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Guest Justsayin

In Builds and Talents, the guide recommends not taking blessing of the ancients, because despite being very strong, it has no synergy with fury of elune, which you are unlikely to skip. Guide moves on to tell you to skip fury of elune because it's suboptimal at level 100. It's like the guide can't decide if it's for prepatch or Legion.

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Guest Atraac

On Rotation page guide skips Stellar Flare, even though on Talents page, it recommends using it over Incarnation.

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Guest Kylis

So apparently Cyous is saying he never reviewed anything for you. 

Quote

For the record, I have not reviewed anything for Icy-Veins for Legion content.

But I can say that some of their info is incorrect at this time. Stellar Flare seems absent from the guide as well, even though it's our best available talent for lvl100.

Whats the deal with labeling him in the opening?

Also there are some inconsistencies in the guide overall.

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12 hours ago, Guest Justsayin said:

In Builds and Talents, the guide recommends not taking blessing of the ancients, because despite being very strong, it has no synergy with fury of elune, which you are unlikely to skip. Guide moves on to tell you to skip fury of elune because it's suboptimal at level 100. It's like the guide can't decide if it's for prepatch or Legion.

There was a bit of a mix-up there between Gapezilla and I. Indeed, Fury of Elune is suboptimal at 100 and shouldn't be used, and neither should Astral Communion due to this fact. Blessing of the Ancients is the recommended choice there, and the guide should now be fixed in this respect.

4 hours ago, Guest Atraac said:

On Rotation page guide skips Stellar Flare, even though on Talents page, it recommends using it over Incarnation.

This was an oversight on our part, the issue should now be addressed.

1 hour ago, Guest Kylis said:

So apparently Cyous is saying he never reviewed anything for you. 

Whats the deal with labeling him in the opening?

Also there are some inconsistencies in the guide overall.

Regarding Cyous, I must apologize. There is a miscommunication to blame and I can absolutely confirm he did not review this version of the guide. As for the inconsistencies (other than the 2 mentioned above), I would love to know what they are so I can fix the issues.

 

I want to thank all of you for your prompt comments. It is much appreciated.

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Guest anon

Why is Cyous still mentioned in the guide then? :-)

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Guest Vernal Lion

I'm confused by the single target rotation as the current information regarding the rotation and empowerments seems contradictory:

 

  • Use Solar Wrath Icon Solar Wrath to generate Astral Power.
    • If there is more than 1 target present, use Lunar Strike Icon Lunar Strike instead.

 

 

If Lunar Empowerment and Solar Empowerment should never be capped, does this mean Lunar Strike should be cast to use the Lunar Empowerment even if there is only 1 target?  

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15 minutes ago, Guest Vernal Lion said:

I'm confused by the single target rotation as the current information regarding the rotation and empowerments seems contradictory:

 

  • Use Solar Wrath Icon Solar Wrath to generate Astral Power.
    • If there is more than 1 target present, use Lunar Strike Icon Lunar Strike instead.

 

 

If Lunar Empowerment and Solar Empowerment should never be capped, does this mean Lunar Strike should be cast to use the Lunar Empowerment even if there is only 1 target?  

That is correct. An empowered Lunar Strike is more DPET than an unempowered Wrath.

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There is no specific problem with capping Empowerments at 3, other than possibly capping Astral Power, but do not use Starsurge if you have 3 stacks of either Empowerment or you will overwrite. I'm sure there will be some question about whether to save up Empowerments before using your cooldowns; I'll have to test it out, but my inclination is, the cooldown lasts long enough that delaying usage in the opener will cause more harm than good. For sure, if you are coming up to the second usage, save your Empowerment stacks before CA/Inc is available.

Edited by Tarazet

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Guest Oloo

The build suggestion is just flat out wrong.

Stellar Flare may "look" good on paper regarding the math but it DOES NOT EVEN COME CLOSE to performing near Incarnation or Soul of the Forest - I know a certain math want-a-be will try hard to shoot this fact down but live logs don't lie. 

Furthermore, Astral Communion is far better at allowing your rotation to have some flexibility when it comes to burst phases (i.e. pull, ring, lust).  While it doesn't generate as much resource as Blessing of the Ancients, this flexibility is a MUST - again refer to live logs.  Resource generation is NOT a problem anyways. Shooting Stars provides the most resource generation at 3+ mobs (2 if there is any movement mechanics at all) but again - no flexibility when it comes to burst.  These are things that paper math just can't account for.

Again, while on paper Nature's Balance "looks" like a dps increase - it simply isn't ESPECIALLY if you have the class trinket as the build suggests.  20% increase to Starfall simply IS a DPS increase as Starfall does an incredible amount of damage now.  Even with Nature's Balance, we'll have to refresh our dot's especially when considering any and all mechanics that will prevent us from just standing there casting as the "math" would suggest we'll be able to do. Lastly, the fights currently do not last long enough for Nature's Balance to make up the difference.

