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By Staff
After the general preview of what Phase 4 has in store, we now have the much more in-depth development notes for the PTR! We have a raid test boss very appropriately named "Testwerk", many class adjustments and new rune slots, changes to tanks in general, and more!
SoD PTR (Source)
Welcome to the WoW Classic Season of Discovery patch 1.15.3/Phase 4 PTR. Below you’ll find a list of notable changes available for test as well as information about how to access testing vendors, the test raid boss, and more.
Testing Focus
The focus of our first round of PTR is to evaluate level 60 classes with all runes available and an initial round of class and rune adjustments. Please note that we do not currently consider any class to be in its “final” state and expect many classes to continue to change throughout the PTR process, and we are eager for class feedback as we move forward towards the release of Phase 4. Please note that while new raid content, rune discoveries, and most other new content (including new dungeon drops) will not be available, the Sunken Temple as well as all normal dungeons will be available should you wish to test dungeon runs or the previous raids with the current round of class adjustments.
Accessing the PTR
Once you’ve launched the WoW Classic Era PTR from your dropdown, you’ll want to find the “Seasonal” Tab on realm selection. You can find the Classic Seasonal PTR realm there.
Level 60 Character Templates
In order to access Level 60 Character Templates you simply need to create a new character on the Classic Seasonal PTR realm. When doing so, your newly created character will be automatically leveled to 60 and have gear in their bags. Level 60 Templates are equipped with the newly revamped Dungeon or “Tier 0” sets. These characters also have a selection of other gear and supplies in their bags, including the new Dungeon Upgrade or “Tier 0.5” sets. Please note that these sets and set bonuses are currently a work in progress. Additionally, all characters have access to all rune abilities up through level 60, as well as any abilities that are learned from skillbooks, including any former rune abilities which have been made baseline in Phase 4 Phase 4 Vendors and Test Dummies
Three new vendors have been set up in Stormwind and Orgrimmar selling basic supplies such as consumables, enchants, and gear from the Sunken Temple raid should players choose to utilize them. Target dummies may also be found just outside of the main entrances to Stormwind and Orgrimmar. Accessing the Searing Basin Test Raid
We’ve set up a test instance called the Searing Basin which may be accessed by speaking with Gurgthock in Stormwind and Orgrimmar to teleport to the instance.
You may enter The Searing Basin solo or with a raid group of up to 20 people. The Boss “Testwerk” is available for you to test with. Please note that Testwerk will require tanks and healers to engage. Phase 4 Class Adjustments
Please note that these notes are not comprehensive nor final and we anticipate making additional adjustments to various classes throughout the PTR period. Please also note that many new spells have unfinished audio and visual effects at the current time.
Druid
New Runes – Cloak Slot:
Improved Swipe: Adds the Swipe (Cat) ability and causes Swipe in Bear form to cause 100% increased damage and hit 3 additional targets. Tree of Life: Transform into a Tree of Life. While active reduces the mana cost of all Heal over Time abilities by 20%, increases healing received by all party members by 10%, increases the Druid’s spirit by 25% and increases the Druids armor by 200%, but the druid may not cast any harmful abilities. Starfall: The druid calls down a rain of up to 20 falling starts over 10 seconds hitting enemies within 30 yards of the druid for Arcane damage. 90 second cooldown. Cancelled by loss of control effects, mounting, and shapeshifting. Other Adjustments
Wild Growth healing reduced by ~50% and mana cost reduced by ~20%. The Tree of Life rune increases Wild Growth healing by 60% while the druid is in Tree Form. Rake and Rip damage contributions from attack power increased by roughly 50%. Gore’s chance to trigger from Mangle (Cat) and Shred increased to 15% (was 5%). The Crusader weapon enchant will now proc for feral druids while in Bear, Dire Bear, and Cat forms. Hunter
