It’s time to take a look back at all the changes that arrived via hotfix this past week. The big news was the class tuning pass, but we also saw many Aberrus raid changes, item tweaks and more.
Weekly Hotfix Summary (Source)
Classes
Death Knight
Blood
[With weekly restarts] Increased damage of all abilities by 8%.
Druid
Feral
Developers’ Notes: These set bonus changes will increase the average number of stacks of the (2) Set Bonus and cause the (4) Set Bonus to trigger less often, but provide more Agility when it does.
[With weekly restarts] Aberrus (2) Set Bonus: Chance for Shadows of the Predator stacks to reset reduced by 15%.
[With weekly restarts] Aberrus (4) Set Bonus: Now increases Agility by 8% (up from 5%).
Evoker
Preservation
Developers’ notes: We would like there to be more of a reward to using Disintegrate over Living Flame as a Preservation Evoker since it has a high Essence cost.
[With weekly restarts] Disintegrate damage has been increased by 15% for Preservation Evoker.
Hunter
Beast Mastery
[With weekly restarts] All damage dealt by you and your pet’s abilities increased by 5%.
Mage
Fire
[With weekly restarts] Pyroblast damage increased by 5% (does not apply in PvP combat).
[With weekly restarts] Fire Blast damage increased by 10% (does not apply in PvP combat).
[With weekly restarts] Fireball damage increased by 10% (does not apply in PvP combat).
[With weekly restarts] Phoenix Flames damage increased by 10% (does not apply in PvP combat).
[With weekly restarts] Scorch damage increased by 10%.
Monk
Brewmaster
[With weekly restarts] All ability damage increased by 3%.
[With weekly restarts] Rising Sun Kick damage increased by 10%.
[With weekly restarts] Blackout Kick damage increased by 30%.
[With weekly restarts] Tiger Palm damage increased by 30%.
Mistweaver
[With weekly restarts] All healing increased by 3%. This does not apply to PvP combat.
Priest
Discipline
Fixed an issue where Radiant Providence from the Discipline Priest 4-piece set bonus would reset on when engaging a dungeon boss.
Holy
Fixed an issue where the duplicated Prayer of Mending from the Holy Priest 2-piece set bonus would cost twice as much mana.
Paladin
Retribution
Fixed an issue causing the Indomitable Justice Azerite trait to sometimes provide an unintended speed bonus.
Rogue
Assassination
[With weekly restarts] All ability damage increased by 5%.
Warlock
Developers’ notes: The high frequency of Amplify Curse has been problematic in PvP combat, so its cooldown has been increased. These changes are also noted in the PvP section below.
[With weekly restarts] The cooldown of Amplify Curse is now 60 seconds (was 30 seconds).
[With weekly restarts] Teachings of the Satyr now reduces the cooldown of Amplify Curse by 15 seconds (was 10 seconds).
Warrior
Arms
Developers’ notes: Arms Warriors are not performing as well as we would like in single target or low-target-count situations.
[With weekly restarts] All ability damage increased by 4%.
[With weekly restarts] Fatality Fatal Mark damage increased by 15%.
[With weekly restarts] Deep Wounds periodic damage increased by 5%.
[With weekly restarts] Rend periodic damage increased by 5%.
Protection
Developers’ notes: Protection Warriors are not currently performing as competitively as we would like compared to most other tanks in terms of damage and survivability.
[With weekly restarts] All damaging abilities increased by 8%.
[With weekly restarts] Auto-attack damage increased by 10%.
[With weekly restarts] Spell Block’s duration increased to 30 seconds (was 20 seconds).
[With weekly restarts] Thunderlord now causes each enemy hit by Thunder Clap to reduce the remaining cooldown of Demoralizing Shout by 1.5 seconds, up to 4.5 seconds (was 1.0 seconds, up to 3.0 seconds).
Dungeons and Raids
Aberrus the Shadowed Crucible
Developer’s notes: Feedback and data from the first few weeks of Season Two have indicated that smaller raids are having a relatively difficult time defeating certain encounters within Aberrus. Part of our commitment to flex-scaling as a feature is to work towards a similar difficulty for all group sizes on non-Mythic difficulties. The following changes are designed to bring difficulty for smaller groups in line with the experience of a larger raid.
Rashok
[With weekly restarts] Reduced the number of missiles from Doom Flames on non-Mythic difficulties.
[With weekly restarts] Scorching Heatwave’s damage now scales with group size for non-Mythic difficulties.
The Forgotten Experiments
[With weekly restarts] Reduced Thadrion’s health on lower group sizes on Heroic difficulty.
The Vigilant Steward, Zskarn
Developers’ notes: These changes are directed at reducing the burden on tanks in smaller groups where Shrapnel Bomb was more difficult to handle with more limited amounts of utility from the group.
[With June 6 resets] Zskarn health reduced by 10% for small group sizes on Normal and Heroic difficulties.
[With June 6 resets] Shrapnel Bomb initial damage and DOT damage reduced by 50% on Normal and Heroic difficulties.