In Legion, Stellar Flare may be a viable option at the cost of Starsurge and instead hard casting Starfall.  While Moonkin is competitive and the play has been improved, we will unfortunately rely once again on tier bonus sets or that one awesome trinket / legendary to reduce the cost or perhaps even make starfall or starsurge free to cast (case in point - WoD class trinket is BiS right up until we hit 110 and it no longer works).

 

 

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16 hours ago, Tarazet said:

There is no specific problem with capping Empowerments at 3, other than possibly capping Astral Power, but do not use Starsurge if you have 3 stacks of either Empowerment or you will overwrite. I'm sure there will be some question about whether to save up Empowerments before using your cooldowns; I'll have to test it out, but my inclination is, the cooldown lasts long enough that delaying usage in the opener will cause more harm than good. For sure, if you are coming up to the second usage, save your Empowerment stacks before CA/Inc is available.

The guide is meant to say not to overwrite the Empowerments, not cap them. Clearly, a mistake. I'll fix it right now. Thanks :)

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Guest Drodex

Why  is crit more prioritized than Mastery ?

 Mastery = stronger empowerment for spells after casting SS  + boost for DoTs ( via stronger stellar empowerment ) so if u have class trinket and a bit of luck u have almost perma stellar empowerment on target (s). + with haste u will have enough astral power so spells u cast will be empowered most of the time.

This looks more powerful  or am i missing something about crit  ? :)
 

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Guest noob11111

It seems to me that there are three damage profiles that synergistic talents build into. Only the level 15, 75, 90 & 100 talents affect it, so I'll only mention them.

Full disclosure, I'm low skilled, geared & experienced. If I'm missing some basic understanding of the game, apologies.

1.  Single target burst : Warrior of Elune, Incarnation, Astral Communication and Fury of Elune.

These skills synergise by; dealing high burst damage with a high resource cost (Fury); buffing burst damage (Incarn.); and quickly generating resources (Warrior & Astral).

A typical rotation would open with applying both dots, and then begin generating astral power using wrath. Once you reach full astral power begin your burst - pop incarnation, cast fury, and then maintain at least 12 astral power using warrior of elune and astral comm - also using lunar/wrath when possible. After the burst, go back to generating astral power. I don't know if it may be more beneficial to stall casting fury again until innacarnation is back up, and build up lunar empowerment charges as you burn excess astral power with starsurge (solely using wrath as the generator). Or you could just use fury again when warrior comes off cd, without incarnation. 

I think this build would benefit most from Crit & Haste.

2. Sustained single target damage with a small area of effect (target + 2-3 close proximity adds): Starlord, Soul of the Forest/Stellar Flare, BotA, and Natures Balance.

These skills synergise by increasing the frequency starsurge can be used, and the potency of it's procs. It also allows you to almost passively maintain your dots on 2-3 targets.

To open you would being by applying moonfire to any mobs in close proximity to your main target, and then applying starfire and monfire to the main target. You then begin building astral power with lunar strike, this refreshes the moonfire dot on all close proximity targets, and cast recast startfire as needed to maintain the dot on all close proximity targets. Stack astral power and when it's full pop celestial alignment and spend your astral power using starsurge to burst the main target. You should be able to get off 3-4 starsurges during CE due to starlord.

Less burst than the previous build, but decent sustained AoE and single target damage (in an 5 yard radius).

3. High AoE DoT: Starlord, Stellar flare, Shooting stars, Stellar drift.

Havent actually tried this out - sorry. Your DoTs are buffed by starfall, your starfall is buffed by stellar drift, and the AP your DoTs generate is buffed by Shooting stars allowing more casts of starfall. 

DoT eveything, starfall when you can, maintain dots, and spam generators in between (while moving around.... wew). You could make the argument for using astral communion (+75 AP) instead of starlord, as casting starfall over starsurge will limit it's effectiveness, and raw AP might be better in low density situations.

I guess you'd go haste & crit....

 

Like I said, I'm super low, but it seems to me like there wasn't much thought put into any builds which don't have the trinket...

 

 

 

 

 

 

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On July 21, 2016 at 11:04 PM, Guest noob11111 said:

It seems to me that there are three damage profiles that synergistic talents build into. Only the level 15, 75, 90 & 100 talents affect it, so I'll only mention them.

Full disclosure, I'm low skilled, geared & experienced. If I'm missing some basic understanding of the game, apologies.

1.  Single target burst : Warrior of Elune, Incarnation, Astral Communication and Fury of Elune.

These skills synergise by; dealing high burst damage with a high resource cost (Fury); buffing burst damage (Incarn.); and quickly generating resources (Warrior & Astral).

A typical rotation would open with applying both dots, and then begin generating astral power using wrath. Once you reach full astral power begin your burst - pop incarnation, cast fury, and then maintain at least 12 astral power using warrior of elune and astral comm - also using lunar/wrath when possible. After the burst, go back to generating astral power. I don't know if it may be more beneficial to stall casting fury again until innacarnation is back up, and build up lunar empowerment charges as you burn excess astral power with starsurge (solely using wrath as the generator). Or you could just use fury again when warrior comes off cd, without incarnation. 

I think this build would benefit most from Crit & Haste.

