Q: I spend a lot of my time in raids keeping Water Shield up, which I rely on to maintain enough mana. There have been times I've neglected to heal someone because I had to refresh Water Shield. Why are shaman healers less effective compared to other healing classes? � Epistemology (NA), Ерз (EU-RU)

A: We�d like to be more consistent about what does and doesn�t trigger Water Shield. Having the shield trigger when taking direct damage, and consume an orb, is consistent with how all shaman shields work. On some encounters though, constant pulsing damage probably burns through those charges too quickly and doesn�t need to do so � that said, if you�re having to refresh Water Shield often, that also generally means that you�re getting a large amount of extra mana from all those procs that are burning through it. A situational glyph (like we have for Lightning Shield) could help with this issue, and that may be something we consider in the future.

Shaman raid tank healing is, if anything, underrated. With a combination of Earth Shield, Riptide, and Greater Healing Wave fuelled by Tidal Waves, a shaman�s throughput can be quite impressive. Yes, a Holy paladin using Beacon can more effectively heal two tanks who are simultaneously taking damage, but on the other hand, a shaman can deal better with multi-target damage or healing clumps of players. Healers have different strengths and weaknesses, which is fine as long as it doesn�t get too extreme, but we recognize that the core functionality of being able to heal a single tank who is taking heavy damage from a boss is something all healers need to be able to do, and we�re satisfied with the current balance in that regard. We will, of course, make adjustments if inequalities begin to appear.

The Mana Tide change in 4.2 was primarily aimed at reducing the mana available to non-shaman healers in raids. In short, shaman are balanced around always having their own Mana Tide, but other healers are instead balanced around their personal cooldowns (Shadowfiend, Innervate, etc.). Adding Tide on top of those often led to other healers having access to so much mana that managing the resource became a non-issue in many situations. The change from Improved Water Shield to Resurgence was designed to offset the Mana Tide reduction�s personal impact to the shaman.

Q: Is it intended for �smart� heals and target capped aoe spells to heal companions/pets like bloodworms instead of players? Can you redesign Shaman�s Chain Heal, so that it can jump over full HP players to a target without full HP? Do you have any plans to make chain heal stronger/more appealing for 5man/10man content? � Epicfail (NA), 珍妮佛羅培根 (TW), Pikapika (NA)

A: True AoE heals (e.g. Healing Rain) will heal pets and guardians, but will not count those units towards the AoE cap. We�d prefer for �smart� heals to prioritize players over non-players whenever possible, and we�ll continue to improve the logic on such heals until that is the case � it certainly doesn�t feel particularly satisfying to see that you�ve just delivered a critical heal to a Bloodworm.

Chain Heal is inherently a situational spell � that situation tends to arise more often the more players are present, but we don�t have any plans to redesign the spell to make it the go-to heal when there are fewer players present, or they are all spread far apart. We�d rather augment other tools, or add new ones, if it appears that Shaman healing is inadequate for particular situations.

Q: At the start of Cataclysm, the the idea was given that developers wanted to step away from niche healing and let all healers be capable tank or raid healers. Has this goal since changed? Is there any plan to change the dogma �Holy Paladin = Tank healer�? As I remember, devs said that they wanted to change this formula in a past interview but Holy Paladins are still considered as a tank healer, indispensable for raid. Even thought other healers can heal tankers, there are people who say that this job is hard for other healers. � Frazlo (NA), 트롤학개론 (KR)

A: The goal hasn�t changed. We added three new heals for paladins and changed their resource model to make them a better group healer. You can argue that we didn�t go far enough and we should have given paladins even more new heals, but we didn�t want the Holy spec to be unrecognizable for a long-time player.

We suspect several paladins would turn your question around and argue that it�s not that they are indispensible tank healers, but that they can�t compete against other healers for group healing. Ultimately, we think the problem is Holy Radiance. Light of Dawn is a finisher so it�s never going to be continuously available for periods of intense group healing without unshackling it from Holy Power. Holy Radiance could be changed however. Our original concept of Holy Radiance being a tool the paladin used to heal those around her never quite panned out � we had to keep bumping the range to make it a useful heal, which removed much of the positional gameplay. Currently it is potent, but fairly �fire and forget.� A paladin is never choosing not to use Holy Radiance, unless perhaps mana is very tight. A better model for Holy Radiance, and something we are considering for the next content patch, is as a cast-time spell with no cooldown that generates Holy Power (for Holy paladins at least). This would give Holy paladins an actual area-healing rotation -- Holy Radiance and Light of Dawn -- that they could use instead of the single-target heals. Currently Holy Radiance can just be layered on top of the other heals, so the paladin isn�t shifting into group-healing mode the way a shaman can focus on Chain Heal or a priest can focus on Prayer of Healing.

Q: Are you still considering creating a new heroic class of healer? Are there any plans for adding any new class with a healing talent tree in future expansions? � Molatuna (EU-FR), Elvenadoren (EU-EN)

A: Obviously, we can�t talk about future expansions yet. What we can share is that whenever we have discussed adding a new class that can heal, the biggest question we debate is whether the healing model should be similar to the existing classes or something radically different. Something different has the potential to attract players currently burned out on healing or maybe even new healers. On the other hand, it would be much harder to balance. We know the three-heal, mana-and-Spirit based system largely works.

