PTR Release Candidate, 5.2 Blacksmithing Changes, 5.2 PTR Notes Update, News Recap

[chaud]

Gear Customization Coming in Future Patch, Diablo 3 Was Designed for PC, No Cross-Platform Play or Characters, Witch Doctor Suggestions Compilation

Patch 5.2 PTR - Build 16634
This build is a Release Candidate, which means that Patch 5.2 is getting closer to going live.

Patch 5.2 Blacksmithing Changes
With all the profession changes in the Patch 5.2 Notes update tonight, now is a good time to take a look at the Blacksmithing changes coming in Patch 5.2. Don't expect any more significant professions changes in 5.2, but we may see similar changes for other professions in Patch 5.3.

The new catch up spells will use Ghost Iron Bars to level Blacksmithing from 1 to 500, without requiring any other materials. This makes it no longer necessary to go and find the other ore types, if you are willing to pay or gather the Ghost Iron Ore. Keep in mind this will take a lot of ore, so purchasing old world ore might be cheaper.

Another addition is the Burning Crusade replica weapons, bringing back things like Stormherald, Reborn! The first tier of these weapons are unlocked when your server unlocks the Thunder Forge.

There are also the crafted eight slot item level 458 PvP sets to help you get started in PvP without farming lots of honor.

Finally, there are the new crafted item level 522 epic items for the Head and Foot slots, which require a new reagent Haunting Spirit, which is a likely successor to the Blood Spirits.

Patch 5.2 PTR Notes Update - Feb 25

Classes

• General
  
  • Area Damage Cap: The area damage cap is now 20 targets (was 10). This means area of effect damage spells now reach their maximum damage when striking 20 targets. If more than 20 targets are struck, then the total damage done is spread evenly over the actual number of targets present.
    
  
  
• Death Knight (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  
  • Blood Plague now deals 15% more damage.
    
  • Frost Fever now deals 15% more damage.
    
  • Blood Parasite now summons Bloodworms with 15% of the Death Knight's health (was 18%) and Blood Burst now heals for 25% per stack of Blood Gorged (was 30% per stack).
    
  • Frost
    
    • Howling Blast now deals 8% more damage to the primary target. Damage to other enemies in the area-of-effect remains unchanged.
      
    • Icy Talons now increases attack speed by 25% (was 20%).
      
    • Might of the Frozen Wastes now increases melee damage by 15% (was 10%).
      
  • Unholy
    
    • Scourge Strike now deals 3.8% more damage.
      
  
  
• Druid (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  
  • Symbiosis
    
    • Dispersion now has a 3-minute cooldown for Druids (was 2 minutes).
      
  • Rip now deals 15% more damage.
    
  • Restoration
    
    • Wild Mushroom will now gain 25% of the overhealing performed by the Druid’s Rejuvenation effects, up to a maximum of 33% of the Druid’s health in bonus healing, and growing larger as they do so. When Wild Mushroom: Bloom is cast, this bonus healing will be divided evenly amongst targets in the area of effect.
      
    
    
  • Balance/Restoration Druid PvP gloves bonus now increases Cyclone duration by 2 seconds (previously increased Cyclone range by 5 yards).
    
  
  
• Hunter (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  
  • Dismiss Pet now has a cast time of 3 seconds (was 2 seconds).
    
  • Powershot now cancels Camouflage when the cast begins.
    
  • Steady Shot now deals 20% more damage.
    
  • Marksmanship
    
    • Aimed Show now deals 10% more damage.
      
    • Chimera Shot now deals 25% more damage and heals the Hunter for 5% (was 3%) of their total health.
      
    
    
  • Survival
    
    • Black Arrow now deals 10% more damage.
      
    • Explosive Shot now deals 10% more damage.
      
  
  
• Mage (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  
  • Incanter's Ward can now be removed by magic dispels.
    
  • Frost
    
    • Frostbolt now deals 32% more damage. but its debuff no longer increases subsequent Frostbolt damage.
      
  
  
• Monk (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  
  • Spear Hand Strike, used on a target that's facing the Monk Silence them for 2 seconds (was 4 seconds).
    
  • Mistweaver
    
    • Jab now costs 8% (was 4%) of base mana to use.
      
    • The Glyphed version of Uplift now costs 16% of base mana (was 6.6%) to cast.
      
    • Soothing Mist now generates chi more consistently and average generation rate is slightly higher.
      
