Patch 5.2 PTR and Patch Notes

By on JAN 1, 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zb2bTUVREus

Patch 5.2: The Thunder King

The Thunder King is now available for testing on the Public Test Realms! By logging in you can help us test a massive new raid dungeon, a multi-faceted new quest hub, Pet Battle improvements, new world bosses, significant class balance changes, brand new pets and mounts, assorted bug fixes, and more. If you’d like to help test and provide feedback, you can start by copying your character and downloading the PTR client. Once you’ve had a chance to try things out, be sure to visit our PTR Discussion forum to discuss the patch, and the PTR Bug Report forum to report any issues or errors.

Please keep in mind that the below notes are not final, and a great deal could change before the final patch 5.2 release.

Updated January 17

World of Warcraft PTR Patch 5.2

  • General
    • New Daily Quest Hub: The Isle of the Thunder King.
      • Here players can join the assault to conquer Emperor Lei Shen’s island stronghold, unlock new questlines and daily quest hubs, participate in special events, earn the right to visit the fabled Treasure Room, lay claim to an arsenal of powerful Mogu artifacts for their faction, and more.
      • Each faction’s finest are spearheading the assault: the Kirin-Tor Offensive led by Jaina Proudmoore and the Sunreaver Onslaught led by Lor’themar Theron. Earning reputation with these new factions offers heroes the opportunity to receive new quests and reputation rewards, including powerful items and an intimidating new mount.
      • After both the Alliance and the Horde have eked out a foothold on the isle, players can choose to perform quests that are PvE or PvP focused. PvP quests will direct players against opposing faction NPCs, but slaying opposing players will grant credit as well.
      • As the heroes conquer the Isle, they will unlock the powerful Lightning Forge, which will allow Blacksmiths to forge mighty raid-worthy items, as well as classic weapons from the past.
      • Players on the PTR can teleport to the Isle of the Thunder King at the Shado-Pan Garrison in Townlong Steppes on the western shores of Pandaria. While the Isle of the Thunder King will be unlocked progressively by each realm based on participation in the war effort, initially only some of the Isle’s features will be unlocked. Future updates will include the Shipyard and the Main Courtyard. Some features, including the Treasure Room, will not yet be available.
    • New Raid: Throne of Thunder
      • Emperor Lei Shen, the Thunder King, has returned to wreak his vengeance on Pandaria. It falls to the heroes of the Alliance and the Horde to stop the newly resurrected tyrant and his Zandalari allies in the massive new raid: Throne of Thunder.
      • Throne of Thunder is a sprawling citadel housing 12 new raid encounters, and players that defeat Emperor Lei Shen in Heroic mode can earn the opportunity to face an additional 13th foe.
      • The Raid Finder version of the Throne of Thunder will be divided into 4 different wings.
      • Join the Shado-Pan Assault in their singular drive to see Lei Shen, The Thunder King, defeated once and for all, and gain access to impressive Valor reward items. Reputation with this faction can be earned only within the Throne of Thunder raid dungeon.
      • Please note: During the 5.2 PTR, this raid dungeon will only be available during a limited testing window. Keep an eye on our PTR Discussion forum for details.
    • The Legendary Quest Continues:
      • Wrathion must know the origin and source of Mogu power, and Azeroth’s mightiest heroes will aid the Black Prince in finding out what it is. The search for information will take players into the depths of the Thunder King’s Palace, and pit them against trials of perseverance and skill. Along the way, they’ll unlock the secrets to a new legendary metagem, Crown of the Heavens.
      • Please note: Initially this quest is not available on the PTR, but will be coming soon.
    • New World Bosses: Nalak, the Storm Lord and Oondasta
      • Nalak, the Storm Lord
        • After the Isle of the Thunder King has been conquered, the gate guardian of the Thunder King’s citadel will appear: Nalak, the Storm Lord. Players will frequently have the opportunity to test their mettle against him.
      • Oondasta
        • Found in a place that has been lost in time, the great devilsaur lord Oondasta has been outfitted for battle with weaponry and armor by the Zandalari, and awaits players brave enough (or foolhardy enough) to seek him out on the mysterious Isle of Giants found in the seas north of Kun-Lai Summit.
