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Hearthstone Puzzle #5 - Secrets, Captain Greenskin Strategy, TCG Art Gallery Update

Patch 5.4 - Ghostcrawler Interview
Ghostcrawler was in Asia last week and QQ was able to sit down with him for an interview. Keep in mind that things are often lost in translation or mistranslated! Thanks to ngacnlcq for the translation.

  • The item level squish might take place next expansion. (See tweet)
  • There is still no timeline for the DotA battleground release.
  • The Hearthstone board that was added in a PTR build is just for decoration and there is no plan to add Hearthstone to WoW.
  • The Lesser Charms that may be added to the Asian store are there as a convenience item for players that may not have time to do their daily quests that week or players who just want to save time. There are no plans to add items to the store that will increase player stats.
  • Patch 5.4 is the last content (raid?) patch, but there will be bugfix and balance patches after it, as well as a pre-expansion patch.
  • If a fourth class role was ever implemented, it might provide buffs or support, but it would be a big change to the game and is very unlikely to happen.


Patch 5.4 - Timeless Isle Armor
The Timeless Isle will allow players to obtain item level 496 and 535 gear through drops found around the island.

The items used to create the 496 armor are found all over the island in chests and dropped by mobs, similar to the items used to create armor in Battlefield: Barrens. The Burden of Eternity is a rare drop from mobs, found in the Blazing Chest, or in one of Kukuru's chests.

The item level 535 version of the gear is called "Timeless" and is obtained by using a Burden of Eternity on an item that creates armor, such as a Timeless Leather Helm.

Patch 5.4 normal difficulty gear has an item level of 553, while flex gear is 540, and raid finder gear is 528. This makes the 535 Timeless gear a nice upgrade for players that will only raid in Raid Finder difficulty and a temporary upgrade for players who will be raiding Flex difficulty. It is also an upgrade for players who are currently raiding Throne of Thunder Normal, as well as any Heroic raiders still missing a slot.

Type Role Normal (496) Timeless (535)
Plate ArmorStrength TankElder TortoiseshellElder Tortoiseshell
Plate ArmorStrength DPSCliffbreakerCliffbreaker
Plate ArmorIntellect HealerEverbrightEverbright
Mail ArmorAgility DPSCrimsonscaleCrimsonscale
Mail ArmorIntellect DPS/HealerOrdon Legend-KeeperOrdon Legend-Keeper
Leather ArmorAgility Tank/DPSCranefeatherCranefeather
Leather ArmorIntellect DPS/HealerFire-ChanterFire-Chanter
Cloth ArmorPure Intellect DPSCloudscorcherCloudscorcher
Cloth ArmorIntellect DPS/HealerAmaranthineAmaranthine
Timeless LavalliereAllNecklacesNecklaces
Timeless CloakAllCloaksCloaks
Timeless SignetAllRingsRings
Timeless CurioTank
Strength DPS
Agility DPS
Intellect DPS
Healer
Resolve of Niuzao
Alacrity of Xuen
Discipline of Xuen
Yu'lon's Bite
Contemplation of Chi-Ji
Resolve of Niuzao
Alacrity of Xuen
Discipline of Xuen
Yu'lon's Bite
Contemplation of Chi-Ji





Patch 5.4 PTR Official Patch Notes Update - July 29
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Classes
Death Knight (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  • General
    • Unholy Presence now grants a flat 10% Haste to all things, up from Haste for melee (attack speed and Rune regeneration) only. The movement speed buff remains unchanged.
    • Fixed a bug that caused Improved Blood Presence and Runic Corruption to incorrectly increase activation rates of some trinkets and effects.
  • Unholy
    • Ghoul's Leap and Gnaw abilities are no longer on a global cooldown, and no longer cost Energy.

Hunter (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  • Talents
  • Glyphs
    • New Major Glyphs
      • Glyph of Enduring Deceit: Camouflage also reduces spell damage taken by 10%

Mage (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  • Talents
    • Rune of Power now has an increased effective range. The Mage can remain up to 8 yards away from their Rune of Power and still receive benefits to mana regeneration and spell damage (up from 3 yards).

