live-patch-notes
Latest
World of Warcraft Patch 3.2 Release Patch Notes [Updated]
Included with the patch update is a fresh copy of the patch 3.2 patch notes. These notes come directly from the updater that you'll download to update your game.Please be aware that Blizzard has lately been releasing an updated version of these later in the day. We'll update these notes, in this post, if that happens.There are some major highlights to patch 3.2 that we've known about for awhile. They include: A new battleground in the Isle of Conquest A new 5, 10, and 25 person dungeon/raid in the Crusaders' Coliseum Significant changes to mounts requirements Class changes A major update to the Argent Tournament Arena Season 7 (which will begin sometime soon) The full patch 3.2 patch notes are after the break, and don't forget to check out WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.2 for all our patch coverage.Update: The notes have been updated to the latest notes released by Blizzard this afternoon.
World of Warcraft Patch 3.1.3 going live
Word is coming through the grapevine that patch 3.1.3 will be released tomorrow. MMO-Champion is also confirming this, so given both of our information I'd say it's a sure bet.We posted the patch notes last week when Zarhym released them, and they're after the break so you can become reacquainted with the small changes that'll be happening. If there are suddenly new notes tomorrow we'll let you know.When a mirror is available for download we'll get a post up; probably sometime early tomorrow afternoon. This patch is also likely a harbinger of maintenance tomorrow, however there has been no official announcement yet.The patch notes after the break.
The Light and How to Swing It: Holy Paladins in Ulduar
It's been over a week now since Ulduar was unleashed, and I hope that you've all gone in and had a taste of what Blizzard has emphatically called a "hard" raid. Harder than Naxxramas, at least. Aside from towerless Flame Leviathan, who was cruelly invented to trick players into thinking that Ulduar was puggable, the bosses -- heck, even the trash -- in Ulduar is a return to some good old-fashioned wipefests and headbanging against the wall. Of course, the world's top guilds were well equipped and prepared to clear all the way up to Yogg-Saron, but most guilds will struggle a bit.Did I say a bit? Some guilds will struggle a lot, actually. While Ulduar still seems easier by far than the so-called guild killers, Blizzard has ramped up the difficultly nicely and many guilds will find it a challenge but eventually conquer it in time. So where do Paladins fit in with all this conquering business? Well, it depends on your spec. Fortunately for us, Patch 3.1 also introduced dual-specs, and if there's anything a Paladin should plunk 1,000 Gold on, it's to learn a secondary spec. Today we'll take a look at how healers fare in Ulduar two weeks in after the jump.
Patch 3.1.1 download mirror
Our sister site Big Download has the PC patch files for patch 3.1.1 mirrored. The download is only 8 megs in size, so it shouldn't take you too long at all if you download it from them. However while the Blizzard downloader is working now, you might not have much luck later on. The Blizzard downloader has been known to crumble under intense usage (I know it's counter intuitive given the Blizzard downloader works off torrents, but it's what happens).Big Download will be getting the Mac patch up soon enough, and we'll update this post when they have it.Comments have been disabled for this post.
Maintenance extended by two hours
Not that this should be a surprise to anyone...But maintenance has been extended until 1:00 p.m. PDT / 4:00 p.m. EDT. There is no indication why the maintenance has been extended, but that's the norm as well.You can find out what's in the patch over on the Patch 3.1.1 Patch Notes and Bug Fix List, as well as by checking out our updated Guide To Patch 3.1. We'll update this post with the latest news / server status when we have it.
How to download Patch 3.1.1 with a Battle.Net account
Having problems getting patch 3.1.1 to download? Thinking that WoW Insider is crazy for announcing a patch without the download happening? Well, we might be insane, but we're not crazy.If you've converted to a battle.net account, you cannot download the patch via the traditional log-in-and-it'll-start method. To get the patch to download, enter your old non-battle.net username and password and the game will begin downloading patch 3.1.1. It's about 10-megs. You can't log-in and play the game with that user name and password anymore, but you can get the patch with it.Seems that Blizzard hasn't worked all the kinks out of the battle.net account system. But at least there's a way around the problems this time.Update: Articles goes up...and 45 minutes later it's fixed!Many thanks to our twitter followers who let us know about this!
