World of Warcraft News and Raiding Strategies RSS Feed

by Published on 2015-05-18 12:11 AM

Anniversary Event Clarifications, Cowpocalypse Showcase, Jaetch's POV on Rank #1 4-man

Popular Decks of the Week, Versus Series - JamesHugs vs Jonpi

Kael'thas Patch Q&A

Patch 6.2 - Shadow-Lord Iskar Preview
Today we are taking a look at Shadow-Lord Iskar, another Hellfire Citadel boss.

Corrupted Nest Guardian Pet


Level Type Spec Name Model Viewer
1Companion Pets Corrupted Nest Guardian
695Finger Filigreed Loop of Zealotry
655Finger Talon-Link Loop
695Trinket Anzu's Cursed Plume
695NeckAll Strength Corrupted Talonguard Pendant
695FingerAll Strength Band of Enthralling Delusion
695FingerHealer Ring of Foul Temptation
655FingerHealer Flickering Nightstone Band
655FingerAll Intellect Soul Prison Solitaire
695TrinketAll Intellect Unblinking Gaze of Sethe
655TrinketAll Intellect Ensared Orb of the Sky
695BackAll Agility Cloak of Desperate Temerity
Modelviewer
655BackAll Agility Cursefeather Cloak
Modelviewer
695ClothAll Intellect Amice of Phantasmal Power
Modelviewer
695ClothAll Intellect Raiment of Divine Clarity
Modelviewer
655ClothAll Intellect Phantasmal Cummerbund
Modelviewer
695Leather Helm of Imagined Horrors
Modelviewer
695Leather Belt of Misconcieved Loyalty
Modelviewer
655Leather Bracers of Supreme Despair
Modelviewer
655Leather Chakram-Gripping Gloves
Modelviewer
695Mail Coif of Untrue Sight
Modelviewer
655Mail Beaked Hood of Betrayal
Modelviewer
695Mail Vestment of Illusory Might
Modelviewer
695Mail Surefooted Chain Treads
Modelviewer
695Plate Chestguard of Ill Fate
Modelviewer
655Plate Corrupted Talonguard Chestplate
Modelviewer
695Plate Wristplate of the Wretched
Modelviewer
655Plate Feather-Embellished Wristclamps
Modelviewer
695One-handed SwordAll Agility Shadowrend Talonblade
Modelviewer
695WandAll Intellect Deceiver's Felbeak Wand
Modelviewer
655WandAll Intellect Demonspine Wand
Modelviewer

Name Points Category
Mythic: Shadow-Lord Iskar Defeat Shadow-Lord Iskar in Hellfire Citadel on Mythic difficulty.
10Draenor Raid
Pro Toss Defeat Shadow-Lord Iskar in Hellfire Citadel without anyone holding the Eye of Anzu for more that 5 seconds in a row, on Normal difficulty or higher.
10Draenor Raid

Originally Posted by MMO-Champion
After Iskar's efforts to resurrect Terokk and return to power ended in frustration, he was approached by Gul'dan with an offer and a promise to break the ancient curse of Sethe. No longer flightless, elevated from the shadows yet still a master of illusion and deception, Iskar's hour of vengeance is at hand.

  • Overview -
  • Shadow-Lord Iskar -
    • Focused Blast - Hurls a beam of fel energy, inflicting 714,000 Fire damage split between enemy targets in front of the caster.
    • Phantasmal Winds - Overwhelms enemies with the illusion of wind that pushes them towards the edge of the cliff. Holding the Eye of Anzu removes the illusion.
    • Fel Chakram - Shadow-Lord Iskar hurls a Fel Chakram that ricochets off of three players before returning to him. Upon impact with these targets the chakram will explode, inflicting up to 171,000 Fire damage to all enemies based on their proximity to the explosion. Additionally, this chakram inflicts 171,000 Fire damage to any players through which it passes on the way to the target.
    • Phantasmal Wounds - Shadow-Lord Iskar unleashes phantasmal bolts, that wound their targets causing them to bleed profusely until healed past 90% of their maximum health. It inflicts 85,700 shadow damage, and then deals 28,600 damage every 2 seconds until healed past 90% of their maximum health. Holding the Eye of Anzu removes the illusion.
    • Fel Incineration - A beam of fel corrupted light fixates on a target igniting the ground, inflicting 85,700 every 1.5 sec.
    • Shadow Riposte -
  • Phantasmal Radiance -
    • Chains of Despair - Links pairs of enemies together with Dark Bindings. The Eye of Anzu enables you to see who you are partnered with.
  • Fel Raven -
    • Phantasmal Corruption - Infects the target with Phantasmal Corruption, causing them to explode, inflicting 185,803 Fire damage to nearby enemies and increases damage taken by Fire by 100% for 10 sec. Anyone holding the Eye of Anzu is immune.
  • Shadowfel Warden -
    • Fel Conduit - Channels Fel Chain Lightning every 1.5 sec, dealing 100,000 Nature damage and then jumping to additional nearby enemies. Affects 5 total targets. Every cast of Fel Chain Lightning also increases Nature damage dealt by 25%. Can only be interrupted by an enemy holding the Eye of Anzu.
      • Fel Chain Lightning - Hurls a fel lightning bolt at the enemy, dealing 100,000 Nature damage and then jumping to additional nearby enemies. Affects 5 total targets.
  • Corrupted Priest of Terokk -
    • Phantasmal Obliteration - Shadow-Lord Iskar marks multiple enemies with Phantasmal Fel Bomb and one enemy with Fel Bomb.
      • Phantasmal Fel Bomb - Explodes in a Fel Detonation after 5 sec.
      • Fel Bomb - If dispelled, all Phantasmal Fel Bombs are dispelled. Fel Bomb can only be dispelled by holding Eye of Anzu.
  • Illusionary Outcast -



