World of Warcraft News and Raiding Strategies

On Friday June 21st, we will be conducting a raid test of Heroic Queen Azshara in The Eternal Palace. After Heroic testing has ended, the Eternal Palace will be available on Normal difficulty over the weekend.

June, 21st

Queen Azshara - Heroic Eternal Palace
13:00 PDT (16:00 EDT, 22:00 CEST)

Normal Eternal Palace
15:00 PDT (18:00 EDT, 24:00 CEST)
All bosses will be available on Normal mode with the exception of Queen Azshara.

As always, this testing schedule is very fluid and subject to the realities of a test environment. We might have to change the time of a testing session, change the bosses being tested, or cancel a test entirely, due to bugs, server hardware issues, etc. Keep an eye on this forum for the latest information, and thank you in advance for testing and providing feedback.

Q: How do I get into the raid zone?
A: In Zuldazar, Boralus, Dalaran, Orgrimmar, or Stormwind, you may speak to Nexus-Lord Donjon Rade III in order to teleport into the raid zone while it is open for testing. (The option to teleport into a zone will not be available when the zone is not open for testing.)

Q: What character should I use to test the raid?
A: Whichever you prefer. We will be scaling players’ effective level to 120 for raid testing, and their item level to an appropriate threshold for the encounter(s) being tested.

Q: How long does testing last?
A: The primary purpose of testing is to give us the information we need to balance the encounters, evaluate how mechanics are playing out in practice, and identify bugs. Once we’re satisfied that we’ve received that information for a given boss, we’ll be shutting down testing. Usually this takes anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours, but there are no guarantees.

Legends speak of a place off the craggy coast of Kul Tiras whose denizens have replaced blood and bones with bolts and brass: Mechagon Island, home of a society of mechanically augmented gnomes and their iron-fisted ruler King Mechagon.


Legends say that long, long ago, King Mechagon, set out on a journey to find a mythical land full of wondrous technological marvels . . . and was never heard from again. Centuries later, an astounding discovery sparks an expedition to find out what happened to the king and his subjects on the remote Mechagon Island.

Your adventure to Mechagon begins after establishing your hub in Nazjatar and powering up your Heart of Azeroth. Soon after, you will receive a summons from one of the most renowned tinkerers of Azeroth—Gazlowe for the Horde, and Tinkmaster Overspark for the Alliance—directing you to a newly opened vault in Tiragarde Sound. Inside, you will find technology that has never been seen on Azeroth, and the location of the fabled island.

Upon arriving in Mechagon, you’ll meet the scrappy and resourceful mechagnomes, whose fleshy forms have been improved with cybernetic enhancements. But as you’ll soon find out, this is not the technological paradise you may have been expecting. The mechagnomes on the island’s surface are fighting against a foe with twisted designs for Azeroth: the legendary King Mechagon himself, who rules the subterranean metropolis of Mechagon City with an iron fist. Within the wondrous city’s walls and workshops, the mad king has spent the past centuries consumed with an obsession to “cure” Azeroth of the Curse of Flesh—stripping away organic life and replacing it with purer, more efficient mechanical forms.

Welcome to the Rustbolt Resistance

At the forefront of the battle against the twisted tyrant is his son, Prince Erazmin, leader of the Rustbolt Resistance. As you learn more about what’s happening on the island, you’ll be recruited to join the fight to overthrow his tyrannical father and put an end to his mad designs. But you’ll need more than resolve to stand against King Mechagon’s might; if you have any hope of succeeding, you’ll need to bolster the resistance forces by taking part in the myriad events and activities you’ll discover around the island, including collecting scrap to build tools and weapons, assisting the island’s daily visitors with their personal quests, constructing a trinket to give you an edge in combat, and more.

Junkyard Tinkering

One of the many mechanical marvels you’ll encounter on the island is Pascal-K1N6, a giant iron robot who will help players craft an arsenal full of equipment, mounts, toys, consumables, and more in exchange for Spare Parts and Energy Cells found across Mechagon.

As you explore the island, you’ll discover blueprints that Pascal-K1N6 can use to craft these items. One particularly curious blueprint for can be found at the scrap heap known as Bondo’s Yard—pick up the plans for a Mechanocat Laser Pointer, and you’ll soon be able to call in a X-995 Mechanocat to ride around the island. As you continue sifting through the island’s scrap, be sure to keep an eye out for paint you can use to customize your new robo-kitty’s color.


Construction Projects

As you explore Mechagon, you’ll be able to contribute resources to Construction Projects that create a variety of powerful constructs. These projects provide a variety of bonsues to give you and your fellow adventurers an edge on the island, including experimental equipment weapons and equipement to wield while on the island, flame turrets that help clear an area of foes, a drill rig that can uncover a cave full of treasures (and maybe uncover something best left uncovered), and more.


