Garrison Stables, Orc Faces, Beta Notes Update, Heart of the Valorous, PAX Prime, DLC

[chaud]

Furnace and Rimeheart Changes, New Crusader Set, Amazonian Parma Affix, PTR Disabled Mechanics, D3 and Reaper of Souls Sales

Deck Spotlight: Zeto's Ragelock, Versus Series: Crispy vs Moonstar, Plague Quarter Issues Update

Three New Heroes Playable at PAX Prime, Matchmaking Design in Heroes of the Storm, Into the Nexus #15

Warlords of Draenor - Garrison Stables
One of the buildings you can put on a large plot in your garrison is the Stables. The stables will show off mounts that you have set as favorite mounts, allowing them to wander around to different stacks of hay.

There are five other buildings that can go in large plots, with a total of two plots available at garrison level 3. As with every other building, there are three building tiers, which give these bonuses:

• Tier 1 - Enables the capture and training of special mounts on Draenor.
• Tier 2 - You may remain mounted while interacting with objects in outdoor Draenor zones.
• Tier 3 - Increases mount speed in Draenor by 20%.

Warlords of Draenor - Orc Male Faces
The latest beta build added some more variation to faces. You can see the full plans for facial customization in the related Artcraft.

Warlords of Draenor Beta Patch Notes Update - August 8

Raid Utility Balance

• Mage
  
  • Amplify Magic is a new spell available to Mages.
    
    • Amplify Magic amplifies the effects of helpful magic, increasing all healing received by 10% 12% for all party and raid members within 100 yards, and lasts 6 seconds with a 2-minute cooldown.

Self-Sustainability

• Warrior
  
  • Victory Rush and Impending Victory now heals for 25% of maximum health (up from 15%).

Class Changes

Death Knight
Ability Consolidation and Refinement

• Death Coil now costs 30 Runic Power (down from 40 Runic Power), and has a 40 yard range for both hostiles and allies.

Blood Changes

• Rune Tap has been redesigned. It now reduces all damage taken by 50% for 3 seconds. It also now has 2 charges, with a 40-second recharge time.
  
  • Will of the Necropolis has been redesigned. It now automatically triggers an immediate, free Rune Tap when you take damage that reduces you below 30% health. This effect cannot occur more often than once every 30 45 seconds.
• Veteran of the Third War now increases your critical strike chance, Multistrike chance, haste, and Stamina by 10% (up from 9% to Stamina only), reduces the chance for attacks to be parried by 3%, increases the damage of Death Strike by 100%, and grants 1 Runic Power per second while in combat.

Druid
Ability Pruning

• Barkskin is now available to Balance, Guardian, and Restoration Druids. and no longer provides pushback protection, but its base cooldown has been reduced to 30 seconds.
• Mangle (Bear Form) now naturally applies the Infected Wounds snare effect for Feral and Guardian Druids.
• Rake now also stuns the target for 4 seconds if used while stealthed, and is only available to Feral Druids.

Ability Consolidation and Refinement

• Cat Form now increases movement speed by 30% (up from 25%).
• Infected Wounds has been removed and its effects have been incorporated into Mangle and Shred for Feral and Guardian Druids.
• Shred no longer requires the Druid to be behind the target (See also: Facing Requirements.) and is now available to all specializations. Shred now deals 35% more damage in addition to having double the normal chance to critically strike while stealthed. Additionally, Shred now naturally applies the Infected Wounds snare effect for Feral and Guardian Druids.
• Thick Hide has been removed and its effects have been incorporated into Bear Form.
  
  • Bear Form now increases armor by 330% 600% for all Druid specializations, and no longer increases Haste and Critical Strike from items by 50%, but instead causes Haste to reduce the global cooldown
• Tiger’s Fury now lasts 8 seconds (up from 6 seconds) and is usable during Berserk.