Blue Tweets
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
PvE
yeah rag, garrosh all that 3 healing is a thing currently, which is bad. 4 is acceptable,I pref 5
What fights do you see get 3-healed currently? It's incredibly uncommon. (WatcherDev)
you can 3 heal everything except maidens blast and blackhand As far as i know
3 healing not especially common. 4 healing everything except Blast Furnace is the norm, however.
The only fights in Foundry that are 4-healed a majority of the time are Kromog, Maidens, and Blackhand, fwiw. (WatcherDev)
Are we talking Mythic, or just in general? Sort of changes the dynamic.
Mythic Foundry specifically - obviously comps vary wildly in Flex-size difficulties. (WatcherDev)
We 4 heal every fight in BRF except BF. Starting to 4 heal BF as extra dps bypasses mechanics.
Right, but huge difference between dropping a healer for speed/efficiency on farm vs. progress norm. (WatcherDev)
Well most fights were 4 healable because of a lack of raid damage (flamebender)
Sure, though there's a difference between "4 healable" and "doing it wrong if you bring more than 4" (WatcherDev)

Reputation / Questing
Great feedback that I'm sure you'll appreciate, and maybe even relate.
Thanks for forwarding! (craig_amai)

Patch 6.2
Tannan is tuned to Heroic/Mythic geared? Is this accurate, because that's what's being reported.
We'd be curious to hear specifics about mobs or areas that felt too punishing. Definitely not the intent. (WatcherDev)
should be the intent. Endgame zone built up 2be the Fortress of new "Fel Horde " should be challenging
Definitely should be tougher than the rest of Draenor. Definitely should not require high-end raid gear (WatcherDev)

Overwatch - Zenyatta and Mercy Gameplay
Blizzard released some gameplay footage of Zenyatta and Mercy this week.



Leeroy Jenkins in the Warcraft Movie
It looks like Leeroy Jenkins was in the script for the previous version of the Warcraft movie that Gary Whitta was involved in.

by Published on 2015-05-16 08:53 AM

D3 Anniversary Buff, Basic Whirlwind IK Barbarian

HTC Invitational this Weekend, New Cards Old Faces Design Competition

Matchmaking Changes, Into the Nexus #50

Patch 6.2 - Apexis Crystal Gear for Gold
Patch 6.2 will change the Apexis Crystal gear prices to gold rather than Apexis Crystals. Gearing up alts will be easier, but not cheap! Each item level 675 item is 20,000 gold, so it will cost you 120,000 gold for all 6 slots. Hellfire Citadel Normal loot ranges from item level 690 to 705 depending on the boss / item.

As always, keep in mind that PTR prices are not final until they are live.


Item Level Name Item Cost
645 Crystal5000
645 Exceptional5000
655 Flawless10000
675 Ethereal20000


Patch 6.2 - Skip Mission Complete Animations
If you aren't using Master Plan and still doing missions manually for some reason, Patch 6.2 adds a nice way to skip the Mission Complete animations from garrison missions!



Blue Tweets
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Character / Items
What ever happened to the Frostwolf cosmetic armor?
We have no plans to make this available to players at this time. (WarcraftDevs)

Will Felblight be purchasable with primal spirits?
Nope. (WarcraftDevs)

PvE
I wish dungeon finder would auto switch you to your desired role like it does in battlegrounds. @WarcraftDevs
Great suggestion, thanks! (WarcraftDevs)

Will the Mythic Dungeons have new mechanics, or will they be a scaled up version of the Heroic mode?
Current PTR state isn't final. They’ll be like scaled up versions of Challenge mode w/ mechanics changes from Heroic accordingly. (WarcraftDevs)

Garrisons
Will the new seals be available from Level 3 War Mills?
Yes. (WarcraftDevs)

Misc
are you all going to do a watercoooler for the next patch?
There are several more blogs in the works that will dig into specific patch features in more depth. (WarcraftDevs)

Ghostcrawler Tweets
While the developers have been pretty quiet since @WarcraftDevs appeared, Ghostcrawler still occasionally talks about WoW. Remember that he no longer works for or speaks for Blizzard.
Originally Posted by MMO-Champion
Subscriber Loss Interview
Very curious as to your take on Watcher's interview yesterday.
I do think / know the challenges of creating content faster than players can consume it are very real. (OccupyGStreet)
If I was going to make an MMO (I'm not) I think I'd shoot for something episodic with the expectation players come and go. (OccupyGStreet)
Do you think "it's cyclical" is a good or even fair way to summate it tho?
Yes. Players come for content and leave when they run out. "But I should never run out of content," feels unrealistic to me. (OccupyGStreet)
Neverending content leads to making things so difficult you can't progress or asking you to run the same content 100 times. (OccupyGStreet)
Is there something to be said for the staying power of the content? Or implementing it in a way that allows for a medium?
If there were 40 boss raids, maybe. I get tired of killing the same ones over and over no matter how great they are. (OccupyGStreet)
How does the social aspect play into that, though? Sounds like it would be hell on guilds.
I agree, but I think players are episodic already so the business model might as well be. Social hard either way. (OccupyGStreet)