Q: What are the developers' thoughts on perhaps giving Discipline priests three strengths/types of shields/absorbs, in a similar manner as all other healers have three main heals? Discipline priests (especially those purely going for absorb) always were unique through this absorb, I mean: Shields. Why does this become shorter and shorter, always saying we should go for direct healing instead? In that case you could play another healing class that has better direct heals. � Kahlan (NA), Zerreshju (EU-DE)

A: Balancing the Discipline Priest is often challenging because they can provide so much more damage prevention than the other healers. If Discipline priests had all absorb spells instead of heals, it might make them mandatory for all raids but weak when healing a 5-player dungeon. That said, replacing one of the three mainstay heals with an absorb for Disc is certainly something we�ve talked about before. It�s too big a change for the current expansion but something we�d like to explore in the future. Power Word: Shield is instant so it�s hard to build a whole rotation around that spell. If Discipline had an efficient cast-time absorb and then used Power Word: Shield more for instant healing, their toolkit would feel more fleshed out. However, players who cling to the attitude of �I�m a Disc priest; I should only shield,� aren�t really understanding our design for the class. Ditto with druids who only want to cast hots, or paladins who only want to drop heal bombs on the main tank. �I�m good at something� isn�t the same as �I only do that thing.�

Q: When healing, it is hard to see the overall screen because healers must keep an eye on the Raid frame. And due to PVP balance issues, dispels are only allowed for healer�s. This situation makes it too harsh for the healers and gives to much responsibility and also a burden because healers have to heal and move at the same time during raids. Isn�t this a little too harsh? � 스페이드 (KR), 신기하군 (KR)

A: Well, raiding isn�t only hard for healers. In fact, most of the time the damage seems unhealable, it�s probably because it is intended to be unhealable and there is some aspect of the fight that you�re missing or not executing as well as you could. While raiding healers have a lot of responsibility. It is our sense that most of them want that responsibility � that it is what attracts them to healing.

While we agree that we�ve had fights with too much �urgent dispelling� as you put it, we�ve tried to be better about that in more recent content. The dispels on Valiona and Theralion or Ascendant Council need to be done at the right moment, which is emphatically not as soon as the debuff appears. You need a smart dispeller for those mechanics, not a quick dispeller. We also had fairly �urgent interrupts� in Blackwing Descent and Bastion of Twilight, which are often the responsibility of melee, we continue to have situations where tanks need to respond immediately to something (say a tank swap or incoming adds), and we have mechanics where anyone who isn�t aware of their surroundings can wipe their whole group.

We definitely use incoming damage as a tuning mechanism, but we also use berserk timers to set a high bar for the DPS specs. There is a risk that if berserk timers are too tightly tuned that raids may attempt to replace healers with more DPS, which isn�t doing the healers any favors either. Note that limiting dispels to healers isn�t just a PvP balance issue. We wanted to know for sure that every 5-player group would be able to dispel magic. The alternatives were that there could never be important debuffs to dispel or some healers just wouldn�t be viable for some content.

Q: Healers are usually responsible for the loss of the teammate, but not all the mistakes are made by healers, such as over taunt or damage zone avoidance. This also happens in the 5 man dungeons frequently. Is there any chance to add a design to punish damage classes with inappropriate behavior? Is there ever going to be a clear indicator that the indivdual died from "unhealable damage" in combat logs/on screen warning? � 明亮 (TW), Galadruin (EU-EN)

A: We see the mindset slowly changing from the notion that anytime someone dies, it�s the healer�s fault. We agree that there could be more situations where we make it obvious that the healer couldn�t realistically save the DPS from their mistake. On the other hand, saving other characters is part of the fun of playing a healer, so we don�t want to totally remove that gameplay. We also provide many specs with sprints, self-heals and emergency buttons of their owns, so the answer shouldn�t always be unhealable damage. We also are making more and more use of mechanics where �standing in the fire� doesn�t cause damage, but causes a debuff which lowers DPS, hitting those players where it hurts the most. Finally, we are exploring more on-screen warnings for dangerous debuffs in the same way we alert you when certain class procs have gone off. We just have to be careful not to turn the default UI into an unrecognizable sound and light show.

Q: How do you plan on addressing our inflating spirit and mana pools later in the expansion to keep mana a resource, rather than a solid blue bar? Do you plan to preserve a principle of rational use of mana, which makes it interesting to play a healer? In the beginning of Cataclysm we had to use almost every spell to succeed, while now everything is about pushing a couple of your best healing spells. With the release of a new patch the level of equipment will raise significantly, and we won�t have to think about mana regeneration any more. Do you plan to somehow adjust encounters or healing mechanics perhaps? � Nehalim (NA), Ксенас (EU-RU)

A: Our plan was always that healers could gradually grow out of being very mana-limited, but we didn�t want that to happen in the very first tier of content. If it happens in the final tier of content, that�s fine. It will help healers feel like they have actually become more powerful from accumulating so much gear. Consider that tank health, mitigation and avoidance increase with each tier, as does the size of heals and the rate at which you cast them, and those are probably sufficient to offset the increased damage being done by bosses and trash.

In heroic raids, even today, healers often rely on their inefficient heals a great deal, so there isn�t a ton of room to expand into becoming even more inefficient (and therefore requiring more mana regeneration). As such, you should consider Spirit somewhere in between the stat continuum of hit and something like haste or crit. For the former, there are hard caps. For the latter, there are inflexion points where the value of a stat grows faster or slower, but in general more is always helpful. For Spirit you need enough to feel good about your healing longevity and anything beyond that is probably of diminishing value. We think this actually makes itemization as a healer more interesting for the player than just grabbing more and more of a particular uber stat.

With the raid content we have released for Cataclysm so far, we feel like we can put pressure on healers to keep tanks alive without repeating the gameplay we had in Wrath of the Lich King, where the smart way to play was to keep heals constantly going because of the risk of the tank dying in two back to back hits. Even with increasing regeneration, we don�t think we�ll get back to a two-shot the tank situation for Cataclysm. If your tanks are dying faster than you can heal them currently, again, you�re probably missing something about the encounter or aren�t quite ready for it yet.

We had originally planned on having bosses in later tiers scale so that players would need more crit, hit, expertise, dodge and parry for later tiers. We ultimately decided not to do this, at least for the current expansion. That decision was driven partially because we couldn�t figure out an elegant way for stats like haste to scale with boss power and partially because we weren�t convinced our planned UI would communicate the concept clearly enough to players. For example, would just bosses be affected? Just raid bosses? If not, would you want separate sets of gear for dungeons vs. raids? Those are solvable problems, but we weren�t convinced the path we were on would solve them as well as we would like.