Monk (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  • Brewmaster
    • Fixed a bug that caused the damage of some abilities for Brewmasters with Vengeance to scale incorrectly.

Paladin (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  • Holy
    • Judgment for Holy Paladins now costs 12% of base mana to cast (up from 5% of base mana).
  • Talents
    • Sacred Shield for Holy Paladins can now be active on more than one target at a time, but the talent now costs mana, and has 3 charges with a 10-second recharge. cooldown.

Priest (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  • Talents
    • Psyfiend health has been reduced by 75%, but fixed a bug where Psyfiend wasn't being affected by base Resilience.

Shaman (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  • Talents
    • Totemic Restoration has been replaced with a new talent, Totemic Persistence.
      • New talent: Totemic Persistence. Summoning a second totem of the same element no longer causes the first totem to be destroyed. Only one non-Fire totem can benefit from this effect at a time.

Warlock (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  • General
  • Affliction
    • Drain Soul no longer energizes Soul Shards from the pets and guardians of players, and now deals 40% less damage. If other periodic Affliction damage effects are triggered by Drain Soul, they now deal 60% of their normal damage (down from 100%).
    • Haunt now deals 50% more damage, and increases damage done by all of the Warlock's damage-over-time other spells against the target by 45%.
  • Talents
  • Class Armor
    • Warlock Tier-14 4-piece set bonus now reduces the cooldown of Unending Resolve by 20 seconds. increases all damage dealt by the Warlock by 10% while Dark Soul is active.

Items
  • Indomitable Primal Diamond's chance for the meta-gem effect to activate is no longer affected by the wearer’s haste. Additionally, the chance to activate the effect has been increased by 50%.
  • [PTR]: For testing purposes, Glyphataur, Ph.D (He's a doctor!) will be available near the Alliance/Horde shrines in Vale of Eternal Blossoms selling new glyphs.

Blue Posts
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Past Legendary Items for Patch 5.4
The legendary meta gem will still function, but Sha-touched gems and sockets will not be applicable to new 5.4 items.

No extra sockets in 5.4? Then why the hell did you update the 5.2 weapons from ToT to be able to use them? This is incredibly stupid and seems like a total oversight. 1750g for a new weapon socket is SO not that expensive.
We updated the 5.2 weapons to allow the additional socket (but not the Sha-touched gems) because a very large number of players were getting their extra sockets just in time for the patch to drop (and thus, would only be able to use their reward for a week or two). That's not the case with 5.4. The 5.2 legendary meta gem will continue to function, and the 5.3 epic cloak will upgrade into the 5.4 legendary.

We feel that, at this point, the Sha-Touched gem and socket have had plenty of time to be useful and it's time for them to go. As Lothrik mentioned, we'll be balancing content assuming that they're not present anyway. That said, nothing on the PTR is final, and we are still open to discussion on the topic. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Proving Grounds Feedback
Just a quick note that we're still doing a lot of tuning for Proving Grounds, and your feedback has been (and continues to be) invaluable. There will be a bunch more bug fixes and tweaks in the next build for testing.

In particular, the next build has a lot of work done on the AI for the friendly party members in the Healer trials. Once it hits the PTR, we'd really appreciate any feedback on how they're acting, especially specific examples of things they do that seem "dumb." I don't have an exact timeframe on when that build will go up, but it should be within the next few days (UPDATE: should be today!) (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Death Knight (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
RPPMScaling with Rune Regeneration Mechanics
After some investigation, we found that rune regeneration mechanics were, indeed, giving an unintended increase to RPPM proc rates. Unholy in particular gains a significant performance boost from this bug. We're going to fix the bug, but we'll also be compensating Unholy.