Classes
If the WoW devs read this, how likely would it be for them to agree? http://t.co/CIM3r2TTrL
I never felt like all classes had to be equal in all things. Can't someone just be better at burst AE? (OccupyGStreet)

Does Blizzard worry most about dps balance as raid tiers open, and not that much about balance as ppl start farming the tier?
Can't speak for it now, but when I was there, we worried more about new content than farmed content balance. (OccupyGStreet)
The idea being that a low performing spec might get sat on a new boss, but unlikely when stuff was on farm. (OccupyGStreet)
At some point we as a community started worrying about an individual's "right" to high DPS rather than the DPS of the entire raid. (OccupyGStreet)
Rather than "Did we beat the boss?" it became "Did I beat my warlock friend?" (OccupyGStreet)

by the way, I cannot even begin to fathom how hard balancing scaling in MMORPGs is.
Balancing *scaling* isn't hard. Balancing classes overall is pretty hard. (OccupyGStreet)

Dungeons
than blizzard can produce it. Its a design flaw that began in Woltk when took over
Nah, remember I'm the guy who always rails against lowering the barrier of entry too low. (OccupyGStreet)
well then I stand corrected mr street
NP. I still get shit for my "Dungeons should be hard" blog. But I still feel that way. (OccupyGStreet)
man do I miss hard dungeons
The challenge is can't just make hard dungeons and call it a day. You need content for everyone else too. (OccupyGStreet)
I'm not convinced asking everyone to master hard dungeons or making easier versions of them is the way to go. (OccupyGStreet)
And to clarify, I am criticizing my own work, not armchair quarterbacking my old employer. (OccupyGStreet)

Developer Communication
things don't feel the same at WoW without you. You were easily The best communicator Blizzard had.
If my legacy in this industry ends up being communication with players, I will gratefully take it. (OccupyGStreet)

WoW and LoL have been huge in my life. Ty for involvement in both and taking a lot of flack from community during each.
.I'm happy to do it. I think players have a right to communication from developers. (OccupyGStreet)
I think "right" is a bit strong. I agree it's important, but sometimes it gets the developer threatened, not cool.
Well I think devs have a right not to be treated like shit too! (OccupyGStreet)
The issue when the two come to a head. Taking your ball home vs. "Deal with it". Something I struggle w/ as a dev.
I tried the head on a pike strategy somewhat, never with very good results. Mostly I ignore the haters. (OccupyGStreet)

Game Design
Greg, what does "accessibility" mean in terms of MMO's and WoW in particular?
I use it to mean how easily it is for someone to pick up and learn the game. It is a new player term not a casual raider term. (OccupyGStreet)

you once referred to the Mechanar syndrome. Do you think giving players the fastest route is worse than them finding it.
If you're talking about each player discovering what's most efficient for themselves, man that's the holy grail for WoW or LoL (OccupyGStreet)
Not sure there is much distinction bc only a very few players get the joy of discovery and then the others just follow them. (OccupyGStreet)

Unannounced Feature
Is the recently announced "Timewalking" WoW feature the one you said you were looking forward to in an interview long ago?
We had talked about Timewalking before we delayed it. It wasn't super secret IIRC. I don't know the status of the other feature. (OccupyGStreet)

Riot
You haven't gotten a new marine animal-type name now that you're at Riot?
Players and Rioters kept calling me Ghostcrawler so it seemed silly to try and change it. (OccupyGStreet)

Do you think you would ever return to Blizzard if something happened at riot games or any other reason?
I wouldn't rule it out. I mean I parted on good terms and everything. But I am very happy at Riot and believe in our future. (OccupyGStreet)

Misc
I have to say: After years of undeserved bashing you are now a hero at WoW foruns. Quite a turn.
The circle is complete. I just followed in the footsteps of Tigole and Kalgan. (OccupyGStreet)
Everyone and their mother said you were killing the game when you were here Now you're not and they all love you
It's almost as if players assume games are made by those few people whose names they know. (OccupyGStreet)

From hate to love: more forum nonsense http://t.co/YdgSoej6gd
Spoiler: I hired both and and for good reason. (OccupyGStreet)
Can "lackluster" and "abysmal" be the new "clunky" and "undertuned"?
I was always a fan of "gutted" as the hyperbolic term for nerfed. (OccupyGStreet)

