Patch 5.3 PTR patch notes updated for May 7

The latest batch of patch 5.3 PTR patch notes have landed on the official Blizzard blog, containing various highlights, some of which have recently been covered here on WoW Insider. Let's take a look at our highlights, and you can check out all the patch note changes after the break.

• The Strength of One's Foes: All bosses in Mogu'shan Vaults, Heart of Fear, and Terrace of the Endless Spring now have a chance to drop either a Sigil of Power or Sigil of Wisdom
• Minimum level requirement to enter and equip items found in the following dungeons via Dungeon Finder have been adjusted.
  • Gate of the Setting Sun is now available in Normal difficulty, and accessible to level 89 characters.
  • Grim Batol is now accessible at level 84, down from level 85.
  • Lost City of the Tol'vir is now accessible at level 84, down from level 85.
  • Magisters' Terrace is now accessible at level 68, down from level 70.
  • The Mechanar is now accessible at level 68, down from level 70.
• PvP Power conversion ratio to obtain 1% damage at level 90 has been changed from 265 to 400.
• To facilitate a more balanced team composition, players now need to select a role when queuing up for a Battleground or Rated Battleground.
• Justice Heirloom vendors now have Heirloom shields in stock.

Blizzard

Death Knight

Talents

• Gorefiend's Grasp can now affect a maximum of 4 player targets. The number of non-player targets that can be affected remains unlimited.

Unholy

• Festering Strike now deals 175% weapon damage, down from 200%.
• Scourge Strike now deals 165% weapons damage, up from 135%.
• Unholy Might now increases the Death Knight's Strength by 10%, down from 15%.

Rogue

Talents

• Cloak and Dagger now requires the Rogue to be in Stealth. Shadow Dance will not remove the Stealth requirement for Cloak and Dagger. has a range of 20 yards, down from 30 yards .

Combat

• Revealing Strike now lasts 24 seconds, up from 18 seconds.

Subtlety

• Find Weakness now bypasses 100% of armor against non-player targets, and bypasses 50% of armor when used against other players (was 70% armor bypass for all targets).

Warlock
Talents

• Blood Horror no longer activates from attacks made by pets.

Quests

• The Strength of One's Foes: All bosses in Mogu'shan Vaults, Heart of Fear, and Terrace of the Endless Spring now have a chance to drop either a Sigil of Power or Sigil of Wisdom

Battle Pets

• Tiny Blue Carp, Tiny Green Carp, Tiny Red Carp, and Tiny White Carp are now tradable, and can be caught more than once.

Dungeons

• Minimum level requirement to enter and equip items found in the following dungeons via Dungeon Finder have been adjusted.
  • Gate of the Setting Sun is now available in Normal difficulty, and accessible to level 89 characters.
  • Grim Batol is now accessible at level 84, down from level 85.
  • Lost City of the Tol'vir is now accessible at level 84, down from level 85.
  • Magisters' Terrace is now accessible at level 68, down from level 70.
  • The Mechanar is now accessible at level 68, down from level 70.

PvP

• PvP Power conversion ratio to obtain 1% damage at level 90 has been changed from 265 to 400.
• The amount of PvP Power and Resilience on gems have been reduced by 50%.
• Big Zokk Torquewrench has returned from their leave of absence.
• Glorious Conquest Quartermasters (Acon Deathwielder, Ethan Natice) have returned after refitting their wares.

Battlegrounds and Arenas

• To facilitate a more balanced team composition, players now need to select a role when queuing up for a Battleground or Rated Battleground.

Items

• Justice Heirloom vendors now have Heirloom shields in stock.
• Kirin Tor and Sunreaver Beacons are now usable from inside the Throne of Thunder.

