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WoWJan 29, 2019 7:53 pm CT

Stormwall Blockade nerf finally makes it to the game in latest hotfixes

In addition to the class tuning changes that went live with today’s weekly reset, we were greeted with a host of much-needed raid nerfs.

Stormwall Blockade is the most notable one. From the initial launch last week for Battle of Dazar’alor, word spread pretty quickly that the fight was overtuned, especially for Normal mode. Warcraft Devs on Twitter confirmed the same day that there had been nerfs to the fight on the PTR, but they somehow had not made it to the live game. This left players encountering a much harder fight than expected. It also led to “creative” game mechanics, such as an Asian guild that had an infamous 27 minute log for the fight — achieved by flying back and forth between the two boats and using instant DPS abilities in the crossover. Though Warcraft Devs announced the expected hotfix would be coming “shortly,” it hadn’t appeared in the hotfix notes until now.

Several other fights were nerfed in addition to Stormwall Blockade, including Lady Jaina Proudmore to prevent a bug with Monk abilities from making Monks the only tank for the fight. Just in time for the world first race it seems. Players who couldn’t loot King Rastakahn will be happy to know that bug is fixed as well, though they probably would have appreciated it more earlier in the raid.

Several other miscellaneous bug fixes came with these hotfix notes, and all the Heart of Azeroth and PVP changes are included as well. Check out the full list of hotfixes below.

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment (Official Post)

Classes

  • Death Knight
    • Unholy
      • Death Coil damage increased by 20%.
  • Druid
    • Restoration
      • Efflorescence healing increased by 15%.
      • Lifebloom and Wild Growth cost reduced by 7%.
  • Hunter
    • Marksmanship
      • All damage and pet damage increased by 3%.
      • Developers’ note: Marksmanship damage has been a bit too low when not using Unerring Vision. With the reduction to Unerring Vision’s effectiveness, this increase brings Marksmanship up to a more appropriate overall level.
  • Warlock
    • Demonology
      • Fixed an issue where demons from the Nether Portal talent would sometimes not correctly spawn when spending Soul Shards.
  • Warrior
    • Arms
      • Mortal Strike, Execute, Slam, Overpower, and Rend damage increased by 8%.

Dungeons and Raids

  • Battle of Dazar’alor
    • Jadefire Masters
      • Placing a raid marker while holding the egg for the Hidden Dragon achievement should no longer cause you to drop the egg.
    • Stormwall Blockade
      • Laminaria health reduced by 10% on Normal and Heroic difficulties.
      • Energized Storm health reduced by 10% on all non-Mythic difficulties.
      • Tidal Volley and Jolting Volley damage has been reduced by 10% on all non-Mythic difficulties.
      • Sea Storm initial damage reduced by 10% on all non-Mythic difficulties.
      • The interval between spawns of Energized Storms has been increased by 25% on all non-Mythic difficulties.
      • Storm’s Wail now lasts 13 seconds on Raid Finder and Normal difficulties (was 10 seconds).
    • Lady Jaina Proudmoore
      • Fixed an issue where Elusive Brawler was not being correctly removed when dodging Ice Shard.
      • Jaina will now finish casting Orb of Frost or Glacial Ray before activating Ice Block if she detects Heroism or Bloodlust effects.
      • Frozen Solid can no longer be broken with stun breaks (Icebound Fortitude, Blink).
      • Jaina’s berserk timer has been adjusted to 15 minutes in non-Mythic difficulties. It is 12 minutes in Mythic difficulty.
    • King Rastakahn
      • Fixed a bug that caused some players to see no loot in the Treasure of the Zandalari.
  • Temple of Sethraliss
    • Fixed an issue with Reaping that caused Static-charged Dervish to incorrectly summon many, many, MANY Lost Souls.
    • Hoodoo Hexxers now continue to cast Rain Of Toads as long as they are alive.

Items

  • The wrapper quest for Assaults can no longer award Azerite Armor Caches.
    • Developers’ notes: We’d like Assaults to remain a lucrative source of equipment for characters who have recently hit level 120, but this wasn’t a good source for Azerite gear, as players will want to obtain newer Azerite gear with 5 powers.
  • Fixed an issue that prevented the Crest of Pa’ku from being activated by Healing spells.
  • Fixed a bug where some on-use Battle of Dazar’alor trinkets were not properly triggering the on-use cooldowns of other trinkets.
  • Shadowtome can now be upgraded by Ensorcelled Tarots.