Do you still play any Blizz games btw?
I am taking a break from WoW. I like Diablo and will play the SC expansion. HS was never my thing. I love Overwatch. (OccupyGStreet)
that's really cool! I hope the "one never quits wow but merely takes breaks" is true for you too
We'll see. I realize now I neglected a lot of good games in order to laser focus on WoW (and these days I play a lot of LoL too). (OccupyGStreet)
So many games these days (ours included) really ask players to invest tons of time. It's hard to play as many games total. (OccupyGStreet)

anyway my Mage friend Arthox is telling me every day how much he misses you and refuses to believe you play Holy Priest
I played Disc before it was cool and tried to stubbornly go back to it when it was (even though it was largely my fault). (OccupyGStreet)
Tried to stubbornly NOT go back to it. (OccupyGStreet)

Still trying to be lovingly crusty and sarcastic without drifting into cynical and burned out. (OccupyGStreet)
That explains MoP
I loved MoP but I think we overestimated how many people loved Pandaren. (OccupyGStreet)



Community Spotlight - Chaoyuan Xu
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
This week, we’ve cast the spotlight onto Chaoyuan Xu, who has been creating excellent Warcraft-themed art for quite some time. Yuan recently sent us the pieces you see below, and he also provided answers to our questions.

Q: What influences the designs of your artwork?
A: I really love World of Warcraft, with all its gameplay and the design. I especially love the exploration of the game, as it involves a lot of adventure and story - which I very much enjoy. It enhances the experience of roleplaying, and this is something that other games lack. As you can see, several of my pieces focus on Pandaria - the continent I love the most - with races like blood elf or dwarf dressing in pandaren-style clothes.

Q: What sort of gamer are you?
A: In general, I am more of a PvE gamer, and as you can see most of my works are focused on the world. Even "Martial Competition" was done as a "friendly duel" sort of mood, rather than fighting to death. (In a way, it fits the pandaren's life philosophy!)

Q: About how long does it take to create something like these?
A: It depends on how much detail I want to go with the piece. For example, it took me one full week to work and finish "Martial Competition."

Q: What is your process?
A: First is brainstorming and drawing the concept. I need to envision how the finished art would look in my brain. And then I start working on the sketch - a lot of changes might happen during this step and sometimes it's the hardest part of creating an art piece. After I think the sketch has met my standards, I start working on the details, including color, background, and lighting.

Q: What other works inspire you?
A: I like Assassin's Creed, Game of Thrones, and the animation of Studio Gibli. I enjoy different games and movies. No matter what kinds of style the artwork is, I reinvigorate my innovation with whatever I learn and see.

Q: What do you like to do in-game?
A: I enjoy exploring the world the most. I love how the Warcraft team built the world with all their innovation and creative minds. The astonishing landscape and environment we see in game is just fantastic and really inspiring. Sometimes, I dream of living there.

Q: If you could add one thing to the game, artistically, what would it be?
A: I'd like to add an NPC (probably a pandaren) to the game, and he would give you a daily quest to ask to take photos around the world for him so that he could finish his great masterpiece of drawing scenes for Azeroth!



Thanks goes to Yuan from all of us at Blizzard for sharing his talents with us. If you’ve seen a great piece of fan art lately, e-mail us at fanart@blizzard.com and tell us all about it.
by Published on 2015-05-15 07:49 AM

Cow Level Event for D3's third anniversary!

Hearthstone Patch 8834: Heroes of the Storm Card Back - Animation Preview!

Heroes of the Storm World Championship Announced!

Blizzard Q1 2015 Earnings Call - Developer Interview
Ion Hazzikostas talked to GamesBeat about the recently announced loss of 2.9 million subscribers, Patch 6.2, and Warlords of Draenor.

Subscriber Numbers
  • The team was excited to see the number of subscribers increase with Warlords release, confirming they had selected the right idea and setting for the expansion.
  • Their goal is to make a fun and engaging experience and not chase subscriber numbers, as they are confident that the numbers will follow in the wake of that.
  • WoW released at the right time and has been a very adaptable game, which has helped to sustain it over the years. Other MMOs provide inspiration on how to make the game better.
  • The loss in subscribers is partially due to the cyclical nature of the game.
  • Players don't play WoW year-round anymore, they just come back for new content and then go off to play other games. To some extent that is okay. The team doesn't want to prevent people from playing that way.
  • There was a large spike in subscribers for Warlords so they knew there was going to be a "bit of a dip" after that.
  • The WoW Token hasn't had a drastic impact on the number of subscribers.

Dungeons
  • The new dungeons in Warlords were great, but there was no incentive to keep running them after the start of the expansion.
  • Previous expansions had something like Valor Points to keep players coming back for more dungeons.
  • It felt silly to run the same content over and over even as your character got stronger, which is why the dungeon rewards were removed, but they went too far in Warlords.
  • Group dungeons are one of the greatest strengths in the MMO genre and it is a shame that there hasn't been more of a reason to do them recently.

New Content and Patch 6.2
  • Patch 6.2 is one of the largest content patches ever released.
  • Patch 6.2 adds Timewalking and Mythic dungeons, making group dungeon content relevant again.
  • Patch 6.2 iterates on existing systems, polishes things, and adds some new content.
  • Massive class overhauls aren't as likely to appear in content patches anymore, as returning players come back to find that their class has changed once again.
  • The amount of content added in a patch is a balance between satisfying the hardcore players that go though content very quickly and the players that go at a slower pace.
  • The team also has to make progress on future projects that are important while still working on upcoming content patches.
  • Certain types of changes are reserved for expansions rather than patches to keep complexity in check.

