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World Of WarCraft

Platform(s): PC
Genre: Online Multiplayer
Publisher: Blizzard
Developer: Blizzard
Release Date: Nov. 23, 2004 (US), Feb. 11, 2005 (EU)

About Rainier

PC gamer, WorthPlaying EIC, globe-trotting couch potato, patriot, '80s headbanger, movie watcher, music lover, foodie and man in black -- squirrel!

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'World of Warcraft' - v3.3.0 Euro/US Patches Available NOW

by Rainier on Dec. 8, 2009 @ 4:09 a.m. PST

Rich in legend and filled with adventure, the World of Warcraft awaits! For the first time, players experience the lands of Azeroth from a new, in-depth perspective. As heroes, they explore familiar battlefields, discover new lands and take on epic quests and challenges.

Get the World of WarCraft v3.3.0 Patches off WP (680/800mb)

General
  • Icecrown Citadel
    • Three separate 5-player dungeons – The Forge of Souls, Pit of Saron, and Halls of Reflection – containing all new challenges and missions of discovery, await players in normal and Heroic modes.
    • 10- and 25-player challenges await players in Icecrown Citadel. Only when all challenges have been overcome in the raid dungeon can players unlock hard modes for individual bosses. For more information on how the Icecrown Citadel raid content will be made available, please visit our Dungeons & Raids forum: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/board.html?forumId=11126&sid=1
  • Character Creation: The descriptions for races, classes, and race/class combinations have been improved to provide new players with a better idea of the roles and advantages of each class and race.
  • Dazed: Creatures attacking a player from behind can no longer cause players level 1-5 to be dazed, and have a reduced chance to cause players level 6-10 to be dazed.
  • Knockbacks no longer dismount players. If on a flying mount, you will be knocked back a short distance before being able to resume flying.
  • The existing /welcome emote now greets/welcomes targets (character says "hello"), while the new /yw is for saying "you're welcome."
  • Many of the tail sweeps with knockback effects will no longer hit players' pets.
  • Level 1 characters no longer start with food or water in their inventory.
  • Attack is now called Auto Attack. The tooltip has been changed to reflect that the player will continue automatically attacking a target.
  • Meeting Stones: To use any Meeting Stone, it is only required that the character's minimum level be 15. There is no maximum character level requirement for any Meeting Stone.
Classes: General
  • Area-of-Effect Damage Caps: We've redesigned the way area damage is capped when hitting many targets. Instead of a hard cap on total damage done, the game now caps the total damage done at a value equal to the damage the spell would do if it hit 10 targets. In other words, if a spell does 1000 damage to each target, it would hit up to 10 targets for 1000 each, but with more than 10 targets, each target would take 10,000 damage divided by the number of targets. 20 targets would be hit for 500 damage each in that example.
  • Attack: Level 1 druids, mages, priests, and warlocks will no longer start with the Attack button placed on their action bars by default.
  • Default Equipment: Starting weapons are now more uniform. Rogues now start with a pair of daggers equipped. All other classes except shamans start with a 2-handed weapon equipped and the required skill already known. Shamans start with a 1-handed weapon and a shield, as they benefit more from the shield than they would from a 2-handed weapon.
  • Glancing Blows: The mage, warlock, and priest classes no longer have an increased chance for their melee attacks to be glancing blows; and the damage penalty due to their glancing blows is the same as for other classes.
  • Health and Mana Regeneration: These regeneration rates have been increased by up to 200% for low level characters. As a player's level increases, the regeneration rates gradually reduce, returning to normal rates at level 15.
  • Pet Resilience: All player pets now get 100% of their master's resilience.
  • Spell Mana Costs: These costs have been reduced for almost all lower level spell ranks. In general, if a spell decreased in cost with a higher level rank in patch 3.2.0, that spell now has the decreased cost at all ranks. In addition, spells learned before level 20 with reduced cast times and/or durations have even further reduced mana costs, proportionate to their reduction in cast time or damage.
  • Taunt Diminishing Returns: We've revised the system for diminishing returns on Taunt so that creatures do not become immune to Taunt until after 5 Taunts have landed. The duration of the Taunt effect will be reduced by 35% instead of 50% for each taunt landed. In addition, most creatures in the world will not be affected by Taunt diminishing returns at all. Creatures will only have Taunt diminishing returns if they have been specifically flagged for that behavior based on the design of a given encounter.
Races: GeneralPvP
  • Arenas
    • All abilities that have base cooldowns of 10 minutes or longer cannot be used in Arenas, down from 15 minutes.
  • Battlegrounds
    • Battleground Experience: Battleground experience gained is now based on the level of the player gaining experience, rather than the highest possible player level in that Battleground.
    • All level 71-80 Battleground daily quests will now award 25 Arena points in addition to their current rewards.
  • Wintergrasp
Dungeons & Raids
  • Naxxramas
    • Players no longer need to kill the final bosses in all four wings of this dungeon in order to teleport to Sapphiron. Teleportation orbs have been added to allow players access back and forth from Sapphiron's lair.
  • Oculus
    • Azure Ring Guardians aggro distance changed from 50 to 40 yards.
    • Many bosses and creatures have had their total health reduced.
    • Several bosses and creatures have had cooldowns on specific abilities increased, effect durations reduced, and damage on some of these abilities reduced.
    • Ring-Lord Conjurers and Sorceresses now hang out in packs of 4 instead of packs of 5.
    • Vehicle scaling on the drakes based on the rider's item level has been increased to make them more powerful.

