Ghosts of K'aresh Development Notes - July 3, 2025

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Ghosts of K'aresh Development Notes - July 3, 2025
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker
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Hello testers! The Ghosts of K’aresh PTR has been updated with this week’s changes:

THE WAR WITHIN SEASON 3

• The War Within dungeons: Priory of the Sacred Flame, Operation: Floodgate, The Dawnbreaker, and Ara-kara, City of Echoes are now available for testing this week. See the dungeon testing schedule for more information: The War Within Season 3 Dungeon Testing Schedule.

CLASSES

• Developers’ notes: We’re adjusting some of the outlier Liberation of Undermine tier bonuses and providing some compensation where relevant to ensure a smooth transition into the Manaforge Omega tier bonuses. We’ll continue to monitor the impact of these changes and adjust accordingly.
• 
  Death Knight
  • Hero Talents
    • Deathbringer
      • Reaper’s Mark damage increased by 30%.
      • Blood
        • Exterminate has been updated – First scythe of Exterminate now has a 100% chance to reap a Bonestorm for 2 seconds.
      • Frost
        • Bind in Darkness now increases Howling Blast damage on main target when consuming Rime by 60% (was 30%).
    • Rider of the Apocalypse
      • Mawsworn Menace now reduces the cooldown of Death and Decay by 5 seconds (was 10 seconds).
      • Frost
        • Mograine’s Might has been updated – Your damage is increased by 5% and you gain 5% Critical Strike chance while inside Mograine’s Death and Decay.
    • San’layn
      • Blood
        • Visceral Strength now has an additional effect – When Blood Boil hits 2 or more targets, it generates 1 charge of Bone Shield.
  • Frost
    • Breath of Sindragosa has been updated – Call upon Sindragosa’s aid in battle for 8 seconds, continuously dealing Frost damage every 1 second to enemies in a cone in front of you. Consuming Killing Machine or Rime increases the duration by 1 second. Deals reduced damage to secondary targets. Grants a charge of Empower Rune Weapon at the start and 2 Runes at the end. 1.5 minute cooldown, costs 60 Runic Power.
      • Developers’ notes: We’ve seen a lot of feedback around the recent change to make Breath of Sindragosa an empower spell. While some players liked the new direction, many felt that the casting requirement made it difficult to use and broke up the flow of Frost Death Knight’s rotation. We’re moving toward a version that feels more natural to play, without losing the impact the ability is known for.
    • Death Grip now has a 15 second cooldown outside of PvP combat (was 25 seconds).
    • The double Glacial Advance from consuming 2 stacks of Killing Machine with Killing Streak now properly deals double damage and applies 2 stacks of Razorice.
    • An issue causing Frostbane to not activate Rime has been resolved.
    • An issue causing Arctic Assault to not activate sometimes when consuming Killing Machine has been resolved.
    • Consuming 2 stacks of Killing Machine with Killing Streak now correctly grants 2 stacks of Bonegrinder.
    • An issue causing Gathering Storm to not extend the duration of Remorseless Winter when talented into Frozen Dominion has been resolved.
    • Position of Murderous Efficiency and Howling Blades have been swapped.
    • Frostscythe visual effect has been updated.
  • Unholy
    • Desecrate has been updated – Death and Decay deals 100% more damage, has its cooldown reduced by 10 seconds, and is replaced by Desecrate after it is cast.
      • Desecrate – Consume your Death and Decay and crush your enemies within, dealing 100% of its remaining damage instantly. Applies or bursts 1-2 Festering Wounds, depending on whether the target is already affected by Festering Wounds. Grants you the benefits of standing in Death and Decay.
      • Developers’ notes: We felt there was too much pressure to cast Desecrate as soon as possible due to it dealing greater damage than Death and Decay would otherwise. We are looking to increase its flexibility, while maintaining its use case and effectiveness.
    • Death and Decay damage has been increased by 100%. Does not affect Defile.
    • Bursting Sores damage increased by 15%.
    • Bursting Sores now damage up to 7 nearby targets.
    • Defile now has a 30 second cooldown (was 20 seconds).
    • Death Grip now has a 15 second cooldown outside of PvP combat (was 25 seconds).
    • Bursting a Festering Wound now refreshes the duration of Festering Scythe override aura.
    • Scourge Strike critical strikes now cause the Festering Wound to burst for 20% increased damage. This also affects Bursting Sores damage.
