- Author: Shadostruct
- Date: June 1, 2023
- Updated: June 1, 2023
- Expansion: World of Warcraft
Finally the Infinite Dragonflight makes their appearance front and center again with the opening of the mega-dungeon, Dawn of the Infinite. This dungeon will heavily involve the Bronze Dragonflight, and iterate on the storyline of the potential rise of Murozond (The foretold leader of the Infinite Dragonflight). With the massive shakeups to M+, this should prove interesting to see what Blizzard has cooked up with this dungeon to not only prove a fresh and fun experience on regular mythic, but also with affixes.
As for class balancing there is a metric ton! Mages and Paladins alone could be their own novel with the amount to unpack and analyze. That said, there’s many more changes with redesigns to abilities and rotations as well as large number tweaks as well. This is both exciting and a bit anxiety-inducing, but considering we’re still quite early into the patch’s development there’s still a lot of time to make sure things are just right.
There’s also some interesting tidbits thrown in where they’re still updating the UI editing systems that were introduced with Dragonflight. Maybe one day UI addons will truly be a thing of the past? Either way, make sure to check out the full numbers breakdown, list of changes, and details below in the original post!
The PTR has been updated with the following:
NEW MEGA-DUNGEON: DAWN OF THE INFINITE
The Bronze Temple has lain dormant for millennia, awaiting a time when its dragonflight would return. But just as the bronze dragons have reclaimed their sacred temple, dark forces now threaten to overtake it. Will the infinites take hold of the Timeways and bring about the rise of Murozond? The champions of Azeroth must venture into time itself to ensure that the future remains a bright one.
- The Dawn of the Infinite mega-dungeon is now available for testing and will remain open throughout the remainder of the PTR! Head to Temporal Conflux in Thaldraszus to find the entrance and challenge the eight-boss Mythic-only mega-dungeon.
CLASSES
- DRUID
- Developers’ note: We’re moving forward with our mana economy changes for hybrids, now for all hybrid DPS and tank specializations. To restate, our goal is to allow for more continuous casts of utility and healing spells while maintaining limits on how much hybrids can contribute to healing, defensive dispels, and offensive dispels. In short, this is a deeper mana pool with less regen.
- Balance
- Maximum mana increased to 250,000 (was 50,000).
- Mana regeneration increased by 150%.
- Regrowth now costs 10% of base mana (was 25%).
- Swiftmend now costs 10% of base mana (was 8%).
- Rejuvenation now costs 5% of base mana (was 11%).
- Wild Growth now cost 15% of base mana (was 22%).
- Remove Corruption now costs 10% of base mana (was 6.5%).
- Feral
- Maximum mana increased to 250,000 (was 50,000).
- Mana regeneration increased by 150%.
- Regrowth now costs 10% of base mana (was 25%).
- Swiftmend now costs 10% of base mana (was 8%).
- Rejuvenation now costs 5% of base mana (was 11%).
- Wild Growth now cost 15% of base mana (was 22%).
- Remove Corruption now costs 10% of base mana (was 6.5%).
- Guardian
- Maximum mana increased to 250,000 (was 50,000).
- Mana regeneration increased by 150%.
- Regrowth now costs 10% of base mana (was 25%).
- Swiftmend now costs 10% of base mana (was 8%).
- Rejuvenation now costs 5% of base mana (was 11%).
- Wild Growth now cost 15% of base mana (was 22%).
- Remove Corruption now costs 10% of base mana (was 6.5%).
- Galactic Guardian can no longer consume existing procs.
- Switched positions of Galactic Guardian and Moonless Night.
- Updated the tooltips of Vulnerable Flesh, Vicious Cycle, and Tooth and Claw to specify both Maul and Raze.
- Fixed a tooltip issue with Lunar Beam’s buff showing an incorrect amount of Mastery.
- EVOKER
- Developers’ note: We’re moving forward with our mana economy changes for hybrids, now for all hybrid DPS and tank specializations. To restate, our goal is to allow for more continuous casts of utility and healing spells while maintaining limits on how much hybrids can contribute to healing, defensive dispels, and offensive dispels. In short, this is a deeper mana pool with less regen.
- Augmentation
- Maximum mana increased to 250,000 (was 50,000).
- Mana regeneration increased by 150%.
- Living Flame now costs 12% of base mana (was 10%).
- Expunge now costs 10% of base mana (was 6.5%).
