World of Warcraft News and Raiding Strategies

We’re working on a slate of tuning adjustments to classes in Dragonflight. The following changes are scheduled to be implemented with weekly maintenance, Tuesday, December 6 in this region.

Tank Specializations

• Tank-specialized characters now generate 650% additional threat (was 550%).
  
  • Developers’ notes: We’ve heard feedback that on-pull burst in dungeon content is causing damage dealers to pull threat more often than is desirable. This change represents roughly a 15% increase to tank threat generation, which should help alleviate these cases, while still requiring tanks to actively engage with enemies to hold threat.

Demon Hunter

• The Hunt damage reduced by 10%.
• Fodder to the Flame proc rate no longer scales with Haste.

Druid

• Restoration
  
  • Regrowth healing decreased by 6%.

Hunter

• Steel Trap damage has been reduced by 20%.
• Explosive Shot damage has been increased by 15%.
• Barrage damage has been increased by 15%.
• Marksmanship
  
  • All damage increased by 10%.
  • Heavy Ammo now causes Trick Shot ricochets to deal an additional 25% damage (was 10%).
• Survival
  
  • All damage increased by 5%.

Mage

• Fire
  
  • Flamestrike damage increased by 8%.
  • Pyroblast damage increased by 5%.
  • Fireball damage increased by 10%.
  • Scorch damage increased by 10%.
  • Ignite damage increased by 5%.

Rogue

• Assassination
  
  • Exsanguinate cooldown increased to 3 minutes (was 45 seconds) and bleed effect magnitude reduced to 80% (was 100%).
    
    • Developers’ notes: Recent data indicates that Exsanguinate is drastically overperforming its historic and intended power level. We recognize that this is a heavy nerf for an individual talent, but it is important that Exsanguinate’s power be similar to alternative available talent choices. We see this as a temporary measure as we head towards the opening of Dragonflight’s first season, and we will reconsider Exsanguinate’s position and role as an available talent for Assassination. We may move, replace, or redesign it in a future patch.

Monk

• Brewmaster
  
  • Brewmaster’s Balance now grants 45% increased stamina (was 30%).
• Mistweaver
  
  • Awakened Faeline Spinning Crane Kick now heals 3 nearby allies for 60% of the damage done (was 50%).
  • Vivify heal to primary target increased by 20%.
  • Peaceful Mending now increases healing received by Enveloping Mist and Renewing Mist by 15/30% (was 10/20%).
  • Yu’lon’s Whisper now heals 5 targets (was 6), and healing increased by 15%.

Paladin

• Protection
  
  • Aegis of Light now grants 50% increased stamina (was 45%) and 30% increased armor (was 15%).

Shaman

• Restoration
  
  • All healing spells healing increased by 5%.
  • Acid Rain damage increased by 50%.

Warlock

• Soul Leech now converts 3% of damage dealt to an absorb shield (was 6%).

Warrior

• Arms
  
  • Fueled by Violence now heals for 85% of the damage done by Deep Wounds (was 65%).
• Protection
  
  • Fueled by Violence now heals for 85% of the damage done by Deep Wounds (was 65%).
  • Brutal Vitality now causes 15% of the damage you deal to add to your active Ignore Pain (was 30%).

Player versus Player
Thank you to those who participated in and provided feedback during the Play with the Blues event in the Dragonflight Beta a few weeks back, as it gave us valuable data and information. That, alongside what we’ve observed on live realms since Dragonflight’s launch, contributed to these PvP adjustments as we head into Season 1.

Death Knight

• Anti-Magic Shell absorption amount reduced by 25% in PvP combat.
• Will of the Necropolis damage reduction reduced by 50% in PvP in combat.
• Anti-Magic Barrier increase to Anti-Magic Shell duration and amount absorbed has been reduced by 50% in PvP combat.
• Abomination Limb will no longer pull individual enemy players more than once over its duration (was every 4 seconds).
• Improved Death Strike increase to Death Strike’s healing has been reduced by 50% in PvP combat.
• Frost
  
  • Death Strike’s healing increased based on recent damage is reduced by 50% if the damage was dealt by players or their pets.
• Unholy
  
  • Death Strike’s healing increased based on recent damage is reduced by 50% if the damage was dealt by players or their pets.
    
