Patch 5.4 is now available for testing on the Public Test Realms (PTR)! Participating on the Public Test Realms lets you test new content before it's available. This patch includes a brand new Raid, a new area: Timeless Isles, class tuning changes, assorted bug fixes, and more.
Please keep in mind that the notes below are not final, and a great deal could change before the release of patch 5.4.
Not all the content listed may be available for testing or may only be available during a limited testing window during the 5.4 PTR. Keep an eye on the PTR Discussion forum for further details.
This is a new raid difficulty designed for pre-made groups of 10 to 25 players or any number in between. This means it's possible to have raids of 15 or 22 players! Difficulty will adjust automatically based on the number of players present with encounters intended to provide a challenge roughly between Raid Finder and Normal difficulty.
Flexible Raid difficulty requires a pre-made group to join but has no minimum item level requirements or role restrictions. Both BattleTag™ and Real ID friends are eligible to participate.
Loot quality will be between Raid Finder and Normal difficulty and awarded through a personal loot system (similar to Raid Finder). Bonus rolls and loot specialization will also be supported.
Player spells with different target limits depending on raid size will gradually increase their limits based on the number of players in Flexible Raid difficulty.
Players will be able to earn raid achievements just like in Normal or Heroic difficulty.
Flexible Raid difficulty has a lockout that is separate from Raid Finder and Normal difficulty.
Proving Grounds is a new feature for individual players to test and improve their combat skills.
At the Proving Grounds, players may undertake trials, designed for Damage, Tank, or Healer roles.
It provides a great opportunity to learn how to Tank or Heal, without the need of a group.
Each trial is available in four separate difficulties: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Endless. Harder difficulties include more difficult and varied enemies.
Endless mode allows you to test your mettle against increasingly difficult enemies. Compare your best scores to friends and guildmates!
[PTR]: Access to the Proving Grounds and more information is coming soon.
New Feature: Virtual Realms
Virtual Realms are sets of realms that are fused together, and will behave exactly as if they were one cohesive realm. Players on the same Virtual Realm will be able to join guilds, access a single Auction House, join arena teams and raids, as well run dungeons or group up to complete quests.
Players belonging to the same Virtual Realm will have a (#) symbol next to their name.
Redesigned Arena System
Players no longer need to create or join an Arena team to compete.
Similar to the Rated Battleground system, players in a party of the appropriate size (cross-realm groups are supported) may queue for an Arena bracket of the same size (2v2, 3v3, or 5v5).
Each player will have a personal rating that increase or decrease based on victories and defeats against other rated opponents. Opponents will be selected based on the average Match Making Rating of the party.
Conquest cap, requirements on gear and enchantments will be based on the player's personal rating.
The Arena ladder will no longer be sorted according to Battlegroup. Just like Rated Battlegrounds and normal Battlegrounds, all Arenas will now be region-wide!
At the end of an Arena season, the top players in a region will still earn titles and mounts.
For more details about the change to Arenas, please see the blog titled:Patch 5.4 Arena Update.
The Legendary Quest Continues
More information coming soon.
Classes
All fear and horrify effects can no longer cause targets under the effects of a movement speed buff to move faster than normal run speed.
All taunt type abilities now increase all threat generated against the target while the taunt is active by 200%.
Vengeance gains from being critically hit have been halved.
Area knockback effects now all share a diminishing return category. After a player has been moved by one of these spells, the player will be immune for 10 seconds. This new category applies to: Fellash, Gorefiend’s Grasp, Glyph of Explosive Trap, Thunderstorm, Typhoon, Ursol’s Vortex, and Whiplash.
Death Knight
General
Death Gate now returns the Death Knight to a location near their original departure point when the spell is cast while in Ebon Hold.
Icebound Fortitude no longer costs Runic Power.
Talents
Anti-Magic Zone has been redesigned. The talent now reduces magic damage taken in the area-of-effect by 40% for 3 seconds, there is no longer a cap on total damage absorbed, and the ability no longer scales with strength.
Death Siphon had its damage increased by 10%.
Plague Leech now tries to convert 2 fully-depleted runes (up from 1) into a Death Rune based on specialization.
Blood: Restores 1 Frost Rune, 1 Unholy Rune
Frost: 1 Frost Rune, 1 Unholy Rune
Unholy: 1 Blood Rune, 1 Frost Rune
Glyphs
Glyph of Enduring Infection now reduces damage dealt by diseases by 15% (down from a 30% reduction).