    • Buy The Farm
      • Players that have grown attached to working the land at Sunsong Ranch can now purchase the land from Farmer Yoon. Once the farm is owned by a player, it becomes a rest point like an Inn, where the player can bind and instantly log out. Work orders will pour into the farm from factions across Pandaria, and completing a work order will earn a reputation boost with the issuing faction.
      • Please note: The new Sunsong Ranch features are not available on the PTR, but will be coming soon.
    • New World Boss System
      • All world bosses are now Tap to Faction. This new system offers every eligible player of the same faction that engages a boss the chance to earn loot. Under the new system, players will only be able to earn loot from each world boss once per week, but bonus rolls apply. Bosses will now respawn more frequently as well.
  • Classes
    • Death Knight
      • Death Siphon now heals for 150% of the damage dealt, up from 100%.
      • Conversion now costs 5 Runic Power plus 5 per second thereafter, down from 10 Runic Power plus 10 per second.
      • The Bloodworms summoned by Blood Parasite now have 200% more health and heal for triple the amount.
      • Strangulate’s cooldown has been reduced to 60 seconds, down from 2 minutes.
      • Unholy
        • Reaping now also applies to Icy Touch.
        • Summon Gargoyle no longer costs Runic Power.
        • Gargoyle Strike now also deals Shadow damage, in addition to Nature damage.
        • Ebon Plaguebringer now causes Plague Strike to inflict Frost Fever, in addition to its other effects.
      • The Frost and Unholy tier-14 2-piece set bonus has been reduced to 4% increased damage on Frost Strike, Obliterate, and Scourge Strike, down from 10%.
      • The Frost and Unholy tier-14 4-piece set bonus now increases the chance to trigger Sudden Doom and Killing Machine by 30%. This note is incorrect, as the change applies to the tier-15 set being released in 5.2.
    • Druid
      • Cyclone’s range has been increased to 30 yards, up from 20, and it now has a 30-second cooldown for Feral Druids. In addition, it will now share diminishing returns with Banish, Seduction, Bind Elemental, Hex, Freezing Trap, Wyvern Sting, Gouge, Sap, Hibernate, Paralysis, Polymorph, Ring of Frost, Repentance, and Quaking Palm.
      • Symbiosis
        • Shattering Blow now has a 1.5-second cast time to align correctly with the Warrior version of this ability.
      • Displacer Beast has been redesigned. It now triggers Cat Form and grants 50% increased movement speed for 4 seconds after teleporting, and no longer activates Prowl.
      • Cenarion Ward now grants 100% increased healing.
      • Frenzied Regeneration now scales 10% more efficiently with attack power.
      • Tooth and Claw now scales 10% more efficiently with attack power.
      • Mastery: Nature’s Guardian now provides 20% more armor per Mastery rating.
      • Rejuvenation now costs approximately 9% less mana.
      • Revive and Mark of the Wild now cost 55% less mana.
      • Faerie Swarm can now snare more than one target at a time.
      • Mass Entanglement now has a 30-second cooldown, down from 2 minutes.
      • Typhoon now has a 30-second cooldown, up from 20.
      • The Treants summoned by Force of Nature now deal more damage and healing, and the Force of Nature tooltip will report the capabilities of these summoned pets.
      • Soul of the Forest
        • Balance: Now generates 40 Lunar or Solar energy upon leaving Eclipse.
        • Feral: Unchanged.
        • Guardian: Generates 3 additional Rage per Mangle.
        • Restoration: Now grants 70% Haste on the next spell cast after the Druid casts Swiftmend.
      • Nature’s Vigil now has a 90-second cooldown, down from 3 minutes, and now increases damage and healing done by 10%, down from 20%.
      • Balance
        • Starfall will no longer strike targets that are affected by crowd control effects.
      • Restoration
        • Naturalist: This new passive learned at level 10 by Restoration Druids increases all healing done by the Druid by 10%.
        • Wild Mushrooms will now gain 75% of the overhealing performed by the Druid’s Rejuvenation effects, up to a maximum of 100% of the Druid’s health in bonus healing, and growing larger as they do so. When Wild Mushroom: Bloom is cast, this bonus healing will be divided evenly amongst targets in the area of effect.
      • Balance/Restoration Druid PvP gloves bonus now increases Cyclone duration by 2 seconds (previously increased Cyclone range by 5 yards).
    • Hunter
      • Aimed Shot cast time has been been reduced to 2.5 seconds, down from 2.9 seconds.
