Garrison Stables, Orc Faces, Beta Notes Update, Heart of the Valorous, PAX Prime, DLC

Raid Utility Balance

• Mage
  
  • Amplify Magic is a new spell available to Mages.
    
    • Amplify Magic amplifies the effects of helpful magic, increasing all healing received by 10% 12% for all party and raid members within 100 yards, and lasts 6 seconds with a 2-minute cooldown.

Self-Sustainability

• Warrior
  
  • Victory Rush and Impending Victory now heals for 25% of maximum health (up from 15%).

Death Knight
Ability Consolidation and Refinement

• Death Coil now costs 30 Runic Power (down from 40 Runic Power), and has a 40 yard range for both hostiles and allies.

Blood Changes

• Rune Tap has been redesigned. It now reduces all damage taken by 50% for 3 seconds. It also now has 2 charges, with a 40-second recharge time.
  
  • Will of the Necropolis has been redesigned. It now automatically triggers an immediate, free Rune Tap when you take damage that reduces you below 30% health. This effect cannot occur more often than once every 30 45 seconds.
• Veteran of the Third War now increases your critical strike chance, Multistrike chance, haste, and Stamina by 10% (up from 9% to Stamina only), reduces the chance for attacks to be parried by 3%, increases the damage of Death Strike by 100%, and grants 1 Runic Power per second while in combat.

Druid
Ability Consolidation and Refinement

• Cat Form now increases movement speed by 30% (up from 25%).
• Infected Wounds has been removed and its effects have been incorporated into Mangle and Shred for Feral and Guardian Druids.
• Shred no longer requires the Druid to be behind the target (See also: Facing Requirements.) and is now available to all specializations. Shred now deals 35% more damage in addition to having double the normal chance to critically strike while stealthed. Additionally, Shred now naturally applies the Infected Wounds snare effect for Feral and Guardian Druids.
• Thick Hide has been removed and its effects have been incorporated into Bear Form.
  
  • Bear Form now increases armor by 330% 600% for all Druid specializations, and no longer increases Haste and Critical Strike from items by 50%, but instead causes Haste to reduce the global cooldown
• Tiger’s Fury now lasts 8 seconds (up from 6 seconds) and is usable during Berserk.

Guardian Changes

• Maul now costs 20 Rage (down from 30 Rage).
• Mangle now generates 10 Rage (down from 15 Rage).
• Lacerate now generates 2 5 Rage, has no cooldown (down from a 3-second cooldown), and the periodic bleed effect triggers every 1 second (down from 3 seconds).
• Thrash now generates 1 2 Rage every time it deals direct or periodic damage, has no cooldown (down from a 6-second cooldown), but no longer has a chance to reset Mangle cooldown.

Restoration Changes

• Living Seed now heals for 50% of the critical heal (up from 30%).

Talents

• Nature’s Vigil, while active, increases single-target damage and healing caused by healing spells by 30% 16% (up down from 25%), and all single-target damage spells also heal a nearby friendly target for 40% 35% of the damage done (up from 25%).

Hunter
Marksmanship Changes

• Bombardment now reduces the cost of Multi-Shot by 25 Focus (up from 20 Focus).
• Chimera Shot has been renamed Chimaera Shot. It is now a two-headed shot that hits two targets, costs 35 Focus (down from 45 Focus), and deals Frost or Nature damage, but no longer heals the Hunter.

Mage
Arcane Changes

• Arcane Missiles can now accumulate 3 charges (up from 2 charges).

Monk
Brewmaster Changes

• Dizzying Haze now has no Energy cost, but no longer causes the target's melee attacks to sometimes misfire.
• Elusive Brew now increases dodge chance by 35% (up from 30%).
• Stance of the Sturdy Ox now increases Stamina by 40% (up from 20%).

Paladin
Ability Consolidation and Refinement

• Hand of Sacrifice is now off global-cooldown.

Priest
Ability Consolidation and Refinement

• Holy Fire now lasts 9 seconds (up from 7 seconds).

Rogue
Ability Consolidation and Refinement

• Burst of Speed now costs 25 20 Energy (up from 15 Energy).
• Envenom now increases poison chance by 30% (up from 15%).
• Venomous Wounds’s effects have been merged into baseline Rupture for Assassination Rogues. It no longer triggers from Garrote and now always triggers when Rupture deals damage (up from a 75% chance).