Glyph of Mind Freeze now reduces the cooldown of Mind Freeze by 1 second, and raises its cost by 10 Runic Power (down from 2 seconds and 20 Runic Power).
Glyph of Outbreak now causes Outbreak to cost 30 Runic Power (down from 40).
Blood
Riposte is a new passive ability learned by Blood Death Knights at level 76. When the Death Knight dodges or parries any attack, they gain 75% of their Parry and Dodge as additional bonus to Critical Strike for 20 seconds.
Dancing Rune Weapon no longer costs Runic Power.
Sanguine Fortitude no longer reduces the cost of Icebound Fortitude.
Scent of Blood now also has a chance to activate when the Death Knight dodges or parries a melee attack.
Unholy
Master of Ghouls now reduces the cooldown of Raise Dead by 60 seconds.
Druid
General
Cyclone no longer has a 20-second cooldown for Feral Druids.
Faerie Fire now has a duration of 20 seconds while in PvP combat (down from 40 seconds).
Innervate now restores mana based on the Druid’s Spirit.
Teleport: Moonglade now returns the Druid to a location near their original departure point when the spell is cast while in the Moonglade area.
Wild Mushroom's Restoration version of the ability now summons a single mushroom at the friendly target’s location. If the mushroom is recast, the mushroom moves to the new location and retains its accumulated bonus healing. A single mushroom now heals for as much as what 3 mushrooms combined healed for previously.
Wrath has its mana cost increased by 50%.
Talents
Dream of Cenarius has been completely redesigned to reduce complexity and increase usability, but maintain the spirit of the effects. Benefits now vary by specialization.
Balance: Increases the amount healed by Healing Touch by 20%. Casting Healing Touch increases the damage bonus of the Druid's next Eclipse by 10%.
Feral: Increases the amount healed by Healing Touch by 20%. Casting Healing Touch increases the damage for the Druid's next two melee abilities by 25%.
Guardian: Increases the amount healed by Healing Touch by 20%. Mangle (Bear) critical strikes have a 20% chance to make the next Healing Touch or Rebirth instant, free, and castable in all forms. Instant cast version of Healing Touch now benefits from Attack Power instead of Spell Power.
Restoration: Causes Wrath to deal 20% more damage and heals a nearby friendly target for 100% of the damage done.
Force of Nature
Feral: Treant summoned by the Feral version of this talent will now cast Entangling Roots instead of Bash.
Guardian: Guardian Druids now gain Vengeance when their Treant takes damage.
Heart of the Wild when activated, now also provides a 25% bonus to healing for Restoration Druids.
Mass Entanglement no longer has a limit on the number of targets that could be affected, up from 5.
Nature's Swiftness is no longer a talent, and is now an ability learned by Restoration Druids at level 30.
Nature’s Vigil when activated, causes healing spells now trigger an additional heal on a nearby ally for 25% of the amount healed. This is in addition to the existing effect where it damages a nearby enemy target for 25% of the healing done.
Soul of the Forest has been partially redesigned to make it more attractive to Balance, Guardian, and Restoration Druids.
Balance: Wrath, Starfire, and Starsurge casts have a 8% chance to cause Astral Communion to grant 100 Lunar Power or Solar Power instead of activating the next Eclipse.
Guardian: Increases Rage generation from Mangle (Bear) by 30% instead of an additional 3 Rage, and this talent now also applies to the Rage generated by Mangle (Bear) when it triggers Primal Fury.
Restoration: Now causes the Druid to gain 100% haste (up from 75%) on their next spell after casting Swiftmend.
Ysera's Gift, a new talent replacing Nature's Swiftness heals the Druid for 5% of their maximum health every 5 seconds. If the Druid is at full health, it will heal the most injured friendly target nearby instead. This talent fills the spot vacated by Nature's Swiftness.
Glyphs
New Glyph: Glyph of Efflorescence increases the healing done by Swiftmend by 20%, causes the Efflorescence healing effect to be triggered by Wild Mushroom instead of Swiftmend, and lasts as long as the Wild Mushroom is active.
Glyph of Fae Silence will now cause Faerie Fire to interrupt when used on targets that are immune to silence effects.
Glyph of Ferocious Bite now causes Ferocious Bite to heal the Druid for 2% of their maximum health for each 10 Energy used (up from 1%).
Glyph of Innervate now causes Innervate to give both the Druid and the target 60% of the normal effect of the spell if it's cast on a target other than the Druid.