Guardian Changes

• Maul now costs 20 Rage (down from 30 Rage).
• Mangle now generates 10 Rage (down from 15 Rage).
• Lacerate now generates 2 5 Rage, has no cooldown (down from a 3-second cooldown), and the periodic bleed effect triggers every 1 second (down from 3 seconds).
• Thrash now generates 1 2 Rage every time it deals direct or periodic damage, has no cooldown (down from a 6-second cooldown), but no longer has a chance to reset Mangle cooldown.

Restoration Changes

• Living Seed now heals for 50% of the critical heal (up from 30%).

Talents

• Nature’s Vigil, while active, increases single-target damage and healing caused by healing spells by 30% 16% (up down from 25%), and all single-target damage spells also heal a nearby friendly target for 40% 35% of the damage done (up from 25%).

Hunter
Marksmanship Changes

• Bombardment now reduces the cost of Multi-Shot by 25 Focus (up from 20 Focus).
• Chimera Shot has been renamed Chimaera Shot. It is now a two-headed shot that hits two targets, costs 35 Focus (down from 45 Focus), and deals Frost or Nature damage, but no longer heals the Hunter.

Mage
Arcane Changes

• Arcane Missiles can now accumulate 3 charges (up from 2 charges).

Monk
Brewmaster Changes

• Dizzying Haze now has no Energy cost, but no longer causes the target's melee attacks to sometimes misfire.
• Elusive Brew now increases dodge chance by 35% (up from 30%).
• Stance of the Sturdy Ox now increases Stamina by 40% (up from 20%).

Paladin
Ability Consolidation and Refinement

• Hand of Sacrifice is now off global-cooldown.

Priest
Ability Consolidation and Refinement

• Holy Fire now lasts 9 seconds (up from 7 seconds).

Rogue
Ability Consolidation and Refinement

• Burst of Speed now costs 25 20 Energy (up from 15 Energy).
• Envenom now increases poison chance by 30% (up from 15%).
• Venomous Wounds’s effects have been merged into baseline Rupture for Assassination Rogues. It no longer triggers from Garrote and now always triggers when Rupture deals damage (up from a 75% chance).

Shaman
Ability Consolidation and Refinement

• Echo of the Elements has been redesigned. The Shaman's spells and abilities have a chance to trigger Echo of the Elements, causing their next short-cooldown spell or ability to not trigger a cooldown.
  
  • Elemental: It may be used on Earth Shock, Flame Shock, Frost Shock, Earthquake, or Lava Burst.
  • Enhancement: It may be used on Earth Shock, Flame Shock, Frost Shock, Fire Nova, Lava Lash, or Stormstrike.
  • Restoration: It may be used on Unleash Life, Purify Spirit, or Riptide.
• Lava Lash now spreads Flame Shock to up to 6 nearby enemies (up from 4 enemies).

Elemental and Enhancement Changes

• Feral Spirit’ damage has been increased by 300% 100%.

Warlock
Ability Pruning

• Flames of Xoroth has been removed.
• Drain Life is no longer available to Destruction Warlocks.
  
  • Harvest Life has been replaced with a new talent called Searing Flames for Destruction Warlocks.
    
    • Searing Flames reduces Ember Tap's Burning Ember cost by 50%, and increases its healing by 50%.

Demonology Changes

• Demon pets controlled by Demonology Warlocks now deal 20% more damage.

Warrior
Talent Changes

• Piercing Howl has been removed and replaced with a new talent, Sudden Death.
  
  • Sudden Death causes auto-attack hits to have a 10% chance to make the next Execute free and useable on any target, regardless of health level. These Execute do not consume additional Rage to deal additional damage.
  • Piercing Howl is now available to all Fury Warriors as a baseline ability.

P.S. Congratulations to @Celestalon's recent hairstyle upgrade to 4/4.

Blizzard Invades PAX Prime Aug. 29-Sept. 1 2014!

The Blizzard community is getting ready to storm PAX Prime once again, and we’d love for you to come and check out all the action.

PAX attendees should prepare themselves for 4 epic days of portal storming, card slinging, and Hero playing awesomeness as this year’s booth will feature all-new builds for our most recent and upcoming games, hands-on time at demo stations, and awesome giveaways.