[With June 6 resets] Searing Claws damage reduced by 25% on Normal and Heroic difficulties.
[With June 6 resets] Unstable Embers damage reduced by 30% on Heroic difficulty.
Echo of Neltharion
Slightly reduced Neltharion’s health for smaller groups.
Volcanic Heart’s initial damage reduced on Normal and Heroic difficulty.
Echoing Fissures’ damage now scales with group size on LFR, Normal and Heroic difficulty.
Slightly reduced the Twisted Aberrations’ health for smaller groups.
Calamitous Strike’s debuff duration reduced from 40 seconds to 37 seconds on all difficulties. This is done to remove a problematic overlap in phase one of the encounter.
Calamitous Strike’s debuff will now be removed when the encounter enters intermission on all difficulties.
Fixed an issue where Neltharion immediately melee his target after casting Calamitous Strike on all difficulties.
Added a slight delay before the same player can trigger an additional stack of Shatter after destroying Twisted Earth on all difficulties.
Volcanic Heart’s radius reduced from 25 yards to 20 yards on Mythic difficulty.
Scalecommander Sarkareth
Developers’ note: A series of changes have been made to ease up a bit on the difficulty of this encounter on lower player size raids. Each of these changes are for non-Mythic difficulties only and scale back as raid size increases, evening out to about no changes for the 30 player raid.
[With June 6 resets] Health of Sarkareth and Null Glimmers reduced by 6% in 10 player raids.
[With June 6 resets] Duration of Astral Flare buff increased from 23 seconds to 30 seconds in 10 player raids.
[With June 6 resets] Oblivion damage per tick reduced by 50% in 10 player raids.
[With June 6 resets] Void Surge damage per tick reduced by 40% in 10 player raids.
[With June 6 resets] Dread raid wide damage reduced by 25% in 10 player raids.
The contribution of damage towards Blazing Blast and Void Blast is now properly reduced by absorbs.
Halls of Infusion
Fixed an issue where Infuser Sariya’s Inundate spell could inflict inconsistent amounts of damage.
Player versus Player
Classes
Druid
Balance
Developers’ notes: Balance Druids have been overperforming due to their ability to generate so much Astral Power and deal high damage by applying dots and casting Starfall repeatedly. We’d like to reduce the effectiveness of that playstyle since it’s difficult for opponents to stop. Goldrinn’s Fang also became much more effective in Embers of Neltharion, and includes some randomness and ability to score kills unexpectedly. Finally, Owlkin Adept has been a locked-in talent for a while now and has been propping up their control a bit more than we’re comfortable with.
[With weekly restarts] Moonfire and Sunfire generate 4 Astral Power when cast in PvP combat (was 6).
[With weekly restarts] Stellar Innervation increases Astral Power generation of Moonfire and Sunfire by 50% in PvP combat (was 100%).
[With weekly restarts] Star Burst now grants 8 Astral Power (was 15).
[With weekly restarts] Owlkin Adept reduces the cast time of Cyclone and Entanglng Roots by 20% (was 30%).
[With weekly restarts] Goldrinn’s Fang damage is reduced by 50% in PvP combat.
[With weekly restarts] Wrath and Starfire deal 60% increased damage in PvP combat (was 50%).
Hunter
Marksmanship
Developers’ notes: Marksmanship Hunters have been underperforming in different forms of PvP content.
[With weekly restarts] Aimed Shot damage increased by 25% in PvP combat (was 15%).
[With weekly restarts] Rapid Fire damage increased by 25% in PvP combat (was 15%).
[With weekly restarts] Arcane Shot damage increased by 25% in PvP combat (was 16%).
Mage
Fire
Developers’ notes: Glass Cannon is intended to have high risk and high reward with its gameplay, and we feel the risk is too low for the benefit it provides, especially when paired with Flamecannon.
[With weekly restarts] Glass Cannon now decreases maximum health by 20% (was 15%)
[With weekly restarts] Flamecannon now increases maximum health by 2% per stack (was 3%).
Monk
Brewmaster
Fixed an issue causing Blackout Kick to double-dip on its recent buffs.
Mistweaver
Developers’ notes: Mistweavers have been overperforming compared to other healers, especially due to their mana efficiency.
[With weekly restarts] Soulfang Infusion now regenerates 75% less Mana in PvP combat (was 50%).
[With weekly restarts] Zen Spheres now cost 0.5% base Mana.
[With weekly restarts] Enveloping Mist now heals for 5% more in PvP combat (was 20%).
[With weekly restarts] Mistweaver Monks now regenerate 15% less Mana in PvP combat (was 10%).
Windwalker
Developers’ notes: Whirling Dragon Punch has felt underwhelming and we’d like it to feel impactful to use without being a major portion of a Windwalker’s damage profile.
[With weekly restarts] Whirling Dragon Punch damage increased by 80% in PvP Combat.
Priest
Discipline
Developers’ notes: Discipline has been more reliant on shields this season than we’d like. We’re increasing Atonement healing while bringing down the power of shields, with the goal of the preferred playstyle being an offensive one. We’re also targeting the mana reduction from Inner Light, as Discipline has been more mana efficient than we’d like.
