Garrison Location, WoD Alpha Notes Update, RBG MMR Hotfix, Apr 23 Hotfixes, DLC #437

[chaud]

HC Barb T6 Rift Guide, Confirmed: +% Damage Affix Bug To Be Fixed With Next Patch, Warning: Lethal Skills For Your HC Crusader

New Curse of Naxxramas Card - Poison Seeds

Skin Spotlight: Succubus Kerrigan, BlizzCon 2014 - Nov 7 and 8

Warlords of Draenor - Garrison Now in a Static Location
Mumper shared some more garrison information with us today, with the most interesting point being that you will not be able to relocate your garrison.

could there be a max level feature or quest line to move your garrison? Maybe raze/rebuild? Cost time AND resources.
That's an option we have discussed. (Source)

Wait so you mean my Horde character is going to be stuck in winter wasteland hell whether I like it or not
We are working hard to make it an awesome place you will want to spend time in. (Source)

will we need to do at least the main quest line in each zone in order to advance the garrisons properly?
We hope you will, but everything will unlock based on level as a fallback. (Source)
Whatever happened to them being optional content? This seems unnecessary, and takes away the fun of choosing a location..
Sill an option, still many choices. (Source)

Is there any plan on giving more profession slots to chars, so we don't have multiple alts to have them?
Garrisons will let you essentially have up to 4 more if you choose those buildings. (Source)
can you clarify, is that 4 more above what we currently have or 4 total?
4 more, if you choose to use all 4 of your small plots.
will the garrison profession slots be just like having the actual profession or will they be missing things the real prof could do?
Pretty similar to the normal profession. (Source)

Any chance of having racial-themed buildings (as least a few)? Or will it all be orc-themed for Horde?
We are integrating some racial hits into the profession hubs. Looking cool so far! (Source)

Is there going to be an easy way to get back there when you're in another zone?
For sure. No exact plan but we will give you a fast way to get back. (Source)

Warlords of Draenor Alpha Patch Notes Update - April 23

Active Mana Regeneration (New)
Another part of the changes to healing is providing a way for them to better manage their mana. There are ways to spend more mana for more healing but, we’re also adding methods for healers to trade extra time or healing or more mana to use later in a fight when they really need it.

Druid

• Innervate has been redesigned to now have a 2-second cast time with no cooldown, and causes the Druid to gain 2.5% of maximum mana every 4 seconds for 8 seconds. Spending any mana on a healing spell will cancel this effect.

Monk

• Crackling Jade Lightning's channel duration has been reduced to 4 seconds.
• Stance of the Wise Serpent now also causes Crackling Jade Lightning to cost no mana, and restore 2% of the Monk’s maximum mana if the ability is channeled for its full duration.

Paladin

• Divine Plea has been redesigned to be instant cast with no cooldown, and consume 3 Holy Power to immediately regain 7% of maximum mana.

Priest

• Atonement is no longer triggered by Penance.
• Penance now also refunds 1.1% of the Priest’s maximum mana each time it deals damage.
• Chakra: Chastise in addition to existing effects, now also causes Smite and Holy Fire to restore 0.75% of maximum mana each time they are cast instead of costing mana.

Shaman

• Telluric Currents is now a passive ability for Restoration Shaman and causes Lightning Bolt to restore 1.25% of maximum mana each time it is cast instead of costing mana.
• Glyph of Telluric Currents: This glyph has been removed.

Ability Pruning (Updated)

• Death Knight
  
  • Blood Boil has been removed.
  • Blood Parasites has been removed.
  • Rune of the Nerubian Carapace has been removed.
  • Rune Strike has been removed. now replaces Death Coil for Blood Death Knights.
• Druid
  
  • Bear Hug has been removed.
  • Innervate is now available only to Restoration Druids. has been removed. Mana costs for Druids have been adjusted accordingly.
• Mage
  
  • Polymorph's cosmetic variants are now all learned as spells instead of having some as a Minor Glyph that alters the visuals of Polymorph: Sheep. All of these variants (except for the automatically learned one, Polymorph: Sheep) are now grouped in a Polymorph variants flyout in the Spellbook.
• Paladin
  
  • Avenging Wrath is no longer available to Protection Paladins. now only available to Retribution Paladins.
  • Divine Favor has been removed.
  • Divine Plea is now only available to Holy Paladins. has been removed. Mana costs for Paladins have been adjusted accordingly.
• Rogue
  
  • Fan of Knives is no longer available to Combat Rogues.
  • Redirect has been removed.

Tank Vengeance and Resolve (Updated)
Then, to keep tank DPS meaningful, we'll be raising their damage, since it would be meager with no Vengeance Attack Power (Vengeance accounted for 70-90% of a tank's damage on high-tank-damage fights in Mists). To do that, we're increasing the damage of several prominent tank abilities, as well as having tanks also gain increased Attack Power from Mastery and Bonus Armor, in addition to the stat’s existing benefits. That also helps keep secondary stats balanced in offensive value for them.