    • Developers’ notes: Death Knight survivability has been substantially higher than we’re comfortable with, so we’re targeting several aspects of their defensive kit. We feel that with these adjustments, Death Knights will maintain durability with options to counterplay defensively. Additionally, the multiple grips from Abomination Limb created scenarios of unfun gameplay with minimal counterplay in PvP. We’re changing this talent to be able to pull in a unique player in once per talent usage. We believe this change will allow the talent to be an attractive talent to pick while maintaining counterplay options for opponents.

Druid

• Restoration
  
  • Budding Leaves is now 70% effective in PvP combat.
  • Fixed an issue that caused Focused Growth’s buff to only apply to one Lifebloom at a time while using the Undergrowth talent.
    
    • Developers’ notes: Lifebloom has been a higher percentage of Druid healing’s breakdown in PvP than we’d like, so we’re reducing Budding Leaves to bring it more in line.

Evoker

• Scarlet Adaptation’s cap is reduced by 30% in PvP combat.
• Fire Breath’s initial damage is reduced by 30% in PvP combat.
• Disintegrate and Pyre deal 15% increased damage in PvP combat.
  
  • Developers’ notes: The goal of this tuning change is to reduce the very high burst from fully charged Fire Breath, which we felt was unfair, as it had the potential to kill enemy players without any time to react. Living Flame also had the potential to deal high burst with all of its modifiers combined together, so we’re reducing Scarlet Adaptation’s cap in PvP. To compensate for the lost power, we’re increasing the damage of Disintegrate and Pyre so that Evoker can contribute more meaningful consistent damage. Note that this will affect both Devastation and Preservation specializations.
• Preservation
  
  • Mana regeneration is reduced by an additional 10% in PvP combat.
  • Developers’ notes: All healers have reduced mana regeneration in PvP, so that fights end after a reasonable period of time. Preservation receiving this reduction brings them closer in line with the other healers so that mana is relevant in PvP.

Mage

• Arcane
  
  • Nether Precision is now 75% effective in PvP combat.
  • Prodigious Savant is now 80% effective in PvP combat.
  • Arcane Bombardment is now 65% effective in PvP combat.
    
    • Developers’ notes: We’re looking to address Arcane’s instant burst damage through adjustments targeting Arcane Blast and Arcane Barrage modifiers. Arcane Bombardment in particular has been too powerful of an execute effect in PvP for its current availability.
• Frost
  
  • Piercing Cold is now 50% effective in PvP combat.
  • Ice Lance damage increased by 20% in PvP combat.
  • (PvP Talent) Snowdrift no longer has a cast time (was 1.5 seconds).
  • (PvP Talent) Snowdrift’s cooldown reduced to 45 seconds (was 60 seconds).
    
    • Developers’ notes: Glacial Spike critical strikes are hitting harder than we would like, despite the long cast time attached to this spell. We’re reducing Piercing Cold’s critical strike damage modifier in PvP to help address this without impacting the base damage of the spell. We’re also increasing the damage of Ice lance as the Splitting Ice talent is less valuable in PvP, given the unpredictable and constant movement of players. Additionally, Snowdrift has been requiring more ramp up than intended, so we’re removing its cast time and lowering its cooldown.

Monk

• Mistweaver
  
  • Ancient Teachings of the Monastery now heals for 375% of damage done (was 240%) in PvP combat.
    
    • Developers’ notes: We would like to see more aggressive playstyles from Mistweaver Monk to be possible in PvP, so we’re targeting Ancient Teaching of the Monastery to bolster the playstyle.

Rogue

• Echoing Reprimand damage is reduced by 30% in PvP combat.
  
  • Developers’ notes: We’ve seen that the ability could have extremely high burst, more than we’re comfortable with, so we are partially reverting the change made in last week’s hotfixes, where Echoing Reprimand’s damage was no longer reduced in PvP.

Shaman

• Enhancement
  
  • Improved Maelstrom Weapon increases the damage and healing of spells by 8%/15% per stack of Maelstrom Weapon in PvP Combat (was 10%/20%).
  • Raging Maelstrom increases the effectiveness of Maelstrom Weapon stacks by 3% in PvP Combat (was 5%).
  • Stormstrike and Windstrike damage increased by 30% in PvP combat.
    