    • Sudden Doom no longer reduces the Runic Power cost of Epidemic (was reducing by 10).
      • Developers’ notes: We’ve noticed that lowering the cost of Epidemic led Unholy Death Knight to generate more resources than we’d intended from bursting Festering Wounds in AoE situations.
    • Grave Mastery now increases the critical strike damage of Gargoyle and Legion of Souls.
    • Plague Mastery now increases the critical strike damage of Festering Wound.
    • An issue causing Dark Transformation to not upgrade the abilities of your pet ghoul such as Claw has been resolved.
• 
  Druid
  • Hero Talents
    • Druid of the Claw
      • Empowered Shapeshifting causes Bear Form to reduce magic damage taken by 6% (was 4%).
      • Manaforge Omega 4-set bonus handling of Bloodtalons and Coiled to Spring bonuses has been updated – If those bonuses are active at the time of the Ravage that triggers the 4-set bonus, the automatic Ravage will also benefit from those bonuses. Automatic Ravages cast by the 4-set bonus will no longer consume stacks of Bloodtalons or Coiled to Spring.
        • Developers’ notes: It is intentional that 4-set automatic Ravages do not benefit from Saber Jaws. We do not want that talent to feel necessary to maximize the value of the set bonus.
      • Feral
        • Manaforge Omega 4-set bonus – Fixed an issue with automatic Ravage damage involving Feral’s Saber Jaws talent.
      • Guardian
        • Dreadful Wound’s reduction to the damage that afflicted enemies deal to you is increased to 15% (was 10%).
        • Strike for the Heart causes Mangle to heal you for 5% of maximum health (was 1%).
    • Wildstalker
      • Symbiotic Blooms and Bursting Growth healing increased by 30% (was 50%).
      • Restoration
        • Manaforge Omega 2-set bonus – The rate at which Symbiotic Blooms grow is increased by 30% (was 40%).
        • Manaforge Omega 4-set bonus – Symbiotic Blooms have a 20% chance to trigger Bursting Growth every 2 seconds at 80% effectiveness (was 100%).
• 
  Evoker
  • Hero Talents
    • Flameshaper
      • Preservation
        • Manaforge Omega 2-set bonus – Inner Flame increases periodic healing by 25% per stack (was 40%).
        • Manaforge Omega 4-set bonus – Essence Bomb (healing version) radius increased to 20 yards (was 8 yards).
  • Devastation
    • All damage dealt increased by 3%.
    • Liberation of Undermine 2-set bonus has been updated – Jackpots now cast Shattering Star at 50% effectiveness (was 100%) and occur 20% less frequently.
    • Liberation of Undermine 4-set bonus has been updated – Shattering Star and Jackpots now increase the damage of your next empower spell by 18% per stack (was 25%).
  • Preservation
    • All healing reduced by 4%.
    • Dream Breath healing reduced by 20%.
    • Temporal Artificer reduces the cooldown of Rewind by 120 seconds (was 90 seconds).
    • Fixed an issue that prevented Lifebind from transferring Emerald Communion healing when the Evoker has a healing absorb.
• 
  Hunter
  • Hero Talents
    • Dark Ranger
      • Soul Drinker has been updated – Black Arrow damage bonus reduced to 8% (was 15%). Bleak Powder damage bonus reduced to 10% (was 20%).
      • Phantom Pain damage share percentage reduced to 15%.
      • Phantom Pain damage share now affects up to 8 targets.
      • Bleak Powder damage reduced by 25%.
      • Marksmanship
        • Black Arrow damage reduced by 8%.
    • Pack Leader
      • Shell Cover has been updated – When dropping below 60% health, summon the aid of a Turtle, reducing the damage you take by 15%. Damage reduction increased as health is reduced, up to 35% damage reduction at 10% health. Can only occur once every 90 seconds.
      • Better Together has been updated – Damage dealt by your pets is increased by 5/15%. Frenzy’s attack speed bonus is increased by 4%/Tip of the Spear’s damage bonus increased by 10%.
      • Rend Flesh’s damage reduced by 30%.
        • Developers’ notes: Bleeds ignore armor, which Rend Flesh was not doing before, so this nerf is intended to keep its damage roughly neutral in power.
      • Howl of the Pack Leader now displays an activation overlay when a Beast summon is ready.
      • The Pack Leader Bear now properly benefits from pet avoidance.
      • Fixed an issue causing Rend Flesh to not be treated as Bleed.
      • Manaforge Omega 4-set bonus updated:
        • Now only summons a Stampede when summoning a Beast during Lead from the Front.
        • Stampede damage reduced by 50%.
        • Stampede now has a target cap of 8 per charging animal.
        • Stampede damage radius increased.
        • Stampede pathing logic has been updated.
        • Stampede visuals have been updated.
        • Tooltip updated to show more accurate damage values.