Our current numbers wouldn�t work if we had a dozen raid tiers before increasing the level cap, but that�s not our plan.

Q: Are there any plans to give Holy Priests access to a viable 3-minute raid cooldown? There are concerns that without a cooldown along the lines of Power Word: Barrier, Spirit Link Totem, or Tranquility, we may need to play disc a lot in firelands. Maybe simply an improved Divine Hymn? � Maladi (NA)

A: You can make the argument that the Holy priest doesn�t have a similar raid cooldown like Power Word: Barrier, or that Divine Hymn isn�t as powerful as Tranquility. However, we feel the Holy priest toolkit overall is strong, that they provide meaningful contributions to raid healing, and are well represented in actual raid groups. It�s possible we may make Divine Hymn more of a Holy (rather than Discipline) priest thing in the future, and bump it up to around where Tranquility is, if the need presents itself. Overall, Holy priests are fine. They have enough benefits that few guilds seem to be sitting them for want of yet another raid cooldown, and Guardian Spirit remains an exceptional tank cooldown.

Q: Looking at the healer changes with patch 4.2, there are changes being made to paladins and druids, but there doesn't appear to be any for either the priest or shaman. Do you feel comfortable with where these two classes are? Where do you feel the other healers are at currently? � Sergan (LA)

A: As we write this, heroic attempts on the Firelands raid have just begun and the new PvP season has started. At this time, we are happy with all five of the healing specs. We don�t think there is a weak or mandatory healer. We try not to change things just for the sake of change. We know that constant changes can be exhausting for players, so we try to resist the urge to tinker with mechanics, specs or classes that are basically working fine. We suspect that sometimes players fall into a mode where if they don�t see copious patch notes for their character that they feel like we don�t love them anymore. We love all of our classes. If you don�t see any changes in patch notes it either means that we don�t think changes are warranted yet, or that we have future plans to change things that we haven�t quite solidified or lack the ability to implement exactly how we want. This doesn�t mean every class is now perfect and requires no additional tweaks � far from it. Just try and distinguish between �my dude hasn�t changed lately� and �my dude is fundamentally broken and the developers don�t know or don�t care.� We can assure you the latter sentiment is never the case.

Q: What is the reasoning behind certain classes that lack a healing spec (such as a rogue) being able to self-heal better than a dps spec of a healing class (such as a balance druid)? � Idej (NA)

A: A great recipe for class homogenization is to go down the list of every ability and make sure that every class has their own version of that ability. We don�t think powerful self-healing is mandatory for every character. Some classes are inherently better at it than others. As long as the overall package is competitive, it�s okay for specs or classes to have strengths and weaknesses. If the overall package isn�t competitive, we�ll certainly hear about it.

Our definition of hybrid class is a class that has a tank or healing spec. We don�t spend much effort to make sure that the DPS specs of hybrid classes are more �hybridy� than the DPS specs of mage, warlock, rogue or hunter. Sometimes hybrid DPS specs might be able to throw out a heal, but unless used very strategically, those contributions are often in the rounding error of the healing provided by the dedicated healers. And when DPS specs are healing themselves (Frost and Unholy DKs before 4.2) or others (Ret paladins before 4.1) too much, we take action there as well. So it�s not a priority for us that Balance druids are great healers. We recognized going into Cataclysm that rogues had a lot of down time while solo, that they didn�t have many options for spending combo points after a target died prematurely, and that too much rogue survivability was based around crowd controlling an opponent. Thus we thought there was a need for Recuperate. If Balance druids have similar challenges, then we�d look for solutions for them as well, but they would hopefully be unique or at least kit-appropriate solutions.

Q: With the changes being made to critical heals, do you feel that crit will become a more prominent stat for healers, up there with haste and mastery? Or is it a less important change aimed at balancing between the pve and pvp aspects of the game? � Der�k (LA)

A: Even with the 4.2 changes, haste may very well be a more attractive stat for healers. We�re just trying to narrow the gap. It�s not important for all stats to be identical as long as they aren�t so far apart that you�re tempted to keep perfectly optimized gear from a previous tier instead of less perfectly optimized gear from a new tier. We want a healer to take gear with crit seriously (even if he would ultimately prefer haste) rather than passing or sharding it. We made the change mostly for itemization reasons and for any PvP vs. PvE concerns. PvP healers tend to have low crit chances anyway and we have other ways to balance healing in PvP should it become too powerful (predominantly the Mortal Strike and related debuffs).

Q: Do you feel that the three-heal model you implemented at the start of Cataclysm is a success? Have you changed your expectations or goals in regards to the three-heal model after watching a tier of raiding? How do you feel about how the various specs are using or avoiding these three core heals? � Anohako (NA)

A: Overall, we still like the model and we intend to keep supporting it. One flaw with the system is that healers in 5-player dungeons often have to make harder choices about which of the three core heals to use at any given moment. In raids, especially in 25-player mode, healers can afford to specialize more. To be fair, raids often replace spell-choice complexity with encounter complexity, but overall it would be nice if players graduated from less complexity to more complexity as they went into more challenging content rather than the reverse. As a theoretical example, imagine that priests didn�t have access to Greater Heal in 5-player dungeons, so the choice would be between the fast, expensive Flash Heal vs. the slower, efficient Heal (in addition to all their other tools of course). It�s hard to develop a system that would make such a restriction make sense, but you get the idea.

When comparing classes, the intent was always that the druid and Disc priest would use those three core heals the least. It is a design problem (though not a massive one) that those two specs can specialize so much in 25-player raids that they can forsake their three core heals to a great extent. In smaller groups, they still need to look at their full toolbox. We like the way the shaman works, particularly with Tidal Waves providing synergy among the three core heals. The paladin model is close but as mentioned above, they have to rely on the three heals too much because they don�t have another heal like Riptide or Penance to add to the mix. Holy priests still suffer a bit of the reverse where there are so many heals that it�s hard to provide niches for them all. We�ve talked about a spec model where there are even more specialization spells (like the ones you get at level 10) so that we can have more spells for each healer without players having to spend talent points on them.