    • Xuen will now fixate on the Monk's original target.
      
    • Muscle Memory is a new passive ability for Mistweaver Monks. Successful Jab and Spinning Crane Kick which damages at least 3 enemies cause Muscle Memory. Muscle Memory causes the Monk's next Tiger Palm or Blackout Kick to deal 150% more damage and restore 4% mana.
      
  • Windwalker
    
  • Brewing: Tigereye Brew now gains 1 charge after spending 3 Chi (was 4 Chi), increases damage by 1% per stack (was 2%), can stack to 20 but only 10 charges can be consumed per activation, and a user interface alert displays upon reaching 10 charges. Stacks of Tigereye Brew are cleared at the start of a raid encounter. This ability is improved by Bottled Fury.
    
  
  
• Paladin (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  
  • Avenging Wrath now has a cooldown of 2 minutes for Retribution Paladins (was 3 minutes). The cooldown remains unchanged for Holy and Protection Paladins.
    
  • Retribution
    
    • Retribution 4-piece PvP set bonus had been replaced. It now decreases the cooldown on Avenging Wrath by 65 seconds.
      
    • Tier-14 Retribution 4-piece set bonus has been changed to increase damage on all Seals and Judgment by 10%.
      
  
  
• Priest (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  
  • Power Word: Solace has been replaced with a new talent: Solace & Insanity
    
    • For Shadow, this ability causes Mind Flay to gain the Insanity effect on a target affected by Devouring Plague. when it's cast on a target with 3 Shadow damage-over-time spells on it. Insanity increases the damage of Mind Flay by 33% per Shadow Orb consumed.
      
  • Glyph of Holy Fire has been redesigned. It now increases the range of Holy Fire, Smite, and Power Word: Solace by 10 yards.
    
  • Power Infusion now increases the Priest's damage by 5% in addition to current effects.
    
  • Psyfiend belonging to an individual Priest will no longer cast Psychic Horror on the same target twice.
    
  • Discipline
    
    • Penance damage and healing has been increased by 20%, now a cooldown of 9 seconds (was 10 seconds), and has a range of 40 yards for both friendly and hostile targets (was 40 yards for friendly and 30 yards for hostile targets).
      
  • Shadow
    
    • Mind Blast damage has been increased by 20%.
      
    • Shadowform now increases the Priest's Shadow damage by 25% (was 20%).
      
  • Tier-14 Holy/Discipline 4-piece set bonus now reduces the cooldown of Penance by 3 seconds (was 4 seconds).
    
  
  
• Rogue (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  
  • Assassination
    
    • Dispatch now deals 15% more damage.
      
    • Envenom now deals 20% more damage.
      
  
  
• Shaman (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  
  • Elemental
    
    • Elemental Focus now increases the Shaman's spell damage by 15% (was 10%).
      
    • Shamanism now increases the damage of Lightning Bolt by 70% (was 50%).
      
  • Enhancement
    
    • Spirit Walk now has a 1-minute cooldown (was 2 minutes).
      
  
  
• Warlock (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  
  • Immolate now deals 20% more damage.
    
  • Shadow Bolt now deals 15% more damage.
    
  • Grimoire of Sacrifice now increases the damage of abilities by 15% (was 25%) for Destruction Warlocks and 35% (was 50%) for Affliction Warlocks. In addition, it now provides the spell Whiplash instead of Seduction when a Succubus is sacrificed.
    
  • Demonology
    
    • Hand of Gul'dan now deals 15% more damage.
      
    • Shadowflame now deals 15% more damage.
      
    • Soul Fire now deals 22% more damage.
      
    • Touch of Chaos now deals 15% more damage.
      
    • Wild Imp's Firebolt now deals 15% more damage.
      
  • Destruction
    
    • Conflagrate now deals 20% more damage.
      
    • Incinerate now deals 10% more damage.
      
    
    
  • Warrior (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
    
    • Execute now deals 25% less damage.
      

Pet Battles

• Players may now participate in pet battle duels while in the Throne of Thunder instance.
  
• Brilliant Kaliri, Jade Tentacle, Tirisfal Batling, Firefly, Jade Crane Chick, Gilnean Raven, and Shore Crawler are no longer available in multiple breeds.
  
• Anubisath Idol: Sandstorm and Deflection have swapped ability positions.
  

