Blizzard Shuts Down Shadow Dance Pre-Pull in Season 2

Classes

• Death Knight
  • Blood
    • Deathbringer: Resolved an issue causing Echoing Fury to grnt Exterminate stacks on Reaper’s Mark casts.
    • San’layn: Visceral Strength now grants 6% strength (was 10%).
    • San’layn: Transfusion increases Dancing Rune Weapon damage by 5% (was 10%).
      • Developers’ notes: The tooltip will be updated at a later date to reflect the new value.
  • Frost
    • All ability and auto-attack damage increased by 9%.
    • Venomous Abyss 2-piece set bonus updated – Now grants 1% attack speed per stack (was 2%), and now increases Icy Death Torrent damage by 2% per stack (was 4%).
• Demon Hunter
  • Devourer
    • Developers’ notes: Devourer’s 4-piece set bonus is performing significantly above expectations, so we’re reducing its power. To compensate for this set bonus reduction, we’re increasing all ability damage. Additionally, Devourer has been overperforming, mostly in single target, so we are reducing the damage of Reap/Cull/Eradicate while increasing the AoE damage portion of Eradicate to reduce the impact of the change in AoE combat.
    • All ability damage increased by 14%. Does not affect PvP combat.
    • Reap/Cull/Eradicate damage reduced by 12%.
    • Eradicate’s area-of-effect damage increased to 90% of base damage (was 85%).
    • Venomous Abyss 4-piece set bonus updated – Now generates 2 soul fragments (was 8 soul fragments) and increases Reap damage by 10% (was 20%).
• Druid
  • Restoration
    • Developers’ notes: We’re increasing Restoration Druid’s healing and damage as both aspects are underperforming relative to other healers.
    • All healing increased by 4%. Does not affect PvP combat.
    • All damage increased by 20%. Does not affect PvP combat.
• Hunter
  • Reduced the size of several Hydra creatures after they have been tamed.
  • Beast Mastery
    • Developers’ notes: The new Venomous Abyss tier set bonus isn’t quite as strong as we would like it to be, so we’re increasing the effects of the 4-piece set bonus.
    • Venomous Abyss 4-piece set bonus updated – Now causes Cobra Shot to benefit from Beast Cleave at 30% effectiveness per stack (was 20%) or strike your target for an additional 20% damage per stack (was 15%).
• Mage
  • Arcane
    • Developers’ notes: The Venomous Abyss set bonus is overperforming our target tuning for set bonuses. However, the amount we need to reduce its value by would be a greater impact than intended to Arcane’s overall damage, so we are also making a small positive adjustment to Arcane’s baseline.
    • All ability damage increased by 3%.
    • Venomous Abyss 2-piece set bonus updated – Arcane Missiles damage bonus reduced to 5% (was 20%).
    • Venomous Abyss 4-piece set bonus updated – Cumulative Power damage bonus per stack reduced to 3% (was 5%).
• Monk
  • Mistweaver
    • Developers’ notes: Mistweaver has been underperforming so we are targeting increases to its casted healing and the Venomous Abyss 4-set bonus to improve its performance and maintain build diversity.
    • All healing increased by 8%. Does not affect PvP combat.
    • Venomous Abyss 4-piece set bonus updated – Activation rate increased by 33%.
• Paladin
  • Retribution
    • All ability damage increased by 6%. Does not affect PvP combat.
• Priest
  • Discipline
    • Developers’ notes: We’re reducing Discipline’s damage done and offsetting this in Atonement to not affect their overall healing, as their damage has been overperforming compared to other healers. At the same time, we’re increasing the damage of Entropic Rift to minimize the impact this will have on Voidweaver’s dungeon viability and help maintain high damage as one of its strengths.
    • All damage reduced by 30%. Does not affect PvP combat.
    • Oracle: Entropic Rift damage increased by 20%.
    • Oracle: Atonement now transfers 46% of damage into healing (was 32%). Does not affect PvP combat.
    • Oracle: Void Shield reflects 10% of damage (was 15%).
