Gladiator's Thunderfist set) has been redesigned. It now causes Lightning Shield to generate an extra charge, rather than consuming one, when it is triggered by receiving damage, up to a maximum of 3 (9 with the Rolling Thunder talent).

 

Warlocks

  • Soul Fire is now available at level 20, down from level 54.
  • Soul Harvest has a new spell effect.
  • Glyphs
    • Glyph of Soul Swap now applies a 30-second cooldown to Soul Swap, up from 15 seconds.
  • Warlock Bug Fixes
    • It is no longer possible to leave combat while channeling Drain Soul.

 

Warriors

  • Overpower now has a 1.5-second cooldown and global cooldown (Taste for Blood's Overpower cooldown has not changed).
  • Recklessness and Deadly Calm can no longer be used at the same time. One cannot be used while the other is active, but using one does not put the other on its full cooldown.
  • Retaliation, Recklessness and Shield Wall no longer have stance requirements.
  • Talent Specializations
    • Arms
      • Two-Handed Weapon Specialization weapon damage increase has been lowered to 12%, down from 20%.
    • Fury
      • Dual Wield Specialization weapon damage increase has been lowered to 5%, down from 10%.
  • Warrior Bug Fixes
    • It is no longer possible in some encounters to use Charge when closer than its minimum range.

 

Currency

  • Conquest & Honor Points
    • All existing Conquest Points in the Currency tab have been converted to Honor Points. Any points above the Honor Point cap must be spent within the next week before Season 10 starts. Once Season 10 begins, all Honor Points exceeding the 4,000 point cap will be converted into gold at a rate of 35 silver per point and mailed to characters.
    • The minimum cap on Conquest Points earned per week from Arenas is now 1350 at 1500 or less Arena rating. The maximum cap is now 2700 at 3000 or more Arena rating. The cap continues to scale non-linearly between those two points. For comparison, during season 9 the cap ranged between 1343 and 3000.
    • The game now separately tracks different Conquest Point caps for Battlegrounds and Arenas. Battleground ratings receive a bonus of 22.2% to the cap they generate, meaning the cap from Battleground rating now ranges between 1650 and 3300. Players may earn a total number of Conquest Points per week equal to the higher of these two caps, but once players have reached the cap for either Arenas or Battlegrounds, they can no longer earn Conquest Points from that source. Conquest Points from Battleground holidays only count toward the total Conquest Point cap.
      • Example: During the first week of Season 10 everyone starts with a rating below 1500. Therefore, the cap from Rated Battlegrounds will be 1650 and the cap from Arena rating will be 1350. In the first week, the character wins enough Arena matches to reach the 1350 point cap. After that point, Arena wins will no longer grant Conquest points for the week. However, the character can still earn up to 300 additional points, but can only earn those points from either Rated Battlegrounds, or from the Conquest Point bonus for holiday and/or daily random Battlegrounds. The following week the cap will be recalculated based on the character's ratings, and it is possible Arena rating could now generate the higher cap. The second week, the character's cap from Arena rating is 1800, and the cap from Rated Battlegrounds is 1650. The character has a total cap of 1800 Conquest points for the week. Up to 1650 points can be earned from Rated Battlegrounds, but the last 150 must come from a different source.
  • Valor & Justice Points
    • All existing Valor Points in the Currency tab have been converted to Justice Points. Any points above the Justice Point cap will be converted into gold at a rate of 47 silver per point and mailed to characters.
    • The maximum number of Valor Points which can be earned in a week from any and all applicable dungeons and raids is now 980, down from 1250.
      • The maximum number of Valor Points awarded for completing Rise of the Zandalari dungeons remains at 980.
      • The maximum number of Valor Points awarded for completing Heroic dungeons remains at 490.
      • The number of Valor Points awarded for killing a boss in the Firelands is 120 in 10-player mode, and 140 in 25-player mode.
      • The number of Valor Points awarded for killing Occu'thar in Baradin Hold is 120 in 10-player mode, and 140 in 25-player mode.
      • The number of Valor Points awarded for killing a boss on Heroic difficulty in The Bastion of Twilight, Blackwing Descent, and Throne of the Four winds is 35 in 10-player mode, and 45 in 25-player mode.