2. Sustained single target damage with a small area of effect (target + 2-3 close proximity adds): Starlord, Soul of the Forest/Stellar Flare, BotA, and Natures Balance.

These skills synergise by increasing the frequency starsurge can be used, and the potency of it's procs. It also allows you to almost passively maintain your dots on 2-3 targets.

To open you would being by applying moonfire to any mobs in close proximity to your main target, and then applying starfire and monfire to the main target. You then begin building astral power with lunar strike, this refreshes the moonfire dot on all close proximity targets, and cast recast startfire as needed to maintain the dot on all close proximity targets. Stack astral power and when it's full pop celestial alignment and spend your astral power using starsurge to burst the main target. You should be able to get off 3-4 starsurges during CE due to starlord.

Less burst than the previous build, but decent sustained AoE and single target damage (in an 5 yard radius).

3. High AoE DoT: Starlord, Stellar flare, Shooting stars, Stellar drift.

Havent actually tried this out - sorry. Your DoTs are buffed by starfall, your starfall is buffed by stellar drift, and the AP your DoTs generate is buffed by Shooting stars allowing more casts of starfall. 

DoT eveything, starfall when you can, maintain dots, and spam generators in between (while moving around.... wew). You could make the argument for using astral communion (+75 AP) instead of starlord, as casting starfall over starsurge will limit it's effectiveness, and raw AP might be better in low density situations.

I guess you'd go haste & crit....

Like I said, I'm super low, but it seems to me like there wasn't much thought put into any builds which don't have the trinket...

Hello. Thank you for your post. I'll attempt to explain why we went with the build we have.

1. The problem with this idea revolves entirely around the legendary ring. Unless you've found a way to convince your entire guild/raid group to delay their ring so you can build up some AP to get a good FoE off, you're going to see very poor results with this. At 110 we'll see a lot more use of Fury thanks to increased AP generation from the artifact and not having to play around the shenanigans of the current legendary ring, but for now this build is suboptimal at best and straight up terrible at worst.

2. "almost passively" maintaining DoTs on more than 1 target via Nature's Balance isn't possible. Between casting Starsurge and Stellar Flare, your DoTs will run out very quickly if you aren't tunneling into a single target. It may be possible on 2 targets if you aren't using Stellar Flare, but for this patch that would just be suboptimal.
That's also not how to use Celestial Alignment. Not only do you run into the problem noted in point 1 regarding the legendary ring, you want to be CAing on the opener regardless in order to generate AP faster and get starsurges out to hopefully proc Seed of Creation's starfall. If you get unlucky (or play incorrectly) and fail to proc a starfall during the ring, your opener will be bad, plain and simple.

3. This is closer to the best build on this patch, but Shooting Stars will not provide better AP generation than BotA below 3 consistent targets. Regarding the playstyle/rotation, this is also something you'll possibly see at 110, but is completely inefficient at 100 due to Seed. You basically never want to manually cast Starfall on this patch. As for AC over starlord, there is absolutely no argument there, you would never do that for this kind of build.


The simple truth is if you don't have a Seed of Creation on this patch, boomkin is a bad class. With it and the right talents, we are one of the stronger classes, top 3 maybe. You must do everything you can to get ahold of this trinket if you want to do competitive dps on this patch, as it is the class's only saving grace in a world without artifacts.

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On July 20, 2016 at 1:51 PM, Guest Oloo said:

The build suggestion is just flat out wrong.

Stellar Flare may "look" good on paper regarding the math but it DOES NOT EVEN COME CLOSE to performing near Incarnation or Soul of the Forest - I know a certain math want-a-be will try hard to shoot this fact down but live logs don't lie. 

Furthermore, Astral Communion is far better at allowing your rotation to have some flexibility when it comes to burst phases (i.e. pull, ring, lust).  While it doesn't generate as much resource as Blessing of the Ancients, this flexibility is a MUST - again refer to live logs.  Resource generation is NOT a problem anyways. Shooting Stars provides the most resource generation at 3+ mobs (2 if there is any movement mechanics at all) but again - no flexibility when it comes to burst.  These are things that paper math just can't account for.

Again, while on paper Nature's Balance "looks" like a dps increase - it simply isn't ESPECIALLY if you have the class trinket as the build suggests.  20% increase to Starfall simply IS a DPS increase as Starfall does an incredible amount of damage now.  Even with Nature's Balance, we'll have to refresh our dot's especially when considering any and all mechanics that will prevent us from just standing there casting as the "math" would suggest we'll be able to do. Lastly, the fights currently do not last long enough for Nature's Balance to make up the difference.

In Legion, Stellar Flare may be a viable option at the cost of Starsurge and instead hard casting Starfall.  While Moonkin is competitive and the play has been improved, we will unfortunately rely once again on tier bonus sets or that one awesome trinket / legendary to reduce the cost or perhaps even make starfall or starsurge free to cast (case in point - WoD class trinket is BiS right up until we hit 110 and it no longer works).

 

 

I'm sorry, but Stellar Flare is definitely the talent to use right now. Check basically any top boomkin on warcraftlogs and you will see. It's not about what it looks like on paper, it's about actual performance.