July 14

Dungeons & Raids

• Baradin Hold
  • The Eye of Occu�thar shared cooldown on Focused Fire has been increased, while eye health has been decreased.
• Firelands
  • Ragnaros
    • Molten Elementals can no longer be knocked back while having the Molten Power buff. Molten Elemental move speed has also been decreased by 15% on Heroic difficulty. These adjustments will require a realm restart to take effect.
  • Rhyolith
    • Concussive Stomp damage has been increased on Heroic difficulty.
    • Eruption now increases fire damage taken by 5% per stack, down from 10%.
    • The Eruption debuff is now cleared when transitioning into phase 2 of the fight.
  • Shannox
    • Successful attacks on Rageface will now always be critical strikes while he is channeling Face Rage.
    • Players on the legendary quest Delegation should now be able to get the Dull Emberstone Focus charge off of Shannox�s spear more easily, so long as it�s placed within 50 yards of the spear.

Quests & Creatures

• Hyjal Regrowth & Molten Front
  • Players should no longer experience performance issues when the Fire Hawk Egg Carry Ping spell is cast while on the quest Peaked Interest.
• Nexus (A Legendary Engagement)
  • Shaman Grounding Totems now properly redirect Thyrinar's primary Twilight Blast ability.

July 12

Classes

• Pet Defensive stance will no longer cause the pet to assist the player while a vanity pet is active.
• Druids
  • Rake should again be able to trigger Primal Fury.

Dungeons & Raids

• Firelands
  • Characters who make for a good Dinner Time should no longer be ported to Ancient Core Hounds they are not in combat with when the ability�s effects end.
  • Fire Scorpion and Flamewaker corpses no longer provide loot or reputation when they�re eaten by Hell Hounds and Fire Turtles.
  • Unstable Magmas are now gaining energy properly from the Flamewaker Animators.
• Alysrazor
  • Voracious Hatchlings will now Imprint on a new target if their current target dies.
• Majordomo Fandral Staghelm
  • Flame Scythe now properly hits pets.
  • Fandral can now cast Searing Seeds and Burning Orbs while moving.
• Ragnaros
  • Several locations which could be used to avoid damage from Engulfing Flames have been adjusted so they�re no longer safe spots.
  • Combustible will always be reapplied to Living Meteors, even if the attacking character dies as a Meteor Impact occurs.
  • Living Meteors will now become frozen by Cenarius under all conditions when transitioning into phase 4 on Heroic difficulty.
  • If a Living Meteor is frozen in the lava pool during the transition into phase 4 on Heroic difficulty, it will teleport on a player after the stun ends, but will no longer explode immediately. Players now have a 2-second window to escape the meteor�s melee range.
  • Living Meteors will gain the Living Meteor Transform buff once frozen in the Breadth of Frost trap, even if a meteor is knocked into it.
  • If a Living Meteor's fixated target drops aggro via Feign Death, the meteor will target the pet, and then select a new non-pet target upon which to fixate.
  • Ragnaros now enrages after 18 minutes in all raid difficulties and sizes, up from 15 minutes.

Quests & Creatures

• Hyjal Regrowth & Molten Front
  • Wounded Hyjal Defenders should no longer sometimes spawn in with full health and in a standing position when players are on the quest Burn Victims.
  • Molten Lords no longer become tapped by the first player who attacks them with any of the Trained Fire Hawk's abilities while on the quest Fire in the Skies, allowing for any player who dealt damage to the Molten Lord to gain quest credit upon its death.
  • Windcallers now respawn within 1 minute on average for the quest Into the Fire when both are rendered inactive. Additionally, players will only experience a maximum of approximately 75 seconds of a delay before they are able to initiate the escort event.

When delving into the depths of Azeroth's darkest dungeons, it always helps to have some friends at your side... now you're able to issue a call to arms no matter what realm they play on. We're pleased to announce the new Real ID Party feature is now available for testing! This new feature will allow World of Warcraft players to invite their real-life Real ID friends of the same faction to a party regardless of the realm they play on, and then queue up for a 5-player regular or Heroic dungeon.

To learn more about Real ID, please visit the Real ID web page and read the FAQ.

For more information about how the Real ID Party system works, check out the FAQ below.

Real ID Party Feature � Test Phase FAQ

Q: What is the Real ID Party feature?
A: Players can now invite Real ID friends of the same faction to a 5-player normal or Heroic dungeon group, regardless of what realm their friends are on. This system is designed to make it easier for real-life friends to play together.

Q: How do I invite Real ID friends to a Real ID party?
A: Inviting a Real ID friend to a Real ID Party is simple. Just open up your Friends list to see which Real ID friends are online. Click on the �Plus� button to send an invitation to a Real ID friend to join your group. You can continue to add Real ID friends to your party until the group is complete. If you cannot complete the group with Real ID friends, you are free to join the Dungeon Finder to fill in the missing roles.

Q: Does a player need to have Real ID enabled to accept a Real ID group invite?
A: Yes, a player must have Real ID enabled, and both players must be Real ID friends to accept or initiate Real ID party invitations.

Q: Can a party leader invite a mix of Real ID friends, character-level friends, guildmates, or random players to the same party?
A: A party leader can invite any combination of Real ID friends from any realm, guildmates from the same realm, or other characters from the same realm to the same party. If the party leader isn�t able to fill up the entire party, the Dungeon Finder can fill in the missing roles.

Q: Can I invite someone who is not a Real ID friend?
A: You can only invite members to a party if they are on your Real ID friends list or if they are on the same realm as you are.

Q: Can I invite a friend of a Real ID friend?
A: No, you can only invite your own Real ID friends the party.

Q: How long will the testing period last?
A: We haven�t yet determined how long the testing period will last. We'll keep you updated on the status and inform you when the test period is going to end in the future.

Q: Will aspects of the Real ID Party system be premium-based?
A: We'll have information on this toward the end of the testing period.