      • Bestial Wrath may now be activated when there is no line of sight to the Hunter’s pet.
      • Silencing Shot now has a 24-second cooldown, up from 20 seconds.
      • Binding Shot no longer has a Focus cost.
      • Wyvern Sting no longer has a Focus cost, and its cooldown is now 45 seconds, down from 60 seconds.
      • Glyph of Marked for Death has been removed and its effects are now baseline.
      • New Glyph: Glyph of Liberation. This glyph now causes Disengage to heal the Hunter for 5% of maximum health when used.
    • Mage
      • Invocation now removes Evocation’s cooldown, and reduces its channeling time and duration by 50%. A completed Evocation now grants 15% increased damage for 1 minute after an Evocation is completed, instead of 25% increased damage for 40 seconds. Passive mana regeneration is reduced by 50% only while Invoker’s Energy is active.
      • Greater invisibility now has a 90-second cooldown, down from 2.5 minutes.
      • Frostbolt cast by Mirror Images now deals 50% more damage.
      • Improved Counterspell has been removed.
      • Glyph of Fire Blast has been replaced with Glyph of Inferno Blast. Glyph of Inferno Blast causes damage-over-time effects spread by Inferno Blast to spread to 1 additional target.
      • Glyph of Blink will now increase the movement speed bonus provided by Blazing Speed’s by an additional 50%.
      • Blazing Speed can now be triggered at will, provides root/stun immunity, and has a 15-second cooldown, down from 25 seconds. This ability replaces Blink.
      • Cold Snap now heals the Mage for 15% of maximum health when used, down from 30%.
      • Ice Floes now has a 45-second cooldown, down from 1 minute.
      • Scorch now costs 3.5% of base mana, up from 0.1%.
      • Temporal Ripples from Temporal Shield can no longer be dispelled.
      • Arcane
        • Arcane Blast’s mana cost has been increased to 1.66667% of base mana, up from 1.5%.
      • Frost
        • Fingers of Frost now has a 15% (up from 12%) chance to activate from Frostbolt, Frostfire Bolt and Frozen Orb, a 5% (up from 4%) chance to activate from Blizzard, and a 10% (up from 9%) chance to activate from Scorch.
        • Glyph of Ice Lance now causes Ice Lance to deal 50% damage to 1 additional target, up from 40%.
        • Frostbolt now deals 24% more damage, but its debuff no longer increases subsequent Frostbolt damage.
        • Water Elemental
          • Freeze no longer does damage and only provides Fingers of Frost on a successful freeze.
    • Monk
      • New Level-60 Talent: Ring of Peace
        • Ring of Peace forms an 8-yard sanctuary around the target for 8 seconds, causing all enemies in the area of effect to be silenced and disarmed.
      • New Windwalker and Brewmaster ability added at level 30: Nimble Brew
        • Nimble Brew removes all stun, fear, and root effects, and reduces the duration of those effects if they are reapplied by 60% for 6 seconds. It has a 2-minute cooldown.
      • Chi Wave now does 100% more damage and healing, and no longer costs Chi, but now has a 15-second cooldown.
      • Zen Sphere now has a limit of 2 (up from 1), detonates when either the recipient reaches 35% health or the Zen Sphere is dispelled, and no longer costs Chi.
      • Chi Burst now does 100% more damage and healing, no longer costs Chi, and has a 30-second cooldown.
      • Path of Blossoms has been removed.
      • Deadly Reach has been removed.
      • Paralysis is now a physical, non-magical effect, and can no longer be dispelled, grounded or reflected, and its base range has been increased to 20 yards.
      • Tiger’s Lust and Touch of Karma no longer have a Chi cost.
      • Tiger’s Lust can no longer be used on targets that have other temporary speed increases active.
      • Charging Ox Wave now has a 30-second cooldown, down from 60 seconds.
      • Dampen Harm can now be used while stunned, and its cooldown will now begin when used, not when the effect ends.
      • Healing Elixirs now heals the Monk for 15% of maximum health, up from 10%.
      • Chi Torpedo now deals 15% more damage.
      • Healing Spheres now have a duration of 1 minute. Healing Spheres generated by Mastery: Gift of the Serpent now have a duration of 30 seconds.
      • Mistweaver
        • Life Cocoon can no longer be dispelled.