 

Dungeons & Raids

  • Raid Profiles have been added which allow players to save the raid window user interface layout based on type of content (i.e. 10-player raids, 25-player raids, Battlegrounds, etc.) for future use.
    • Players can select PvE, PvP, specialization, and group size. Each Raid Profile type will then automatically setup going forward.
    • This feature is available for 5-player content as well when Use Raid-Style Party Frames is selected in the Interface options.
    • Raid Profiles can list groups horizontally as well as vertically.
  • A Raid button has been added to the Navigation tray which will bring players straight to the Raid window in the Social pane.
  • Baradin Hold
    • Occu'thar has broken free from his cage and presents an all-new boss challenge to players in 10- and 25-player arrangements who control Tol Barad.
  • The Bastion of Twilight
    • The damage modifier on normal difficulty has been reduced for Arion, Elementium Monstrosity, Feludius, Ignacius, and Terrastra.
    • One of each type of bound elemental in the Ascendant Council chamber has been removed.
    • Bound Deluge's Frost Whirl ability now deals 50% less damage.
    • Arion
      • Chain Lightning damage and chain distance has been reduced.
    • Cho'gall
      • Health, melee damage, Health of Corrupting Adherent, Depravity damage, Corrupting Crash damage, Flaming Destruction damage, and Unleashed Shadows damage have all been reduced by 20%.
      • Corrupting Crash and Depravity
        • The amount of Corruption they give has been reduced to 5, down from 10.
      • Corrupted Bite effect caused by Blood of the Old God has been reduced.
      • Damage taken from Corruption of the Old God per Corrupted Blood has been reduced from 3% per stack to 2% per stack.
      • Debilitating Beam damage has been reduced by 20%.
      • The duration of Twisted Devotion has been reduced by 25%.
    • Dragon Siblings
      • Health, melee damage, Twilight Meteorite damage, Devouring Flames, Blackout damage, Unstable Twilight damage, Twilight Zone damage, Twilight Blast damage, and Fabulous Flames damage have all been reduced by 20%.
    • Elementium Monstrosity
      • Electrical Instability damage has been reduced.
    • Feludius
      • Damage due to being frozen while Waterlogged has been reduced.
    • Halfus
      • Health, melee damage, Fireball/Fireball Barrage damage, Furious Roar damage, Scorching Breath damage, and Shadow Nova damage have all been reduced by 20%.
      • Nether Scion, Slate Dragon, Storm Rider, Time Warden, and Orphaned Emerald Whelp health has been reduced by 20%.
      • Shadow Nova base cast time has been increased.
    • Ignacious
      • Rising Flames now increases damage by 3% per stack, down from 5%.
    • Terrastra
      • Harden Skin now increases physical damage dealt by 20%, down from 100%.
  • Blackwing Descent
    • Atramedes
      • Health, melee damage, modulation damage, Roaring Flame Breath damage, and Searing Flame damage have all been reduced by 20%.
      • Modulation no longer causes Sound in normal difficulty.
      • Sound given by Sonar Pulse has been reduced to 3, down from 5.
    • Chimaeron
      • Health has been reduced by 20% and melee damage has been reduced by 10%.
      • Chimaeron will now only cast two caustic slimes per 30-second cycle.
    • Drakeadon Mongrel
      • Time Lapse no longer stuns.
      • Frost Burn silence is now 3 seconds.
    • Dwarven Kings
      • Whirlwind no longer drops threat.
      • Execution Sentence now deals damage only.
      • Shield of Light absorption has been reduced.
    • Magmaw
      • Damage and hit points have been reduced by 20%.
      • Lava Parasites have been diminished.
