Patch 5.3 Live This Week

The Fight with Rubberbanding Continues, BoA Stats Will Be Searchable in the AH, Anniversary Buff Clarifications, Idea for a Buff, Curse Weekly RoundUp

Update: Blizzard posted the official notes tonight, and you can see the changes from the PTR notes here!

Patch 5.3 Live This Week
Patch 5.3 is going live this week, less than three months after Patch 5.2 went live!

• Heroic Scenarios give 120-150 Valor Points for your first every day and a chance to get a item level 516 item. The Challenge mode daily quest also gives you a chance at item level 516 gear.
• The legendary quest line continues, with a reward of item level 600 cloaks.
• The Kor'kron have taken over the Troll area in Orgrimmar, as well as Razor Hill, and are advancing on Sen'jin Village. You will team up with Thrall, Vol'jin, and Chen Stormstout to push them back and retake Razor Hill.
• The weekly Barrens quest will give you a chance to buy an item level 489 item.
• There are several new mounts in this patch, with the most interesting being the Enchanted Fey Dragon.
• You can now use items in your bank and Void Storage for transmogrification.
• A quest was added that will reveal the final Sha and reward you with item level 502 boots.
• Four new scenarios, one battleground, and a new arena were added to the game.
• There are lots of PvP changes, with a 65% base Resilience, less PvP Power and Resilience on gems, no more Resilience on most gear, the Conquest catch up cap implemented, and more!
• The Brawler's Guild has some new bosses and other updates, along with some new shirts.
• Heirloom shields are finally on the vendors.
• You can now level mining and herbalism in Pandaria, no matter what skill level you are at.
• There are many more changes, so be sure to read the full post!

Patch 5.3 Notes



Heroic Scenarios
Patch 5.3 adds Heroic Scenarios, which are made more difficulty by NPCs that do more damage and have increased health.

• Heroic Scenarios require a pre-made group and an item level of 480 to queue for.
• The first Heroic Scenario of the day will reward 120 Valor Points, with an additional 30 if you are able to complete the time based bonus objectives.
• You will also earn a Heroic Cache of Treasures, which has a chance to drop epic item level 516 gear.
• Doing another scenario after the first reverts to the old Greater Cache of Treasures and 70 Valor Points plus 30 Valor Points for the bonus objectives.
• You can only complete a Heroic Scenario or Normal Scenario for the daily bonus Valor Points reward, not both.
• Heroic Deeds is a one time only quest, found in your faction's Vale city, which will grant you the Bulging Heroic Cache of Treasures. This has a guarenteed item level 516 item inside.

Challenge Mode Daily Quest Reward
The Heroic Cache of Treasures has been added to the Challenge Mode Daily Quests. This gives you a chance at the item level 516 loot, better than what you can get from Raid Finder!



Legendary Questline
Patch 5.3 continues Wrathion's questline with a few more quests. You first visit Wrathion so that he can send you to collect blessings from the four Pandaria Celestials. There are four challenges, one for tanks, healers, and two different ones for DPS. After completing the challenge most suited to your class and spec, you will return to Wrathion to receive one of the item level 600 cloaks below. The line ends with you waiting for Patch 5.4 and the Siege of Orgrimmar.

If you aren't caught up just yet, keep in mind that the A Test of Valor quest now only requires you to earn 3000 Valor Points, down from 6000.

Be sure to listen to the audio if you are interested in the Burning Legion and what is coming!

Level	Type	Spec	Slot	Name
600	Back	Tank	Back	Oxhorn Bladebreaker
600	Back	Tank	Back	Oxhoof Greatcloak
600	Back	Melee	Back	Tigerclaw Cape
600	Back	Spell DPS	Back	Jadefire Drape
600	Back	Spell Spirit	Back	Cranewing Cloak
600	Back	Physical DPS	Back	Tigerfang Wrap

The Darkspear Rebellion
Patch 5.3 starts setting up the story for Patch 5.4 and brings the fight back to Azeroth. One of the first things Horde players will notice is the Troll area of the Valley of Spirits in Orgrimmar has been taken over by the Kor'kron Guard, with Kor'kron Overseers taking aim at the residents. The trainers, bank, auction house, and every other NPC has been shut down, only talking about how dangerous it is now.


Things aren't much better for the Trolls outside of Orgrimmar, as they are being kept in cages or down on their knees, blindfolded, in front of armed and Neutral flagged Kor'kron Grunts. Riko is standing on some crates as well, and he is likely involved in the Patch 5.3 quests.

Further south in Razor Hill the Kor'korn have also posted guards, but operations are still continuing normally there. High Overseer Bloodmane has moved down to Razor Hill from his position outside of Orgrimmar.

