WoWMay 23, 2017 12:38 pm CT

Maximum Artifact Knowledge level drops to 40 in latest WoW hotfix

While this may sound like a nerf, hear me (and the WoW developers) out: hitting Artifact Knowledge 50 was going to be a serious grind, and grinds like that just aren’t any fun. Even with dropping AK to 40 you still get a significant Artifact Power boost, just without an endless grind ahead of you. Here’s what the developers have to say about the change:

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment (Official Post)

We raised the Knowledge cap from 40 to 50 very late in the 7.2 PTR cycle, out of an abundance of caution: We wanted to ensure that players of all playstyles, as well as alt characters, would view the Concordance trait as accessible. However, between the additional Artifact Power gains added in 7.2 and others that were hotfixed in after the patch released, we’re now well ahead of that mark. Knowledge 40 now seems more than sufficient for players to reach Concordance, and the prospect of months’ worth of additional Knowledge still left to research makes some players feel like their efforts in the interim aren’t meaningful. Therefore, we’re rolling the cap back to 40.

So think of it as a stealthy buff to your gameplay time that lets you do more than endlessly collect resources for AK. Of course, this isn’t the only hotfix — in the hotfix notes you’ll also find some bug fixes and a few changes to PVP Paladins. Find the full rundown below.

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment (Official Post)

Achievements

“Grand Opening” now requires 8 spotlights activated during the Chronomatic Anomaly encounter (was 12).

Classes

Monk
- Ironskin and Fortifying Brew once again grant the correct Stagger percentage.

Class Hall

Artifact Knowledge can now be researched to a maximum level of 40 (was 50).
- Developers’ Notes: We raised the Knowledge cap from 40 to 50 very late in the 7.2 PTR cycle, out of an abundance of caution: We wanted to ensure that players of all playstyles, as well as alt characters, would view the Concordance trait as accessible. However, between the additional Artifact Power gains added in 7.2 and others that were hotfixed in after the patch released, we’re now well ahead of that mark. Knowledge 40 now seems more than sufficient for players to reach Concordance, and the prospect of months’ worth of additional Knowledge still left to research makes some players feel like their efforts in the interim aren’t meaningful. Therefore, we’re rolling the cap back to 40.

Player versus Player

Deepwind Dunk is now 15 minutes long, and each player killed during Deepwind Dunk awards 5 points.
Paladin
- Attacking a Judged target will now cause Judge Unworthy to only spread that target’s Judgment, instead of all your nearby Judgments.
- Judge Unworthy can now spread Judgment to targets that are under the effects of crowd-control abilities.
- Damage from Lawbringer can no longer cause Judge Unworthy to spread Judgment.