Month: February 2010

Listed below are recent fixes we have applied to the game. Keep in mind that some of these changes may not be active until after the realm has been restarted.

To review previous in-game fixes, please visit: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=21723843880&sid=1

02/05

• Rimefang now flies less frequently in all raid formats.
• Animated Bones summoned by the Anub’ar Necromancers, no longer award experience when defeated.
• The amount of damage being absorbed by sacred Shield and Power Word: Shield is being reduced by 10% correctly in only battlegrounds, Arenas, and Wintergrasp.
• The range of the Lich King’s Remorseless Winter aura has been increased in Halls of Reflection.
• The Val’kyr Shadowguards in the Icecrown Citadel Lich King raid encounter should always properly pick up their target.
• Deathbringer Saurfang should gain blood power less rapidly in normal 10 and normal 25 player modes and players can also no longer zone in while this encounter is active.
• Sindragosa’s Backlash ability can no longer crit.
• The Fountain of Light proc effect can now heal players outside of the caster’s party.

Druid (Forums / Talent Calculator)

• The rejuvenation procs from the Druid Tier 10 will now work better in a raid group and not avoid targets that have any rejuvenation spell on them though it will continue to avoid targets that have the casting druid’s rejuvenation on them.

Warrior (Forums / Talent Calculator)

• The damage bonus done by Devastate has been appropriate increased to be in line with the changes made in patch 3.3.2.

Now that Icecrown Citadel has been fully unlocked, allowing players the ability to progress in 10- and 25-player formats to defeat the Lich King, new raid weekly quests have been unlocked! These quests are specific to the Icecrown Citadel raid dungeon and do not correspond with the standard random raid weekly quest offered in Dalaran. Here's an overview of what you need to know.

One of five quests will be randomly available each week in both 10- and 25-player versions of the dungeon. This means each player has the opportunity to complete two Icecrown Citadel raid weekly quests each week if the dungeon is run in both versions, however, these quests have to be completed within the raid version (10- or 25-player) in which they are offered.

If a player obtains one of these quests but does not complete it that week, the quest will automatically be removed from the player's Quest Log the next time Lord Marrowgar is defeated under a new raid ID, or when zoning into an instance with a new raid ID where Lord Marrowgar has already been defeated. This only applies if the random raid weekly offered when the player enters a fresh Icecrown Citadel raid instance happens to be different from the one already in his or her Quest Log. Players can otherwise simultaneously have both the 10- and 25-player raid weekly quests in their Quest Logs and complete either of them at any time during the week in their respective raid versions. The quests given each week in 10- and 25-player versions of Icecrown Citadel will be randomly determined once Lord Morrowgar is killed, or once a player zones into an instance where Lord Morrowgar has already been killed.

The Quests:

• Deprogramming – Look for a rogue named Infiltrator Minchar outside of Lady Deathwhisper's chamber. He'll speak of a brainwashed operative who needs saving from the lady's powerful means of influence. While engaging Deathwhisper, keep an eye out for a warrior named Darnavan among her minions. He must live if your raid group is to succeed in completing the quest.
• Securing the Ramparts – After taking the platform up to the ramparts from Lady Deathwhisper's chamber, a lieutenant of your faction will seek your help in slaying the Rotting Frost Giant on the other end of the ramparts terrorizing his troops. Bring the monster down and return to the lieutenant for your reward.
• Residue Rendezvous – Should you succeed in killing Deathbringer Saurfang, you will soon meet Alchemist Adrianna upon lurking further into the citadel. She will task your group with the unfortunate job of being infected by both a Green Residue from Rotface and an Orange Residue from Festergut. While infected with both residues, at least one player from the raid must speak with Alchemist Adrianna in order for everyone in the group to receive credit.
• Blood Quickening – Outside the Crimson Hall awaits Alrin the Agile to inform your group that his friend, Infiltrator Minchar, has been captured by the San'layn for interrogation. Should you choose to help in rescuing Minchar, you will have 30 minutes from the moment you step foot in the Crimson Hall to kill Blood-Queen Lana'thel before she executes him. Fortunate enough for you, she will not kill Minchar if she is busy fighting your group.
• Respite for a Tormented Soul – If your group can successfully free Valithria, she will morph into her humanoid form to offer you a quest in a more approachable manner. Providing each player who accepts the quest with a Pulsating Life Crystal, a channeling device, Valithria will speak of a way to save Sindragosa's spirit. Members of the raid who use these crystals on Sindragosa when she is below 20% health will slowly stack on her the Life Infusion debuff. Reaching 30 stacks (10-player) or 75 stacks (25-player) of Life Infusion before she dies will provide the frost wyrm with an aura of Soul Preservation. If your group manages to give Sindragosa this aura before killing her, a quest item can be obtained from her remains to complete Valithria's task.

The Reward:
Completing any of these quests will reward each member of the group with a Sack of Frosty Treasures and a healthy chunk of gold. The sack will contain Emblems of Frost and other potentially valuable items! (Note: See this news)

Dungeon Finder Loot System (Auto Disenchant, Auto Roll, etc …)
We're talking about many ways to improve the Dungeon Finder system, including the way looting is done. The system is quite new and popular, so we want to continue iterating upon it. As you might have expected when seeing the "Blizz" logo on this thread on a Friday night though, I don't have any specific details to share just yet. (Source)

Auction House iPhone Application
We'll let everyone know if and when we get to the point of adding this application to more devices. We're currently focused on getting the functionality working properly for this device at this time. (Source)

Nibelung Hotfix
I updated my last post, the val'kyr heals for 25% of her maximum health and that is intended.

Regarding the proc chance, the recent change made it so other items/procs can no longer cause other items to procs, only spells a player knows. This is why we increased the proc chance for this item from from 1% to 2% but that is still a buff overall. (Source)

Paladin (Forums / Talent Calculator)
Sacred Duty Nerf
I don't think the situation is nearly as grim as you're painting it to be. Paladins are still very desirable tanks from a hardcore raiding or casual perspective. The class is still able to attain great mitigation through block talents and maintains multiple lines of defense against mass damage spikes. While, yes, this is a reduction, it is not big enough to break the tanking mechanics that the class plays by. It will have mild adverse effects, but it simply brings the class back into the range of play of other tanking classes. ([url=http://blue.mmo-…