August 16 Hotfixes, Blue Posts, Comics

[chaud]

Patch 4.2 Hotfixes - August 16

Classes

• Threat
  
  • Threat generation for all tanks has been increased to 500%, up from 300%. This applies to warriors in Defensive Stance, death knights in Blood Presence, druids in Bear Form, and paladins with Righteous Fury.
    
  • Vengeance should no longer be generated when damage is fully absorbed by damage shields. When the shield breaks from damage or damage is partially absorbed, the amount of Vengeance generated is equal to the full amount of damage taken (including the damage absorbed.)
    
  • More information can be found in our latest Dev Watercooler.
    

Dungeons & Raids
Baradin Hold

• Occu’thar has come into a larger supply of PvE gear than he previously possessed.
  

Firelands

• Hell Hounds should now be nigh impossible for a single player to kill.
  
• The Grab Bag dropped by all Firelands bosses should now occasionally contain Crystallized Firestones in Heroic difficulty.

Baleroc

• Baleroc should now always choose Inferno Blade the first time he casts Blades of Baleroc.
  

Beth’tilac

• Beth'tilac now does slightly less damage on normal difficulty.
  

Lord Rhyolith

• The explosion damage radius of each Magma Meteor just before Lord Rhyolith should now more closely match their spell effect visuals.
  
• Volcanoes should no longer emit plumes of smoke while they are dormant.
  
• Concussive Stomp should no longer knock nearby players back.
  
• Magma Flow lines are now 30 yards long, down from 40 yards.
  
• Rhyolith now activates volcanoes less often on normal difficulty.
  
• Stepping on an active volcano now removes 16 stacks of armor, up from 10.
  

Majordomo Fandral Staghelm

• All threat generated in this encounter has been reduced in Heroic difficulty.
  

Ragnaros

• Ragnaros’s Sons of Flame should now be immune to silence effects.
  

Shannox

• Shannox, Riplimb and Rageface have all had their damage reduced slightly on normal difficulty.
  

Quests

• Players should now be able to keep the Quest Giver buff from the quest Welcome to the Machine in Hillsbrad Foothills.
  

Blue Posts

GC's latest blog: Active Mitigation Playstyle
Right now it's tough for DK tanks because they're the only ones on anything resembling an active mitigation model. The one active mitigation guy is going to look like he's working harder than the passive mitigation guys because, in a lot of ways, he is. If all tanks had worked this way from the start, it would be the norm, and nobody would be worried about jumping onto that model.

We've already established that threat isn't making for very compelling encounter design, and removing it offers us the ability to get creative with some of the mechanics that we're using; both in encounter and class design. In a world with no threat management, and no active mitigation, that doesn't leave a lot for tanks to do though. We think that making tanking more active, and focusing that activity around mitigation (which feels immediately useful) will generate some very rewarding gameplay. We want the act of tanking to be engaging, interesting and fun. We think the path forward will offer more of that for all the tanking classes.

Also, I've seen a number of references to making tanking easier in this thread and elsewhere. "Easier" isn't really the goal. The goal is to discard a mechanic which we don't think is working particularly well anymore, and replace it with something more focused and interesting. Doing so should also have the effect of allowing tanks who aren't as geared still do their job when grouped with players who outgear (or even outlevel them a bit). They'll still be responsible for doing a good job, but their absolute ability to hold the attention of the boss won't be a factor; their ability to play well and mitigate damage will be.

We're aware of player concerns about Blood tanking, and we'll work to ensure that Blood tanking will continue to be viable and effective into the future. On that note, we're interested in addressing some of the concerns that have been expressed about the spec (potentially as soon as the next major patch), though we want to accomplish that goal without sacrificing what sets the spec apart and makes it interesting. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Cross-Realm Raid Finder
We have some plans. They're good plans. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

US Battle.net Invitational VoDs
The results are in! The North American Battle.net Invitational World of Warcraft Arena competition, held last week at Blizzard Entertainment headquarters, has come to its thrilling conclusion. The first nine qualifier matches are now available on the official BlizzCon community site. Want to see who advances toward glory, riches, and the chance to compete live at BlizzCon 2011? You can check out the matches from the first day of competition now. Be sure to get caught up on all the action, as we’ll be posting the remaining matchups in the near future, revealing which two teams duke it out in the Grand Finals, and ultimately who will be competing at BlizzCon this October. Don’t fall victim to spoilers. Watch the matches. Enjoy the spectacle. Profit!

