World of Warcraft News and Raiding Strategies

Chromie Scenario

• Andorhal: Brother Grigory and Talessah Towhide should cast their full heal spell less often.
  
• In Dragonblight, Chromie is now a very important NPC, well-marked on maps, and player-versus-player activities are forbidden in the area around her.

Class Halls

• Artifact Research Notes work order shipments now have a duration of 3 hours and 36 minutes.
  
• (Hotfix in testing) Blood of Sargeras can now be obtained from Class Hall vendors at a price of 5 Blood of Sargeras for 5,000 Order Resources.

Items

• (Hotfix in testing) Fixed a bug preventing Mythic Keystone information from displaying properly when linked in chat.
  
• Unseen Predator's Cloak will now correctly increase the Critical Strike chance of Cobra Spit (Spitting Cobra talent) and the Critical Strike chance of the periodic damage from On The Trail (Artifact Trait).

Player versus Player

• Corrected an error that was being encountered in the formation of groups for Packed House PvP Brawl.
  
• Rogue (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator / Artifact Calculator / PvP Talent Calculator)
  
  • Subtlety
    
    • PvP template Agility reduced by 5%.
      
  
  
• Shaman (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator / Artifact Calculator / PvP Talent Calculator)
  
  • Enhancement
    
    • Ascendance reduces the cooldown and Maelstrom cost of Stormstrike by 50% (was 80%) in PvP situations.
      
    • Earthen Spike increases the physical and nature damage taken by the target by 20% (was 30%) in PvP situations.
      
  
  
• Warlock (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator / Artifact Calculator / PvP Talent Calculator)
  
  • Destruction
    
    • Shadowburn now causes Cremation damage, as intended.
      
    
    
  
  
• Warrior (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator / Artifact Calculator / PvP Talent Calculator)
  
  • Arms
    
    • Mortal Strike damage reduced by 30% in PvP situations.
      
    • Rend damage reduced by 15% in PvP situations.
      

Professions

• Obliterum Ash rewards from Patch 7.2.5 crafted items are now similar to rewards from Patch 7.2.0 and earlier.

Item Level 970 Legendary Items
Will ilvl 970 leggys drop since 7.2.5 or since ToS opening?
ToS opening.
(The new legendaries can still drop on the first week of the patch but at ilvl 940)

Cant we start upgrading legendaries tomorrow? Do we also have to wait until ToS opens?
The new quest to upgrade legendaries to ilvl 970 will become available when ToS opens next week. (Official Forums)

Character / Items
Do you continue to gain stamina per point past 52 in concordance?
Yes, your health increases at a reduced rate compared to prior points. However, tank + healer bonus damage doesn't increase after point 52. (WarcraftDevs)

PvP
could we get an explanation on why s3 pvp elite appearance is being released at the end of s4
The ensembles become available when those appearances can no longer be obtained in rated PvP. Legion Seasons 3&4 share an armor appearance. (WarcraftDevs)

does anyone know if u account change a char if u have to do 150 wins all over again?
No, transferring a character to another account does not reset the number of wins-- only a faction transfer resets the number of wins. (WarcraftDevs)

Could you guys take a look at southshore vs. Tarren Mill again? Particularly at the balance, for the alliance. Thanks.
We learned a great deal from this first run of Southshore vs. Tarren Mill, and we’ll make adjustments for next time. (WarcraftDevs)

is Concordance capped at 52(first pt) in rated pvp?
There is no cap. (WarcraftDevs)

Can you verify that you need 150 wins on a toon to get Gladiator Legion Season 3 or just for R1?
Both Gladiator and Cruel Gladiator require 150 wins. All other titles require 50 wins. (WarcraftDevs)

WIll saved up pvp tokens (Echoes) go away with the end of season? Or will they persist through season end?
They are converted to gold at end of season. (holinka)

Lore
Muff man! where is Varimithras the best dreadlord ever its not a secret is it?
No one knows, but one thing's for sure: Sargeras probably isn't too happy with him. (Muffinus)

The murloc demon hunter in Stormheim during invasions - is he canon? If yes, how did he come to be?
He mmmmrgrgrlgled everything! What have you mmmmrgrgrlgled? (Alex_Afrasiabi)

Classes

• Casting Heroic Leap, Infernal Strike, Metamorphosis, or Grappling Hook while rooted will no longer consume the cooldown.
  