Accessibility
  • Accessibility is a core value of the game and has helped WoW grow and sustain itself.
  • Classes are more complex now than they used to be back in the day. Destro Warlocks in Burning Crusade raids would literally keep up one debuff and press Shadowbolt really hard and fast to beat everyone else. The game hasn't been "dumbed down" from that.
  • Changes have been made to trim excess and keep things focused, but there is still a very high skill cap.
  • Both more casual raiders (Normal difficulty) and hardcore raiders (Mythic difficulty) can now see the entire story. This wasn't possible in older expansions like the Burning Crusade.
  • Accessibility means allowing players that have been playing for a long time to continue to enjoy the game, even if it is at a different level of commitment as their life changes. Many players started out as students and are now professionals with families.

Raids
  • More people are doing organized raiding than ever before thanks to some of the conveniences that have been added recently.
  • It would be nice if Mythic could scale with the raid size, but the team isn't sure that level of tuning is possible.
  • Making specific mechanics and encounters for Mythic difficulty is possible now because of the fixed raid size, but if the raid had to scale down to 10 players that would no longer be possible.

Social
  • The social aspect of the game is very important to the overall experience.
  • The convenience features added over the years have made the game slightly less social.
  • Sitting in town for an hour trying to find a tank in trade chat to go and do a dungeon was inconvenient, but it allowed you to make stronger social bonds.
  • The Group Finder is an attempt to try and create environments where you can still meet new people without spending an extremely long time forming groups.

Misc
  • The group finder is getting lots of use for PvE and PvP content.
  • Garrisons give players reason to log in for a short time when they wouldn't have had any reason to log beofre. It doesn't really take away from raiding, PvP, or other longer playtime activities.


Raid Testing Schedule - May 15 - 18
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
We are hoping to have PTR login/access issues resolved by tomorrow, and are adjusting our planned testing accordingly.

From tomorrow through Monday, we will continue our Hellfire Citadel raid testing, including both Heroic and Mythic raid testing. As is always the case with PTR raid testing, it is quite possible that there will be technical or gameplay issues that disrupt our plans. Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding.

Remember that Heroic difficulty scales for any group size between 10 and 30 players, so feel free to assemble and bring a group of any size within that range. Mythic difficulty requires a fixed 20 players. Our general plan is to test every encounter on Heroic difficulty first, and then test sections of the raid on Normal and Raid Finder, alongside targeted Mythic tests.

Each encounter should be available at approximately the listed times below on all PTR servers.

Thursday, May 14

CANCELED

Friday, May 15
  • Socrethar the Eternal - Heroic Hellfire Citadel - 11:30 PDT (14:30 EDT, 20:30 CEST)
  • Archimonde - Heroic Hellfire Citadel - 13:30 PDT (16:30 EDT, 22:30 CEST)

After Heroic raid testing concludes on Friday, we will open the Bastion of Shadows Raid Finder wing, including Iskar, Socrethar, and Tyrant Velhari, over the weekend.

Monday, May 18
  • Shadow-Lord Iskar - Mythic Hellfire Citadel - 13:30 PDT (16:30 EDT, 22:30 CEST)
  • Hellfire High Council - Mythic Hellfire Citadel - 15:00 PDT (18:00 EDT, 24:00 CEST)

As always, this testing schedule is very fluid and subject to the realities of a PTR environment. We might have to change the time of a testing session, change the boss 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.

PTR Account Issue
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
We are aware of an issue affecting multiple users' PTR accounts and are actively looking into a fix. We will do our best to keep you informed of any status updates, and will let you know if the raid testing schedule needs to be adjusted or pushed back. Thank you for you patience while we investigate into this matter.

Blue Tweets
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Character / Items
On PTR says new glad mounts are account wide, I'm guessing this is a tooltip error?
Correct. They are not account wide. (holinka)

Garrisons
PTR: Is the mission awarding +50 follow ilvl reward ("Blizzard Convention") a 1 time only mission or can it be repeated?
Repeatable. (Muffinus)

What is the best garrison building? (Muffinus)

HeroesNexus - Hero Builds
Our friends over at HeroesNexus have added Hero Builds to the site! Create, find, and rank builds for your favorite heroes to help improve your gameplay or other the gameplay of other players.



OpenRaid - Transmog Competition With Michele Morrow
Our friends over at OpenRaid are having a transmog competition with Michele Morrow as a guest judge!

by Published on 2015-05-14 01:39 AM

Update (3 PM EDT): Raid testing for today is on hold, as many players cannot access the PTR.

