A few days ago, Zarhym posted an update to the 4.2 Patchnotes outlining some upcoming changes to the Tier 11 Raids (and one random change to VC change Vanessa’s voice). As is to be expected anytime anyone at Blizzard posts anything, there was a mild fury released onto the forums.
I have been known to express my displeasure at and to Blizzard from time to time even warranting an email response from people at Blizzard who get to sign things with their real names (and they really are real people, and kinda nice). This time I just don’t understand all the hubbub. Those who were around when 3.0 went live will remember the great 20% nerf to all raids in BC including Sunwell. The sky didn’t fall, women didn’t run naked through the streets, and WoW didn’t end. Patches like this serve to do one major thing – make content accessible. Therein lies the problem for a lot of people.
Many players in the game can get a bit territorial. I get a bit of an e-peen about some of the titles I’ve picked up here and there, like “Hand of A’dal.” Maybe that one is a bad example since it’s no longer attainable. Let’s take “Of the Nightfall” instead. When it was current content, fighting Sartharian with all three Twilight Drakes was about the hardest thing there was. I was obscenely giddy when I got that title and it was the first title I had worn in a long time.
As time went on, the gear got better and things that used to hurt a lot didn’t hurt so much any more. Soon a new expansion came and whereas 5k DPS used to be near godly, 15 k DPS became the standard. What used to take 10 top notch Sadomasochist raiders can be zerged by just a couple (let’s be honest, it could be done in late Wrath).
I could be upset that the title I was genuinely proud to earn has been made meaningless to the average player, but I’m not. No one can take away what that title means to me and the memories of that progression cycle and eventual kill. Getting that title today doesn’t cheapen my title, it cheapens yours.
I think this is the crux of the issue today. Players have been slugging it out in very tightly tuned content for a while now. Tier 11 isn’t a reset in difficulty from Tier 10, it’s a continuation up the ladder. 10 man Heroic content more especially so. Those raid groups who have been working their buts off are naturally protective of their achievements and progression and rightfully so…until T12 comes out and BoT/T4W/BWD aren’t what the cool kids are doing anymore. We won’t see these raids nerfed until Firelands drops and the vast majority of raid groups no longer care because they will be on to bigger and better things…like Rags with legs!
The change lets more casual or lesser skilled groups see base raid content and that’s a good thing. For those hellbent on peeing on the ground to mark your turf, Nethaera says:
So round up the Drama Llamas, finish up your achievements, and kill Nef and Ony for the last time (we hope). Firelands will be here soon and I can tell you from the PTR, it’s a hell of a lot of fun! Don’t worry about the old stuff, prep for the challenges that are coming.
The Bastion of Twilight
- The damage modifier on normal difficulty has been reduced for Arion, Elementium Monstrosity, Feludius, Ignacius, and Terrastra.
- One of each type of bound elemental in the Ascendant Council chamber has been removed.
- Arion
- Chain Lightning damage has been reduced.
- Cho’gall
- Health, melee damage, Health of Corrupting Adherent, Depravity damage, Corrupting Crash damage, Flaming Destruction damage, and Unleashed Shadows damage have all been reduced by 20%.
- Corrupting Crash and Depravity
- The amount of Corruption they give has been reduced to 5, down from 10.
- Corrupted Bite effect caused by Blood of the Old God has been reduced.
- Damage taken from Corruption of the Old God per Corrupted Blood has been reduced from 3% per stack to 2% per stack.
- Debilitating Beam damage has been reduced by 20%.
- The duration of Twisted Devotion has been reduced by 25%.
- Dragon Siblings
- Health, melee damage, Twilight Meteorite damage, Devouring Flames, Blackout damage, Unstable Twilight damage, Twilight Zone damage, Twilight Blast damage, and Fabulous Flames damage have all been reduced by 20%.
- Elementium Monstrosity
- Electrical Instability damage has been reduced.
- Feludius
- Damage due to being frozen while Waterlogged has been reduced.
- Halfus
- Health, melee damage, Fireball/Fireball Barrage damage, Furious Roar damage, Scorching Breath damage, and Shadow Nova damage have all been reduced by 20%.