• Monk (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator / Artifact Calculator / PvP Talent Calculator)
  
  • Windwalker
    
    • Blackout Kick damage increased by 8%.
      
    • Rising Sun Kick damage increased by 8%.
      
    • Tiger Palm damage increased by 8%.
      
  
  
• Priest (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator / Artifact Calculator / PvP Talent Calculator)
  
  • Shadow
    
    • Mind Blast damage increased by 13%.
      
    • Mind Flay damage increased by 18%.
      
    • Void Bolt damage increased by 10%.
      
  
  
• Shaman (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator / Artifact Calculator / PvP Talent Calculator)
  
  • Enhancement
    
    • Stormbringer can now proc from Stormstrike offhand and Windstrike offhand attacks.
      
  
  
• Warrior (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator / Artifact Calculator / PvP Talent Calculator)
  
  • Arms
    
    • Cleave damage reverted to 7.2.0 values.
      
    • Extra Executes from Sweeping Strikes now correctly benefit from the Precise Strikes Artifact Trait.
      
    • Mortal Strike damage increased by 12%.
      
    • Opportunity Strikes should not be triggered by Pummel or Heroic Leap.
      
    • Shattered Defenses (Artifact Trait) reduced to 50% bonus damage (was 60% bonus damage).
      
    • Trauma reduced to 20% additional damage (was 25%).
      

Dungeons and Raids

• The Nighthold
  
  • Krosus
    
    • Searing Brand damage reduced by 15%.
      
  • Star Augur Etraeus
    
    • Fel Burst, Starburst, and Iceburst damage reduced by 15%.
      
  • Gul’dan
    
    • Fel Scythe damage reduced by 15%.
      
    • Gul’dan’s health decreased by 3% on Heroic and Mythic difficulties.
      

Items

• Draught of Souls damage is reduced by 15% for Fury Warriors (was 40%).
  
• Draught of Souls damage is reduced by 20% for Arms Warriors (was 40%).
  
• Corrected an issue where Siege of Orgrimmar Heirlooms appeared to be usable at level 1 after being upgraded.
  
• The Elemental Shaman Embrace of the Living Mountain 2-piece set bonus now has a 10% chance to refund Maelstrom spent on Earth Shock (was a 45% chance).
  
• The Fury Warrior Battlegear of Iron Wrath 4-piece set bonus now provides a 2 second reduction to Battle Cry (was 10 seconds).

Player versus Player

• Death Knight (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator / Artifact Calculator / PvP Talent Calculator)
  
  • Crypt Fever will no longer consume Festering Wounds when it procs.
    
  
  
• Demon Hunter (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator / Artifact Calculator / PvP Talent Calculator)
  
  • Havoc
    
    • Template Agility increased from 80% to 85%.
      
    • Template Haste reduced from 130% to 110%.
      
    • Template Versatility increased from 100% to 120%.
      
    • Chaos Blades increases damage dealt by 20% (was 30%) in PvP situations.
      
    • Fel Barrage damage reduced by 30% in PvP situations.
      
    • Nemesis durations increased to 30 seconds in PvP situation (was 15 seconds).
      
    • Nemesis now increases damage by 15% (was 25%).
      
  
  
• Hunter (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator / Artifact Calculator / PvP Talent Calculator)
  
  • Beast Mastery
    
    • Template Agility decreased from 80% to 70%.
      
    • Template Armor decreased from 120% to 100%.
      
    • Template Critical Strike increased from 70% to 100%.
      
    • Template Mastery decreased from 75% to 45%.
      
    • Dire Beast: Basilisk is now immune to snares and roots.
      
    • Dire Beast: Basilisk's damage has been increased by 50%.
      
  • Marksmanship
    
    • Template Agility decreased from 105% to 100%.
      
    • Template Critical Strike increased from 50% to 80%.
      
    • Template Haste decreased from 150% to 120%.
      
    • Sniper Shot no longer increases its own range.
      
    • Sniper Shot's duration increased to 15 seconds (was 10 seconds).
      
    • Sniper Shot's range is increased to 55 yards (was 40 yards).
      
  
  
• Monk (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator / Artifact Calculator / PvP Talent Calculator)
  
  • Mistweaver
    
    • Way of the Crane causes Spinning Crane Kick to heal for 100% of damage dealt (was 200%).
      
    • Way of the Crane now heals based on absorbed damage.
      
    • Way of the Crane now costs 8% of base mana.
      
