Patch 3.3.3 Looking For Dungeon World Event Boss changes.

When the news came out about the changes to the LFD system to include holiday world event boss encounters I was very pleased. It is at times difficult to find a group on your server, get to the location, and then have to replace someone when the need arises. With this added to the system it will actually eliminate many of the little problems that players encountered.

There is some misunderstanding as to the changes since CM Zarhym stated:

Yes, the Dungeon Finder must be used. The interface will have a separate selection for special World Event bosses in dungeons. If players zone into the dungeon without using the Dungeon Finder, the bosses will not be there.

This also led me to have some misconceptions as to how this would operate. Would we no longer be able to get a group of friends or guild to run these limited encounters? Thankfully though there has been a little bit of clarification as to how this will work.

This will work just like the dungeons work now. You form a group or queue for a PUG group and you will be ported to the dungeon.

The ability to summon the boss for the encounter will no longer be needed.

This change will eliminate any issues with one member of the group leaving after the first four "summons" had been used. There is a lot more to this matter.

There was some important clarification how the boss encounters have changed thanks to this recent post!

Your group will zone in, fight the boss. Upon defeating the boss you will earn a "trove" that has a chance to contain a rare holiday item that most seek during these events. This will be exactly as how Oculus has a chance at awarding a drake mount to a player. There will be no rolling against other players. You just have a chance at being lucky. However you will only receive this ONCE per day, in the manner one obtains 2 frost emblems for their first random heroic of the day.

If a person has already had a boss kill for the day they are still able to participate in more encounters. Players will be able to roll other "normal" drops from these bosses thus making the holiday gear farmable.

Ever experience a wipe cause the group failed to understand the mechanics of the fight or you just got unlucky in some PUG? Well this is no longer a problem! No more wasted "summons"!!

There will be no limit as to how often you can farm for the gear on your characters with this change!

Some players have expressed frustration that their alts will not be permitted to participate with the "extra" summons they can provide however with no limitation to how often you can encounter the holiday bosses the need for alts is very much eliminated.

Some feel that this will directly affect the value of the Direbrew Remote that drops off Coren Direbrew, the Brewfest event boss located in Blackrock Depths (BRD).

The upcoming changes will remove the usefulness of the device to transport a group directly to the bar in BRD for the holiday boss. However this is not the only ability of the remote and it will still have an impact for the fight.

This device has the ability to summon TAFKA L80 ETC (The Artists Formally Know As Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftan. Summoning the band will provide a 5 min buff increasing your stats by 5% and this stacks with Blessing of Kings.

The remote will also help those seeking to do reputation turn in for Thorium Brotherhood or for a quick run to obtain some Dire Brew from the Dark Iron Brewer at the bar. Dark Iron Ale which is needed for the Dark Moon Faire pet frog Jubjub can be obtained from Pugger Spazzring very quickly as well. This can sell well to those who lack the device and don't want to take the time to acquire the BRD key and clear their way through in order to access the quest that awards the Jubling frog.

One other issue that many have overlooked was how the holiday boss events affected players who were trying to do the dungeons as intended. BRD was infamous for having hostile mobs at max level aggro instantly to players of the proper level for the dungeon (52 - 60) making it impossible to zone in unless they recruited a character at a much higher level. Now that these mobs and the bosses are no longer accessible outside of the LFD tool this will no longer be an issue.

I am very happy to have these changes come about. This past Love is in the Air holiday I was only able to rarely find a group to do the holiday boss. From what I have read I am not the only one that had difficulty finding a group. Given that my guild collapsed I am dependent on PUGS to try to get to attempt these bosses and the LFD addition really fixes many problems.

Sorry for how the font changed in this post. I am posting too early in the morn and by quoting with a cut and paste, the format of this post went haywire. I tried setting the text back to normal but it won't cooperate with me. Maybe I am just tired how the blog site is very limiting.