PTR Build, Upcoming Raid Testing, Mystic Runesaber Mount Now Available, Bot Ban Wave

Patch 6.2 PTR Patch Notes - May 13
The first four tiers of Apexis gear (Crystal, Exceptional, Flawless, and Ethereal) no longer costs Apexis Crystals and can now be purchased with gold.
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Bonus Events
  • The Bonus Events system consists of a rotating schedule of seven different activities granting a passive bonus to a particular game activity, and offers a once-per-event quest with a noteworthy reward for accomplishing a related goal.
  • The in-game calendar (located in the upper right-hand corner of the mini-map) will inform you of the type of Bonus Event and when it takes place
Draenor Dungeons
Battlegrounds
  • During the Battlegrounds Bonus Event, characters will earn triple Honor points from random Battlegrounds. Completing the event quest by winning a few random Battlegrounds awards 500 Conquest Points, which do not count toward the weekly Conquest cap.
Arena Skirmishes
  • Characters will earn triple Honor points from random Arena Skirmish matches during this event. A quest to win several random Arena Skirmish matches will award 500 Conquest Points, which do not count toward the weekly Conquest cap.
Apexis
  • Characters will gain triple the amount from eligible creatures during this Bonus Event. Completing three area assault objectives during the event awards a sizable amount of Oil to fuel new Naval Missions as a part of the Shipyard.
Pet Battles
  • During Pet Battle Bonus Events, you’ll be able to take your pets out for a little exercise and earn triple pet experience from battles. Winning five PvP Pet Battles as a part of a quest during the event awards the player with an Ultimate Battle-Training Stone that instantly levels a pet to 25.

General Changes

Raids and Dungeons
Dungeon Finder
  • Players may now queue up in Dungeon Finder while engaged in PvP combat.

Collections
Toy Box
  • Silversage Incense now only applies its effect to the character that placed the item.

Items
Apexis Crystals
  • Apexis Crystals no longer have a cap.
  • The first four tiers of Apexis gear (Crystal, Exceptional, Flawless, and Ethereal) no longer costs Apexis Crystals and can now be purchased with gold.
General Item Changes
  • Pinchwhistle "Nitro Fuel" no longer triggers its effect in combat.

Feedback Thread - Set Bonuses + Trinkets
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Greetings friends!

Once the latest PTR build is deployed and realms come up from maintenance, you'll be able to try out some new 6.2 gear! This includes set bonuses, trinkets, and PvP Gear! Head over to Stormwind/Orgrimmar and you'll find several gigantic, well-dressed Tauren NPCs. There should be one for PvP Gear, one for LFR sets, and one for trinkets + normal set pieces.

Please use this thread to discuss any feedback on the set bonuses or other gear. This will make it easier for designers and the QA Team to read over your feedback, concerns, and bug reports. We'd love to know what you think about these items but please keep in mind detailed, actionable feedback will help us the most!

High-Profile Known Issues (some of which are already fixed in current dev builds):
  • Multiple trinkets are not flagged properly for classes and specs. Setting your filter to "All" on the vendor window will let you see all trinkets and items.
  • Soul Capacitor (agility trinket) does not function properly.
  • Core of the Primal Elements (Shaman Trinket) does not properly apply the elemental spec bonus if the Shaman is not Elemental spec when equipping the trinket.
  • Demons summoned from Warlock Demonology 4-piece Bonus miss all of their attacks.
  • Shadow Priest 2-Piece Bonus removes the cooldown of Mindbender rather than reduce it.

Patch 6.2 PTR - Build 20008
A new build is on the PTR!


New Models




New Icons



New/Updated Garrison Images





New Items
Check out the full list of new items on the WoWDB PTR site!

Level Type Name Slot
100Junk Small Pouch of Coins
1Other Skoller's Bag of Squirrel Treats
600Other Admiral's Compass
1Other Captain's Skiff
90Other Rush Order: Shipyard
1Quest Fel-Corrupted Apexis Fragment
650None Baleful Spaulders
1Head Captain's HatHead
1Head Captain's HatHead
1Head Fleet Commander's HatHead
1Head Fleet Commander's HatHead
650Neck Discordant AmuletNeck
650Finger Torrid SealFinger
650Finger Torrid LoopFinger
650Back Unfailing CloakBack
650Cloth Felcast MantleShoulders
650Leather Bladefang SpauldersShoulders
650Mail Axeclaw SpauldersShoulders
650Plate Felbane ShoulderguardShoulders


Achievement Changes
Originally Posted by MMO-Champion
Draenor
Exploration

Quests
  • Rumble in the Jungle Complete all of the Tanaan Jungle achievements listed below. 25 points. Title Reward: of the Jungle. 25 points.

Draenor Raid
Dungeons & Raids
  • Don't Fear the Reaper Defeat all 3 members of the High Council of Hellfire Hellfire High Council in Hellfire Citadel within 10 seconds of each other. 10 points. on Normal difficulty or higher. 10 points.
  • I'm a Soul Man Defeat Socrethar the Eternal in Hellfire Citadel after killing 20 Haunting Souls within 10 seconds on Normal difficulty or higher.10 points.
  • Kazzak Guild Run (New) Defeat Supreme Lord Kazzak in Tanaan Jungle, while in a guild group. 10 points.
  • Mythic: Archimonde Guild Run (New) Defeat Archimonde in Hellfire Citadel on Mythic difficulty, while in a guild group. 10 points.
  • Mythic: Gorefiend (New) Defeat Gorefiend in Hellfire Citadel on Mythic difficulty. 10 points.
  • You Gotta Keep 'em Separated Defeat Xhul'horac in Hellfire Citadel without triggering any Shadowfel Annihilations on Normal difficulty or higher.10 points.

