World of Warcraft News and Raiding Strategies RSS Feed

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.
by Published on 2015-05-13 08:25 AM

Crowd Control Changes, Break the Bank Giveaway, Alkaizer's Sweep Roland

EU - Free Card Packs for Downtime, Challengestone #1 - VoDs and Decklists

Heroes of the Storm Closed Beta Patch Notes - May 12

Solo Rukhmar Kills
If you are having trouble finding a group for Rukhmar or looking for something to do while waiting for Patch 6.2, give soloing Rukhmar a try!





Blue Tweets
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
PvP
Really strange change?"Capturing a point in the following Battlegrounds now takes 6 seconds (down from 7 seconds)."
Open to hearing feedback on it. (holinka)
Seems unnecessary for the reasoning that ninja capping is already in a good place, making it easier seems too much.
Is it? Get a lot of feedback that maps like AB and Gilneas are very stagnant after initial captures. (holinka)
essentially you've turned team fight maps into ninja the ninja maps. When gy were the culprit.
I can see that argument for AB but not Gilneas. (holinka)

Misc
"spectacle creep" sounds like blaming the audience for not liking your product... >.>
Did you watch the video? Has nothing to do with blaming the audience, it's about how making things exciting gets more difficult. (Muffinus)
Guess MoP suffered from spectactle creep, but I personally enjoy the story as long as we don't regress in spectacle
I feel the opposite, MOP was pretty toned-down and relaxed imo, except for SoO. A nice breather. (Muffinus)

Latin America Price Adjustments
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker)
We regularly review our prices worldwide, and from time to time make changes in accordance with the conditions of the regional and local markets. As such, we want to warn you about adjustments to the price of game time in several Latin American countries. Also, we will update the prices of some services and items in the game, in Argentina, Chile and Mexico to bring prices more in line with other regions around the world.

Note that for recurring subscriptions, that is, for those who automatically pay with international credit card in dollars, the price will not change at this time.

The new prices, which are detailed below, will take effect from May 20, 2015.

(See the full post for all price changes, only gametime changes are listed below)

Argentina
  • 30 days - No change
  • 90 days - No change
  • 180 days - No change

Chile
  • 30 días - CLP 9.450,00
  • 90 días - CLP 26.430,00
  • 180 días - CLP 49.100,00

Mexico
  • 30 días - MXN 185,00
  • 90 días - MXN 525,00
  • 180 días - MXN 980,00

Wildstar - Q1 Earnings Call
NCSoft had their Q1 2015 earnings call recently and while they don't release subscriber numbers, they do break down sales by game, which gives us an idea of how popular the game is. Wildstar had another smaller decline this time around.

Don't see a chart? Enable javascript!


Cosplay Spotlight - Grommash Hellscream by Spiral Cats
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Cosplay team Spiral Cats is known for their Blizzard-themed costumes, special effects, and craftsmanship. Their Grommash Hellscream costume was first revealed during the Warlords of Draenor launch event in Korea and is just one of many epic examples of their mastery. Check it out below.

by Published on 2015-05-11 02:30 PM

Update (9:30 PM EDT): Added tonight's hotfixes and Leeroy Jenkins.

Patch 6.1.2 Hotfixes - May 11
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Classes
Paladin (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
General
Glyphs
  • Glyph of Denounce is now removed completely by dispel effects (dispel effects used to only remove one stack at a time).

Bug Fixes
  • [Hotfix in testing] Blood-Soaked Invitation should now convert into the correct Horde equivalent for Alliance characters performing a faction transfer.

The Iron Horde Invades Hellfest 2015
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Are you ready to see the Iron Horde go heavy metal? It all started last November, when Grommash’s celebration of the lineup announcement for Hellfest 2015 quickly ignited an epic conversation between Warcraft fans and metal fans.


With over 100.000 attendees, Hellfest is a massive metal music festival that no true orc would ever want to miss. Last year Grommash and his Iron Horde were too busy getting ready to invade Azeroth and didn’t have time for a detour to western France. This year, they are prepared…

So this summer, we’ll be there in person to take a closer look at what happens when these two worlds collide – and we’re looking forward to sharing the results with you.

We’ll have more information soon about what we’ll be doing there. Stay tuned because you won’t want to miss #WoWAtHellfest 2015!

