World of Warcraft News and Raiding Strategies

Tome of Light Buff
We didn’t actually buff Tome of Light per se. It was just twice as good as the tooltip said it was, and since we didn't think that a nerf was in order, we're just correcting the tooltip for 4.3. You guys shouldn't notice a change to Tome of Light.

You should notice a change to Holy Word: Serenity, though. As you know, that ability hasn't always benefited from the 25% crit bonus that it's supposed to get. It was a little tricky to figure out why that was happening, but we've gotten to the bottom of it. Holy Word: Serenity should be fixed for 4.3, so you should notice a change there.

[...]Sorry for the confusion! The bug came in an earlier version of 4.3 and was fixed recently in 4.3. Please recall that, while you guys are just getting your first look at it, internally we have been working on 4.3 for a long time.

However, this fix has introduced another bug. With the priest tier set bonus, the duration of Sanctuary can be longer than its cooldown. This causes a host of technical problems because that spell just isn’t set up right to have multiple copies, nor do we really want Sanctuary to have 100% uptime in the first place. So, we're likely to revert the change to Tome of Light (restoring it back to 15% / 30%) but we'll also lower the base cooldown of Serenity so that it will have a 7 sec cooldown with Tome of Light.

Note: All of this discussion applies to the 4.3 PTR, where some amount of "design churn" is to be expected; we want to avoid making you to feel like your character is under a barrage of constant changes after a patch goes live. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Guardian Cub: Legal Gold Selling
TCG Loot card mounts like the Spectral Tiger have been BoE for a long time now (since patch 3.2), and that was and continues to be well-received, and as far as we've been able to tell hasn't had any adverse impact to the game or economy - despite them selling for sometimes astronomical amounts of gold.

It’s potentially worth noting that no new gold is being introduced into the game's economy with those mounts or the new Guardian Cub pet.

Our goal with the Guardian Cub is to provide alternative ways for players who don't want to spend real money to add these pets to their collection. Even though this has been available a while now with the TCG mounts, this is obviously a new kind of way to deliver Pet Store pets, and we're definitely interested to hear your feedback and ultimately see how this will play out. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

No Orc or Undead Paladins?
[...] We've already incorporated a lot of race/class combos that never existed from the release of the game. I think you could argue we should just make it so every race can be every class at this point, we're pretty much there, and I think you could argue that we should hang on to the few distinctions we have left.

I'll make one argument, it would be a lot of work to scale/fit each class-specific armor piece to two additional models (male/female) of a new race. Not insurmountable, but it'd be a call we'd really have to evaluate and be prepared to take on that extra work for every set that's produced. Aside from any lore-related explanations we want to keep.

Personally I think the distinction that only some races can be some classes adds a lot to the game. It makes it feel more real, even if I don't know what the lore reason is. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

BlizzCon: Ask the Artists
At this year’s BlizzCon we have a stage dedicated to featuring Blizzard artists of all disciplines and styles, from Glenn Rane (Digital Painting, Creative Development) to Samwise Didier (Traditional Drawing, StarCraft II). Whether you’re attending the event or watching from home, we’re giving you an opportunity on the forums to ask a question of the artists. All you have to do is list the discipline and/or category below which best fits your art-related question and ask away here: http://us.battle.net/blizzcon/en/for...c/3341766856#1

If selected, your inquiry will be read and answered live from the Artist Stage at BlizzCon! [...] (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Coming soon to a Pet Store near you: the new and titanically cute Guardian Cub companion. You’ve soared across Azeroth on the majestic Winged Guardian. Soon, you'll be able to purchase a pint-sized Guardian of the Titans sidekick to accompany you on your adventures.


Stunning good looks and adorable, supersized eyes aren’t all this new pet has going for it. The Guardian Cub is also the Pet Store's first tradable pet, meaning it can be swapped between characters in-game or given as a gift to guildmates, friends, family, or that special someone -- no adoption papers necessary. Due to his finicky nature, each Guardian Cub will only give its allegiance to one owner, meaning it’s a one-time-use pet that permanently binds to a single character. Be sure to choose a master wisely.

Look for the Guardian Cub to arrive in the Blizzard Store in the weeks ahead -- in the meantime, we've prepped a mini-FAQ to explain how this flying friend will differ from other Pet Store companions.

Q: How does the Guardian Cub pet work? How is it different from other Pet Store pets?

Unlike the other Pet Store companions, the Guardian Cub is a tradable, one-time-use pet that permanently binds to a single character upon use. When you purchase the Guardian Cub from the online store, the character you designate will receive a bind-on-use item to carry in his or her inventory. You can either use the item yourself to permanently add the pet to your character's collection (consuming the item in the process), or -- after a brief initial cooldown period -- you can trade the item to another player so he or she can add it to one of their character's collections. Note that once the pet has been added to a character's Companions list, it can no longer be traded, so make sure you're giving the cub a happy home.


Q: Will I be able to carry more than one Guardian Cub at a time?

While a character can only have one Guardian Cub in his or her Companions list, you can have as many in your inventory as you like. Please note that Guardian Cub items do not stack, so each one will take up a bag or bank slot.


Q: How much will the Guardian Cub cost in the Pet Store?

The Guardian Cub will be priced the same as the other Pet Store pets ($10 USD). All sales of the Guardian Cub are final -- no refunds will be given once a purchase is made.


Q: Why did you decide to make the Guardian Cub tradable?

Since the introduction of the Pet Store, many players have been asking for ways to get the companions we offer there without having to spend real-world cash. By making the Guardian Cub tradable (much like the BoE mounts from the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game), players interested in the new pet will have fun, alternative in-game ways to get one. In addition to trading the pet, players can give the Guardian Cub as a gift to another character for a special occasion; guild leaders can use them to reward members for a job well done; and so on. We also hope this change will help reduce the number of incidents of scamming via trading for invalid pet codes.


Q: Could I put the Guardian Cub up on the auction house to try to make some gold if I wanted to?

While our goal is to offer players alternative ways to add a Pet Store pet to their collection, we’re ok with it if some players choose to use the Guardian Cub as a safe and secure way to try to acquire a little extra in-game gold without turning to third-party gold-selling services. However, please keep in mind that there's never any guarantee that someone will purchase what you put up for sale in the auction house, or how much they'll pay for it. Also, it’s important to note that we take a firm stance against buying gold from outside sources because in most cases, the gold these companies offer has been stolen from compromised accounts. (You can read more about our stance here.) While some players might be able to acquire some extra gold by putting the Guardian Cub in the auction house, that’s preferable to players contributing to the gold-selling “black market” and account theft.


Q: Are you changing the other available Pet Store pets (e.g. Lil' Ragnaros, the Pandaren Monk) to work this way?

No, the other available Pet Store pets will continue to work as they always have.


Q: What about future Pet Store pets?

It's too early to say how we'll handle future Pet Store pets. We made this change in response to feedback from players looking for alternate ways to get the Pet Store pets, and we're always looking into other opportunities for improvement. We're interested in hearing what players think of the Guardian Cub when it launches, and we hope you'll have fun with this new flying friend.