        • Developers’ notes: It can be challenging to maximize the positional requirements of Stampede when you don’t know when it’s coming. We’re reducing its power while making it easier to use, a bit more forgiving, and giving you a clearer window of when its going to be summoned.
      • Fixed an issue causing Stampede to despawn after striking 5 targets.
    • Sentinel
      • Fixed an issue where the Boon of Elune granted with the Manaforge Omega 4-set bonus could overlap with the Boon of Elune granted from the 2-set bonus.
  • Beast Mastery
    • All damage dealt increased by 3%.
    • Dire Beast chance to trigger reduced to 4% (was 7%).
    • Liberation of Undermine 2-set updated – Chance to trigger the bonus reduced and no longer scales with Haste.
    • Liberation of Undermine 4-set updated – Bestial Wrath cooldown reduction reduced to 0.1 second (was 0.25 seconds). Mutagenic attack damage reduced by 33%.
    • Fixed an issue causing Bloodshed to not summon Dire Beasts.
    • Fixed an issue causing Bloodshed to benefit twice from Bestial Wrath’s damage bonus.
  • Marksmanship
    • Aspect of the Hydra and Ohn’ahran Winds additional target seek range increased to 12 yards (was 8 yards).
    • Shrapnel Shot no longer triggers from the Liberation of Undermine 4-set bonus.
    • Liberation of Undermine 4 set updated – Explosive Shot effectiveness reduced to 125% (was 300%).
  • Survival
    • Fixed an issue where the old version of Wildfire Arsenal could still trigger from Quick Shots.
• 
  Mage
  • Hero Talents
    • Frostfire
      • Frost
        • Excess Fire has been updated – Now has a 50% chance to grant Brain Freeze (was 100%).
          • Developers’ notes: Frostfire Frost could generate so much Brain Freeze that it incentivized very unintuitive usage of Flurry.
        • Fixed an issue causing Ignite from the Manaforge Omega 2-set bonus to not work on critical strikes.
    • Spellslinger
      • Splinterstorms now have a 10% chance to grant Brain Freeze (was 5%).
      • Splinterstorms now have an 8% chance to grant Clearcasting (was 5%).
      • Arcane
        • All Splinter damage increased by 8%.
      • Frost
        • Manaforge Omega 2-set bonus updated – Chance to trigger increased to 30% (was 25%).
        • Manageforge Omega 2-set bonus – Fixed an issue where Cold Front was not triggering at the correct rate.
    • Sunfury
      • Lesser Time Warp and Flame Quill duration reduced to 10 seconds.
        • Developers’ notes: These changes are aimed at focusing the power of the Manaforge Omega 4-set into a shorter window.
      • Manaforge Omega 4-set bonus updated – Lesser Time Warp now grants 25% Haste (was 15%). Arcane Soul/Hyperthermia extension reduced to 0.5 seconds (was 1 second). Spell damage bonus increased to 20% (was 10%).
      • Fixed an issue where Lingering Embers was not gaining the spell damage bonus from the Manaforge Omega 2-set bonus.
  • Arcane
    • Liberation of Undermine 2-set bonus has been updated – Chance to trigger reduced.
    • Aether Attunement is now tracked on the cooldown manager.
    • Fixed an issue where consuming Intuition as soon as it procs would not increase Arcane Barrage’s damage correctly.
  • Fire
    • All damage dealt increased by 3%.
    • Liberation of Undermine 2-set bonus has been updated – Chance to trigger reduced. Combustion effectiveness reduced to 100% (was 200%).
    • Liberation of Undermine 4-set bonus has been updated – Rollin’ Hot damage bonus reduced to 8% (was 15%).
  • Frost
    • Blizzard cooldown and duration increased to 15 sec.
      • Developer’s notes: We’ve received feedback that Frost’s AOE rotation can feel quite cluttered. We’re reducing the frequency with which you need to cast Blizzard to help the rotation breathe in AOE a bit more. We’ll continue to monitor the repercussions of this change and adjust accordingly.
• 
  Monk
  • Hero Talents
    • Master of Harmony
      • Brewmaster
        • Increased damage of Harmonic Surge by 25%.
        • Manaforge Omega set bonus – Press the Advantage can now consume Potential Energy.
  • Brewmaster
    • Fixed an issue causing Walk with the Ox to grant too much cooldown reduction.
    • Fixed an issue causing Niuzao’s Resolve to heal for too little when Healing Spheres were consumed with Expel Harm.
    • Fixed an issue causing Niuzao’s Resolve to not stack correctly when multiple Healing Spheres were consumed.
    • Fixed an issue with the Single-Button Assistant not casting Blackout Kick without Blackout Combo talented.
    • Face Palm and Pretense of Instability have switched talent locations.
• 
  Paladin
  • Holy
    • Holy Light healing increased by 30%.
    • Infusion of Light now increases the healing of Flash of Light by 150% (was 30%).