Raids, Dungeons and Scenarios

• Throne of Thunder raid bosses in Normal and Heroic difficulties have a chance of dropping items with the Thunderforged designation. Thunderforged items are 6 item levels higher than their Normal or Heroic counterparts and will drop more frequently in 25-player raids. For a more in-depth look at this change, check out this discussion thread.

Professions

• Archeology
  
  • Mantid Archaeology has been added. Players will be able to uncover common and rare Mantid artifacts.
    
  • Players can purchase a Mantid Artifact Sonic Locator to focus exclusively on Mantid digsites.
    
  • The Lorewalker's Map now randomizes all digsites in Pandaria, rather than just 1.
    
  • Updates have been made to the “museum” at the Seat of Knowledge.
    
  
  
• Blacksmithing
  
  • New raid and PvP blacksmithing recipes have been added, and can be acquired through daily research of Lightning Steel Ingots.
    
  • Seasoned Blacksmiths will be able to find a way to create Lightning Steel Ingots once their realm has unlocked the Thunderforges on the Isle of Thunder. These ingots will allow blacksmiths to recreate powerful weapons from the past, updated for Mists of Pandaria. These power weapons will be bind-on-equip and making them will take a significant amount of dedication.
    
  • For blacksmiths who have lapsed in their trade (i.e., haven’t practiced blacksmithing since the Burning Crusade), there is a (not necessarily cost efficient) way to catch-up. Blacksmiths at your faction’s shrines in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms will be able to teach you training plans for crafting common household items using Ghost Iron.
    
  
  
• Fishing
  
  • Players with a high fishing skill have a chance to fish up new pets. The Pet Journal has clues on where these elusive pets could be found.
    
  • Fish of the Day: On any given day, there is a location in Pandaria teeming with a type of Pandaren fishing pool.
    
  • Ben of the Booming Voice, located near the Halfhill Market area will inform players what the “Fish of the Day” is and mark the location on their map.
    
  
  
• Jewelcrafting
  
  • Jewelcrafters may find the designs for Serpent’s Heart and uncut Primal Diamonds during the course of their adventures (world drops).
    
  • Serpent’s Heart is a daily cooldown that consumes several Serpent’s Eyes to create a random rare quality Pandaren gem. In addition, there is a small chance that a player will discover the design for the Sapphire Cub or Jade Owl.
    
  • The design for uncut Primal Diamonds requires Spirits of Harmony and large quantities of uncommon gems.
    
  
  
• Leatherworking
  
  • Patterns for Magnificence of Leather and Magnificence of Scales could be found via world drops. These patterns allow the leatherworker to create Magnificent Hides more economically and share a daily cooldown. In addition to producing a Magnificent Hide, the leatherworker will learn a new 5.2 raid or PvP pattern.
    
  • A new 36 slot leather bag ( Magnificent Hide Pack) can now be created through Leatherworking.
    
  
  
• Tailoring
  
  • New raid and PvP recipes have been added, and tailors can acquire these new recipes via the daily Imperial Silk cooldown.
    

Soloing Sunwell

Regarding Kalecgos, at this point we don't know if the developers have any plans to change him or any other bosses, but we'll ask them and share with you any news if that's the case.
Just a small update this, which should hopefully come as good news... A last minute fix was made to patch 5.2.0 that should allow players to solo the Kalecgos encounter in The Sunwell.

Blue Tweets

Reputation / Questing
ConsideringShado-Pan Assault rep can be obtained in Raid Finder, is there a cap of how much rep can be obtained this way?
Only Friendly via trash. Once you're doing bosses, only one kill per boss per week (so doing both N and LFR won't double rate). (Source)
Does HC grant more reputation?
I don't believe heroic gives more rep. (Source)

Is there any reason we still cant do quest while in raid groups? #WoW
We don't want players to feel obligated to join e.g. the Jade Forest raid while leveling up. Working on a solution though. (Source)

Current WoW questing/dailies are better without others. People ninja the node/mob/quest item is not fun. outdated!
Agreed. We want to make seeing others of your faction a bonus not a penalty. (Source)

Dailies are not for all specs - that is the greatest imbalance of this kind of content.
I've done a lot of dailies as a healer. The difference in time really isn't that much - you aren't in combat 100% of the time. (Source)

