Patch 5.3 Profession Changes
There aren't many profession changes in Patch 5.3, but the major one makes leveling mining and herbalism possible in Pandaria with a low skill level.
- Miners can now level mining from a low skill level completely in Pandaria. Nodes will yield Ghost Iron Nuggets with the amount being determined by your skill level. You can combine ten nuggets to make one ore.
- Herbalists can now level herbalism from a low skill level completely in Pandaria. Nodes will yield a partial herb with the amount being determined by your skill level. You can combine 10 of the partial herbs to form a complete herb.
- Currently on the PTR, you will sometimes get fragments and the actual herb or ore when gathering near the minimum level for that node type.
- The Engineering mount and pet (Skyclaw and Pierre) won't make it in to Patch 5.3.
Patch 5.3 Not This Week
Bashiok confirmed that Patch 5.3 will not be going live this week, but it is likely that we will see it very soon!
Patch 5.3 PTR - Build 16946
Build 16946 went on PTR realms tonight and it is not a Release Candidate build.
Spell Changes
Originally Posted by MMO-Champion
Unholy
- Festering Strike now matches the current live tooltip values.
- Scourge Strike now matches the current live tooltip values.
Pets
- Spirit Mend now has a 30 sec cooldown, down from 40 sec.
Talents
- Flameglow now absorbs 15% of Fire Spell Power, down from 20%.
- Incanter's Ward now grants 15% increased spell damage for 25 sec, rather than 30% increased spell damage for 15 sec.
Elemental & Restoration
- Lava Burst had base damage increased by 25%, but no longer lists additional damage from spell power.
Raid & Dungeon Abilities
- Breath of Hate Targets in a cone in front of the caster take Shadow damage over 3 sec. 3 sec cast (Channeled).7 sec cooldown.
Blue Posts
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Mage PvP Burst
We are aware that there are many players who have issues dealing with Mage burst capabilities, however we feel that the main problem right now isn't simply Deep Freeze or Frozen orb directly, but rather the damage increase caused by Incanter's Ward. When stacked with other damage increasing effects such as procs and Frost Mage mastery, it can add up to an additional 30% damage multiplier, which can be quite devastating against many opponents. Because Incanter's Ward is one of the bigger reasons for high Mage burst, we have plans to make changes to it in patch 5.3.
In an upcoming change to the patch 5.3 patch notes you will see that we are looking to change the maximum spell damage increase from 30% to 15% but have the effect duration increased to 25 seconds, up from 15 seconds. This will lower the damage coming from Frozen Orb, Frost Bomb and other skills during a Mages burst window, but that damage multiplier will just last for a bit longer. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Blue Tweets
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
PvE
I'd love to have your opinion on the way to bring back Raid Attunements
We've talked about them a lot. Like many features, we went from one extreme to another. Might be a sweet spot. (Source)
means 10-15 people have dropped)And it means about a hour on a single boss.
I'm not sure we can deliver an epic raid experience if wiping 5-7 times is off the table. (Source)
even simply boss fights are a way too long this days.
How long do you think a boss fight should last? 2 min? 6? (Source)
By which I mean, we were trying to "fix" the ICC model, but maybe it was okay in retrospect. (Source)
ICC model was great, it take this long to see that equalizing 10/25 might've been a bad call or just this long to admit it?
But we know some players liked having two lockouts and it certainly propped up 25s better. So who knows. It's complicated. (Source)
Yeah, to get a drop is fun. To never get a drop isnt fun. Thats why i thought its an idea to remove RNG from looting.
To get a drop *sometimes* is even more fun. It's ultimately why slot machines can be so addictive. (Source)
I adore the PVP model w/ Nalak. Consistent progression w/ points AND opportunity for drop. Feels productive/exciting
Do you think Nalak should have been available sooner, like Anger was? (Source)
Why did u opt to have the ILvl difference between LFR and normal 20 for this tier of content instead of 13 like previously???
Couple reasons. Helps LFR feel less important to N raiders. Also keeps some prestige for N gear. (Source)
Would you say all the steps taken in MOP to protect the egos of raiders has been worth the cost of alienating casual players?
Worry the opposite is true. When you can see most of the content and get epics from LFR, it lessens motivations to raid. (Source)
Historically, if your guild broke up, you'd look for a new one. Now folks can just play WoW solo using LFR. Not the same experience. (Source)
Again, this doesn't mean we're going to remove LFR. It just means it shouldn't replace other content for all. (Source)
So far there is nothing in mop that I feel makes the loss of 5-mans a fair trade. Especially LFR which IMO is the worst
We know some like dungeons. But players burn out on a couple of new dungeons in a week or two. Raids keep them engaged for months. (Source)
We'd like to figure out some way to do both, but that means a dungeon that doesn't get stale after 20+ runs. (Source)
A raid boss might also get stale after 20 kills, but that's 20 weeks with weekly locks. Dungeons encourage faster burn out. (Source)
Again I am talking about trends overall. I understand players are individuals with their own desires. (Source)
I think getting more skillful is a longterm investment. Getting better ilevel is a more "realistic" goal.