Patch 3.1.1 notes released
As we posted earlier, patch 3.1.1 is going live today. The official patch notes have now been posted to the WoW forums. Here are highlights; I'll put the full patch notes behind the cut. In order to address issues with the dual talent specialization system, all players will have their talents points refunded. Players who have purchased dual talent specializations will have both specializations reset. Glyphs will not be affected by this reset. Characters who are not of the same race or class are once again able to view each others' professions linked in chat. The mob packs in the XT-002 Deconstructor encounter can now be engaged separately and are no longer linked. Yeah, it's a pretty small patch.
World of Warcraft Patch 3.1.1
We've been talking about a new small patch for tomorrow most of the night. MMO-Champion has confirmed that patch 3.1.1 is going live tomorrow. The patch notes just point to a forum thread that outlines the bug fixes we posted earlier this evening (which includes a free talent respec).Now while I'd love real patch notes, having a forum thread with the latest updated information on it isn't a very bad way to do things. We'll keep our list updated as well, and let you know if anything changes (as of 1:10 a.m. EDT it hasn't).If you have time tomorrow fire up your client before you leave for work or school to grab the patch while you're away. We'll get a download mirror up as soon as we can for you.For a comprehensive listing of everything that's changed in Patch 3.1 and Patch 3.1.1, check out WoW Insider's Guide to Patch 3.1. Patch 3.1.1 is live, giving us many nice bug fixes. Patch 3.1 takes us into Ulduar, delivers us dual specs, and brings significant changes to all the classes! Check out our Guide to Patch 3.1 and the official patch notes!
Patch 3.1 lesser-known changes
Sure, you know about dual spec, the Argent Tournament, and Ulduar. But patch 3.1 was a patch of many changes, and some of them seem to have flown under most people's radar. Here are a few changes that have been surprising some people recently, judging by the tips we've been getting. Siphon Life is no longer a separate spell. The talent now adds a self-healing effect to your Corruption, as well as boosting the damage on Corruption, Seed of Corruption, and Unstable Affliction. Emblems are now automatically distributed to everyone upon the first person looting them, similar to gold. This means no more forgotten emblems, and no more rush to the corpse as everyone goes to get theirs. It will also make loot chests much less unpleasant. Many spells with ground effects, such as Rain of Fire, Blizzard, and Death and Decay, are not showing the same as they used to. This is because there is a new video effects option, "Show Projected Textures," which controls whether things like the rune circles from RoF/Blizz/DnD are rendered on your client. It also appears to control my framerate in 25-man raids. The 10% experience bonus from heirloom shoulders now applies to quest experience as well as experience gained from killing mobs. Is there anything else that took you by surprise in patch 3.1?
Wrath 101: Emalon the Storm Watcher
So ends the age of the weekly loot piñata. The Wintergrasp raid instance, somewhat inappropriately called the Vault of Archavon, has a new tenant who isn't quite the pushover Archavon the Stone Watcher has been since the launch of Wrath of the Lich King. The Vault of Archavon was essentially every Level 80 player's weekly lottery and near guaranteed shot at Emblems. It was the most compelling reason to capture Wintergrasp as the raid was only available to the faction in control of the zone. Enter Emalon the Storm Watcher, a new raid boss with Patch 3.1 who drops Ulduar and Season 6 loot. Emalon's difficulty is ramped up considerably from Archavon and -- if initial forays are any indication -- hard enough to give seasoned raiders like our own Matt Low an aneurysm.Unlike his meek neighbor Archavon, Emalon actually requires a bit of strategy and situational awareness. He also comes with four bodyguards, the Tempest Minions, who are integral to the fight. As can probably be inferred from his name and his crew, Emalon the Storm Watcher's primary source of damage is lightning, or Nature damage. It won't be necessary to stack resistance, just an understanding of the fight, his abilities, and knowing what to do and avoid. You can visit Emalon by turning into a corridor on the right just before heading into Archavon.