      • Lava Spew damage, Magma Spit damage, Massive Crash damage, and Infectious Vomit damage have all been been reduced.
      • Mangled Lifeless no longer instantly kills, and its damage has been reduced.
      • Parasitic Infection has been decreased.
    • Maloriak
      • Health, damage, Aberration health/damage, Arcane Storm damage, Prime Subject damage, Flash Freeze/Shatter damage, and Scorching Blast damage have all been decreased by 20%.
      • The Aberration stacking damage buff has been decreased.
      • Prime Subjects no longer fixate, and are no longer immune to taunt effects.
    • Nefarian
      • Health and melee damage has been reduced by 20%.
      • Animated Bone Warriors take 33 seconds to fall over, down from 50. In addition, fewer Animated Bone Warriors spawn.
      • Blast Nova cast time has been increased.
      • Chromatic Prototype health has been reduced by 20%.
      • Electrocute damage has been reduced by 30%.
      • Magma Stacking debuff effect has been reduced by 75%.
      • Nefarian's Shadowblaze cast frequency cannot increase beyond 1 once every 15 seconds.
      • Onyxia health and melee damage has been reduced by 20%.
      • Shadowflame Barrage damage has been reduced by 20%.
      • Tail Lash damage has been reduced by 50%.
    • Omnotron Council
      • Health, Melee damage, Electrical Discharge damage, Lightning Conductor damage, Health of Poison Bomb, Incineration Security Measure damage, and Arcane Annihilator damage have all been reduced by 20%.
      • Barrier absorb amount has been increased by 100%.
      • The cooldown on Power Conversion (Converted Power chance) has been increased.
      • Flamethrower damage has been reduced by 40%.
      • Static Shock caused by Unstable Shield damage and Poison Bomb damage has been decreased by 50%.
  • Deadmines
    • Vanessa VanCleef (Heroic difficulty) now has a sweet, sweet voice to accompany her dialog.
  • Throne of the Four Winds
    • Al'Akir
      • Acid Rain now stacks every 20 seconds, up from 15.
      • Electrocute now pulses every 1 second, up from 0.5.
      • Feedback duration has been increased to 30 seconds, up from 20.
      • Health, damage, and Wind Burst damage have all been reduced by 20%.
      • Lightning and Lightning Rod recast time has been increased.
      • Lightning Strike friendly chain damage has been reduced by 50%.
      • Static Shock will no longer be used on normal difficulty in phase 1 or phase 2.
    • Conclave of the Four Winds
      • Rohash, Anshal, Nezir melee, Ravenous Creeper health/damage, Ravenous Creeper toxic spores damage, Hurricane damage, Sleet Storm damage, Permafrost damage , Slicing Gale, and Wind Blast damage have all been reduced by 20%.
      • Gathering Strength cast time has been increased.
      • Ice Patch slow effect is now 5% per stack, up to 10 stacks, down from 10% per stack, up to 30 stacks, and damage has been reduced by 20%.
      • Wind Chill damage has been decreased by 20% and now increases damage taken by 5% per stack.
  • Zul'Gurub
    • All cauldron buffs are now usable while mounted.
    • High Priestess Kilnara's death now turns off the flaming tiki mask gauntlet.
    • High Priest Venoxis's death now removes the poison from the plants at the start of the dungeon.
  • Dungeon & Raid Bug Fixes
    • Bosses are now immune to the shrinking effect from Gnomish Shrink Ray.
    • The achievement Aberrant Behavior should no longer incorrectly reset its kill tracking during the Maloriak encounter in Blackwing Descent.
    • Anshal's Soothing Breeze should no longer cause combat pets to behave erratically in Throne of the Four Winds.
    • Raid Marker icons are now visible in all phases of boss encounters.

