Patch 12.1 PTR Development Notes and Class Changes - Reworked Blood DK Tier Set and Mage Defensives

Blizzard has announced Patch 12.1 Development Notes for today which includes a reworked Blood Death Knight Tier Set, changes to Mages' defensives and more!

This build mostly seems to contain class changes, addressing some of the largest complaints from the community in addition to starting some class tuning.

Blood Death Knight's Tier sets will be getting a rework after the original set was much to be desired.

The Curse of Ula’tek PTR has been updated with the following changes:

• SEASON 2

The following dungeons will be available for testing starting on July 2:

• Murder Row, Den of Nalorakk, The Blinding Vale, and Voidscar Arena on Mythic 0 and Mythic+ difficulties
• CLASSES
• Diminishing return categories will reset after 20 seconds (was 16 seconds).
• Developers’ notes: We’ve been monitoring the changes made to the diminishing returns system for crowd control effects in PvP during Season 1 and are pleased with the reduction in the number of repeat CC effects a player can be affected by before they become immune to those effects, lowering it from 3 to 2.At this time we also decreased the amount of time it takes before this immunity or reduction resets, and we wanted to make updates to that portion of the system to continue to reduce the total amount of time that players are not in control of their characters. As a result, we’re increasing the reset timer from 16 seconds to 20 seconds for Season 2.
• DEATH KNIGHT
• Blood
• Developers’ notes: We’re in the process of reworking Blood’s tier set design, and those changes won’t be available in this week’s build. That said, we’d like to share the current iteration ahead of time and hear your feedback before it becomes available in next week’s build.

(Not Yet Implemented) The Venomous Abyss 2-set Bonus – When you Death Strike, gain a stack of Blood Debt, increasing Strength by 0.5%, up to 5%. When Blood Debt reaches 10 stacks, your next Marrowrend consumes it granting 10% Strength for 10 seconds.

• (Not Yet Implemented) The Venomous Abyss 4-set Bonus – When consuming Blood Debt, your next Marrowrend generates 3 additional Boneshield and deals Shadow damage to your target and nearby enemies.

DEMON HUNTER

Vengeance

• Sigil of Chains no longer replaces Sigil of Misery.
• Sigil of Silence now replaces Sigil of Misery when selected.
• Improved Sigil of Misery no longer affects Sigil of Chains.
• Improved Sigil of Misery now reduces the cooldown of Sigil of Silence by 15 seconds when Sigil of Silence is selected.
• Sigil of Chains cooldown reduced to 60 seconds (was 90 seconds).

DRUID

• Shred and Cat Form Swipe damage increased by 10%.

Balance

• The counter aura for Orbit Breaker can no longer be manually cancelled to reset your Orbit Breaker progress.

Developers’ notes: We do not intend for timing aura cancellations to align with damage bonuses to be a part of Balance gameplay.

• Hero Talents
• Elune’s Chosen

Developers’ notes: Elune’s Chosen should always use Starfire as its builder over Wrath, so we are restoring their Starfire single target bonus and reducing their single target damage through a small reduction to Starsurge.

• The change to Lunar Calling’s bonus to Starfire damage has been reverted to its previous value, 120%.
• Star Cascade no longer triggers off of gaining Astral Power with Wrath.
• Bask in Moonlight increases the damage of Starsurge by 5% (was 10%).

Feral

• Merciless Claws and Rampant Ferocity have swapped positions in the talent tree.
• Merciless Claws increases Shred and Swipe damage by 25% (was 20%).
• Blood Spattered increases Ferocious Bite damage by 8% (was 2%), but maxes out at 6 stacks (was 10).
• Taste for Blood increases Ferocious Bite damage by 16% (was 12%) and another 8% during Tiger’s Fury (was 12%).
• All damage dealt increased by 3%.

Guardian

• Fixed an issue where Wild Guardian was not correctly increasing Thrash and Mangle damage while a spirit was active.