        • Zen Focus, the 4-piece Mistweaver set bonus, is now more responsive.
        • It is no longer possible to use Thunder Focus Tea while silenced.
        • Healing Spheres will now heal for 50% of their original value if they expire without being picked up. This healing will factor in relevant Mastery.
        • Xuen will now fixate on the Monk’s original target.
      • Windwalker
        • New Level-75 Ability: Storm, Earth and Fire
          • The Windwalker can summon up to 2 elemental duplicates that mirror damaging abilities that the Monk uses while they are active. For each spirit summoned, the Monk’s damage is reduced: 1 spirit causes the Monk and the spirit to deal 60% of the Monk’s normal damage, while 2 spirits will cause the Monk and both active spirits to deal 40% of the Monk’s normal damage. Each spirit lasts until the ability is canceled, that spirit’s target dies or otherwise becomes unavailable, or they’re killed (they can be targeted and have 10% of the Monk’s health).
            • When using Fist of Fury, the stun effect will only apply from the Monk (not the spirits).
        • Spinning Fire Blossoms’ damage has been adjusted to scale from weapon damage rather than attack power.
        • Combo Breaker is now a passive ability granted at level 15 that grants a 12% chance to make the Monk’s next Blackout Kick or Tiger Palm cost no Chi.
        • New Mastery: Bottled Fury
          • Bottled Fury increases the damage bonus provided by Tigereye Brew by .2% per Mastery per stack.
        • Tigereye Brew now increases damage by 1% per stack, up from 2%, but is now improved by Bottled Fury.
        • Tigereye Brew now gains 1 charge after spending 3 2 Chi, down from 4 Chi.
        • Tigereye Brew will now stack to 20, but only 10 charges can be consumed per activation.
        • A user interface alert now displays upon reaching 10 stacks of Tigereye Brew.
      • Brewmaster
        • Black Ox Statue
          • The damage requirement to activate Sanctuary of the Ox has been increased by 100%.  The spell tooltip has been updated to reflect the change.
        • Mastery: Elusive Brawler now provides 25% more Stagger per Mastery rating.
    • Paladin
      • Hand of Purity now reduces all incoming damage by 10% in addition to its other effects.
      • Eternal Flame’s periodic heal now provides 100% more healing when self-cast.
      • Judgment now costs 5% of base mana.
      • Repentance now has a cast time of 1.7 seconds, up from 1.5 seconds.
      • Sacred Shield’s absorb effect can now be dispelled.
      • Selfless Healer now boosts Flash of Light by 20/40/60%, down from 33/66/100%, and can be activated by Holy Shock, in addition to Judgment.
      • Holy
        • Blinding Light now has a 1.8-second cast time for Holy Paladins. It remains instant cast for Retribution and Protection.
        • The 4-piece PvP set bonus now grants Holy Power when casting Flash of Light, instead of Word of Glory.
      • Protection
        • The base damage of Consecration has been increased by 789%, and it now scales less efficiently with attack power by approximately 11%.
      • Retribution
        • Sword of Light now increases Flash of Light by 100%, up from 30%.
        • The tier-14 2-piece set bonus now causes Crusader Strike and Hammer of Wrath to have a 40% chance to make the Paladin’s next Divine Storm deal a Lightning Strike for 255% weapon damage as Nature. This note is incorrect, as the change applies to the tier-15 set being released in 5.2.
    • Priest
      • Angelic Bulwark’s Spirit Shell can no longer be dispelled.
      • Devouring Plague now deals its damage evenly through its duration.
      • Dominate Mind now has a 1.8-second cast time, down from 2.5 seconds.
      • Angelic Feather now has a 6-second duration, up from 4 seconds.
      • Body and Soul now has a 3-second duration, down from 4 seconds.
      • Focused Will is now a passive for Holy Priests, as well as Discipline Priests.
      • Flash Heal’s healing has been reduced by 30%. A new passive (available at level 10) increases Flash Heal’s healing by 43% for Holy and Discipline Priests.
      • Power Word: Solace has been replaced with a new talent: Solace & Insanity
        • For Holy and Discpline, Power Word: Solace replaces Holy Fire. It deals the same damage, and interacts with other spells and abilities in the same manner, but is instant, costs no mana, and restores 1% of maximum mana on each cast.
