Cataclysm hotfixes for Dec. 16

Another day, another round of hotfixes. Once again, today's hotfixes are aimed primarily at class and dungeon balance, turning some knobs one way and some the other. Some examples:

• Halls of Origination The damage of Fireballs automatically cast by Temple Fireshaper with Molten Barrier active has been adjusted in normal and heroic difficulty.

• The Stonecore The Crystal Shards creatures in the Corborus encounter are now level 86, down from 88.

• Shaman The Mana Tide Totem hotfix from yesterday has been reverted. The Mana Tide buff no longer stacks, as this had a major impact on encounter design.

The full list of hotfixes is behind the cut below.

• Bonuses from Embrace of the Shale Spider and Blessing of Forgotten Kings can no longer stack.

• Completing Archaeology projects will once again contribute to the guild achievement Making History once the player relogs.

• The Orgrimmar portal to Mount Hyjal should now appear for players who flew directly into Hyjal to start questing, rather than take the Moonglade portal.

• The old and busted Winter's Veil decorations in Brill have been disabled.

• Ancient Power now has a 30-second maximum duration and will properly be canceled when zoning or relogging.

• Glyph of Seal of Insight now correctly increases healing done by Word of Glory and Light of Dawn while Seal of Insight is active.

• The Mana Tide Totem hotfix from yesterday has been reverted. The Mana Tide buff no longer stacks, as this had a major impact on encounter design.

• It is no longer possible to waste a Soulstone by attempting to use it on a dead target. The player will receive an Invalid Target error message at the completion of their channel. In a future patch, we intend this functionality to work correctly, allowing a Soulstone to be used to instantly resurrect a dead target.

• The damage of Fireballs automatically cast by Temple Fireshaper with Molten Barrier active has been adjusted in normal and Heroic difficulty.

• The damage of Pact of Darkness cast by Temple Shadowlancer has been adjusted in normal and Heroic difficulty.

• Siamat will cast Deflecting Winds after a few seconds of entering combat regardless of any abilities used against him at the start of the encounter.

• The damage of Dust Flail cast by Lockmaw has been adjusted in normal difficulty.

• The Crystal Shards creatures in the Corborus encounter are now level 86, down from 88.

• Both normal and Heroic versions of Heart of Ignacious apply 20-second cooldowns on other similar items, rather than the full 2-minute duration.

• Shroud of Dark Memories and Shade of Death now have different stats.

• Pyrite Ore is prospectable at 500 Jewelcrafting skill, down from 525.

• Darkbrew Lager can be learned at 415 Cooking skill, down from 425.

• The Engineering item High-Powered Bolt Gun can no longer be used in Arena and Rated Battleground matches.

• Engineers can now purchase Smooth Cogwheels from Frank Natale using 4x Handful of Obsidium Bolts.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from leveling up a new goblin or worgen to breaking news and strategies on endgame play.