  • Windwalker
    
    • Template Versatility increased from 100% to 120%.
      
    • Template Haste increased from 175% to 200%.
      
    • Tigereye Brew should now correctly grant stacks for all Chi-consuming abilities.
      
  
  
• Paladin (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator / Artifact Calculator / PvP Talent Calculator)
  
  • Holy
    
    • Template Intellect increased from 135% to 145%.
      
    • Avenging Crusader's mana cost has increased by 30%.
      
    • Avenging Crusader's cooldown recovery rate on Judgment and Crusader Strike decreased to 30% (was 50%).
      
    • Avenging Crusader's bonus damage decreased to 30% (was 50%).
      
  • Protection
    
    • Hand of the Protector's healing is reduced by 60% in PvP (was 45%).
      
    • Light of the Protector's healing is reduced by 60% in PvP (was 45%).
      
    • Luminesence now heals for 20% of healing taken (was 30%).
      
    • Mana regeneration reduced by 25%.
      
  • Retribution
    
    • Template Strength reduced from 85% to 80%.
      
    • Blessing of Sanctuary's cooldown is now 45 seconds (was 30 seconds).
      
    • Lawbringer's duration increased to 45 seconds (was 30 seconds).
      
    • Divine Punisher now grants 3 Holy Power (was 2).
      
    • Luminesence now heals for 20% of healing taken (was 30%).
      
    • Templar's Verdict now deals full damage in PvP situations (was a 30% reduction).
      
  
  
• Priest (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator / Artifact Calculator / PvP Talent Calculator)
  
  • Discipline
    
    • Overloaded with Light increases Light's Wrath damage by 200% in PvP situations (was 500%).
      
    • Power Word: Fortitude can now be active on 3 targets.
      
    • Power Word: Fortitude's mana cost has been reduced by 80%.
      
    • Power Word: Shield's absorption amount is increased by 10% in PvP situations (was 25%).
      
    • Purified Resolve now provides a 5% maximum health shield (was 8%).
      
    • Strength of Soul decreases physical damage taken by 20% (was 30%).
      
    • Strength of Soul's heal has been increased by 75%.
      
  • Holy
    
    • Template Damage dealt decreased from 75% to 65%.
      
    • Template Haste increased from 100% to 125%.
      
    • Template Intellect increased from 135% to 145%.
      
    • Template Mastery reduced from 100% to 75%.
      
    • Divine Attendant now reduces cooldown by 2.5 minutes (was 2 minutes). Tooltip will be inaccurate till a followup hotfix.
      
    • Greater Fade's duration has been reduced to 4 seconds (was 6 seconds).
      
    • Ray of Hope's bonus healing has been reduced to 50% (was 100%).
      
    • Renew's periodic healing has been increased by 100% in PvP situations.
      
    • Spirit of the Redeemer now has a 3 minute cooldown (was 5 minutes).
      
    • Spirit of the Redeemer now has a 7 second duration (was 10 seconds).
      
  • Shadow
    
    • Mind Blast damage increased by 30% in PvP situations.
      
    • Mind Flay damage increased by 40% in PvP situations.
      
    • Shadow Word: Pain damage reduced by 20% in PvP situations.
      
    • Shadow Word: Void damage increased by 20% in PvP situations.
      
    • Shadowform reduces physical damage taken by 20% in PvP situations (was 10%).
      
    • Vampiric Touch damage reduced by 15% in PvP situations
      
    • Void Torrent no longer deals decreased damage in PvP situations, (was 20% less.
      
  
  
• Shaman (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator / Artifact Calculator / PvP Talent Calculator)
  
  • Purifying Waters healing reduced by 40%.
    
  • The Healing Surge cast by Swelling Waves now heals for half its regular amount.
    
  • Enhancement
    
    • Gathering Storms no longer counts pets and guardians in PvP situations when increasing the damage of your next Stormstrike.
      
  • Restoration
    
    • Template Critical Strike increased from 50% to 120%.
      
    • Template Versatility increased from 130 to 140%.
      
    • Earth Shield will now heal when an attacker takes 4% of their max health in damage (was 8%).
      
    • Earth Shield now has 4 charges (was 3).
      
    • Healing Stream Totem now heals for an additional 40% in PvP situations (was 10%).
      
    • Riptide heals for an additional 30% in PvP situations.
      
    • Healing Wave heals for an additional 50% in PvP situations (was an additional 100%).
      