        • For Shadow, this ability causes Mind Flay to gain the Insanity effect when it’s cast on a target with 3 Shadow damage-over-time spells on it. Insanity causes Mind Flay to deal double damage for the duration.
      • Glyph of Desperation has been replaced with Glyph of Binding Heal. Pain Suppression and Guardian Spirit can now always be cast while stunned.
      • New Glyph: Glyph of Binding Heal applies Binding Heal a third nearby friendly target, but costs 35% more mana.
      • Glyph of Inner Focus has been replaced with Glyph of Weakened Soul. Casting Inner Focus now always grants 5 seconds of immunity to silences, interrupts, and dispels.
      • New Glyph: Glyph of Weakened Soul reduces the duration of Weakened Soul by 2 seconds.
      • Glyph of Holy Fire has been redesigned. It now increases the range of Holy Fire, Smite, and Power Word: Solace by 10 yards.
      • Discipline
        • Focused Will now reduces damage taken by 15% per stack, with a limit of 2 stacks.
        • Spirit Shell no longer benefits from Mastery, and now properly includes the benefits of Divine Aegis and critical effect chance.
        • Penance damage and healing has been increased by 20%.
        • Rapture now reduces the cost of Power Word: Shield by 25% 50% and provides mana equal to 150% 250% (up from 200%) of the Priest’s Spirit, but no longer benefits from Spirit provided by short-duration bonuses.
        • Divine Aegis is no longer guaranteed when Prayer of Healing is cast. The effect now procs when the spell crits.
      • The 2-piece Holy/Discipline PvP set bonus is now the previous Holy Spark 4-piece bonus, instead of Diamond Soul.
      • The 4-piece Holy/Discipline PvP set bonus has been redesigned. It now reduces the cooldown of Chakra by 25 seconds. When Spirit Shell is active the mana cost of Flash Heal is reduced by 50%.
    • Rogue
      • Preparation is now a baseline ability learned at level 68.
      • Versatility has been removed.
      • New Level-90 Talent: Marked for Death
        • Marks a target and instantly generates 5 combo points. When that target dies, Marked for Death’s cooldown is reset. This talent has a 1-minute cooldown.
      • New Level-60 Talent: Cloak and Dagger
        • Ambush, Garrote, and Cheap Shot now have a 30-yard range, and will cause the Rogue to teleport behind the target.
      • Burst of Speed now costs 30 Energy (down from 50 Energy), can be used in Stealth, and always grants increased movement speed in addition to breaking snare effects, but no longer breaks root effects.
      • Shuriken Toss now causes the Rogue to throw shuriken instead of auto-attacking for 10 seconds after Shuriken Toss is used. Auto-attack damage from Shuriken Toss has been lowered to 75%, down from 80%, and the new shuriken auto-attack override is canceled when the Rogue enters melee range of the target.
      • Deadly Throw can now interrupt spellcasting when used at 3, 4 and 5 combo points, and upon interrupt prevents any spell in that school from being cast for 4, 5 and 6 seconds respectively, instead of 5 combo points and 6 seconds.
      • Smoke Bomb now reduces damage taken by allies in the area of effect by 20%, in addition to current effects.
      • Nerve Strike now reduces the effectiveness of healing provided by the target by 10%, down from 25%.
      • Shadow Focus now reduces ability energy costs by 75% while stealthed, down from 100%.
      • PvP set bonuses have been changed:
        • Vigor is now the 4-piece set bonus and increases maximum energy by 30, up from 10.
        • Deadly Brew is now the 2-piece set bonus and its effects remain unchanged.
      • Combat
        • Vitality now increases attack power by 30%, up from 25%.
        • Blade Flurry has been changed. It now strikes up to 4 additional nearby targets for 40% of normal damage.
      • Subtlety
        • Sanguinary Vein now increases the damage the target takes by 20%, up from 16%.
    • Shaman
      • Chain Lightning will now deal the same damage to subsequent targets as it does to the first.
      • Lava Beam’s damage now increases with jumps. Each jump increases the damage by 10%.
      • Elemental Mastery now has a 90-second cooldown, down from 2 minutes.
      • Shamanistic Rage is now available to Elemental Shaman as well as Enhancement Shaman.
      • Conductivity no longer requires that the target be within the area of effect of Healing Rain.
      • Ancestral Swiftness now increases spell haste by 5% and melee haste by 10%, instead of 5% each.
