Arena Map Pools and Rotation, Dragonflight Hotfixes - December 12, 2022

[Lumy]

Arena Map Pools and Rotation

With the introduction of Nokhudon Proving Grounds as a new Arena map in Dragonflight, we’ve hit 15 total Arena maps that are available when players queue up. We feel that this is a large number to have in the pool at once and waters down a map’s impact in an Arena experience. That being said, we think it will be interesting and fun to divide up the maps into a rotation to keep the pool dynamic for players.

We feel a weekly cadence ensures players will see their favorite maps frequently during a season. Additionally, the decision for 8-map pools was made to compact the rotation so players will be able to more easily refine strategy on certain maps with specific compositions within a week.

After working with a few combinations, the iteration we will be implementing for Dragonflight Season 1 will be a rotation of 3 buckets with 8 maps each, that captured all our current maps:

POOL A	POOL B	POOL C
Nagrand Arena	Nagrand Arena	Nagrand Arena
Dalaran Sewers	Ruins of Lordaeron	Hook Point
Tiger’s Peak	Tiger’s Peak	Tol’Viron Arena
Enigma Crucible	Empyrean Domain	Ashamane’s Fall
Empyrean Domain	Blade’s Edge Arena	The Robodrome
Ashamane’s Fall	Maldraxxus Coliseum	Mugambala
Maldraxxus Coliseum	Black Rook Hold Arena	Enigma Crucible
Nokhudon Proving Grounds	Nokhudon Proving Grounds	Nokhudon Proving Grounds

While discussing internally what the map pools should look like, there were various factors we looked at to divide the maps up to be as fair as possible. The factors we looked at within each pool included map size (large and small), map line of sight placement (symmetrical pillars, Z-axis, or other variants), and to keep the new map in each rotation, which in Season 1 of Dragonflight is Nokhudon Proving Grounds.

Note: The map pools will be available in Rated Arena and Arena Skirmishes only at this time, Rated Solo Shuffle and Solo Shuffle Brawl will not have rotating map pools.

We look forward to hearing about your experiences with this rotation in Season 1.

Dragonflight Hotfixes - December 12, 2022

Classes

• Death Knight
  
  • Blood
    
    • [With weekly restarts] Blood Fortification no longer reduces damage taken (was 10% damage reduction).
      
• Demon Hunter
  
  • [With weekly restarts] Fixed an issue that unintentionally permitted Fodder to the Flame's heal effect to crit.
    
  • [With weekly restarts] The Hunt now heals for 10%/20% (as Havoc/Vengeance) of damage dealt to the marked target for 20 seconds (was 25%/50% for 30 seconds).
    
  • [With weekly restarts] Charred Warblades now heals for 3% of Fire damage dealt (was 5%).
    
  • Havoc
    
    • [With weekly restarts] Essence Break damage reduced by 8%.
      
  • Vengeance
    
    • [With weekly restarts] Demonic Wards Rank 1 and Rank 2 passives have been removed, reducing Demonic Wards total damage reduction to 10% (was 20% damage reduction).
      
• Druid
  
  • Guardian
    
    • [With weekly restarts] Ursine Adept no longer reduces damage taken (was 10% damage reduction).
      
• Mage
  
  • Frost
    
    • Fixed an issue that caused Frigid Winds to not correctly benefit Freezing Cold's snare.
      
• Monk
  
  • Brewmaster
    
    • [With weekly restarts] Brewmaster's Balance no longer reduces damage taken (was 10% damage reduction).
      
• Paladin
  
  • Protection
    
    • [With weekly restarts] Aegis of Light no longer reduces damage taken (was 10% damage reduction).
      
• Priest
  
  • Shadow
    
    • [With weekly restarts] Vampiric Touch healing reduced to 30% of damage dealt (was 50%).
      
    • [With weekly restarts] Devouring Plague healing reduced to 30% of damage dealt (was 50%).
      
• Rogue
  
  • [With weekly restarts] Leeching Poison leech bonus reduced to 5% (was 10%).
    
  • Assassination
    
    • [With weekly restarts] Poison Bomb chance to trigger reduced to 4/8% (was 5/10%).
      
    • Fixed an issue that prevented Cut to the Chase from benefitting from Echoing Reprimand's Animacharged combo points.
      
    • Fixed an issue that would cause Garrote to fail to apply to all targets if one target was immune, when cast with Indiscriminate Carnage.
      
  • Outlaw
    
    • [With weekly restarts] Dispatch damage increased by 5%.
      
    • [With weekly restarts] Pistol Shot damage reduced by 6%.
      
  • Subtlety
    
    • [With weekly restarts] Black Powder damage reduced by 5%.
      
    • [With weekly restarts] Fixed an issue that caused Secret Technique to interact incorrectly with Cold Blood.
      