UI

• Dungeon Journal has been reorganized. The model view has moved into a sub-tab and replaced with a listing of bosses for the dungeon or raid.

source

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Tags: breaking, patch-5.3, patch-5.3-ptr, patch-5.3-ptr-notes, patch-5.3-ptr-patch-notes, patch-notes

Filed under: Mists of Pandaria

Source : http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/05/07/patch-5-3-ptr-patch-notes-updated-for-may-7/

It came from the Blog: Running of the Orphans 2013 snapshots

Last week, the It came from the Blog family of guilds held its annual Running of the Orphans. As the name suggests, we ran our orphans around, completing the Orgrimmar Children's Week quests.

After we picked up our orphans from the matron, we took the zeppelin from Orgrimmar to Tirisfal Glades. We ran (no mounts, no ports, no summons) to have an audience with Lady Sylvanas in the Undercity. Then we ran back to the zeppelin, making the return trip to Org. Next, since some players did not have the flightpath to Thunder Bluff, we took the zeppelin there (AKA the Love Zeppelin) and ran out to Red Rocks to honor the fallen chieftain. We ran back to town and then took the flightpath right back to Orgrimmar.

We then were extremely irresponsible and took our orphans to the Southern Rocketway, letting them drive the prototype rocket. If the matron only knew ... Once finished with that harrowing ride, we ran back, all the way across Orgrimmar, to the Cone of Cold vendor in the Goblin Slums. We shared ice cream with our high maintenance children and ran back to the Drag to track down the toy vendor.

We purchased dragon kites and flew them around a bit before buying foam swords. We then deposited the little dears back at the orphanage.

It was a fun run as usual. If you don't believe me, check out the snapshots in the gallery below. We host events every month, so if you weren't able to catch this one, stay tuned to WoW Insider for when June's event will be.

Gallery: Running of the Orphans 2013

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Please join us on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) in It came from the Blog. All guild ranks can invite, so /whisper Tizzi or any online member. You are all welcome as long as you play by our simple rules -- basically, don't be a funsucker! Visit the guild FAQ for more details.

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Tags: childrens-week, featured, gallery, guild-event, guild-events, running-of-the-orphans, wow-com-guild, wow-dot-com-guild, wow-event, wow-events, wow-insider, wow-insider-guild, wow-insider-guild-event, wowinsider

Filed under: Events, It Came from the Blog

Source : http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/05/07/it-came-from-the-blog-running-of-the-orphans-2013-snapshots/

The Queue: Illidan + Thrall = BFF

Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft . Adam Holisky (@adamholisky) will be your host today.

Queue, I really don't want to go to work today. I want to stay home and just nap with my cats while drinking coffee and tea.

In fact, on my way to work, I think I'm going to stop at a Starbucks. Just thought you should know. Tell me what kind of drink I should get.

Thanks!

Logan asked:

I'm looking at getting a new computer, a lot of people say that a desktop is the only way to go, but gaming laptops look pretty nice. Are there good laptops?
Yes, absolutely there are good laptops. I've actually moved away from the gaming desktop in favor a powerful gaming laptop. A little under two years ago I bought a $2,300 Asus gaming laptop that had everything I wanted, and then some. Today it's still running strong and I have no plans to replace it.

One of the big drawbacks to gaming laptops is that you can't replace the internal components in them -- you're basically stuck with what you have on day one. This might decrease the shelf life of the machine a bit, but I think the high-end gaming rigs have slowed down a bit in terms of technology churn, so you're probably not going to need to replace things too fast. A desktop does offer more customization options as well, but really, there's only so much power you need. And because you can put an SSD in a laptop as well ... well, you're really just set.

I, quite easily, recommend a gaming laptop over a desktop now.

Daniel asked:

I am a solo player who wants to run through some old content for transmog gear, but there's a couple events like the end of Eye of Eternity and the Gunship in ICC that I can't solo because mechanics don't scale with your character. I've read some guides on how to solo them, but its pretty tough. Since they removed the raid group requirements do you think they'd ever go back and make these mechanics scale?

It's possible that Blizzard would do this (most likely though it'd be scaling with gear item level). I'd recommend you ask around in city chat a bit and get a handful of people that want to go together. It's not going to be too hard to find people that need to hit those places up for transmog. Plus those raids are just plain fun, so it's a good time.