What: Hosted annually in Seattle, PAX Prime is a celebration of gaming culture and community

Where: The Washington State Convention Center booth #352 of the Expo Hall

When: August 29- September 1

As an attendee, here’s a taste of what you can expect at this year’s Blizzard booth:

• Warlords of Draenor hands-on with the live beta featuring updated character models and the intro experience for the upcoming expansion.
• A chance to find out what’s in the cards for Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, and experience all of the fun of epic card-slinging duels on the PC.
• Attendees will have the opportunity to play a brand-new demo for Heroes of the Storm, and be among the first to try out three exciting new heroes! New to the game or eager for some clutch tips? The Heroes Community Team will be on-hand to help get you up to speed and ready to brawl!
• Blizzard developers will be on-hand to chat about your favorite games.
• And did we mention there will be giveaways, prizes, and more? If not . . . there will be giveaways, prizes, and more!

Be sure to check the prime.paxsite.com for the schedule, hotel and travel information, forums, and more. If you have an iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, or Windows 7 smart phone, you can also download the official PAX Prime 2014 app from Guidebook for free.

We’re looking forward to a great PAX Prime 2014 and can’t wait to see everyone there!

Heart of the Valorous Buff This Weekend

Friday, August 8 at 10:00 a.m. PDT, through Monday, August 11 at 9:00 a.m. PDT, we’ll be applying the Heart of the Valorous buff which will increase the rate of Valor Point gains an additional 100%. Don’t wait to get in on the action!

US Connected Realms - Update 8/08

As previously announced, we’ve been working toward connecting realms to increase the number of players on low-population realms. Here's a continuously updated list that contains currently planned connections, future plans, and completed realm connections, all in one convenient location.

*Please note this list does not encompass all potential future connections. Please check back for further updates.

Next Connections
We will be connecting the realms listed below on Thursday, August 14 during a scheduled maintenance beginning at 5 a.m. PDT through approximately 1:00 p.m. PDT. Once maintenance is finished, these realm connections will be complete.

• Burning Legion and Agamaggan, Archimonde, Jaedenar, and The Underbog

We will be connecting the realms listed below on Thursday, August 21 during a scheduled maintenance beginning at 5 a.m. PDT through approximately 1:00 p.m. PDT. Once maintenance is finished, these realm connections will be complete.

• Lightninghoof and Maelstrom, The Venture Co
• Shattered Hand and Coilfang, Dark Iron, Dalvengyr, and Demon Soul
• Sisters of Elune and Cenarion Circle

*Plans for these connections may change at any time, but we’ll provide additional updates on specific dates for future connections here as we can. Please note that as a part of the connection process realm times may change to match each other.

Dark Legacy Comics #451 - Fan Mail
DLC #451 has been released.

[Deleted]

screw that valor buff, give Gaze of the black prince.

[Queen of Hamsters]

I think this pretty much seals the deal that they won't be even considering flying in Draenor. It'd mean disabling the stable buffs like 20% faster flying and using abilities while mounted.

I can see my dreams of fantastic Nagrand screenshots just burrow away...not fly, obviously...

[Deleted]

really curious how :

Tier 1 - Enables the capture and training of special mounts on Draenor.


will work out... if we can really get mounts and train em or idk ^^

[Loveshots]

So.. you will be able to see your mechanical mounts (rockets, choppers etc.) wander off to stacks of hay?
Awesome!

[Khailik]

I think this pretty much seals the deal that they won't be even considering flying in Draenor. It'd mean disabling the stable buffs like 20% faster flying and using abilities while mounted.

I can see my dreams of fantastic Nagrand screenshots just burrow away...not fly, obviously...

Why exactly would it mean that? Why does a 20% speed buff mean definitely no flying? I see no connection.

[Rolly]

I think this pretty much seals the deal that they won't be even considering flying in Draenor. It'd mean disabling the stable buffs like 20% faster flying and using abilities while mounted.

I can see my dreams of fantastic Nagrand screenshots just burrow away...not fly, obviously...

Been the whole plan all along, they've just been keeping quiet about it to slow the subscription losses.