Glyph of the Master Shapeshifter now reduces the mana cost of all shapeshifts by 100% (up from 90%).
Glyph of Pounce now increases the range of Pounce by 8 yards (up from 3 yards).
Glyph of Skull Bash now increases the duration of Skull Bash's interrupt by 2 seconds, and increasing the cooldown by 5 seconds (down from a 4 second interrupt and 10 second increase to cooldown).
Balance
Eclipse now energizes the Druid for 50% of their maximum mana when triggered, up from 35%.
Moonkin Form now increases the Druid's armor by 60%, but no longer reduces all damage taken by 15%.
Starfire has its mana cost increased by 50%.
Starsurge has its mana cost increased by 50%.
Feral
Predatory Swiftness no longer has a chance to make Cyclone instant, free, and castable in all forms.
Restoration
Genesis is a new Restoration spell learned at level 88. Genesis targets all party or raid members within 60 yards and accelerates the casting Druid's Rejuvenation effects, causing them to heal and expire at 400% of the normal rate. Costs the same amount of mana to cast as Rejuvenation.
Living Seed effects can now stack, up to 50% of the casting Druid's maximum health, and will no longer be consumed if the target is already at full health.
Swiftmend's area-of-effect healing effect is now called Efflorescence.
Wild Mushroom: Bloom is no longer capable of critical strikes, and accumulates overhealing done by Rejuvenation by 100%, down from 150%. Overhealing bonus no longer benefits from Naturalist or Mastery: Harmony.
Hunter
General
Arcane Shot had its damage and focus cost increased by 50%.
Counter Shot is now a baseline interrupt ability learned by all Hunters at level 22.
Deterrence now has 2 charges.
Disengage now has 2 charges.
Explosive Trap had its overall damage decreased by 30%. Proportionately, more damage has been removed from the initial damage than the periodic effect.
Hunter's Mark now has a duration of 20 seconds while in PvP combat (down from 30 seconds).
Readiness has been removed.now finishes the cooldowns on Rapid Fire, Feign Death, Deterrence, Disengage, and Camouflage when activated (was all Hunter abilities with a base cooldown of less than 5 minutes).
Revive Pet no longer requires the Hunter to have line-of-sight to their pet.
Stampede damage dealt by pets when the ability is used outside of an Arena or Battleground is no longer reduced by 75%
Talents
Aspect of the Iron Hawk now reduces all damage taken by 10%, down from 15%.
Narrow Escape's root effect is now a nature spell (was a physical spell).
Silencing Shot is no longer a talent and is now an ability that replaces Counter Shot for Marksman Hunters.
Spirit Bond now regenerates 3% of total health every 2 seconds while the Hunter's pet is active (up from 2%).
Wyvern Sting now has a range of 40 yards (up from 35 yards).
Glyphs
Glyph of Mend Pet now has a 100% chance of cleansing 1 Curse, Disease, Magic or Poison effect from the Hunter's pet on each tick (up from 50% chance).
Glyph of No Escape now increases the ranged critical strike chance against targets affected by the Hunter's Freezing Trap by 100% (up from 20% chance).
Marksman
Binding Shot is no longer a Marksman Hunter ability and is once again a talent.
Survival
Explosive Trap no longer shares a cooldown with Black Arrow but can no longer activate Lock and Load.
Mage
Talents
Frost Bomb now deals 70% damage to players (up from 60%).
Living Bomb now deals 85% damage to players (up from 70%).
Nether Tempest now deals 85% damage to players (up from 70%).
Temporal Shield now also reduces damage taken by 15% while active in addition to existing effects.
Glyphs
Glyph of Blink now increases distance travelled with the Blink spell by 8 yards (up from 5 yards).
Glyph of Remove Curse now increases the damage dealt by 15% after successfully removing a curse (up from 10%).
Glyph of Spellsteal now heals the Mage for 5% of their maximum health after successfully stealing a spell (up from 3%).
Frost
Mastery: Frostburn has been redesigned. Fingers of Frost now increases the damage of Ice Lance by an additional 2%, Brain Freeze increases the damage of the instant cast Frostfire Bolt by 2%, and damage done by the Mage's Water Elemental is increased by 2%.
Monk
Talents
Chi Brew will now also generate stacks of Brew/Teas based on the Monk's specialization.
Brewmaster: 10 stacks of Elusive Brew
Mistweaver: 3 stacks of Mana Tea
Windwalker: 3 stacks of Tigereye Brew
Healing Elixirs will no longer activate if the Monk is already at full health, and activate automatically when the Monk has less than 35% of their maximum health.