 

Guilds

  • Guild Finder
    • Long comments will now work and not be cut off in the display.
  • The daily guild experience cap has been increased by 25%.
  • The weekly guild reputation cap has been increased by 25%.
  • The guild experience cap is now removed at level 20, down from level 23.
  • The Reins of the Dark Phoenix, purchased from the Guild Vendor, has had its art improved. It's now less transparent and indisputably more awesome.

 

Items

  • If a player wins a Need roll under the Need Before Greed system on a Bind on Equip item, the item will become Soulbound to that player. The item will remain unbound if won via a Greed roll.
  • Applicable tier 11 items now cost Justice Points.
  • Darkmoon Card: Hurricane damage done when triggered has been increased by 40%, however, it can no longer deal critical strikes and no longer receives any modifiers to its damage from the equipping player.
  • The Keyring bag slot has been removed to make room in the user interface for new features.
    • Keys which no longer serve a purpose in the game will be removed from player inventories. Compensation for the keys will be automatically provided in the form of each key's vendor sell price in gold.
    • Keys which are obsolete quest items will be removed from player inventories.
    • Keys which may still be of use to players will be transferred to regular inventory space. If a player's bags are full, these keys will sit in a backlogged inventory until sufficient space is made available. Once space is opened, the keys will appear in regular inventory upon the player logging out or switching zones.
  • PvP Items & Rewards
    • Applicable Season 9 items now cost Honor Points.
    • Gladiator Weapons
      • Season 10 Conquest Point weapons will only be purchasable once a required minimum sum of Conquest Points has been reached during the current season. For example, Ruthless Gladiator's Pike costs 3400 Conquest Points to purchase. However, players must first earn a total of 11650 Conquest Points during Season 10 before they are able to purchase it.
      • Season 9 Honor Point weapons will only be purchasable once a required minimum sum of Honor Points has been reached during the current season. For example, Vicious Gladiator's Pike costs 3400 Honor Points to purchase. However, players must first earn a total of 18500 Honor Points during Season 10 before they are able to purchase it.
      • Once the minimum sum of points required to purchase weapons is reached, all available weapons can be purchased for their listed costs. The point requirement is not reset once a purchase is made.
      • Weapon tooltips from the vendor will let players know how many more Conquest or Honor Points must be earned in the current season before the item can be purchased.
    • Rated Battleground Rewards
      • New PvP ground mounts, the Vicious War Wolf (Horde) and Vicious War Steed (Alliance), will be awarded to players for completing achievements to win 75, 150, and 300 Rated Battlegrounds respectively, rather than for being in the top .5% of the ladder at the end of each season as with Arenas. This award system is to better compliment the spirit of Battlegrounds. One account-bound mount will be awarded for each achievement unlocked, allowing players who obtain 150 and 300 Rated Battleground wins to earn this mount a second and third time. The additional mounts earned can then be sent to alt characters, given they're account-bound. These mounts are awarded as soon as an associated achievement is unlocked and do not correspond with end-of-season rewards.
    • Set Bonuses
      • The 2-piece resilience bonus from Cataclysm PvP sets no longer stacks. If a player wears 2 pieces each from 2 different Cataclysm sets, the player will only receive the 400 resilience rating bonus once. This change does not apply to PvP sets from prior expansions.

 

Professions

  • Engineering
    • D.E.H.T.A. has recently placed a great number of critters under their protection, especially rabbits and squirrels. Because of this, Flintlocke's Woodchucker has been re-fitted to use wild chickens until an "agreement" can be reached.
  • Skinning
    • Players can no longer skin corpses already being actively skinned or looted by other players.

 

PvP

  • Arenas
    • The individual Matchmaking Rating column has been removed from the Arena scoreboard.
    • The Ring of Valor has been added to the Arena rotation once again. Players no longer start the match on elevators at the center of the map. They now begin the match in starting rooms on opposite sides of the Arena.
  • Battlegrounds
    • The individual Matchmaking Rating column has been removed from the Rated Battleground scoreboard and replaced with a team Matchmaking Rating.
    • Eye of the Storm has been added into the rotation as a 10-man Rated Battleground. The tug-of-war style capture points have been replaced with Arathi Basin style capture points to better support 10v10 competition. This change applies only to Rated Battlegrounds. Eye of the Storm is otherwise still a 15-player Battleground with tug-of-war style capture points.
    • Warsong Gulch has been added back into the Rated Battleground rotation.
    • War Games
      • Many improvements have been made to the War Games interface. It now has its own panel for ease of use and raid/group leaders are the only ones who can challenge another group to War Games.

 

Quests & Creatures

  • There are no longer oddities in the critical strike and dodge chance of lower-level creatures.
  • Creatures will now display smooth energy regeneration for players.

 

Races

  • All character races now have a /roar sound.

 

User Interface

  • The Interface Options screens have changed size to match the Video and Audio screens. This allows for a larger Compact Unit Frames Profiles panel.
  • Addons will no longer be able to intelligently swap items by working with the built-in Equipment Manager.
  • The order in which characters are listed at the Character Selection screen can now be rearranged and saved.
  • The cast bar can now be moved to display below the Character frame.
  • Character talent specializations can now be viewed on mouseover of the Battlegrounds Scoreboard.
  • There is now a Dismiss Pet option on unit frames.
  • The durability character display will now show items as yellow when they are below 20% durability, instead of when items have 5 durability or less.
  • The Macros window and Spellbook can now both be open at the same time to allow for more intuitive macro creation. In addition, the Macros window has a Save/Cancel button.
  • Move Pad is a mouse-click interface for movement which is now built into the base interface.
  • It is now easier to change the language of the game client to any language available in the region.
  • A target or focus target can be selected within the mini-map tracking (does not include enemy players).
  • Vendors now display currency types they use.

 

Technical

  • The Blizzard Launcher now utilizes Universal Plug and Play for port configuration. If your router supports UPnP it will automatically open the ports that it requires and your downloads will be unrestricted.