Classes

Death Knights

  • [Army of the Dead]: The cooldown on this ability has been reduced from 20 minutes to 10 minutes. Army Ghoul damage dropped by 50%. Cannot be used in Arenas.
  • [Raise Ally]: The cooldown on this ability has been reduced from 15 minutes to 10 minutes. Cannot be used in Arenas.
  • Rune of the Stoneskin Gargoyle: There is now a 1-handed version of this rune in addition to the current 2-handed rune.
  • [Rune Strike]: Threat generated by this ability increased by approximately 17%.
  • Talents
    • Unholy
      • [Night of the Dead]: Now reduces the damage your pet takes from area-of-effect damage by 45/90%, but no longer applies to area-of-effect damage caused by other players. In addition, this talent now reduces the cooldown of Army of the Dead by 2/4 minutes, down from 5/10 minutes.
      • [Scourge Strike]: Redesigned. The base ability now deals 50% weapon damage plus an additional amount as physical damage. However, for each disease the death knight has on the target, the target will take additional shadow damage equal to 25% of the physical damage done.
      • [Unholy Blight]: This talent now deals only 10% of [Death Coil] damage as a damage-over-time effect on the target.
Druids
  • [Prowl]: This ability no longer has multiple ranks and penalizes movement speed by 30%.
  • [Rebirth]: The cooldown on this spell has been lowered from 20 minutes down to 10 minutes. Cannot be used in Arenas.
  • [Rejuvenation]: The base duration on all ranks of this spell is now 15 seconds.
  • [Tranquility]: The cooldown on this spell has been reduced to 8 minutes, down from 10 minutes.
  • Talents
    • Balance
    • Feral Combat
      • [Predatory Strikes]: The Predatory Swiftness buff from this talent now has an 8-second duration.
    • Restoration
      • [Gift of the Earthmother]: Redesigned. This talent now increases spell haste by 2/4/6/8/10% and reduces the base global cooldown of Lifebloom by 2/4/6/8/10% instead of its previous effects.
  • Pets
    • [Avoidance] (passive): Now reduces the damage your pets take from area-of-effect damage by 90%, but no longer applies to area-of-effect damage caused by other players.