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Guest Oloo
On ‎7‎/‎22‎/‎2016 at 11:39 PM, Vlad said:

I'm sorry, but Stellar Flare is definitely the talent to use right now. Check basically any top boomkin on warcraftlogs and you will see. It's not about what it looks like on paper, it's about actual performance.

Assault, top 2 didn't use it.  3rd used it and it did a whopping 612k total damage and he cast it 5 times - in other words he wasted that tier talent option.

Iron Reave - top 3 didn't use it.

Komrok - top 2 didn't use it. 3rd used it, cast it once and it did 443k total damage. Compared to his guild mate (who was first) he was only able to cast 3 starsurges which in turn means less empowered solar wraths and lunar strikes - again - wasted tier talent for damage that was done entirely on the burst opener.

Council - top 3 didn't use it.

Kilrogg - top 1 didn't use it. 2nd and 3rd used it to good effect with buff.

Iskar - top 3 didn't use it.

Zakuun - top 3 didn't use it.

Xhul - top 1 and 3rd didn't use it. 2nd did use it to good effect.

Soc - top 3 didn't use it

Tyrant - top 2 used it with great effect. 3rd didn't use it

Manny - top 3 used it good effect

Archi - top 1 didn't use it. 2nd and 3rd used it to good effect.

You are wrong - Stellar Flare is definitely NOT "the talent" to use right now. You check top moonkins on warcraftlogs next time instead of making me do it. 

Further, the only reason they are picking Blessing of the Ancients is because you can maintain 100% energy by swapping in and out of Bear before a pull (most likely soon to be fixed).  Many of the fights at this moment don't last long enough to over come Celestial Alignment - for example on one fight a top moonkin cast 6 Stellar Strike and 10 Solar Wraths which generates an extra 44 astral power.  That's it.  Compared to 75 for Celestial Alignment.....  So the only benefit was to bug the astral power drain before the fight.

On a side note - not on a single log does the author use Nature's Balance - not even on those "single target" fights where the math looks better on paper and thus in this guide.  Which means you and I both agree that it's about actual performance verses paper math.  Nature's Balance, as of right now, is a DPS loss - and quite a large one at that.  BURST is and probably will always be king on the majority of all encounters.

 

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Oh boy where to begin..

If you're wondering about my logs from last week, you might notice a healthy chunk of the bosses are missing. There were some shenanigans some players did to kill bosses quickly that got our logs deleted...oops. This was also at the beginning of the week before the instance got nerfed another two times (for reference, the health debuff is now 50% and the dmg debuff 40%).

Some clarification: I'm the reviewer, not author, but I do have some changes planned for the recommended talents after having done HFC again this week with the latest round of nerfs.

To quickly go over some of the specific points you made:

Obviously you won't take Stellar Flare on assault. I've been very vocal about how I feel about assault as a "boss". You could decide to unskill all your talents on that boss and jack off in the corner, it wouldn't really matter. it's an extended trash pull and nothing more- an extraordinary waste of time at the beginning of each raid week. 

Xhul, Kumrock, Socrethar, Iron reaver and Fel lord: If your guild is killing them in 30s-1m, take Incarn over Stellar Flare, yes. If the kill time is longer, flare is king. There is no debate, it does more damage the longer the fight is. This becomes increasingly more apparent as you get to the 2m+ range. Especially on Xhul

Kilrogg: Ranking on this fight is a cheesy joke and has been since the instance was released. If your kill time is long enough to even reach the downstairs phase, yes taking Incarn for the extra burst when you come up with the 20 stack buff will do more than Flare.

Iskar: Incarn is best here, its a heavy aoe fight. That's in the guide.

Gorefiend: Incarn is best here, there is heavy aoe and a burst phase. That's in the guide.

 

Something I'd like you to realize however, is that most guilds will not be killing bosses in 30 seconds like you see at the very top end of warcraftlogs. Icy veins boomkin guide is and will continue to be a guide aimed at progression raiders of all levels; a good starting point for learning (or relearning in the case of Legion pre-patch) the class as you move into your preferred level of content. To my knowledge this is where all of the guides on this website are aimed at. As I am in a high end guild with some absolutely breakneck kill-times, you will often see me using different talents than what I would recommend for someone killing the bosses two, three, four, fives times slower than what my guild is capable of.

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When choosing gear for my Balance druid, I rely heavily on this page for guidance. But I'm finding it difficult to decide where the line between the different stats lie and was wondering if anyone has been using simulations to find the precise weights for an addon like Pawn? 
I found them for my BM hunter here on icy-veins (calculated with Simulation Craft  by @Azortharion who wrote the guide) but have so far not had any luck unearthing any for a balance druid. I found some on noxxic (http://www.noxxic.com/wow/pve/druid/balance/stat-priority) but I'm still not convinced those are correct as it once recommended me drop 2 INT for 3 CRIT. 

Any advice out there? Perhaps inserting links to Pawn weights if there are any?
 