Invoke Xuen, the White Tiger now has a pet control bar for Xuen, and the talent is no longer on global cooldown for all Monk specializations.summoned version of Xuen will no longer taunt off players that are tank-specialized.
Brewmaster Monks now gain Vengeance when Xuen takes damage.
Power Strikes will now activate from the following Chi generating abilities; Jab, Expel Harm, Spinning Crane Kick (when it hits at least 3 targets), Keg Smash, Crackling Jade Lightning, and Soothing Mist.
Ring of Peace has a new visual effect that properly depicts its area-of-effect, and now disarms both enemies and those attacking allies within the Ring of Peace's area-of-effect for 4 seconds (up from 3 seconds); the silence effect for casting spells remains unchanged at 3 seconds.
Glyphs
Glyph of Afterlife now increases the chance to summon a Healing Sphere by 100% (up from 25% chance).
Brewmaster
Keg Smash now deals 18% less damage.
Windwalker
Mastery: Bottled Fury has been redesigned. The Mastery now gives a chance to generate an additional charge of Tigereye Brew when the Monk gains one normally.
Tigereye Brew received a number of adjustments.
Stacks up to 30 charges (up from 20 charges).
Can be consumed 15 at a time (up from 10 at a time).
Increases damage by 6% per stack, (up from 1% per stack) but is no longer increased by Mastery.
The Monk gains 1 charge of Tigereye Brew for every 4 Chi spent (down from 1 charge per 3 Chi spent).
Paladin
General
Seal of Insight no longer has a chance to restore mana on attacks.
Turn Evil now has a 15-second cooldown. (Note: Glyph of Turn Evil will be redesigned and noted in a future PTR update.)
Talents
Burden of Guilt has been replaced with a new talent called Evil is a Point of View, which allows the Paladin to use Turn Evil on players and beasts.
Execution Sentence will now immediately damage the target for 5 times the amount of damage that had been dealt by Execution Sentence's most recent periodic effect when dispelled.
Stay of Execution will now immediately heal the target for 5 times the amount of healing that had been dealt by Stay of Execution's most recent periodic effect when dispelled.
Hand of Purity now reduces damage taken from harmful periodic effects by 80% (up from 70%) and reduces damage taken from harmful periodic effects that cannot be prevented by immunities by 40% (up from 0%).
Sacred Shield changes have been reverted and is a talent once more.
Sanctified Wrath
Holy: Now also increases the critical strike chance of Holy Shock by 20%.
Protection: Now causes Judgment to generate 2 Holy Power instead of 1 while Avenging Wrath is active.
Selfless Healer stacks now also work on Divine Light in addition to Flash of Light.
Bastion of Glory will now apply Selfless Healer's bonus to healing to the casting Paladin as well as other targets and consume all stacks of Bastion of Glory in the process.
Unbreakable Spirit has been simplified. It now reduces the cooldown on Divine Shield, Divine Protection, and Lay on Hands by 50%.
Glyphs
Glyph of the Alabaster Shield now increases damage for the next Shield of the Righteous by 10% per stack (down from 20% per stack).
Glyph of Battle Healer has been redesigned. The glyph now causes Seal of Insight to heal the most wounded raid or party member instead of the Paladin.
Glyph of Denounce now causes Holy Shock to reduce the cast time of the next Denounce by 0.5 seconds, and the effect can stack up to 3 times.
Glyph of Inquisition has been redesigned. The glyph now increases the duration of Inquisition by 30 seconds (up to a maximum of 2 minutes) each time the Paladin lands a killing blow on targets that yield experience or honor.
Holy
Mastery: Illuminated Healing no longer activates from periodic healing effects.
Divine Plea no longer reduces the amount of healing done,and now restores mana based on the Paladin’s Spirit.
Guardian of the Ancient Kings (Holy version) now deals additional healing based on any heal cast by the Paladin for the 15 seconds for the duration of the spell. The Paladin also has 10% additional haste for the duration that the ability is active.
Holy Insight now increases the effectiveness of Eternal Flame, Light of Dawn, and Word of Glory by 35%. Effectiveness of other heals are still increased by 25%.
Protection
Grand Crusader no longer has a chance to activate from Crusader Strike and Hammer of the Righteous, but now has a 30% chance to activate when dodging or parrying a melee attack (up from 12%).
Guarded by the Light now restores 15% of the Paladin's maximum mana every 2 seconds (up from 6%).