- Cauterizing Flame now costs 10% of base mana (was 6.5%).
- Verdant Embrace now costs 10% of base mana (was 15%).
- Emerald Blossom now costs 15% of base mana (was 24%).
- Motes of Possibility will now spawn in a random position in front of the Evoker (was a radius all around the Evoker).
- Plot the Future has been redesigned – Breath of Eons (or Deep Breath) grants you Fury of the Aspects for 15 seconds after you land, without causing Exhaustion. If you already have a similar effect on you, such as Bloodlust or Heroism, this will add 15 seconds to the duration.
- Plot the Future, Font of Magic, and Power Nexus have all had their positions swapped.
- Devastation
- Maximum mana increased to 250,000 (was 50,000).
- Mana regeneration increased by 150%.
- Living Flame now costs 12% of base mana (was 10%).
- Expunge now costs 10% of base mana (was 6.5%).
- Cauterizing Flame now costs 10% of base mana (was 6.5%).
- Verdant Embrace now costs 10% of base mana (was 15%).
- Emerald Blossom now costs 15% of base mana (was 24%).
- MAGE
- Incanter’s Flow damage now flows between 2% and 10% (was 4% and 20%).
- Fire
- New Talent: Inflame – Hot Streak increases the amount of Ignite damage from Pyroblast or Flamestrike by an additional 10%. Now a choice node with Pyromaniac.
- Flamestrike damage increased by 12%.
- Flame Patch damage reduced by 12%.
- Ignite damage reduced by 6%.
- Unleashed Inferno cooldown reduction is now 1.25 seconds (was 2.5 seconds) and the damage bonus increased to 45% (was 40%).
- Developers’ note: The initial cooldown reduction for Unleashed Inferno was quite a bit above the intended amount. This change should make Combustion cooldown closer to 60 seconds when combined with other synergizing talents.
- Tempered Flames now reduces Pyroblast cast time by 15% (was 30%).
- Hyperthermia now triggers when Hot Streak is consumed instead of when it is activated.
- Hyperthermia is now available as the left side capstone (swapped with Sun King’s Blessing/Unleashed Inferno choice node).
- Firemind max ranks reduced to 1 (was 2). Intellect per stack increased to 2% (was 1%).
- Feel the Burn max ranks reduced to 1 (was 2). Mastery per stack increased to 4% (was 2%) and now also triggers off Phoenix Flames.
- Sun King’s Blessing/Unleashed Inferno now available as the center capstone (swapped with Hyperthermia).
- Living Bomb no longer scales with Haste, damage over time increased by 30%, and explosion damage increased by 35%.
- Convection’s chance to grant reduced cooldown increased to 30% (was 25%).
- Conflagration damage over time now rolls over when the damage over time is refreshed instead of only refreshing the duration.
- Fixed an issue that caused Phoenix Flames to spread Ignite.
- Frost
- Developer’s note: The Frost Mage changes listed below are currently in a state of flux and are partially implemented for this week’s PTR deploy. The in-game talent tree and mage abilities will not be fully updated with the changes below, but will be for next week’s deploy. We’re detailing these changes in advance to get early feedback despite some of these not being testable in the current build.
- Blizzard has been removed from the talent tree is and is now learned baseline at level 12.
- Cold Snap has been removed from the talent tree and is now learned baseline at level 19.
- New Talent: Winter’s Blessing – Your Haste is increased by 3% and you gain 10% more of the Haste stat from all sources.
- Winter’s Blessing is located on row 4 in Cold Snap’s previous location.
- Wintertide’s Frostbolt damage reduced to 5/10% (was 7/15%).
- Comet Storm damage increased by 10%.
- Comet Storm has swapped positions with Glacial Assault and now available after Perpetual Winter on row 6.
- Glacial Assault damage increased by 15% and now also causes your Comet Storm to increase the damage enemies take from you by 2%, up to 10% for 10 seconds.
- Glacial Assault has swapped positions with Comet Storm and now available after Deep Shatter and Comet Storm on row 8.
- Splitting Ice now causes Ebonbolt and Glacial Spike to deal 100% damage to a second nearby target.
- Splitting Ice’s tooltip now correctly causes Ice Lance and Icicles tooltip to display that it deals 80% damage to secondary targets.
- Deep Shatter now causes Frostbolts to deal 10/25% increased damage to Frozen targets (was 20/40%).