For our lack of forewarning on the inclusion of new item level 371 gear with Season 10 we�ll be providing the previously announced (http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2794770941) 4000 Honor Point compensation during scheduled maintenance on July 19.

During maintenance, 4000 Honor Points will be automatically applied to all characters that spent Honor on any item level 365 items following the release of 4.2, between the June 28 and July 5 maintenances.

The compensation Honor Points given will be able to go over the point cap, but anyone who goes over will not be able to earn more Honor until they spend under the 4000 cap. Any Honor over the cap will need to be spent before the start of Season 11 when it will be converted to gold. Any characters receiving the compensation honor will also receive an in-game mail explaining the compensation and additional details.

Again, we apologize for not communicating the item level 371 gear introduction, and hope these 4000 Honor Points will offer you some help in obtaining the correct items.

We are looking at the concerns over the faces blocking the map view in the Dungeon Journal. We're aware of this concern and may provide an option to turn them off at a future point in time. We'll provide information on this though when we are able.

As for the concerns over accuracy, there is always the potential for information to change based on adjustments made to the bosses and the fights. Overall though, the Dungeon Journal should be seen as an accurate representation of the boss fights and abilities. We have seen a lot of misunderstandings or inaccurate information provided via external sources and hope that the Dungeon Journal can better shore up those external sources with its information.

As for some concerns over missing loot, we did purposefully leave out "grab-bag" items. Meaning, items that have the potential for dropping on multiple bosses were not added to the listing of items. We may choose to change this decision at a future point in time if we feel that it's causing additional confusion. For now though, just be aware that these items do not appear in the listed loot tables.

Of all the heroes of the tauren tradition, Cairne Bloodhoof stands highest among them for his contributions to his race. Uniting a people who had been nomadic for countless generations, securing an alliance that saved his race from extinction at the hands of the centaur, establishing the first permanent capital city the tauren had ever known -- the list of his accomplishments grows with each retelling.

As the new high chieftain, Baine Bloodhoof now struggles to hold together the legacy that his father helped create. In the face of increased dissension from the tribes over Garrosh Hellscream's ever-present demands, Alliance incursions from the Barrens, and quilboar assaults on his people, the young chieftain finds his leadership tested as never before.

Hamuul shook his head as if to clear it. "We existed in a time before the coming of the orcs, if you'll remember. Your father may have owed a debt to Thrall for all he did for our people, but this is a new Horde. I have heard whispers of other tauren. Some are wondering if this Horde is really something we should be a part of anymore." He snorted. "The Horde has done much and we owe much to it, but you must admit that their sentiments are not completely without merit."

Baine pulled a map from the shelf and began looking for all known water wells in Mulgore. "As you say, my father may have owed a debt to Thrall, but he believed in the Horde he helped shape. Though my father may be gone, and despite these changes we face, I still believe in the Horde."

Blizzard Entertainment is proud to present the latest entry in the Leaders of Azeroth short story series: "As Our Fathers Before Us"!

"Learn to drop your agro. Many classes have agro dumps, such as Fade for priests and feign death for hunters. Find out if your class has one and put it on your hotbar. Use it after crits or burst damage just to keep yourself from getting agro. If you have an ability that can be cast on another player such as Salvation for paladins, use that too! By making it easier on the tank and heals you help your group and keep your repair bill down."

Submitted by: PallyDog

We�re pleased to announce that the Global Battle.net Invitational and GSL October Final are both set to take place, live, during BlizzCon on Friday 21 and 22 October, 2011. Top competitors from all over the world will take to the stage in front of a sold-out crowd and put their skills to the test for a combined prize pool of nearly $300,000. Whether you�re attending BlizzCon in person or from the comfort of your own home, you�ll be able to catch all of the action and root for your favourite players.
More information about BlizzCon and the 2011 Global Battle.net Invitational can be found at the official BlizzCon website (www.blizzcon.com), and more information on the GSL can be found on its official website (www.gomtv.net). Read the official press release here. http://eu.blizzard.com/en-gb/company/press/pressreleases.html?id=2614947

July 8
Classes

• Combat pets should no longer aggro creatures while the player is mounted.

Dungeons & Raids

• Firelands
  • Baleroc
    • Death knight Bloodworms are no longer removing stacks of Torment when they explode to heal other players.
  • Ragnaros
    • Molten Elementals are no longer able to critically hit players.
    • The responsiveness of the Molten Power ability has been increased on Heroic difficulty.
  • Rhyolith
    • Multiple volcanoes casting Eruption will now create separate stacks. Crushing a volcano will cause its stacks of Eruption to fade shortly after.
    • Ranged pets can no longer damage Rhyolith�s legs without beginning the encounter.
• The Ancient Lava Dweller can no longer be looted by engineers with the Loot-A-Rang.
• Unbound Pyrelords are no longer casting Ignite Elemental on the same target. All Unbound Smoldering Elementals should now be changed to Unbound Blazing Elementals by the time the pyrelord dies.
• The Unbreakable Shell buff present on Unbound Smoldering Elementals now reduces damage received by 50%, down from 90%.
• Unbound Smoldering Elementals are now correctly resetting and are no longer retaining Blazing Flame when they leave combat.

Items

• Riplimb�s Lost Collar seemed to truly be lost. This item now properly has a chance to drop from select creatures.
• Several Ruthless Gladiator�s items have had their Stamina values increased to more appropriate levels.

July 6
General

• An issue has been corrected that would cause players to lose their progress towards Veteran of the Horde II, Veteran of the Alliance II, Warbringer of the Horde, or Warbound Veteran of the Alliance if Veteran of the Horde or Veteran of the Alliance were complete.

Classes - General

• Characters should no longer disconnect or receive movement enforcement errors when certain spells, abilities, or item effects are used while on moving transports.

Druid

• Faerie Fire and Faerie Fire (Feral) will now remove Stealth, Invisibility, Vanish, Shadowmeld and Prowl from players.

Mages

• When using Spellsteal on a shaman, Lava Flows will no longer be given to the mage as a buff. The buff, however, will be removed from the shaman.