Mmm. Not so sure. Noticing you're standing in a fire can be an aha moment. (Source)
Put another way, I can wipe on a boss 30 times and get better every time until we score a kill. That's short term skill. (Source)
YOU can tell players to improve skills, but the game doesn't. The game teachers players to get better gear, but not practice.
How so? Standing in fire is not a gear issue. Having whole raid alive is more DPS than a few ilevels and is pretty apparent. (Source)
The current raid tuning is almost perfect in my opinion (started raiding in WotLK). ToT is a great raid!
It is good on 25. It came out the door a little too hard on 10s. (Source)
Is that really a problem trading easier organisation with harder content ?
Would be different if we came out and said that 10s were intended to be very hard or very easy. (Source)
Are 10s largely defined by an inability to invest the amount of time that 25s do? Hence the lack of high end 10s?
It could also be that there are virtually no N 25 guilds. Most 25s have heroic intentions. (Source)
Are 10s even balanced around having every buff?
It's tough. We made the call because 10s felt like second class citizens with their lower ilevels. (Source)
No. Ten heroic might be a different story, but there aren't all that many 10 heroic guilds either. (Source)
Uld, ICC, & Nax had various progression paths to complete. But ToT is strictly linear, is this the direction of future raids?
Ideally we'd prefer the raid path have some choices. (Source)
Yup. Strict linearity is my only issue w/ ToT layout. Raid gets tired of approaching "the burnout boss".
Yeah, we agree. It's nice to have a few options to switch focus from one boss to another. (Source)
ICC wings were good, but creatively very bad I thought. 3 boxes off of a middle box room, where were the twists and turns?
Is there a raid whose layout you thought really nailed it -- that felt like a place? (Source)
Any way to keep two healing specs from zoning into same scenario? Not able to complete several runs as disc w/ atonement
You should be fine for normal scenarios even with 3 healers. They aren't tuned on a razor's edge. (Source)
Why can we not at least do old raids on separate lockouts? No harm in 10 and 25 ICC still is there?
No probably no harm. The system isn't set up to support that easily, but I don't know that it's a major design concern. (Source)
Idea behind Challenge Modes is sound I give you that, but how you did it, and how it works and the rewards behind it = garbage I'm sorry
Why are the rewards garbage? Because they have no player power? They are for prestige. And yes, we like them. (Source)
HEX: Shards of Fate - MMO TCG
Cryptozoic, creators of the WoW TCG, recently announced a new MMO and TCG hybrid on Kickstarter called HEX. This game is more complex than Hearthstone and has an additional MMO aspect of the game. You can see some of the gameplay here.
- Cards
- Beta will begin in late summer 2013.
- You start with 60 cards for free when creating your account. You can buy booster packs of 15 cards for $2.
- You can add gems to sockets in cards, allowing you to change how the card plays.
- You can transform cards that with their card power during the match.
- Cards have a "double back" that stores achievements, which will allow you to unlock extended art. The double back also stores badges from winning tournaments and stats from your gameplay with that card. Earning experience with that card allows you to unlock the foil version of the card.
- There are five different types of cards:
- Action - Cards are used to cast buffs, attack, or defend against other actions. Basic actions are only usable during your turn, quick actions are usable at any time, and once an action is over the card goes to the graveyard.
- Constant - Cards are the same as Action cards, but have effects that stay in play, preventing them from going to the graveyard.
- Artifact - Cards that are artificially created objects, such as robot troops or a cauldron.
- Troop - Cards that can attack, block, or defend, and stay in play until it is destroyed.
- Resource - Cards that grant resource points, a threshold, and a charge point.
- PvE
- You can form a guild with friends and save decks into a guild bank for other members to practice against.
- Your guild can also participate in guild tournaments and PvE raids.
- Dungeons are a solo experience, allowing you to lose three battles before having to restart. The more of a dungeon you explore and defeat, the higher your momentum, and the greater your reward at the end.
- Raids involve three players fighting against a strong enemy.
- The choices you make while playing through dungeons and raids will change the story, making it a unique experience.
- You can trade cards and equipment with other players, or sell it in the auction house.
- In PvE, your champion will level through gaining experience. This will make your champion stronger and change the art on the card. Every 10 levels you will earn a talent point, allowing you to choose from one of three talents.
- Equipment is only used in the PvE campaign, and is used to improve the card it is attached to.
- Champions
- Each champion has six equipment slots, allowing you to place up to three pieces of equipment on one card, or spread them out on different cards. Some cards have set bonuses.
- There are 20 champions to choose from in PvP and each has a champion power, similar to the Hero Power in Hearthstone.
- There are six classes to choose from: Cleric, Ranger, Warlock, Mage, Rogue, and Warrior.
- There are two factions and eight races to choose from for your character.
More...