Retribution
Guardian of the Ancient Kings (Retribution version) now has a reduced cooldown of 3 minutes, down from 5 minutes, and the maximum number of stacks has been reduced to 12.
Inquisition now lasts 20 seconds per charge of Holy Power consumed, up from 10 seconds.
Priest
General
Hymn of Hope now prefers to target healers when it grants mana. Healers will always be picked before non-healers, regardless of how much mana they have.
Leap of Faith no longer has a facing requirement.
Talents
Angelic Feather now increases allies' movement speed by 80%, up from 60%, and feathers placed in the world have a duration of 10 minutes (up from 5 minutes).
Divine Insight for Discipline Priests now has a 100% chance to activate its effect after using Penance (up from 40%), and now displays an effect in the UI when it's active.
From Darkness, Comes Light
Discipline, Holy: Now also has a chance to activate its effect on cast for these following spells; Penance, Circle of Healing, Prayer of Mending, and Prayer of Healing.
Shadow: Now has a 20% chance to activate its effect for Shadow Priests (up from a 15% chance).
Twist of Fate's damage and healing threshold to activate has been increased to 35% (up from 20%).
Glyphs
New Minor Glyph: Glyph of Feathers causes the Priest's healing spells to momentarily grant angelic wings.
Glyph of Purify now causes Purify to heal the target for 5% of their maximum health after successfully dispelling a magical effect or disease (up from 3%).
Glyph of Reflective Shield now causes Power Word: Shield to reflect 70% of the damage absorbed (up from 45%).
Holy
Holy Word: Sanctuary mana cost reduced to 3.8% (down from 6.3%).
Serendipity's mana cost reduction has been increased to 20% per stack (up from 10% per stack), and no longer displays a spell effect when in the UI when it's active.
Shadow
Shadowform now increases the Priest's armor by 60%, but no longer reduces all damage taken by 15%.
Shadowy Apparitions now creates a shadowy version of the Priest that floats towards the target and deals damage. The apparitions are now treated as a missile, and is no longer an attackable creature.
Class Armor
Shadow PvP 4-piece set bonus is no longer an area-of-effect and only affects the character that dispels Vampiric Touch.
Rogue
General
Eviscerate now deals 10% less damage.
Recuperate now restores 4% of maximum health every 3 seconds, up from 3%.
Talents
Burst of Speed's cost has been reduced to 15 Energy (down from 30 Energy).
Cheat Death now reduces damage taken by 85% after activating (up from 80%).
Cloak and Dagger now allows the Rogue to use Ambush, Garrote, and Cheap Shot from 40 yards away (up from 30 yards).
Nightstalker now increases damage dealt by abilities while stealthed by 50%, up from 25%.
Shadowstep now has a reduced cooldown of 20 seconds (down from 24 seconds).
Glyphs
Glyph of Blind now only removes damage-over-time effects that would cause Blind to break. For Rogues that also have the Dirty Tricks talent, this means Blind will no longer remove the Rogue’s poison or bleed effects.
Glyph of Recuperate now increases the healing of Recuperate by an additional 1% (up from 0.5%).
Assassination
Assassination Rogues should no longer be eligible for any other weapon types except daggers in situations where loot is automatically awarded(Raid Finder, Bonus Rolls, Heroic/Normal Scenarios, and the upcoming Flexible Raid difficulty.)
Combat
Killing Spree targeting has been changed. If Blade Flurry is not active, Killing Spree will now hit the Rogue's target 7 times or pick the closest eligible target if none had been selected. Killing Spree will continue to work as it has while Blade Flurry is active.
Subtlety
Backstab now deals 315% weapon damage (up from 275%).
Hemorrhage now deals 160% weapons damage (up from 140%); 232% weapons damage if a dagger is equipped (up from 203% for daggers).
Shaman
General
Chain Heal's effectiveness will no longer decrease with each jump (up from a 30% reduction to healing with each jump).
Earth Elemental Totem's summoned Greater Earth Elemental will no longer taunt off players that are tank-specialized.
Healing Rain's radius has been increased to 12 yards, up from 10 yards. For 25-player instances, Healing Rain will heal for a reduced amount when healing more than 14 raid members. It remains the same in 10-player instances, healing for a reduced amount when healing more than 6 raid members.
Talents
Astral Shift now has a cooldown of 90 seconds, down from 120 seconds.