Perspective of New LFG

So there was a new build on PTR for Patch 3.3 which now makes the new Looking For Group system available. When I tested the new system I experienced some bugs and noticed that there were some unreported affects with the new system.

The Bugs.

When I queued up I did get a notice that my random party for my random Lich King heroic was ready. I accepted the group and instead of being transported to the dungeon I was sent back to where I entered the queue originally. Very much like when one returns from a battleground after it is over. I was also given a server notice stating "Heroic difficulty requires you to be level 80."

I was able to zone into an instance with another party member but no one else was able to port to the instance. I also failed to notice any indication as to what instance we were going to. Trying to get ported to the instance that was chosen still sent me back to my original queue spot.

Unreported Features.

I list this as unreported cause wow.com's post did not state these features.

Mini Map button.

The mini map has a button which will teleport you to the dungeon you have queued for. I tried this option as well but had the same original affect as when I accepted the group.

Dungeon Cooldown Debuff.

Once you accept a group you can't use the LFG system to group up again for 15 min.

While I can understand how this will punish those who flip groups if they object to the dungeon, the make up, etc. It affects our ability to recover from a group that breaks up. One suggestion to remedy this is to not make this debuff apply to anyone unless they leave the group prior to 15 min. My group broke up due to the bugs and I was not able to participate in another. I ended up logging due to it.

Normal Lich King Random Dungeon.

Most are talking about how the Heroic Lich King random dungeon awards 2 emblems of Frost and 68 gold. No one has brought up that the normal dungeon pays 49 gold 66 silver. and a emblem of Triumph.

My minor issue with this is that you're forced to do a normal instance. I am disappointed that you can't combine efforts anymore to complete the dungeon on heroic for the reward as you could when the daily dungeons were in effect. I understand that this seems intended and if you want the gold you run it normal. I can accept that. Just sad to see this aspect of the game change.

However I am happy to see that this is the replacement to the daily dungeons. These quests were removed on the PTR and the achievements for them were changed to feats of strength. I wanted to write about how disappointed I was with these changes but that is the issue with the PTR. Things change and nothing is final until it is live.

The new LFG looks interesting, makes pugging more profitable and eliminates having missed the daily or having to port over to obtain it. The fact that everyone will eventually be ported to the dungeon means I don't waste time waiting for lazy players anymore.

While there are better ways to generate gold then these new rewards, it is nice that time will be saved. Time really is money.

PTR 3.3. Short Guide

I am noticing many questions as to what is going on with the PTR. I figure I post from my experience.

Character Copy:

While it is often suggested to copy your own character I don't suggest it for the time being. There is currently a bug if your character has done or completed the phased quests in Ice Crown. They will not be able to see the portals to test out the new instances.

Pre-Made Characters:

I do recommend you make two copies of a pre-made character. This is to experience both Alliance and Horde versions of the dungeons. When you first log on your character you will suffer a disconnection. Just relog to access the character.

Your character will be already duel spec'd but no talents have been applied. (unless paladin). Hunters have 4 pets, one which is a spirit beast.

A pre-made character comes with the Raven land mount as well as the Bronze Drake flying mount. Your reputation with almost every home and Northrend faction is exalted. You have the Argent Tabard so while you begin in your home faction city you can port yourself to the Argent Tourney without having to ask a mage for a port.

Once at Dalaran you can go to the city trade district to purchase glyphs from a vendor. You may also want to visit the Barber to change your appearance.

Your gear will be Tier 9, unenchanted and not gemmed. However all of your bags will contain other gear (PVP/PVE) as well as consumables. Your bank will have 20 of each epic gem, meta and enchantment materials. A grinder and rod are provided in your backpack. Your character will be a max enchanter and jewel crafter.

Everything you need to enchant a full suit is provided. However there is a but with the new Shatter so it is not recommended you take an Abyss Crystal for lower level materials. Either copy another character to the same faction and mail the materials or just settle for enchanting only one suit.