  • Holy
    • Developers’ notes: We’re increasing the healing throughput of Oracle so that it can serve as a competitive option against Archon. Furthermore, we are increasing the mana regeneration of Enlightenment to further help Holy Priest’s mana economy.
    • Enlightenment now regenerates mana 25% faster (was 10%).
    • Words of the Wise now increases the healing of Holy Word: Serenity and Holy Word: Sanctify by 40% (was 10%). Does not affect PvP combat.
    • Prompt Prognosis healing increased by 55%. Does not affect PvP combat.
    • Preventive Measures now increases Prayer of Mending healing by 40% (was 15%). Does not affect PvP combat.
• Rogue
  • Assassination
    • All damage increased by 4%.
  • Subtlety
    • Developers’ notes: Subtlety’s 4-piece set bonus is overperforming expectations, so its effectiveness is being reduced. An overall buff to Subtlety’s damage is being applied to compensate.
    • All damage increased by 6%.
    • The Venomous Abyss 4-set bonus has been updated – Effectiveness reduced to 60% (was 100%).
    • Shadow Dance now cancels when swapping talents.
    • Shadow Dance can no longer be cancelled manually.
    • Deathstalker: Lingering Darkness now cancels when swapping talents.
    • Deathstalker: Lingering Darkness now cancels when a raid encounter starts.
    • Deathstalker: Lingering Darkness now cancels when an M+ dungeon starts.
• Shaman
  • Elemental
    • Corrected an issue where the Venomous Abyss 4-piece set bonus Overcharge! buff was sometimes not consumed when casting a Maelstrom spending ability.
    • All damage dealt increased by 5%.
      • Developers’ notes: We discovered and fixed a tricky bug that was active on the PTR, that was increasing the amount of free Maelstrom spending abilities Elemental Shaman could get from the Venomous Abyss 4-piece set bonus. This was inflating their damage dealt, so alongside the bug fix, we’re increasing their damage to compensate.
  • Enhancement
    • All damage increased by 5%.
• Warlock
  • Hellcaller: Fixed an issue where Blackened Soul would not function with mouse-over casting.
  • Affliction
    • Fixed an issue where Withering Bolt would not account for Wither.
  • Demonology
    • Burning Cleave (granted by Antoran Armaments) now strikes enemies in a circular area, rather than a cone. The tooltip for Burning Cleave will be updated in a future patch.
    • Developers’ notes: We are increasing the throughput of the Venomous Abyss 2-set bonus for Demonology so that its performance is closer to other specialization tier set bonuses.
    • Venomous Abyss 2-piece set bonus updated – Wild Imps now Implode at 350% effectiveness to their main target (was 250%) and 315% effectiveness to other targets (was 225%).
  • Destruction
    • Fixed an issue where Conflagration of Chaos would not guarantee a Conflagrate or Shadowburn to critically strike.
    • Fixed an issue where Shadowburn would not apply its debuff after dealing damage to a Havoc target.
• Warrior
  • Developers’ notes: Fury’s 4-piece set bonus is currently overperforming, but Fury is in a good place overall and we don’t want to disrupt that, so we’re moving some of the value out of the 4-piece bonus and into Fury’s baseline. Additionally, Slayer has been overperforming for both specs due to a bug causing Executioner to provide double value which was recently hotfixed. This fix has brought overall Arms performance down into our intended range, but we’re happy with where Fury has been, so their baseline damage has been increased below to compensate for this fix as well as the set bonus change.
  • Fury
    • All damage increased by 6%.
    • Venomous Abyss 4-piece set bonus updated – Bloodthirst damage increased by 10%, and during Recklessness, Bloodthirst increases the critical strike bonus of Recklessness by 3%, up to 6% (was 5%, up to 10%).
  • Protection
    • Mountain Thane: Fixed an issue that would sometimes disable the bonus Thunder Clap damage from Crashing Thunder.