New Runes – Cloak Slot:
Improved Volley: Increases Volley damage by 3% of attack power each time it deals damage. Volley also no longer has a cooldown and no longer suffers pushback from damaging attacks against the Hunter and the mana cost of Volley is reduced by 50% Resourcefulness: Reduces the mana cost of all traps by 100% and their cooldowns by 6 seconds. Hit and Run: Raptor Strike increases movement speed by 15% for 4 seconds. Other Adjustments
Melee Specialist no longer reduces the base cooldown on Mongoose Bite and Raptor Strike. The rune now also causes Mongoose Bite to have a 30% chance to reset the cooldown on Raptor Strike. Heart of the Lion is no longer a rune ability but is now learned as a baseline ability from a skill book A new rune has been added in place of Heart of the Lion—Cobra Slayer: Your Mongoose Bite now activates when an enemy dodges your attack, and Mongoose Bite deals additional damage equal to 40% of your attack power. The Kill Command Rune has been removed and replaced with a new rune–Kill Shot: You attempt to finish off a wounded target, firing a ranged attack dealing 100% weapon damage plus X. Kill Shot has no minimum range. Kill Shot’s cooldown is reset if used on an enemy that has 20% or less health. The Invigoration Rune has been removed and replaced with a new rune—Wyvern Strike: Your Wyvern Sting talent is replaced with Wyvern Strike. A stinging strike that deals 100% weapon damage and poisons the target with a sting for (60% of Attack Power) Nature damage over 6 sec. Only one Sting per Hunter can be active on the target at a time”. 12 second cooldown. Chimera Shot resets the cooldown of Wyvern Strike when used on a target afflicted with the Wyvern Strike sting effect. The T.N.T. rune now also causes Explosive Trap’s initial damage to be increased by 50% of melee attack power, and Immolation Trap’s total damage to be increased by 50% of melee attack power. Lock and Load can no longer benefit Scatter Shot. Mage
New Runes—Cloak Slot:
Arcane Barrage: An instant attack dealing high arcane damage. 3 Second Cooldown. Overheat: Fire Blast is now castable while casting another spell, is unaffected by the global cooldown, and always crits. Frozen Orb: The Mage launches a frost orb that damages nearby enemies and snares them. Can trigger fingers of frost. Other Adjustments
Temporal Anomaly’s shield now stacks if players remain near the orb after the initial hit. The cooldown of Temporal Anomaly has been reduced to 30 seconds. Advanced Warding has been redesigned and now also allows you to apply your Mage Armor shield buffs to friendly targets as well as causes your Remove Lesser Curse ability to also remove harmful magic effects from your friendly target. Paladin
New Runes—Cloak Slot:
Shield of Righteousness: Slam the target with your shield, causing Holy damage based on your block value. 6 second cooldown. Vindicator: Your Vindication talent now also decreases the targets Attack Power and increases the Paladin’s Strength, Agility and Attack Power by up to 20% for 10 seconds. Righteous Vengeance: Your Judgement, Crusader Strike, Divine Storm, and Holy Shock abilities now deal an additional percentage of their damage dealt over 8 seconds. Other Adjustments
Seal of Martyrdom is no longer a rune ability but is now learned as a baseline ability from a skill book. The mana return granted by Seal of Martyrdom is now based on 65% of the damage the paladin takes from the seal (down from 133%). A new rune has been added in place of Seal of Martyrdom—Divine Light: A powerful, expensive heal that causes 50% of any excess healing from Divine Light to be converted into an absorb shield for 15 sec. The Absorb shield does not accumulate from multiple casts. Divine Light benefits from most talents and abilities that affect Holy Light. Exorcist is no longer a rune ability but is now learned as a baseline ability from a skill book. A new rune has been added in place of Exorcist—Aura Mastery: Doubles the magnitude of the paladin’s current Aura for 6 sec. Aura Mastery is not affected by the Global Cooldown. Beacon of Light duration is now 1 hour Sheathe of Light no longer grants bonus healing The damage done by Hammer of the Righteous