Hunters

  • [Call Stabled Pet]: Cooldown reduced from 30 minutes to 5 minutes. Cannot be used in Arenas.
  • [Deterrence]: Now also increases the chance for ranged attacks to miss the hunter by 100% while under its effect.
  • [Misdirection]: Redesigned. Instead of having finite charges, it now begins a 4-second timer when the hunter using Misdirection performs a threat-generating attack, during which all threat generated by the hunter goes to the friendly target. In addition, multiple hunters can now misdirect threat to the same friendly target simultaneously.
  • Talents
    • Beast Mastery
      • [Intimidation]: If the hunter's pet is in melee range of its target, the stun from Intimidation will now be applied immediately instead of on the pet's next swing or attack.
  • Pets
    • [Avoidance]: This talent has been replaced by [Culling the Herd]. Hunter pets now innately take 90% less damage from area-of-effect abilities like all other class pets. This does not apply to area-of-effect damage caused by other players.
    • [Cower]: Redesigned. This ability no longer affects threat, and instead reduces damage taken by the pet by 40% for 6 seconds with a 45-second cooldown. While cowering, the pet's movement speed is 50% of normal speed. Cower now only has a single rank and is available at pet level 20.
    • [Culling the Herd]: This pet talent has replaced the Avoidance talent in the pet trees (Hunter pets now gain that benefit automatically without expenditure of talent points). Culling the Herd increases pet and hunter damage by 1/2/3% for 10 seconds each time the pet deals a critical strike with Claw, Bite, or Smack.
    • [Demoralizing Screech]: The attack power reduction from this ability has been increased by 40%, equaling the maximum possible attack power reduction from the abilities of other classes.
    • [Improved Cower]: Redesigned. This ability now reduces the movement penalty of Cower by 50%/100%.
    • Pet Leveling: Hunter pets now need only 5% of the experience a player needs to level, down from 10%.
    • [Venom Web Spray]: Range increased from 20 yards to 30 yards.
    • [Web]: Range increased from 20 yards to 30 yards.
    • [Wolverine Bite]: This talent is now enabled when the pet lands a critical strike rather than from the target dodging the pet's attacks. In addition, this talent no longer has a prerequisite.
MagesPaladins
  • [Divine Intervention]: This ability now also removes [Exhaustion] or [Sated] from a target if the recipient is out of combat when the effect ends. In addition, the cooldown on this ability has been reduced from 20 minutes to 10 minutes. Cannot be used in Arenas.
  • [Flash of Light]: This spell no longer causes a heal-over-time effect unless the player has the [Infusion of Light] talent.
  • [Lay on Hands]: This ability will place Forbearance on the paladin if used on his or herself. It will not place Forbearance on others.
  • Talents
    • Holy
      • [Aura Mastery]: This effect of this talent has been reduced in duration to 6 seconds.
      • [Infusion of Light]: This talent now causes the paladin's Flash of Light spells to heal the target for 50/100% of the Flash of Light healing amount over 12 seconds.
    • Protection
      • [Divine Guardian]: This talent no longer increases the amount of damage transferred to the paladin from Divine Sacrifice. Instead it causes all raid and party members to take 10/20% reduced damage while Divine Sacrifice is active. In addition, the duration has been changed to 6 seconds, however the effect does not terminate when Divine Sacrifice is removed before its full duration.
      • [Divine Sacrifice]: Redesigned. The effect of Divine Sacrifice is now party-only and the maximum damage which can be transferred is now limited to 40% of the paladin's health multiplied by the number of party members. In addition, the bug which allowed Divine Sacrifice to sometimes persist despite reaching its maximum damage has been fixed. Divine Sacrifice will now cancel as soon as its maximum damage value is exceeded in all cases. Finally, damage which reduces the paladin's health below 20% now cancels the effect early.
    • Retribution
Priests
  • [Divine Hymn]: The cooldown on this spell has been reduced to 8 minutes, down from 10 minutes.
  • [Power Word: Shield]: This spell can now be cast on non-raid/party friendly targets.
  • Talents
    • Shadow
      • [Improved Devouring Plague]: This spell now deals 10/20/30% of its total periodic effect instantly, up from 5/10/15%.
      • [Mind Flay]: The range of this ability has been increased to 30 yards, up from 20.
      • [Shadowform]: This talent also now causes [Devouring Plague] and [Vampiric Touch] to benefit from haste. Both the period length and the duration of these spells will be reduced by haste. In addition, the mana cost has been reduced from 32% to 13% of base mana.
      • [Vampiric Embrace]: This talent now provides a 30-minute buff that cannot be dispelled, instead of a target debuff and only generates healing for single-target shadow damage spells.
  • Pet
    • [Avoidance] (passive): Now reduces the damage your pet takes from area-of-effect damage by 90%, but no longer applies to area-of-effect damage caused by other players.
Rogues
  • Deadly Poison: In addition to its existing effects, when a rogue applies Deadly Poison to a target which has already reached the maximum number of applications, this will also trigger the poison which the rogue is using on his or her other weapon.
  • Dual Wield: Rogues now know this ability upon logging into the game at level 1.
  • [Stealth]: This ability no longer has multiple ranks. While active, the single rank of this ability (available at level 1) allows rogues to move at 70% movement speed.
  • Talents
    • Assassination
      • [Improved Poisons]: Bonus chance to trigger Deadly Poison from this talent increased.
      • [Murder]: This talent now provides a flat damage increase of 2/4% against all targets, instead of only targets which do not appear in Icecrown.
    • Subtlety
      • [Preparation]: The cooldown on this ability has been reduced to 8 minutes, down from 10 minutes.
      • [Filthy Tricks]: The cooldown reduction this talent provides for Preparation has been reduced to 1.5/3 minutes, down from 2.5/5 minutes.
Shamans
  • [Earth Elemental Totem]: The cooldown for this totem has been reduced from 20 minutes to 10 minutes. Cannot be used in Arenas.
  • [Fire Elemental Totem]: The cooldown for this totem has been reduced from 20 minutes to 10 minutes. Cannot be used in Arenas.
  • [Fire Nova Totem]: This totem has been replaced with a new spell, [Fire Nova], which is available at the same ranks as the old Fire Nova Totem. Existing characters will automatically learn this new spell in place of the totem. With a Fire Totem active, shamans will be able to use Fire Nova (fire magic) to emit the same area-of-effect damage as the old Fire Nova Totem from the active Fire Totem, not consuming the totem in the process. Fire Nova will activate a 1.5-second global cooldown when used and has a 10-second spell cooldown. The caster must be within 30 yards of the totem to use this ability, but does not need to be within line of sight of the totem.
  • [Reincarnation]: The cooldown on this spell has been lowered from 60 minutes down to 30 minutes.
  • Talents
Warlocks