    • Developers’ notes: Damage and healing from fully stacked Maelstrom Weapon are higher than intended in PvP, so we’re reducing the value of the associated talents. Separately, we’d like for Enhancement’s sustained damage to be more well-rounded in PvP, so we’re increasing Stormstrike’s damage.
• Elemental
  
  • Magma Chamber effectiveness reduced by 50% in PvP combat.
    
    • Developers’ notes: Earth Shock and Elemental Blast from Elemental Shamans deal more damage than intended with high stacks of Magma Chamber, so we are lowering its effect in PvP.

Warlock

• Curse of Tongues reduces cast time by 10% in PvP combat (was 15%).
• Curse of Tongues applied through Amplify Curse reduces cast time by 20% in PvP Combat (was 35%).
  
  • Developers’ notes: We’re reducing the overall power of Curse of Tongues in PvP. We’d like for the spell to be valuable to cast, but not cause casters to have a frustrating time trying to cast spells.

Warrior

• Arms
  
  • Mortal Strike’s damage is no longer reduced by 30% in PvP combat.
  • Sharpened Blades now increases critical strike damage by 5% (was 10%) in PvP combat.
  • Martial Prowess now increases Mortal Strike’s damage by 15% per stack (was 30%) in PvP combat.
  • Execute damage increased by 20% in PvP combat (Arms only).
  • Rend damage reduced by 15% in PvP combat (Arms only).
  • Developers’ notes: We’re looking to increase Mortal Strike’s consistent damage while keeping its burst potential in line through targeted adjustments to its modifiers. We’re also reducing Rend’s damage in PvP as Skullsplitter has been a culprit for one-shots.

We’re finalizing additional tuning, and we will continue to keep an eye on class balance over the next week, as we have additional adjustments planned for the week of December 13 (the beginning of Season 1).

Classes

• Druid
  
  • Fixed an issue where Tireless Pursuit was only granting 30% movement speed, not the correct 40% movement speed.
    
  • Balance
    
    • Fixed an issue where Sunfire applied to multiple targets would not correctly trigger the Mastery benefit.
      
• Evoker
  
  • Fixed an issue where Eternity Surge could be casted while locked out of its spell school.
    
  • Fixed an issue where attempting to recast an empowered spell during its GCD would cause your action bars to grey out.
    
  • Preservation
    
    • Emerald Communion may now be cast while moving while Hover is active.
      
• Hunter
  
  • Marksmanship
    
    • Fixed an issue where Wind Arrows from Legacy of the Windrunners or Windrunner's Barrage were gaining bonus damage from your Mastery twice.
      
• Monk
  
  • Fixed an issue preventing the Touch of Death effect of Fatal Flying Guillotine from always being an Improved Touch of Death. The tooltip for this will be clarified in a later update.
    
• Priest
  
  • Holy
    
    • Fixed an issue causing Answered Prayers to sometimes get stuck at its maximum stack count and fail to trigger Apotheosis.
      

Creatures and NPCs

• The Azure Span
  
  • Tatto the Iskaaran Stable Master will now correctly allow you to stable your pet.
    
• Ohn'ahran Plains
  
  • Beastmaster Oken will now stable pets properly for hunters who find themselves in the Broadhoof Outpost.
    

Dungeons and Raids

• Algeth'ar Academy
  
  • Echo of Doragosa's health has been increased by 12%.
    
• Brackenhide Hollow
  
  • Fixed an issue where if players entered the gauntlet toward the final boss from the Den of Decay instead of through Treemouth's area, the gauntlet could become impossible to complete.
    
  • Fixed an issue where Bracken Warscourge could spawn inside of the environment in the area leading up to Hackclaw’s War-Band.
    
• Neltharus
  
  • Qalashi Thaumaturge's Magma Conflagration damage reduced by 40%.
    
  • Magmatusk's health has been increased about 15%.
    

Items and Rewards

• Players can now choose to cancel certain Transporter Malfunctions caused by new and old Wormhole Generators.
  
• The Trial of the Elements (Primalist Tomorrow) and Trial of the Flood (Ohn'ahran Plains) events rewards were scaling higher than expected and have had their base item level reduced.
  
• Armoire of Endless cloaks is now a correctly categorized as a Toy.
  