  
  
• Warlock (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator / Artifact Calculator / PvP Talent Calculator)
  
  • Soul Shards should now be set to 3 during Arena Preparation
    
  
  
• Warrior (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator / Artifact Calculator / PvP Talent Calculator)
  
  • Fury
    
    • Template Stamina decreased from 100% to 95%.
      
    • Bloodthirst's heal is reduced by 25% in PvP situations.
      

Professions

• The item level of most Legion crafted gear is now 850, and can now be increased up to 900 with Obliterum.
  
  • Existing gear below item level 850 will not have its item level changed, and will display "Obliterum: 0/10", but it will be brought up to item level 855 with one application of Obliterum.
    
• Attempting to apply Obliterum to Skullblasters will no longer consume the Obliterum and Blood of Sargeras.
  
• Crates of Bobbers should no longer drop if you already know the toy that they teach.

Along with the launch of Patch 7.2.5 we are making tuning adjustments to a number of soon-to-be-available Tier 20 set bonuses. The target is as usual, relative power balance between Tier 20 set bonuses of different classes/specs and with the previous tier's set bonuses.

Note that this is the round of Tier 20 tuning we're doing before Tomb opens, and we may make further adjustments as needed once Tomb opens and we have more live data.

Death Knight - Frost

• 2pc: Requires 60 Runic Power (up from 40) spent per 1 sec of duration increase to Pillar of Frost.

Druid - Balance

• 4pc: Total buff duration increased to 20 sec (up from 15 sec).

Druid - Feral

• 2pc: Rip generates 1 Energy (down from 2) when it deals damage.

• 4pc: Rip deals 10% (down from 15%) increased damage and lasts 4 sec (down from 8 sec) longer.

Mage - Frost

• 2pc: Critical strike damage bonus granted reduced to 20% (down from 30%).

Hunter - Marksmanship

• 4pc: Aimed Shot reduces the cast time and focus cost of your next Aimed Shot by 8% (down from 15%). Buff duration reduced to 6 sec (down from 12 sec).

Monk - Windwalker

• 2pc: Swapped with 4pc and is now: Rising Sun critical strikes reduce the cooldown of Fists of Fury by 3 sec (up from 2 sec).

• 4pc: Swapped with 2pc and is now: "When Fists of Fury ends, the critical strike chance of Rising Sun Kick is increased by 65% (up from 50%) for 5 sec."

Paladin - Retribution

• 2pc: Swapped with 4pc and is now: "Judgment increases Blade of justice damage by 15% for 8 sec."

• 4pc: Swapped with 2pc and is now: "Blade of Justice generates 1 additional Holy Power."

Priest - Shadow

• 4pc: Insanity drains 10% slower (down from 15%) while in Voidform. Insanity drains 5% slower (down from 10%) while in Voidform if you have Surrender to Madness talent.

Rogue - Assassination

• 2pc: Swapped with 4pc and is now: "Garrote costs 25 less Energy and has 12 sec reduced cooldown."

• 4pc: Swapped with 2pc and is now: "Garrote deals 60% (up from 30%) increased damage."

Rogue - Outlaw

• 2pc: Free Pistol Shots increase your critical strike chance by 5% (down from 10%) for 8 sec.

• 4pc: Half-power Adrenaline Rush duration reduced to 8 sec (down from 10 sec).

Shaman - Elemental

• 2pc: Swapped with the 4pc and is now: "Reduce the cooldown of Fire Elemental by 3 sec (Storm Elemental by 1.5 sec) when Flame Shock periodic damage deals a critical strike. This effect may occur once every 1 sec."

• 4pc: Swapped with the 2pc and is now: "While Fire Elemental [or Storm Elemental] is active, your Flame Shock deals 40% increased damage over time and always critically strikes."

Warlock - Affliction

• 2pc: Soul Shards generated from Corruption damage reduced to 0.65+Haste per minute (down from 1.2+Haste per minute).

Warrior - Arms

• 4pc: Now casts a total of 3 (down from 6) Mortal Strikes during Bladestorm and a total of 2 (down from 4) Mortal Strikes during Ravager.

Thank you for all the feedback, and apologies for the delayed response.

We agree that there are moments of frustration with the live version of Demon Blades, and are continuing to look into how to address them, but also think that a smooth resource income is not the best solution.