[Mrbleedinggums]

How does it seal the deal? When the mainland is no longer the current area of focus, why would it matter then if we can interact on faster mounts? Instead of using facts to come to a conclusion (which cannot be made in this case, because there are still unknown variables. See: Developers can choose any fucking time if they want to add in flight or not), you're leading facts into your set conclusion.

[Stahlfaust]

If that's the extent to which the new faces will differ I better level my Goblin...

[Immitis]

Been the whole plan all along, they've just been keeping quiet about it to slow the subscription losses.

the majority of wow players dont even read the forums so they have no clue you cant fly in the first place

[DedElf]

I think this pretty much seals the deal that they won't be even considering flying in Draenor. It'd mean disabling the stable buffs like 20% faster flying and using abilities while mounted.

I can see my dreams of fantastic Nagrand screenshots just burrow away...not fly, obviously...

they nerfed mount speed by 20% by changing how speed buffs stack. This is giving it back by forcing is to upgrade this building to get back to the speed we have on live.

[badaku]

Called it! Face #1 was my favorite and now #1 is now my least favorite. Now I'm rocking the worst possible face on all my orcs in WoD \o/

[Knough]

really curious how :

Tier 1 - Enables the capture and training of special mounts on Draenor.


will work out... if we can really get mounts and train em or idk ^^

Would seem odd to have mounts you can only ride if you have stables in your garrison, but they couldn't work like normal mounts, otherwise you could just have a stable on an alt, or even have one then demolish.

[Zassou]

I thought we were promised Troll design previews last week...?

[demonik]

those new faces don't look that much different, the old face models had things that these do not have that make them look different, like some of the old faces have alot of dark shadow around the eyes and if you look at the old face on the top right the eye's pupils on it are i guess bigger or something. The new faces just look like they go from angry to very angry to angriest lol

also some of the old faces had permanent stubble on their face, and some are obviously suppose to look older and have more wrinkles the new faces don't seem to have any of that making them look like they just have different expressions and not necessarily different face traits.

[Deleted]

about the orc faces, these pictures are bad examples, just logged on beta to have a look at them.. and they do look really good imho and you can tell each face apart from the other.
gj blizz really!

[Gonder]

I feel the faces towards the bottom of the presentation show a more distinct change in the face itself, however, they seem to have begun swaying a little too far from most of the faces. For starters, why is every face clenching their teeth together? The old models had a much derpier look, with their mouths open and their teeth unconnected, and for many of the angry faces on the remodels, that is not prevalent, as they just seem to show pure anger, none of that derpy look. Another face that struck confusion in me is the peon face (the first on the presentation), why is it so wrinkly and angry?

Anyway, I'm glad they're making progress, though I hope they can still correct some of these issues.

[|Dexter|]

I have a hard time seeing the differ between the orc faces.... hope this is not final! The old models got really clear diffs!

[Delondial]

Years ago, there was a calling out from the Druid community to remove shred's positional requirements. Things have changed a great deal since then. Most if not all of the issues plaguing feral rotations at that time have been addressed (possibly replaced by new ones, but addressed nonetheless). I'm actually rather disappointed to see this change. But it's still beta. Maybe this change will feel natural given the other adjustments.

- - - Updated - - -

I feel the faces towards the bottom of the presentation show a more distinct change in the face itself, however, they seem to have begun swaying a little too far from most of the faces. For starters, why is every face clenching their teeth together? The old models had a much derpier look, with their mouths open and their teeth unconnected, and for many of the angry faces on the remodels, that is not prevalent, as they just seem to show pure anger, none of that derpy look. Another face that struck confusion in me is the peon face (the first on the presentation), why is it so wrinkly and angry?

Anyway, I'm glad they're making progress, though I hope they can still correct some of these issues.

I think the issue here is that we're not seeing the actual animations. The old models were intended to be relatively static. Adding a sophisticated rig does present a lot of limitations, especially given the game's age. Once we see this living breathing face, I doubt many people will opt for the old model.

[lasheric]

is Time warp still in the game? If so, mages now have 2 raid buffs and hunters get one..which seems lesser