      • Glyph of Purge now adds a 6-second cooldown to Purge.
      • Stone Bulwark Totem now absorbs 25% more damage.
      • Unleashed Fury Flametongue now increases Lightning Bolt damage by 20%, down from 30%, and Lava Burst damage by 10%, up from 0.
      • Primal Earth Elemental and Primal Fire Elemental now deal 20% more damage.
      • Elemental Blast now has a chance to increase the caster’s Agility for Enhancement Shaman.
      • Glyph of Flame has been redesigned. This glyph now causes the Shaman to heal for 50% of the damage dealt by Flame Shock.
      • Flame Shock’s duration has been increased by 25%.
      • Enhancement
        • Mental Quickness now lowers the cost of shocks by 90% (still lowers the cost of other “beneficial, instant, damaging and totem spells” by 75%).
        • The tier-14 2-piece set bonus now grants 2 charges of Maelstrom Weapon every time the Shaman uses Stormstrike. This note is incorrect, as the change applies to the tier-15 set being released in 5.2.
    • Warlock
      • Fel Armor now reduces damage taken by 10%, instead of increasing the Warlock’s armor.
      • The Felhunter ability Spell Lock is now an interrupt, and no longer applies a 3-second blanket silence.
      • Blood Fear has been redesigned. This ability is now cast on the Warlock, and causes melee attacks that strike within the next 60 seconds to fear the attacker. When cast, the ability has 1 charge, costs 5% health to activate, and has a 30-second cooldown.
      • Blood Fear has a new visual and sound effect, and has a visual and sound effect when the proc occurs.
      • Burning Rush now also prevents movement-impairing effects from reducing the Warlock’s movement speed below 100% of normal, in addition to its other effects.
      • The Imp ability Blood Pact has been removed.
      • Dark Intent now increases Stamina in addition to Spell Power.
      • Soul Leech now provides an absorption shield instead of healing.
      • Sacrificial Pact now requires the pet to sacrifice 25% of its health to activate, down from 50%.
      • Kil’jaeden’s Cunning is now a passive talent, and its activated ability has been removed.
      • The passive damage from Archimonde’s Vengeance no longer has a visual effect.
      • Grimoire of Sacrifice now increases the damage of abilities by 20% for Destruction Warlocks and 45% for Affliction Warlocks, down from 25% and 50%. In addition, it now provides the spell Whiplash instead of Seduction when a Succubus is sacrificed.
      • Glyph of Burning Embers has been removed and its effects are now baseline for Destruction Warlocks.
      • Glyph of Soul Shards has been removed and its effects are now baseline for Affliction Warlocks.
      • New Glyph: Glyph of Ember Tap. This glyph increases the healing gained from Ember Tap by33%, but the health is restored over 10 seconds.
      • New Glyph: Glyph of Drain Life. This glyph increases the healing gained from Drain Life by 30%.
      • Glyph of Unstable Affliction has been redesigned. This glyph now reduces the cast time of Unstable Affliction by 25%.
      • Affliction
        • Unstable Affliction’s backlash effect is now always a critical hit and deals approximately 15% more damage.
        • The tier-14 2-piece set bonus now causes Dark Soul to incresae the duraton of Haunt by 4 seconds (instead of the previous Nightfall modifier). This note is incorrect, as the change applies to the tier-15 set being released in 5.2.
      • Demonology
        • Chaos Wave now have a new visual.
    • Warrior
      • The benefit of Haste from items and consumables has been increased by 100% for all Warriors.
      • Bladestorm can no longer be disarmed.
      • Defensive Stance now reduces damage by 15%, down from 25%.
      • Unwavering Sentinel now improves the damage reduction of Defensive Stance by 10% for Protection Warriors.
      • Shockwave now has a 40-second cooldown, up from 20 seconds, and striking 3 or more targets will reduce its cooldown by 20 seconds.
      • Second Wind now causes a Warrior that has been reduced to 35% health or lower to regenerate 2% of their health per second (was 3%), and now generates 15 Rage over 10 seconds (was 20 Rage).
      • Second Wind will no longer regenerate health while the Warrior is stunned.
      • Warbringer now reduces the target’s movement by 50% for 15 seconds (8 seconds in PvP), in addition to its other effects. The 3-second stun/knockdown is now in the diminishing returns category for stuns (same as Shockwave and Storm Bolt), and not the proc stun diminishing returns category.