Heart of Azeroth

  • Developers’ notes: Based on data observed since Tides of Vengeance launched, we have several tuning changes for Azerite traits. The goal of these changes is to improve the usability of some class traits, as well as rein in the power of some of the newer traits in a way that still preserves their core coolness. Additionally, some Azerite traits changed value dramatically with changes to specs in Tides of Vengeance, so we’re taking this opportunity to rebalance those traits as the Mythic Raid opens.
  • All Classes
    • Dagger in the Back effectiveness reduced by 10%.
    • Champion of Azeroth effectiveness reduced by 10%.
    • Treacherous Covenant effectiveness reduced by 10%.
  • Death Knight
    • Fixed an issue that caused Bloody Runeblade to incorrectly calculate haste.
  • Druid
    • Streaking Stars effectiveness increased by 15%.
  • Hunter
    • Unerring Vision effectiveness reduced by 33%.
    • Blur of Talons effectiveness reduced by 33%.
    • Rapid Reload damage increased by 100%.
    • Feeding Frenzy damage increased by 30%.
    • Dance of Death agility increased by 20%.
    • Serrated Jaws Kill Command damage increased by 40%.
    • Focused Fire damage increased by 15%.
  • Mage
    • Wildfire damage reduced by 30%.
    • Equipoise damage increased by 200%.
    • Arcane Pummeling damage increased by 50%.
  • Monk
    • Fury of Xuen chance to spawn Xuen reduced by 33% per stack.
  • Paladin
    • Light’s Decree damage reduced by 30%.
    • Fixed an issue which caused Light’s Decree to deal less damage than intended when your Holy Power costs were reduced by effects like Divine Purpose or Fires of Justice.
  • Priest
    • Searing Dialogue effectiveness reduced by 35%.
  • Rogue
    • The First Dance haste reduced by 40%.
    • Replicating Shadows shadow damage increased by 30%.
  • Shaman
    • Echo of the Elementals damage reduced by 33%.
    • Primal Primer effectiveness reduced by 30%.
    • Strength of Earth effectiveness reduced by 30%.
    • Igneous Potential damage increased by 150%.
    • Ancestral Resonance mastery increased by 10%.
    • Thunderaan’s Fury totem spawn chance reduced to 8% (was 10%).
  • Warlock
    • Pandemic Invocation damage increased by 15%.
    • Explosive Potential effectiveness increased by 100%.
    • Umbral Blaze effectiveness increased by 100%.

Mounts

  • The G.M.O.D. can now fly … on Azerite-powered rocket thrusters.
  • Fixed a bug that prevented Alliance players from using the Dazar’alor Windreaver.

Player versus Player

  • “Against Overwhelming Odds” now rewards item-level 385 items and 50 Conquest.
  • “Call to Arms” now rewards a piece of Aspirant’s gear, 50 Conquest, and 250 Honor.
  • “The Arena Calls” now rewards a piece of Aspirant’s gear, 65 Conquest, and 750 Azerite Power.
  • Gladiator’s Safeguard trinket’s absorb amount reduced by 33%.
  • Gladiator’s Emblem trinket’s maximum health buff increased by 20%.
  • The healing absorption from Sinister Gladiator’s Maledict will no longer stack. New spell absorption effects will overwrite older applications, even if they are more powerful. Initial damage has been reduced by 33%.
  • Resolved an issue that prevented some players from earning credit towards the Seasonal Vicious mount (Vicious Black Warsaber, Vicious Black Bonesteed).
  • Cooking Impossible
    • The number of Ingredients required has been reduced to 30 (was 40).
  • Druid
    • Fixed an issue where the PvP-only healing increase to Regrowth was incorrectly increasing Feral, Balance, and Guardian Regrowth healing.
    • Restoration
      • All healing increased by 10% when engaged in combat with enemy players.
      • Focused Growth (PvP Talent) increases the healing of Lifebloom by 20% (was 15%).
      • Focused Growth (PvP Talent) reduces mana cost of Lifebloom by 20% (was 15%).
      • Overgrowth (PvP Talent) mana cost reduced by 25%.
  • Hunter
    • Marksmanship
      • Aimed Shot, Arcane Shot, and Steady Shot damage increased by 10% when engaged in combat with enemy players.
  • Paladin
    • Fixed an issue where the PvP-only healing increase to Flash of Light was incorrectly increasing Retribution and Protection Flash of Light healing.
  • Priest
    • Fixed an issue where the PvP-only healing increase to Shadow Mend was incorrectly increasing Shadow Priest’s Shadow Mend healing. It is intended to only increase Discipline Priest’s Shadow Mend.
  • Shaman
    • Fixed an issue where the PvP-only healing increase to Healing Surge was incorrectly increasing Elemental Healing Surge healing.
  • Warlock
    • Destruction
      • Grimoire of Supremacy increases Chaos Bolt damage by 4% per Soul Shard spent when engaged in combat with enemy players (was 8%).
      • Chaos Bolt damage increased by 15% when engaged in combat with enemy players.
  • Warrior
    • Protection
      • Fixed an issue where Meance could cause Intimidating Shout to disorient targets for longer than 8 seconds when engaged in combat with enemy players.
      • Morale Killer (PvP Talent) now reduces the cooldown of Demoralizing Shout by 15 seconds (was 30 seconds).

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