World of Warcraft News and Raiding Strategies

Thank you all for your feedback regarding the auto-fillet change that was set for Patch 6.1. Based on your sentiment, we've gone ahead and made a change we hope will be beneficial for all anglers.

In 6.1, rather than have fish auto-fillet as you catch them, we're adding a new consumable item called the Bladebone Hook which when used, will enable auto-filleting for one hour. This new item can be purchased from fishing vendors in Draenor.

Just a couple notes: Despite the tooltip, you won't need a fishing pole to use this item, and it won't overwrite your lure, bait, fishing line, or anything else.

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts with us!

I have a few more updates for you guys regarding bait which I'm sure you'll appreciate. These are also slated to be in Patch 6.1 so please be sure to test them out on the PTR and give us your feedback.

• We're reverting the change where bait would spoil.
• Reverting the change where bait could not be caught in your garrison; Nat Pagle will still grant you the bait of your choice (because Nat Pagle).
• Bait duration is now 10 minutes (up from 5) to mirror the duration of lures.

Running Out of Things to Do
Hey dorks, different difficulty levels of the SAME CONTENT, is not NEW CONTENT.
Hah, well maybe not entirely, but there's a pretty massive difference in the gameplay experience between Raid Finder and Normal. I would go out on a limb and say that it's so dramatic that they should be considered separate pieces of content. Of course as more and more people outgear Normal it won't be quite as distinctive, but certainly when content first becomes available they are pretty vastly different gaming experiences.

Being in a solo guild does not create any deficit whatsoever. I jump into the custom group finder every day to do the apexis daily. I used the custom group finder to grind out the WOD reputations and if I enjoyed other tiers of raiding, I could use it to PUG normal highmaul. So I completely cannot agree with you on that statement.
The group finder is awesome, and I'm glad you're using it, but I have to say opting into content that way just isn't the same as ad-hoc situations with friends and guild mates. A friend says "DUDES this guy is camping me" and everyone rushes out to help, or you help a guildy in an old dungeon or to kill a rare they can't quite down themselves, or a friend asks if you want to go do a run (that you don't need anything from), and you help because you want to support your friend's character. Or your guild has Sunday transmog runs and you really get into transmogging, or they do achievement runs, or your guild's Heroic-progression group is short a DPS one night and hey, they bring you along! And sure you get carried a bit but you have fun chatting with people, and you even get a couple pieces! And better yet you then become part of their regular rotation, you make friends, you chat outside of game, you meet up at BlizzCon, etc. etc. etc. People are important in an MMORPG. The Premade Groups tool is great, but it really isn't going to do any of the things that occur from being in an active guild or having active friends to play with, and working together to ensure each others' success. It can though be a stepping stone into that social experience, if you want it to be.

In any case I do appreciate the other feedback and points. I think both alt-friendly content and dungeons are always a good place to focus our attention. To your point about JP we are improving some of the reward structure for Apexis in 6.1 which should help maybe address your point of going after upgrades through other content.

As a final note I will say that it's not always necessarily a problem to be "complete" until the next piece of content comes along. Blackrock Foundry is out in less than two weeks, and I would recommend giving Normal a shot when it does hit, but we also have 6.1 on the PTR, and future patches in the oven. A tremendous amount of people are using the new Premade Groups finder to progress from LFR to Normal (and beyond), whereas those same people were stopping at LFR in Mists, and so statistically it's been quite successful as a feature. But everyone has to make their own decisions about playing and what they consider good enough, and at what point they're happy with the progression of their character. For some people that's going to be they saw all the bosses in LFR once and they're good, and for others it's going to be they need 5 100's in full Warforged Mythic. Those are the extremes, but everyone makes those decisions for themselves. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

PvE Items and PvP
Please Prevent Pve items being used and abused in PvP before it's too late.
We're actually working on some changes along these lines for Patch 6.1, which should be hitting the PTR relatively soon (but possibly not in today's build). PvE gear will be scaled down to item level 680 instead of 690, and Primal Combatant/Primal Gladiator trinkets are having their power increased.

Why not just make the PVE trinkets and PVE set bonuses entirely unusable while in instanced, rated PVP? That way, it wouldn't hurt people that are gearing up and just doing BGs or WPVPers.
PvE set bonuses are disabled in rated PvP. If you find one that isn't, that's a bug, please report it!

We don't always have a great way to apply similar logic to trinkets, but we are able to adjust specific trinkets when necessary -- for example, we've just hotfixed the Scabbard of Kyanos' on-use effect to have a lower effectiveness in PvP situations. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Meaning that things take longer because more people are competing for stuff, with no benefits. Rather than beneficial collision like Connected realms, where you can invite people to guilds, and they don't significantly add to zone populations.
That's a perception issue, though. If we hid realm names there would be no real difference in that person being from your home realm or from another. You can make the argument those resources are going somewhere else, but again, you're going to get the resources you're going to get. People from your realm are likely CRZd to someone else's realm, and mining their nodes, and bringing it back to your server. It's a perception issue more so than an actual gameplay impact.

As for guilds, plenty of people have RealID friends cross-realm, and then actually transfer if necessary to be in their friends' guild--but the advent of flex and both Normal and Heroic being cross-realm means you can stay in your same guilds and have a lot of additional options on how you play the game.

Some realms need to be merged, CRZ does not solve this.
No, and it's not intended to. Connected Realms allow for a lot of the benefits you're probably referring to, and that was an undertaking that happened before Warlords launch (all planned connections were completed back in August). But connecting realms and CRZ offer different benefits, and aren't mutually exclusive. Connecting realms means, for all intents and purposes, a shared population. The vast majority of players (even on lower population realms) are at level cap, or at least leveling through the latest expansion, and so there's essentially always glut of players at the top and in those zones. Connecting realms is limited by that high end concentration of players and what those zones can comfortably support. Meanwhile the lower level zones are probably still very empty. What CRZ allows us to do is set a desired number of players in a zone at a time, and bring players together from many realms into that zone, without also impacting player numbers elsewhere in the game.

it does nothing to help gameplay.
Creating a multiplayer environment where there's both cooperation and disagreements (or groups and pvp, or competition and interaction) between players is largely what MMOs are about, and so I think we'd fundamentally disagree that having more players around in low level zones is, as you put it, anything but unhelpful. We think it is decidedly helpful to the support of a multiplayer gaming environment.

All that said, we'd be interested in hearing specific feedback on situations or issues you're having, experiences and stories about what has made the experience worse, or even better! Nice stories are nice, too.

for the record I get there's supposed to be some competiton, but I feel it becomes a problem when I start getting chewed out by other players for having to resort to ninjaing their quest stuff to have any hope of advancing a quest.