Breadsammich asked:

Do you think Blizzard will ever make the races we met in the various expansions playable? Obviously subsets such as the Mag'har and the Taunka could be sort of attached to the existing races, but I'm speaking more of the new races such as the Tuskarr, Hozen and Jinyu.

I'm thinking the Hozen could be justified with the use of Kaja Cola to make them smart.

There's probably another minor race or two that we'll see elevated to the status of playable, but I wouldn't count on a free for all situation. I've said this before, but look at something like EQ2's races ... it's just out of control. WoW is different, much more structured, much more developed. I wouldn't expect to see a Tuskarr anytime soon (and as it was noted in the comments, it goes against established lore).

Also (no offense intended) I don't understand why everyone is obsessed with the Hozen... What makes them so compelling that everyone wants to play one, or thinks that they're going to be the next playable race? I just don't get it.

Tgr asked:

Why does the Shrine of Seven Stars have seven bankers that stand behind podiums but the Shrine of Two Moons only has three bankers with no podiums?

Because that one time when Chris Metzen [REDACTED] all over [REDACTED] when talking about the next expansion [REDACTED], it was decided that Illidan and Thall [REDACTED] in the bank. Thus, the current situation.

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Have questions about the World of Warcraft ? The WoW Insider crew is here with The Queue, our daily Q&A column. Leave your questions in the comments, and we'll do our best to answer 'em!

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Filed under: The Queue

Source : http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/05/07/the-queue-illidan-thrall-bff/

Around Azeroth: Song of the orphaned virmin

"I'd just finished slaughtering the mother of all virmin when I saw all the little baby vermin singing to me," writes submitter Siobhraich of The Brotherhood of Iron on Wyrmrest Accord (US-A). "Mouths open, throats quivering in eerie harmony. It held me speechless in terror -- right up until all the rest of the virmin horde respawned right on top of me. One dwarf mage, splattered all over the landscape. Next time, I'm blowing up any and all cute fuzzy animals, babies or not." You just killed their mom! What did you expect?

Gallery: Around Azeroth 3

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Tags: around azeroth, around-azeroth, AroundAzeroth, featured, screen-shots, screenshots, world-of-warcraft-pictures, world-of-warcraft-screenshots, wow-screen-shots, wow-screenshot, wow-screenshots, wow-ss

Filed under: Around Azeroth

Source : http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/05/07/around-azeroth-song-of-the-orphaned-virmin/

Last Week in WoW: In a holding pattern edition

Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. We continue to be in a holding pattern of sorts. Patch 5.3 is still going strong on the PTR, but we have no word on a release date. Luckily, patch 5.2 is still going strong as well, with new secrets being discovered as early as just last week. There's also new stuff outside of WoW, from new short stories, to new merchandise, to some interesting viewpoints on the function of gear in the game.

Our usual roundup, featuring all these stories and more, can be found below. Scheduled maintenance today is expected to begin at 3 a.m. PDT and last for 8 hours, so you have plenty of time to read. Keep it tuned here as well. Whenever the patch lands, we'll be here to report on all the details.

Hot news and features

• The latest patch 5.2 hotfixes include nerfs to the Lei Shen encounter in Raid Finder.
• Firecat form has made a secret return in patch 5.2. We'll show you how to get it.
• Blizzard has published an official preview of patch 5.3.
• Heirloom shields may be coming as soon as patch 5.3.
• Patch 5.3 comes with new achievements for collectors.
• Do you feel pretty? Patch 5.3 brings with it the chance to obtain the Gorgeous title.
• We have a temporary fix to that gold seller calendar invite spam.
• Adam believes gear should be abolished. Rossi argues gear is far too important and useful for it to be removed.

• Could the SWTOR Legacy system be a good fit for WoW?
• Do you have a favorite way to die in WoW? We share some of ours in this article.
• Want to dive into Warcraft lore? We have a fresh compilation of sources and stories for you to read.