Moving further south to Sen'jin Village, the guard presence there has been greatly increased, with the guards asking if you are going to help and saying "Welcome to da' revolution".


Going west to the Barrens, it looks different if you are level 90, similar to the Krasarang Wild changes. You can help to escort the Barrens Caravans through safely, as they are attacked when they pass through the Barrens. Doing so will give you a box of surplus supplies, required for a new weekly quest.

Four new Kor'kron camps have been added around the Barrens, harvesting Stone, Lumber, Oil, and Meat for the war effort. It appears they have also hired some Goblin Mercenaries to handle some of the work.

There are several quests that will also take place here, such meeting up with Sully and Amber in Durotar, who go through the new Dranosh'ar Blockade area to gather intelligence. You then head down to find Vol'jin and Chen Stormstout in Sen'jin Village. After this you begin to collect supplies from the Barrens, defend Sen'jin Village from the Kor'kron assault, and finally capture Razor Hill from the Kor'kron.

The Alliance are taking part in this quest line with separate Alliance caravans in the Barrens, and are able to open a dialogue after rescuing Zen'tabra from the Kor'kron.


While all of these events are taking place in Azeroth, events are unfolding in Pandaria. Things begin with a conversation between Taran Zhu and Sunwalker Dezco about the massive pit that has been dug in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. The story behind this is revealed in the Dark Heart of Pandaria scenario, which is currently unavailable. The Alliance also get a view of the current story in the Blood in the Snow scenario.

Chen is troubled by these events, and sends you to find Seer Hao Pham Roo, an expert on the last emperor. Once you assist him in climbing Mount Neverrest you are rewarded with some item level 502 boots.






Battle of Razor Hill
The Horde begin by traveling to Sen'jin village after completing two of the new scenarios, and speaking with Vol'jin. He sends you in to the Barrens to collect 15 Lumber, Stone, Oil, and Meat, which requires killing one mob per item, looting crates with the items, or escorting the caravans that travel through the Barrens.

After gathering those supplies, you return to Vol'jin in time for the Battle of Sen'jin Village, in which you join Thrall and Chen Stormstout in defending the village from the Kor'kron attackers.

After a solid victory in Sen'jin Village, you march onward to Razor Hill with Vol'jin and Chen Stormstout. Upon arriving at Razor Hill, the battle is already underway in the air and on the ground. You defeat some guards, named NPCs, and release captive Razor Hill NPCs from cages before heading to see Vol'jin once again. Once at the small new Sanctuary area outside of Razor Hill, Baine Bloodhoof shows up to speak with Vol'jin about helping the revolution.



Darkspear Rebellion Quartermaster
Ravika, the Darkspear Rebellion Quartermaster can be found in Sen'jin Village before you complete all of the Battle for Razor Hill questline, and outside of Razor Hill once you have retaken the city. She sells various items for the new Barrens resources (Kor'kron Stone, Kor'kron Oil, Kor'kron Lumber, Kor'kron Meat).

The Latent Kor'kron Belt pieces cost 200 of the Barrens resources from the vendor, as well as rarely dropping from Kor'kron NPCs you are killing in the Barrens for the Battlefield: Barrens weekly quest. They can be combined with a Radical Mojo from the weekly quest to create a piece of item level 489 spec appropriate armor.



New Mounts
Patch 5.3 adds several new mounts to the game, but we don't have sources for all of them yet.

• Enchanted Fey Dragon - No confirmed source yet.
• Hearthsteed - Reward of the Hearthstone Beta.
• Armored Red Dragonhawk - Reward of Mount Parade.
• Armored Blue Dragonhawk - Reward of Mount Parade.
• Brawler's Burly Mushan Beast - Rank 10 Brawler's Guild rewards access to purchase this mount.
• Iron Hitching Post - Likely a TCG item.

Transmogrify From Bank and Void Storage
Patch 5.3 adds the ability to transmogrify to items that are located in your bank or Void Storage without having them in your bags!



New Scenarios
Four new Scenarios are being added in Patch 5.3.



Story and Lore
Lorewalker Cho will have a new story to tell in Patch 5.3, which you must listen to before doing the Blood in the Snow Scenario. You can also help the Old Seer climb Mount Neverest to learn about the final Sha and earn some item level 502 boots!