We don't generally want there to be waiting around for questing resources. We consider quest resource not spawning quickly enough as a bug, and they should probably be reported as such. If you come across any specific instances where people are standing around waiting for something to respawn, or feverishly fighting over mobs, report it as a bug.

Standing around with 8 other people waiting for mobs to spawn is no fun...
I agree, and that should be reported as a bug. The game is designed to support many dozens (or even hundreds) of players doing the same quest at the same time, and if there's an issue impeding progression on quest criteria then that's a bug.

And, although it probably doesn't need to be said, not caused by CRZ.

Character / Items
caps gone, then why did you remove reforge? lack of toon customization: no gems, no enchants. for me this made the game worse...
You can enchant 275 worth of secondary stats, this is actually more relative to MOP (post squish)
Yep, this. Plus food and any sockets you may have. (WatcherDev)

Guilds
Man, creating a guild is still such an old fashioned chore. Any improvements in the pipe?
Actually haven't checked that out myself for quite a while, will pass on the feedback, thanks! (Muffinus)

Somewhat worried that a 4 night schedule is turning into the defacto requirement for a typical mythic clear guild
Curious what makes you feel that way - what's changed in WoD? A number of 3-night guilds are making good progress. (WatcherDev)

PvE
Only 24 US guilds have M Imperator, w/ Holidays/Light Raid schedules, Blackrock launch is too early imho.
But Foundry isn't a separate tier like Throne of Thunder or Siege, it's a continuation of the first tier. I'd compare to MSV->HoF. (WatcherDev)

Are all 3 wings in BrF linear, or are there some options on the order of the first 2? I'm assuming the third is always gated?
Three separate wings you can tackle in any order, each with an end-boss. Think upper Icecrown, or Naxxramas. (WatcherDev)
Aye, but are the non-end bosses linear like Naxx wings, or do you have options on some, like Plague wing in ICC?
Forge and Assembly are linear; for Slagworks you can do either Gruul or Oregorger first. (WatcherDev)

PvP
Ashran's queue problems bother me. It puts the whole zone in a bad light. We're doing a substantial queue rework for 6.1. (holinka)
Skirmishes, strong boxes and PvP item level have been good changes and pleased with them. (holinka)
There will never be universal satisfaction with class balance so I don't ever expect posts like this to go away. (holinka)

We've opened up the Blackrock Foundry raid on the 6.1 PTR for the weekend. The first boss(es) of each wing are accessible (Oregorger and Gruul in the Slagworks; Hans'gar and Franzok in the Black Forge; and Beastlord Darmac in the Iron Assembly), on Normal difficulty only. Use the Group Finder to find some like-minded allies, get in there, and check out a bit of the raid zone that's coming to live servers in less than two weeks!

Organized guilds should keep an eye on the PTR forums next week for a couple of more targeted tests of specific bosses on higher difficulties.

Please use this thread to provide feedback on the four available Foundry bosses. Item level will be scaled to 650 for the purposes of the test. When providing feedback, please specify the size and nature of your group (pure PUG, Mythic raiding guild, etc.), and remember that these are the first bosses of the zone on Normal difficulty. The intended tuning target here is in the ballpark of Highmaul bosses like Butcher or Twin Ogron on Normal difficulty.

Patch 6.1 is now available for testing on the Public Test Realms (PTR)! Participating on the Public Test Realms lets you test patches before it has been released on live realms. If you'd like to help test and provide feedback, you can start by copying your character and downloading the PTR client. Once you've had a chance to try things out, visit our PTR Discussion forum to discuss the patch. To report any issues or errors, use the in-game Submit Bug feature (found under Game Menu -> Help -> Submit a Bug) or by visiting the PTR Bug Report forum.

PTR Disclaimer

• Please keep in mind that the notes below are not final, and details may be subject to change before the release of Patch 6.1.
• New information for features that are still in-development will be added as it becomes available.
• Content listed in the PTR Patch Notes may not be available for testing or have a limited test window.

New Character Models: Blood Elf

• Character models for Blood Elves have been overhauled with an increase to fidelity and texture resolution; while retaining the core look and feel of the originals.
• Some character models received additional tweaks and adjustments.

Twitter Integration

• Characters can now send Tweets for items, achievements, and screenshots from within the game client using the /share command.
• This feature can be enabled by accessing a new social settings pane to add or remove a Twitter account.

New Heirloom Collections Tab

• The Collections system now supports Heirloom items.
• Heirlooms have a tier system to denote the maximum level that the item scales up to.
• New neck slot Heirlooms are now available and allows the character to cast a heal once a minute. This heal shares a cooldown with potions and Healthstones.
• Vendors in Stormwind (Alliance) and Undercity (Horde) now sells Heirlooms for gold.
• Alternate methods for obtaining Heirlooms are also available.
  
  • Darkmoon Faire sells Heirlooms for Darkmoon Prize Tickets.
  • Argent Tournament sells tier-1 and tier-2 Heirlooms for Champion's Seals.
  • Some world events now sell either tier-2 and tier-3 Heirlooms for currency obtained through the event.
• Collecting all heirloom items awards a special mount usable by level 1 characters.

Garrisons, Followers, and Outposts

• New Garrison Visitors
  
  • One of five new visitors may visit each day offering a quest to anyone that visits the Garrison.
    
    • Defeat a dungeon boss: Awards a bag with a chance to contain a level 630, 645, or 655 item token.
    • Defeat a raid boss (weekly quest): Awards a bag with a chance to contain a level 645, or 655 item token.
    • Bounty (intended for 3 or more players): Defeat a named elite NPC for a bag containing Apexis Crystals, and a chance to contain a level 645, or 655 item token.
    • Relic: Complete a series of quests to recover a relic for a bag containing Apexis Crystals, and a chance to contain a level 645, or 655 item token. Completing a relic mission unlocks it as a potential mission for your followers. Completing all 6 relic missions will unlock Harrison Jones as a follower!
    • Profession: Turn-in tradeskill reagents for Primal Spirits and work order tradeskill reagents.
  • For the Pet Battlers out there, there's a separate chance for an additional visitor offering unique Pet Battles with a chance to award a bag containing Pet Battle items and new Battle Pets.
• Summon a Raid or World Boss
  
  • Players may find an item while completing a Bounty, Relic, Dungeon, or Raid daily quest from the Garrison visitor that that allows them to summon one of six new raid or world boss in the Garrison.
  • Summoned raid or world bosses have scaling health and is intended for 10-40 players.
• New Garrison Music Box
  
  • Players can assemble a music box allowing them to play music in their Garrisons.
  • Pieces for the music box can be found as a reward from new Bounty or Relic Missions.
  • New songs can be collected from throughout the world to expand your music library.
• New Garrison Vendor
  
  • A new vendor has been added allowing players to use Garrison Resource to purchase items to upgrade Followers, or items that can be used to spawn a rare mission.
• New Follower Trait: Treasure Hunter
  