  • [Create Soulstone]: The cooldown on this spell and duration of its buff have been lowered from 30 minutes down to 15 minutes. Cannot be used in Arenas.
  • Talents
    • Affliction
    • Demonology
      • [Decimation]: Redesigned. When [Shadowbolt], [Incinerate] or [Soul Fire] hit a target that is at or below 35% health, the cast time of [Soul Fire] is reduced by 20/40% for 8 seconds. Soul Fires cast under the effect of Decimation cost no shards.
      • [Demonic Pact]: This talent now also increases the warlock's spell damage by 1/2/3/4/5%.
      • [Molten Core]: Redesigned. This talent now increases the duration of [Immolate] by 3/6/9 seconds and provides a 4/8/12% chance to gain the Molten Core effect when Corruption deals damage. The Molten Core effect empowers the next 3 [Incinerate] or Soul Fire spells cast within 15 seconds (Incinerate: increases damage done by 6/12/18% and reduces cast time by 10/20/30%; Soul Fire: increases damage done by 6/12/18% and increases critical strike chance by 5/10/15%). Molten Core now has a new spell effect.
    • Destruction
      • [Conflagrate]: Redesigned. This talent now consumes an [Immolate] or [Shadowflame] effect on the enemy target to instantly deal damage equal to 9 seconds of Immolate or 8 seconds of Shadowflame, and causes additional damage over 3 seconds equal to 3 seconds of Immolate or 2 seconds of Shadowflame. In addition, the periodic damage of Conflagrate is capable of critically striking the afflicted target.
      • [Destructive Reach]: This talent now reduces threat by 10%/20%, up from 5%/10%.
      • [Ruin]: This talent now also increases the critical strike damage bonus of the imp's Firebolt spell by 100%.
  • Pets
    • [Avoidance] (passive): Now reduces the damage your pets take from area-of-effect damage by 90%, but no longer applies to area-of-effect damage caused by other players.
    • Doomguard/Infernal: These pets now innately have Avoidance like all other warlock pets.
    • [Inferno]: The cooldown on this summoning spell has been reduced from 20 minutes to 10 minutes. Cannot be used in Arenas.
    • [Shadow Bite]: This pet ability now does 15% increased damage for each of the warlock's damage-over-time effects on the target.
    • [Summon Imp]: This ability is now available from the trainer for level 1 warlocks and no longer requires a quest to learn.
Warriors
  • [Victory Rush]: This ability is now trainable at level 6.
  • Talents
    • Protection
      • [Damage Shield]: This ability will no longer trigger any chance-on-hit effects from the warrior or the opponent it damages.
User Interface
  • Many of the default Interface Options settings have been changed for greater ease of use by new players. Existing players who create new characters may want to review the Interface Options in the event that the default settings feel different.
  • Quest Tracking Feature
    • Players can now track quest objectives on the map ('M' key).
    • Quest Log
      • A Show Map button has been added to the Quest Log. Selecting a quest and pressing this button will open the map for the zone in which the quest objective is located displaying the associated area of interest. Any other active quests in a player's Quest Log for that zone will also be displayed.
    • Map
      • The map interface has been separated into four separate panes: a map pane (left), a pane listing active quest names for the zone being viewed (right), a pane listing the full quest text for any highlighted quest (bottom left), and a pane listing the quest rewards for any highlighted quest (bottom right).
      • All active quests listed in the right pane for the zone being viewed on the map will be assigned a number. These numbers will be displayed on the map according to the areas of interest for each quest.
      • Highlighting a quest name in the right pane will highlight the corresponding area of interest on the map in the left pane, show its quest text in the lower left pane, and list the quest rewards in the lower right pane.
      • Given that some quest objectives can be achieved in multiple locations within a given zone, highlighting such a quest will highlight an area of interest closest in proximity to the character's current location.
      • This feature can be disabled by un-checking the Show Quest Objectives box in the bottom right corner of the new map interface, restoring the map to its standard full-screen display.
      • Clicking on the arrow in the top right corner of the new map interface will hide all but the map pane, bringing the map out of full-screen mode and allowing players to leave it open while navigating a zone or engaging in combat.
    • Objectives Tracking
      • This frame has been improved to offer new functionality and can be used with the new shrunken map option.
      • The Objectives frame is now docked below the mini-map next to the right 2 action bars and will track up to 10 quests for a zone.
      • Numbers have been added next to each quest name and objective corresponding with those areas of interest displayed on the map.
      • If a quest objective has been completed, the number will be replaced with a yellow question mark symbol.
      • The arrow button in the top right corner of the Objectives frame can be used to toggle between minimizing and maximizing the quest objective display.
    • Quest Difficulty Tracking
      • This feature is off by default and can be enabled in the Objectives window from the Interface Options menu. Turning this feature on will color-code all quest names displayed in the map interface according to difficulty (grey, green, yellow, orange, and red).
  • Dungeon Finder
    • This feature has replaced the Looking For Group tool and provides all-new dungeon party creation functionality.
      • Players can join as individuals, as a full group, or a partial group to look for additional party members.
      • Groups using this tool will be able to teleport directly to the selected instance. Upon leaving the instance, players will be returned to their original location. If any party member needs to temporarily leave the instance for reagents or repairs, they will have the option to teleport back to the instance.
      • Players can choose the Random Dungeon option.
        • The Heroic Wrath of the Lich King Daily Random Dungeon option will award two [Emblems of Frost] no more than once a day.
        • The normal Wrath of the Lich King Daily Random Dungeon option will award two [Emblems of Triumph] no more than once a day.
        • Continuing to complete Wrath of the Lich King Heroic instances using the Daily Random Dungeon option will award players two additional Emblems of Triumph each time.
        • Daily Heroic and normal dungeon quests have been removed. These quests have been replaced with weekly raid quests (see the "Quests" section for details).
        • Level-appropriate rewards will be offered to players who choose the Random Dungeon option for pre-Wrath of the Lich King dungeons.
        • Players can be placed in a group for a random dungeon no more than once every 15 minutes.
        • Random Dungeon rewards will be placed in each player's inventory automatically upon completion of the dungeon (final boss killed). A pop-up notification will display any rewards earned through the Dungeon Finder.