Dungeons & Raids

Quests

Shipyard
Garrisons



Set Bonus Changes
Originally Posted by MMO-Champion
Hunter (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)

Mage (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)

Rogue (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)

Shaman (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  • Item - Shaman T16 Enhancement 4P Bonus When Flame Shock deals periodic damage, you have a 5% chance to gain 5 stacks of Searing Flames and reset the cooldown of Lava Lash.
  • Item - Shaman T18 Elemental 2P Bonus Your Earth Shock has a 50% 33% chance not to consume any Lightning Shield charges and to have its cooldown instantly reset.
  • Item - Shaman T18 Enhancement 2P Bonus Stormstrike now generates 2 charges of Maelstrom Weapon and you may now have a maximum of 10 Maelstrom charges. Whenever you gain a Maelstrom Weapon charge, you Electrocute all nearby enemies within 10 yards for [ 15% of Spell Power ] Nature damage.
  • Item - Shaman T18 Enhancement 4P Bonus Maelstrom charges increase the damage done by your Nature spells by an additional 10%.and you may now have a maximum of 10 Maelstrom charges.

Warrior (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  • Item - Warrior T18 Protection 2P Bonus While Shield Block is active, the cost of Shield Barrier is reduced by 55% Reduces the cooldown of your Last Stand by 50%. While in Gladiator Stance, your Enrage generates 30 additional Rage.
  • Item - Warrior T18 Protection 4P Bonus While Shield Barrier is active, magical damage taken is reduced by 25% Shield Barrier's effect is increased by 200% when used during Last Stand. Your Shield Charge also causes you to Enrage.



Spell Changes
Originally Posted by MMO-Champion
Mounts

Item Set Bonuses
  • Totemic Mastery Increases Spirit by 38, Critical Strike by 35, and Intelleect by 45. Intellect by 45.

Death Knight (Forums, Talent Calculator)
Major Glyphs
  • Anti-Magic Shell Increases the duration of your Anti-Magic Shell by 0 sec. Major Glyph. Instant. 3 sec. Major Glyph. Instant.
  • Glyph of Anti-Magic Shell Causes your Anti-Magic Shell to absorb all incoming magical damage, up to the absorption limit. Major Glyph. Increases the duration of Anti-Magic Shell by 3 sec. Major Glyph.

Hunter (Forums, Talent Calculator)

Major Glyphs
  • Glyph of Tranquilizing Shot now removes the cooldown and adds a 40 Focus cost, rather than removing the Focus cost and adding a cooldown.

Mage (Forums, Talent Calculator)
Talents
  • Flameglow now absorbs up to 20% of each attack, down from 30%.

Paladin (Forums, Talent Calculator)

Protection & Retribution
  • Hammer of the Righteous Hammer the current target for (42% of weapon damage) Physical damage, causing a wave of light that hits all other targets within 8 yards for (24% of weapon damage) Holy damage. Grants 1 Holy Power. Requires Melee Weapon. Paladin - Protection, Retribution, Retribution Spec. 3% of Base Mana. Melee range. Instant. 4.5 sec cooldown.

Rogue (Forums, Talent Calculator)

Warlock (Forums, Talent Calculator)
Affliction & Demonology
  • Drain Life (Affliction, Destruction) Drains life from the target, causing [ 6 + 150.3% of Spell Power ] Shadow damage and restoring 6% [ 6% of Total Health of the caster's health over 6 sec.
  • Drain Life (Demonology) Drains life from the target, causing [ 6 + 150.3% of Spell Power ] Shadow damage, restoring 6% [ 6% of Total Health of the caster's health and generating 60 Demonic Fury over 6 sec.

Demonology
  • Hand of Gul'dan now does an additional [ 12.96% of Spell Power ] Shadowflame damage, down from 21.6%.

Pets
  • Avoidance (New) Reduces the damage your summoned demon takes from creature area of effect attacks by an additional 90%. Passive.

Warrior (Forums, Talent Calculator)
Arms
  • Seasoned Soldier While wielding a two-handed melee weapon, all damage dealt is increased by 10%. Requires Two-Handed Axes, Two-Handed Maces, Polearms, Two-Handed Swords. Warrior - Arms Spec. Staves. Warrior - Arms Spec.