For Havoc, we wanted to create a style of play that used fewer core abilities in favor of having deeper gameplay in other areas (e.g. a higher reliance on movement and battlefield awareness, and higher variation in resource generation). Part of what makes Demon's Bite, a spammable resource generator, work for Havoc is that its interaction with Chaos Strike is not static. You need to monitor how much Fury it generates, and react with Chaos Strike when appropriate.

We tried out having Demon Blades at 100% on the PTR mostly as a quality of life change, and to reduce the periods of time where players running Demon Blades found themselves unable to use any abilities. However, in practice, that change took an already simplified rotation and made it almost completely predictable. Though effective, it made the spec very dull to play. Reacting to your Fury bar is a core aspect of Havoc gameplay, and we don't want to lose that gameplay with Demon Blades.

All that said, we still agree that the current version of Demon Blades is not perfect, and we will continue to iterate. The version we tried on the 7.2.5 PTR was just not the right direction for Havoc.

This is now live - Gul'dan's health has been reduced by 3% on Heroic and Mythic difficulties.
Additionally, the damage of Gul'dan's Fel Scythe, Krosus' Searing Brand, and several of Star Augur's abilities has been reduced by 15%.

We’re currently working on a hotfix intended to significantly reduce the amount of time it takes to reach the Artifact Knowledge cap of 40, in order to allow returning players to catch up more quickly.

Specifically, this hotfix will reduce the time it takes to research ranks of Artifact Knowledge between 26 and 40 to approximately 4 hours each. We hope to make this retroactive to any work orders already in progress when the hotfix is applied. Once these changes are live, a returning player should be able to reach the maximum level of Artifact Knowledge in only a few days.

This hotfix will require extensive testing, but our goal is to apply it within the next day or so.

Hi! This item is practically identical to the one that upgraded a legendary from 910 to 940. It is definitely consumed on use.

Up to 30 players clash in this packed Arena match

Crafted items seem to be scaling to 900 ilvl instead of 885 like the patch notes say - intended?
Correct. We'll have a complete hotfixes update later today with new hotfixes such as this one.

Legion PvP season 4 is here, and the Arenas and Battlegrounds await the clash and clamor of weaponry and magic once more.

Season 3 Rewards Reminder
If you participated in Season 3, please keep the following in mind to ensure you receive the rewards that you’re due:

• Refrain from transferring your character(s) to another realm or faction until after Legion Season 3 rewards have been distributed.
  
• Legion Season 3 titles and mounts will be awarded approximately two weeks after the season ends.

Faction-Based Rewards
Don’t forget—end-of-season rewards are based on your faction. If you transfer your character to the other faction, you must have 50 wins after your transfer to receive the reward. Please note that you must have 150 wins for Gladiator and Cruel Gladiator.

The Arenas and Battlegrounds await!

As Patch 7.2.5 approaches release, we wanted to let you know that there are a number of tuning hotfixes in the works which we plan to apply either with or shortly after Patch 7.2.5 in each region. Many of these changes will be focused on PvP (and we shared the majority of them on Friday), but there will also be adjustments to a few Nighthold raid mechanics, and an initial set of buffs to a few underperforming specs.

Note: We’re planning another round of class tuning for later in the week once we have more data from live realms; these are merely a first pass. Additionally, we plan to partially reduce the 7.2.5 nerf to Draught of Souls for Fury Warriors.

We’ll share full details on all of these changes as soon as possible.

Shaman (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator / Artifact Calculator / PvP Talent Calculator)
7.2.5 Enhancement Class Discussion
We talked about it more and decided to let Stormstrike and Windstrike offhand attacks proc Stormbringer for now.

The thinking above is still true, and something we want to keep an eye on, but the changes already in place mean the numbers are quite different from the 7.0 version. In 7.0, if you had e.g. a 10% chance to proc from Stormstrike (main hand only), and 0% from Lava Lash and Boulderfist (and the procs were worth double due to Tempest), there was a huge swing in proc chance between using 3 Stormstrikes and using 3 other buttons. In 7.2.5, you may have 8% from the Lava Lash and Rockbiter, and 16% from the Stormstrike, and the a proc causes you to replace 2 other buttons with 2 Stormstrikes. The swing is much smaller now.

Because the 7.2.5 changes would already reduce the streakiness of Stormbringer procs (and because allowing offhands to proc is slightly more consistent with the tooltips), we'll let that play out on live and inform whether we need to make future changes to mitigate that streakiness further. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)