In the next build, Unholy Presence will give pure haste, rather than just attack speed. This will allow it to (legitimately) increase proc rates for RPPM mechanics. Runic Corruption and Improved Blood Presence, however, will no longer have an effect on RPPM proc rates. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

TCG Art Update
Blizzard has updated the Trading Card Game art gallery to feature ten new pieces.

This article was originally published in forum thread: Ghostcrawler Interview, Timeless Isle Armor, 5.4 Notes Update, Blue Posts, TCG Art started by chaud View original post
Comments 136 Comments
  1. Primaryjane's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Skorpionss View Post
    And you speak for the community because? You only speak for yourself too, and I agree with the guy you quoted I rather have 1mil or 2 mil hp than go back to 10-20k ... It's called progression... and although I don't want squish I think they did overdo the item level increase this expansion... going from 300k when u ding 90 to over 600k when you are BiS now(prolly more than 800k in 5.4) is kinda ridiculous. they should increase by very little between tiers...only between expansions should there really be a noticeable increase(say 50 ilvls) otherwise it should be like 10~ ilvls between each tier...
    I think the problem with that is the many different levels of each raid. If each tier was only 10 ilevel difference, heroic gear wouldn't be "worth the effort" when it's only 8 points above LFR gear. IMO it's not ilevel that's to worry about, but the stats that come with it. Example: Enhance Shaman tier 15 5 piece set- LFR gives 4924 agi; Heroic gives 7012 agi. I don't feel like doing math, but that's roughly a 40% increase of the main stat in the SAME TIER! That's just a bit excessive. Those numbers should be the difference between expansions, not the difference between item sets of the same tier.
  1. Thyranne's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by lazzy View Post
    maybe you should read the rest of the thread?

    Here i'll make it easier for you.

    http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/3885585
    How exactly is this blue post related to "just because you think it's bad it doesn't mean it's bad?" which means "even if it's bad it's not because you think it is" and I'm not saying it is.
  1. lazzy's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Thyranne View Post
    How exactly is this blue post related to "just because you think it's bad it doesn't mean it's bad?" which means "even if it's bad it's not because you think it is" and I'm not saying it is.
    What point are you exactly trying to make?

    You seem like some troll trying to grasp for god knows what to make a argument.
  1. Thyranne's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by lazzy View Post
    What point are you exactly trying to make?

    You seem like some troll trying to grasp for god knows what to make a argument.
    So because I disagree with you about big numbers = bad I'm a troll? Ok then.
  1. Triggered Fridgekin's Avatar
    I can't say that I am for or against an item squish to happen in the next expansion. On one hand, it's further development of your character; on the other, those are huge numbers which will have an affect on a PC.

    If it needs to be done in order to ensure the gameplay does not suffer due to a PC not being able to sufficiently process those large chunks of math at a quick enough pace then this'll happen to the benefit of everyone.
  1. Yarathir's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by lazzy View Post
    What point are you exactly trying to make?

    You seem like some troll trying to grasp for god knows what to make a argument.

    You're really grasping yourself and pushing yourself in a corner for what? Because we don't agree with you and your friends?



    And you were the one who told me to grow up. Ha. That's a kicker.
  1. lazzy's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Thyranne View Post
    So because I disagree with you about big numbers = bad I'm a troll? Ok then.
    Absolutely not.

    It does show that you lack the knowledge of the subject.

    If you don't understand enough about something you're better off to keep your trap shut.

    This isn't a matter of whether or not they want to do this. They HAVE to do it at some point whether or not you want them to or not.

    They also want it to be quick to read. It's easier to read 1000-2000 dmg vs big numbers.

    Like i said, there is no reason for the item squish not to happen. It sounds like you're arguing for the sake of arguing.

    The dmg will be the same in a easier way for people to manage it.
  1. Thyranne's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Rustweaver View Post
    I can't say that I am for or against an item squish to happen in the next expansion. On one hand, it's further development of your character; on the other, those are huge numbers which will have an affect on a PC.