• General
  
  • Bladed Armor is a new passive ability for Blood Death Knights, Guardian Druids, Brewmaster Monks, Protection Paladins, and Protection Warriors.
    
    • Bladed Armor increases Attack Power by 100% of the character's Bonus Armor.

Class Changes

Death Knight (Updated)
We made several changes to compensate for abilities that have been removed by Ability Pruning. Blood Boil got removed and its effects were merged into Pestilence. This change in effect turned Roiling Blood into a passive ability; which we replaced with a new talent, Plaguebearer. For Blood specialization we removed Rune Strike and are adjusting the cost of Death Coil so it can be used in Rune Strike’s place.

• Plaguebearer is a new Level-56 talent for Death Knight causing Death Coil and Frost Strike to also infect the target with Frost Fever and Blood Plague.
• Crimson Scourge now interacts with Pestilence instead of Blood Boil.
• Death Coil now costs 30 Runic Power (down from 40 Runic Power).
• Glyph of Outbreak has been removed.
• Pestilence now deals damage to all targets hit, including the primary target.
• Roiling Blood has been removed.
• Sudden Doom no longer reduces the cost of Death Coil.

There were also a few other miscellaneous changes. The Runic Power generation of Anti-Magic Shell was standardized, to make it more understandable and balanced. Level-60 and Level-75 talent rows have swapped places, so the important rune regeneration talents could be acquired earlier.

• Desecrated Ground now also makes the Death Knight immune to Roots and Snares.

Monk (Updated)

• Crackling Jade Lightning's throughput has been increased by 100%, but no longer generates Chi for Mistweaver Monks.

We also did some polishing on Brewmasters and Windwalkers and made Storm, Earth, and Fire, Transcendence, and Touch of Death easier to use. Fists of Fury has also been improved; sometimes brute force is the right answer. Gift of the Ox was changed to give value to the new Multistrike stat for Brewmasters. Lastly, Tiger Strikes was improved considerably, and made available to all Monk specializations.

There were several changes that affected multiple Monk specializations. We’d like to see Monks using Transcendence more often, so its usability has been improved (some baseline, and some in a Draenor Perk). For Touch of Death, we like that it’s a unique execute being usable only once, but found it impractical to use on bosses and have improved its usability. For Tiger Strikes, we buffed it to grant Multistrike ability which it was similar to already, and extended it to work with all Monk specializations.

We’re making a few changes that mostly affects Windwalkers, but has a minor impact on Mistweavers and Brewmasters as well. For energy-based gameplay to function well, the primary limitation on ability usage should be energy, not time. As such, we're making the following changes to address GCD-capping problems. First, we’re reducing the effects and mana increase of Ascension, because it became more powerful when combined with several of our other changes to healers. We believe that Ascension will remain as a competitive talent for Brewmasters. Second, energy cost of Jab has been increased for Windwalkers. And Third, we reduced the chance for Combo Breaker to trigger. Individually, these may sound like significant nerfs but Windwalker damage has been adjusted to compensate for these changes. The goal is not to reduce DPS while addressing the issue with GCD-capping.

• Ascension now increases energy regeneration and maximum mana by 10% (down from 15%).
• Combo Breaker now has an 8% chance to trigger, per effect, per Jab (down from 12%).
• Stance of the Fierce Tiger now also increases Jab’s energy cost by 10.

A couple of additional changes for Windwalkers. Storm, Earth, and Fire, got buffed to make it smoother to use. We also buffed Fists of Fury because we felt that the ability wasn’t giving a strong enough damage boost given its restrictions and impact on the Monk's rotation.

• Storm, Earth, and Fire no longer has an energy cost, and is off GCD.
• Fists of Fury now deals 100% increased damage, and always deals full damage to your primary target; additional targets are still affected by the damage split.

For Brewmasters, Gift of the Ox has been modified to allow it to scale defensively with the new Multistrike stat. The Black Ox Statue has been modified to aid Monks in establishing aggro on new enemies.

• Black Ox Statue now also passively attracts the attention of all enemies within 30 yards, causing a minor amount of threat each second.
• Gift of the Ox now has a chance to trigger only from auto attack Multistrikes, instead of from all auto attacks. It has a 100% chance to trigger while using a two-handed weapon, and a 62.5% chance to trigger while dual wielding.

• Glyph of Leer of the Ox now also causes Black Ox Statue to passively pulse a minor amount of threat to all enemies within 30 yards.

Paladin (Updated)

• Avenging Wrath Divine Favor now also increases all of the Paladin’s healing by 100% for its duration.