      • Instead of choosing a random dungeon, players can also choose specific dungeons appropriate for their level range. Multiple instances can be selected at one time. The feature no longer limits the choice to look for only 3 dungeon groups at one time.
      • Pick-Up Groups
        • Cross-realm instances are now available and use an improved matchmaking system to assist players in looking for additional party members. As with Battlegrounds, the realms in each Battlegroup are connected.
        • As part of the matchmaking system, some of the more difficult dungeons will have a minimum gear requirement. Players also need to meet the requirements for dungeons that require attunement, such as keys or quests. If a player does not meet the requirements for a particular dungeon, a lock icon will be displayed next to that dungeon. Hovering over this icon will display the requirements which have not been met.
        • Only conjured items and loot dropped in a dungeon for which other party members are eligible can be traded between players from different realms.
        • A Vote Kick feature will be available in the event a member of a party is not performing to the expectations of the other members.
        • Players who leave the group prematurely are subject to a Deserter debuff preventing them from using the Dungeon Finder for 15 minutes.
        • If an existing group loses a member, the leader will be asked if he or she wants to continue the dungeon. Choosing to continue will automatically place the group back into the Dungeon Finder queue.
        • A Player will not be placed in a group with people on his or her Ignore list.
        • Players who take part in groups who have one or more members who have been matched with them randomly from within the Dungeon Finder will receive extra rewards, up to and including the coveted [Perky Pug]ℜ ω τ α non-combat pet. The more random players with whom one groups, the faster the pet can be obtained.
        • The Need Before Greed loot system will be the unalterable default looting system for pick-up groups in the Dungeon Finder and has been updated.
          • Need Before Greed will now recognize gear appropriate for a class in three ways: the class must be able to equip the item, pure melee will be unable to roll on spell power items, and classes are limited to their dominant armor type (ex. paladins for plate). All items will still be available via Greed rolls as well as the new Disenchant option should no member be able to use the item.
          • Players will be able to roll on items with a required minimum level higher than a player's current level.
  • Looking For Raid
    • There is a new Looking For Raid option available to players that can be accessed via the Raid Information screen in the interface or by typing "/LFR."
      • Players will be able to browse the system manually for any other players looking for a raid dungeon group.
      • While browsing LFR players may sort the list ascending or descending by left-clicking the following headers: Name, Level, Class, Tank Role, Healer Role, and Damage Role. The crown is the Leader Role (representing a raid group with 2 or more people). Players can left-click on this header to sort the list with groups at the top or at the bottom.
      • Hovering over players listed in LFR will display their name, class, level, roles and comments. Hovering over a raid/group will display the leader's name, the raid information (number of people in the raid), comments, if there are any bosses dead (and which ones), and if there are any friends from your Friends list or ignored players from your Ignore list in the raid group.
  • The Looking For Group chat channel has returned and can be accessed in all major cities (similar to the Trade chat channel) without the use of the Dungeon Finder interface.
  • Players may only be queued or listed in one of the following systems at a time: Dungeons, LFR, Battlegrounds, or Arenas.
  • Ignore List: The amount of characters a person can ignore has been increased to 50. In addition, players on other realms can be placed on the Ignore list.
  • Buffs and Debuffs: This is a new section added to Interface Options.
    • New option - Castable Debuffs: Enabling this will cause only debuffs you have cast on an enemy target to appear.
    • New option - Consolidate Buffs: Enabling this adds a buff consolidation box near the mini-map. Very short term buffs (e.g. [Replenishment]) and very long term buffs (e.g. [Prayer of Fortitude]) are filtered into the buff box. The icons are stacked here, but they can still be seen by moving the mouse cursor over the buff box. Long term buffs will move out of the box when they are about to expire. Buffs such as important procs (e.g. [Art of War], Maelstrom Weapon), cooldowns (e.g. [Bloodlust] / [Heroism], [Combustion]) or limited in range (e.g. totems and paladin auras) are always displayed.
  • Tutorial System: The tutorial pop-ups are now larger, contain images, and better try to direct players to the relevant locations or user interface elements on the screen. In addition, several new tips have been added, while some existing tips will now appear at more appropriate times for new players.
  • Dungeon & Raid Difficult Display: A group's dungeon or raid difficulty setting will now be displayed via an icon off of the mini-map.
  • Group Disenchanting Option: In addition to rolling Need or Greed on items, players now have the option to elect for an item to be disenchanted if an enchanter of the appropriate skill level is in the group. Disenchant works exactly like Greed except if a player wins the Greed roll, they will receive the disenchanted materials instead. Players who choose Need will always win the item and will always beat those that choose Greed or Disenchant.
  • Lag Reports: Players can now report high latency or lag by accessing the Help Request menu.
  • Unit Nameplates
    • The range at which players can see unit nameplates has been increased by 40 yards.
    • Unit nameplates are now subject to line-of-sight limitations in certain situations (this does not pertain to objects like Arena pillars or bridges).
    • Players can now adjust select unit nameplate display settings listed below under Interface Options via the Names tab.
      • Friendly/enemy pet nameplates can be toggled.
      • Enemy totem nameplates can be toggled (friendly totem nameplates are never displayed).
      • Players can choose whether or not unit nameplates overlap.
    • Unit nameplates for critters are never displayed.
  • Non spell-based tracking now persists through logout.
  • Any party member may mark targets (this does not apply to raid groups).
  • Players will be warned when their talents are reset due to a new patch.
  • "/Settitle" command has been added.
  • Instant quest text is on by default.
  • Tentative status added for calendar responses.
  • Players below level 10 may not join raids.
  • Ignore list expanded to 50 to match the friends list.
  • Unit frames added for special encounters.
  • Interface element added next to the mini-map to show what dungeon you are in (ex: 10- and 25-player Heroic dungeons marked with a skull).
  • Experience earned for a quest will display in the Quest Rewards section.
  • Confirmation box added when buying stable slots.
  • Macro Changes
    • Symbol "@" added as a synonym for "target=". For example: "/cast [@focus] Flash Heal".
    • New macro conditionals: "vehicleui" (if the player has a vehicle UI) and "unithasvehicleui" (if the target of the macro has a vehicle UI).