Level	Type	Spec	Slot	Name
502	Cloth	Spell Spirit	Feet	Modest Sandals
502	Cloth	Spell DPS	Feet	Unassuming Slippers
502	Leather	Spell Spirit	Feet	Treads of Respect
502	Leather	Physical DPS	Feet	Self-Effacing Boots
502	Mail	Physical DPS	Feet	Treads of Reticence
502	Mail	Spell DPS	Feet	Unpretentious Boots
502	Plate	Tank	Feet	Sabatons of the Humble
502	Plate	Melee	Feet	Subservient Greatboots
502	Plate	Spell Spirit	Feet	Boots of Boundless Patience

PvP Changes
There are a lot of changes coming to PvP in Patch 5.3, so be sure to read the PvP Gear in Patch 5.3 and PvP Gear in 5.2 and Beyond blog posts!

• Battlegrounds, Rated Battlegrounds, and Arenas now have an ilevel cap. All gear will be scaled down to ilevel 496.
• All characters now have a base Resilience of 65%.
• PvP Power conversion ratio to obtain 1% damage at level 90 has been changed from 265 to 400.
• Battle Fatigue now reduces the amount of healing and absorbs by 45%, up from 30%.
• Healing specializations receive a 100% bonus to healing from PvP Power.
• Damage specializations for Druids, Monks, Paladins, Priests, and Shamans receive a 70% bonus to healing from PvP Power.
• All other specializations and classes (including tanking) receive a 40% bonus to healing from PvP Power.
• Resilience has been removed from most PvP gear and set bonuses, excluding PvP Trinkets.
• PvP Power and Resilience amounts have been halved on gems.
• Dancing Steel and Jade Spirit now have a PvP version that shares the same visual effect as Glorious Tyranny, costs a scroll of the base enchant, and requires a 2200 rating.
• The seasonal currency requirement of 7,250 Conquest Points earned will be lifted from weapons
• The Conquest Point catch up cap will be introduced: (Current week of the season) * 1000 – (Conquest earned thus far this season)
• Tyrannical Gladiator's Tabard and Tyrannical Gladiator's Greatcloak are available as new prestige items at 2500 rating for 1000 Conquest Points.

Battleground Roles
Patch 5.3 finally adds roles to queuing for random battlegrounds. The role you select is used to try and balance the number of healers on both sides.



Deepwind Gorge Battleground
Deepwind Gorge is set in the western part of the Valley of the Four Winds, in a gorge that is only present in the battleground, not in the regular world. This is a 15 player battleground for level 90 players.

The battleground has two different objectives, the first being the three mines. There is a northern Pandaren mine, central mine, and a southern Goblin mine. The mines are captured like the bases in other battlegrounds, just clicking the flag and capturing it. While you hold the mine NPCs will mine gold for your faction, bringing you closer to the 1600 resources required to win.

The second objective is the cart of gold placed at each faction's base. You can click the cart to attach it to yourself, and then walk back to your base to capture it. You do not need your own team's cart to be present to capture, unlike the normal battleground flags. Holding the cart limits your movement speed to normal running speed. If you kill the enemy cart holder, you must click on the cart to return it to your base before someone on the other team clicks to pick it up. Capturing the cart rewards you with 20 bonus honor and 200 resources and actually steals 200 from the enemy team.



Tiger's Peak Arena
Tiger's Peak is an open circle, with two smaller half circles that will allow some LoS on each side. There are two raised platforms on the left and right side of the arena that can only be climbed via a set of stairs on the side facing the wall. There is a fence around the side of the platform facing the center of the arena which you can jump over to leave the platform, but it is too high to jump from the arena to the platform. The fence does not block line of sight though, so you can cast on players in the center of the arena from the platform.



Patch 5.3 Achievement Rewards
Patch 5.3 adds many new achievements, including a few with rewards. You can pick up new titles from Pet Battles, Deepwind Gorge achievements, and the new Barrens quest line, as well as another Brawler's Guild invite and new shirt from the Brawler's Guild, and an Armored Dragonhawk for collecting 200 mounts!