  • Treasure Hunter trait increases the amount of gold rewarded from a mission.
• Follower Missions
  
  • New Profession Missions are now available on upgrading a profession building to level 3. Successfully completing these missions award an item that allows instant completion of work orders.
  • Players can unlock Relic and Bounty missions for their followers by completing the corresponding Relic or Bounty quest offered by one of the random daily new visitors to the Garrison.
  • New exploration missions are available to players with a skill of at least 1 in Archeology. Successfully completing these missions can award Archeology fragments, keystones, or treasure maps for a Draenor zone. Treasure maps obtained in this manner does not require quest achievement completion for the Draenor zone.
  • Archeology Vendors in Stormshield and Warspear now sell an item that'll spawn a follower exploration mission for 5 Restored Artifacts.
  • New Level-100 Scouting missions to a Battlefield now awards an item that grants access to missions that award Apexis Crystals.
  • New Raid missions to Blackrock Foundry are now available for a cache that awards level 665, 680, or 695 items.
  • New follower missions have been added that can award gold, Apexis Crystals, Savage Blood, or Augmentation runes.
  • Missions that go over 100% completion chance now awards a bonus to the base XP.
  • Level-100 Garrison resource missions now award more Garrison Resources.
  • Scavenger trait for Followers now increases Garrison Resources gained from a mission by 100% (down from 200%).
• Follower Mission UI Improvements
  
  • List of missions available now displays the amount of bonus XP, gold, and resources awarded without having to mouse-over the mission tooltip.
  • Improved tooltips displaying which followers that can counter threats on a mission.
    
    • Followers that can counter a threat and available show up with a green checkmark.
    • Followers that can counter a threat but are out on a mission displays the time remaining until the follower is available.
    • Followers that can counter a threat but assigned to a building will display a working icon.
  • A new icon will notify the player when assigning a follower that'll receive less XP reward because they're below level or item level requirements.
  • Garrisons with 10 or more followers now have access to a sortable list with a quick overview of how many followers can counter a particular threat or how long a follower will be out on a mission.
• Garrison Buildings
  
  • Garrison Work Order Changes
    
    • Work orders now check if a follower is assigned to the building every 4 hours when factoring in production bonuses.
    • Followers assigned to work at a building now receive XP for each work order that they provide a production bonus on.
    • Players now have an option to queue up all remaining work order slots through the building's work order UI.
    • NPCs that accept Work Orders are now titled as such along with a new interaction cursor to make them easier to locate.
  • Alchemy Lab
    
    • Level 2: Followers working at the Alchemy Lab now offers a choice on the free potions you want to receive, but those potions are now soulbound.
  • Armory (Dwarven Bunker / War Mill)
    
    • Level 3: A daily quest has been added to allow players to exchange Iron Horde Scraps for an armor or weapon enhancement token.
  • Barn
    
    • Barn traps are no longer targetable, causes the cursor to be highlighted, or usable in Rated Battlegrounds, Arenas, or outside of Draenor.
    • Savage Blood now drops more frequently when a follower is assigned to the building (it didn’t affect the chance previously).
    • Caged creatures now stack to 1000 (up from 20).
  • Barracks
    
    • A vendor at the Barracks now sells an item that allows a character to shrink their Bodyguards for 60 minutes.
  • Fishing Shack
    
    • You no longer catch bait in your Garrison. However, Nat Pagle (Level 3 Fishing Shack) will give you any of the standard baits if you ask nicely.
    • Lunkers can now be caught from fishing pools and have an improved catch rate with higher fishing skill.
    • Summoned Cavedwellers now drops random fish flesh and drops less Worm Supreme.
    • Fish Eggs used as turn-in for the Fishing Shack Daily quest are now bind on pickup and no longer have a sell value.
  • Lumber Mill
    
    • Lumber Mill no longer requires Garrison Resources to build or upgrade.
    • Work orders now award 30 Garrison Resource (up from 20).
  • Mage Tower / Spirit Lodge
    
    • The building now accepts Ogre Waystones as work orders awarding Apexis Crystals and a chance to receive an item that allows instant completion of a mission that's in-progress.
  • Mine
    
    • Miner's Coffee no longer has a stack limit, is now bind on pickup, and has a sell price. It now has an exclusive category so it cannot be applied multiple times by splitting it into different stacks. However, the aura can now correctly stack up to 5 times.
    • Preserved Mining Pick no longer has a stack limit, is now bind on pickup, has a sell price, and offers a bonus even if you have the Peon's Mining Pick.
  • Menagerie
    
    • Reduced the difficulty of quests to unlock the Menagerie, elite pet challenges, and pet battle daily quests.
  • Salvage Yard
    
    • Tier-3 salvage recovered from Follower missions no longer has an independent chance to drop an uncommon (green), rare (blue), or epic (purple) item and will instead always drop one of them. This change is intended to reduce overall item spam without affecting their value. Existing chance for Tier-3 salvage to potentially also contain an uncommon Tier-2 salvage item remains unchanged.
    • Follower Weaponry and Armor Set tokens (War Ravaged, Blackrock, Goredrenched) no longer drops from salvage.
  • Trading Post
    
    • Trading Post no longer requires Garrison Resources to build or upgrade.
    • Some merchants have started accepting Crescent Saberfish Flesh as payment.
• Garrison Invasions
  
  • Players that have performed above-and-beyond expectations for a Gold rating while defending their Garrisons from an invasion can now attain a Platinum rating. Platinum rating awards a level 660 item and a chance at obtaining an item that can be used to summon a raid or world boss.

Itemization

• Tertiary Stats for Avoidance, Speed, and Leach now provide about four times as much benefit per stat point.

Racials

• Dwarf
  
  • Stoneform when used, now triggers a 30-second shared cooldown with other PvP trinkets that breaks crowd-control effects.

Class Changes
Talent Balance

Developer Commentary: A primary focus for class changes in Patch 6.1 is improving overall talent balance. Not every talent needs to be useful in every situation; and in fact it’s often better if they have strengths and weaknesses. But we do try to have each talent be useful in some situations, and make them close enough in value that if you really enjoy the gameplay of a talent you don’t feel like you’re dragging your group down by using it.

For these changes we focused primarily on tuning (tweaking numbers), and nearly all changes are buffs to underperforming talents. The goal is to reach more variety of viable builds, without bringing down the existing popular choices.