Leeroy Jenkins - 10 Year Anniversary
The original Leeroy Jenkins video was uploaded 10 years ago to WarcraftMovies. Pals for Life is still around and raiding!

by Published on 2015-05-11 03:20 AM

PTR Community Buff Active, Templar Guide 2.0, Crusader on Heroes of the Storm

New Heroes of the Storm Themed Card Back, Hearthstone Mount in Heroes of the Storm

Balance Changes, New Skin and Character Strings, Skin and Mount Videos, and Lots More

Patch 6.2 - Legendary Ring Concerns
Watcher responded to some concerns about the new legendary rings coming in Patch 6.2.
Originally Posted by Watcher (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Let me try to address a few of the concerns raised in the thread and explain our thinking.

First off, why this wacky raidwide effect? Why not a traditional legendary that is purely individual? The idea's origins lie in what this particular legendary is: a ring. It's not a weapon designed to strike foes, or a shield to protect you from harm. And what is the nature of a ring? Whether we're talking about seven rings for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, about Captain Planet, or about common social covenants in our own societies, rings tend to be paired with counterparts, and to have their meaning derived from the connections entailed therein. A lot of fluff, perhaps, but that's what got us thinking along the lines of a group effect rather than a personal one. This certainly isn't a template for all future legendaries, but we find it very fitting for this particular one.

Now, some of the concerns that have been voiced:

1) "It will be used mechanically on cooldown"

Sometimes, sure - it depends on the fight. The healing/tank versions certainly won't be used that way, and the DPS ring also has elements (notably the AoE explosion at the end) that add additional depth to the decision of when to activate it. Let's consider the fights in Foundry, since those are probably more familiar examples than Hellfire, and imagine how the ring might have been put to best use while progressing on a few of those encounters:

  • Blast Furnace: Largely wasted if you use it on the pull; you might save the first activation for the second pair of Operators, and then during the second phase you'd aim for windows of Elementalist vulnerability, since that's what matters most.
  • Operator Thogar: Here we run into some unique considerations associated with the explosion. You could activate the ring in advance of a Man-at-Arms wave, getting a damage burn on Thogar while you build up the potential AoE that will go off just in time to alpha-strike the dangerous enemies right as they jump off a train car.
  • Flamebender: If you aren't running into her berserk, the Cinder Wolves are your main concern. You'd probably benefit from waiting until she's at 45 or so Energy, and timing the explosion to get a large head start on the Wolves. Especially on Mythic.
  • Blackhand: Aside from the obvious uses to speed up phase 1 and phase 3, I could see having your initiating player as the person who's about to get knocked up onto a balcony with a fresh wave spawn due, timing the explosion to pretty much erase the whole wave of enemies right as they exit the door on the ledge.

Now, on something like Gruul, you probably would just use it on cooldown every time. But I'd say Gruul is more the exception than the norm.

2) "It feels bad to have someone else control my legendary"

This is a fair point, and I sympathize. Setting aside the fact that when doing any solo content you have complete control over the activation, there is still more control with this legendary than with nearly any of our prior examples. Procs could occur at completely inopportune times, often wasting them entirely, and whether you got lucky and had Xuen's cloak trigger just as a large pack of enemies got clumped together, or whether it fired 10 seconds earlier or later, could drastically alter your total damage on a given encounter.

At its core, the legendary ring is a raid item - the vast majority of the content and the collection steps take you through raid content - and players who are part of a raid group are by definition cooperating and coordinating to tackle challenges. The rings add another layer to that teamwork. Even outside structured guild raiding, it's neither typical nor tolerated in pickup groups for, say, a mage to use Time Warp to maximize personal damage at the expense of the raid, and I'd be surprised if it's common to see it done with the ring. Now, yes, in Raid Finder, though you also won't generally be seeing raids with tons of ring-wearers, you'll probably see some selfish behavior. But even then, the effect isn't wasted (merely suboptimal), and that action isn't likely to affect the group's success or failure on the encounter as a whole given Raid Finder's tuning.

3) "The effect isn't fair/balanced and is worse for than "

True. We could have made a perfectly evenhanded ring effect - something like "Equip: Increases damage and healing done by 10%." That also would have been very lackluster. Nearly any effect with any depth to it will benefit some more than others so long as our classes/specs have varied strengths and weaknesses. (And we don't feel that class homogenization is the answer, either.) Over the course of a fight, that may amount to a difference of a couple percent damage, if that. Hopefully we continue to make interesting and unusual items, and some of those will favor specs that feel the ring was suboptimal for them.