There are a few glyphs missing and there are no scopes. However considering you are decked out and testing a normal and heroic instance this should not be a problem.

Currently only POS (Pit of Sauron) is available for testing. It is located on a west wing of the citadel but will take some time to familiarize yourself with the location. The run from the graveyard takes some getting used to.

For those of you testing it out, have fun doing so! I'm on the PVE server on a Horde Hunter named Rizahawkeye, and I started an Ally hunter named Nakoruru (with her Poppy).

PTR: Patch 3.2.2. Battleground Changes

Patch 3.2.2. will change the way we are able to queue for a battleground.

• Players may now only queue for no more than two Battlegrounds at a time.
• The dialog box for entering a Battleground match has been changed to reflect the following options: “Enter Battle,” “Leave Queue,” and “Minimize.”
• The time a player has to enter a battle when selected has been reduced to 40 seconds when not already in a Battleground and 20 seconds when in a Battleground.
• Players already in a Battleground can now choose “Enter Battle” for a new Battleground under any circumstance (i.e. while dead, in combat, falling, etc.).
• A new Battleground will not launch until the maximum number of players on each side are in the queue (i.e. 40 players per side for Alterac Valley).

The ability to only queue for two battlegrounds affects me slightly. I liked having the option to queue for three. In the event my side was severely outnumbered I liked having an escape from a lost cause. I'm not a coward in a fight but I find it a waste of my game time to be stepped on by overwhelming numbers repeatedly while waiting for the opposite faction to win. Since BG can be dragged on by players it simply stops being fun.

I'll gladly sacrifice myself if my side can accomplish goals and work as a team but it morally sucks when you are in a battleground, you are outnumbered, and just as the other side is about to win we finally get the numbers but by then the battle is seconds from ending.

If it is true that a Battleground WILL NOT launch until the maximum number of players on EACH side are in queue then this change will have little to no impact.

I'm not one to endorse Battlegroup jumping. Premades used to do it all the time back in Burning Crusade all the time and changes were made to prevent this. If the Battlegrounds will be balanced then players won't feel the need to skip around in the queue.

PTR: Patch 3.2.2. Shaman Changes

Zarhym has taken the time to update the patch notes for the current Patch 3.2.2. which is on the PTR.

So a few tibits of Shammy news to share!

Shaman

• Flame Shock: The duration of all ranks has been increased by 6 seconds.
• Lava Burst: This ability no longer ever consumes a Flame Shock debuff off of the target.

Enhancement

• Earthen Power: No longer causes Earthbind to pulse a persistent snare immunity aura. It does still remove snares from allies as an instant pulse, but there is no lingering immunity. Earthen Power now also brings Earth Shock’s melee attack speed reduction up to -15%/-20% (with 1 or 2 points in it, respectively).

• Grounding Totem will now properly protect against the Death Grip spell.
• Lava Burst can no longer deal critical damage to targets who are immune to critical strikes (due to, e.g. Roar of Sacrifice, Blessed Resilience).
• Lightning Shield: This spell will no longer set off some trinkets when it is cast.
• Stoneclaw Totem's pulses will no longer break stealth on nearby hostile units.
• Thunderstorm and Shamanistic Rage can no longer be used while Frozen, Cycloned, Sapped, or Incapacitated.

I'm happy to see that Lava Burst will no longer take away the damage over time component from Flame Shock. I lament the loss of being able to obtain a critical to a target that is immune to critical strikes. However if the target is supposed to be immune well it makes sense.

So our grounding totem will now deflect the Death Grip from a Death Knight! Woot! Finally a good reason to use them when confronted by them defending a flag!

PTR: Patch 3.2.2. Hunter Bestial Wrath Change

It may seem that Beast Master hunters are getting more love from the nerf bat with a significant change to their bestial wrath ability.

Ghostcrawler however does bring to light the complete revision to the talent.

He states:

I love data-mined patch note day.