Strings Changes
Originally Posted by MMO-Champion
  • BLIZZARD_STORE_LOG_OUT_TO_PURCHASE_THIS_PRODUCT - Log out and visit the Shop on the character select screen to purchase this product.
  • BONUS_OBJECTIVE_BANNER - Bonus Objective
  • CANNOT_DO_THIS_WHILE_PVE_QUEUING - You can't do this while queuing for a Dungeon, Raid, or Scenario.
  • CANNOT_DO_THIS_WHILE_PVP_QUEUING - You can't do this while queuing for a Battleground or Arena.
  • GARRISON_ACTIVE_BONUSES - Active Bonuses
  • GARRISON_BONUS_AREA_TITLE - Bonus Area
  • GARRISON_BONUS_EFFECT_TIME_ACTIVE - |cffffd200Time Active:|r |cffffffff%s|r
  • GARRISON_BONUS_EFFECT_TIME_LEFT - |cffffd200Time Left:|r |cffffffff%s|r
  • GARRISON_SHIP_RENAME - Rename
  • GARRISON_SHIP_RENAME_DEFAULT_LABEL - Default
  • GARRISON_SHIP_RENAME_LABEL - Enter desired name:
  • GARRISON_SHIPYARD_MISSION_COMPLETE_SIEGEBREAKER_TOOLTIP - Complete the Siegebreaker mission to start
  • GARRISON_SHIPYARD_MISSION_RARE - Rare Mission
  • GARRISON_SKIP_ANIMATION_LABEL - Hit the space bar to skip|nmission report animations.
  • GARRISON_SKIP_MISSION_LABEL - Hit the space bar to skip|nmission report animations.
  • INCLUDED_DUNGEONS_TIMEWALKER_EMPTY - The levels of people in your group are not close enough to be eligible for any Random Timewalking Dungeons.
  • ITEM_UPGRADED_LABEL - Item Upgraded!
  • LFD_TIMEWALKER_RANDOM_EXPLANATION - Timewalking sends you back to lower-level dungeons, scaling your character's power down appropriately, while bosses will drop loot scaled up to suit your current level.
  • LFG_TYPE_RANDOM_TIMEWALKER_DUNGEON - Random Timewalking Dungeon
  • SPELL_FAILED_CUSTOM_ERROR_262 - You already have the max number of ships your shipyard can support.
  • XREALM_PVP_ALERT - Your group is now on a PvP realm.



Originally Posted by MMO-Champion
Uncommon
by Published on 2015-05-13 08:18 PM

Solo Rukhmar Kills, Blue Tweets, Latin America Price Changes, Grommash Cosplay

PTR Build Deployment - 5/13/15
Check back later today for another Patch 6.2 PTR build!
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Hello everyone!

The PTR realms will soon be coming down in order to deploy a new 6.2 PTR build. The current ETA is around 6 to 8 hours.

I'll leave this thread open for discussion so long as conversations are civil and adhere to forum guidelines.

Raid Testing Schedule - May 14-18
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Sorry for the late notice, but we were waiting on PTR build status to confirm testing dates. From tomorrow through Monday, we will continue our Hellfire Citadel raid testing, including both Heroic and Mythic raid testing. As is always the case with PTR raid testing, it is quite possible that there will be technical or gameplay issues that disrupt our plans. Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding.

Remember that Heroic difficulty scales for any group size between 10 and 30 players, so feel free to assemble and bring a group of any size within that range. Mythic difficulty requires a fixed 20 players. Our general plan is to test every encounter on Heroic difficulty first, and then test sections of the raid on Normal and Raid Finder, alongside targeted Mythic tests.

Each encounter should be available at approximately the listed times below on all PTR servers.

Thursday, May 14
  • Socrethar - Heroic Hellfire Citadel - 13:30 PDT (16:30 EDT, 22:30 CEST)
  • Archimonde - Heroic Hellfire Citadel - 15:00 PDT (18:00 EDT, 24:00 CEST)

Friday, May 15
  • Shadow-Lord Iskar - Mythic Hellfire Citadel - 11:30 PDT (14:30 EDT, 20:30 CEST)
  • Hellfire High Council - Mythic Hellfire Citadel - 13:30 PDT (16:30 EDT, 22:30 CEST)

After Mythic raid testing concludes on Friday, we will open the Bastion of Shadows Raid Finder wing, including Iskar, Socrethar, and Tyrant Velhari, over the weekend.

Monday, May 18
  • Iron Reaver - Heroic Hellfire Citadel - 13:30 PDT (16:30 EDT, 22:30 CEST)
  • Mannoroth - Mythic Hellfire Citadel - 15:00 PDT (18:00 EDT, 24:00 CEST)

As always, this testing schedule is very fluid and subject to the realities of a PTR environment. We might have to change the time of a testing session, change the boss 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.

New Mystic Runesaber Mount — Now Available
It looks like the mount is incorrectly classified as a ground mount and it will be able to fly after all!
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Update 21:10 CEST -- We are experiencing technical difficulties with this item in the Blizzard Shop, and it is temporarily unavailable for purchase. We're working hard to fix that and we apologize for the inconvenience.

The enigmatic Mystic Runesaber mount has manifested. Sheltered by chaotic arcane energy, these creatures have eluded capture for millennia. Now they’ve emerged from the shadows to hunt for new sources of magical power. Tame their wild energy and make one of these arcane allies yours!


The Mystic Runesaber mount is now available from the in-game Shop and Battle.net Shop.

Recent Actions Against Botting in WoW
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
We’ve recently taken action against a large number of World of Warcraft accounts that were found to be using third-party programs that automate gameplay, known as “bots.” We’re committed to providing an equal and fair playing field for everyone in World of Warcraft, and will continue to take action against those found in violation of our Terms of Use. Cheating of any form will not be tolerated.

If you believe that you’ve encountered a player abusing a bot, exploit, or cheat, please let us know! You can do so by using the right-click report functionality in the game, and/or by emailing information to hacks@blizzard.com.

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