Priests

• Shadowfiend is now causing the casting priest to enter combat when cast on enemy players.

Shaman

• A Fulmination critical strike for more than 30,000 damage (10-player) or 45,000 damage (25-player) should now properly interrupt Rageface�s Face Rage in the Firelands.
• When Lava Flows is stolen by a mage via Spellsteal, the mage will no longer gain the Lava Flows buff.

Dungeons & Raids

• Firelands
  • Heroic difficulty has been activated and is accessible in all regions.
  • Pet corpses, guardians, and placed items should no longer provoke Engorged Broodlings to a premature detonation.
  • The pack of creatures fighting each other around Flamewaker Beast Handlers will stop fighting each other and attack the raid once provoked.
  • Flamewaker Subjugators now award 50 reputation, up from 15, while Flamewaker Animators award no reputation or loot.
  • The aggro radius on the third pack of Hells Hounds on the way to Beth�tilac has been reduced.
  • Unstable Pyrelords now have an active stealth detection aura present when the gauntlet is triggered which prevents stealth classes from traversing up the hill undetected.
  • Baleroc
    • Baleroc�s health has been increased on 10-player Heroic difficulty.
    • Baleroc's gate now despawns properly when he resets.
    • Shards of Torment despawn when Baleroc resets even if they are spawned after Baleroc has despawned.
  • Lord Rhyolith
    • Lord Rhyolith can now be quickly snapped from left to right, or right to left, if the appropriate amount of damage is dealt to the opposite foot.
    • Lord Rhyolith now prefers to activate volcanoes that are in front of him over volcanoes that are behind him.
    • Lord Rhyolith now spawns slightly further back on his platform, allowing players to stand on the edge of the terrain and not aggro him.
    • Lord Rhyolith no longer despawns when reaching the end of the encounter area, and does not despawn when casting Drink Magma from any of the possible locations.
    • Lord Rhyolith now summons in volcanoes when intended, and it is no longer possible for the first set of volcanoes to be ignored.
  • Majordomo Staghelm
    • Majordomo Staghelm has had his health increased by 10% on Heroic difficulty.
  • Ragnaros
    • Living Meteors no longer evade and return to their spawn point when their original target dies or uses a threat drop. They will instead choose a new target.
    • The Sons of Flame can no longer be missed by melee attacks and abilities.
  • Shannox
    • Shannox will now rotate when appropriate instead of moving to get in range of his target while being tanked.
    • Shannox will always use Hurl Spear after a raid wipes, even if Riplimb collapsed just prior to the group wiping.

Items

• Jamus�Vaz and Faldren Tillsdale are once again offering players Conquest Points in exchange for Valor Points.
• Normal and Heroic versions of Deflecting Star now correctly bind when picked up.
• Eternal Embers are now epic quality.
• Normal and Heroic versions of Pauldrons of Roaring Flame now have mastery rating instead of hit rating.
• Ruthless, Vicious, and Bloodthirsty Gladiator�s Clasps of Cruelty have had their Stamina values increased to remain consistent with equivalent belts. Note that the tooltip will require a patch to update.

Quests & Creatures

• Hyjal Regrowth & Molten Front
  • Players are now receiving 6 Marks of the World Tree from Caught Unawares and 10 marks from The Sanctuary Must Not Fall, which now allows players to obtain 20 marks as soon as they finish their first days� worth of daily quests and unlock the Molten Front. The amount of marks offered is properly updated in player Quest Logs as well.
  • There are now many more Wounded Hyjal Defenders to accommodate a large concurrency of players in the Molten Front.
  • The Fiery Behemoths and Molten Behemoths are now the same size.
  • Rayne Feathersong has been moved from the cave and is still available as a daily quest giver at Malfurion's Breach.

With Season 9 recently passed, new PvP rewards distributed, and Season 10 now underway, we�d like to remind everyone about the importance of fair play. To be clear, cheating is not tolerated in World of Warcraft, and exploitation of ranked PvP play is no exception. Before distributing rewards to the top performers in Season 9, we conducted a thorough sweep looking for any players or teams that were clearly attempting to manipulate the ladder system. These players were dealt with accordingly and did not receive any undue rewards. It�s important to note, however, that there are many cases where it may appear that players have manipulated the system, when they in fact were legitimately competing like most everyone else. We not only want to make sure our actions are comprehensive -- we must make sure they�re accurate.

That said, we�ll continue to ensure fair play is taking place going forward, and will be implementing changes to our matchmaking rating system soon to resolve this type of ladder system manipulation.

We wanted to let everyone know that we�re working to address the miscommunication that occurred regarding the introduction of new item level 371 PvP gear, and share our current plans.

For background, many players spent their Honor Points on item level 365 gear once Season 9 ended only to find that more powerful item level 371 gear was available when season 10 started. We should have communicated ahead of time that this was going to be the case, and we apologize for the mistake.

We�ve been working over the past few days to evaluate and determine the best course of action to offer players some kind of compensation for those who were caught off guard by the new gear. The plan we�ve found to be achievable within an acceptable amount of time is to provide players who were affected with 4000 Honor Points. This extra Honor would function similarly to the currency down-conversion in that it would stack over the cap, but you would not be able to earn more until you spent under the 4000 cap.

The process of determining who was affected is certainly the most difficult task of this issue, and the entire process of figuring out who should receive the Honor or not and then delivering it isn�t anything less than a giant undertaking. We�re still evaluating many of the processes that will be required to make this happen. Although we�re fairly confident we can pull it off, there is still a chance it may not be possible. Due to other service related work the soonest we would be able to distribute this Honor is the 7/19 Tuesday maintenance. More complicated solutions we discussed could take months to implement, but we felt getting something to those affected as quickly as possible was more important.

Although some of this is still uncertain we felt it best to let people know as far in advance as possible to allow for adequate planning. We�ll be able to provide more information and specifics on how this process will be carried out, and the requirements to receive the 4000 Honor, next week.

