Blizzard released the full patch notes for 11.2 last week, but there was a lot to see there. We thought we’d single out some of the more easily missable and less covered topics throughout the PTR cycle, in case you, well, missed them! These highlights skip the basic features of the patch, full class tuning changes, and other more well-known additions.
From Delve de-watering to the new spell density option, the full Hard mode Tazavesh dungeon returning as a +10, here are some of the more easy to miss changes coming with the patch.
DUNGEONS
Starting the week of August 12th, Tazavesh will also return as a full hard mode mega-dungeon and will count as a Mythic+10 once a week in the Great Vault. This mega-dungeon replaces the Mythic 0 difficulty for the season for both Tazavesh dungeons, and can be accessed by entering the Tazavesh instance and with all players in the party interacting with Al’dalil near the dungeon entrance to confirm they’re ready to proceed. All bosses have a chance to drop Hero track loot, and completing the mega-dungeon will also grant players 30 Gilded Crests. An additional weekly reward is available for players who are able to defeat all bosses in the mega-dungeon without anyone in the party dying.
Checkpoints are also evolving into Waystones, with a more visual representation of unlock checkpoints. A new icon will appear on the map showing you where Waystones within the zone can be found as well.
DELVES
- Along the Delver’s Journey progression, unlock customizations for your Delver’s Mana Skimmer–the newest Delve mount attainable during Season 3–and two new toys, the Delver’s Mana-Bound Ethergate–opens a portal to return to the Explorers’ League home base in Dornogal, and Etheric Brannmorpher–summons an Ethereal Transmorpher that can change your appearance.
- The Delver’s Race has begun. Horde and Alliance compete head-to-head on which faction can complete the most delves in Season 3. The faction that reaches the goal first will have their faction’s banner planted permanently in Dornogal’s Delver’s Headquarters. When each faction reaches this milestone, players will be awarded with Horde and Alliance themed paint colors and emblems for the Delver’s Dirgible mount no matter who finishes first.
- The Sinkhole and Tak-Rethan Abyss are no longer underwater.
CLASSES
- Developers’ notes: We’re making an adjustment to healing cooldowns to increase their strength in smaller group play without affecting their performance at 20 targets. This is intended to be an overall large buff in 5 player content, a medium to small buff between 6-19 players, no change at 20 players, and a nerf beyond 20 players.
We also adjusted some of the outlier Liberation of Undermine tier bonuses and providing some compensation where relevant to ensure a smooth transition into the Manaforge Omega tier bonuses. We’ll continue to monitor the impact of these changes and adjust accordingly.
PROFESSIONS
- New gathering materials local to K’aresh. These new K’areshi materials can be exchanged for Khaz Algar materials with Om’myuz and Om’reka. An introductory questline will trigger when players gather new Ore or Herbs.
- ALCHEMY
- New Recipe: Invigorating Healing Potion – This potion will restore even more health than the Algari Healing Potion.
- New Recipe: Umbra Essentia – Slink into darkness, reducing the chance for enemies to detect your presence. Effect lasts for 20 seconds–1 minute (depending on potion quality) or ends upon moving. 5 minute combat potion cooldown.
- Developers’ notes: We’re adding a new potion in Ghosts of K’aresh that replicates abilities such as the Night Elf Racial Shadowmeld to address its prevalence in high-end Mythic+ play. As a large number of top-performing groups rely on Shadowmeld for certain strategies, we’re looking to offer access to that utility without being locked to a specific race with the goal of reducing the pressure on group composition.
USER INTERFACE AND ACCESSIBILITY
- The Spell Density feature has been revamped in Ghosts of K’aresh to increase visual clarity of combat and encounters by reducing spell visual effects that do not communicate important combat information to the player in addition to reducing visuals based on framerate to improve performance. The Reduced setting should meet most players’ needs for improving visibility of encounter mechanics and performance, and Essential will provide the strongest performance-based reduction for players who need it.