How do you address concerns that the design of the ring discourages raids from bringing people who don't have their ring to raids?
There's nothing in particular about the ring's design that discourages raids from bringing people who don't yet have it, as compared to any other type of legendary or any player-power increase. Players without the ring will do some percentage less damage (or healing, or have one fewer tank cooldown) over the course of the fight as a whole, but that's just the nature of any big-power item. It's not really different from the cloaks in Mists, or theoretical alternate versions of the ring that had no group synergy component. I'm sure that later in the expansion there will be guilds and pickup groups that strongly or exclusively prefer people with legendary rings, but that's a social dynamic that's nearly unavoidable with any form of player power progression, whether it's a specific legendary or just item level in general.

Also, as a separate clarification, I wasn't saying it that it won't be used on the pull. It absolutely will be used on the pull in the vast majority of cases. However, the cooldown is short enough that many other opportunities will arise to be more tactical with its use as the fight goes on, rather than just using it automatically every 2 minutes thereafter.

Finally, nothing in Hellfire Citadel is being tuned around having the ring. That's a big part of why it is not currently available to use in PTR testing. In Siege of Orgrimmar, many players had their cloaks before they first set foot in the zone on the day of the patch, which somewhat diluted the impact of completing the cloak since those players didn't really get a before-and-after comparison of specific fights once they'd earned it. Cutting edge progress in Hellfire Citadel, on the other hand, will occur without legendary rings in the raid. And then as raid members complete their rings, the power of the legendary will help you overcome Gul'dan's forces.

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

Level Type Spec Name Model Viewer
690Trinket Imbued Stone Sigil
690NeckAll Strength Shadowgorged Iron Choker
690TrinketAll Strength Rumbling Pebble
690FingerAll Agility Pit-Extracted Stone Signet
690NeckAll Intellect Glowing Firestone
695ClothAll Intellect Cowl of the Arcanic Conclave
Modelviewer
695ClothAll Intellect Pious Cowl
Modelviewer
695ClothAll Intellect Deathrattle Mask
Modelviewer
690ClothAll Intellect Sludge-Soaked Waistband
Modelviewer
690ClothAll Intellect Craggy Gloves of Grasping
Modelviewer
690BackAll Intellect Polymorphic Cloak of Absorption
Modelviewer
695Leather Oathclaw Helm
Modelviewer
695Leather Mask of the Hurricane's Eye
Modelviewer
690Leather Tunic of Reformative Runes
Modelviewer
695LeatherAll Agility Felblade Hood
Modelviewer
695Mail Crown of the Living Mountain
Modelviewer
690Mail Rugged Stoneshaped Pauldrons
Modelviewer
695MailAll Agility Hood of the Savage Hunt
Modelviewer
695Plate Helm of the Ceaseless Vigil
Modelviewer
690Plate Fel-Inscribed Shoulderplates
Modelviewer
695PlateAll Strength Demongaze Helm
Modelviewer
695PlateAll Strength Faceguard of Iron Wrath
Modelviewer
690One-handed AxeAll Agility Runeaxe of the Breaker
Modelviewer
690PolearmAll Agility Rune Infused Spear
Modelviewer
690DaggerAll Intellect Runic Magnaron Tooth
Modelviewer

Name Points Category
Mythic: Kormrok Defeat Kormrok in Hellfire Citadel on Mythic difficulty.
10Draenor Raid
Waves Came Crashing Down All Around Defeat Kormrok in Hellfire Citadel without taking damage from any of the waves on Normal difficulty or higher.
10Draenor Raid


Originally Posted by MMO-Champion
As ancient as Draenor itself, Kormrok once ruled Gorgrond, the creatures of the land slinking away from the giant magnaron's destructive fury. But then the Iron Horde came, trapping the behemoth and attempting to break his will. They were entirely unsuccessful... that is, until the rise of Gul'dan, and the fel power that Kormrok could not resist.