Edited by dracuella

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Blizzard Logo

Balance

  • Blessing of Elune now increases Astral Power generation by 25% (was 40%).
  • Blessing of An'she now grants 2 Astral Power every 3 seconds (was 2 Astral Power every 2.5 seconds).
  • Lunar Strike now generates 12 Astral Power (was 10).
  • Mastery: Starlight bonus has been increased to 2%/point (was 1.75%).
  • Moonfire and Sunfire DoT damage has been decreased to 50% per tick (was 55%).
  • Shooting Stars gives 4 Astral Power (was 5).
  • Solar Wrath now generates 8 Astral Power (was 6).
  • Developer's Note: We shifted some Astral Power generation from the level 90 talent row into the baseline spec. This both improves gameplay sub level 90 and reduces reliance on these talents at max level.

Baseline Astral Power generation up slightly, with a talented AP generation drop to compensate.  Fewer Wraths to get capped?  Fine with me...

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Guest Elnaturale
Quote

 

1. Basics

The stat priority for a Balance Druid is as follows.

Haste;

Intellect;

Critical Strike >= Versatility;

Mastery.


 

 

Surely you mean 

 

Int

Haste

Crit>=Versatility

Mastery?

 

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Guest Dan

Hello. First of all I want to apologize for what may seem to some of you as a noob question, but to be honest I'm at a complete loss as where to find one particular artefact weapon trait. Meaning the Falling Star. Please, if anyone knows where or how to get it, please let me know. Thanks in advance.

Dan

 

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3 hours ago, Guest Dan said:

Hello. First of all I want to apologize for what may seem to some of you as a noob question, but to be honest I'm at a complete loss as where to find one particular artefact weapon trait. Meaning the Falling Star. Please, if anyone knows where or how to get it, please let me know. Thanks in advance.

Dan

 

I am not sure what you mean by "where to find it". It's in your artifact weapon trait tree (top left). When you unlock the traits leading up to it and have enough Artifact Power, you'll be able to choose it. It's not a drop or anything.

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7 hours ago, Guest Elnaturale said:

 

Surely you mean 

 

Int

Haste

Crit>=Versatility

Mastery?

 

That is not a mistake, Haste above Intellect.

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Guest Dan
5 hours ago, Vlad said:

I am not sure what you mean by "where to find it". It's in your artifact weapon trait tree (top left). When you unlock the traits leading up to it and have enough Artifact Power, you'll be able to choose it. It's not a drop or anything.

Hello, I'm sorry for the missunderstanding. What I meant was where to find the unlock, as for example the trait Scythe of the Stars which I got as a questreward during a certain questline. Once again thank you so far for your help and thank you in advance for any other guidance.