  • Addon Author Changes
    • "registerForClicks" added to XML buttons.
    • "MouseIsOver" has been converted to a "C" function for increased efficiency (e.g. /dump PlayerFrame:IsMouseOver() ).
    • When an addon file is loaded, the addon name and an addon table are passed to the file through '...'. The same addon table is passed to every file loaded by a particular TOC file (example at the top of a Lua file: "local addonName, addonTable = ...;".
    • "motionScriptsWhileDisabled" attribute added to buttons. This allows "OnEnter" and "OnLeave" to fire while the button is disabled.
    • "GetFileHeight()" and "GetFileWidth()" added to Texture objects. 0 is returned if no texture file is associated with the texture.
    • You can now query for a list of completed quests with "QueryQuestsCompleted()" then wait for the "QUEST_QUERY_COMPLETE" event, and call "GetQuestsCompleted(<luatable>)".
  • For additional notes on Lua and XML changes please visit the UI & Macros forum.
Graphics
  • A new feature has been added to the D3D graphics engine to improve texture management (particularly for Windows XP users). If you are experiencing random crashes related to file read errors or out of memory, this new backend may help. To enable the new backend, add the following line to your Config.WTF file: SET gxApi "d3d9ex". For more information please visit our Test Realm forum.
Professions
  • Enchanting
    • [Enchant Weapon - Black Magic]: This enchantment now sometimes increases haste rating for the caster rather than inflicting the caster's target with a damage-over-time effect. It is also now triggered by landing any harmful spell rather than inflicting damage with a spell.
    • [Enchant Weapon - Unholy]: This enchantment now inflicts Shadow damage in addition to its original effect.
  • First Aid
    • The training costs for most bandages have been reduced.
  • Fishing
    • The all-new Kalu'ak Fishing Derby, a test of fishing skill with a healthy dash of luck, has come to Northrend! Every Wednesday beginning at 8 PM players can try to catch the elusive [Blacktip Shark]. Elder Clearwater sits in Dalaran for one hour awaiting the return of the quickest, most experienced fisher to bring him this shark. This champion fisher will be rewarded in-kind for returning with the first catch. Those who aren't able to return with the first catch will still receive just reward for getting the Blacktip Shark to Elder Clearwater before he takes his leave. It is said that these sharks' favorite meal are the bite-sized [Pygmy Suckerfish]. Perhaps a hook in their waters will do the trick.
  • Mining
    • Enchanted Thorium: This ability now uses the Mining skill and is learned from trainers at a skill level of 250.
Quests
  • Weekly raid quests are now available from Archmage Lan'dalock in Dalaran. Every Tuesday at 3 AM the Council of Six will choose a different strategic target that must die from either: The Obsidian Sanctum, Naxxramas, The Eye of Eternity, Ulduar, Trial of the Crusader, or Icecrown Citadel.
  • For the various Icecrown Bomber quests at Aldur'thar: The Desolation Gate, players can now choose to eject from their bomber seats mid-run. If you do so, a rescue vehicle will transport your character back to the safety of your infra-green platform.
  • Azure Drakes and Dragons will now attack back when attacked by characters not riding Wyrmrest Defenders.
  • Brittle Revenants, quest creatures fought for the Sons of Hodir daily quest "Hot and Cold," no longer cast [Shield Slam].
  • We're making several improvements to the user interface for tracking quest objectives in our 3.3 content update. These new features will serve to improve the questing experience for players through a multitude of new tracking options.
    • Quest Log - We've added a new "Show Map" button on the Quest Log. The "Show Map" feature highlights any quest in the log and will pull up the map for the zone in which the corresponding quest objectives are located.
    • Map - When viewing the large zone map ('M' key), players will notice that all quests they have for that zone will be automatically tracked. In addition, this large map is now separated into four separate interface panes. To the right of the map, all active quests for that zone will be listed by name and be represented with a number. These numbers will be placed on the map highlighting areas of interest for each quest. A third pane below the zone map will give players the full quest text for any highlighted quest, while the fourth pane will display the quest reward. The quest map tracking feature is enabled by default. Players can disable this feature and restore the map to its original state by un-checking the "Show Quest Objectives" box in the lower right corner.
    • Areas of Interest - All areas of interest in a zone will be represented with a number corresponding to the number assigned to each active quest in that particular zone. When highlighting a specific quest, the corresponding number on the zone map will be highlighted as well. If the area of interest is large, for example, and a player needs to kill a number of quest creatures or collect quest items found within a large area on the map, the entire questing area of interest around the number on the map will be shaded blue. If quest objectives can be accomplished in multiple areas of the zone; for example, certain creatures need to be killed for a quest and have several different locations, the map will automatically display the nearest area of interest in proximity to the player.
    • Shrunken Map and Objectives Tracking - When viewing the large zone map ('M' key), players can click the arrow in the top right corner to bring the zone map out of full-screen mode. The map will show all areas of interest for the zone; however the other three interface panes will be removed so players can still view their character, spells, and abilities with the map open. The standard quest objectives window has been improved and will now show numbers next to each quest displayed, or a gold question mark if the quest has been completed. The objectives window is now docked below the mini-map, next to the right two action bars and can display up to ten active quests in the zone. Players can toggle between minimizing and maximizing this quest objectives window at any time by clicking on the red arrow in the top right corner of the objectives frame.
    • Quest Difficulty Tracking - This feature is turned off by default and players can choose "Color Quest Difficulty" under Objectives in the Interface Options menu to enable it. Enabling this option will color-code all quest names in the new map interface according to the player's level (grey, green, yellow, orange, and red). This new feature has been built to work with nearly every quest in World of Warcraft with only a few exceptions. For example, if a quest requires that a player turns in some sort of cloth or other trade goods that can be purchased from other players, the map will not display an area of interest for where these items can be found. All other quests, whether they require players to slay groups of creatures, gather some type of quest object, or hunt down a single specific target, will be tracked on the map, provided that the player is viewing the map of the zone in which these objectives can be completed.