      • Shield Barrier now scales approximately 10% less efficiently with attack power.
      • Storm Bolt now deals 125% weapon damage, up from 100%.
      • Enraged Regeneration now costs 30 Rage, down from 60.
      • Glyph of Death from Above no longer increases the damage dealt by Heroic Leap.
      • Impending Victory will now heal the Warrior for 15% of maximum health when they have not slain an enemy, up from 10%.
      • Arms
        • Taste for Blood has been redesigned. It now causes the Warrior to gain 2 stacks of Overpower (maximum of 5 stacks) when Mortal Strike deals damage, 1 stack when the target dodges, and no longer interacts with Heroic Strike. It now requires level 20, down from level 50.
        • Slam now deals 220% weapon damage, down from 190%.
        • Overpower now costs 10 rage.
      • Fury
        • Bloodsurge now reduces the Rage cost of Wild Strike by 30, up from 20, and its duration has been increased to 15 seconds, up from 10 seconds.
      • Protection
        • The base damage of Shield Slam and Revenge has been increased by 150%, but these abilities now scale approximately 10% less efficiently with attack power.
  • Quests
    • Warlocks can now undertake a solo adventure that culminates with the ability to change the color of their Fire spells to appear Fel green. The quest begins for those Warlocks determined or fortunate enough to have laid their hands on the fabled Codex of Xerrath.
  • Creatures
    • Zandalari forces have begun scouting the shores of Pandaria, searching for the perfect invasion point.  The Zandalari can be found in Krasarang Wilds, Dread Wastes, Townlong Steppes, Jade Forest, and Kun-Lai Summit.  Zandalari Scouts can be handled by 1 or 2 players, while elite Zandalari Warbringers will likely require a full party of 5 heroes. Defeat Warbringers to gain special drops, including crafting materials, reputation gains, an achievement, and even the chance to get one of three new rare mounts!
    • Galleon now respawns much more frequently, but players can only receive loot from him once per week.
    • Fite spectral porcupine fite! Three new spectral porcupine spirit beasts have appeared across Pandaria as tameable beasts, though taming them may provide quite a challenge.
    • Dire Horns have been added as a tamable species for Hunters that have learned the required skill. Aspiring Dire Horn owners should seek out clues regarding these auspicious beasts.
  • Pet Battles
    • Supercharge now provides a 125% damage bonus, down from 150%, and lasts for 1 round (no cooldown change).
    • Prowl now lasts for 2 rounds.
    • Crystal Overload now lasts for 2 rounds.
    • Focus Chi now lasts for 1 round.
    • Sprite Darter Hatchling: Evanescence and Arcane Blast have swapped ability positions.
    • Nether Roach is now a real roach and can now survive the apocalypse.
    • Battle Pet Bandages now stack to 25 and are Bind to Account.
    • Battle-Stones now have a chance to be awarded from PvP Pet Battles.
    • Pets whose color schemes change each time they are summoned have returned. Older pets with this behavior now have it back, as well as some newcomers.
    • Taming the World now lists its reward correctly in the Achievements pane.
    • Level-capped players will now have a chance to earn Lesser Charms of Good Fortune after winning a pet battle versus a pet within 5 levels of the highest level pet on their team. Higher-level pets will offer a better chance to earn a charm.
    • Winning a pet battle versus a team within 5 levels of the player’s highest-level pet will now award player experience.
    • Fleeing a pet battle will no longer despawn the pet that was being battled, but doing so will now inflict some damage on the fleeing pet battle team.
    • Disconnecting from a pet battle will once again respawn the pets you were fighting.
    • Any pet that has been killed in a pet battle will now never respawn.
    • A number of new pets can be found on the Isle of Lightning, including rare spawn drops, wild pets, and raid boss drops.
    • Elite Battle Pets have been added to the game world. These rare pets will spawn alone against an entire team. The Beasts of Fable taming quest will now become available from Gentle San or Sara Finkleswitch once Aki the Chosen has been defeated. Defeating all of the fabled beasts will award the new Red Panda pet, while completing the associated daily quest has a chance to award the rare brown, white, and orange variants.
    • Please note: Many of these changes have not yet come to the PTR, but will be available soon.