- Nether Scion, Slate Dragon, Storm Rider, Time Warden, and Orphaned Emerald Whelp health has been reduced by 20%.
- Shadow Nova base cast time has been increased.
- Ignacious
- Rising Flames now increases damage by 3% per stack, down from 5%.
- Terrastra
- Harden Skin now increases physical damage dealt by 20%, down from 100%.
Blackwing Descent
- Atramedes
- Health, melee damage, modulation damage, Roaring Flame Breath damage, and Searing Flame damage have all been reduced by 20%.
- Modulation no longer causes Sound in normal difficulty.
- Sound given by Sonar Pulse has been reduced to 3, down from 5.
- Chimaeron
- Health has been reduced by 20% and melee damage has been reduced by 10%.
- Chimaeron will now only cast two caustic slimes per 30-second cycle.
- Drakeadon Mongrel
- Time Lapse no longer stuns.
- Frost Burn silence is now 3 seconds.
- Dwarven Kings
- Whirlwind no longer drops threat.
- Execution Sentence now deals damage only.
- Shield of Light absorption has been reduced.
- Magmaw
- Damage and hit points have been reduced by 20%.
- Lava Parasites have been diminished.
- Lava Spew damage, Magma Spit damage, Massive Crash damage, and Infectious Vomit damage have all been been reduced.
- Mangled Lifeless no longer instantly kills, and its damage has been reduced.
- Parasitic Infection has been decreased.
- Maloriak
- Health, damage, Aberration health/damage, Arcane Storm damage, Prime Subject damage, Flash Freeze/Shatter damage, and Scorching Blast damage have all been decreased by 20%.
- The Aberration stacking damage buff has been decreased.
- Prime Subjects no longer fixate, and are no longer immune to taunt effects.
- Nefarian
- Health and melee damage has been reduced by 20%.
- Animated Bone Warriors take 33 seconds to fall over, down from 50. In addition, fewer Animated Bone Warriors spawn.
- Blast Nova cast time has been increased.
- Chromatic Prototype health has been reduced by 20%.
- Electrocute damage has been reduced by 30%.
- Magma Stacking debuff effect has been reduced by 75%.
- Nefarian’s Shadowblaze cast frequency cannot increase beyond 1 once every 15 seconds.
- Onyxia health and melee damage has been reduced by 20%.
- Shadowflame Barrage damage has been reduced by 20%.
- Tail Lash damage has been reduced by 50%.
- Omnotron Council
- Health, Melee damage, Electrical Discharge damage, Lightning Conductor damage, Health of Poison Bomb, Incineration Security Measure damage, and Arcane Annihilator damage have all been reduced by 20%.
- Barrier absorb amount has been increased by 100%.
- The cooldown on Power Conversion (Converted Power chance) has been increased.
- Flamethrower damage has been reduced by 40%.
- Static Shock caused by Unstable Shield damage and Poison Bomb damage has been decreased by 50%.
Throne of the Four Winds
- Al’Akir
- Acid Rain now stacks every 20 seconds, up from 15.
- Electrocute now pulses every 1 second, up from 0.5.
- Feedback duration has been increased to 30 seconds, up from 20.
- Health, damage, and Wind Burst damage have all been reduced by 20%.
- Lightning and Lightning Rod recast time has been increased.
- Lightning Strike friendly chain damage has been reduced by 50%.
- Static Shock will no longer be used on normal difficulty in phase 1 or phase 2.
- Conclave of the Four Winds
- Rohash, Anshal, Nezir melee, Ravenous Creeper health/damage, Ravenous Creeper toxic spores damage, Hurricane damage, Sleet Storm damage, Permafrost damage , Slicing Gale, and Wind Blast damage have all been reduced by 20%.
- Gathering Strength cast time has been increased.
- Ice Patch slow effect is now 5% per stack, up to 10 stacks, down from 10% per stack, up to 30 stacks, and damage has been reduced by 20%.
- Wind Chill damage has been decreased by 20% and now increases damage taken by 5% per stack.