  • Overview - Kormrok periodically jumps to the nearest fel pool of energy, empowering one of his abilities for a short duration depending on which pool he entered.
    • Tanks -
      • Move Kormrok near the pool to which you want him to Leap.
      • Spread out during Pound.
    • Healers -
      • Pound inflicts heavy damage to the entire raid, compounded if players do not spread out.
      • Move away from any tanks affected by Fiery Burst.
      • Trigger Fiery Runes before they explode.
    • Damage Dealers -
      • Kill Crushing Hands as quickly as possible.
      • Run away from any tanks affected by Fiery Burst.
      • Trigger Fiery Runes before they explode.
      • Spread out during Pound.
  • Leap - Kormrok leaps through the air and then splashes down in the nearest pool. Kormrok will not Leap to a pool that he has Leapt into recently.
    • Shadow Energy - Kormrok absorbs Shadow Energy, empowering the next 4 uses of his Fel Outpouring ability.
    • Shadow Energy - Kormrok absorbs Shadow Energy, allowing him to use his Fel Outpouring ability 3 times.
    • Explosive Energy - Kormrok absorbs Explosive Energy, empowering the next 4 uses of his Explosive Runes ability.
    • Explosive Energy - Kormrok absorbs Explosive Energy, allowing him to use his Explosive Runes ability 3 times.
    • Foul Energy - Kormrok absorbs Foul Energy, empowering the next 4 uses of his Grasping Hands ability.
    • Foul Energy - Kormrok absorbs Foul Energy, allowing him to use his Grasping Hands ability 3 times.
    • Splash - Liquid in the pool splashes out onto the ground, leaving behind residue that will damage players who stand in the residue. Players can absorb the initial splashes, keeping the ground beneath them clear from residue.
  • Pound - Kormrok slams the ground repeatedly, creating shockwaves under all players that inflict 39,050 Physical damage to all enemies within 4 yards every second.
  • Fel Outpouring - Kormrok slams the ground, causing the Shadowy Pool to spew forth globules. Victims caught in the path of the globules suffer 85,700 Shadow damage.
  • Explosive Runes - The caster creates Explosive Runes on the ground. If these runes aren't triggered within 15 sec they will explode, inflicting 214,500 Fire damage to all enemies. Triggering the rune results in a smaller explosion for 179,000 Fire damage to all enemies within 8 yards of the rune.
  • Grasping Hands - Kormrok summons several stone hands under the feet of his enemies, inflicting 35,700 Physical damage to all enemies with 4 yards of the victim. These hands hold the victim in place until they are killed. While held, the victim suffers 53,600 Physical damage every 3 sec.
  • Mutating Hatred - Kormrok will use different abilities against his current tank target based on the last pool he leapt into. Getting hit with any of these abilities afflicts the victim with Fel Touch.
    • Swat - Kormrok knocks the target backwards, inflicting 178,500 Shadow damage. When the victim lands, they suffer damage inversely proportional to the distance they traveled. The victim is afflicted with Fel Touch.
    • Explosive Burst - Kormrok ignites the ground beneath the target's feet and stuns them. After 10 sec. the ground explodes, inflicting 178,500 Fire damage to all players within 40 yards. The victim is afflicted with Fel Touch.
    • Foul Crush - Kormrok summons a Foul Hand underneath the target. The victim is immediately grabbed and crushed for 42,600 Physical damage every 1 sec. until the hand is destroyed. The victim is afflicted with Fel Touch.
    • Fel Touch - The victim is afflicted with Fel energies, increasing the magical damage they take by 50%.
  • Enrage - Kormrok enrages, gaining 30% haste. Kormrok will use his abilities faster while enraged.



Blue Tweets
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Flying
You know, last time i told a dev i like something, it was flying. Take a guess what happened short after.
Is your point: I'd like flying back in WoD? (Muffinus)
Yes, i really would.
We love feedback, don't be afraid to give it! No one is 'not listening' to you. Sorry if that hasn't been conveyed. (Muffinus)
Dont worry. I just would love to see a statement as like "Yes, we bring flying back in 6.2" or "No, we dont bring flying back".
Specifically, would like to hear what you miss about it! How would you ideally implement it? (Muffinus)
I miss the ability to start and stop when i like. Flight pathes take you out of the game.
For me, flying often felt the same. Fly up -> point self in direction -> afk. Agree/disagree? (Muffinus)

PvP
While I don't interact on Twitter any more i read tweets & forums & appreciate feedback. Thx. (holinka)

are the tombstones near the grave yard, and the cart on ruins intended to no longer provide LOS? They worked last patch
They were broken by 6.1. We tried to hotfix them in a number of ways but they were all problematic. Fixed in 6.2. (holinka)

Lore
Big debate going on; are the players in lore stuck on Draenor or was that changed?
Not by now - after escaping Tanaan and establishing garrisons, it's possible to open other ways home. (DaveKosak)

Misc
Look what I got for my birthday! Thanks, VO team! http://t.co/urtpQOi6AS (Celestalon)

Dark Legacy Comics #488
DLC #488 has been released.


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