Conductivity has been redesigned. Casting Healing Wave, Greater Healing Wave, Healing Surge, or Chain Heal, increases the duration of Healing Rain by 3 seconds. Damaging an enemy with Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, Earthshock, or Stormstrike increases the duration of Healing Rain by 3 seconds.
New Talent: Rushing Streams. This new talent replaces Healing Tide Totem, increases healing done by Healing Stream Totem by 15%, and causes the totem to heal 2 targets at once.
Healing Tide Totem is no longer a talent and is a baseline ability for all Shamans. Additionally, this totem will now heal 12 raid members (up from 5) when used in a 25-player instance.
Stone Bulwark Totem's initial damage absorption shield now absorbs an additional 33% in damage.
Unleashed Fury
Earthliving Weapon effect now applies to the Shaman, not the target.
Flametongue Weapon effect now increases Lightning Bolt damage by 30%, up from 20%.
Glyphs
Glyph of Chaining now increases the cooldown on Chain Heal by 2 seconds, down from a 4 second increase.
Glyph of Fire Elemental Totem now reduces the cooldown and duration for Fire Elemental Totem by 50%, up from 40%.
Glyph of Riptide reduces the initial direct healing of Riptide by 75%, down from a 90% reduction to healing.
Enhancement
Stormstrike's debuff now also affects Elemental Blast.
Restoration
Purification once again increases healing done by all water totems.
Riptide's mana cost has been reduced by 25%.
Class Armor
Elemental Shaman 2-piece PvP set bonus has been changed. It now allows Lightning Shield to be triggered once every 1.5 seconds instead of once every 3 seconds.
Warlock
General
The debuff from using a Demonic Gateway has been increased to 60 seconds (up from 15 seconds).
Fel Armor no longer reduces all damage taken by 10%.
Fel Flame now deals 13% more damage, costs 2% less mana, and no longer increases the duration of damage-over-time spells.
Rain of Fire now has a reduced chance to generate Burning Embers.
Talents
Archimonde's Vengeance has been redesigned and renamed into Archimonde's Darkness.Archimonde's Darkness gives the Warlock's Dark Soul spell two charges.For the passive portion of the talent, each time the Warlock or their pet takes damage, the Warlock now gains 1% of the unmitigated damage back as spell power for 20 seconds.
Howl of Terror is no longer a talent and is now a baseline skill for all Warlocks.
Demonic Breath, a new talent replacing Howl of Terror. The Warlock sends out a cone of Shadow damage, snaring targets, has a 20-second cooldown.
Kil'jaden's Cunning no longer reduces movement speed, and will now allow the Warlock to cast Incinerate, Malefic Grasp, and Shadow Bolt while moving.
Mannoroth's Fury is no longer a passive ability. Mannoroth's Fury now has a duration of 10 seconds with a 60 second cooldown, and increases the area of area-of-effect by 500% and increases damage by 100% for Hellfire, Immolation Aura, Rain of Fire, and Seed of Corruption.
Soul Leech can now also activate from Shadowburn, and caps out at 15% of the Warlock and their pet's maximum health (down from 100%).
Soul Link now transfers 20% of damage taken by the Warlock to their pet, and 3% of all damage dealt by the Warlock will be returned as healing for the Warlock and their pet. This ability is always active while the Warlock's pet is active.
Glyphs
Glyph of Dark Soul will be redesigned.
Glyph of Everlasting Affliction will be redesigned.
Glyph of Soul Swap will be redesigned.
Affliction
Agony now deals 5% more damage.
Drain Soul now deals 40% less damage, and if other periodic Affliction damage effects are triggered by Drain Soul, they now deal 60% of their normal damage (down from 100%).
Haunt now deals 50% more damage, and increases damage done by all of the Warlock's other spells against the target by 45%.
Malefic Grasp now deals 40% less damage, and causes all of the Warlock's other periodic Affliction damage effects to instantly deal 30% of their normal periodic damage (down from 50%).
Nightfall now gives Corruption an increased chance to generate a Soul Shard on the most recently applied Corruption. 7% chance to generate a Soul Shard (up from a 5% chance).
Soul Swap no longer does any damage, and now copies damage-over-time effects instead of just moving them without needing a glyph. Copied effects now once again preserve their power and duration. Duration has been reduced to 6 seconds (down from 20 seconds).
Unstable Affliction now deals 10% more damage.
Warrior
General
Blood and Thunder now also increases the damage of Thunder Clap by 50%.
Enrage now also triggers on critical hits from Devastate and Shield Slam.
Hamstring is no longer on a global cooldown.
Shattering Throw no longer costs rage.
