Phase 4 PTR Changes Roundup

• Author: Passion
• Date: June 25, 2024
• Updated: June 25, 2024
• Expansion: WoW Classic

Phase 4 is on the PTR and things are changing rapidly. This can make it hard to keep an eye on everything that’s different each time you log on. This overview intends to summarize most of the important changes in a quick and easy to understand format.

Runes

A significant amount of older Runes have also been removed, made baseline, or had their slot changed. There are now also 2 new slots for Runes.

Cloak Runes

Phase 4 brings with it Cloak Runes, and each class has received three new Runes for the slot (so far).

Ring Runes

This new Rune slot does not work quite the same as other Runes. Instead of being class specific, these Runes are shared amongst several classes. Each Ring Rune will increase either your skill with a certain weapon group, or your chance to hit with a specific spell school. This allows players to pick which weapon they would like to have +5 weapon skill with, or which spell school to give +5% chance to hit. This even extends to Feral Druids with the “Feral Combat” skill.

Tanks

Tanks in general will now be able to hit significantly more targets. Each tanking specialization now also has a way to increase their damage based on their defense skill, allowing them to scale their offense and defense simultaneously.

Class Changes

Warrior

• [Shield Slam] now scales with Attack Power.
• [Single-Minded Fury] now grants a stacking buff that increases your attack speed as you attack the same target. Additionally, this no longer reduces your threat.
• [Gladiator Stance] now grants additional Rage when attacking targets that aren’t attacking you. The threat reduction has also been increased.
• [Thunderclap] can now hit up to 10 targets.
• [Valor of Azeroth] allows Warriors to provide a lesser version of [Rallying Cry of the Dragonslayer].
• [Fresh Meat] causes [Bloodthirst] to enrage you.
• [Sudden Death] gives your crits a chance to allow you to use [Execute] regardless of the opponents health.
• [Shockwave] is a frontal cone attack that stuns all targets hit for 4 seconds.
• [Blood Frenzy] has been redesigned, increasing [Rend] damage and scaling.
• [Flagellation] has been redesigned, and now causes the Warrior to gain Rage from damage taken as if they had zero armor.
• [Rampage] has been redesigned, and now instantly increases attack power by 10%.
• [Wrecking Crew] now causes an enrage effect.
• [Consumed by Rage] now activates after 60 Rage and lasts for a fixed duration, but does not grant bonus damage.
• [Booming Voice] now increases the duration and reduces the Rage cost of [Battle Shout] significantly.
• [Commanding Shout] no longer costs Rage and lasts 5 minutes.
• [Recklessness] now only gives 50% critical strike chance and lasts for 12 seconds, but has a 5 minute cooldown.
• [Retaliation] and [Shield Wall] are now also 5 minute cooldowns.
• Meat Hook has been added as a baseline ability. This ability functions similarly to Death Grip in later expansions.

Druid

• [Mangle] now grants Attack Power based on your defense skill while in [Bear Form].
• [Fury of Stormrage] also allows you to cast [Wrath] while in [Tree of Life] form.
• [Nourish] benefits from [Improved Regrowth] as well as other effects that interact with [Regrowth].
• [Efflorescence] can no longer crit.
• [Elune’s Fires] no longer has a maximum number of refreshes.
• [Moonkin Form] grants Spell Power based on character level, and allows your periodic spells to deal critical hits.
• [Improved Swipe] allows you to cast [Swipe] while in [Cat Form], and causes [Swipe] to hit 10 targets while in [Bear Form].
• [Tree of Life] shapeshifts you into a tree, increasing the healing received by all party members within 45 yards, as well as buffing your heal-over-time spells and [Wild Growth].
• [Starfall] causes stars to fall on random targets within 30 yards for a short duration, dealing splash damage.
• [Wild Growth] has had its base healing and mana cost reduced.
• [Rake] and [Rip] scale better with Attack Power.
• [Gore] has a higher proc chance.
• [Enchant Weapon – Crusader] can now proc while shapeshifted.