HUNTER

Marksmanship

Developers’ notes: We’re moving more of the tier set bonus into the base Explosive Shot to increase its baseline value.

• Explosive Shot damage increased by 15%.
• The Venomous Abyss 2-set bonus now increases Explosive Shot’s damage by 5% (was 20%).

MAGE

Developers’ notes: We are continuing to iterate on Mages’ defensive capabilities based on PTR playtesting and feedback. We are unifying the functionality of Improved Barrier to give all specs an additional charge of their Barrier spell, plus one “rider” effect that is spec-specific. Additionally, Arcane Mages have a new, unique defensive talent in their Specialization tree called Refractive Images.

• Improved Prismatic Barrier has been redesigned – Prismatic Barrier gains an additional charge and further reduces magic damage taken by 5%.
• Improved Blazing Barrier has been redesigned – Blazing Barrier gains an additional charge and cauterizes your wounds, healing you for 15% of the damage it absorbs.
• Improved Ice Barrier has been redesigned – Ice Barrier gains an additional charge and reduces your physical damage taken by 10%.

Arcane

Developers’ notes: We love the orb-slingin’ playstyle of Spellslinger Mage, and want to preserve the distinct difference in game feel between the two hero specializations. However, Orb Mastery overtaking Clearcasting usage and pushing Arcane Missiles out of the rotation has shown to have a negative impact on overall talent selection and excitement. These changes are aimed at keeping Arcane Orb as a powerful highlight of the Spellslinger playstyle, while allowing Arcane Missiles to remain an integral part of Arcane Mage’s identity. Additionally, the new defensive talent Refractive Images is intended to provide Arcane Mages with a unique survivability benefit to complement Frost’s Cold Snap / Glacial Bulwark, and Fire’s Cauterize.

• New Talent: Refractive Images – 10% of damage you would take is instead dealt over 8 seconds. Casting Mirror Image increases this effect to 30% for 15 seconds.
• Positioned above Arcane Surge in the talent tree, where Improved Clearcasting was previously located.

Orb Mastery has been redesigned – Casting Arcane Orb fires 2 additional orbs at 50% effectiveness.
Expanded Mind has been updated – Casting Arcane Orb grants 1 stack of Arcane Salvo (was 2).
Amplification moved below Presence of Mind / Slipstream in the talent tree.
Improved Clearcasting moved above Arcane Pulse in the talent tree, where Amplification was previously located.
Hero Talents

• Spellslinger
• Polished Focus has been updated – Casting Arcane Barrage while at 20 or more Arcane Salvo stacks refunds 3 Arcane Salvo stacks (was 5).

PALADIN

Holy

Developers’ notes: We’re making a few updates to Holy Paladin with the intent of shrinking the performance gap between Light of Dawn and their other spenders, increasing their overall damage output, and increasing the viability of Beacon of Virtue within dungeon content.

• Eternal Flame healing increased by 15%.
• Word of Glory healing increased by 15%.
• All damage increased by 20%.
• Judgment damage increased by 25%.
• Hammer of Wrath damage increased by 25%.
• Avenging Crusader now transfers 55% of healing done (was 80%).
• Pillar of Light’s Beacon of Virtue healing increased by 50%.
• Shield of the Righteous mana return increased by 25%.
• Unworthy debuff now lasts for 18 seconds (was 15 seconds).

