Dragonflight 10.1 PTR - Mage Buffs, Ele Shaman Buffs, Unholy DK Tweaks

Author: Shadostruct
Date: April 21, 2023
Updated: April 21, 2023
Expansion: World of Warcraft

This set of patch notes seems to be focused on primarily buffs to a few classes and/or specs that have been feeling a bit left in the dust.

Mages seem to be getting buffs across the board with all 3 specs getting some considerable number buffs to key abilities! There have even been memes about how little love Mages have seen from Blizzard in these rounds of big class tunings, but Blizzard must’ve heard the cries because these are some large buffs.

Elemental Shaman is another spec that didn’t really perform too well throughout all of season 1, and it looks like they might actually be making a comeback and could be quite strong in season 2 with abilities seeing anywhere from a 6-12% raw increase in damage.

For Unholy Death Knights we saw previously some big shakeups and buffs to them. Most notably the change to gargoyle attack speed and damage to make it so that haste can’t be overcapped so easily. Blizzard has locked in on how this change is affecting their damage and given it a slight nerf now so that it’s still overall a large buff that achieves its intended effect, without being too powerful. There are also a couple of other damage buffs to certain abilities.

The full numbers breakdown is below, so make sure to check out the buffs and think about what you’re going to be playing in season 2!

Linxy – (Source)

The following changes have been made to the PTR:

CLASSES

DEATH KNIGHT
- Unholy
  - Fixed an issue with Gargoyle stutter casting when the cast time of Gargoyle Strike was lower than 1 second.
  - Gargoyle Strike damage reduced by 8%.
    - Developers’ note: Now that Gargoyle properly casts without stuttering when falling below 1 second cast times, we are reducing the damage of Gargoyle Strike to counter the extra casts.
  - Reaping damage bonus increased to 30% (was 25%).
  - Festering Wound damage increased by 10%.
  - Scourge Strike/Clawing Shadows damage increased by 15%.
  - Death Coil damage increased by 10%.
  - Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible: 2-Set Bonus has been adjusted – The duration of Death Dealer has been increased to 25 seconds (was 20 seconds).
DRUID
- Balance
  - Starfall damage reduced by 5%.
  - Full Moons generated by Orbit Breaker now generate 80% Astral Power, in addition to its current effect.
  - Starfire now deals reduced damage beyond 8 targets. Starfire’s tooltip will be updated in a future patch.
MAGE
- Arcane
  - Radiant Spark duration increased to 12 seconds (was 10 seconds).
  - Touch of the Magi duration increased to 12 seconds (was 10 seconds).
  - Arcane Blast damage increased by 10%.
  - Arcane Missiles damage increased by 8%.
  - Arcane Barrage damage increased by 8%.
  - Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible 2-Set Bonus has been adjusted – Arcane Surge’s spell damage increased by 10% (was 5%).
  - Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible 2-Set Bonus has been adjusted – Duration increased to 18 seconds (was 12 seconds).
- Fire
  - Pyroblast damage increased by 8%.
  - Fire Blast damage increased by 10%.
  - Fireball damage increased by 15%.
  - Scorch damage increased by 15%.
  - Improved Combustion now grants Mastery equal to 75% of your Critical Strike stat (was 50%).
  - Improved Scorch duration increased to 12 seconds (was 8 seconds).
- Frost
  - Glacial Assault damage increased by 20%.
  - Comet Storm damage increased by 10%.
  - Snowstorm’s Cone of Cold damage increased by 12% per stack (was 10%).
  - Frozen Orb damage increased by 8%.
  - Blizzard damage increased by 12%.
  - Brain Freeze now causes Flurry to deal 65% additional damage (was 50%).
  - Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible 2-Set Bonus has been adjusted – Flurry and Ice Lance damage is increased by 20% (was 15%).
PRIEST
- Holy
  - Dazzling Lights healing from Divine Image reduced by 50%.
  - Empowered Renew now only triggers when casting Renew.
  - Empowered Renew now causes Renew to instantly heal your target for 40% of its total periodic effect (was 10%).
  - Healing Chorus now causes Renew to increase the healing done by your next Circle of Healing by 2%, stacking up to 50 times (was 1%).
- Shadow
  - Psychic Link now causes your direct damage spells to inflict 30% of their damage on all other targets afflicted by your Vampiric Touch (was 40%).
  - Mastermind now increases the critical strike damage of Mind Blast, Mind Flay, Mind Spike, and Shadow Word: Death by 20%/40% (was 13%/25%).
SHAMAN
- Elemental
  - Lava Surges triggered by Primordial Surge increase the damage of your next Lava Burst by 15% (was 25%).
  - Primordial Surge’s damage bonus is no longer reduced in PvP combat.
  - Lava Burst damage increased by 12%. Does not affect PvP combat.
  - Elemental Blast damage increased by 6%. Does not affect PvP combat.
  - Earth Shock damage increased by 6%. Does not affect PvP combat.
  - Lightning Bolt damage increased by 6%. Does not affect PvP combat.

About the Author

Shadostruct

I've been playing WoW since beta with some breaks here and there. I'm a semi-hardcore to hardcore raider that focuses on retail mainly. I'm a big fan of giant dragons and am excited for all that Dragonflight will have to offer.