Did You Know?: Angling for Parts
The parts you need for Construction Projects can be salvaged from a variety of sources around the island—including through fishing in Mechagon’s rust-tainted waters . You'll often be able to gain Spare Parts and even sometimes fish up Energy Cells along the way. Just keep an eye out for malfunctioning creations among other less than welcoming denizens of the island.

Pocket-Sized Computation Device

One of the most fascinating pieces of technology waiting to be discovered in Mechagon is the Pocket-Sized Computation Device, a trinket that players can customize to suit their adventuring needs. The device houses three Punchcard Sockets, into which players can insert one Red, Yellow, and Blue Punch Card. Punch Cards provide a variety of different bonuses, and can be collected by questing, exploring the Mechagon zone, and advancing through the new Mythic-only dungeon Operation: Mechagon. Players will receive their Pocket-Sized Computation Device after completing the Upgraded quest, available shortly after landing in Mechagon.

New Dungeon: Operation Mechagon

Once you’re feeling properly upgraded, it’s time to begin your bid to shut down King Mechagon once and for all and free the mechagnomes from his tyranny. Get ready for Operation Mechagon!

Operation Mechagon


Prince Erazmin leads a group of unlikely allies on a desperate mission into the heart of Mechagon. In a race against time, they must overcome King Mechagon’s army of mechanized monstrosities and defeat the mad genius before his doomsday device purges all organic life from Azeroth.

Dungeon Bosses: 8

Difficulties: Mythic

Level: 120 for Alliance and Horde

King Gobbamak: Obsessed with hoarding dangerous technology found amongst the scrap, King Gobbamak sits upon a pile of doomsday weapons that he lacks the intelligence to operate or understand.

Gunker: After years of coalescing into a concentrated cesspool. Mechagon's toxic waste has gained malevolent sentience. With the sanitation systems disabled, Gunker is free to ooze across all of Azeroth.

Trixie & Naeno: Trixie and Naeno, two of Bondo’s top lieutenants, have a turbulent relationship. While Trixie prides herself on ruthless efficiency, Naeno is the embodiment of chaos while behind the wheel. The only thing they have in common is their penchant for senseless violence, which they enjoy dispensing on anyone foolish enough to wander into their territory.

HK-8 Aerial Oppression Unit: Predator of the skies, the HK-8 Aerial Oppression Unit soars over the yard executing its prime directive, disintegrating all trespassers. With impenetrable armor and a lethal host of weapons, it annihilates all who are caught in its shadow.

Tussle Tonks: Mechagon’s premier mechgineers test their mettle (and metal) by building customized combat robots. While these tonks typically battle each other for glory, they combine their efforts to repel foolhardy organic intruders who dare venture into Mechagon.

K.U.-J.O.: As the repository for the city’s refuse, the Under Junk is a prime target for gnomes from Bondo’s gang who intend to steal valuable mechanical components. While Trash Mistress Wendy Cogsworth ceaselessly sorts the city’s junk, her loyal guard dog, K.U.-J.0., keeps out unwelcome intruders—mechagnomes and adventurers alike.

Machinist's Garden: Beautiful and dangerous, Head Machinist Sparkflux's metallic gardens are designed for both recreation and retribution. With a flick of a switch, the idyllic scenery transforms into a death trap from which no interloper can escape.

King Mechagon: As maniacal as he is brilliant, King Mechagon despises all organic life. With his mechoriginator primed and ready, nothing stands in the way of his scheme to purge the curse of flesh from Azeroth and mechanize the entire world.

Get ready to face the danger within beginning July 9.


There’s plenty to discover as you make your way through Mechagon Island. Get ready to rally the resistance, turn one gnome’s junk into another gnome’s treasure, and put an end to the mad king’s mechanations once and for all when Rise of Azshara arrives on June 25!

Some additional information for PvP over the next few weeks:

When Season 2 ends with the content update next week, players will no longer be able to turn in their Quartermaster’s Coins to receive Battleborn Sigils. Quartermaster’s Coins can be sold for 50 gold.

When Season 3 begins the week of July 9, players will begin receiving Quartermaster’s Prize items from their Conquest schedule rewards, Call to Arms quests, and the Nazjatar world PvP event.

In Season 3, a missed Bonus Roll in PvP will award Azerite Power, but a missed Bonus Roll will not award a Quartermaster’s Prize. Completing the weekly “Quartermaster’s Bounty” quest by trading in Quartermaster’s Prize items will award a Warlord’s Trophy (not a Battleborn Sigil).

In the Rise of Azshara content update, we’ve developed several user interface changes that we’d like to call your attention to.