Protection

• Greater Judgment debuff now lasts for 18 seconds (was 15 seconds).
• Guardian of Ancient Kings now has a 0.5 second cooldown.
• Fixed an issue where Seal of Reprisal was reducing damage dealt to the target, not reducing damage dealt to the caster.
• Fixed an issue where Sacred Weapon and Holy Bulwark were extending duration by an incorrect amount.
• Fixed an issue where Authoritative Rebuke was incorrectly reducing Rebuke’s cooldown from Avenger’s Shield casts.
• Fixed an issue where Instrument of the Divine was causing Shield of the Righteous to extend Sentinel’s stacks by an incorrect amount.
• The Venomous Abyss Set Bonus
• Fixed an issue where the damage from the 4-set bonus was scaling with target damage taken modifiers.
• Fixed an issue where some of Consecration’s effects were not benefiting from its increased radius.
• Fixed an issue where Sentinel’s critical strike was not being displayed on the character sheet.
• Fixed an issue where the 4-set bonus was not activated by Hammer of Wrath.
• The talent tree has been updated:
• Imbued Shield/Redoubt moved to row 5.
• Seal of Charity moved to row 8.
• Refining Fire moved to row 3.
• Valiant Crusade/Blessed Word moved to row 3.
• Bulwark of Order moved within its row.
• Searing Sunlight moved to row 7.
• Solace moved to row 5.
• Tyr’s Enforcer moved to row 7.
• Consecration in Flame moved to row 7.
• Seal of Reprisal moved to row 5.
• Sanctuary moved within its row.
• Uther’s Counsel moved to row 7.
• Strength in Adversity/Crusader’s Resolved moved to row 8.
• Instrument of the Divine moved to row 7.
• Focused Enmity moved to row 7.
• Relentless Inquisitor moved to row 8.

Retribution

• Greater Judgment debuff now lasts for 18 seconds (was 15 seconds).

The Venomous Abyss 4-set bonus has been updated – Consuming Divine Purpose with Divine Storm causes your next 2 Templar’s Verdicts to unleash Divine Arbiter at its target, dealing Holy damage and Holy damage to enemies within 8 yards, if it is not already empowered.

• Divine Arbiter damage benefits from Divine Purpose and Greater Judgment.

Developers’ notes: We want to address the unintuitive rotational priority that the tier set can create under specific situations.

PRIEST

Holy

• The Venomous Abyss 2-set bonus has been adjusted – Each target affected by your Renew now increases your Critical Strike chance (was Haste) by 2%, up to 6%.

Developers’ notes: After reading through feedback, we’re updating this tier set bonus to increase critical strike chance instead of haste since it’s a more desirable stat for Holy. The original intent behind increasing haste was to tie into the periodic nature of Renew but we understand the desire for a stat that is beneficial rotation wide.

ROGUE

Assassination

• Lethality and Cold Blooded-Killer now work correctly with the strikes dealt by Implacable Rank 3.

Outlaw

• Hidden Opportunity’s chance for Ambush to grant Opportunity increased to 100% of the chance for Sinister Strike to grant Opportunity (was 80%).
• New connectors have been added in the talent tree between Ruthlessness and Find an Opening, and between the Flickering Steel choice node and Grand Melee.

Developers’ notes: Audacity and Hidden Opportunity are not as strong as other talent options, so we’re adding some effects to them to make them more competitive.

• Audacity now also increases Ambush damage by 60%.
• Hidden Opportunity also reduces Ambush’s Energy cost by 5.
• Killing Spree shots have a higher chance to target your selected target, if they’re valid.
• The Venomous Abyss 4-set bonus – Chance to activate increased to 20% (was 12%) but can no longer activate from Sinister Strike additional hits from Opportunity. This change equalizes activation rate between Sinister Strike and Ambush.
• The Venomous Abyss 4-set bonus – Free Dispatches now properly trigger Scoundrel Strike and Fatebound Coin.

Subtlety

Goremaw’s Bite has been redesigned – Lash out at your target and 2 additional nearby enemies, inflicting Shadow damage and causing them to Bleed over 14 seconds. 10% of all damage from Finishing Moves is repeated as Shadow, split evenly among affected enemies.

• The First Dance now increases Shadow Dance duration by 4 seconds (was 3 seconds).

Developers’ notes: We are continuing to iterate on the changes to Subtlety’s resource generation based on player PTR feedback and internal testing, including removal of a double-generation bug that made the desired intent and combat feel unclear. Base effect rate and Energy generation of Shadow Techniques are being increased to make moments outside of Shadow Dance feel less starved, while preserving the same proc rate and combo point generation within Shadow Dance. Energy generation should still grow during cooldowns, but not nearly as drastically as before. Continued testing and feedback is welcome.