• Integrated Primal Fire trinket damage reduced by 19%.
  
• Fixed an issue where items purchased from Sabellian and Wrathion quartermasters displayed incorrect reputation requirements.

Player versus Player

• War Mode
  
  • Fixed an issue that the War Mode and Primal Storm cloak rewards were all using the same stat allocation.
    
• Warlock
  
  • Demonology
    
    • Axe Toss and Solar Beam can no longer trigger the Precognition PvP Talent.
      

Professions

• Enchanting
  
  • Fixed an issue where Enriched Earthen Shard was appearing underground.
    
• Engineering
  
  • Fixed an issue where Tinker: Plane Displacer was not properly going on cooldown if it malfunctioned.
    
  • Lilliam Sparkspindle will now offer Alliance players the option to unlearn and change their Classic Engineering Gnomish and Goblin specializations.
    
• Herbalism
  
  • Fixed an issue where Rich Soil was spawning too quickly.
    

Quests

• Fixed an issue causing players above level 60 to be unable to enter certain legacy quest scenarios.
  
• A small number of characters who were able to able access a Renown Campaign early have had their access corrected. However, characters who have already started the Campaign questline will be allowed to finish it.
  
• The Azure Span
  
  • Fixed an issue where Kraunot could become unattackable during "A Wrestle of Wind and Water."
    
• Ohn'ahran Plains
  
  • Fixed an issue where characters could be unable to complete "Shady Sanctuary.""
    

Thaldraszus

• Fixed an issue where Therazane could be killed in the Black Empire.
  
• Players attempting to turn in "Race Through Time" could be knocked off the platform by the opposing faction preventing quest completion. The Black Empire is now flagged as a sanctuary to prevent this from occurring.
  
• Fixed an issue where the starting location for "Moving On" was in the wrong location on the map.

Reputation

• Dragonscale Expedition
  
  • Fixed an issue with Ancient Waygates. Players who hit Rank 7 may begin their adventures in exploring these curious ancient stones, scattered throughout the Dragon Isles.
    
  • Fixed an issue where players were unable to begin the Ancient Waygate questline.
    
• Maruuk Centaur
  
  • Fixed an issue where "Sharing the Bounty" was not appearing at different Renown levels.

Classes

• Evoker
  
  • Living Flame will now restore 50% of its mana cost when used to strike an enemy.
  • Developers’ note: This change is intended to allow Preservation Evokers to use Living Flame to contribute damage during raid encounters without losing mana. It will also prevent Devastation Evokers from running out of mana when using Living Flame with high haste values.
• Hunter
  
  • Marksmanship
    
    • Fixed an issue where Bulletstorm was incorrectly also granting the benefit of Bombardment.
    • Fixed an issue where Arcane Shot and Chimaera Shot were incorrectly consuming a stack of the Bulletstorm buff when cast.
  • Survival
    
    • Fixed an issue where Quick Shot would not properly deal damage if you had changed the appearance of your weapon.
    • Fixed an issue where Spearhead did not properly apply the bleed from Mongoose Bite or Raptor Strike if Aspect of the Eagle was active.
• Paladin
  • Protection
    
    • Fixed an issue causing Inspiring Vanguard to grant an incorrect amount of Strength.
• Priest
  
  • The following Priest spells have been added to the Personal Resource Display: Desperate Prayer, Lightweaver, Empyreal Blaze, Dark Ascension, Deathspeaker, Holy Ward, Archangel, and Dark Archangel.
  • Power Word: Life now has a spell highlight when targeting a low health ally.
  • Mind Flay: Insanity now has a spell highlight when it is available.
  • The debuff for Angelic Bulwark is no longer displayed on Raid Frames.
  • Holy
    
    • Fixed an issue causing queued Heals to not gain a cast time reduction from Lightweaver after casting Flash Heal.
• Shaman
  
  • The debuff for Elemental Equilibrium is no longer displayed on Raid Frames.

Creatures and NPCs

• Fixed an issue where rare enemies on the Dragon Isles did not have a daily loot lockout.
• Fixed an issue where some baby mammoths could be unintentionally tamed.