Class news and guides

• Encrypted Text discusses the patch 5.3 rogue nerfs.
• Blood Pact continues digging through warlock damage logs.
• Lichborne has a death knight wish list for the inevitable new expansion.
• The Care And Feeding of Warriors discusses the fun factor of warrior attacks.

Dungeons, items, professions, PvP, and more

• Should WoW have a deathmatch battleground? Nethaera weighed in earlier last week.
• PvP Developer Brian Holinka recently weighed in the state of tie games in arena PvP.
• What's your favorite fight from classic WoW?

Odds and ends

• The newest WoW faction short story, Bleeding Sun, is now available.
• World of Warcraft goes mainstream with an appearance in the New York Times crossword puzzle.
• Know Your Lore relates the lessons we learned from the Lich King. We also have a profile of Anveena Teague.
• The newest Superman loves World of Warcraft.
• Blizzard's finally packing antivirus software along with the base game, but only in South Africa.
• WoW community member Lore has been hired by Blizzard.
• 15 Minutes of Fame interviews some blood elf roleplayers.
• Check out the amazing Void Terror card from Hearthstone.
• Chinese WoW merchandiser NetEase has released a Mists of Pandaria Mahjong set.

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Tags: downtime, extended-downtime, extended-maintenance, last-week-in-wow, maintenance, realm-downtime, realm-maintenance, roundup, roundups, scheduled-downtime, scheduled-maintenance, server-downtime, server-maintenance, server-status, tuesday, tuesday-downtime, tuesday-maintenance, tuesday-morning, tuesday-morning-post

Filed under: Realm Status, News items

Source : http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/05/07/last-week-in-wow-in-a-holding-pattern-edition/

Breakfast Topic: What do casual and hardcore mean?

These are terms that are bandied around a lot. Catering to the casuals, WoW has become a game for casuals, the rose-tinted spectacles of players who assert that the game used to be hardcore and has somehow slipped from its glory days into the mire of casual gaming.

But what do casual and hardcore mean? Certainly there are extremes. Nobody in their right mind could accuse Method or Blood Legion of being casual. These world first guilds are pretty much the epitome of the hardcore player. And yet, their Finnish cousins, Paragon, are accused of losing their hardcore crown by switching raid sizes. And at the other end of the spectrum, there are people who might log on once a week and run a heroic 5-man.

Of course, it's also worth remembering that your notion of what casual and hardcore are might not match those of your friends, your guild, your family. What is the cut-off point between hardcore-casual and casual-hardcore? How much WoW do you have to play to make the shift from a casual player into a hardcore one? Or is there some other measure, such as longevity, that qualifies some over others? Or maybe the whole thing is nonsense.

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Tags: featured, game-discussion, gamer-discussion, world-of-warcraft-discussion, world-of-warcraft-topics, wow-discussion, wow-hot-topics, wow-issues, wow-topics

Filed under: Breakfast Topics

Source : http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/05/07/breakfast-topic-what-do-casual-and-hardcore-mean/

Rock on with Kang's Bindstone

I'm going to have to humbly beg everyone for their forgiveness for my terrible title pun. Get it?! Okay, but seriously. We know we've got Phat Loot Friday and all that, but Kang's Bindstone is such a neat item that it deserves its own post. The Bindstone is an item that buffs you with a chance to turn an enemy to stone upon delivering a killing blow instead of triggering the normal death effect. Loot and such is unaffected - this is a purely cosmetic item. The buff lasts ten minutes and works against critters, mobs, enemy players, and even bosses.

Kang's Bindstone drops from Kang the Soul Thief, a rare mogu elite in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. He can be found in the far west of the zone, on Autumnshade Ridge north of the Five Sisters site on the map. He's a mogu sorcerer and does some nasty shadow-based attacks, but he should be soloable for a level 90 character. Happy hunting!

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Tags: fun-loot, items, kang-drops, kang-the-soul-thief, loot, rare-drops, rare-elite, vanity-items

Filed under: Mists of Pandaria

Source : http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/05/06/rock-on-with-kangs-bindstone/