Shaman
Ability Consolidation and Refinement

• Echo of the Elements has been redesigned. The Shaman's spells and abilities have a chance to trigger Echo of the Elements, causing their next short-cooldown spell or ability to not trigger a cooldown.
  
  • Elemental: It may be used on Earth Shock, Flame Shock, Frost Shock, Earthquake, or Lava Burst.
  • Enhancement: It may be used on Earth Shock, Flame Shock, Frost Shock, Fire Nova, Lava Lash, or Stormstrike.
  • Restoration: It may be used on Unleash Life, Purify Spirit, or Riptide.
• Lava Lash now spreads Flame Shock to up to 6 nearby enemies (up from 4 enemies).

Elemental and Enhancement Changes

• Feral Spirit’ damage has been increased by 300% 100%.

Warlock
Ability Pruning

• Flames of Xoroth has been removed.
• Drain Life is no longer available to Destruction Warlocks.
  
  • Harvest Life has been replaced with a new talent called Searing Flames for Destruction Warlocks.
    
    • Searing Flames reduces Ember Tap's Burning Ember cost by 50%, and increases its healing by 50%.

Demonology Changes

• Demon pets controlled by Demonology Warlocks now deal 20% more damage.

Warrior
Talent Changes

• Piercing Howl has been removed and replaced with a new talent, Sudden Death.
  
  • Sudden Death causes auto-attack hits to have a 10% chance to make the next Execute free and useable on any target, regardless of health level. These Execute do not consume additional Rage to deal additional damage.
  • Piercing Howl is now available to all Fury Warriors as a baseline ability.

P.S. Congratulations to @Celestalon's recent hairstyle upgrade to 4/4.

The Blizzard community is getting ready to storm PAX Prime once again, and we’d love for you to come and check out all the action.


PAX attendees should prepare themselves for 4 epic days of portal storming, card slinging, and Hero playing awesomeness as this year’s booth will feature all-new builds for our most recent and upcoming games, hands-on time at demo stations, and awesome giveaways.

What: Hosted annually in Seattle, PAX Prime is a celebration of gaming culture and community

Where: The Washington State Convention Center booth #352 of the Expo Hall

When: August 29- September 1

As an attendee, here’s a taste of what you can expect at this year’s Blizzard booth:

• Warlords of Draenor hands-on with the live beta featuring updated character models and the intro experience for the upcoming expansion.
• A chance to find out what’s in the cards for Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, and experience all of the fun of epic card-slinging duels on the PC.
• Attendees will have the opportunity to play a brand-new demo for Heroes of the Storm, and be among the first to try out three exciting new heroes! New to the game or eager for some clutch tips? The Heroes Community Team will be on-hand to help get you up to speed and ready to brawl!
• Blizzard developers will be on-hand to chat about your favorite games.
• And did we mention there will be giveaways, prizes, and more? If not . . . there will be giveaways, prizes, and more!

Be sure to check the prime.paxsite.com for the schedule, hotel and travel information, forums, and more. If you have an iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, or Windows 7 smart phone, you can also download the official PAX Prime 2014 app from Guidebook for free.

We’re looking forward to a great PAX Prime 2014 and can’t wait to see everyone there!

Friday, August 8 at 10:00 a.m. PDT, through Monday, August 11 at 9:00 a.m. PDT, we’ll be applying the Heart of the Valorous buff which will increase the rate of Valor Point gains an additional 100%. Don’t wait to get in on the action!

As previously announced, we’ve been working toward connecting realms to increase the number of players on low-population realms. Here's a continuously updated list that contains currently planned connections, future plans, and completed realm connections, all in one convenient location.

*Please note this list does not encompass all potential future connections. Please check back for further updates.

Next Connections
We will be connecting the realms listed below on Thursday, August 14 during a scheduled maintenance beginning at 5 a.m. PDT through approximately 1:00 p.m. PDT. Once maintenance is finished, these realm connections will be complete.

• Burning Legion and Agamaggan, Archimonde, Jaedenar, and The Underbog

We will be connecting the realms listed below on Thursday, August 21 during a scheduled maintenance beginning at 5 a.m. PDT through approximately 1:00 p.m. PDT. Once maintenance is finished, these realm connections will be complete.

• Lightninghoof and Maelstrom, The Venture Co
• Shattered Hand and Coilfang, Dark Iron, Dalvengyr, and Demon Soul
• Sisters of Elune and Cenarion Circle

*Plans for these connections may change at any time, but we’ll provide additional updates on specific dates for future connections here as we can. Please note that as a part of the connection process realm times may change to match each other.