[With weekly restarts] Power Word: Shield now absorbs 15% less damage in PvP Combat.
[With weekly restarts] Inner Light now reduces the mana cost of the affected spells by 10% (was 15%).
[With weekly restarts] Atonement healing is now 50% more effective in PvP Combat (was 40%).
Rogue
Subtlety
Developers’ notes: Burst damage from Subtlety has been higher than we’d like this season. We’re looking to keep the spec in a strong position while toning down their burst potential in short windows.
[With weekly restarts] Secret Technique damage is now reduced by 33% in PvP Combat (was 25%).
[With weekly restarts] Shadowstrike and Backstab damage from Weaponmaster is now 50% effective in PvP combat.
[With weekly restarts] Flagellation’s Mastery bonus is now 80% effective in PvP combat.
[With weekly restarts] Dark Shadow is now 67% effective in PvP combat (was 80%).
Shaman
Enhancement
Developers’ notes: There are a few talents that are leading to fast kills that can feel unfair when facing an Enhancement Shaman. We’re aiming to bring down the burst potential from cooldowns and increase sustained DPS.
[With weekly restarts] Forceful Winds is now 75% effective in PvP Combat.
[With weekly restarts] The damage increase to Lava Lash from Ashen Catalyst is now 33% effective in PvP Combat.
[With weekly restarts] Lava Lash now deals 35% increased damage in PvP Combat (was 15%).
[With weekly restarts] The Physical damage increase from Feral Spirit is now 33% effective in PvP Combat.
[With weekly restarts] The Fire, Frost, and Lightning damage increase from Elemental Spirits is now 50% effective in PvP Combat.
[With weekly restarts] Stormstrike now deals 75% increased damage in PvP Combat (was 50%).
[With weekly restarts] Windstrike now deals 75% increased damage in PvP Combat (was 50%).
Restoration
Developers’ notes: We feel Restoration Shaman is in a good spot. Rain Dance wasn’t as valuable as we were anticipating, so we’re aiming to increase its viability.
[With weekly restarts] Rain Dance now increases the healing done by Healing Rain by 30% (was 20%).
[With weekly restarts] Rain Dance now reduces the mana cost of Healing Rain by 45% (was 30%).
Warlock
Developers’ notes: Inquisitor’s Gaze has been dealing a sizeable portion of Warlock damage this season, and we’d like damage to come primarily from active spells.
[With weekly restarts] Fel Barrage from Inquisitor’s Gaze now deals 40% reduced damage in PvP Combat.
Developers’ notes: The high frequency of Amplify Curse has been problematic in PvP combat.
[With weekly restarts] The cooldown of Amplify Curse is now 60 seconds (was 30 seconds).
[With weekly restarts] Teachings of the Satyr now reduces the cooldown of Amplify Curse by 15 seconds (was 10 seconds).
Affliction
Developers’ notes: We are increasing the damage of Unstable Affliction’s backlash effect to lessen the value of dispelling Affliction’s damage over time effects. It’s been lower than we’d like, in addition to healers gaining extra health this season. Additionally, we’re increasing Shadow Bolt damage as the reward for casting it is lower than we’d like.
[With weekly restarts] Unstable Affliction backlash damage increased by 50%.
[With weekly restarts] Shadow Bolt damage increased by 30% in PvP combat.
Demonology
Developers’ notes: Demonology’s healing reduction effect from their Felguard was one of the best healing reductions in the game, which didn’t feel appropriate given the class identity, how easy it is to apply, and how it can be applied to multiple targets at a time. Along with Affliction, we’re also increasing the damage of Shadow Bolt in PvP, as the reward for casting it is low.
[With weekly restarts] Legion Strike reduces healing taken by 20% in PvP (was 25%).
[With weekly restarts] Shadow Bolt damage increased by 30% in PvP combat.
Destruction
Developers’ notes: Destruction’s sustained DPS has been high and we feel this is mainly due to Shadowburn’s high multiplier. We would like for instant casts to be strong but not be the primary way to land kills.
[With weekly restarts] Conflagration damage is now reduced by 15% in PvP Combat (was 9%).
[With weekly restarts] Shadowburn damage is now increased by 15% in PvP Combat (was 45%).
Items and Rewards
Fixed an issue that prevented the Drakewatcher Manuscript for the Cliffside Wylderdrake: Black Hair customization option from dropping in some circumstances.
Zaralek Cavern
Fixed an issue where Cobalt Shalewing’s drop rate was lower than intended. Its drop rate is now in line with other similar drops.
Nasz’uro, the Unbound Legacy’s primary stat and Speed granted to allies reduced by 70% in PvP Combat.
Djaradin Elder Spear’s damage reduced by 50% in PvP Combat.
Fixed an issue where Ominous Chromatic Essence would continue to reapply to other allies when two players shared the same alignment.
Quests
Fixed an issue where Sparks of Life were not dropping in Zaralek Caverns from various content.