Dan

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      Every two weeks during Dragonflight Season 4, one of the three Dragonflight raids will become Awakened: Vault of the Incarnates; Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible; or Amirdrassil, the Dream's Hope. Enemies within Awakened raids are stronger and drop upgraded loot with a higher item level. Schedule Week 1 & 2: Vault of the Incarnates Week 3 & 4: Aberrus, the Shadow Crucible Week 5 & 6: Amirdrassil, the Dream's Hope Week 7+: All raids are Awakened A buff that increases reputation gain with Dragonflight reputations will be enabled whenever a specific raid is Awakened: Schedule Vault of the Incarnates: Sign of Awakened Storms – Dragonscale Expedition, Maruuk Centaur, and Iskaara Tuskaar Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible: Sign of Awakened Embers – Loamm Niffen, Soridormi, and Sabellian/Wrathion Amirdrassil, the Dream's Hope: Sign of Awakened Dreams – Dream Wardens and Valdrakken Accord All raids Awakened: All the above reputations are increased All three raids will also drop a new tier token to exchange for new tier pieces with the appearance and set bonus combination that players voted for. Earn 1 Antique Bronze Bullion a week by defeating Awakened bosses, with the cap rising by 1 each week. Note that if you miss a week, you'll be able to catch up to the current weekly max. Exchange 2 Bullion for weapons and powerful items from the Dragonflight raids from the vendors in the Parting Glass in Valdrakken. An additional vendor nearby sells Jigglesworth Sr mount for 3 Bullion and cosmetics that grant you the choice of any raid weapon appearance at any difficulty color for 1 Bullion each. Legendary items will drop as usual from raids, but players who have previously obtained them can purchase a Scale of Awakening to upgrade their items to the Season 4 ilvls (base is 502 and can be upgraded further through Crests and Flightstones). Rewards Complete all three Awakened Dragonflight raids on Normal difficulty to receive the Voyaging Wildering dynamic flying mount. Earn the new title, "Awakened Hero", for completing the Awakened raids on Heroic difficulty. Those who complete the Awakened raids on Mythic difficulty are rewarded with Path Portals to the three raids. Mythic+
      Return to all eight Dragonflight dungeons for a refined and rewarding progression curve for Heroic, Mythic, and Mythic+ with better pacing and meaningful rewards: Ruby Life Pools, Brackenhide Hollow, The Nokhud Offensive, Uldaman: Legacy of Tyr, Neltharus, The Azure Vault, Halls of Infusion, and Algeth’ar Academy. Rewards Dedicated defenders can obtain the new Keystone Master mount, Infinite Armoredon, once the Dragonflight Keystone Master: Season 4 achievement is attained. Earn the new title "The Draconic" after obtaining Dragonflight Keystone Conqueror: Season 4 when you reach a Mythic+ Rating of 1500 during Dragonflight Season 4. "The Draconic Hero" can be earned from the achievement Draconic Hero: Dragonflight Season 4 when reaching a Mythic+ Rating in the top 0.1% of all players in your region. PvP
      Season 4 arrives with PvP rankings reset, new gear sets, mounts, titles, and more! Rewards Earn the Vicious Dreamtalon (Horde or Alliance version) for Rated Arena and Rated Battleground, and the Draconic Gladiator’s Drake and "Draconic Gladiator" title for earning the Draconic Gladiator: Dragonflight Season 4 achievement. "Draconic Legend" title can be earned after attaining Draconic Legend: Dragonflight Season 4 when ending the season in the top 0.1% of the Solo Shuffle ladder. DUNGEON CHANGES
      Dragonflight Season 4 brings with it a variety of changes, including new adjustments to dungeons, their progression, and rewards. [LEARN MORE]
      One of the most notable changes players can look forward to is the removal of the timer for Mythic Keystone dungeons for what are currently 0 and 10. Players can run through these dungeons at their own pace without the need to watch the clock while still honing their skills. Heroic difficulty and rewards will move up to roughly the current level of Mythic 0. These dungeons will remain available to queue into via Group Finder (default hotkey: “I”), though the item level requirement to queue will also go up accordingly. Mythic 0 difficulty and rewards will move up to roughly the current level of Mythic 8-10 (this is a bit hand-wavy - numerically it’s close to M10 but not having a timer at all or affixes really offsets that quite a bit). The existing Mythic+ system will pick up where that leaves off, such that a Mythic 5 in Season 4 is roughly equivalent in difficulty, rewards, and M+ Rating awarded, to a Mythic 15 today. Normal This difficulty is unchanged. Heroic The tuning and rewards of this difficulty are increasing to be equivalent to a baseline Mythic (Mythic 0) dungeon in the current system. Mythic difficulty changes and mechanics will not be present in this difficulty. This remains a queueable experience. Mythic The tuning and rewards of this difficulty are increasing to the equivalent of a +10 dungeon with affixes in the current system. There are no timers, affixes, or limitations on changing specializations or talents while in the dungeon. The goal is to create a mega-dungeon like difficulty for this experience. This difficulty should present a meaningful challenge and provide commensurate rewards without the pressures of the current Mythic+ system. Mythic 0 is still on a weekly lockout under this model. Mythic+ The Mythic+ system will have rewards up to level 10, with +2 starting from what would regularly be a +11 in the current Mythic+ system. A +5 should be as hard as a +15 and +10 should be as hard as a +20 in the current Mythic+ system etc. Affixes would slot in at +2, +5, and +10 +2 - Fortified/Tyrannical +5 - Entangling / Incorporeal etc. +10 - Bursting / Bolstering etc. Dungeon ratings should be equivalent to what they represent in the current system. There should be a smaller range of keystone levels to find groups for, and more meaningful progression between each level. At the beginning of Season 4, all Keystones will be reset to level 2, regardless of levels. This is done due to our difficulty refactoring of Mythic and Mythic+. It’s important to note that the basic structure of dungeon rewards is not changing significantly, so what you would have earned for completing a Mythic 0 will be earnable in the Heroic difficulty dungeon instead.  Crest and Flightstone rewards are changing to match the same difficulty with only some minor adjustments. Flightstone earnings for any given Mythic+ will match the equally challenging Mythic+ from previous seasons. This means that a Mythic +2 in Season 4 will give the same number of Flightstones as a Mythic +12 in Season 3 currently does. The rewards will continue to match difficulty, even if what we’re calling those difficulty changes. Bonus Flightstone awards for increasing any party member’s Mythic+ score remain unchanged. Whelpling Crests are no longer available from Mythic+ dungeons, as those difficulties no longer exist. Players can continue to collect Whelpling Crests from many outdoor sources. Players will earn 10 Drake Crests on successful completion of a Mythic 0 dungeon, as there is no timer to beat. Wyrm Crests will be available in Mythic +2 to Mythic +5 dungeons in the same quantities as existing Mythic+ dungeons. Aspect Crests will be available in any Mythic difficulty from +6 and up, also in the same quantities as existing Mythic+ dungeons. NORTHREND CUP
      On April 30 through May 14, soar through the Northrend skies with the dragonrider racing event, Northrend Cup.
      Challenge twelve races across Northrend in Normal, Advanced, and Reverse variations to earn Riders of Azeroth Badges to exchange for rewards with Maztha in Valdrakken. Complete all Northrend Cup races on Gold to earn the achievement Northrend Racing Completionist: Gold, Northrend Racer title, and Ruby Riders of Azeroth tabard. Head to Valdrakken and speak to Lord Andestrasz near the Rostrum of Transformation to pick up the initial quest.
      New rewards are available for purchase with Riders of Azeroth Badges: Icy Drake Racer's transmog set and Checkered Pennant.
      CLASSES
