WoW Hotfixes December 10th: Mage Tower Balancing

Author: Baed
Date: December 11, 2021
Updated: December 11, 2021
Expansion: World of Warcraft

Now that Legion Timewalking has been out for a short while, players have found certain Mage Tower challenges to be even more challenging than expected, prompting Blizzard to nerf the encounters to a more reasonable level. Many of the changes are class specific, so be sure to check whether your encounter was changed overall or just for a specific class.

Overall, Xylem’s encounter has had Comet Storm’s damage delayed from 2 seconds to 3 seconds; and the End of the Risen Threat encounter has received several nerfs to the Arcane Blitz mechanic, with the mobs that cast it having an extra second of waiting, 10 percent less damage bonus, increased cast time based on bonus damage, and an enhanced visual.

The spec specific changes are for Blood DK, Frost DK, Havoc Demon Hunter, Guardian Druid, Protection Paladin, Holy Priest, and Restoration Shaman, they have all had their respective encounters nerfed to be easier.

Blizzard Entertainment – (Source)

December 10, 2021

Classes

Warlock
- Demonology
  - Fixed an issue where Shard of Annihilation (Runecarving Power) was also affecting Shadow Bolt critical strike chance and damage.

Dungeons and Raids

Timewalking
- Mage Tower
  - End of the Risen Threat Encounter
    - Corrupted Risen Mages now wait 1 to 2 seconds before they can start casting Arcane Blitz.
    - Arcane Blitz damage bonus is now 40% per stack (was 50%).
    - Arcane Blitz cast time now increased by 0.5 seconds and increases by another 0.5 seconds for each bonus damage stack on the caster. The duration of the damage buff has been increased by 1 second to compensate.
    - Arcane Blitz has a new visual state effect added to make it even “louder.”
  - Xylem Encounter
    - Comet Storm now waits 3 seconds before damaging players (was 2 seconds).
  - Blood Death Knight
    - Kruul health reduced by 10%.
  - Frost Death Knight
    - Archmage Xylem’s Corrupting Shadows health reduced by 3%.
    - Archmage Xylem’s Razor Ice health reduced by 10%.
  - Havoc Demon Hunter
    - Archmage Xylem’s Arcane Barrage and Frostbolt damage reduced by 5%.
    - Archmage Xylem’s Comet Storm damage reduced by 14%.
  - Guardian Druid
    - Kruul health reduced by 10%.
    - Nether Horror health reduced by 10%.
    - Nether Horror’s Nether Storm now has movement and melee combat interrupts.
  - Protection Paladin
    - Kruul health reduced by 10%.
    - Tormenting Eye health reduced by 10%.
    - Smoldering Infernals now cast Smash every 6 seconds (was 5 seconds).
  - Holy Priest
    - Corrupted Risen Mage’s health reduced by 10%.
    - Corrupted Risen Soldier’s Knife Dance damage reduced by 10%.
  - Restoration Shaman
    - Corrupted Risen Soldier damage reduced by 10%.
    - Corrupted Risen Soldier’s Knife Dance damage reduced by 10%.
    - Corrupted Risen Mage’s damage reduced by 10%.

Items and Rewards

Fixed an issue causing the Soaring Spelltome mount to be removed from accounts on login. For those affected, the mount will be restored when logging in after being logged off for several hours.