Name	Side	Points	Reward	Category
Brutal Pet Brawler Win 250 PvP pet battles through Find Battle with a full team of level 25 pets.		10	Reward: Stunted Direhorn	Battle
Darkspear Revolutionary Aid Vol'jin's troll uprising during Patch 5.3: Escalation.	Horde	5	Rewards Title: Darkspear Revolutionary <Name>	Pandaria
Deadly Pet Brawler Win 1000 PvP pet battles through Find Battle with a full team of level 25 pets.		10	Title: Trainer <Name>	Battle
Deck Your Collection Defeat the following Brawler's Guild bosses.	Alliance	10	Rewards: Wraps of the Blood-Soaked Brawler	Brawler's Guild
Deck Your Collection Defeat the following Brawler's Guild bosses.	Horde	10	Rewards: Wraps of the Blood-Soaked Brawler	Brawler's Guild
Having a Brawl Reach Rank 9 with Bizmo's Brawlpub.	Alliance	10	Rewards: Brawler's Pass	Brawler's Guild
Having a Brawl Reach Rank 9 with Brawl'gar Arena.	Horde	10	Rewards: Brawler's Pass	Brawler's Guild
Hordebreaker Pit Vol'jin's troll uprising against Garrosh Hellscream's Horde during Patch 5.3: Escalation.	Alliance	5	Rewards Title: <Name> the Hordebreaker	Pandaria
Master of Deepwind Gorge Complete the Deepwind Gorge achievements listed below.		10	Title: Gorgeous <Name>	Deepwind Gorge
Mount Parade Obtain 200 mounts.	Horde	10	Reward: Armored Red Dragonhawk	General
Mount Parade Obtain 200 mounts.	Alliance	10	Reward: Armored Blue Dragonhawk	General
Raiding with Leashes II: Attunement Edition Collect all of the battle pets listed below from Karazhan, Serpentshrine Cavern, and Tempest Keep.		10	Reward: Tito	Collect
The Longest Day Complete all of the pet battle daily quests listed below in a single day.		10	Marked Flawless Battle-Stone	Pet Battles
Tournament Glory 2013 Rated in the top 1000 of teams participating in the 2013 Tournament Arena Realm			Title: Vanquisher <Name>	Feats of Strength

Brawler's Guild Changes
Patch 5.3 adds several new bosses to the Brawler's Guild, as well as some other things:

• Card Trader Ami will sell you cards that allow you to fight bosses from ranks you have already defeated.
• Defeating some of the new bosses will give you access to some of the new Brawler's Guild shirts. These shirts all have an equip effect, which looks similar to the effect of Precious' Ribbon, rewarding you with an extra buff on you at all times.
• Defeating all of the new bosses will give you the Wraps of the Blood-Soaked Brawler.
• A new VIP lounge has been added on the zeppelin circling the arena for Rank 8 players. The Alliance also have a VIP lounge in the balcony.
• Two new ranks have been added, Rank 9 and Rank 10.
• Reaching Rank 9 will give you another invite to the brawler's guild.
• Reaching Rank 10 rewards access to purchase the Brawler's Burly Mushan Beast.
• Spectator totems and consoles have been added to give you a better view of the fight.
• The Alliance fight pit floor has been raised to make it easier to view the fight.

Heirloom Shields and Patch 5.2 Heirloom Price Reductions
Patch 5.2 added two new Heirloom shields to the game, but there were some issues with them and they never were added to vendors.

It appears the issues have been resolved, and we will see Weathered Observer's Shield and Flamescarred Draconian Deflector in Patch 5.3 at the cost of 2175 Justice Points.

Patch 5.3 will also reduce the price for the new heirloom items added in Patch 5.2 by 60%. Don't forget that two new Heirloom shields that cost 2175 Justice Points each are also coming in Patch 5.3!

Please note that only the upgrade Heirlooms that were added in Patch 5.2 have had a cost reduction, the old level 80 heirlooms are still the same price.

• Patch 5.2 Heirlooms purchased with Justice points had costs reduced from 2175, 2725, and 3500 Justice Points to 870, 1090, and 1400 Justice Points.
• Patch 5.2 Heirlooms purchased with Honor points reduced from 2175, 2725, and 3500 Honor points to 870, 1090, and 1400 Honor points.
• Patch 5.2 Heirlooms purchased with Darkmoon Faire prize tickets reduced from 110, 130, and 160 prize tickets to 44, 60, and 64 prize tickets.

Profession Changes
There aren't many profession changes in Patch 5.3, but the major one makes leveling mining and herbalism possible in Pandaria with a low skill level.

• Miners can now level mining from a low skill level completely in Pandaria. Nodes will yield Ghost Iron Nuggets with the amount being determined by your skill level. You can combine ten nuggets to make one ore.
• Herbalists can now level herbalism from a low skill level completely in Pandaria. Nodes will yield a partial herb with the amount being determined by your skill level. You can combine 10 of the partial herbs to form a complete herb.
• Currently on the PTR, you will sometimes get fragments and the actual herb or ore when gathering near the minimum level for that node type.
• The Engineering mount and pet (Skyclaw and Pierre) won't make it in to Patch 5.3.

New Battle Pets
Patch 5.3 brings 20 new Battle Pets to World of Warcraft. Most of the new Battle Pets are part of either the Patch 5.2 content or The Burning Crusade's T4 and T5 raids. Unfortunately, Pierre has been pushed back again to Patch 5.4. In addition to the many balance/functionality changes announced for Battle Pets in the 5.3 Patch Notes, Simca has created an extensive list of Unannounced Battle Pet Changes.