Shield Wall no longer requires a shield. If the Warrior does not have a shield equipped, it will show a visual of an equipped shield.
Spell Reflection no longer requires a shield. If the Warrior does not have a shield equipped, it will show a visual of an equipped shield.
Talents
Bladestorm now deals an increased 180% of weapon damage for Arms Warriors (up from 120%).
Bloodbath's snare and bleed effects are now two separate debuffs. Clearing one of the effects will no longer remove the other.
Enraged Regeneration now instantly heals the warrior for 10% of their total health (up from 5%), and an additional 10% over 5 seconds (up from 5%).
Impending Victory now heals the Warrior for 20% of their maximum health at all times (up from 15% on attack and 20% on kills that yield experience or honor).
Storm Bolt now also has an off-hand attack for Fury Warriors.
Vigilance no longer transfers damage to the Warrior. The talent now reduces amount of damage the target takes by 30% for 12 seconds.
Warbringer now roots the target for 4 seconds instead of stunning them for 3 seconds. The 50% reduction to movement speed snare effect for 8 seconds remains unchanged. Glyph of Blitz will now cause Warbringer to root an additional 2 nearby targets.
Arms
Seasoned Soldier now also reduces the cost of Thunder Clap by 10 Rage.
Slam now deals 35% of damage dealt against the primary target to all other enemies within 2 yards, and causes an additional 10% damage to targets affected by the warrior’s Colossus Smash.
Sweeping Strikes now causes melee attacks to strike an additional nearby target for 75% of the initial damage (up from 50%).
Fury
Titan’s Grip now works with polearms.
Protection
Revenge now generates 20 Rage (up from 15 Rage).
Riposte is a new passive ability learned by Protection Warriors at level 76. When the Warrior dodges or parries any attack, they gain 75% of their Parry and Dodge as an additional bonus to Critical Strike for 20 seconds.
Ultimatum now activates from critical hits with Shield Slam instead of a flat 20% chance, and the ability will make the next Heroic Strike or Cleave be a critical hit in addition to costing no Rage.
Quests
The Strength of One's Foes: For players on this step of the legendary quest; all Throne of Thunder bosses now have a chance to drop a Sigil of Power or Sigil of Wisdom in addition to their normal loot. Players should no longer be receiving excess Sigils of Power or Sigils of Wisdom.
Creatures
Bonus Roll change: Players that don’t have a coin or elect to not use a Bonus Roll when defeating one of the world bosses (Sha of Anger, Galleon, Nalak, and Oondasta) can come back later that same week to use the Bonus Roll. The limit has not changed and remains one attempt and one bonus roll per boss, per week.
Pet Battles
Pet BattleGeneral
A new pet battle tournament is available on the Timeless Isle, more details coming soon!
Round timers in PvP Pet Battles will now get progressively shorter for a player who takes more than 15 seconds to issue a command during their turn.
Players are now able to trade in any 3 of the same family specific Flawless Battle-Stones for a single Marked Flawless Battle-Stone.
Viewable pet battles will now display working health bars.
Battle Pet levels are now only shown on the map if you are tracking Battle Pets.
Aquatic type's passive effect now reduces damage from damage-over-time effects by 50%, up from 25%.
Critter type's passive effect now makes critters immune to roots, stuns, and sleep effects.
Dragonkin type's passive effect now activates after an attack brings a target's to below 50% health, up from 25%.
Elemental type's passive effect now only affects negative direct effects of weather. (E.g. Sandstorm's accuracy reduction won't be applied, but the damage reduction will.)
Magic type's passive effect now caps damage taken at 35% of maximum health, up from 40%.
Battle Pet Training cost and the price of pets sold by Battle Pet Trainers have been greatly reduced.
Battle Pets
Any Battle Pet that could be awarded from a Throne of Thunder boss on Raid Finder difficulty can now be won from a bonus roll, in addition to the standard bonus roll reward.
Darkmoon Zeppelin: Several abilities have swapped positions.
Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling: Several abilities have swapped positions.
Tiny Twister: The Sandstorm ability has been replaced with Call Lightning.
Battle Pet Abilities
Battle Pet abilities with a component that increases in damage every time it hits will no longer reset when an opponent's pet gets swapped. (Arcane Blast, Frog Kiss, etc.)
Accuracy now affects the entire team.
Dark Simulacrum has been replaced with a new ability, Rot. Rot deals Undead damage and temporarily turns the enemy pet's type into Undead.