AchievementsReputationItems
  • Arena Set Bonuses: The two-piece set bonus for all Wrath of the Lich King Arena sets now provides 100 resilience and 29 spell power or 50 attack power. The current four-piece bonus will remain, however it also now provides 88 spell power or 150 attack power.
  • Death Knight Tier-9 4-Piece Bonus (Damage-Dealing): This set bonus no longer grants [Frost Fever] a chance to be a critical strike. It still grants that possibility to [Blood Plague].
  • Glyphs
  • Haris Pilton now sells a [new 24-slot bag]! She has stubbornly decided to remain in Shattrath City, so those interested should seek her out there.
  • Hatchlings: [Leaping], [Darting], [Razormaw], and [Ravasaur Hatchling]s no longer drop from their associated rare creatures. Instead, there are now rare nests that spawn which contain these hatchlings. For example, the Leaping Hatchling can now be found in Takk's Nest rather than as a drop from Takk the Leaper.
  • [Scepter of Celebras]: Since this item is no longer needed as a key, Celebras will no longer give one out to a player who loses it. The item can now be sold or disenchanted as normal.
  • Shaman Tier-9 4-Piece Set Bonus (Elemental): This set bonus now does an additional 10% of [Lava Burst]'s initial damage over time instead of increasing the size of the Lava Burst.
Bug Fixes
  • Items
  • Racial Abilities
    • [Arcane Torrent]: Updated tooltip to include the functionality that this ability also interrupts spellcasting on NPCs. In addition, this ability will now be properly noted and displayed as an interrupt in the cast bar UI.
    • [Every Man for Himself]: Disconnecting while rooted will no longer sometimes trigger this ability.
  • Classes
    • Death Knights
      • [Bloody Strikes]: Now properly increases the damage displayed in the tooltips of [Blood Strike] and [Heart Strike].
      • [Bone Shield]: Tooltip corrected to indicate the player has the correct number of bones.
      • [Chains of Ice]: This ability will no longer appear to land on targets which are immune.
      • [Desecration]: The debuff from this ability will no longer sometimes appear as if it were cast by someone else. In addition, the visual and snare from this ability will now both dissipate at the same time. Further, this talent will now respect snare immunities, and no longer sometimes snare immune targets.
      • [Frost Presence]: The animation for activating this presence will no longer also have the animation for [Blood Presence] played at the same time.
      • [Glyph of Bone Shield]: Now updates the number of charges in the Bone Shield tooltip.
      • [Glyph of Dark Death]: Now updates the tooltip on [Death Coil]. In addition, its own tooltip has been clarified to indicate it also applies to healing from Death Coil.
      • [Glyph of Death's Embrace]: Now updates the tooltip on Death Coil to indicate runic power is refunded.
      • [Glyph of Heart Strike]: Now updates the tooltip on Heart Strike to indicate Heart Strike applies a movement snare.
      • [Glyph of Icebound Fortitude]: Now updates the tooltip on [Icebound Fortitude] to show increased damage reduction.
      • [Glyph of Plague Strike]: Now updates the damage shown in Plague Strike's tooltip.
      • [Glyph of Unbreakable Armor]: Now updates the tooltip on Unbreakable Armor. Tooltip on glyph modified to make its effect more clear as well.
      • [Master of Ghouls]: Tooltip typo corrected.
      • [Night of the Dead]: Tooltip typo corrected.
      • [Obliterate]: This ability will no longer sometimes fail to do additional damage based on diseases on the target.
      • [Raise Ally]: While this spell is active on a target, they will not be sent to the graveyard, prematurely ending the spell.
      • [Raise Dead]: It is no longer possible under some circumstances to use a Risen Ghoul to cause neutral guards to attack opposite faction players.
      • [Strangulate]: Updated tooltip to include the functionality that this ability also interrupts spellcasting on NPCs.
      • [Taste of Blood]: Corrected inaccurate information in combat log tooltip.
      • [Unholy Presence]: The animation for activating this presence will no longer also have the animation for Blood Presence played at the same time.
    • Druids
      • [Glyph of Hurricane]: Now modifies the spell tooltip on [Hurricane] to indicate the spell also applies a movement slowing effect.
      • [Hurricane]: When cast from [Bear Form], [Cat Form], or [Dire Bear Form], this spell will now channel properly instead of stopping the channel as soon as the shapeshift is cancelled.
      • [Infected Wounds]: This ability is no longer considered to be in the magical defense category; therefore spell hit no longer applies to its activation. Tooltip error corrected.
      • [Nature's Grace]: The tooltip now correctly indicates that it will not be activated from periodic spell critical strikes.
      • [Swipe] (Bear): Tooltip corrected to display 8 yard range.
      • [Rejuvenation]: Druids will no longer get a more powerful spell error message when attempting to overwrite a Rejuvenation they cast.
    • Hunters
      • [Concussive Barrage]: This ability is no longer subject to spell reflects.
      • [Explosive Trap]: The damage from this trap will now scale properly with the hunter's attack power.
      • [Glyph of Immolation Trap]: Now properly increases damage by 100%. In addition, this glyph will now modify the tooltip of [Immolation Trap] correctly.
      • [Glyph of Mending]: This glyph will now modify the amount healed in the tooltip on Mend Pet.
      • [Point of No Escape]: It is no longer possible to gain benefit from this talent multiple times by having a target affected by multiple of the same hunter's traps. In addition, Freezing Arrow will no longer incorrectly provide a critical strike bonus to players beyond the hunter with this talent.
      • [Roar of Sacrifice]: Corrected tooltip error.
      • [Silencing Shot]: Updated tooltip to include the functionality that this ability also interrupts spellcasting on NPCs.
      • [Volley]: The tooltip for this ability will now update properly from haste.
    • Mages
      • [Arcane Concentration]: The interaction of this talent with [Arcane Missiles] has been restructured. Instead of an Arcane Missiles cast triggering the talent, each missile has an independent (but reduced) chance to trigger this talent. In addition, the talent will no longer sometimes be triggered from misses by Arcane Missiles, [Arcane Blast], and Blizzard.
      • [Blast Wave]: Tooltip typo corrected.
      • [Blizzard]: The tooltip on this ability will now update properly from all talents which increase its damage by a percentage. Also fixed a bug where some trinkets were not triggered by this spell.
      • [Cone of Cold]: The tooltip on this ability will now update properly from all talents which increase its damage by a percentage.
      • [Dalaran Intellect]: Mages will now be properly blocked from casting this spell when the target has a more powerful version of the buff.
      • [Deep Freeze]: This spell will no longer consume two charges of Fingers of Frost when it misses its target.
      • [Flame Strike]: Some ranks of this spell had an incorrect cast time of 3 seconds. All ranks now share a 2-second cast time.
      • [Frost Nova]: The tooltip on this ability will now update properly from all talents which increase its damage by a percentage.
      • [Frostbolt]: The tooltip on this ability will now update properly from all talents which increase its damage by a percentage.
      • [Glyph of Mirror Image]: Now updates the tooltip on Mirror Image to show 4 images are summoned.
      • [Ignite]: Now correctly benefits from the dispel resistance granted by the Arcane Subtlety talent. In addition, this talent will now properly include in its damage calculation any damage of the initial fire critical strike that was absorbed.
      • [Ice Lance]: The tooltip on this ability will now update properly from all talents which increase its damage by a percentage.
      • [Improved Scorch]: This talent no longer causes a bug that removes all resilience from pets.
      • [Mirror Image]: The mirror images summoned will no longer sometimes appear as shades before taking on the appearance of the casting mage.
      • [Prismatic Cloak]: Rank three of this talent will now properly modify the tooltip on [Invisibility] to indicate the effect is instant.
      • [Slow Fall]: This spell can now activate trinkets that can trigger from casting a helpful spell.
      • [Winter's Chill]: This talent no longer causes a bug that removes all resilience from pets.
    • Paladins
      • [Aura Mastery]: The animation for this ability will no longer be extra bright when used with Concentration Aura active.
      • [Beacon of Light]: The effect of this ability will no longer sometimes continue past the duration of its buff. In addition, the duration when used with the Glyph of Beacon of light will now correctly be 1.5 minutes. Finally, the tooltip was corrected to indicate benefitting targets must be in the paladin's party or raid.
      • [Blessing of Kings]: It is no longer possible to have multiple buff icons from this spell.