Paladin

• [Fanatacism]‘s heal-over-time component can no longer be critical.
• [Aegis] also grants a chance to trigger [Reckoning] when being hit by a melee or ranged attack.
• [Divine Steed] is a new spell that gives the Paladin a large movement speed boost for 3 seconds.
• [Aura Mastery] temporarily boosts your active Aura.
• [Hallowed Ground] causes [Consecration] to heal party members in its area.
• [Malleable Protection] allows you to perform actions while in [Divine Protection], but causes it to be a damage reduction instead of immunity.
• [Divine Light] is a strong, expensive heal that converts overhealing into an absorb.
• [Shield of Righteousness] whacks a target with your shield, dealing Holy damage based on block value.
• [Vindicator] causes [Vindication] to grant increased damage to the user.
• [Righteous Vengeance] adds a damage over time component to [Judgement], [Crusader Strike], and [Divine Storm].
• [Seal of Martyrdom] is now baseline and provides significantly reduced mana.
• [Exorcist] is now baseline.
• [Sheathe of Light] no longer grants bonus healing.
• [Beacon of Light] lasts for 1 hour.
• [Hammer of the Righteous] has had its damage cut in half, but its threat doubled.
• [Infusion of Light] now increases the damage and healing of [Holy Shock] significantly, as well as reduces its cooldown. The Rune no longer resets the cooldown of [Exorcism].
• [Art of War] no longer resets the cooldown of [Holy Shock]. It also only reduces the cooldown of [Exorcism] by 1 second, instead of fully resetting it.
• [The Horn of Lordaeron] has been removed.
• [Enlightened Judgements] has been removed.
• [Aegis] now requires [Redoubt] to activate.
• [Avenging Wrath] has been added as a baseline ability, increasing the Paladins damage and healing temporarily but causing [Forbearance].

Hunter

• [Cobra Slayer] allows you to cast [Mongoose Bite] whenever the enemy dodges, and increases the spells damage.
• [Kill Shot] deals significant damage to a target, resetting its cooldown if the enemy is low health.
• [Wyvern Strike] deals melee damage to an enemy, poisoning them. [Chimera Shot] will reset the cooldown of [Wyvern Strike] when used on a target already poisoned by [Wyvern Strike].
• [Improved Volley] reduces the mana cost and cooldown of [Volley], as well as augments its damage.
• [Resourcefulness] removes the mana cost of traps, and reduces their cooldowns by 40%.
• [Hit and Run] grants a small boost to movement speed after using [Raptor Strike].
• [Melee Specialist] no longer reduces the cooldown of [Mongoose Bite] or [Raptor Strike], and instead gives [Mongoose Bite] a chance to reset the cooldown of [Raptor Strike].
• [Heart of the Lion] is now baseline, instead of being a Rune.
• [Kill Command] and [Invigoration] have been removed.
• [T.N.T] now allows [Immolation Trap] and [Explosive Trap] to scale off melee attack power.
• [Lock and Load] no longer counts [Scatter Shot] as a Shot.

Shaman

• [Shield Mastery] now causes [Flame Shock] to grant Attack Power based on your defense skill.
• [Two-Handed Weapon Specialization] now grants additional attack speed after landing a melee hit.
• [Maelstrom Weapon] has a significantly higher proc chance with two-handed weapons.
• [Molten Blast] can now hit up to 10 targets.
• Weapon Imbues last for 1 hour.
• [Greater Ghost Wolf] allows [Ghost Wolf] to be used indoors, and reduces all damage taken while in [Ghost Wolf].
• [Storm, Earth, and Fire] reduces the cooldown of [Chain Lightning], causes [Earthbind Totem] to root targets, and increases the damage dealt by [Flame Shock].
• [Feral Spirit] summons two wolves for 45 seconds.
• [Coherence] improves the effectiveness of [Chain Heal] jumps.
• [Mental Dexterity] now provides significantly less attack power and spell power, as well as providing no additional healing.
• [Maelstrom Weapon] can no longer be used to cast [Chain Heal] or [Healing Wave] instantly.
• [Shamanistic Rage] is now a baseline ability, but provides significantly less mana.
• [Burn] has had its spell damage per level halved.

Rogue

• [Blade Dance] now grants Attack Power based on your defense skill.
• [Poisoned Knife] now refunds energy based on stacks of [Deadly Poison] or [Occult Poison] on the target.
• [Shuriken Toss] now grants combo points per target hit, but has a cooldown.
• [Saber Slash] stacks up to 3 times, dealing more damage per stack.
• [Blunderbuss] is a frontal cone damage dealing ability.
• [Crimson Tempest] is a finishing move that places a bleed on all targets in an area.
• [Fan of Knives] is an AoE damage dealing ability.
• [Occult Poison], [Numbing Poison], [Atrophic Poison], and [Sebacious Poison] have been added, functioning as replacements for raid debuffs such as [Sunder Armor] and [Thunderclap].
• [Deadly Brew] will now apply [Occult Poison] if you have it learned.
• [Shadowstep] is no longer on the global cooldown.