reduced by 50%, but threat was increased by 100% to compensate The bonus healing effect from critical heals was moved from the Sheathe of Light rune to the Fanatacism rune Infusion of Light has seen several adjustments: Infusion of Light now increases damage and healing of Holy Shock by 50% (up from 20%, and previously was only healing) Infusion of Light now reduces the cooldown of Holy Shock to 6 seconds Infusion of Light no longer resets the Exorcism cooldown Art of War has seen several adjustments: Art of War now only applies cooldown reduction and mana cost reduction to Exorcism Art of War now reduces the remaining cooldown of Exorcism by 1 second for each critical hit rather than fully resetting the cooldown The Horn of Lordaeron rune has been removed and replaced with a new rune—Hallowed Ground: Your Consecration now also heals party members within its area for 200% of the damage it deals to enemies. The Aegis rune has been redesigned. Now Requires the Redoubt talent to have any effect. Aegis grants 30% increased block value and now also grants redoubt to the paladin on a successful melee critical strike, as well as having a 10% chance to grant redoubt to the paladin when receiving a melee critical strike. The Enlightened Judgements rune has been removed and replaced with a new rune—Malleable Protection: You can now take actions during Divine Protection and its duration is increased by 50%, but it only reduces damage you take by 50% instead of granting full damage immunity. A new baseline ability has been added from a skill book: Avenging Wrath Increase damage and healing done by 20% for 20 seconds. 2 Minute Cooldown. Causes forbearance. Priest
New Runes—Cloak Slot:
Binding Heal: A fast heal that heals a friendly target and the Priest and deals a low amount of Threat. This spell benefits from and triggers all effects associated with Flash Heal. Soul Warding: Power World: Shield has no cooldown, a reduced mana cost, and increased magnitude. Vampiric Touch: A Damage-over-time effect that grants 2% of damage dealt as mana returned to all party members. Other Adjustments
The Void Plague rune has been moved to the boots slot from the chest slot. Any Void Plague runes previously engraved on a Chest or Robe will appear as “faded rune” and will need to be engraved with a different rune to gain a rune effect. Rogue
New Runes—Cloak Slot:
Blunderbuss: Fire a musket blast at enemies in a cone in front of the Rogue, dealing physical damage. Crimson Tempest: Finishing move that hits all nearby targets with a damage-over-time bleed based on Attack Power. Increased duration and damage per CP. Fan of Knives: The Rogue instantly throws both weapons at all targets dealing area effect damage. Other Adjustments:
A new Poison has been added—Sebacious Poison: A poison effect that applies an armor debuff (roughly equivalent to Sunder Armor) A new poison has been added—Numbing Poison: A poison effect that applies an attack speed debuff (roughly equivalent to Thunderclap) A new poison has been added Atrophic Poison: A poison effect that applies an attack power reduction (roughly equivalent to Demoralizing Shout) A new Poison has been added—Occult Poison: Occult Poison behaves exactly the same as deadly poison but also increases non-physical damage by 2% per application to a max of 10% bonus damage. Deadly Brew will also apply Occult Poison in place of Deadly Poison if you know Occult Poison. The tooltip has been updated to reflect this new interaction. Shadowstep is no longer on the Global Cooldown. Shaman
New Runes—Cloak Slot:
Storm, Earth, and Fire: Chain Lightning cooldown is reduced by 100%, Earthbind Totem immediately immobilizes all enemies when cast, and Flame Shock deals 60% increased periodic damage. Feral Spirit: Summon a pair of temporary spirit wolf guardians for 45 seconds. 3 minute cooldown. Coherence: Chain Heal effectiveness only reduced by 35% per jump, Chain Lightning effectiveness only reduced by 20% per jump, and each spell now jumps to one additional target. Other Adjustments