• Death Knight (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
  
  • Talents
    
    • Breath of Sindragosa no longer has an initial Runic Power cost.
    • Death Siphon now heals the Death Knight for 400% of damage dealt (up from 335%).
    • Necrotic Plague damage has been increased by 37%.
• Druid (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
  
  • Talents
    
    • Bristling Fur (Guardian) now has a 30-second cooldown (down from 1 minute).
    • Force of Nature Treants have been buffed with a 35% increase to their health and spellpower, and an 80% increase to their armor and attack power.
    • Guardian of Elune (Guardian) now also reduces the rage cost of Savage Defense by the Druid's base dodge chance percentage.
    • Moment of Clarity (Restoration) now lasts 7 seconds (up from 5 seconds).
    • Rampant Growth (Restoration) now also increases the healing of Swiftmend by 20%.
    • Renewal now instantly heals for 30% of max health (up from 22%).
    • Stellar Flare (Balance) damage has been increased by 16%, and now has a duration of 24 seconds (up from 20 seconds).
• Hunter (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
  
  • Talents
    
    • Barrage damage has been increased by 21%.
    • Exhilaration now instantly heals for 30% of max health (up from 22%).
    • Glaive Toss damage has been increased by 25%.
    • Powershot damage has been increased by 62%.
    • Stampede now lasts 40 seconds (up from 20 seconds).
• Mage (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
  
  • Talents
    
    • Alter Time now has a 1-minute cooldown (down from 1.5 minutes).
    • Mirror Image copies of Frost Mages now deals 15% less damage with Frostbolt.
• Monk (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
  
  • Talents
    
    • Ascension now increases Spirit by 10% instead of increasing maximum mana by 20%.
    • Breath of the Serpent (Mistweaver) healing increased by 50%.
    • Chi Burst damage has been increased by 51%. Also fixed a bug that caused its damage and healing to vary based on specialization.
    • Chi Explosion (Mistweaver) healing while in Serpent Stance is increased by 40%, and is now usable while channeling Soothing Mist.
    • Chi Torpedo damage has increased by 150% and healing has increased by 42%.
    • Hurricane Strike (Windwalker) damage increased by 25%.
    • Ring of Peace now incapacitates all enemies for 5 seconds (up from 3 seconds).
    • Zen Sphere has been improved. Its detonation damage has increased by 97%, detonation healing has increased by 70%, but periodic healing has been reduced by 39%. Also fixed a bug that caused its damage and healing to vary based on specialization.
• Paladin (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
  
  • Talents
    
    • Empowered Seals (Protection, Retribution) has been improved. Liadrin’s Righteousness now increases haste by 20% (up from 15%). Uther’s Insight now heals the Paladin for 2% of maximum health (up from 1%).
    • Execution Sentence healing dealt by Stay of Execution has increased by 100%.
    • Final Verdict (Retribution) now increases the radius of the next Divine Storm by 50% (down from 100%).
    • Hand of Purity now reduces damage taken by 15% (up from 10%).
    • Sacred Shield (Holy) mana cost has been reduced by 34%.
  • Glyphs
    
    • Glyph of Alabaster Shield has been removed.
    • Glyph of Harsh Words is now only available to Holy Paladins.
• Priest (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
  
  • Talents
    
    • Auspicious Spirits (Shadow) no longer cause Shadowy Apparitions to not deal damage. Instead, it now increases Shadowy Apparition damage by 100% in addition to still granting 1 Shadow Orb.
    • Clarity of Purpose's (Holy) healing has increased by 20%.
    • Divine Star (Shadow) damage increased by 20%.
    • Mindbender lasts for 20 seconds (up from 15 seconds).
    • Saving Grace (Discipline, Holy) healing has increased by 50%, but now reduces future healing dealt by 15% (up from 10%). Additionally, the talent is now Instant, but its effectiveness is reduced while in PvP combat.
    • Surge of Darkness now has a 12% chance to trigger (up from 10%).
    • Void Entropy (Shadow) damage increased by 80%.
    • Void Tendrils' health has increased by 30%.
• Rogue (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
  
  • Talents
    
    • Burst of Speed now has a 3-second cooldown.
    • Death from Above's damage has increased by 25%. For Assassination Rogues, the talent now also increases the duration of Envenom.
    • Leeching Poison has been redesigned. It now grants 10% Leech while active, and no longer applies a poison effect to the target. Its Shiv effect remains unchanged.
• Shaman (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
  
  • Talents
    
    • Ancestral Guidance now triggers from all damage or healing dealt, including Multistrikes, instead of only direct damage or healing.
    • Storm Elemental Totem damage and healing has increased by 30%.
• Warlock (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
  
  • Talents
    
    • Cataclysm now also applies Unstable Affliction for Affliction Warlocks.
    • Charred Remains (Destruction) now reduces Incinerate damage by only 50% (down from reducing Incinerate damage by 60%).
    • Grimoire of Sacrifice (Affliction, Destruction) now increases damage of affected spells by 25% (up from 20%).
    • Grimoire of Service now summons a second demon for 25 seconds (up from 20 seconds).
    • Kil'jaeden's Cunning now has a 35-second cooldown (down from 1 minute).
• Warrior (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
  
  • Talents
    
    • Avatar now lasts 20 seconds with a 1.5-minute cooldown (up from lasting 24 seconds with a 3-minute cooldown).
    • Second Wind now increases Leech by 25% (up from 10%).
    • Siegebreaker (Arms, Fury) damage and knockback distance has increased by 50%.
    • Slam (Arms) damage has increased by 43%.

Healer Damage
Developer Commentary: Another change being made for Patch 6.1 is to bring the damage potential of healers up to a level that is sufficient and balanced. Healers’ damage potential will still pale compared to that of a dedicated damage dealer or tank, but it should no longer feel like you’re totally ineffective when attempting to do some outdoor content.

• Druid (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
  
  • Restoration
    
    • Naturalist now also increases the damage of Druid spells and abilities by 15%.
  • Talents
    
    • Heart of the Wild (Restoration) now increases spell damage by 150% (down from 200%), and Agility in Cat Form by 75% (down from 110%).
• Paladin (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
  
  • Holy
    
    • Denounce damage has increased by 50%.
    • Holy Shock damage has increased by 50%.
• Shaman (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
  
  • Glyphs
    
    • Telluric Currents (Restoration) causes Flame Shock, Lava Burst, and Lightning Bolt to cost no mana and deal 100% more damage.

Classes

• Death Knight (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
  
  • Glyphs
    
    • Glyph of Runic Power now generates 2 Runic Power every second for 5 seconds when struck by a movement-impairing effect (down from 3 Runic Power).
• Druid (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
  
  • General
    
    • Healing Touch no longer heals for 50% more when cast-on-self for Balance Druids.
  • Balance
    
    • Balance Druids now learn a new passive ability at level 38, Nature’s Bounty.
      
      • Nature’s Bounty causes Healing Touch to be Critical Strikes for 8 seconds after killing an enemy that yields experience or honor.
    • Starfall and Sunfall now only hits targets affected with Moonfire or Sunfire by default.
      