• Shadow Techniques’ base effect frequency has been increased by 40%.
• Shadow Techniques’ Energy generation has been increased to 5 (was 4).
• Shadowcraft’s tooltip has been updated, clarifying intent for Shadow Techniques to store an additional combo point during its effect.
• Shadowcraft no longer causes Shadow Techniques to generate additional Energy, and should no longer duplicate the base Energy generation of Shadow Techniques when it stores an additional combo point.
• Shadowcraft now causes Shadow Techniques to trigger 25% more frequently while its effect is active (was 75%).
• Some talents have changed positions in the talent tree.

SHAMAN

Enhancement

• The Venomous Abyss 2-set bonus has been updated – Voltaic Blaze causes your primary target to erupt in a Fire Nova every 2 seconds for 6 seconds. Fire Nova deals 200% increased damage to the primary target of your Voltaic Blaze.

Developers’ notes: The change to this Enhancement Shaman set bonus should prevent situations where the tier set bonus was losing effectiveness when fighting small groups of enemies.

Restoration

• The Venomous Abyss 4-set bonus has been updated – Condensation value increased by 300%.
• Fixed an issue with Overflowing Shores not healing units inside of the Healing Rain when the The Venomous Abyss 2-set bonus creates a Healing Rain.

WARLOCK

• Hero Talents
• Hellcaller

Developers’ notes: We are increasing the damage of Blackened Soul and Wither in response to last week’s functionality changes for Hellcaller. We will continue to monitor Hellcaller’s performance throughout the testing cycle.

• Blackened Soul damage increased by 45%.
• Wither damage increased by 25%.

Affliction

Developers’ notes: Affliction has a generous flow of Soul Shards currently and the previous iteration of the 2-piece bonus pushes that generation over the edge. We’re going to redesign this bonus to increase the damage of Agony, your primary Soul Shard generator, and Corruption, the after-effect of Seed of Corruption.

• The Venomous Abyss 2-set bonus has been redesigned – Agony damage increased by 15%. Corruption damage increased by 25%.

WARRIOR

Arms

• Tactical Edge has been redesigned – Colossus Smash immediately grants 1 use of Sudden Death.

Developers’ notes: We feel like the original design’s effect was difficult to feel and eroded the uniqueness of Tactician. We think this design will be much more rotationally impactful and provide some additional interactions for Slayer and Execute-focused builds.

• Ravager has been updated – Enemies damaged by Ravager take 50% increased damage from your bleeds for 12 seconds (was 25%).

Protection

• Revenge has been updated – Your successful dodges, parries, and auto-attacks have a chance to make your next Revenge cost no Rage (was only dodges and parries).

Developers’ notes: Protection’s free Revenge counter-attack mechanic has existed for a long time, and we love it, but we don’t love how wildly its frequency and impact vary depending on what content you are doing. In dungeons, Revenge! triggers very frequently, contributing to many buttons being highlighted at once and overwhelming the rotation, but in raids and solo content, Revenge! frequency is so low as to feel weak and exacerbate Rage starvation issues. Our goal here is to shrink the gap between these extremes and make sure Revenge! procs feel meaningful while not crowding your rotation.

• Ravager has been updated – Enemies damaged by Ravager take 50% (was 25%) increased damage from your bleeds for 12 seconds.

ITEMS

• Class set vendor Kirana has relocated from near the March on Quel’danas raid entrance to near the Catalyst in Silvermoon and she has expanded her stock to include Midnight Season 2 class set armor in exchange for Slumbering Coil Curios.
• USER INTERFACE AND ACCESSIBILITY
• PING SYSTEM
• Trinkets, health potions, combat potions, and healthstones can now be pinged on the Cooldown Manager.