- Ebonbolt damage increased by 15% and cooldown reduced to 30 seconds.
- Glacial Spike damage increased by 10%.
- Chain Reaction has moved to row 8 directly after Icy Veins in Ray of Frosts old position.
- Slick Ice has replaced Icy Propulsion in the tree on row 8.
- Thermal Void now also extends Icy Veins an additional 3 seconds when Glacial Spike hits a frozen enemy in addition to its current effect.
- Thermal Void is now located directly after Slick Ice on row 9.
- Ray of Frost is now available after Chain Reaction and Slick Ice on row 9.
- Ray of Frost cooldown reduced to 60 seconds (was 75 seconds).
- New Talent: Cryopathy – The damage of your next Ray of Frost is increased by 8% each time you consume Fingers of Frost, stacking up to 80%. Icy Veins grants 10 stacks instantly.
- Cryopathy is available directly after Ray of Frost in row 10.
- New Talent: Coldest Snap – Cold Snap now also resets the cooldown of Frozen Orb, Comet Storm, and Blizzard. In addition, your next Cone of Cold applies Winter’s Chill to all enemies hit.
- Activating Icy Veins now also summons a water elemental to your for its duration. The water elemental’s abilities apply Frigid Exposure increasing the Frost damage enemies take from you by 2%, stacking up to 20%.
- Water Elemental’s Waterbolt damage increased by 50%.
- Water Jet damage increased by 75% and its cooldown reduced to 15 seconds (was 45 seconds).
- Summon Water Elemental, Icy Propulsion, and Snap Freeze have been removed.
- PALADIN
- Developers’ note: We’re moving forward with our mana economy changes for hybrids, now for all hybrid DPS and tank specializations. To restate, our goal is to allow for more continuous casts of utility and healing spells while maintaining limits on how much hybrids can contribute to healing, defensive dispels, and offensive dispels. In short, this is a deeper mana pool with less regen.
- Holy
- All healing reduced by 3%.
- Light’s Protection has been redesigned – Your allies with Glimmer of Light take 16% reduced damage, split evenly among them.
- Seal of the Crusader has been redesigned for Holy Paladins – Your auto attacks heal a nearby ally.
- Avenging Crusader cooldown increased to 60 seconds (was 45 seconds) and costs 3 Holy Power (was 5).
- Developers’ note: We’re reducing Avenging Wrath’s/Avenging Crusader’s overall uptime and effectiveness to shift more of this power into the base kit and make talents such as Avenging Wrath: Might and Avenging Crusader feel more optional.
- Holy Light now costs 12% base mana (was 16%).
- Flash of Light now costs 18% base mana (was 22%).
- Light of the Martyr now costs 8% base mana (was 9%) and healing increased by 10%.
- Light of the Martyr now damages the Paladin for 60% of the healing done (was 50%).
- Developers’ note: We would like to leave the Light of the Martyr sub-spec as an option for players who enjoy it, but not heavily encourage it to be a dominant spell rotationally. For now, we are making minor tuning updates to account for our specialization-wide Mana updates and we are removing the negative PvP multiplier and increasing the risk factor slightly to see if it can find a niche within that section of the game.
- Hammer of Wrath’s cooldown increased by 150% (was 100%).
- Developers’ note: The rate of Hammer of Wrath expenditure has still felt faster than we would like, so we are slightly increasing its cooldown with the goal of making each use feel more impactful and deliberate without crowding the rotation. We expect the new Vanguard’s Momentum option to be a powerful option for players who would like to opt-in to this spell being more of a main stay rotationally.
- Veneration now heals for 250% of damage done (was 500%).
- Blessed Focus increases Glimmer of Light’s healing by 20% (was 10%).
- Saved by the Light’s absorb effect increased by 50%.
- Awakening now triggers at 10/20 stacks (was 8/16).
- Glimmer of Light healing increased by 450% (was 500%).
- Glorious Dawn now adds 1.5% chance to reset Holy Shock per Glimmer of Light active (was 2%).
- Vanguard’s Momentum has replaced Zealot’s Paragon for Holy Paladins.
- Developers’ note: Zealot’s Paragon extensions of Avenging Wrath have contributed to higher cooldown-uptime than we would like when combined with other talents. We are replacing it with Vanguard’s Momentum as we feel it combines with other talents in compelling ways and leans into Holy Paladin as a particularly effective healer in execute scenarios.