      • Glyph of Guided Stars has been renamed to Glyph of Untamed Stars and is now a Minor glyph. Glyph of Untamed Stars expands Starfall and Sunfall to hit all targets within range.
  • Restoration
    
    • Genesis now affects all targets within 60 yards of the Druid and no longer requires a target.
    • Nature’s Cure is now classified as a Nature School ability.
  • Talents
    
    • Displacer Beast is now classified as an Arcane School ability and can no longer be used while silenced.
  • Armor Sets
    
    • PvP 2-piece set bonus for Balance Druids now has a visual effect to indicate when the Druid is unable to generate a Starsurge charge from Entangling Roots.
    • PvP 4-piece set bonus for Balance Druids has been redesigned. When Starsurge hits a player, the cast time of Starfire is reduced by 30%, and the damage of Wrath is increased by 30% for 6 seconds.
• Hunter (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
  
  • Survival
    
    • Trap Mastery no longer reduces the cooldown of all traps and Black Arrow by 6 seconds.
    • Black Arrow now has a cooldown of 24 seconds (down from 30 seconds).
    • Enhanced Traps now reduces the cooldown on all traps by 33% (down from 50%).
  • Hunter Pets
    
    • Basilisks now have a pet family ability. Stone Scales reduces damage taken by the pet. Previously, Basilisks did not have a pet family ability.
    • Hydra pets should no longer be excessively large.
    • Spirit Beast's Spirit Beast Blessing now also provides a 5% increase to critical strike chance. Does not stack with other critical strike chance buffs. Previously, other exotic pet families provided buffs to 2 stats while Spirit Beasts provided only 1.
• Mage (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
  
  • Arcane
    
    • Presence of Mind can now be applied to Polymorph spells.
  • Fire
    
    • Fireball now replaces Frostfire Bolt for Fire Mages.
  • Frost
    
    • Deep Freeze stun effect now always breaks on damage from Ice Lance, but no longer has a chance to break from other damage sources.
  • Talents
    
    • Blast Wave (Fire) now has a 3-second cooldown.
    • Ice Nova (Frost) now has a 3-second cooldown.
    • Supernova (Arcane) now has a 3-second cooldown.
  • Glyphs
    
    • Glyph of Frostfire Bolt has been replaced with Glyph of Ignite. Glyph of Ignite causes Ignite to also reduce the target’s movement speed by 40%.
  • Armor Sets
    
    • PvP 2-piece set bonus for Frost Mages has been redesigned. Cone of Cold now leaves behind a patch of ice on the target area slowing any enemies caught within it by 50% for 6 seconds.
    • PvP 4-piece set bonus for Frost Mages has been redesigned to increase Frostbolt damage by 30% against unsnared targets, and increases Frostbolt damage by 50% against snared targets.
• Monk (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
  
  • Brewmaster
    
    • Elusive Brew is now highlighted when the Monk has 15 stacks of it.
  • Mistweaver
    
    • Mana Tea now restores mana equal to 3 times the Monk's unbuffed Spirit (instead of 4% of maximum mana).
  • Glyphs
    
    • Glyph of Blackout Kick has returned.
  • Armor Sets
    
    • PvP 2-piece set bonus for Windwalker Monks has been replaced by the PvP 4-piece set bonus. Touch of Karma redirected damage can now exceed 50% of the Monk's maximum health.
    • PvP 4-piece set bonus for Windwalker Monks is now the PvP 2-piece set bonus. The Monk now receives a 2% reduction to damage taken for each stack of Tigereye Brew consumed for 20 seconds.
• Paladin (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
  
  • Protection
    
    • Seal of Truth is no longer available to Protection Paladins. Seal of Command is now replaced by Seal of Righteousness instead of Seal of Truth.
  • Talents
    
    • Beacon of Insight (Holy) now increases healing received by the target by 40% (up from 30%) and moves to the next most injured ally when the target reaches 90% health (instead of full health).
  • Glyphs
    
    • Glyph of Alabaster Shield has been removed.
    • Glyph of Harsh Words is now only available to Holy Paladins.
    • Glyph of Judgment is now automatically learned at level 25.
  • Armor Sets
    
    • PvP 2-piece set bonus for Holy Paladins now lasts 12 seconds (up from 8 seconds).
    • PvP 4-piece set bonus for Holy Paladins has been redesigned. Eternal Flame or Word of Glory now also reduces damage taken by the target by 5% for each Holy Power consumed (maximum of 15%) for 6 seconds. This effect only works in PvP combat.
• Priest (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
  
  • Holy
    
    • Chakra: Chastise now increases damage done by Shadow and Holy spells by 80% (up from 50%).
  • Talents
    
    • Cascade may now hit the same target twice, resulting in an increase to total healing. To compensate, Cascade healing has been reduced by 35%. However, total healing in a 20-player raid will still be slightly higher than before.
    • Insanity (Shadow) now also affects Mind Sear.
• Shaman (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
  
  • Elemental
    
    • Enhanced Chain Lightning now increases the damage of done by the next Earthquake by 300% when Chain Lightning or Lava Beam strikes 3 or more targets (instead of increasing Earthquake damage by 60% for each target struck).
  • Enhancement
    
    • Maelstrom Weapon no longer reduces the mana cost of spells.
  • Talents
    
    • Echo of the Elements has been redesigned. Echo of the Elements now causes Earthquake, Fire Nova, Lava Burst, Lava Lash, Riptide, Spirit Link Totem, Stormstrike, and Unleash Life to have 2 charges. Other abilities that reset the cooldown of these abilities will instead grant 1 charge.
  • Armor Sets
    
    • PvP 2-piece set bonus for Restoration Shaman now grants 975 Versatility after dispelling a harmful Magic or Curse effect from an ally (up from 780 Versatility).
    • PvP 4-piece set bonus for Restoration Shaman now triggers when the target of Earth Shield drops below 50% health (up from 35%) and Earth Shield will immediately consume up to 4 charges (up from 3 charges).
• Warrior (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
  
  • General
    
    • Thunder Clap (Arms, Protection) snare effect now lasts for 10 seconds or 8 seconds while in PvP combat (up from 6 seconds).

Quests

• Legendary Ring Quest Line
  
  • A new epic follower awaits those that complete the latest chapter in the Legendary Ring Quest Line!

World Environment and Events

• Flight Path Improvements
  
  • Improved the logic used for connecting flight paths. Players are now able to fly through flight points that they have not discovered yet if it'll result in a more direct flight path to a destination point.
  • A button has been added for characters in the middle of a flight to get off at the next known flight point.
• Nagrand
  
  • Added two mailboxes in around the Black Market near Ring Of Blood in Nagrand.
• Darkmoon Faire
  
  • The Darkmoon Faire have added an exciting new racing event with opportunities to obtain new unique prizes!
  • New achievements and rewards have been added to the Darkmoon Tonk Challenge and Darkmoon Ring Toss.