If you’re curious about the order in which the matches are being released, we’ve made sure to align them according to how they played out last week. You’ll be able to see the tournament brackets update in the correct order as you watch each of the matches. We thank you for your patience as we prepared these brutal bouts for public consumption. (Blue Tracker / Official Blog)

Discounted Shipping From FigurePrints Until 15 September
Take advantage of this hot summer deal by getting discounted rates on shipping to Europe for all World of Warcraft FigurePrints ordered from now until 15 September. If you've been considering a custom World of Warcraft character statue of your own, now is the perfect time to save some cash.

If you’ve never seen a FigurePrint, check out their gallery of characters and the “FigurePrints - How They Are Made” movie. FigurePrints are one-of-a-kind, custom statues of your World of Warcraft characters that present a three-dimensional snapshot of your in-game history. FigurePrints statues are equipped with the actual weapons and armor your character wears, and you sentimental types can choose from any of the items you’ve got stashed away. You can even choose from a variety of poses for your character to be immortalized in.

Visit FigurePrints.com for more information or to place an order. (Blue Tracker / Official Blog)

WoW TCG: Twilight of the Dragons Now In Stores
Deathwing the Destroyer has arrived in the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game and he’s brought both the Twilight and Black dragonflights with him. Tainted by corrupt magic before they were hatched, the Twilight dragons threaten to bring an age of darkness to the land. Unleash their fiery fury as you crack open packs of Twilight of the Dragons, in stores now.

Embrace the chaos and ally with Nefarian, Cho’gall, and Sinestra, or defend Azeroth against their assault by joining Thrall, Caelestrasz, Merithra, Arygos, Anachronos, and the elemental ascendants.In this time of great peril, will you join Deathwing’s forces or defend against it? Choose your side and prepare for war!

Please note, these cards are only available in English. (Blue Tracker / Official Blog)

API: Completed quests available
I'm happy to announce that completed quests have been added to the character profile API resource. By using the 'fields' query string parameter to include the 'quests' value, the character profile returned will include a list of quest ids that the character has completed.

Example: http://us.battle.net/api/wow/charact...?fields=quests (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Comics
NerfNow #561 is especially relevant today!

[Trogie]

The 16 stacks from active volcanoes is on normal only i believe.

[Deleted]

What does the Majordomo change mean?

[Deleted]

this The Grab Bag dropped by all Firelands bosses should now occasionally contain Crystallized Firestones in Heroic difficulty.

[Lovestar]

That drinking bird with the mic headset is really cute. Is he single?

[Hokuto]

What does the Majordomo change mean?

It means that dps with full Concentration rocking 60k dps won't rip threat off you during the first scorpion phase.

Yes, that can be an issue in raids without hunters/rogues, specially on 10.

[savvasp]

Wonder where Occuthar gets the gear :/

[vizzle]

Oh my god that's the funniest comic I've seen in a long time.

[Nicola]

other tanks gonna love this, i'm already having problems to avoid overaggroing them when offtanking

[squee666]

To Clarify *Grab-Bag* Means Shared Loot Tables. Meaning on HC Shared Loot can Now contain a Crystal

[Melilithia]

Hm... well, this'll definitely help newbie tanks. If I ever get my WoW account back up... it'll help on my BloodDK too. Most of the time I have no troubles, but... sometimes a player comes along that does huge amounts of DPS and they pull off me pretty easily (mainly Fury Warriors, Mages, and Enh Shamans.)

[Baker St Irregulars]

I don't think any of you quite understand what ghostcrawler was saying. He's actually talking about making tanking that much more difficult. Here, read this thread: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2973395323 And Draxxarri's response. http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/to...5323?page=2#28

[Truantxoxo]

WTF is grab bag

[squee666]

WTF is grab bag

read my above post

[soundbot]

That drinking bird with the mic headset is really cute. Is he single?

Back off, he's mine.

[Lorath]

Ran 10 BH tonight. Still all PvP drops. Banged head on desk until I was cross-eyed. >.>

[Domiku]

and there we go after 1000's of QQ posts from DK tanks we get a blue post finally saying we are not going to get changed till the next content patch... well at least we are going to get something :/ still dont think nerfing others tanks is the way to go but meh...

[Resentful]

Oh jeez, they wrecked Ryaolilth pretty hard

Good though; Hes a terrible boss

[Vook]

Nerfing normal firelands already? that was fast.

[slappy102]

Is the 16 stack removal on Rhyolith on heroic too?