    • Inflorescence of the Sunwell now increases Infusion of Light’s effect on Flash of Light by 50% (was 15%).
• 
  Priest
  • Shadow
    • Void Volley damage reduced by 15%.
    • Idol of N’Zoth damage reduced by 30%.
    • Fixed an issue causing Shadow Crash to sometimes apply stacks of Horrific Visions when talented for Idol of N’Zoth.
    • Fixed an issue causing Dark Ascension to not increase the damage of Void Volley and Idol of N’Zoth.
    • Fixed an issue causing Subservient Shadows to not increase the duration of Depth of Shadows.
    • Fixed an issue causing Phantom Menace to give less critical strike chance than intended.
• 
  Rogue
  • The Single-Button Assistant and Assisted Highlight now recommend more appropriate weapon poisons based on your talents and adjust their recommendations towards Wound Poison in PvP content.
• 
  Shaman
  • Elemental
    • The Single-Button Assistant and Assistant highlight recommendations now appropriately weave between Earth Shock or Elemental Blast and Earthquake when talented for Echoes of Great Sundering.
• 
  Warlock
  • Hero Talents
    • Diabolist
      • Destruction
        • Manaforge Omega 2-set bonus has been updated – Now triggers from Chaos Bolt, Rain of Fire, and Shadowburn.
    • Soul Harvester
      • Developers’ notes: The window for Soul Harvester’s tier set bonus is being reduced to limit the chance of disruption while maximizing its effects.
      • Manaforge Omega 2-set bonus has been updated – Your demonic soul now assaults enemies for 9 seconds (was 12 seconds).
      • Manaforge Omega 2-set bonus has been updated – Damage dealt by your demonic soul increased by 20%.
  • Affliction
    • Developers’ notes: We are increasing the stack cap on Tormented Crescendo to reduce the chance of losing stacks granted via the Manaforge Omega tier set bonus for Hellcaller.
    • Tormented Crescendo can now stack up to 3 times (was 2).
  • Demonology
    • Developers’ notes: We are increasing the number of Wild Imps empowered by Demonic Tyrant back to 10 as our initial swing left Demonic Tyrant feeling too easy to execute. Additionally, we are increasing the value of Master Summoner and Umbral Blaze to be more appealing to invest points in. Umbral Blaze, however, is swapping places with Pact of the Imp Mother. This allows for Umbral Blaze to exist as a means to increase single-target throughput without standing in the way of Pact of the Imp Mother, a universally useful talent. Lastly, we are reducing the effectiveness of the Liberation of Undermine tier set bonus and baking in some of its power to smoothen the transition between the season 2 and 3 tier sets.
    • Master Summoner has been redesigned – Increases Mastery by 4% and reduces the cast time of your Call Dreadstalkers, Summon Vilefiend, and Summon Demonic Tyrant by 25%.
    • All damage dealt increased by 6%.
    • Immutable Hatred damage increased by 150%.
    • Summon Demonic Tyrant now empowers 10 Wild Imps (was 5).
    • Umbral Blaze now has a 100% chance to trigger.
    • Liberation of Undermine 2-set bonus has been updated – Now summons a Greater Dreadstalker at 180% effectiveness (was 265%).
    • Liberation of Undermine 4-set bonus has been updated – Now commands your active Dreadstalkers to Dreadbite at 10% (was 20%) effectiveness. This damage is now increased by 5% per Soul Shard spent on Hand of Gul’dan (was 10%).
    • Pact of the Imp Mother has swapped places with Umbral Blaze on the talent tree.
    • Fixed an issue where Summon Charhound and Summon Gloomhound did not match the cooldown of Summon Vilefiend.
• 
  Warrior
  • Hero Talents
    • Colossus
      • Demolish’s channel will not break once begun unless the target moves over 50 yards away from the Warrior.
        • Developers’ notes: Demolish’s single-target attacks will still only hit the target if it is in melee range, and the final AOE attack will impact no more than 5 yards from the Warrior.
  • Protection
    • Spellbreaker description updated for clarity – You have a 4% chance to disrupt magic damage dealt to you, reducing the damage it deals by 100%.

PLAYER VERSUS PLAYER

• Rated Solo Shuffle
  • Now no longer possible to get the same player on your team 3 times in a row.
  • Protection Paladins are now treated like other Tanks for both queues and role.
• Temple of Kotmogu
  • Floating text now appears on the player to signify when they’re generating points for their team.

USER INTERFACE AND ACCESSIBILITY

• Warbands’ currency transfer window will remain open after a transfer transaction.
• Event Scheduler no longer lists the continent name to avoid confusion when events are in multiple continents. Clicking on them will still bring the player map to the event location.

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