Sucks a bunch that daily quests are once again gating valor rewards. The double gate is too much for just dailies
You don't need to do dailies to do the non-raid rep, but it will be faster if you do. (Source)
If you're a raider, you'll earn the rep from raiding. If you're not a raider, then the non-raid rep is for you. (Source)

Is there any intention or desire to increase the rate at which class-specific quest chains get released?
We'd love to make more of them. It just means fewer quests that other players can enjoy. (Source)

Weekly News Recap
If for some reason or another you missed some of the news over the past week, here is what you missed:

• Feb 19
  
  • Season 12 is ending on March 5th.
  • A new PTR build added the Helm of Hungering Darkness.
  • Blizzcon was announced for November 8th and 9th.
  • The Troves of the Thunder King solo loot grabbing scenario was previewed.
• Feb 20
  
  • The new daily quest factions had epic item level 496 cloaks added at Revered, which cost 937 x .
  • There was a blog post with a partial recap of the new things in Patch 5.2.
  • Diablo 3 was announced for the PS3/PS4.
• Feb 21 - A new PTR Build made the blue Armored Skyscreamer the reward for the new raid's meta achievement, as well as various class changes.
• Feb 23 - Preview of the Council of Elders boss in the Throne of Thunder.
• Feb 24
  
  • Patch 5.2 adds a new system for sharing the new Rare Spawns to the game, which increases the maximum health of the NPC when you help to attack, and gives you a separate chance at loot.
  • We also mapped out all of the new Patch 5.2 Isle of Thunder Rare Spawns.
• Feb 25 - A new PTR Build added the loot table for Nalak, along with several other class changes.

[Zenko]

I love the smell of Release Candidates in the morning.

[moveth]

I dont really like the idea of invalidating Blood Spirits already.

[zyniker]

I dont really like the idea of invalidating Blood Spirits already.

Its worked that way since Ulduar transitioned to ToC. Get used to it sticking around.

[Drummerthing]

Hi we're blizzard let's reuse old models from when our content was actually good.

[warcraftmew]

ok so in the previous post on the front page dk's got nerfed now there buffed again.

[Zstr]

this new BS catch up is great, but cost of it is way too low,
but this will scrap old ore making it useless thats not good

[Evisiling]

1-500 Blacksmithing using just Ghost Iron Ore, wow first you ruin Cooking and now BS?

[MrKnubbles]

This is still coming tomorrow, right?

[chaud]

This is still coming tomorrow, right?

No. Next week at the earliest.

[MrKnubbles]

No. Next week at the earliest.

Sad day but thank you for the quick response and information.

[Tomana]

1-500 Blacksmithing using just Ghost Iron Ore, wow first you ruin Cooking and now BS?

Having leveled BS in MOP, I have to say it was quite necessary because it was becoming too much pain (esp with CRZ).

[iamthedevil]

I love when level 90 talents can be dispelled. Didn't they change the one hunter talent so it couldn't be reflected? Why must the constantly change their reasoning.

[Hjelpen]

ok so in the previous post on the front page dk's got nerfed now there buffed again.

Not really, at first they buffed them, then they nerfed the buffs by 50%.

[TrollShaman]

Why do you guys think Blizz experimented with the catch up profession on blacksmithing first? Imo they should've applied that to engineering instead.

[Winterstrife]

Why do you guys think Blizz experimented with the catch up profession on blacksmithing first? Imo they should've applied that to engineering instead.

Because Blacksmithing is one of the more popular/commonly taken profession, reasons being the additional prismatic socket on your bracers & gloves.

[Shampro]

Because Blacksmithing is one of the more popular/commonly taken profession, reasons being the additional prismatic socket on your bracers & gloves.

They didnt really experiment with BS, there is a similar catch up for Cooking in Halfhill since release, and that worked out amazingly, you can max it in like an hour, so I guess they decided to do it again for BS. Also, because of the new Forge thing for Blacksmithers in 5.2.

[Syridian]

I love when level 90 talents can be dispelled. Didn't they change the one hunter talent so it couldn't be reflected? Why must the constantly change their reasoning.

How dare they review their previous ideas and work to improve them?

[Clampz]

this new BS catch up is great, but cost of it is way too low,
but this will scrap old ore making it useless thats not good

see the thread here and tell me if it's still too cheap. It would take almost 10,000 ore to level BS in this fashion.

[F-Minus]

That reputation gating of one boss kill/week is kind of dumb.