- Glistening Radiance now has a 25% chance to trigger Glimmer of Light’s healing and damage (was 15%).
- Zealot’s Paragon has been removed for Holy Paladins.
- Beacon of Faith now costs 0.5% of base mana (was 0.625%).
- Radiant Onslaught has been removed.
- Developers’ note: We feel confident that removing Radiant Onslaught is an overall positive as the rotation with two charges of Crusader Strike does not meet our goals of slowing down offensive generators to give space for more healing spells.
- Tower of Radiance’s icon has changed.
- We’ve added Developers’ notes to the following updates from last week:
- Breaking Dawn is now a 2 point node and has moved to Second Sunrise’s previous location.
- Developers’ note: Breaking Dawn’s previous location could feel limiting considering the competitive options in the final section of the specialization tree. We feel there is more optionality involved with this node in its new location, hopefully allowing for clever use of point expenditure to optimize for each specific encounter a Holy Paladin may find their group in.
- Daybreak now restores 25% less mana.
- Avenging Crusader now additionally costs 18% base mana.
- Word of Glory now additionally costs 6% base mana.
- Light of Dawn now additionally costs 6% base mana.
- Developer’s note: Adding a Mana cost to Holy Power spenders accomplishes a few important things including leveling out the rate of Mana expenditure, reducing risk factors involved with Mana-free healing, and allowing us to lean more into Mana regeneration as a powerful tool in a Holy Paladin’s kit. We are also purposefully not attaching a Mana cost to Shield of the Righteous as we would like Holy Paladin to be more Mana-neutral when actively playing offensively.
- Breaking Dawn is now a 2 point node and has moved to Second Sunrise’s previous location.
- Retribution
- Maximum mana increased to 250,000 (was 50,000).
- Mana regeneration increased by 150%.
- Flash of Light now costs 10% of base mana (was 24%).
- Cleanse Toxins now costs 10% of base mana (was 6.5%).
- Protection
- Maximum mana increased to 250,000 (was 50,000).
- Mana regeneration increased by 150%.
- Flash of Light now costs 10% of base mana (was 24%).
- Cleanse Toxins now costs 10% of base mana (was 6.5%).
- PRIEST
- Shadow
- Purify Disease now costs 10% of base mana (was 1.3%).
- Shadow
- SHAMAN
- Developers’ note: We’re moving forward with our mana economy changes for hybrids, now for all hybrid DPS and tank specializations. To restate, our goal is to allow for more continuous casts of utility and healing spells while maintaining limits on how much hybrids can contribute to healing, defensive dispels, and offensive dispels. In short, this is a deeper mana pool with less regen.
- Elemental
- Maximum mana increased to 250,000 (was 50,000).
- Mana regeneration increased by 150%.
- Healing Surge now costs 10% of base mana (was 24%).
- Chain Heal now costs 15% of base mana (was 30%).
- Healing Stream Totem now costs 5% of base mana (was 9%).
- Earth Shield now costs 5% of base mana (was 10%).
- Purge now costs 14% of base mana (was 10%).
- Greater Purge now costs 21% of base mana (was 20%).
- Cleanse Spirit now costs 10% of base mana (was 6.5%).
- Enhancement
- Maximum mana increased to 250,000 (was 50,000).
- Mana regeneration increased by 150%.
- Healing Surge now costs 10% of base mana (was 24%).
- Chain Heal now costs 15% of base mana (was 30%).
- Healing Stream Totem now costs 5% of base mana (was 9%).
- Earth Shield now costs 5% of base mana (was 10%).
- Purge now costs 14% of base mana (was 10%).
- Greater Purge now costs 21% of base mana (was 20%).
- Cleanse Spirit now costs 10% of base mana (was 6.5%).
- Restoration
- Greater Purge now costs 3% of base mana (was 4%).
- WARLOCK
- Glyph of the Observer is being deprecated and will no longer be an available customization option for felhunters.
- Developers’ note: With the arrival of the new warlock pet customization system coming in Fractures in Time, we will deprecate the Glyph of the Observer customization. Our reason for this is to ensure that each demon retains a similar silhouette across all available customizations, so that each demon and the functionality or power they provide to the warlock is easily understood by other players as well as the warlock.
- Affliction
- Unstable Affliction damage increased by 10%.
- Seed of Corruption’s cast time has been reduced to 2 seconds (was 2.5 seconds).