      Developer's note: In Season 4, we're reducing the overall throughput of some healers to better align with our tuning goals as well as increase the comparative power of Holy Paladin, Preservation Evoker, and Holy Priest without needing to further escalate the capabilities of healers.
      DRUID Restoration All healing done reduced by 5%. Does not apply in PvP combat. MONK Mistweaver All healing done reduced by 13%. Does not apply in PvP combat. PRIEST Discipline Developer's note: As part of our goal for balancing healers in raids, we would like to reduce raid healing output for Discipline Priest without affecting them in other content. Atonement transfers 35% of damage to healing (was 40%). Atonement healing increased by 70% outside of raids (was 50%). SHAMAN Restoration All healing done reduced by 5%. Does not apply in PvP combat. DUNGEONS AND RAIDS
      LOOKING FOR RAID In-combat resurrection spells in Looking for Raid difficulty now use the same shared-charge system as other raid difficulties. Groups in Looking for Raid difficulty now start combat with six in-combat resurrection charges, and gain a charge every 90-150 seconds, depending on group size. ABERRUS, THE SHADOWED CRUCIBLE Echo of Neltharion Volcanic Heart now targets 4 players on Mythic difficulty (was 5). VAULT OF THE INCARNATES Raszageth Hurricane Wing's pushback strength reduced by 10% on all difficulties. Lightning Devastation cast time increased to 4 seconds (was 3 seconds). Flame Shield reduced by 23%. Shattering Shroud healing absorb reduced by 20%. DAWN OF THE INFINITE: HARD MODE Dawn of the Infinite: Hard Mode tuning and rewards have been updated. Hard mode does not have a timer and rewards a Hero track item. Hard mode is intended to be more challenging than a standard Mythic difficulty dungeon. ALGETH’AR ACADEMY General Spellbound Scepter Arcane Rain has been removed. Spellbound Scepter Mystic Blast can no longer be interrupted. Spectral Invoker's Arcane Missiles damage reduced by 50%. Encounters Crawth Firestorm frequency reduced to 8 seconds (was 5 seconds). Savage Peck's initial damage reduced by 13%. Savage Peck's periodic damage reduced by 33%. Addressed an issue where Deafening Screech can go off after the cast is interrupted. Vexamus Mana Bomb periodic damage reduced by 20%. Corrupted Mana now has a slight delay before inflicting damage to players inside of its effect. Echo of Doragosa New Mythic mechanic: Unleash Energy – The Echo of Doragosa unleashes powerful arcane energy, inflicting Arcane damage to all players and opening Arcane Rifts in nearby locations. Astral Breath cast time has been increased to 3 seconds (was 2 seconds). THE AZURE VAULT General Increased the Mythic+ timer by 2 minutes. Crystal Fury Piercing Shard now has a precast visual. Piercing Shard impact area reduced by 25%. Conjured Lasher Mystic Vapors will now be cast less frequently. Arcane Tender's Erratic Growth cast time increased to 3.5 seconds (was 2.5 seconds). Unstable Curator's Heavy Tome will now be cast less frequently. Drakonid Breaker Shoulder Slam's knockback has been removed. Shoulder Slam now inflicts Physical damage and increases Physical damage taken by 10%. Shoulder Slam will now be cast less frequently. Encounters Leymor Erupting Fissures now follows current target player. Azureblade Reduced the frequency of periodic damage from Overwhelming Energy to every 2.5 seconds (was every 2 seconds). Umbrelskul Oppressive Miasma removed in Mythic difficulty. Crystalize now pulses Arcane damage while the crystal is shielded. Crackling Vortex now has a larger movement radius. Detonating Crystals and Hardened Crystal now spawn closer to Umbrelskul's location Addressed an issue where Detonating Crystals can fail to spawn. BRACKENHIDE HOLLOW General Withering debuff No longer stacks. Periodic damage reduced by 16%. Haste reduction increased to 10% (was 2%). Movement reduction increased to 10% (was 2%). Fetid Rotsinger Decay Totem health reduced by 20%. Addressed an issue where Withering cast by Decay Totem is inflicting more periodic damage than Withering from other sources. Rotbow Stalker Renamed to Rotbow Ranger. Shoot now has a recast of 6 seconds. Diseased Meat renamed to Rotten Meat, and is now a Poison dispel. Brackenhide Shaper Summon Lashers and Touch of Decay have been removed. Stinkbreath Violent Whirlwind radius reduced to 6 yards (was 7 yards). Stink Breath now locks facing after targeting a player. Stink Breath now has a visual while casting. Wilted Oak Necrotic Breath's casting visual has been updated. Necrotic Breath's cone width has been adjusted to match with the new visual. Gutstabber Withering Poison has been removed. Bracken Warscourge Bloody Bite has been removed. Claw Fighter Bloody Bite has been removed. Decay Speaker Rotchanting Totem has been removed. Encounters Hackclaw’s War-Band Predatory Instincts Haste bonus reduced to 5% (was 10%). Mark for Butchery damage frequency increased to 1 second (was 0.5 seconds). Gash Frenzy damage reduced by 21%. Gash Frenzy duration reduced to 15 seconds (was 45 seconds). HALLS OF INFUSION General Dungeon checkpoint added after defeating Gulping Goliath. Normalized the spawn rate of Crashing Tsunami during the gauntlet. Containment Apparatus' Containment Beam damage reduced by 42%. Primalist Galesinger Wind Buffet and Thunderstorm have been removed. New ability: Thunderstrike – Inflicts Nature damage to all players within 7 yards of impact. Primalist Earthshaker Rumbling Earth rim visual will no longer clip into the terrain. Encounters Watcher Irideus Titanic Fist now has a visual during cast. Power Overload now has a rim visual around afflicted player. Power Field now gradually grows to its full size. Khajin the Unyielding Added rim visuals on Ice Boulders that will trigger Avalanche. Primal Tsunami Cast Away now occurs at 60% health (was 100% energy). NELTHARUS General Each Burning Chain can only be used once. Burning Chain now stuns all enemies in it and increases their damage taken by 50% for 5 seconds. Encounters Chargath Fiery Focus pulsing damage near the Chargath has been removed. Fiery Focus now channels damage on current target. Grounding Chain now persists on defeated player. Grounding Chain now does a small knockback to the player when applied. Warlord Sargha Curse of the Dragon Hoard now stacks. Curse of the Dragon Hoard duration reduced from to 30 seconds (was 5 minutes). Azure Stone of Might has been removed. THE NOKHUD OFFENSIVE General Nokhud Longbow Multi-Shot has been removed. Rain of Arrows will now be cast less frequently. Nokhud Beastmaster Hunt Prey damage bonus reduced by 25%. Desecrated Ohuna Rotting Wind initial damage reduced by 30%. Ukhel Beastcaller Desecrating Roar frequency reduced by 25%. Nokhud Thunderfist Storm Shock has been removed. Primalist Stormspeaker Storm Bolt has been removed. Encounters Balakar Khan Frequency of Stormwinds during intermission has been reduced to every 10 seconds (was every 6 seconds). RUBY LIFE POOLS General Primal Terrasentry Stone Missiles has been removed. Primalist Flamedancer Blaze of Glory now has a 1 second delay before inflicting damage around the caster. Flame Dance’s end of channel damage reduced by 25%. Encounters Kyrakka and Erkhart Stormvein Infernocore duration increased to 4 seconds (was 3 seconds). Infernocore periodic damage reduced by 25%. Flamespit targets reduced to 2 (was 3). ULDAMAN: LEGACY OF TYR General Reduced the Mythic+ timer by 1 minute. Encounters The Lost Dwarves Fiery Surge damage reduced by 75%. Fiery Surge's frequency has been significantly reduced – One dwarf reduced by 33%, two dwarves reduced by 50%, and three dwarves reduced by 100%. Burning Pitch maximum radius reduced to 6 yards (was 10 yards). Fiery Surge and Burning Pitch now properly scales with key level. Fixed an issue where Heavy Arrow was damaging pets. Sentinel Talondras Earthen Shards initial damage reduced by 20%. Earthen Shards periodic damage reduced by 12.5%. Emberon Burning Heat duration reduced to 6 seconds (was 10 seconds). Seeking Flame’s visual has been adjusted to no longer clip into the terrain. PLAYER VERSUS PLAYER
      Honor gained from the Battleground Blitz Brawl now contributes towards the PvP track in the Great Vault.  MONK Mistweaver Ancient Teachings healing transfer amount reduced to 375% in PvP combat (was 412%). PRIEST Discipline Atonement healing increased by 35% in PvP combat (was 15%).  
       