Delves

• The initial Ancient Golem in the Game Night variant of the Ring of Glory delve no longer attacks before being activated.
• “Delve into the Earth” should no longer be blocked if selecting a combat roll for Brann failed to advance the quest while outside a delve.
• Fixed an issue where Dundun’s Favor would prevent Mislaid Curiosities from being looted by more than one party member.

Dungeons

• The lockout for Mythic difficulty for Season 2 dungeons now resets daily.
• The Blinding Vale
  • Thorny Saptor
    • Hunting Leap visibility of ground visual improved.
  • Ziekket
    • Lightbloom’s Essence periodic damage reduced by 25%.
  • Altar of Fangs
    • Added a way for players to return to the entrance from the chamber of Rav’i.
    • Hunting Leap visibility of ground visual improved.
• Den of Nalorakk
  • Barrel of Apples are now interactable without requiring opposable thumbs. Nature finds a way.
  • Warding Incense
    • Increased Versatility buff to 5% (was 3%).
    • Now benefits all allies in the instance.
    • Now persists through death.
  • Sentinel of Winter
    • Rimeshatter soak area visual updated.
  • Spirit of Hunger
    • Insatiable Hunger debuff now limited to 5 stacks.
• Kings’ Rest
  • The Council of Tribes
  • Encounter now ends immediately after defeating Zanazal the Wise.
  • Dazar, The First King
    • Impaling Spear ground visual updated to improve visibility.
  • Shadow of Zul
    • Dark Revelation now prefers non-tank players.
  • Ghostly Brute
    • Seismic Upheaval visual updated to improve visual clarity.
  • Honored Raptor
    • Hunting Leap visibility of ground visual improved.
• Murder Row
  • Reduced required enemy forces to 655 (was 690).
  • Removed the creature pack of a Corrupted Warlock and two Wrathguard Flayers before Xathuux the Annihilator.
  • Cantina event
    • Five Star Review duration increased to 5 minutes (was 4 minutes).
    • Food Missiles now targets specific locations around the room.
  • Felmaster Lucsei
    • Blade Dance now has a 2-second cast time, and impact damage reduced by 10%.
• Ruby Life Pools
  • Melidrussa Chillworn
    • Hailburst cast time increased to 3 seconds (was 2 seconds).
  • Kyrakka and Erkhart Stormvein
    • Flaming Embers
      • Reduced radius of each ember to 5 yards (was 7 yards).
      • Reduced amount of randomness in the spawn pattern.
    • Kyrakka no longer immediately begins casting after she lands for the final phase of the encounter, allowing for her to be repositioned
    • Increased the movement speed of Kyrakka after she lands for the final phase of the encounter
    • Addressed an issue where Kyrakka could melee attack unexpected targets after landing for the final phase
  • Flashfrost Chillweaver
    • Ice Shield precast visual visibility improved.
  • Earthbound Guardian
    • Multiple applications of the Earthbound’s Imprint debuff can no longer overlap.
• Temple of Sethraliss
  • Avatar of Sethraliss
    • Developers’ notes: With the changes below, we’re reducing the amount of passive healing done to the boss via Cleansed Lifeforce to make player healing more impactful. Additionally, we are adjusting some mechanical tuning surrounding Corrupted Lifeforce to encourage more group participation in this mechanic. To counterbalance this adjustment, we’re providing more time for the group to handle this mechanic and also increasing its visibility within the Avatar’s chamber.
    • Corrupted Guardian
      • Corrupted Lifeforce time to soak increased to 6 seconds (was 4.5 seconds) and visibility improved.
    • Corruption
      • Reduced physical vulnerability to 250% (was 300%).
      • Increased periodic damage by 33%.
    • Tainted Strike
      • Reduced periodic damage by 50%.
      • Capped applications at 2.
      • Increased duration to 25 seconds.
    • Cleansed Lifeforce
      • The passive healing aura can no longer grow beyond 3 applications.
      • Slowed the tick rate of the passive healing to every 3 seconds (was every 2 seconds).
    • Faithless Tormentor
      • Reduced the size of the fixate visual over the head of the healer.
      • Fixed an issue where Faithless Tormentors could melee their fixate target from further than intended.
    • Essence Defiler
      • Defiling Taint is now displayed as a debuff on the Avatar’s unit frame.
    • Lightning Serpent
      • Multiple applications of the Lingering Storm debuff can no longer overlap.
• Voidscar Arena
  • Proof of Mastery and Proof of Endurance are now buffs.
  • Aegyra the Unyielding
    • Champion’s Spear health reduced by 15%.
  • Raj’kess the Spellstorm
    • Disruption Orb disruption cast time reduced to 13 seconds (was 15 seconds).

Items

• Fixed an issue with Hunter’s Ritual Stone providing more stats than intended.
• Shirts collected from Free T-Shirt Day can now be sold to vendors.
• Zatha’tek, Breath of Corruption may now be equipped in either weapon slot.
• Aman’muso, Warlord’s Vengeance may now be equipped in either weapon slot.
• Preternatural Antivenom – fixed an issue preventing the healing effect from consistently triggering after the aura has been applied to an ally depending on the source of incoming damage.
• Preyhunter’s Trophy Stand cannot be used in areas where toys are restricted