- Demonology
- Shadowflame Acolyte and Fel Covenant have been removed.
- Demonic Knowledge has been re-added and is now located where Shadowflame Acolyte was.
- Shadow’s Bite has been re-added is now located where Fel Covenant was.
- Hand of Gul’dan damage increased by 25%.
- Implosion damage increased by 15%.
- Dreadstalker damage increased by 15%.
- Demonbolt damage increased by 20%.
- Bilescourge Bombers’ Soul Shard cost has been reduced to 0 (was 2).
- Umbral Blaze now has a 15/30% chance of occurring (was 8/15%).
- Umbral Blaze now retains remaining damage when reapplied.
- Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible: 2-set bonus has been adjusted – Demonbolt damage increased 20% (was 15%). Consuming a Demonic Core reduces the cooldown of Grimoire: Felguard by 1 second.
- Dirty Hands has been renamed to Malefic Impact.
- Destruction
- Crashing Chaos has been redesigned – Summon Infernal increases the damage of your next 8 casts of Chaos Bolts by 50% (10% in PvP combat) or your next 8 casts of Rain of Fire by 70% (15% in PvP combat).
- Dimensional Rift damage increased by 15%.
- Glyph of the Observer is being deprecated and will no longer be an available customization option for felhunters.
PLAYER VERSUS PLAYER
- PALADIN
- Holy
- New PvP Talent: Divine Plea – After casting Daybreak, you regenerate mana over 12 seconds, but your healing and damage is decreased by 50%. Daybreak no longer restores mana from each Glimmer consumed.
- Developers’ note: We would like Divine Plea to be a high risk/high reward option for players as we are expecting Daybreak to regenerate less Mana through its Glimmer consumption in PvP.
- New PvP Talent: Denounce – Casts down the enemy with a bolt of Holy Light, causing Holy damage and preventing the target from causing critical effects for the next 6 seconds. Replaces Shield of the Righteous.
- Developers’ note: We would like Holy Paladins to have the option of a ranged offensive Holy Power spender in PvP as Shield of the Righteous is more integral to the specialization now but can be difficult to get value out of in PvP scenarios.
- All healing spells no longer increased by an additional 9% in PvP combat.
- Mana regeneration now reduced by 25% in PvP combat (was 35%).
- Divine Plea now regenerates 20% less mana and has a 15 second duration (was 12 seconds).
- Glimmer of Light’s damage reduced by 25% in PvP combat.
- Developers’ note: Rising Sunlight burst combos have felt more impactful than we would like for a healer specialization. We are adjusting Glimmer of Light’s damage down in PvP, but still feel confident Holy Paladin’s overall offensive options remain competitive in Fractures in Time after this adjustment.
- Holy Shock’s healing now increased by 15% in PvP combat (was 30%).
- Word of Glory’s healing is no longer increased in PvP combat (was 15% increased).
- Light’s Protection is now 50% effective in PvP combat.
- Light of the Martyr’s healing is no longer reduced in PvP combat (was 25% reduction).
- New PvP Talent: Divine Plea – After casting Daybreak, you regenerate mana over 12 seconds, but your healing and damage is decreased by 50%. Daybreak no longer restores mana from each Glimmer consumed.
- Holy
- WARLOCK
- Affliction
- Unstable Affliction now deals 25% increased damage in PvP combat.
- Rampant Afflictions now decreases the damage of Unstable Affliction by 25% in addition to its current effect.
- Rot and Decay can now trigger from Shadow Bolt and Drain Soul.
- Rot and Decay now also extends the duration of Siphon Life.
- Affliction
QUESTS
- Undertake new repeatable content in Eon’s Fringe as you work to settle the timeways and solve the problems brought about by their instability while reaping rewards of a job well done.
- WHELP DAYCARE
- Temporarily removed the lockout restrictions for the quests for testing purposes.
USER INTERFACE AND ACCESSIBILITY
- Trading Post activities in a series (i.e. “Complete 5/15/30 Mythic+ Dungeons”) will now be collapsed in the Traveler’s Log.
- An icon and tooltip line have been added to indicate if an appearance is not supported for your race (such as for mechagnomes and dracthyr).
- EDIT MODE
- Added duration bars (breath, fatigue) with size settings.
- Added multi-seat vehicle UI with size settings.
- Added lines that show what edges your element is snapping to.
- Slightly increased corner snapping range.