Creatures and NPCs

• Spires of Arak
  
  • Sethekk Wind Serpent is undead and should no longer be skinnable.

Pet Battle

• New battle pets have been added to Black Temple, Caverns of Time: Hyjal Summit, and Sunwell Plateau along with a new achievement, Raiding with Leashes III: Drinkin' From the Sunwell to collect them all. Completing the achievement to collect all the new Battle Pets will award a Naaru pet.
• Level 100 characters with a Tier-3 Garrison will now receive an item in the mail that increases a single Battle Pet's level to 25.

Dungeons, Raids, and Scenarios

• Personal loot mode received quality-of-life adjustments. Bosses that can be looted now have a custom graphical effect. Popup notifications from looting a boss have also been revamped.
• Dungeons
  
  • Completing the first random Heroic Draenor Dungeon of the day no longer awards a reputation bonus with Pandarian factions.
• Challenge Mode
  
  • Increased the item level of gear awarded from completing daily Challenge Mode quests to 660 (up from 640).

PvP

• Grand Marshal Tremblade or High Warlord Volrath now offers scrolls of Enchant Illusion – Glorious Tyranny and Enchant Illusion – Primal Victory to players with a rating of 2400 or higher in Rated Battlegrounds, and 3v3 or 5v5 Arenas.
• Rewards are now correctly distributed based on the PvP level bracket.
• Ashran
  
  • Ashran's queuing system received substantial changes to reduce wait times.
  • Event objectives now award 100 Conquest Points (down from 125).
  • Rare creatures and NPCs now drop 40-50 Artifact Fragments (down from 60-80).
  • Guards in Ring of Conquest now drop 6-8 Artifact Fragments (down from 8-11).
  • Ashmaul Pearls and Ghost Truffles have been removed. Players can now buy potions from Crafticus Mindbender (Alliance) and Dazzerian (Horde) for 10 Artifact Fragments each.
  • Kowalski's Music Box now has a 15-minute cooldown (down from 1 hour).
  • Scroll of Mass Invisibility, Scroll of Replenishment, and Scroll of Town Portal has been removed.
  • Wand of Death, Wand of Mana Stealing, and Wand of Neutralization has been removed.

Battlegrounds and Arenas

• Bonus Honor received from winning a Battleground should now correctly convert into XP for characters that are below level 100.

Professions

• Harvesting from Draenor Mining and Herbalism nodes should now provide more experience points. Previously, only True Iron nodes were providing the correct amount of XP.
• New recipes have been added to create items that boost the item levels of crafted armor pieces to 680 and weapons to 670.
• Alchemy
  
  • Alchemists can now transmute for Savage Blood and various Sorcerous elements.
  • Alchemists can now craft an upgradable alchemy trinket.
• Archeology
  
  • Increased the maximum amount of Arakkoa, Draenor Clans, and Ogre archeology fragments that can be held at a time to 250 (up from 200).
  • All rare Draenor archeology projects no longer cost more than 200 fragments to solve.
  • Brittle Cartography Journal can now be dug up by characters with an Archeology skill of 1 (down from 575).
• Blacksmithing
  
  • Crafted shields no longer counts towards the limit on Unique-Equipped: Warlords Crafted items.
• Cooking
  
  • New self-only cooking recipes have been added for food that gives 125 bonus to a stat.
• Fishing
  
  • Fish caught in Draenor are now automatically filleted.
  • Different sizes of Savage Piranha have been consolidated into Savage Piranha and can be consumed directly for the transformation effect.
  • Players can now always catch enormous fish from pools, regardless of skill.
  • Fish that have already been caught can be converted to the appropriate amount of flesh.
  • Draenor fishing bait now lasts for 10 minutes (up from 5 minutes) and needs to be used within 15 minutes of being caught or it'll spoil.
• Inscription
  
  • The following glyphs now have recipes and are no longer sold by vendors.
    
    • Glyph of Cleanse
    • Glyph of Flying Fists
    • Glyph of Purification
    • Glyph of Purify Spirit
    • Glyph of the Solstice

Items

• Apexis Crystals
  
  • Characters can now accrue up to a maximum of 60,000 Apexis Crystals (up from 20,000).
  • Dawn-Seeker Rilak (Alliance) and Dawn-Seeker Kirrik (Horde) have set up shop in Stormshield and Warspear offering powerful new items (item level 670) in exchange for Apexis Crystals.
  • Apexis Crystal vendors have been reorganized with their titles now denoting what it is that they're selling.
• Characters now receive a treasure maps in the mail for completing storyline achievements for a Draenor region.
• Griftah now sells a variety of transmogrification items for Dingy Iron Coins. In addition, he now sells a Rogue-specific toy, Barrel of Bandanas. Barrel of Bandanas spawns a barrel that gives players that use it a random visual bandana buff for 30 minutes.
• Season 1 PvP boots and belts sold by Kezzik at Area 52 in Netherstorm are now more comparably priced to their other Season 1 counterparts (1750 Honor).
• Replica belts for Blood Guard and Knight-Lieutenant have been added to complete visual sets that were previously incomplete for transmogrification. These new items are sold by the vendors who sell the rest of the set, Tini Smalls and Krixel Pinchwhistle at Area 52 in Netherstorm.
• All Brawler’s Guild shirts are now unique. Replacement Brawler’s Guild shirts can be purchased from Quackenbrush or Paul North if the character has defeated a boss that awarded it.
• Several trinkets obtained from Draenor rares are now able to be disenchanted (previously, the items could not be disenchanted).
• Apexis Crystals are now displaying as uncommon quality (green). There's been no change to the item's drop rate or availability.
• Grimoire of the Four Winds should now correctly able to be used by characters that are at least level 85.
• Honorary Brewmaster Keg is now unique. A replacement Honorary Brewmaster Keg can now be purchased from The Metal Paw in Binan Village in Binan Village for those who have completed the Pub Crawl achievement.
• Mini Mana Bomb has been added to the Toy Box for Horde characters that have completed the achievement, Theramore’s Fall.
• Nat's Fishing Chair is now unique. A replacement chair can be purchased from Nat Pagle if the character has completed the achievement Learning from the Best.
• Primal Combatant and Primal Gladiator trinkets have had their power increased.
• Restored Artifact is now considered a trade good and can be placed in the Reagent Bank.
• Scavenger's Eyepiece's effect now persists through death.
• Theramore Tabard can now be re-obtained by Alliance characters that have completed the achievement, Theramore’s Fall at a tabard vendor.

UI

• New Death Recap Screen
  
  • When a character is killed, a new screen now shows more information on what killed you.

Bal'a dash, malanore!