Accessibility Features
First, we’ve added several slash commands intended to provide more options for vision-impaired players. Some of these commands will allow the player to enter and leave voice channels without having to physically click the voice button in the channels list:

• Enter voice channel for your guild: /voice guild
• Enter voice channel for the officer channel for your guild: /voice officer
• Enter general channel for the given community: /voice
• Enter a particular channel for the given community: /voice
• Leave the current voice channel: /voice leave

We’ve also added some other new commands are intended to facilitate creating and joining communities and Battlenet clubs:

• Open the Add Community Dialog with the invitation link edit box selected. Just paste in the link and hit : /community join
• Open the create wow character community dialog with the Name edit box selected. Type in a name, then , then enter a short name, and hit to finalize the creation: /community create wow
• Open the create Battlenet club dialog with the Name edit box selected. Type in a name, then optionally hit and enter a short name, and hit to finalize the creation: /community create battlenet

Frame Anchoring
We added new restricted frames system that affects frame anchoring:

• Frames that are anchored to a restricted frame can only have their other anchors set to frames within that same anchor hierarchy
• Added new API in the Line API: Line:ClearAllPoints();
  
  • This will clear the anchors on a line and must be called to clear the restricted flag off of the frame.
• New restricted frames include:
  
  • Nameplates

The following APIs are now blocked from being called on restricted frames:

• GetCenter()
• GetLeft()
• GetRight()
• GetTop()
• GetBottom()
• GetRect()
• GetUnscaledRect()

Tooltip Add Texture
We added the ability to have multiple customizable textures per line.
Usage:

Tooltip:AddTexture(fileDataID/”filename” [,minx, maxx, miny, maxy]) – will be deprecated soon


Tooltip:AddTexture(fileDataID/”filename” [,TooltipTextureInfo]) – new way

TooltipTextureInfo is a table that describes how to apply the texture:

{
width = 12, – can be 0 to use actual texture width
height = 12, – can be 0 to use actual texture size
anchor = Enum.TooltipTextureAnchor.Left,
region = Enum.TooltipTextureRelativeRegion.LeftLine,
verticalOffset = 0,
margin = { left = 8, right = 8, top = 0, bottom = 0 }, – empty space around the texture, can be negative
texCoords = { left = 0, right = 1, top = 0, bottom = 1 },
vertexColor = { r = 1, g = 1, b = 1, a = 1 },
}

The values above are the internal defaults. The table may be partially filled out and any unspecified settings will be used at their default values.
Added optional left and top padding.
Usage:

Tooltip:SetPadding(right, bottom, [left, top])


Report System
In this content update, we’re going to put a restriction on a couple of functions. The C_ReportSystem.InitiateReportPlayer and C_ReportSystem.SendReportPlayer functions are no longer allowed to be called by addons. Addons can now open the normal ‘Player Reporting’ dialog by calling the new function C_ReportSystem.OpenReportPlayerDialog. The player will be required to interact with that dialog to actually send the report.

Texture Access
One more notable change: Accessing textures outside of the …/Interface directory no longer support paths, and now requires a file data ID. In order to support this change, we’re going through our Set Texture functions to make sure file data IDs are supported everywhere.
Please feel free to give us your feedback or questions on any of the above here in this thread.
Thank you!

A question we have seen come up in a few places regarding the Minor effect of Memory of Lucid Dreams that warrants some clarification:
If you use an ability like Templar’s Verdict which consumes 3 Holy Power, or Unstable Affliction consuming 1 Soul Shard, how is a 50% refund handled?

There’s no concept of half of a Holy Power, or half of a non-Destruction Warlock Soul Shard. For things that don’t cleanly have a 50% value we can refund, any partial resources are saved and granted to you when they accumulate up to a whole. Templar’s Verdict will refund 2 Holy Power, or 1 Holy Power, alternating. Unstable Affliction will refund 1 full Soul Shard every other time the proc occurs.

Some Essence tuning changes that are in the process of being hotfixed:

Ripple in Space

• Major effect cooldown lowered from 90 to 60 seconds at all ranks.

Memory of Lucid Dreams

• Major effect cooldown lowered from 180 to 120 seconds at all ranks.
• Major effect at rank 1 duration increased to 12 seconds, up from 10 seconds.
• Major effect at rank 2 is now +3 additional seconds, up from +2 additional seconds. This means the whole buff effect will now last 15 seconds at rank 2 or higher, up from 12 seconds.
• Minor effect rank 3 Versatility buff reduced by 35%

These changes should be on the PTR soon.

Another hotfix that is on the way regarding Vision of Perfection.

Talents or Azerite traits that were increasing the base duration of the specific cooldown that is being activated by Vision of Perfection are no longer incorrectly being counted when determining the duration of the buff granted by Vision of Perfection.

For example, a Holy Paladin with Sanctified Wrath talented will receive the same duration of Avenging Wrath from Vision of Perfection as another Holy Paladin with a different talent chosen on that row.

A hotfix is in process for some tuning on the Condensed Life-Force Essence:

• The damage that the Guardian of Azeroth deals when casting Azerite Spike has been reduced by 35%.