The Intellect to Attack Power conversion from Mental Dexterity has been reduced to 65% (from 100%) The AP to spell damage conversion from Mental Dexterity has been reduced to 20% (from 30%) Mental Dexterity no longer grants any +healing Maelstrom Weapon reduced or instant cast procs may no longer be used to cast Chain Heal or Healing Wave with a reduced or instant cast time Shamanistic Rage is no longer a rune ability but is now learned as a baseline ability from a skill book Shamanistic Rage now grants 10% of mana to the party (down from 20%) Burn now grants 2 spell damage per level (down from 4) A new rune has been added in place of shamanistic rage–Greater Ghost Wolf: Ghost Wolf is now usable indoors and reduces all damage taken by 10% while active. Warlock
New Runes—Cloak Slot:
Decimation: Shadowbolt, Shadow Cleave, Incinerate and Soul Fire damage on targets below 35% health causes your next Soul Fire to not cost a Soul Shard and cast 1.5 seconds faster. 10 Second Duration. Mark of Chaos: Shadowburn causes your next single-target spell or ability to have a 100% increased critical strike chance. Infernal Armor: For the next 10 seconds, all non-physical damage is reduced by a percentage of your damage reduced from armor. 60 sec cooldown. Other Adjustments
Demonic Grace is no longer on the Global Cooldown Warrior
New Runes—Cloak Slot:
Fresh Meat: Damaging a target with Bloodthirst has a chance to enrage you, activating abilities which require being enraged and cause you to deal 10% increased damage for 12 seconds. 100% chance to proc on first Bloodthirst hit against a target. 10% chance for subsequent hits against that same target. Sudden Death: Your melee crits have a chance to activate sudden death for 10 seconds. While Sudden Death is active, you may use Execute on any target, and you always have 10 rage remaining after using execute. Shockwave: Cone attack that deals physical damage and stuns all affected enemies for 4 seconds. Requires a Shield and Defensive Stance. 60 sec cooldown. Other Adjustments
Single-Minded Fury no longer increases damage dealt but now increases movement speed by 15% (up from 10%) and reduces threat generated by the Warrior by 10%. Blood Frenzy has been redesigned. Now increases rend damage by 100% and causes Rend to gain increased damage equal to 3% of attack power per tick, and Rend may be used in any stance. Flagellation has been redesigned. Now causes the Warrior to gain Rage from physical damage taken as the warrior was wearing no armor. Rampage has been redesigned. Now instantly increases the Warrior’s attack power by 10% for 30 seconds and no longer stacks or costs rage to activate. Requires being enraged. 2 minute cooldown. Wrecking Crew now causes an enrage effect that lasts 10 seconds and increases damage done by Mortal Strike, Bloodthirst, and Shield slam by 10%. The threat reduction in Gladiator Stance is now 30% (was 10%) Consumed by Rage now activates when exceeding 60 rage and now always lasts 12 seconds regardless of the number of attacks, but no longer grants a damage bonus. The Booming Voice talent now increases Battle Shout duration by 30/60/90/120/150% and reduces its rage cost by 20/40/60/80/100%. Commanding Shout’s rage cost was removed and its duration was increased to 5 minutes. Recklessness now increases critical strike chance by 50% (was 100%) and the duration is reduces to 12 seconds, but the cooldown is reduced to 5 minutes. Retaliation and Shield Wall have had their cooldowns reduced to 5 minutes (was 30 minutes). A new baseline ability has been added from a skill book: Meat Hook Throw out a hooked chain to restrain the target and pull them towards you. Costs 15 rage, 30 yard range, and has a 35 second cooldown. This may not be used on enemies more than 1 level above the Warrior or which are marked as “boss” enemies. General
All tanking classes now gain additional damage output benefit from the defense skill in some way. Thank you for participating in the WoW Classic Season of Discovery PTR. We plan to continue to make adjustments during this PTR period and we will update this thread as changes continue to roll in.
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By Staff
Blizzard has posted a preview of Season of Discovery Phase 4!
In Phase 4, players can level to 60, discover new class runes, and enter Molten Core to face Ragnaros.
(Source)
Season of Discovery Phase 4 is coming and with it, players will be able to level to 60, discover new class runes, enter the Molten Core raid dungeon to face Ragnaros, and more.