    If it needs to be done in order to ensure the gameplay does not suffer due to a PC not being able to sufficiently process those large chunks of math at a quick enough pace then this'll happen to the benefit of everyone.
    Big numbers have 0 impact in your computer performance. 10 + 10 takes exactly the same amount of time that 100000000 + 10000000 does (assuming both use the same variable type).
  1. Lunazul The Druid's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Cybran View Post
    So they will push the Cash Store despite all the negativity that it already brings? They must be really desperate for revenue...
    Of course they are, do you know how many subs they have lost since MoP came out?
  1. Skorpionss's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by lazzy View Post
    Why is everyone that disagrees with you being worked up?

    Obviously A LOT of people want this Squish to happen because it needs to.

    It sounds not like people are on a bandwagon, but you're are trying to be the cool kid in school who disagrees with everyone.

    Grow up.
    It does need to happen, but not because it's ridiculous in any way shape or form. Some1 already posted why it needs to happen(technically) so anyone against the squish or any1 who thinks it should happen only because it's ridiculous should read that post...
  1. lazzy's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Yarathir View Post
    You're really grasping yourself and pushing yourself in a corner for what? Because we don't agree with you and your friends?



    And you were the one who told me to grow up. Ha. That's a kicker.
    There is no reason not to agree. They already stated the squish has to happen one way or another.

    There is no reason to have to read numbers in the 100ks vs the 1ks. There is no logical reason for you to want big numbers there just isn't Besides I LIKE TO SEE BIG NUMBERS.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Skorpionss View Post
    It does need to happen, but not because it's ridiculous in any way shape or form. Some1 already posted why it needs to happen(technically) so anyone against the squish or any1 who thinks it should happen only because it's ridiculous should read that post...
    Try reading the entire thread.

    They want to do it for both reasons. Because it's absurd and they have limitations.

    http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/3885585

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Thyranne View Post
    Big numbers have 0 impact in your computer performance. 10 + 10 takes exactly the same amount of time that 100000000 + 10000000 does (assuming both use the same variable type).
    My god man you just REFUSE to read what Blizzard said don't you?

    Now there are some very real computational limitations. PCs just can’t quickly perform math on very large numbers, so we’d have to solve all of those problems as well. Even today, tanks can hit the ten digit threat cap on some encounters.
  1. Thyranne's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by lazzy View Post
    Absolutely not.

    It does show that you lack the knowledge of the subject.

    If you don't understand enough about something you're better off to keep your trap shut.

    This isn't a matter of whether or not they want to do this. They HAVE to do it at some point whether or not you want them to or not.

    They also want it to be quick to read. It's easier to read 1000-2000 dmg vs big numbers.

    Like i said, there is no reason for the item squish not to happen. It sounds like you're arguing for the sake of arguing.

    The dmg will be the same in a easier way for people to manage it.
    That's your opinion. Not mine. Not Yarathir's. Not the whole community.

    Quote Originally Posted by lazzy View Post
    My god man you just REFUSE to read what Blizzard said don't you?

    Now there are some very real computational limitations. PCs just can’t quickly perform math on very large numbers, so we’d have to solve all of those problems as well. Even today, tanks can hit the ten digit threat cap on some encounters.
    Please, explain me why:

    000001000000 +
    000001000000

    is slower than

    000000000001 +
    000000000001
    ?
  1. Skorpionss's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Thyranne View Post
    Big numbers have 0 impact in your computer performance. 10 + 10 takes exactly the same amount of time that 100000000 + 10000000 does (assuming both use the same variable type).
    they don't affect performance but a program can't work with numbers that exceed a certain limit... for 32bit programs it ranges from -2,147,483,647 to 2,147,483,647 or 0 to 4,294,967,295... not sure if WoW uses signed or unsigned integers or something else but if they used unsigned integers the max number they could reach is 4,294,967,295 ... and bosses will have much more HP than that next expansion.
  1. Thyranne's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Skorpionss View Post
    they don't affect performance but a program can't work with numbers that exceed a certain limit... for 32bit programs it ranges from -2,147,483,647 to 2,147,483,647 or 0 to 4,294,967,295... not sure if WoW uses signed or unsigned integers or something else but if they used unsigned integers the max number they could reach is 4,294,967,295 ... and bosses will have much more than that next expansion.
    It uses float.

