News > WoWFeb 22, 2017 1:07 pm CT

World of Warcraft hotfixes for February 21

By Matthew Rossi

The latest hotfixes focus primarily on PvP, with several specs getting alterations to their PvP templates as well as specific ability changes. In addition, Death Knights see significant PvE changes, along with some smaller changes for Paladins, Hunters, and Priests. Unholy DKs should be happy about the Virulent Plague change. CM Lore posted this roundup of the changes on the forums as well.

It’s interesting to see so many changes to PvP templates, clearly an attempt to balance out which specs are more popular in PvP right now. 10 classes in total saw at least some adjustment, with Druids, Death Knights, Hunters, Shaman, and Warlocks all seeing significant adjustment.

The full list of hotfixes is below.

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment (Official Post)

Hotfixes

Class

Death Knight
- Virulent Plague damage-over-time damage increased 67%.
- Summon Gargoyle– Gargoyle Strike damage increased 50%.
- Dark Arbiter– Val’kyr Strike damage increased 16%.
- Death Grip should no longer ignore Grounding Totem.
Hunter
- (Marksmanship) Piercing Shot will no longer deal less potential damage when the Focus-cost-reduction effect of the Eagletalon Battlegear (4-piece) is active.
Paladin
- The Light Saves now triggers when the Beacon of Faith target’s health drops below 50%.
Priest
- Shadow Mend now deals appropriate damage to low-level players.
- Shadow Word: Pain (with the Misery talent) is now properly applied to the target when out of range.

Items

(Hotfix in testing) Skardyn’s Grace: The duration of the on-use effect of item has been increased from 20 seconds to 35 seconds, and the amount of Mastery it rewards has been reduced proportionately.

Player versus Player

Death Knight
- Dark Simulacrum’s cooldown has been reduced to 25 seconds (was 30 seconds).
- Blood
  - Blood Death Knights no longer deal reduced damage in PvP situations (was a reduction of 10%).
- Unholy
  - Crypt Fever’s damage has been reduced by 15%.
  - Damage of Virulent Plague, Summon Gargoyle, and Dark Arbiter has been reduced to offset the baseline increases above, leaving these abilities unchanged in PvP.
Druid
- Restoration
  - Nourish now reduces the cast time of Healing Touch by 0.2 seconds (was 0.5 seconds).
  - Nourish will now only apply Regrowth’s heal over time effect (was both the initial heal and the heal over time effect).
  - Abundance now reduces the cast time of Healing Touch by 5% per Rejuvenation active in PvP situations (was 10%).
  - Fixed a bug that caused Nature’s Essence to fail to heal on Wild Growths cast in PvP if the Druid had the Nourish or Overgrowth Honor Talents.
Hunter
- Survival
  - Caltrops now deals 20% less damage in PvP, and reduces movement speed by 50% (was 70% speed).
  - Survival Hunter’s PvP Template Agility has been reduced by 2.5%.
- Marksmanship
  - Healing Shell now heals for its full value in PvP.
  - Aimed Shot now deals an additional 5% damage in PvP situations.
  - Marksmanship Hunter’s PvP Template Agility has been increased by 5%.
  - Marksmanship Hunter’s PvP Template now has 150% Haste (was 175%), 100% Mastery (was 75%), and 120% Armor (was 100%).
- Beast Mastery
  - Beast Mastery Hunter’s PvP Template Agility has been increased by 5%.
  - Beast Mastery Hunter’s PvP Template now has 130% Haste (was 100%).
  - Beast Mastery Hunter’s PvP Template now has 125% Versatility (was 100%).
  - Beast Mastery Hunter’s PvP Template now has 75% Mastery (was 100%).
  - Beast Mastery Hunter’s PvP Template now has 70% Critical Strike (was 100%).
  - Beast Mastery Hunter’s PvP Template now has 120% Armor (was 100%).

Mage
- Fire
  - Cauterizing Blink’s heal has been reduced by 33% in PvP situations.
  - Fire Mage’s PvP Template Stamina and Intellect have been reduced by 5%.
Paladin
- Holy
  - Avenging Crusader once again ignores line of sight when healing.
  - Avenging Crusader will now cause Judgment and Crusader Strike to heal even if their damage is absorbed.
  - Fixed a bug that caused Spreading the Word to make Blessing of Freedom trigger Cleanse’s cooldown.
- Retribution
  - Retribution Paladin PvP template now has an additional 3% Strength.
Priest
- Discipline
  - Inner Renewal now causes Power Word: Radiance to refund 25% of its mana cost when self-cast (was 50%).
Rogue
- Assassination
  - Fixed a bug that caused Deadly Brew’s additional free Wound Poison effect to increase to Kingsbane’s damage.
  - Poison Bomb’s damage has been reduced by 30% in PvP.
  - Wound Poison’s healing reduction effect has been reduced to 20% in PvP (24% with Master Poisoner).
  - Assassination Rogue’s PvP Template Agility has been reduced by 5%.
Shaman
- Elemental
  - Elemental Shaman’s PvP Template Intellect and Stamina have been increased by 5%.
- Enhancement
  - Enhancement Shaman’s PvP Template Agility has been increased by 10%, and Stamina has been increased by 5%.
  - Stormstrike deals 20% less damage in PvP (was 15% less damage).
- Restoration
  - Restoration Shaman’s PvP Template now has 130% Versatility (was 100%).
Warrior
- Arms
  - Arms Warrior PvP template now has an additional 5% Strength, 5% Stamina, and 10% Armor.
  - Arms Warrior PvP template now has 150% Versatility (was 125%).
- Fury
  - Endless Rage now increases the duration of Enrage by 1 second (was 2 seconds).
Warlock
- Destruction
  - Chaos Bolt’s damage has been increased by 25% in PvP situations.
  - Reverse Entropy reduces the cast time of Chaos Bolt by 0.25 seconds in PvP situations (was 0.5 seconds).
  - Backdraft reduces the cast time of Chaos Bolt and Rain of Fire by 15% in PvP situations (was 30%).
- Demonology
  - Demonology Warlock’s PvP Template Intellect has been increased by 5%.
  - Demonology Warlock’s PvP Template now has 150% Haste (was 100%), 75% Versatility (was 100%), and 75% Mastery (was 100%).