Four new Battle Pets have been added to Karazhan. The Big Bad Wolf from the Opera Event drops the Lil' Bad Wolf. The Curator drops his Menagerie Custodian. Terestian Illhoof drops one of his Fiendish Imps. Lastly, Prince Malchezaar drops one of his famous Netherspace Abyssals.


Three new Battle Pets have been added to Serpentshrine Cavern. Morogrim Tidewalker has a chance to drop a miniature Sea Giant called Tideskipper. Hydross the Unstable can sometimes drop a Battle Pet version of the elementals he spawns called Tainted Waveling. Additionally, Lady Vashj can now drop a Coilfang Stalker, a Battle Pet very similar to one of the adds she spawns.


Three new Battle Pets have been added to Tempest Keep. Al'ar now has a chance to drop one of his Phoenix Hawk Hatchlings. Void Reaver drops a miniature version of himself called a Pocket Reaver. Lastly, High Astromancer Solarian can drop a Lesser Voidcaller.


On the Isle of Thunder, the Quivering Filth in the pool of waste in the center of Ihgaluk Crag now have a chance of dropping a Filthling.

On the Isle of Giants, Direhorns now sometimes drop Direhorn Runts.


Three more Battle Pets have been added to the Throne of Thunder in Patch 5.3. The Pygmy Direhorn that missed the cut last patch now drops from Horridon. Primordius now drops a Living Fluid on Raid Finder difficulty and a Viscous Horror on Normal and Heroic difficulty.


Tito is a reward of the new achievement Raiding with Leashes II: Attunement Edition, which requires you to collect all of the new Patch 5.3 pets in Burning Crusade raids.

Stunted Direhorn is the reward for the new achievement Brutal Pet Brawler, which requires you to win 250 PvP Pet Battles using only level 25 pets.


Gahz'rooki is sold by Ravika in Durotar at the cost of one Radical Mojo. To obtain a Radical Mojo, you must first complete the Patch 5.3 Troll Rebellion event. Afterwards, talk to Kit'a Arrowtusk in Durotar and complete the quest Battlefield: Barrens (Alliance / Horde)

The Unborn Val'kyr's exact spawning mechanism is currently unknown, but it has been sighted in at least two different locations that happen to be along the paths of rare spawn mobs in Northrend. It is quite possible that the Unborn Val'kyr randomly spawns in place of Northrend rares.

The Blossoming Ancient is a new pet that will be available in the near future from the Blizzard Store. Its color changes with the seasons.


Pet Battle Spectating
Patch 5.3 will allow you to see the battle that is taking place when players are doing battle with Wild Pets out in the world. Currently you just see a player standing there idly while they are fighting. This won't allow you to target the battle pets or see numbers for health and damage.



Dungeon Journal UI and Loot Specialization Menu
Patch 5.3 finally makes it faster to move through the Dungeon Journal by putting boss selections for an instance on the left always, and loot, abilities, and model on the right, making it much faster to switch between bosses to find the right loot list.

There is also now a Loot Specialization menu, which allows you to choose what spec you want loot for when getting bonus rolls, Raid Finder, and Pandarian quest rewards.



In-game Browser and Support Tools in 5.3
Keep in mind that the browser is limited to the Battle.net support site only. You can't use it to visit the official forums or other websites.


Gamon Updates
Everyone has a role to play in the upcoming war, even Gamon! He got a few upgrades in Patch 5.3, as he is now a level 90 Rare Elite with 39 million health.



New and Modified Maps



New Loading Screens



AskMrRobot Updated
AskMrRobot is ready to go for Patch 5.3, so get started picking out your upgrades! Keep in mind they have a free trial that works for a week.



OpenRaid
OpenRaid may be a good source to find players for Heroic Scenarios if you don't have any luck with your guild or friends being online!



Patch 5.3 Video Recap
Don't have time to read the full patch notes? Jess is here with a fast paced recap of the changes coming this week!



WoWDB Addon Data Collection
Quickly populating the database with 5.3 additions is done with the help of many players. The more people that contribute data, the more accurate and quickly we can update the database.

To help out, just click here if you have Curse Client already installed.

When you are playing the addon will gather data and save it. When you are done playing, Curse Client will see the game close and upload the collected data from the addon. You can see the last time data was uploaded by looking in the Plugins tab of the options, as well as making sure the addon is enabled there.

If you have any WoWDB related feedback, you can post in this thread or send us an email.