Again, we apologize for any inconvenience caused by our miscommunication. We greatly appreciate those who took the time to give us constructive feedback on the matter.

The Recruit-A-Friend feature offers amazing perks to World of Warcraft players who ask a friend to join them in their adventures through Azeroth. With the 4.2 patch we�ve made the rewards even better, as you can now reap the benefits while leveling all the way to 80.

When you recruit a friend to play World of Warcraft, you�ll be able to send them a unique referral key. When they use this specific trial key to activate a new account, you�ll both receive a number of perks to help you level up together.

• Worried about spending a long time leveling up? No problem! You and your recruit you will gain triple experience while partied, up to level 80.
• Even if you don�t have as much time to play as your recruit, they�ll be able to help you catch up. For every two levels a recruit character earns, they'll gain one "grantable" level. Recruit characters can then grant these levels to your lower level veteran character.
• You won�t have to worry about getting separated; you�ll be able to summon one another to each other's locations from anywhere in the game.
• You�ll receive a credit for 30 days of free game play for each recruit you refer who upgrades to a retail version of World of Warcraft and subscribes.
• Once one of your recruits has paid for 60 days of game time you�ll be able to send an X-53 Touring Rocket to any of your characters! The X-53 is a unique flying mount able to carry a passenger, and only available from Recruit-A-Friend.

For a full rundown on each of these features, requirements, and limitations, hit the Recruit-A-Friend FAQ. You can also run through a visual guide of the referral process, as well as how to redeem your X-53 Touring Rocket.

Otherwise go ahead and�

The Battle.net Mobile Authenticator, an application for mobile phones that provides an extra layer of account security, is now available as a free download for Windows� Phone 7 devices on the Windows Phone Marketplace. The Battle.net Mobile Authenticator provides a one-time password that you use in addition to your regular account name and password when you log in to a Battle.net account to play World of Warcraft or StarCraft II.

Versions for other mobile devices are also available for download here, or you can purchase a physical Battle.net Authenticator from the online Blizzard Store. Visit the Battle.net Mobile Authenticator FAQ for more information, or head to the setup page to get started after you've downloaded the application.

For additional account security advice, check out our Account Security page.

We recently updated the character profile system with a brand new feature to help you track your loyal companion pets and stalwart mounts.

A visit to your character profile will reveal a new heading entitled �Companions & Mounts.� There you�ll find a complete list of in-game pets and mounts that your character can discover throughout Azeroth (and beyond). The list is conveniently divided between those that your character has already collected, and those that you have yet to find.

Still pursuing a particular pet? Mad for a magnificent mount? Just mouse over the object of your desire in the Companions & Mounts page and you�ll see information that should help make your next hunt a success. You can filter the results to make it easier to find pets and mounts from a particular source, or sort them by rarity to help you plan future collecting expeditions.

The update is live, so head on over to your character profile to visit your pals right now!

"I love in game costumes. They're one of those fun, frivolous things to collect that really have no other point to them. One of my favorite costumes will turn you into a Black Dragon Whelp! To get it, you need to go to Blade's Edge Mountains to the cave in southern Raven's Wood. Kill humanoid mobs outside there to collect Costume Scraps. Use 5 to make a costume. Put on the costume and enter the cave, hugging the left wall. You'll soon come across a Provisioner who will sell you the Orb of the Blackwhelp with 3 charges."

Submitted by: Rill

You are correct. The season transition and introduction of new PvP items was different this time around, and we apologize for the lack of advanced warning.

The Season 9 set was removed today. The items available for purchase with Honor Points are now considered lower tier Season 10 items. They are still the same items from Season 9 in terms of aesthetics, but the item level and stats are slightly higher to ensure that the Season 10 honor gear has the correct item level relative to the Season 10 conquest gear.

It's likely this is how things will work going forward and we'll be sure to make that more clear when the next season transition takes place.

New basic transition flow:

1) Season X ends and rated play is unavailable; Season X gear becomes available for purchase with HP; CP is wiped.
2) One week later Season Y starts and rated play is available; Season X gear is removed entirely; Season Y introduces a low tier of items which replace Season X vendor items and are available for HP; Season Y introduces the new top items available for CP and rated play.

Here you'll find a list of hotfixes that address various issues related to the recently released World of Warcraft: Cataclysm patch 4.2: Rage of the Firelands. Hotfixes are updates we make on our end without requiring you to download a new patch. Some of the hotfixes below will go live the moment they are implemented, while others may require your realm to be restarted to go into effect. Please keep in mind that some issues cannot be addressed without a client-side patch update. We will continue to update this thread in the days ahead as additional hotfixes are applied.

Patch Information


* Features & Support Guide

* Patch Notes

* Known Issues

* Customer Support & Service Issues

* Technical Support & Troubleshooting


July 1


* General


Characters should no longer randomly suffer falling damage.




* Classes

Pets should no longer be attacking new targets at random while a player is under the effects of any crowd control.

Druids

It is no longer possible to cancel Lunar Shower by right-clicking the buff, or canceling it via a macro.

Starfall is no longer hitting targets that are within 40 yards if they are not in combat with the druid or his/her party/raid members. It is targeting all hostile characters in combat with the druid�s party/raid members, is not hitting Stealth characters, is not breaking crowd control effects, and is not targeting nearby critters.



Hunters


All of the Hunter-centric rare spawns in Mount Hyjal and Molten Front are now immune to both Distracting Shot and Taunt.




Priests

The Flash Heal from Surge of Light will now correctly activate Chakra.

The heal-over-time effect from the Glyph of Prayer of Healing now will correctly apply to targets that are within 30 yards of the target of Prayer of Healing, but over 40 yards away from the priest.

Channeled spells are no longer being interrupted if cast immediately after Shadowfiend.



Rogues

Sap is no longer placing the rogue in combat when he/she is visible and the target is sapped.




Warlocks

Warlocks will no longer fall through pillars in Ring of Valor if the pillar is moving when the player uses Demonic Circle: Teleport.