Top Ulduar achievements earned thus far
The folks over at GuildOx, a guild progress and achievement ranking site, were kind enough to email us some interesting new statistics about Ulduar's achievements. As it stands a large portion of the raids are, of course, not getting encounter specific achievements the first time they go into the zone. However there are some that are getting them nonetheless.People may wonder if guilds are getting the achievements this quickly because Ulduar is too easy. My opinion on the matter is that Ulduar itself sans hard modes won't be abnormally challenging, however when you put in the hard modes and various twists to the encounter in order to earn the achievements, Ulduar is going to become quite challenging.The achievements that have made the list so far, like A Quick Shave where you have to kill Razorscale with her only flying into the air once, just requires a lot of DPS. That's not too hard for most geared out groups to muster.Take a look after the break for GuildOx's list of the top five Ulduar 10 and 25 man achievements, and head over there to take a look at things overall.
Ghostcrawler explains why it took five months to nerf Death Knights
The Warlock community was in an uproar over the extremely quick hotfix that Blizzard applied to nerf Conflagrate among other niggling issues with the recent Patch 3.1. Aside from the fact that nerfs are never a fun thing, Warlock players pointed out that Death Knights, while acknowledged by Blizzard to be overpowered, reigned for months before getting nerfed (somewhat) in the latest patch. Warlocks also pointed an accusatory finger at Holy Paladins, who dominated Arenas throughout Season 5 and promptly got a fix along with Death Knights.On the other hand. it took all of 24 hours for Warlocks to enjoy insane Conflagrate numbers, which was promptly fixed. Ghostcrawler explain why through a lengthy response over at the forums, noting that Death Knights were imbalanced for more reasons than a simply overpowered spell coefficient. He also said that Death Knights and Paladins were nerfed over the course of several patches leading to Patch 3.1, but none proved to be enough to balance them.It needs to be said that Death Knights were changed the most in this patch, with talent trees completely revised, some notable abilities removed (oh, Shadow of Death, how we'll miss you...), and class mechanics changed. It's quite possible that even these changes won't curb Death Knight dominance, but it's a massive change that simply isn't hotfixable. It's a fair response and a pretty good read. Ghostcrawler makes several important points, one of which is that players shouldn't feel that developers don't love them. So don't be emo.
Flawless Victor title removed in Patch 3.1
With stealthiness worthy of an Arashikage, Blizzard removed the Flawless Victor title granted by the Achievement Hot Hot Hot Streak, along with the Achievement itself in Patch 3.1. This tiny little 'inconvenience' was conveniently left out of the patch notes, surprising many players who logged in to the puzzling message 'Title removed: Flawless Victor'. Conversations with GMs didn't manage to shed light into the situation, either, with the standard answer bring "apologies for the inconvenience".Blizzard gives no reason for the removal of the Achievement and title, and forum posts asking about the matter have so far received no blue responses. On the other hand, Bornakk was quick to address the bug about the Champion of the Frozen Wastes title, which was hotfixed. It's fairly certain that Blizzard removed the Achievement intentionally. Some suspect that there were exploits that allowed players to obtain the Achievement with ease, while others dismissed it as a meaningless title in what is arguably the most imbalanced Arena season to date. With the Arena system being completely overhauled yet again for Season 6, it is possible that we may see the title return in some form or the other.
WoW Insider's Patch 3.1 FAQ
Our own Elizabeth Harper has been hard at work gathering together all of the most frequently asked questions that we've received over the last few weeks regarding patch 3.1. Now that the realms are finally coming up, it's a good time to get these out to you all because many of you will probably be asking them soon, too!Our FAQ is listed below, and if you ever want to find it again just bookmark this page. It will always be there, and should there be a need to update it at any point, we'll be sure to do so! Thanks for sticking with us today, ladies and gentlemen.