It should be no surprise to anyone who has been on these boards for long that we're trying to chill out abilities that convey offensive and defensive bonuses with the same button press. At the same time, BM damage was a little low and too dependent on the pet. With this change, hopefully, Bestial Wrath becomes more of a defensive ability while taking Beast Within will boost hunter (and just the hunter) damage at all times.

I call it more of a defensive cooldown because it now breaks all CC like a PvP trinket.

He continues:

Since the changes seem to be causing confusion, here is the new tooltip.

“Send your pet into a rage causing 50% additional damage for 10 sec (down from 18). While enraged, the beast does not feel pity or remorse or fear and it cannot be stopped unless killed.”

The tooltip doesn’t say this, but it now breaks all forms of CC that a PvP trinket would break (including Cyclone, Sap, etc.).

“Increases all damage you deal by 10% and while your pet is under the effects of Bestial Wrath, you also go into a rage causing 10% additional damage and reducing mana costs of all spells by 20% for 10 sec (down from 18). While enraged, you do not feel pity or remorse or fear and you cannot be stopped unless killed.”

So the changes are:

Duration lowered.
Passive hunter damage buff added.
Now breaks all forms of CC (whatever a PvP trinket breaks, including Sap and Cyclone).

I've never been Beast Master. I am considering it as a spec for my future tanking spec however I seem to recall Bestial Wrath made you immune to any form of crowd control. You could not be stopped, slowed, and were able to do it for 18 seconds. 18 seconds to me seems like a really long time in an Arena environment. I can understand why this has been changed to 10 seconds and how many are not happy with the change.

I recall that Bestial Wrath would not break you out of a Polymorph. It would break you out of a Sap or a Stun. With Ghostcrawler comparing it to a trinket it makes me believe that the ability will break a hunter out of Polymorph.

Is it me or does anyone else find it amusing that Ghostcrawler seems irritated at Boubouille for bringing this to light?

PTR: Patch 3.2.2. Death Knight Changes.

Some changes are pending for Death Knights. Please bear in mind these changes are only on the PTR (Play Test Realm) and may change without notice once the patch is applied to the live servers.



Blood

• Heart Strike now has its total damage increased by 10% for each of your diseases on the target to the primary target, and half that to the secondary target.
• Vampiric Blood now lasts 10 sec. (Down from 20 sec.)
• Subversion now also affects Scourge Strike.

Frost

• Frost Presence now reduces damage taken by 8%. (Up from 5%)
• Threat of Thassarian now also affects Rune Strike.
• Unbreakable Armor now increases your armor by 25% and increasing your Strength by 10% for 20 sec.

Unholy

• Bone Shield cooldown has been lowered from 2 min to 1 min.
• Dirge no longer affects Obliterate.

Tier 9

• Item - Death Knight T9 Tank 4P Bonus - Decreases the cooldown on your Unbreakable Armor, Vampiric Blood, and Bone Shield abilities by 10 sec. (Down from 20 sec)

Glyphs

• Glyph of Scourge Strike - Your Scourge Strike increases the duration of your Blood Plague and Frost Fever on the target by 3 sec, up to a maximum of 9 additional seconds. (Old - Your Scourge Strike has a 25% chance to cause Blood Plague and Frost Fever.)
• Glyph of Unbreakable Armor - Increases the armor granted by Unbreakable Armor by 20%. (Old - Increases the amount of damage absorbed by Unbreakable Armor by 20%.)
• Glyph of Vampiric Blood - Increases the duration of your Vampiric Blood by 5 sec. (Down from 10 sec)

What caught my attention are the changes to frost. I'm glad to see that there are some revisions to their tanking aspect that helps undo a little bit of the previous nerfs the class endured. The change to bone shield will just make them a little harder to take out in PVP.

I don't really play a DK seriously but I have friends that do. I am glad at least they are being buffed to be a bit more survivable then before. Maybe now some whiners won't complain about a DK as a tank. I've not had problems with any DK tank as a healer. Folks just are spoiled.