<font size="3" style="line-height: 1.3em;"><b>Patch 3.1 - PvEAlliance and PvEHorde weapon models</b></font><br />A few days ago I posted most of the <a href="http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?topic=41105.0" target="_blank"><b>weapon models used in Ulduar</b></a>, the patch also introduced a few new weapon models named PvEHorde and PvEAlliance that I didn&#39;t post yet. We don&#39;t really know where they will be used for the moment, they look a lot like PvP gear but their name clearly says "PvE" ... Argent Tournament maybe? Please note that these models are still being added to the patch, there are currently more horde models but it doesn&#39;t really mean anything. (2 of them were added in the latest PTR build actually)<br /><br /><div align="center"><font size="3" style="line-height: 1.3em;"><b>Horde</b></font></div><div align="center"><a href="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/march/horde_1haxe.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/march/horde_1haxe_small.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/march/horde_1hsword1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/march/horde_1hsword1_small.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/march/horde_1hsword2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/march/horde_1hsword2_small.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/march/horde_2haxe.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/march/horde_2haxe_small.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/march/horde_2hsword.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/march/horde_2hsword_small.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/march/horde_dagger1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/march/horde_dagger1_small.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/march/horde_dagger2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/march/horde_dagger2_small.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/march/horde_wands.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/march/horde_wands_small.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></div><br /><div align="center"><font size="3" style="line-height: 1.3em;"><b>Alliance</b></font></div><div align="center"><a href="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/march/alliance_1haxe.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/march/alliance_1haxe_small.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/march/alliance_2haxe.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/march/alliance_2haxe_small.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/march/alliance_2hsword.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/march/alliance_2hsword_small.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/march/alliance_dagger.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/march/alliance_dagger_small.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></div><br /><br /><font size="3" style="line-height: 1.3em;"><b>Arena Hotfixes and incoming changes</b></font><br /><div class="blizzquotewrap"><div class="blizzquoteinner"><span class="corners-top"><span></span></span><div class="blizzquoteheader"><span>Quote from: <b>Mumper (<a href="http://blue.mmo-champion.com/17/15443191277-arena-hotfixes-and-incoming-changes.html" target="_blank" style="color: white;">Source</a>)</span></b></div><div class="blizzquote">We applied a few key arena hotfixes over the past couple days to both the live realms and the tourney realms. I posted about these on the pvp forum but I figured I should get something up over here in case you missed it.<br /><br /><span style="color: white;"><b>The Ring of Valor</b></span><br /><ul style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0;"><li>1. We removed the gates. Players are now free to begin combat as soon as the elevators reach the floor of the arena. This one was a doozy but we think we finally have a good handle on it now.</li><li>2. We modified the small side pillars to start in the up position. They used to rise up a few seconds after the start of the match.</li><li>3. We made a fix to the flame wall that allows it to break fear / root / etc. effects just like any other type of spell damage would. (ie. x damage taken and overall % health)</li></ul><br /><span style="color: white;"><b>Dalaran Sewers</b></span><br />1. We fixed the exploit that allowed warlocks to use Demonic Circle in the starting pipe and then teleport back to it after the match began.<br /><br />We also have a lot of general fixes that we cannot hotfix but are on tap for 3.1.0. This list includes fixes for falling though the world, allowing players to use object creation spells on elevators and clearer messaging that events in the arena are about to take place. For example we have a new water effect in the Dalaran Arena that will make it very clear the water column is coming in the next 5 seconds.<br /><br />A lot of these fixes and changes come directly from these boards, we are listening so keep the feedback coming. <br /><br />[...] We have a few other tweaks in the works for 3.1.0 Arenas as well:<br /><ul style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0;"><li>We have modified the waterspout effect in the Dalaran Sewers Arena to give players more warning before the water column is fully activated. This should give you a chance to get out of the way or at least let you cancel a cast since you will now know that the water is coming soon. The effect starts up about 5 seconds before the waterspout is fully active. We have a new zone wide sound attached to the effect now also.