      • [Blessing of Sacrifice]: Damage transferred via this ability can now be prevented by damage absorption effects.
      • [Blessing of Sanctuary]: It is no longer possible to have multiple buff icons from this spell. In addition, the tooltip has been corrected to include 10% increased strength.
      • [Devotion Aura]: When in a party with another paladin using a different rank of this ability, it is no longer possible to see two different Devotion Aura icons displayed as buffs.
      • [Divine Sacrifice]: This ability now properly counts all damage transferred against its limit, instead of not counting some damage.
      • [Greater Blessing of Kings]: It is no longer possible to have multiple buff icons from this spell.
      • [Greater Blessing of Sanctuary]: It is no longer possible to have multiple buff icons from this spell. In addition, the tooltip has been corrected to include 10% increased strength.
      • [Guardian's Favor]: Corrected a tooltip error in rank 1 of this ability.
      • [Hand of Freedom]: It is no longer possible to use this ability while under the effects of the druid spell Cyclone. In addition, disconnecting while rooted will no longer sometimes trigger casting this on oneself.
      • [Hand of Reckoning]: Tooltip clarified to indicate taunt immune targets will not take damage from this ability.
      • [Hand of Sacrifice]: Damage transferred via this ability can now be prevented by damage absorption effects.
      • [Heart of the Crusader]: The effect of this talent is now always removed when the target no longer has an active Judgement debuff.
      • [Judgements of the Just]: The effect of this talent is now always removed when the target no longer has an active Judgement debuff.
      • [Judgement of Righteousness]: The damage from this ability will no longer sometimes increase when the paladin's agility increases (only occurred with low strength and high agility).
      • [Judgement of Wisdom]: Corrected incorrect information in the combat log tooltip.
      • [Retribution Aura]: It is no longer possible under some circumstances for the UI to display buffs from two different ranks of this ability.
      • [Seal of Corruption]: Tooltip corrected to list the actual amount of damage done instead of a higher number.
    • Priests
      • [Glyph of Power Word: Shield]: The heal caused by this glyph will now correctly use the casting priest's critical strike chance instead of the target's.
      • [Inspiration]: The tooltip now correctly indicates that it also functions with Prayer of Mending.
      • [Levitate]: This spell can now activate trinkets that can trigger from casting a helpful spell.
      • [Mass Dispel]: Some trinkets which were not triggered properly by this spell will now work correctly when Mass Dispel is cast.
      • [Mind Flay]: The rank 1 tooltip has been corrected to indicate the accurate damage and snare effect. In addition, this ability will now work correctly with [target=focus] and [target=mouseover] macros.
      • [Prayer of Mending]: Inspiration and Divine Aegis can no longer be incorrectly triggered by this spell for priests who do not have those talents.
      • [Silence]: Updated tooltip to include the functionality that this ability also interrupts spellcasting on NPCs.
      • [Spirit Tap]: This talent can no longer be triggered by the death of the priest's Jewelcrafter Stone Statues.
    • Rogues
      • [Ambush]: The tooltip on this ability will now update properly from talents which increase its damage by a percentage.
      • [Backstab]: The tooltip on this ability will now update properly from talents which increase its damage by a percentage.
      • [Deadly Poison]: Another rogue using a higher rank of this poison will no longer prevent the lower rank Deadly Poison from being applied to the target.
      • [Eviscerate]: The tooltip on this ability will now update properly from talents which increase its damage by a percentage.
      • [Glyph of Rupture]: Now updates the duration on Rupture's tooltip.
      • [Killing Spree]: Entering a vehicle will now cause this ability to halt, and attempting to use it while on a vehicle will result in an error message.
      • [Mutilate]: The tooltip on this ability will now update properly from talents which increase its damage by a percentage. In addition, the damage from this ability can now be blocked.
      • [Sinister Strike]: The tooltip on this ability will now update properly from talents which increase its damage by a percentage.
      • [Slice and Dice]: Improved Slice and Dice and Glyph of Slice and Dice now update the duration of this ability.
      • [Throwing Specialization]: Deadly Throw will no longer cause multiple spell interruption combat log entries when used with this talent.
    • Shamans
      • [Glyph of Earthliving Weapon]: Now updates the tooltip for Earthliving Weapon.
      • [Glyph of Lesser Healing Wave]: Tooltip and functionality corrected to ensure this glyph will cause extra healing from Lesser Healing Wave regardless of which shaman cast Earth Shield on the target.
      • [Hex]: Players are no longer able to use Battlemaster trinkets while under the effects of this spell.
      • [Mana Tide Totem]: The tooltip on this spell will now be modified properly by the Glyph of Mana Tide Totem.
      • [Thunderstorm]: It is no longer possible to use this ability while under the effects of the Druid spell Cyclone.
    • Warlocks
      • [Conflagrate]: This spell will no longer benefit inconsistently from the talents Emberstorm and Improved Immolate, as well as the Glyph of Immolate and Tier 9 set bonus. Just as for Immolate, all stacking percentage increases will be applied additively instead of multiplicatively (+10% and +20% make +30% instead of +32%). In addition, Conflagrate used with Shadowflame will now scale properly from spell power.
      • [Curse of the Elements]: Rank 4 has been increased to 11%, up from 10%.
      • [Drain Soul]: This spell now deals 4 times the normal damage for all ranks. Previously it was only ranks 6 and above.
      • [Glyph of Conflagrate]: Now updates the tooltip of Conflagrate to remove reference to Conflagrate removing an Immolate or Shadowflame effect on the target.
      • [Glyph of Siphon Life]: This glyph will now modify the tooltip on Siphon Life correctly.
      • [Glyph of Unending Breath]: Now updates the tooltip on Unending Breath to indicate it increases swim speed.
      • [Hellfire]: Dealing damage to another player with this ability will now put the Warlock in combat.
      • [Improved Shadow Bolt]: This talent no longer causes a bug that removes all resilience from pets.
      • [Soul Link]: Damage transferred via this ability can now be prevented by damage absorption effects.
      • [Suffering] (Voidwalker): Ranks 5-8 had the incorrect taunt radius of 5 yards and have all been adjusted to a 10-yard radius.
    • Warriors
      • [Blood Frenzy]: This debuff is no longer considered a Bleed effect that can be removed separately from the actual Bleed effect which caused it.
      • [Bloodrage]: Tooltip now adjusts to show effect of Anger Management on this ability.
      • [Glyph of Cleaving]: Now updates the tooltip of Cleave to show that more targets are struck by the ability.
      • [Glyph of Hamstring]: Now updates the tooltip of Hamstring to indicate it has a chance to immobilize.
      • [Glyph of Vigilance]: Now updates the tooltip on Vigilance to show that more threat is transferred.
      • [Mocking Blow]: Tooltip clarified to indicate taunt immune targets will not take damage from this ability.
      • [Rampage]: Rampage now behaves correctly as an Enrage effect when interacting with the Enraged Regeneration ability.
      • [Recklessness]: Heroic Throw and Shattering Throw will now benefit from this ability and consume charges of this ability. In addition, Recklessness now behaves correctly as an Enrage effect when interacting with the Enraged Regeneration ability.
      • [Sudden Death]: Corrected inaccurate information in combat log tooltip.
      • [Sweeping Strikes]: Corrected inaccurate information in combat log tooltip.
      • [Vigilance]: The threat transfer granted by this ability will now reactivate when Tricks of the Trade or Misdirection cast by the Vigilance target expires.
      • [Warbringer]: Tooltip typo corrected.
  • Game Systems
    • Target Effects: When this UI feature is activated, Fear, Silence, Frostbolt, and Hamstring will all now display text over the target's head indicating what type of effect has been applied.
  • Battlegrounds
    • Strand of the Ancients
      • The "Let the Battle for the Strand of the Ancients" message should no longer appear twice in round 2. It also now appears correctly at the beginning of round 1.
      • [Storm the Beach] should now be correctly granted to the Horde when they start round 1 on offense.
      • The east Antipersonnel Cannon at the Amethyst gate should no longer be able to shell the graveyard flag.
      • Fixed an order of operations issue where players would sometimes not be resurrected or clear their Inactive debuff at the end of the 1st round.

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