• Warlock
  
  • [With weekly restarts] Fel Synergy now causes Soul Leech to heal you for 15% of the absorption it grants (was 25%).
    
  • [With weekly restarts] Soul Leech now grants shields up to 5% of maximum health (was 10%).
    
  • [With weekly restarts] Demon Skin now increases Soul Leech’s absorption up to 10% of maximum health (was 15%).
    
• Warrior
  
  • Fury
    
    • [With weekly restarts] Gushing Wound damage and healing reduced by 10%.
      
    • [With weekly restarts] Bloodthirst damage increased by 1%.
      
    • [With weekly restarts] Bloodbath damage increased by 1%.
      
      • Developers’ note: Bloodthirst and Bloodbath damage has been increased to compensate for the Gushing Wound damage reduction.
        
  • Protection
    
    • [With weekly restarts] Vanguard no longer reduces damage taken (was 5% damage reduction).
      
    • [With weekly restarts] Defensive Stance reduced to 15% damage reduction (was 20%). Damage reduction remains unchanged at 10% effectiveness in PvP.
      
    • [With weekly restarts] Demoralizing Shout now reduces damage taken by 20% (was 25%).
      
    • [With weekly restarts] Ignore Pain now ignores 50% of damage taken (was 55%).
      

Dungeons and Raids

• The Nokhud Offensive
  
  • Fixed an issue causing the dragonriding tutorial message to appear in Maruukai after Balakar Khan had been defeated.
    
  • Nokhud Longbow’s Multi-Shot's damage reduced by 71%.
    
  • Nokhud Hornsounder health reduced by 12%.
    
  • Nokhud Hornsounder’s Rally the Clan frequency slightly reduced and its cast time slightly increased.
    
  • Unstable Squall no longer casts Violent Dispersion on death.
    
  • Nokhud Defender no longer casts Bloodcurdling Shout in Normal and Heroic difficulty.
    
  • Nokhud Defender’s Bloodcurdling Shout frequency slightly reduced.
    
  • Nokhud Thunderfist’s Deadly Thunder frequency slightly reduced.
    
  • Batak’s Bloodcurdling Shout frequency reduced.
    
  • Soulharvesters’ Shatter Soul will now spawn souls closer to the players targeted with the ability.
    
  • Granyth
    
    • Reduced the spawn rate of Nokhud Saboteur on Mythic difficulty.
      
  • The Raging Tempest
    
    • Primal Stormshield’s health reduced by 23%.
      
    • Primal Stormshield’s Stormshield frequency slightly reduced.
      

Player versus Player

• [With weekly restarts] Medals of Honor can no longer be used if the honor it grants would put you over the honor cap.
  
• [With weekly restarts] Victorious Contender's Strongbox is now available to Level 70 players from Seltherex in Valdrakken for 5,000 Honor.
  
• Classes
  
  • Death Knight
    
    • Blood
      
      • [With weekly restarts] Blood for Blood increases the damage of Heart Strike by 30% (was 60%).
        
      • [With weekly restarts] Shattering Bone damage reduced by 25% in PvP combat.
        
  • Demon Hunter
    
    • [With weekly restarts] Sigil of Misery PvP duration reduced to 4 seconds (was 5 seconds).
      
    • [With weekly restarts] Concentrated Sigils duration increase value reduced by 50% in PvP combat.
      
    • [With weekly restarts] Precise Sigils duration increase value reduced by 50% in PvP combat.
      
    • [With weekly restarts] Extended Sigils duration increase value reduced by 50% in PvP combat.
      
    • [With weekly restarts] Fodder to the Flame heal effect reduced by 40% in PvP combat.
      
    • Havoc
      
      • [With weekly restarts] Consume Soul heal effect when consuming a Demon Soul reduced by 60% in PvP combat.
        
      • [With weekly restarts] Essence Break damage reduced by 20% in PvP combat.
        
  • Druid
    
    • Guardian
      
      • [With weekly restarts] Moonfire damage reduced by 20% in PvP combat.
        
      • [With weekly restarts] Thrash damage reduced by 20% in PvP combat.
        
      • [With weekly restarts] Brambles damage reduced by 50% in PvP combat.
        
      • [With weekly restarts] Rage of the Sleeper reflect damage reduced by 50% in PvP combat.
        
      • [With weekly restarts] After the Wildfire healing reduced by 40% in PvP combat.
        
      • [With weekly restarts] Sharpened Claws increases the damage of Thrash and Swipe by 10% in PvP combat (was 25%).
        
      • [With weekly restarts] Tooth and Claw increases the damage of Maul by 20% in PvP combat (was 40%).
        
  • Mage
    
    • Fire
      
      • [With weekly restarts] Combustion can no longer be dispelled.
        