Death Grip cooldown increased to 4 rounds (up from 3 rounds), damage has been reduced by 50%, and hit chance has been reduced to match similar abilities.
Nether Gate damage has been reduced by 33%.
Sweep damage has been reduced by 33%.
Trihorn Charge damage has been reduced by 11.5% and now has a 1-round cooldown.
Trihorn Shield now displays the correct amount of damage reduction.
Raids, Dungeons, and Scenarios
Raids
The chance for awarding loot from kills or bonus rolls has been increased for Mogu'shan Vaults, Heart of Fear, Terrace of Endless Spring, and Throne of Thunder on Raid Finder difficulty.
The chance for awarding loot from using a bonus roll has been increased for Throne of Thunder on Normal difficulty.
Dungeons
Players who obtain a realm-best time in a Challenge Mode dungeon (group must contain at least 3 people from the same realm to qualify) will receive a temporary title specific to each dungeon (e.g. Siegebreaker for Siege of Niuzao temple, Darkmaster for Scholomance, etc.). This title will persist for as long as a player retains the top time on the realm. Holding a realm-best time at any point will also confer a permanent Feat of Strength to record the accomplishment.
PvP
Season 14 Grievous gear is now available.
Elite versions of Season 14 Grievous are now available as a mark of prestige for players that are able to attain a personal rating of 2000 and earn 27,000 Conquest Points in the current season. Pricing per piece remains the same but the previous piece requirement has been removed.
Season 13 Tyrannical gear can now be purchased with Honor Points.
Season 12 Malevolent gear can now be crafted.
[PTR]: For testing purposes, Grievous Flaskataur will be available near the Alliance/Horde shrines near Vale of Eternal Blossoms selling standard Grievous gear for gold.
[PTR]: For testing purposes, the item level scaling of gear in Arenas, Battlegrounds and Rated Battlegrounds has been increased to 512 during the 5.4 PTR. Season 14 Grievous Conquest gear is exempt from this item level ceiling.
Battlegrounds and Arenas
Battlegrounds
Conquest Point rewards for winning a random or call-to-arms Battleground match has been increased.
First win of the day now awards 150 Conquest Points (up from 100).
Subsequent wins now awards 75 Conquest Points (up from 50).
Strand of the Ancients
Bombs are no longer an item held in the player's inventory and will now do considerably more damage, 4500 (up from 1250).
Players carrying a bomb now have a button that allows them to place it with a spell effect over their heads.
Placing a bomb takes 2 seconds, and can be interrupted like a Battleground capture point.
Disarming a bomb takes 2 seconds, and can be interrupted like a Battleground capture point.
Demolishers will no longer have the Ram ability and only one will spawn at each stage.
Arenas
For Arena matches lasting longer than 15 minutes, one of the teams will receive a buff called "The Crowd Chose You" that increases damage, critical strike chance, stealth detection, and reduces damage taken. The buff is awarded based on the following criteria.
Team with the largest number of players alive.
Team that brought an enemy player closest to death (lowest health).
Arena Rating scaling in the 2v2 bracket has been tuned to be consistent with the 3v3 bracket.
Items
All permanent item enhancements provided by Enchanting, Engineering, Leatherworking, Tailoring, and various vendors and quests are now able to be applied to items of any level. This means all enchantments can now be applied to heirloom items.
High level enhancements applied to items equipped by low level players have their power scaled down to be similar to enhancements intended for that level range.
Low level enhancements applied to items equipped by high level players do not grow further in power beyond their intended level range.
Adjustments have been made to Mists of Pandaria faction quartermasters.
Epic quality (purple) Valor items sold by the Shado-Pan Assault now have their reputation requirements reduced to Friendly or below, and have their Valor Point cost reduced by 34%.
Epic quality (purple) Valor items sold by all other Mists of Pandaria faction quartermasters no longer have reputation requirements, and will now cost Justice Points instead of Valor.
Rare quality (blue) items have their Justice Point cost reduced by 75%.
No changes for items that require an Exalted reputation.
The conversion rate for Justice Points to Honor Points have changed. The conversion rate is now 500 Justice per 250 Honor (up from 375 Justice per 250 Honor).
Equipping any pair of PvP trinkets from Season 12 or later will now grant a 10% reduction in damage taken from other players.
[PTR]: For testing purposes, Flaskataur, Esq. will be available near the Niuzao Temple selling normal Tier-16 armor and Tier-16 trinkets for gold.
UI
The vestigial Use Hardware sound option has been removed.