    That's how you can handle spells like this.
  1. Lunazul The Druid's Avatar
    To me the items sets are rather meh, Aside from the Plate which looks like it might be a retexture? any way I am looking forward to seeing what the virtual realms bring, My server is dead and seems like the majority of us "old timers" on their are anxious to get back to how things where before, when classes seemed more unique and dynamic rather then becomeing more and more watered down all in the name of "balance" . A time when Shammans where shammans because they shot lighting and had totems, A time when hunters actually had to think (granted most of them didn't) about CCing and how to do it.
    A time when the game brought dynamic changes and where you felt like you really earned your gear! when gettting legendary ment you had to run end game content for months to even see it drop. today I feel less like I'm earning anything and more like its just being handed to me, I feel less like a unique class and more like a cookie cutter healer.
  1. lazzy's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Thyranne View Post
    That's your opinion. Not mine. Not Yarathir's. Not the whole community.



    Please, explain me why:

    000001000000 +
    000001000000

    is slower than

    000000000001 +
    000000000001
    ?
    Go ask blizzard. They obv know they need to do it. I'm sure they're smarter than you are.

    I'm done with this conversation. You're so ignorant it's unreal.

    Grats
  1. Thyranne's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by lazzy View Post
    Go ask blizzard. They obv know they need to do it. I'm sure they're smarter than you are.

    I'm done with this conversation. You're so ignorant it's unreal.

    Grats
    I love this answer. "Blizzard said it therefore it's true". I've worked with COBOL, Pascal (and sometimes (read rarely) I have to write pieces of code in Assembly) and Java so don't come here and call me ignorant when you refuse to think and ask questions.

    Quote Originally Posted by Primaryjane View Post
    It's not, really. But that's 1s and 0s. 1+1 and 100000+100000 are simple enough that a child can do it. A raid of 25 each doing random numbers of damage (25,416+36,598+61,833+24,553.....) every second is a little more complicated than 1+1.
    Point is, they take exactly the same amount of time thus big numbers don't decrease performance, not even by 0.00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001%.
  1. lazzy's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Thyranne View Post
    I love this answer. "Blizzard said it therefore it's true". I've worked with COBOL, Pascal (and sometimes (read rarely) I have to write pieces of code in Assembly) and Java so don't come here and call me ignorant when you refuse to think and ask questions.



    Point is, they take exactly the same amount of time thus big numbers don't decrease performance, not even by 0.00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001%.
    You're by far the most ignorant person I've ever seen on the forums.

    The company put it right in front of you and said WE NEED TO DO THIS. It doesn't matter whether it's true or not i'm sure it is. That's besides the point. That's just one of the reasons they want to squish.

    You would rather argue over it when they said it has to be done.

    I don't know what else to call you. You seem pretty damn goofy to be quite honest.

    My fav part is how you give absolutely ZERO reason why you even care.

    You have no logical explanation for why you don't want it to happen besides " i want big numbers" which doesn't cut it.
  1. corebit's Avatar
    People saying that item/level/number squish is not necessary because "it's just numbers" are really clueless. It affects the game a lot more than just the numbers aspect.

    A few examples:
    A current heroicly geared character can literally one-shot a fresh 90.
    Then we also start to see silly things like DKs soloing Sha of Fear, a raid boss of the CURRENT expansion.

    If the game keeps scaling exponentially this way, eventually characters will be one-shotting each others for as little as a 20-ilvl difference between them. A squish must happen to bring some sanity and balance back into the game.
  1. Shudder's Avatar
    It's fun watching them kill their own game. Yes please, waste resources on an item squish and cash shop.

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