        • Developers’ note: We feel that the counterplay to Combustion, a major self-cast offensive cooldown, did not feel appropriate as it was easily dispelled. We are hoping with this change that it will prompt more creative solutions to counterplay the ability. We didn’t want to make this change previously, due to balance concerns, but now feel it is an appropriate time to bring it in line with other major cooldowns.
          
  • Paladin
    
    • Protection
      
      • [With weekly restarts] Word of Glory healing reduced by 30% in PvP combat.
        
      • [With weekly restarts] Light of the Titans healing reduced by 40% in PvP combat.
        
      • [With weekly restarts] Guardian of the Forgotten Queen cooldown increased to 5 minutes.
        
  • Priest
    
    • [With weekly restarts] Vampiric Touch and Devouring Plague healing are no longer reduced in PvP combat.
      
  • Rogue
    
    • [With weekly restarts] Soothing Darkness heal effect reduced by 50% in PvP combat.
      
    • Assassination
      
      • [With weekly restarts] Hemotoxin (PvP Talent) healing reduction effect reduced to 35% (was 40%).
        
    • Subtlety
      
      • [With weekly restarts] The Rotten damage bonus for Backstab and Shadowstrike reduced to 30% in PvP combat (was 50%).
        
        • Developers’ note: Shadowstrike was hitting too hard, leaving minimum room for counterplay for opponents and taking too much damage in a single stun.
          
  • Warrior
    
    • Fury
      
      • [With weekly restarts] Bloodthirst now restores 2% of your health in PvP combat (was 3%).
        
      • [With weekly restarts] Slaughterhouse now decreases healing taken by 3% per stack (was 5% per stack).
        
      • [With weekly restarts] Slaughterhouse now stacks up to 12 times (was 8 times).
        
      • [With weekly restarts] Slaughterhouse duration increased to 9 seconds (was 6 seconds).
        
      • [With weekly restarts] Slaughterhouse duration is no longer refreshed when adding stacks.
        
    • Protection
      
      • [With weekly restarts] Shield Charge damage reduced by 25% in PvP combat.
        
      • [With weekly restarts] Booming Voice now increases the damage you deal by 10% in PvP combat (was 20%).
        
• Solo Shuffle
  
  • [With weekly restarts] With Season 1's start, the minimum PvP item level to queue for Rated Solo Shuffle is 408.
    

Professions

• Jewelcrafting
  
  • [With weekly restarts] Stats granted by the Elemental Lariat's equip effect reduced by 5% and it can no longer have multiple bonuses up simultaneously. This change does not negatively impact proc rates or buff uptime.
    
    • Developers’ note: Many players have their sights set on the Elemental Lariat as one of their first Spark of Ingenuity crafts as it becomes available tomorrow. Upon further investigation, this turned out to be slightly stronger than intended and we have adjusted it to better match our expectations. We wanted to ensure these changes were in before players invested their valuable resources into acquiring it so everyone can make an informed decision about whether to create this item.
      

User Interface and Accessibility

• Fixed an issue where hidden spells in Azmerloth were being printed in the combat log.

WoW Classic Era

• Corrected an issue that caused PvP Rank to fail to be calculated for the week ending December 6.
  
  • Developers' notes: The December 6 calculations were recorded incorrectly, so we've reversed any decay incurred on December 6, and replaced it with rank points calculated using your best weekly ranking from the last 30 days. Additionally, players who began doing PvP the week ending December 6 (and therefore have no history to look at in the previous 30 days) have been granted 5000 rank points as compensation.
    
  • Sorcerer's note: The long-lost Eldritch incantation required to update PvP Rank was not meant for mortals to invoke.

[Kel_Sceptic]

Ok, so they broke the hell out of the fury warrior. It was hard enough to maintain those stacks up, i wonder if it is realyl possible to hit 12 stacks in normal arena games :/
[With weekly restarts] Slaughterhouse duration is no longer refreshed when adding stacks.

[DrBuzzworth]

5..10..15...20% mitigation lost for Prot War, guess they were a whole tier above the rest which got 10%. Ah well, they're still gonna be great, might actually need a few heals now.

[McNeil]

As a prot warrior I need a shoulder to cry on

[Noobslayer]

Blizz never fails to disappoint

[kamuimac]

what the actual fuck ?

another wave of nerfs on top of those 10 % nerfs to tanks ?

those devs really really hate people having fun playing this game.

[Mister K]

what the actual fuck ?

another wave of nerfs on top of those 10 % nerfs to tanks ?

those devs really really hate people having fun playing this game.

Should be fine. Content is already easy enough.

[Danuel]

AOE nerf for assa is weird. This spec are always mediocre at best in pack fight.