  • Raids, Dungeons and Scenarios
    • You can now earn bonus reputation for your first dungeon and scenario of the day. You can select which reputation you choose to champion by selecting it from the reputation panel on the character screen. When you queue for a dungeon or scenario, the UI will remind you which reputation you are championing and allow you to change the reputation from there. (You cannot change that reputation once you are in the dungeon or scenario.)
    • The chance of getting personal loot in Raid Finder and the chance of a successful bonus roll in Raid Finder have been greatly increased for the 5.0 raids.
    • Heroic Pandaria dungeons now award 100 Justice Points per boss. Gold drops for those bosses have also been changed from a static 50 gold to a 40-60 gold range. Less gold will drop in groups consisting of less than 5 players.
    • Scenarios now award 50 Justice Points, up from 25.
  • PvP
    • Mists of Pandaria Season 12 Malevolent Gladiator’s PvP gear can now be purchased with Honor Points instead of Conquest Points, including weapons.
    • All newly purchased Season 12 Malevolent Gladiator’s armor, off-hands and shields will have an item level of 476 (was 483). Existing Malevolent items are unaffected.
    • Balance, Feral, Windwalker, Retribution, Shadow, Enhancement and Elemental now gain 25% of the bonus healing provided by PvP Power, up from 0. Dedicated healers will continue to gain 50% of the bonus healing, and no bonus damage, from PvP Power.
    • PvP trinkets that clear loss-of-control effects will now also clear these effects from the player’s pet as well.
    • For casters and healers, PvP Power is now split evenly between main-hand and off-hand in a manner similar to a dual-wield melee class. This change is retroactive, affecting Season 12 Malevolent and Malevolent Elite items. There should be no net change for any character already using a main-hand/off-hand combination.
    • PvP caster weapons in Season 13 cost 2250 Conquest Points (down from 2500) and shields/off-hands cost 1250 (up from 1000), to reflect the increased value of the off-hand slot for classes that use it in this manner. This change is not retroactive and applies only to Season 13 items.
  • Battlegrounds
    • Players in low-level Battlegrounds will have their effective level raised to the maximum level allowed in that Battleground bracket. Players’ base stats and spells are scaled accordingly, and are treated as the same level when determining hits, misses, and critical effect chance.
    • Rated Battlegrounds now award Conquest to the losing team based on their final score. The losing team can earn up to 200 Conquest Points from a very close match.
  • Items
    • Transmogrification rules have been broadened for several weapon types.
      • Two-handed axes, maces, and swords can be Transmogrified to each other.
      • One-handed axes, maces, and swords can be Transmogrified to each other.
      • Staves and polearms can be transmogrified to each other.
  • The ethereals that offered to upgrade items using Valor or Justice Points have departed Azeroth for the moment. They may yet return in a future patch.
  • The cost of Valor Point gear introduced in patch 5.0 has been reduced by 50%.
  • The cost of Valor Point gear introduced in patch 5.1 has been reduced by 25%.
  • Skyshards are now Bind on Account.
  • Sunsong Ranch
    • Seed bags have been added that allow planting of crops 4 plots at a time.
    • Yoon’s Mailbox has been renamed to Sunsong Ranch Mailbox.
    • The yield from special crops has been improved to make farming them competitive with gathering these items out in the world.
    • Running the Master Plow across underground Virmen will cause them to pop out of the ground at 30% health and stunned.
    • Wild Crops will now occur less often.
  • UI
    • The Reputation panel on the character screen will now let players know which reputations they have purchased and used Grand Commendations for.
    • There is now an option to show absorb effects (such as Power Word: Shield) on player, target, party and raid frames. This feature is currently enabled if you turn on the predictive healing option. Unlike predictive healing, absorb effects will display for enemy targets.
  • Bug Fixes
    • Classes
      • Druid
        • It is no longer possible for a weaker application of Living Seed to overwrite a stronger one.
      • Paladin
        • It is no longer possible to refresh Inquisition to a lower duration.
      • Mage
        • The cooldown of Cauterize will now properly reset upon entering an Arena.
      • Warlock
        • Grimoire of Service now describes its special abilities on the tooltip.
        • Demonic Circle: Teleport now correctly shares the same cooldown when in Metamorphosis.
    • Mac
      • Fixed an issue that would cause command-left-click to occur as right-click while using trackpad functionality.
      • The Logitech LCD applet for G19/G15 keyboards will now launch with the 64-bit client.
»
»