</li><li>We also added a sound to the Ring of Valor to let players know that the flame wall will be opening up in the next 5 seconds. Again, just more early warning so you can plan accordingly. We cleaned up the art on the gates a bit too. It should be easier to see the gates opening now. (<a href="http://blue.mmo-champion.com/11/15443417586-ring-of-valor-exploit-or-hack.html" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: white;">Source</span></b></a>)</li></ul></div><span class="corners-bottom"><span></span></span></div></div><br /><br /><font size="3" style="line-height: 1.3em;"><b>Blue posts</b></font><br /><div class="blizzquotewrap"><div class="blizzquoteinner"><span class="corners-top"><span></span></span><div class="blizzquoteheader"><span>Quote from <b>Blizzard staff</b></span></div><div class="blizzquote"><span style="color: white;"><b>Grand Black War Mammoth</b></span><br />I just removed this from the "Master of Wintergrasp" meta achievement earlier today. It was just too rare to be included in the meta. Don&#39;t worry though, we still have the Grand Black War Mammoth achievement on its own. =) This change will go live with 3.1.0. (<a href="http://blue.mmo-champion.com/20/15211004531-grand-black-war-mammoth.html" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: white;">Source</span></b></a>)<br /><br /><span style="color: white;"><b>Racial changes in 3.1</b></span><br />We are going to lower the cooldown on Stoneform from 3 min to 2 min. We are also reverting the change to have Gift of the Naaru dispel, and just change it to a direct heal instead of a hot. (<a href="http://blue.mmo-champion.com/26/15443189191-stoneform-nerf.html" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: white;">Source</span></b></a>)<br /><br /><span style="color: white;"><b>Increasing power of spells or pets based on the amount of players in the group</b></span><br />Yeah, that is something we have considered a couple of times. It does fix some problems. A bigger issue than the technology is whether it might be confusing for new players to learn or for experienced players to calculate on the fly.<br /><br />We like for grouping to be a power multiplier. You should be significantly stronger when grouping than you are alone. When some of your abilities diminish relative to the size of the group, that risks confusing things.<br /><br />It&#39;s not off the table though. (<a href="http://blue.mmo-champion.com/28/15443530759-does-blizzard-have-the-technology.html" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: white;">Source</span></b></a>)<br /><br /><span style="color: white;"><b>Raids & Dungeons - The Immortal Q&A</b></span><br /><i><span style="color: white;">- The Immortal, can be done by killing KT w/ out dying (if you have not be present for any other bosses in that reset)</span></i><br />Correct. If you do not die on any other bosses and get to Kel&#39;thuzad, you could (conceivably) sell slots and bring in random people for Kel&#39;thuzad and (assuming nobody dies), they would get the achievement. <br /><br /><i><span style="color: white;">- The Immortal, can be done by killing KT w/ out dying (even if the raid *w/ you not present* died on a boss)</span></i><br />If anybody died on any boss, the raid ID is no good.<br /><br /><i><span style="color: white;">- The Immortal, can be archived by wiping a boss that anyone dies on ... and deaths will only count against you on the attempt in which the boss is actualy killed </span></i><br />Wipes include deaths, so this makes the raid ID no good as well. Deaths on trash are fine, deaths on bosses nullify the raid ID for the whole week it is active. (<a href="http://blue.mmo-champion.com/20/15443449621-the-immortal.html" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: white;">Source</span></b></a>)<br /><br /><span style="color: white;"><b>Tanking - Cooldowns</b></span><br />I said in one of these threads that having cooldowns that are too precious (usually because their cooldown is long) aren&#39;t fun. When you tanked Golemagg (and you were a warrior of course, because nobody else tanked) you had your nice Shield Wall button that you only used to avoid a wipe. Shield Block was used every time it was up. I think those are the extremes and we need to avoid them.<br /><br />In other words, having oh snap buttons that you can use regularly (say every few minutes) is something we think is fun, especially if you can match them to the boss doing something terrible to you.<br /><br />We definitely designed the DK to use a lot of cooldowns, in part because otherwise they would be hitting the same buttons they did when not tanking. But we recognize the danger of chanining cooldowns. One danger is it makes non DK tanks less viable on new or challenging content. Another danger is that tanking becomes a game where if you miss one button in the right fraction of a second then you wipe.<br /><br />We also recognize that if we change DK cooldowns that their base mitigation would need to come up to compensate. We futher recognize that doing that too much leads to four tanks with the same exact health, armor and avoidance numbers. We don&#39;t want a world where the druid has Bear Wall and Bear Stand and Bear Block all of the same magnitude as the warrior, and some players would argue we are too close to that already.<br /><br />However we also don&#39;t want a world where there is one real tank class and several backup tanks only suited for trash or heroics. That one real tank class was the warrior for a long time. We don&#39;t want it to be the DK or the druid or really anyone now. (Fonte