What’s in Store
We’re leveling up Season of Discovery Phase 4 with a variety of leveling changes, new rune discoveries, class adjustments, professions and reputations updates, dungeon updates, PvP Class Sets, updated events, raid content, world bosses, and more.
Level from 50 to 60 Updated Discoverer’s Delight buff Level 1-50 150% Level 50-60 50% New Runes for each class to discover. New Cloak rune slot Utility Runes: These class agnostic utility runes will provide additional bonuses to a variety of skills such as additional bonuses to a variety of stats such as weapon skill, spell hit, and more. New Ring rune slots Class Adjustments: Many classes will experience changes such as select runes becoming baseline abilities and new runes will become available. Profession and Reputation Updates: New and enhanced professions recipes for Argent Dawn, Thorium Brotherhood, Hydraxian Waterlords, and Timbermaw Hold. Nightmare Incursions updated to daily quest hubs. New Stranglethorn Vale and Blood Moon Rewards and Currency Dungeon Updates: updated rewards and new dungeons available at level 60: Blackrock Depths (2nd half) Blackrock Spire Dire Maul (3 wings) Scholomance Stratholme PvP Class Sets for Rank 10 Molten Core Raid Dungeon
Experience Molten core as a 20-player dungeon with 10 classic bosses, revamped loot, redesigned Tier 1 sets, and more. Players will also be able to turn up the heat with a new variable difficulty mechanic. Don’t forget your fire resist gear! You are going to need it. We’ll be adding one more surprise to this classic raid dungeon for intrepid adventurer’s to discover.
World Bosses Updates
Experience Lord Kazzak and Azuregos as brand-new instanced versions of these encounters. These encounters can be experienced with up to 40 players but will be tuned as 20-player content.
Onyxia will also be adjusted to accommodate 40 or fewer players along with some additional loot adjustments.
We’ll have more to share in the coming weeks beyond this brief overview and have more in development for this phase we can’t wait for you to discover. Stay tuned to the official site for more information got a full phase 4 preview. We look forward to bringing this endgame experience for Season of Discovery to life.
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By Staff
The previously announced buff to raid drops in Sunken Temple has arrived to Season of Discovery! Casters are getting better loot and some previously rare items will now be Epic quality as well.
Sunken Temple (Source)
With hotfixes that are now live, we’ve updated many items that drop in Sunken Temple to be better for casters and more rewarding in general.
A number of previously non-Epic items are now Epic quality, and in many cases, stats have been added or increased.
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By Staff
With the launch of Cataclysm Classic upon us, we've got you covered with a wealth of new guides for this latest chapter. Also, don't forget to participate in our Blazing Epic Upgrade giveaway!
Icy Veins' Blazing Epic Upgrade Giveaway
Don't forget to participate in our giveaway for a chance to earn codes for the Blazing Epic Upgrade! You will find more information here.
With the launch of Cataclysm Classic, players will begin to level from 80 to 85 through new zones, dungeons, and raids, engage in PvP combat in Tol Barad and more.
Level Cap Raised to 85
We've got a host of leveling guides to help you out. Here, you will find recommended talent builds for easier leveling.