Player versus Player

• Training Grounds: Arenas
  • The damage of enemy game-controlled opponents has been reduced in Training Grounds: Arena.
  • Resolved an issue that prevented “Week 1 of 3: Gladiator’s Distinction” quest credit from being earned in Training Grounds: Arenas.
• Resolved an issue that could prevent quest credit for “Sparks of War: The Coiled Isle”.
• The PvP trinket set bonus now increases primary stat by 20% for damage dealers and tanks (was 15%).
  • Developers’ notes: We’ve felt the pace of PvP combat has been slower than intended, so we’re increasing the primary stat of non-healer specializations to increase overall outgoing damage.
• Demon Hunter
  • Devourer
    • Developers’ notes: Devourer Demon Hunters are both very threatening and very defensible during Void Metamorphosis and Surrender to the Void has provided the opportunity to increase the duration of those windows too significantly, so its Fury generation effect is being reduced.
    • Surrender to the Void now increases Fury generated by 60% (was 100%).
• Druid
  • Restoration
    • Developers’ notes: Restoration Druid received several changes in Curse of Ula’tek that improved its throughput beyond what we would like in PvP.
    • All healing reduced by 5% in PvP combat.
• Mage
  • Fire
    • Developers’ notes: Fire Mage’s Venomous Abyss tier set bonus is particularly difficult to take advantage of in PvP combat, so we’re making a few tweaks with the objective of increasing its usability. We’re also decreasing Meteor’s damage to reduce Fire Mage’s burst capabilities.
    • Pyroblast damage increased by 10% in PvP combat.
    • Meteor damage decreased by 20% in PvP combat.
    • Comet Storm damage decreased by 20% in PvP combat.
    • Venomous Abyss 4-piece set bonus updated – Now decreases the cast time of Pyroblast and Flamestrike by 30% (was 10%) and increases Pyroclasm’s damage bonus by 5% (was 10%) in PvP combat.
• Paladin
  • Holy
    • Developers’ notes: Holy Paladin’s throughput has been higher than we would like, and Judgment has been too effective as an offensive tool. Avenging Crusader’s effectiveness is being increased to offset the decrease to Judgment’s damage.
    • All healing decreased by 5% in PvP combat.
    • Judgment damage decreased by 30% in PvP combat.
    • Avenging Crusader now transfers 80% of damage done into healing in PvP combat (was 55%).
  • Retribution
    • Developers’ notes: Retribution had been contributing to longer PvP matches during Season 1 due to their frequent access to team utility. We’re shifting some of that effectiveness into more consistent offensive power, and additionally giving Templar an increase to Hammer of Light damage so they are a solid offensive alternative to Herald of the Sun.
    • All damage increased by 8% in PvP combat.
    • Final Verdict damage increased by 15% in PvP combat.
    • Hammer of Light damage increased by 25% in PvP combat.
    • Sacrifice of the Just now reduces Blessing of Sacrifice’s cooldown by 30 seconds in PvP combat (was 60 seconds).
    • Unbreakable Spirit reduces the cooldown of affected spells by 20% in PvP combat (was 30%).
• Shaman
  • Restoration
    • Developers’ notes: We’re making some targeted adjustments to primarily improve Farseer’s viability as we begin season 2. We’re also reducing the effectiveness of Storm Conduit which we feel has been too powerful under the right circumstances.
    • All healing increased by 4% in PvP combat.
    • Storm Conduit now reduces the cooldown of affected spells by 2 seconds (was 4 seconds).
    • Storm Conduit now reduces the duration of interrupts on Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning by 40% (was 65%).
    • Farseer: Healing Wave, Healing Surge, and Chain Heal healing from Ancestors increased by 35% in PvP combat.
    • Farseer: Hydrobubble absorption increased by 35% in PvP combat.
• Warlock
  • Destruction
    • Soul Fire damage reduced by 30% in PvP combat.

Professions

• Fixed an issue where players were not receiving Tidal Spark Dust from quests such as “Trailing Xal’atath” and “Midnight: World Tour”.
• Raised the base cap of Tidal Spark Dust to 3 (was 1).
• Cooking
  • Fixed a bug where the tooltips for Hearty Loa’s Gathering, Hearty Amani Cornucopia, and Hearty Feast of Knowledge listed incorrect stat values.

Quests

• “Trailing Xal’atath” and “Midnight: World Tour” should now correctly award Tidal Spark Dust.
• Fixed bug preventing the “Sparks of War” related quests from displaying Spark of Tides as a potential quest reward.
• Fixed an issue that would prevent “Purging the Vaults” or “Vaults of Atal’Utek: A Toxic Tour” quests from being completed if you already had Codex of the Soulcoilers in your inventory.
• For “A Grave Concern”, the Budget Friendly gravestone in the Silvermoon Delve hub is now available for anyone to use.