      To view all content update notes, click here.
      For World of Warcraft customer support, please visit our Support Site or our Customer Support discussion forum. If you’ve found a bug, please let us know about it in our Bug Report Forum.
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    • By Staff
      Dragonriding has been renamed to Skyriding in The War Within and we're taking a closer look at how the system works!
      More than 400 mounts have been updated with new animations to support Skyriding in The War Within. Skyriding and all the associated spells reside in your updated SpellbooK.

      The Mounts tab has been updated with a new button that lets you switch flight style. You can switch between Skyriding and standard flying, but some zones still require the Pathfinder achievements to enable standard flying.

      Dynamic Flight Talents cost Dragon Power. You will gain extra Skyriding power as you level up. This how Blizzard is changing the current Dragon Glyphs / talent system.

      There are two new choice nodes to the right in the tree as you can see in the screenshot.
      The first node lets you enable/disable the Ride Along feature.

      The node beneath it lets you pick between Whirling Surge or Lightning Rush.

    • By Staff
      The new Arachnophobia Mode in The War Within also works on spider mounts!
      If you own a spider mount say Bloodfang Cocoon and you turn on Arachnophobia Mode, you will suddenly have a crab mount! Here is a shot from the Alpha by MrGM who did it all for science.
      Placeholder for tweet 1781074564966957538 Check out our news post about the new Arachnophobia Mode for more details.
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