Blood Death Knight Cataclysm Classic Leveling Guide Frost Death Knight Cataclysm Classic Leveling Guide Unholy Death Knight Cataclysm Classic Leveling Guide Balance Druid Cataclysm Classic Leveling Guide Feral DPS Druid Cataclysm Classic Leveling Guide Feral Tank Druid Cataclysm Classic Leveling Guide Restoration Druid Cataclysm Classic Leveling Guide Beast Mastery Hunter Cataclysm Classic Leveling Guide Marksmanship Hunter Cataclysm Classic Leveling Guide Survival Hunter Cataclysm Classic Leveling Guide Arcane Mage Cataclysm Classic Leveling Guide Fire Mage Cataclysm Classic Leveling Guide Frost Mage Cataclysm Classic Leveling Guide Holy Paladin Cataclysm Classic Leveling Guide Protection Paladin Cataclysm Classic Leveling Guide Retribution Paladin Cataclysm Classic Leveling Guide Discipline Priest Cataclysm Classic Leveling Guide Holy Priest Cataclysm Classic Leveling Guide Shadow Priest Cataclysm Classic Leveling Guide Elemental Shaman Cataclysm Classic Leveling Guide Enhancement Shaman Cataclysm Classic Leveling Guide Restoration Shaman Cataclysm Classic Leveling Guide Assassination Rogue Cataclysm Classic Leveling Guide Combat Rogue Cataclysm Classic Leveling Guide Subtlety Rogue Cataclysm Classic Leveling Guide Affliction Warlock Cataclysm Classic Leveling Guide Demonology Warlock Cataclysm Classic Leveling Guide Destruction Warlock Cataclysm Classic Leveling Guide Arms Warrior Cataclysm Classic Leveling Guide Fury Warrior Cataclysm Classic Leveling Guide Protection Warrior Cataclysm Classic Leveling Guide Dungeon Guides
Cataclysm Classic launch adds 9 new dungeons. So far, we've got guides up for the following:
The Deadmines Dungeon Guide Shadowfang Keep Dungeon Guide Blackrock Caverns Dungeon Guide The Stonecore Dungeon Guide If you're looking for more general information, you will find them in the Dungeon Overview.
Cataclysm Classic Class Guides
Our writers have prepared class guides for every single specialization for you to use at max level.
Death Knight Overview Blood Death Knight PvE Guide Frost Death Knight PvE Guide Unholy Death Knight PvE Guide Druid Overview Balance Druid PvE Guide Feral DPS Druid PvE Guide Feral Tank Druid PvE Guide Restoration Druid PvE Guide Hunter Overview Beast Mastery Hunter PvE Guide Marksmanship Hunter PvE Guide Survival Hunter PvE Guide Mage Overview Arcane Mage PvE Guide Fire Mage PvE Guide Frost Mage PvE Guide Paladin Overview Holy Paladin PvE Guide Protection Paladin PvE Guide Retribution Paladin PvE Guide Priest Overview Discipline Priest PvE Guide Holy Priest PvE Guide Shadow Priest PvE Guide Rogue Overview Assassination Rogue PvE Guide Combat Rogue PvE Guide Subtlety Rogue PvE Guide Shaman Overview Elemental Shaman PvE Guide Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide Restoration Shaman PvE Guide Warlock Overview Affliction Warlock PvE Guide Demonology Warlock PvE Guide Destruction Warlock PvE Guide Warrior Overview Arms Warrior PvE Guide Fury Warrior PvE Guide Protection Warrior PvE Guide Cataclysm Classic Tier Lists
If you're wondering how your specialization performs in raids, you can take a look at one of our tier lists.
DPS Tier List for Cataclysm Classic Healer Tier List for Cataclysm Classic Tank Tier List for Cataclysm Classic Reputation Guides
Explore our detailed reputation guides for Cataclysm Classic to increase your standing with the new factions!
Baradin's Wardens Dragonmaw Clan Guardians of Hyjal Hellscream's Reach Ramkahen The Earthen Ring Therazane Wildhammer Clan Profession Guides
Master every profession in Cataclysm Classic with our comprehensive guides, covering all the skills and tips you need for success.
Professions Overview Profession Bonuses Alchemy Archaeology Blacksmithing Cooking Enchanting Engineering First-Aid Fishing Herbalism Inscription Jewelcrafting Leatherworking Mining Skinning Tailoring General Guides
Finally, we've got some general guides that explain how Reforging or Transmogrification work in Cataclysm Classic. You will also find a detailed guide about the Racial Bonuses, and more.
Racial Bonuses Currency Reforging Transmogrification List of Raid Buffs and Debuffs -
By Staff
Blizzard shared a lot of details on the future of Season of Discovery today. Phase 3 will last longer than previous seasons, and while we didn't get a Phase 4 launch window, we did find out that it will get a limited PTR. This will be to test combat and classes specifically, with all runes unlocked and template level 60 characters ready, possibly even with tier set bonuses! We also found out that Phase 4 will have generally the same raid tiers and patch timing as original Classic did. There's also some buffs coming to Sunken Temple caster gear.