Dungeons and Raids

• The Azure Vault
  
  • Arcane Tender’s Wild Eruption will no longer target player pets.
• Brakenhide Hollow
  
  • Withering damage reduced by 64% (effect applied by Decay Speaker’s Withering Burst, Trickclaw Mystic’s Witherbolt, etc.).
  • Fetid Rotsinger’s Decaying Totem health reduced by 50%.
  • Fixed an issue where the dungeon’s quests could not be completed.
• Halls of Infusion
  
  • Watcher Irideus
    
    • Power Overload no longer targets pets.
  • Primal Tsunami
    
    • A friendly Titan Defense Orb now offers players a quick way out of the dungeon after defeating the Primal Tsunami.
• Uldaman: Legacy of Tyr
  
  • Fixed an issue where the dungeon’s quests could not be completed.

Items and Rewards

• Fixed an issue where Crimson Aspirant’s Pulverizer and Crimson Aspirant’s Longspear had the same stats.
• Fixed an issue where Slumbering Worldsnail and Raging Magmommoth were unlearnable.
• Fixed an issue where Misty Satchel was bind-on-equip and could be listed on the Auction House.
• Re-added cloth loot that was temporarily removed from rare enemies.
• Fixed an issue where Reclaimed Tuskarr Harpoon and Stolen Shikaar Warspear were using the incorrect weapon type.

Player Versus Player

• Fixed an issue where PvP Conduits were not purchasable.
• Sergeant Wilson and Nassar have arrived in the Gladiator’s Refuge for slightly less than loyal characters to sign up as a Mercenary in battlegrounds.
• Precognition (PvP Talent) is now displayed on the Personal Resource Bar.
• War Mode
  
  • Fixed an issue that could cause Supply Drops in Ohn’ahran Plains to not reach the ground before despawning.

Professions

• Significantly increased the drop rate of recipes for Crimson Combatant equipment from Victorious Contender’s Strongboxes.
• Notebook of Crafting Knowledge for Enchanting now awards knowledge for the correct profession.
• Temporarily disabled Basic and Advanced Experimentation for Alchemy to address a bug.
• Fixed an issue where some pieces of Engineering crafting gear were missing stats.
• Lofty Malygite has become slightly less lofty and is now within reach for Jewelcrafters to collect.
• Reduced the drop rate on Roused Seedling when gathering herbs.
• Adjusted Molten, Hardened, and Windswept Overload loot tables to be similar in value to Frost Overload.

Quests

• Fixed an issue where Shadowlands campaign quests were being pushed to players outside of Shadowlands.
• The Azure Span
  
  • Fixed an issue where “Calling the Blue Dragons” was rewarding duplicates of the Highland Drake to alts.
  • Fixed an issue where “Into the Azure” was incorrectly available for alts who had already completed “To the Azure Span.”
• Ohn’ahran Plains
  
  • Nokhud Offensive
    
    • Fixed an issue where Khanam Matra Sarest, the quest giver for “The Wind Belongs to the Sky” could incorrectly phase out.
• The Waking Shores
  
  • Fixed an issue where “Honor Our Fallen” was available at level 68, but its reward could require level 70.
  • Fixed an issue where “The Tools of One’s Trade” was available at level 68, but its reward could require level 70.
  • Fixed an issue where the “Greater Obsidian Citadel Key” could fail to be completed.
  • Fixed an issue where various Siege on Dragonbane Keep UI elements wouldn’t show until Valdrakken Accord Rank 6.
  • Quest markers for “To Dragonbane Keep!” have been modified to be clearer.
  • Fixed an issue where players wouldn’t be added to the Siege on Dragonbane scenario at times, preventing rewards from being obtained.

Reputation

• Cobalt Assembly
  
  • Lowered Fun Detected’s chance to drop Wild Arcana. It was changing the drop rate to be 100% instead of adding an additional percent chance. Yes, we know how this looks.
• Iskaara Tuskarr
  
  • Fixed an issue where the “Iskaaran Fishing Net” quest items were not visible.
• Maruuk Centaur
  
  • Fixed an issue where “Good at Doings, Not Understandings” was being incorrectly offered to players at Renown 1.
  • Fixed an issue where players could be in the area of a Grand Hunt and not get added to the scenario correctly.
• Valdrakken Accord
  
  • Fixed an issue where the Dragon Racing world quests were not unlocking correctly at Valdrakken Accord Rank 7.