Maintenance continues to be extended, no time frame given
Today's epic maintenance to apply patch 3.1, which has stretched from 1 AM for some realms and 3 AM for others, has been additionally extended. Originally, the realms were supposed to go live at 11 AM PDT; that time has come and gone, and been pushed back a few times. The latest update, posted to the Breaking News box a few minutes ago, is that they do not currently have an ETA on when the realms will be up, and they'll give us some more information at about 2 PM PDT, which is in 45 minutes or so. Update 5:15 p.m. EDT: The realms continue to be down, with the in-game message now telling us that there will be an announcement at 6:00 p.m. EDT letting us all know more information. Update 6:15 p.m. EDT: Maintenance is continuing on all realms. There is no time frame given as to when the realms will be back up, however there will be an additional announcement at 7:00 p.m. EDT. Stay tuned to WoW Insider for more information. Additionally, the official forums and account management appear to be intermittently down now as well. Patch 3.1 is live and it takes us into Ulduar, delivers us dual specs, and brings significant changes to all the classes! We've got you covered from top to bottom with our Guide to Patch 3.1 and the official patch notes!
Classy dual-spec guides
Servers are still down for maintenance due to Patch 3.1, so now would be a great time think of the list of things you'll have to do once you log in. Let's see ... you've bought all the gems enchants you need; you've got your talent calculator all ready to go; you've parked yourself in an old-world capital city to buy dual-spec as soon as you log in. You're ready to go!But the question may remain -- what exactly are you going to pick for your offspec? Don't worry, we've got you covered! We've compiled dual-spec guides for each of your classes. Death Knight • Druid • Hunter • Mage • Paladin • Priest • Rogue • Shaman • Warlock • Warrior Get crackin' and be ready to raid (or whatever it is you'll be doing) when servers come up. Remember: being prepared takes class! Patch 3.1 is live and it takes us into Ulduar, delivers us dual specs, and brings significant changes to all the classes! We've got you covered from top to bottom with our Guide to Patch 3.1 and the official patch notes!
Patch 3.1 Download Mirror [Updated]
Our sister site Big Download has mirrored the files necessary to update your game client to patch 3.1. Only the PC version is up at this time, however they're working on getting the Mac version.Many users are reporting inability to finish the download via the Blizzard downloader or are generally having problems get their own copy of the patch.All you need to do is go and download this file, install, and you'll be set to enjoy all the patch 3.1 goodness.Update: You can now download the Mac patch files as well. Enjoy!Update: You can now download all the international patch files.Comments have been disabled for this post.
Patch 3.1 achievements round up
Everybody loves achievements, right? ...no, I guess not. Some people like achievements, right? Yes! Patch 3.1 brings a lot of cool stuff for you guys to do as well, so here's all of it in a nice little package for you to pick through. Have fun! There's already a few people ready to pick up the Insane title, but we'd like to assume most of you are slightly less insane. Only slightly. For you guys, we have a get to completing Insane in the Membrane. As of today, the Black and Plagued Proto-Drakes are gone for good. A batch of brand new achievements have been added to the Noblegarden event, which has been extended to a week and will begin on April 26th. Note that you will need these for What a Long, Strange Trip Its Been. We've posted an early version of Ulduar's achievements, too! Chef de Cuisine is getting a bit easier for Alliance players. They can get their hands on Dig Rat Stew on their own now! In exchange, Lil' Game Hunter is becoming easier for the Horde. Enjoy your Sprite Darters and Westfall Chickens! The Argent Tournament has a load of its own achievements as well. If you enjoyed this stuff, keep an eye on our achievements column, The Overachiever. We'll probably be going over a lot of this, especially the Noblegarden and Argent Tournament achievements, in the coming weeks. Patch 3.1 is live and it takes us into Ulduar, delivers us dual specs, and brings significant changes to all the classes! We've got you covered from top to bottom with our Guide to Patch 3.1 and the official patch notes!
Patch notes incorrect: Equipment Manager will not be part of patch 3.1
The official 3.1 patch notes for the live realms states that the equipment manager is now active. The patch preview website that went live says it isn't, and a blue post from a couple weeks ago was the first announcement that it won't be going live in patch 3.1 yet.So then why is the equipment manager in the patch notes?The patch notes are wrong in this instance.Zarhym/Floating-Red-Skull confirmed as much last night, and it's important to note that there might be a few other posts like this one throughout the day. In some cases patch notes can be incorrect in the finer points of the patch. This is one of those cases. Patch 3.1 is live and it takes us into Ulduar, delivers us dual specs, and brings significant changes to all the classes! We've got you covered from top to bottom with our Guide to Patch 3.1 and the official patch notes!