SoD (Source)
Greetings,
The team has been hard at work on Season of Discovery and Cataclysm Classic. There’s a lot happening in Classic right now, and while we’ve been working incredibly hard, we’ve also been fairly quiet, so we felt it would be a good time to provide an update on a few things, including Season of Discovery Phase 4.
Phase 4 Release Update
Cutting straight to it, and as you have no doubt likely noticed, the World of Warcraft team has been delivering a lot of exciting content lately, and this will (of course) continue well through the next few months and beyond. As such, to land Phase 4 at just the right time, our current phase (Phase 3) is going to last longer than previous Season of Discovery content phases. We can’t share Phase 4’s release date just yet, and we know this news and the longer Phase 3 may be disappointing to some, but our timeline will ensure that our Classic team delivers an experience worthy of our players at the high-quality bar we are setting for ourselves.
We’re so very excited to share what’s next with you.
We also want to make sure that we take the time we need to deliver equally awesome experiences in both Season of Discovery and Cataclysm Classic, and give Cataclysm Classic’s launch the time it deserves to breathe, without players feeling the pressure of needing to choose between it and all of the other fun things that are happening in WoW right now. We understand our players love to plan, so we wanted to signal our intentions now and let you know that we intend to share the exact timing of Phase 4’s launch, and start discussing what it will include, as early as it is possible to do so.
Please stay tuned for more information on Phase 4 coming soon.
Phase 4 PTR Plans
In a departure from previous phases, we will spin up a limited PTR specifically focused on combat and class testing for Phase 4. We plan to include level 60 templates with all runes and abilities learned, and we tentatively plan to provide some sort of access to level 60 tier set bonuses. We also plan to provide access to training dummies and some raid content, as well as battlegrounds, so that players can test out their new builds. Again, our intent with this PTR is to focus on combat and class testing, and we will not be using it to test the unique content coming with Phase 4. We’ve received an enormous amount of class feedback from players, and we’re very excited for the level 60 runes to be discovered as well as our revamped tier sets.
We’re investing heavily into class adjustments going into Phase 4, and while perfect balance is not the goal, we do want to look at classes, specs, and runes that are underperforming and find opportunities to make as many improvements as we can. Many classes will see substantial redesigns going into the level 60 endgame, with some runes moving around and others becoming baseline skills. We’re excited for players to jump in to play around with these substantial adjustments and participate in the feedback loop with us ahead of Phase 4 hitting live realms.
We’ll share more information on our testing schedule very soon.
Level 60 Content Phases
One common question we’ve been asked is “how will the various raid tiers roll out at level 60?”, and we want to provide some clarity and let everyone know that we will be rolling raids out in phases similar to how we did in 2019’s Classic. The first tier will consist of Molten Core and Onyxia, and a few weeks after that we will see Blackwing Lair, followed by Zul’Gurub, with additional endgame content and surprises that we’re planning to add between the major raid tier releases as well. For ease of communication, we intend to frame our releases around the familiar original WoW raid tiers.
Sunken Temple Adjustments Incoming
One consistent piece of feedback we’ve received is that the rewards from Sunken Temple have been a bit underwhelming. During our design and testing of Phase 3, we didn’t entirely know the scale and scope of adjustments we’d make to Level 60 dungeon gear, Tier 1 item sets, and Molten Core and Onyxia gear. Now that we have a good idea about those, we think it makes sense to increase the power level of some of the Sunken Temple gear. These updates will particularly focus on caster gear, which feels the most underpowered.
We’ll let you know when we’ve got this ready to implement in the live game.
We want to again express a heartfelt thanks to our passionate players. We’ve had a blast playing with you in Season of Discovery and now in the Cataclysm Classic pre-patch, and we can’t wait to get more exciting Classic content into your hands very soon!
Thank you,
The WoW Classic Development Team
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