Barring any unforeseen issues, the next PTR build pushed out will contain the first iteration of the new models for both Male and Female Blood Elves.

While we're excited to share with you our progress on these new models, I do want to stress that the models, textures, and animations are not entirely finished. Bug fixing and iteration can and will occur, and that's where you come in!

We'd like to consolidate all feedback on the Blood Elf model updates to this thread, to make it easier for our Artists and QA team to read over your feedback, concerns, and bug reports. Constructive criticism is the best approach, and detailed, actionable feedback will help us the most!

Known Issues:
Right now, the new models are more or less using the same facial geometry set - as in, all the males will have the same chin, eye shape, nose shape, etc. These are currently slated to be added to the models in an upcoming 6.1 build.

For more information on what Facial Geometry Sets are, refer to the Artcraft posted last year. Please keep in mind that these different customization options are not yet complete when providing your feedback on the new models.

Just to manage some expectations here - the PTR patch currently scheduled to go up today does *not* have the class tuning changes that Celestalon was referring to, as it was built before they were implemented. The more likely outcome is that they'll be in the next build *after* today's.

Garrisons, Followers, and Outposts

• Garrison Campaign Quests
  
  • A Stolen Heart: Azuka Bladefury should no longer be getting stuck in evade mode for Horde characters.
  • Primal Fury: Completing the quest should now correctly award Thisalee Crow (Alliance) or Choluna (Horde) as a Follower. A fix to award the followers for players that have already completed the quest will be made at a later date.
  • Socrethar's Demise: Resolved an issue that could cause the banner used to challenge Socrethar to not work correctly.

Classes

• Hunter (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  
  • Talents
    
    • Hunter Talents should no longer incorrectly treat Lifelike Mechanical Frostboar as an active Hunter Pet.
• Monk (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  
  • General
    
    • Instant casting Surging Mist on self via Soothing Mist (Mistweaver) should no longer cause Surging Mist to not provide any healing.
• Paladin (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  
  • Glyphs
    
    • Glyph of Illumination is obsolete and should no longer be incorrectly retained by some Paladins.
• Shaman (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  
  • Restoration
    
    • Healing received through Spirit Link Totem redistributing player health to match each other should no longer be incorrectly affected by Dampening.
• Warlock (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  
  • Talents
    
    • Demonbolt (Demonology) now deals 25% less damage against other players in PvP combat.
• Warrior (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  
  • Arms
    
    • Mastery: Weapons Master’s effects were overtuned and have been reduced in effectiveness by 18%. The mastery remains significantly stronger than before and is still 29% more powerful than prior to the hotfix from January 12.
  • Armor Sets
    
    • Tier-16 2-piece bonus for Protection Warriors now heals for 3% less for each character level above level 90.

Quests

• Frostfire Ridge
  
  • In the Shadow of Giants: Players should now correctly receive completion credit while interacting with Flamrog or Kindler.
• Legacy
  
  • Trapping the Leader (Kun-Lai Summit): Killing Shan Kien quickly should no longer prevent him from respawning.

Creatures and NPCs

• Shadowmoon Valley
  
  • Gorum should now correctly leash back to their spawn point.
• Gorgrond
  
  • Laughing Skull guards at Beastwatch in Gorgrond should no longer attack Horde players.

Raids, Dungeons, and Scenarios

• Highmaul
  
  • Tectus: Resolved an issue where several mobs during the encounter did not reset the cooldown on Marked for Death (Rogue Talent) when killed.
  • Imperator Mar'gok: Volatile Anomaly's Destabilize ability should now correctly trigger player abilities that activate on taking damage.
• Shadowmoon Burial Grounds
  
  • Bonemaw: Rogues should now be able to use the Death from Above talent against Carrion Worms and Bonemaw.

PvP

• Ashran
  
  • Players should now correctly teleport into Ashran when accepting the queue from Stormshield or Warspear.
  • Players leaving Ashran via mini-map are now teleported to a location just outside of Ashran instead of back to the bound Hearthstone location.
  • Scroll of Touch of Death's effect should no longer be incorrectly retained outside of Ashran.

Battlegrounds and Arenas

• Resolved an issue where some items with Bonus Armor were scaling incorrectly in non-max level bracket Battlegrounds.

Items

• Potions and flasks from earlier expansions should no longer be more powerful than ones from later expansions.
• Cache of Highmaul Treasures should no longer incorrectly spawn items that can be upgraded.

Bug Fixes

• Resolved an issue where characters that log out while in another player's Garrison may be unable to log back in.

PvE
Ulduar-style teleporters would be very useful in raids with optional bosses.
Yeah, the system in Highmaul definitely breaks down if you do Ko'ragh then want to double back and work on a boss you missed. (WatcherDev)

Could you please force loot system to be personal only in the first 2 weeks of heroic raids, to discourage the alt whoring? Ppl should play alts beacuse they like to play alts or try a different class, not because the mains gearing benefit is so huge. I feel like the whole effort I put during the first weeks of WoD (garrison, CMs, apexis) is eclipsed by the powerful HC loot. You can't get loot you already have in the first week since it's the first time everyone does that content, so no item is wasted. It can happen in the 2nd week (when mythic is released), but it's still a much better compromise. And since your goal is to have stats as close as possible across the specs, there shouldn't be much whining about it either. I'm in a 3day raiding guild, top 100 ranked in SoO and this is slowly becoming mandatory for us as well. I'm curious what your stance on this matter is. Are you happy with it? Looking for solutions?
Not happy with it, but restricting millions of players to save a few hundred from themselves doesn't seem like an ideal solution. (WatcherDev)

Misc
Mentioned it several times that I no longer share plans about the game on Twitter. Hit up @WarcraftDevs for any announcements. (holinka)
So then why do you talk about WoW on your twitter? seems kind of odd..
I like interacting with fans. I think it's important for a dev to empathize with players. Also bugs. (holinka)

I start this post saying that I think that flying mount removal was a good thing. Yeah it slows down travel times, but its made the game feel more open and alive in my opinion. That doesn't mean that flying mounts don't have a place in the game. I just think that they need a redesign.
A number of flight-specific toys and items were implemented to let you glide around the game world. There are also some zone-specific items, as well as items from past expansions that can help achieve the same thing as well--as well as potentially combined to some extreme results. I may also be forgetting a few?

Why do you guys say you're removing flying to help untrivialize combat and then put in items to help trivialize it
These don't allow you to lift up and set down wherever you like. They are generally also managed with cooldowns or charges. They do allow you to travel quickly across the game world, but they're generally not as precise or consistent as to change the moment to moment gameplay like full flight does.