[Subrias]

what the actual fuck ?

another wave of nerfs on top of those 10 % nerfs to tanks ?

those devs really really hate people having fun playing this game.

It's the same set of nerfs, not a 2nd one. They just hadn't implemented it yet.

[diller]

what the actual fuck ?

another wave of nerfs on top of those 10 % nerfs to tanks ?

those devs really really hate people having fun playing this game.

From what I understand it's because right now healers are not even needed in many situations because tanks take no damage.

[Nereidaa]

I mean I'm soloing dungeons as Vengeance DH, don't even want to think how warrior is like. I can't believe anyone is complaining about the nerfs.

[Loveliest]

From what I understand it's because right now healers are not even needed in many situations because tanks take no damage.

In M0. Because it is very very relevant. They needed to be needed in trash content, before M+ was out... holy crap, are people mental.

- - - Updated - - -

I mean I'm soloing dungeons as Vengeance DH, don't even want to think how warrior is like. I can't believe anyone is complaining about the nerfs.

Ofc you're soloing, jesus. We have M+ that has jumps from one level to another bigger than last few expansions percentage-wise. And we're overgearing M0 by a lot because of the weird loot. Go to an appropriate M+ and then go "Yeah I am solo-ing 15s, I need nerfs". Not like last expansion was not the same, I soloed plaguefall M0 for mount the moment we found out about it and nobody cried nerf nerf so OP, guess why...
And as a note, even some dpses can solo M0. Duh. Let's nerf everyone, because M0 is the pinnacle of relevance.

[saixilein]

Ok, so they broke the hell out of the fury warrior. It was hard enough to maintain those stacks up, i wonder if it is realyl possible to hit 12 stacks in normal arena games :/
[With weekly restarts] Slaughterhouse duration is no longer refreshed when adding stacks.

As a good warrior you will have most of the time no problems to keep the stacks up, and that was way to strong.

[Nereidaa]

In M0. Because it is very very relevant. They needed to be needed in trash content, before M+ was out... holy crap, are people mental.

- - - Updated - - -



Ofc you're soloing, jesus. We have M+ that has jumps from one level to another bigger than last few expansions percentage-wise. And we're overgearing M0 by a lot because of the weird loot. Go to an appropriate M+ and then go "Yeah I am solo-ing 15s, I need nerfs". Not like last expansion was not the same, I soloed plaguefall M0 for mount the moment we found out about it and nobody cried nerf nerf so OP, guess why...
And as a note, even some dpses can solo M0. Duh. Let's nerf everyone, because M0 is the pinnacle of relevance.

So what you are afraid of is of being challenged, and having to actually play the game? Thankfully "players" like you go largely ignored, because I could never play a game like the one you want. WoW is almost disgustingly easy as it is thanks to all this casual handholding.

[ElDoorO]

In M0. Because it is very very relevant. They needed to be needed in trash content, before M+ was out... holy crap, are people mental.

- - - Updated - - -



Ofc you're soloing, jesus. We have M+ that has jumps from one level to another bigger than last few expansions percentage-wise. And we're overgearing M0 by a lot because of the weird loot. Go to an appropriate M+ and then go "Yeah I am solo-ing 15s, I need nerfs". Not like last expansion was not the same, I soloed plaguefall M0 for mount the moment we found out about it and nobody cried nerf nerf so OP, guess why...
And as a note, even some dpses can solo M0. Duh. Let's nerf everyone, because M0 is the pinnacle of relevance.

Two weeks into the expansion you shouldn't be solo'ing M0. It also encouraged insane pulls which generally killed the DPS because DPS just take that much more damage while still not killing the tank.

No one, and I mean no one, has out-geared Mythics yet. The casual player shouldn't be able to solo it.

[lordjust]

Two weeks into the expansion you shouldn't be solo'ing M0. It also encouraged insane pulls which generally killed the DPS because DPS just take that much more damage while still not killing the tank.

No one, and I mean no one, has out-geared Mythics yet. The casual player shouldn't be able to solo it.

But in shadowlands you could also solo some m0 week one on some tanks and even some dps. Hunter could solo plaguefall by outranging most mechanics and most tanks could solo mist.

Also people have outgeared m0. It drops 372 and with world quests and some rares scaling up to 382 or 385 and every faction having one 389 and one 398 piece of gear some people are already running around with 397 avarage ilvl (add a crafted 405 piece) and most people in my guild are already 377-381. So half a tier over what m0 drops and our unholy dk also soloed ruby lifepools with 343 ilvl just to see how far he can get.

As for dps getting killed. It's something lots of tank, healer and high end player in general are critzising. There's a lot of unavoidable, groupwide damage and you need to pull big to beat the timer. If tanks need more healing, dps will get less healing because pulling less isn't an option if you want to time the key.