Dungeons & Raids


Dungeon Finder

It is no longer possible for two separate guild groups with less than five players each to be matched with any other groups or players in the queue from the same guild.



Firelands

Firelands Heroic difficulty has been turned off in all regions until the following week's realm maintenance.

Alysrazor


Blazing Talon Clawshapers and Blazing Initiates cannot be interacted with any longer prior to them shifting to human form.
The Molten Feather power bar is now reappearing when appropriate.




Baleroc

Baleroc's gate will now properly unlock itself again after a wipe, even if Shannox is still alive.



Beth�tilac


Beth'tilac's trash will no longer respawn after she has been killed.

Cinderweb Drones will now add threat to players on the bottom floor (below the web) and not give any threat to players above the web.

The Widow�s Kiss will now ignore immunities, including Divine Shield and Anti-Magic Shell.



Rhyolith


Rhyolith is now slightly easier to turn in 10-player mode.




Creatures


Cinderweb Spiderlings no longer drop any loot and their health is restored to full after players exit combat.
The Flame Archon range of Fiery Torment has dramatically increased.

Flamewaker Subjugator, Flamewaker Animator, and Unstable Magma health has been reduced. Flamewaker Subjugator damage has been increased for 25-player raids.

The damage-over-time effect from the Hell Hound ability Rend Flesh now stacks up to 5 times, down from 10.

Molten Flamefathers had too much health in 10-player mode, and too little health in 25-player mode. This has been corrected.

Surger damage dealt by Surge has been reduced.

Unbound Blazing Elementals now have a greatly reduced chance to drop epic items and crafting recipes. They also drop less gold.
Unbound Pyrelords can properly target banished/cycloned Smoldering Elementals with Ignite Elemental. In addition, Ignite Elemental cannot be interrupted.

Unbound Pyrelord health has increased, while Unbound Smoldering Elemental health has decreased.

Neither the Sulfuron Span nor Shatterstone volcano are able to be affected by the siege damage done by a Saronite Bomb.

The rate at which crafting recipes drop has been greatly reduced.




Zul�Drak

Players are again successfully able to complete the quest Betrayal.



Items
The Heroic and normal versions of the crossbows Arbalest of Erupting Fury and Lava Bolt Crossbow no longer have identical stats.

June 29


Classes


Druids

Feral druids can now use Skull Bash in the Firelands raid. It only seems fair.







Dungeons & Raids


Baradin Hold

Eye of Occu�thar damage and health is now properly scaled for 10- and 25-player versions of the dungeon.




Blackwing Lair

All Brood Affliction debuffs applied by Chromaggus are now removed after zoning out of Blackwing Lair.



Firelands
The stationary Hell Hound pack at the front of the dungeon should no longer cause players to become stuck in combat.
There are now fewer Hell Hounds before Beth�tilac, making the engagement a little less� hellish.

Beth�tilac and her offspring now have increased health and damage on Heroic difficulty.

Rageface�s Face Rage is now slightly less rageful, as the increase of the rate of damage per tick has been reduced.

Creatures linked to Shannox will now respawn every 4 hours until he is killed, up from 2 hours.




Zul�Gurub


High Priest Venoxis and Zanzil have had the damage of many of their spells and abilities reduced.

Items


Cauldron of Battle and Big Cauldron of Battle no longer lose flask charges from repeated clicks when players already have one in their inventory.

Eternal Embers dropped in the Firelands raid now bind when picked up. Master Looters are only able to give Eternal Embers to players who are on the quest All-Seeing Eye.

Paladin tier 12 2-piece set bonus: It should no longer be possible to get a double proc of Flames of the Faithful.

Many item procs were not being triggered properly by melee auto attacks after a hotfix made yesterday. This has been corrected.

Holiday Rewards


Satchel of Chilled Goods, Keg-Shaped Treasure Chest, Heart-Shaped Box, and Loot-Filled Pumpkin will no longer remain in character inventory once the associated holiday is over. Players must loot the items from these caches before the corresponding holiday ends. More information can be found here.







PvP


Arenas


The Ring of Valor


There is no longer a 6-second delay on the rising of the pillars after the match has begun.




Quests & Creatures


It is no longer possible to complete some daily quests more than once a day by turning them in during a small window before the standard reset time.

Alliance and Horde Guild Battle Standards cannot be used inside the Firelands raid.
Both Faldren Tillsdale and Jamus'Vaz (Valor Point vendors) now display items grouped together in the following manner: rings, necks, bracers, relics, ranged weapons, thrown weapons, then tier sets.
The Severed Visionary Tentacle is no longer infinitely applying to characters.




Quests & Creatures


Elemental Bonds Quest Chain

Aggra's bubble is now significantly larger and has a sparkle effect, making it easier for players to locate her when on the quest Elemental Bonds: Desire.
Players should be able to see Therazane and turn in the quest Into Constant Earth while at any stage of Deepholm progression without issue.

In addition to the new iLevel 365 gear that players can purchase from unlockable vendors at the Molten Front and the epic armor sets they can claim from Ragnaros and his minions in the Firelands raid, patch 4.2 also boasts a wealth of cool items for collectors and completionists alike.

From companion pets to mounts to trinkets with unique on-use effects, there's a little something for everyone. To make sure you don't miss out on any of these collectables, we've put together a list of all the new featured items introduced in 4.2 so you can check out what's available and where!

We�re going to be applying a hotfix soon to remove holiday-specific bags when the holiday period ends. The specific bags in question are:

Loot-Filled Pumpkin (Hallow�s End)
Keg-Shaped Treasure Chest (Brewfest)
Satchel of Chilled Goods (Midsummer Fire Festival)
Heart-Shaped Box (Love is in the Air)

These bags will only exist while their holiday is active, and when the holiday ends they will be removed. This is to resolve an exploit revolving around keeping these bags beyond the holiday period to re-roll their contents.

You�ll want to be sure to open and remove the contents of any holiday bags before the holiday ends. If you still have any bags from previous holiday events they'll be removed when this hotfix goes live.