We wanted to improve Seal gameplay for Protection and Retribution, so have made a few changes in that regard. Protection had three Seals, but only used Insight due to its defensive value. We’ve moved that defensive value into a passive for Protection Paladins, and expect them to primarily use a mixture of Seal of Truth and Seal of Righteousness now. To provide better gameplay between Seal of Truth and Seal of Righteousness, and effectively remove a button, we made Seal of Righteousness transform Crusader Strike into Hammer of the Righteous.

• Seal of Insight no longer gives melee attacks a chance to heal the Paladin.
• Inner Light is a new passive ability for Protection Paladins and provides a chance for each melee attack to heal the Paladin.
  
  • Glyph of the Battle Healer is now available only for Protection Paladins, and affects healing from Inner Light instead of Seal of Insight.
• Crusader Strike and Hammer of the Righteous are no longer separate spells.
  
  • Seal of Righteousness now also causes Crusader Strike to be replaced with Hammer of the Righteous while active.

Priest (Updated)
We swapped the Level-15 and Level-60 talent rows so players are presented with core Priest themed abilities earlier in the leveling process.

• Level-15 and Level-60 talent rows have swapped places.

Rogue (Updated)
Among some other changes to improve Rogue AoE damage, we made a couple of baseline changes, and added a few Draenor Perks that impacts their AoE. wanted to make sure that Fan of Knives benefitted from Seal Fate.

• Blade Flurry can now trigger poisons.

Shaman (Updated)

• Feral Spirits’ damage has been increased by 100%.
• Frost Shock’s damage has been reduced by 50%.
• Multiple Earth Shields can now be applied to the same target.
• Glyph of Chaining no longer causes Chain Heal to have a 2-second cooldown.

We also made a couple quality of life improvements to Shaman Shield spells.

• Lightning Shield now persists through death.
• Water Shield now persists through death.

Rated Battleground MMR Hotfix

Early on in PvP Season 15, we found and corrected a couple issues that were causing players to reach extremely high Personal Rating when compared to their Matchmaking Rating (MMR), particularly in Rated Battlegrounds. As an unfortunate side-effect of these fixes, some players started experiencing regular games in which they could lose Personal Rating for a loss, but not gain any on a win. This issue quickly resolved itself in Arenas through normal gameplay, but has lingered for a lot longer in Rated Battlegrounds.

To correct this, we’ve applied a hotfix that will increase everyone’s MMR in Rated Battlegrounds by 100. As this change is being applied to everyone (even players who have not yet participated in a Rated BG), there is no change to rankings – we’re just bringing the average up by 100.

This should allow players who were previously still earning 0 rating on wins to once again earn rating normally. As a result, players who were already earning rating normally will start seeing higher rating gains per win and lower rating penalties per loss until their personal rating is once again in line with their MMR.

Again, as this change is being applied to everyone, there should be no real impact on ladders as a result. Ratings will inflate briefly (much like they do as part of our normal rating inflation), but there should be no long-term damage to rankings.

Patch 5.4.7 Hotfixes: April 23

Classes

• Shaman (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
  
  • General
    
    • Healing Stream Totem no longer incorrectly heals itself.

Quests

• Scourge Tactics: Increased the spawn rate of Webbed Crusaders.
• The Embalmer's Revenge: Resolved an issue where Stitches was not resetting correctly.

Raids, Dungeons, and Scenarios

• Siege of Orgrimmar
  
  • Malkorok
    
    • Resolved an issue where Ancient Miasma effects were able to persist after the encounter ended.
  • Garrosh Hellscream
    
    • During the Garrosh Hellscream encounter, Word of Glory no longer generates threat during stages 2 and 3 to address an issue that was making the encounter more difficult than intended for raid groups with Protection Paladin tanks.
    • Unstable Iron Stars now Fixate on players for 12 seconds (up from 10 seconds) during stage 4 of the Garrosh Hellscream encounter on Heroic difficulty.
• The Eye of Eternity: Resolved an issue that could prevent players from being able to loot Alexstrasza's Gift after defeating Malygos.

Items

• Potion of Luck: Reduced the amount of gold found in Plundered Treasures.