Priest

• Priests are gaining the ability to learn a racial from another race and equip it as a Rune, though it is unclear which slot this will fill.
• [Pain and Suffering] now causes [Mind Blast], [Mind Spike], and [Mind Flay] to refresh the duration of one of [Shadow Word: Pain], [Void Plague], or [Vampiric Touch], prioritizing the shortest duration.
• [Mind Sear] now also deals damage to the target.
• [Binding Heal] is a fast heal that heals both the target and the casting Priest.
• [Soul Warding] removes the cooldown from [Power Word: Shield] and improves the spell overall.
• [Vampiric Touch] is a Shadow damage over time spell that restores mana based on damage to the party and applies [Vampiric Embrace] to the target.
• [Void Plague] is now a Chest Rune instead of a Boot Rune.

Mage

• [Hot Streak] is now a Helmet Rune, instead of a Belt Rune.
• [Rewind Time] is now a Wrist Rune, instead of a Glove Rune.
• [Arcane Barrage] launches missiles at a target, dealing Arcane damage with a chance to proc [Missile Barrage].
• [Overheat] causes [Fire Blast] to always crit, while also being castable while casting another spell, as well as not be on the global cooldown.
• [Frozen Orb] launches a frozen orb (duh) forward, dealing AoE damage to everyone hit, slowing them and proccing [Fingers of Frost].
• [Temporal Anomaly] can now stack and has had its cooldown reduced.
• [Advanced Warding] has been overhauled, allowing you to apply your shield spells to friendly targets, and allowing [Remove Lesser Curse] to function as a friendly Magic dispel.

Warlock

• Felguards can now cast [Demonic Frenzy], giving them a stacking Attack Power buff.
• [Soul Siphon] now grants [Drain Soul] massively increased damage against low health targets.
• [Lake of Fire] now causes [Rain of Fire] to be instant cast but have a cooldown.
• [Backdraft] lasts longer.
• [Shadow Cleave] can hit up to 10 targets.
• [Mark of Chaos] now causes [Curse of Agony] and [Curse of doom] to apply [Mark of Chaos] to the target, reducing that targets resistances and increasing their spell damage taken.
• [Decimation] removes the cooldown from [Soul Fire], and causes [Shadow Bolt], [Shadow Cleave], [Incinerate], and [Soul Fire] to reduce the cast time of your next [Soul Fire] if used on a low health target.
• [Mark of Chaos] causes [Shadowburn] to guarantee your next single-target direct damage spell is a critical hit.
• [Infernal Armor] causes your Armor to temporarily reduce the damage taken by magic.
• [Demonic Grace] is no longer on the global cooldown.

PvE Content

Raids

Molten Core will be the Phase 4 raid. The raid has been revamped into a 20-player raid, with overhauled loot. Tier 1 will also be available, but has been significantly redesigned and is purchased with tokens.

There will also be a variable difficulty mechanic within Molten Core, allowing players to increase the Heat level of the raid for a higher challenge. So far very few details are available for this mechanic.

Onyxia’s Lair will also be available, but the full details for it have yet to be revealed.

Dungeons

The new dungeons available in Phase 4 will be:

• Three wings of Dire Maul
• Scholomance
• Stratholme
• Blackrock Spire
• The rest of Blackrock Depths
  All of these dungeons have had their drops updated and improved.

World Bosses

Lord Kazzak and Azuregos will be available in Phase 4, but are instanced bosses tuned towards 20-player groups. You will be able to enter with up to 40 players, but that is not mandatory.

Professions

New recipes have been added through various factions reputations, namely the Argent Dawn, Thorium Brotherhood, Hydraxian Waterlords, and Timbermaw Hold factions.

A significant amount of older recipes have either been retuned, overhauled, or replaced by stronger versions.

PvP

Class Sets for Rank 10 will be available in Phase 4.

Blood Moon

This event will provide updated rewards and a new variant of the event currency.

Misc

The level cap has been increased from 50 to 60, which will be the final level cap for Season of Discovery.

Discoverer’s Delight

This experience boost will provide 150% increased exp up to level 50, after which it will be reduced to 50%.