I've always wished that when you aim your mount down it accelerated though. Like a dive bomb of sorts. Screen shaking, all that jazz.
Me too, actually! Or that the flaps/gliding animations would match my in-game trajectory. I think it's probably a fair amount of art and engineering work to do, though, and to be frank flight just isn't a system we've ever really looked at building out. Actually... that's sort of not true, early on in BC we tried some things to try to make flight a part of the gameplay, and even put a lot of effort into new flight mechanics in Wrath (which then got scrapped), but it really just doesn't work for what this game is and how the engine and content are created. WoW just isn't a flight sim, and creating those kinds of mechanics is very difficult, and even potentially radically different than the core gameplay that defines it. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Character / Items
anatomical dummy, spirit of shinri, swap blaster. That's 2 more I just thought of so 9. And the 3 guild battle standards so 12
Anything with a gameplay application is currently not being considered for Toy Box. (Muffinus)
can we define a game play application?
Anything that's not purely visual, e.g. a speed bonus, a teleport, or summoning a creature you can attack. (Muffinus)

PvE
I'd like to thank you for adding incentive to run older raids more, i feel like older content still has alot to offer even today.
I love some of the VO work in those dungeons/raids especially! (Muffinus)

3 essence pets, 1 boss, do all the 3 essences drop from Reliquary of souls?
Yep, you should be able to check the pet journal descriptions on various sites to check the droppers of these lil' cuties. (Muffinus)

Blackrock Foundry was the ancestral home of the Blackrock orcs, wherein master smiths smelted and worked the impossibly hard ore that is the clan’s namesake. Now, massive giants captured and broken by the Thunderlord heat the great forges, flamebenders of the Burning Blade imbue the ore with an inner fire, and engineers shape the slag according to otherworldly schematics. Warlord Blackhand’s foundry is the center of the Iron Horde’s military might, churning out the weaponry that will be used to raze Azeroth.


Just when you thought you’d become comfortable (as comfortable as one can get in a gladiator pit) with Highmaul, we thought it was time to shake things up and show you what’s waiting in our next Raid—Blackrock Foundry—and introduce you to Rukhmar, the latest world Raid boss.

We asked senior 3D artist Andy Matthews to provide some insight into the dungeon’s visual development:

The Foundry’s spark of inspiration was the creation of the Slagworks’ “furnace room;” it created iconic silhouettes that we carried throughout the rest of the Raid, which has a very strong industrial look and feel.

The Dread Grotto was my favorite shot to establish in the Raid. In its early development, we wanted to show the Iron Horde’s shipping area from multiple angles, foreshadowing later content. The Workshop shows the daily grind of factory life for the Ironworkers. Most workers dread the “flame-jet Fridays.”

Some say the Iron Horde motto is, “When in doubt, add a spike!”


You’ll need a minimum item level of 635 to tackle Blackrock Foundry via Raid Finder. The Foundry’s rewards range from item level 650 (Raid Finder) to 695 (Mythic).

Let’s take a look at the bosses that await you within Blackrock Foundry. . . .


Slagworks
Gruul- Garrosh knew that the surest path to breaking the gronn lay in subjugating their great father, Gruul. Known in another time as the Dragonkiller, here Gruul has been reduced to the role of menial laborer. In a cruel mockery of the Shattered Hand’s warrior tradition, his hand has been replaced with a hook to enable him to more easily haul pallets of fuel to the furnace.


Oregorger- The storehouses of the Blackrock Foundry, laden with heaps and pallets of unprocessed Blackrock ore, represent a grand banquet feast for the ravenous rock-eating goren who have burrowed into the chamber. Oregorger is by far the largest of the invaders, gluttony swelling his frame far beyond the size of any goren previously seen in Draenor.


The Blast Furnace- The Blackrock clan’s unique ability to smelt the black ore, a substance so dense that ordinary flame does not even soften it, has always been their most closely-guarded secret. Deep within the Foundry, their furnace contains a primal force as old as Draenor itself, raging within the confines of its prison as it emanates a preternatural heat.


The Black Forge
Hans’gar and Franzok- Hans’gar and Franzok are twin brothers raised and trained as masterful brawlers of their clan. Both carved paths of glory as warriors, but destiny had other plans. The brothers, each unwilling to slay the other in the rite of mak’gora, were banished from their clan and left for dead. They survived as outcasts in the savage wilds of Draenor and when the Iron Horde called, these powerful warriors found a new home in the massive war machine.


Flamebender Ka’graz- Under the banner of the Iron Horde, Blackhand has enlisted Flamebender Ka’graz of the Burning Blade to imbue the Blackrock-forged armaments with the essence of flame. Along with her assistant Aknor Steelbringer, Ka’graz toils before an ever burning forge in support of the Iron Horde’s conquest of Draenor.


Kromog- The magnaron are mysterious in their ways, ancient and inscrutable. Miners excavating an expansion to the Foundry, in support of the Iron Horde’s massive production needs, were horrified to unearth a chamber containing a living magnaron. To their astonishment, Kromog began to assist in their endeavors, and now uses his massive stone fists to hammer out the gigantic plates needed for the Iron Horde’s dreadnaughts and siege machinery.



Iron Assembly
Beastlord Darmac- As a young orc, Darmac quickly rose through the ranks of the Thunderlord as a gifted trainer of beasts. Where others only saw animal instincts, he recognized intellect and drew forth untapped potential from brain and muscle and bone. When the Iron Horde demanded his service, Darmac saw no greater honor than to outfit and train the most savage beasts Draenor has to offer.


Operator Thogar- Known more for his cruelty and cleverness than for brute strength, Thogar oversees the operation of the Grimrail. From the Foundry’s depot, he coordinates the ongoing ground battle against the draenei in Talador, with entire battalions of troops and artillery at his beck and call.


The Iron Maidens- With little opportunity to exercise her tactical brilliance under the ancient social structure of the orc clans, Gar’an was thrilled to be one of the first warriors to volunteer for naval duty under the Iron Horde. Instantly successful in battle, she was named Admiral of the iron Horde fleet and selected Marak and Sorka as her lieutenants. Together, they are called the Iron Maidens, and have crushed any who have dared face them.


The Crucible
Blackhand- A ruthless tyrant and fierce warrior, Blackhand is Warlord of the Blackrock clan, second only to Grommash in stature within the Iron Horde. Bathed in sweltering heat that few other mortals could withstand, Blackhand oversees the operations of his Foundry from atop its Crucible, wielding his smoldering slag hammer to forge weapons of peerless quality.


For more information on each of these bosses, their abilities, the items they drop, and more, check out the in-game Dungeon Journal.


World Boss: Rukhmar
Rukhmar occasionally appears as a blazing firehawk soaring through the skies high above the Spires of Arak. The origins of the great bird are unknown though Rukhmar is venerated as a deity by the arrakoa, seen as an embodiment of the sun itself.

Check out the Raid unlock schedule here.