Blue Tweets

Character / Items
Will the only other utility poison being the talent leeching poison.....what is the point of the rogue PvP set bonus now?
we're changing almost all of the PvP set bonuses (holinka)

Warlords of Draenor Stats
What about spirit on current gear for Shadow, Balance, Elemental? Dead stat in WoD?
Removed from all gear except jewelry. Yes, you'll want to get non-spirit jewelry for Warlords. (Celestalon)

PvE
With the removal of expertise in WoD, will old school raid bosses still have a 3% parry chance, seems unfair for non tank solos.
3% won't stop you from being able to solo them. You'll be more than able to solo them, if you're able to now. (Celestalon)

Professions
what is going to stop engineering utility from dominating if other professions lose dps/stat bonuses?
Going to remove the combat utility, or allow it to be used by non-engineers. (Celestalon)
Point of being a engineer is then to?
Same as the other professions: To craft useful items. Engineering items are just more unusual and interesting. (Celestalon)

Pound Sterling Pricing Changes on Certain WoW Services

We will shortly be adjusting the pound sterling prices of some of the optional services we offer for World of Warcraft. We regularly review our pricing and services around the world to make sure we’re offering what we feel is the best entertainment value for the cost, and the upcoming adjustments are being made with that goal still in mind.

The new prices will take effect on April 30. You can see a breakdown of the changes below:

• Name Change - Current Price: £6 | New Price: £7
• Pets - Current Price: £9 | New Price: No change
• Helms - Current Price: £10 | New Price: No change
• Appearance Change - Current Price: £12 | New Price: £13
• Guild Name Change - Current Price: £15 | New Price: £17
• Character Transfer - Current Price: £15 | New Price: £17
• Race Change - Current Price: £15 | New Price: £17
• Mounts - Current Price: £17 | New Price: No change
• Faction Change - Current Price: £20 | New Price: £22
• Guild Transfer - Current Price: £25 | New Price: No change
• Guild Faction Change - Current Price: £30 | New Price: No change
• Level 90 Character Boost - Current Price: £40 | New Price: No change
• Guild Transfer and Faction Change - Current Price: £50 | New Price: No change

Dark Legacy Comics #437
DLC #437 takes a look at one of the downsides of having combo points on the player.

[moveth]

Garrison Change bums me out a bit.

[Ayarea]

Hope those price updates are only for UK as we already pay alot more in Euro's...

[OneTripleZero]

Wow. No more Rune Strike. No more Blood Boil. I'm happy to get Death Coil back but still. DK Tanking just got a twist or two.

[The Glitch]

Thank god I am Alliance, I wanted my Garrison in Shadowmoon Valley anyway

[sleepingforest]

We regularly review our pricing and services around the world to make sure we’re offering what we feel is the best entertainment value for the cost, and the upcoming adjustments are being made with that goal still in mind.

Are they taking the piss? Maybe they need to adjust the value of these services to make them more in line with what other countries pay and that is understandable, but the reasoning they gave here is pretty insulting.

[Deleted]

Well so they killed one of the best features of WoD for me. Great Blizz, great indeed.

[Shampro]

Dat Feral Spirit buff. Maybe they'll actually hurt now.

[Noix]

SO wait.. you remove BB witch was Pes and BB in 1... for Pes .. would just made sense to remove Pes and less rework...

Ugh.. by RS... HI DC (DEATHCOIL TO DA FACE!) macro incoming.. i kinda like the idea of that
Gonna miss few things they changed but ok with it.

UGH Disc priest WHY BLIZ WHY (park my priest time)

[kurnie]

i dont understand why blizz doesnt just charge in US dollars and let the currency conversion daily rate kick in. seems weird

[Juni]

theyre increasing the price despite not even being able to keep the servers running smooth for 24 hours. Fuck logic xD

[Kuja]

No more bloodworms o.o

[Bawl]

Are they taking the piss? Maybe they need to adjust the value of these services to make them more in line with what other countries pay and that is understandable, but the reasoning they gave here is pretty insulting.

Haha yeah, I read it a second time to make sure I didn't miss something. I don't like in the UK nor have a need of their services, but the statement addressing the price hikes is laughably bad.

[Austilias]

Weird changes for Blood DKs. Unless they increase the Rune Regeneration rate or something, it's going to feel like they'll be standing around doing not a great deal, for most of the time.

The Shaman Changes are nice though. Certainly won't mind my Spirit Raptors actually posing a risk.

[Karadros]

No no Blizzard, let me bend over further - there might still be some pounds your unlubed glove missed as it rummaged through my arsehole.

[wordup]

Let's increase the sterling cost! Because it's not that Euros are overpriced relative to dollars, no, it's Sterling being UNDERPRICED! OF COURSE IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE!

[jellmoo]

Um... Maybe I'm just not understanding something... Did they remove stance dancing from Warriors because it wasn't a "fun" mechanic, and are now giving it to Paladins instead?

[bearthorn]

Is blizzard trying to mess with the druids again? Really, a crappy 5% mana gain at the cost of 8 seconds without casting? Do they at least think about this things for more than 5 seconds, or they just take the 1st $&% idea that comes to their mind?!

[draynay]

Wow they finally fixed the Malygos loot bug lol... Just in time.

[couchboi]

That garrison thing REALLY irks me.