On Monday, World of Warcraft 5.3 introduced Heroic difficulty to Scenarios and a great deal else. I mean, I’m not saying its patch notes were long, but I’d practically mummified myself by the time I’d reached the end. 5.3: Escalation is the update dedicated to fixing everything that was wrong with it, and in itself musters a pagecount Virgil would be proud of. Fingers firmly on your scroll wheels, please.
Unlike 5.2, today’s hotfixes are made on the server end of WoW and won’t require you to download a new patch. Some have already taken effect; others will be implemented when your favoured Realm is next restarted.
“Please keep in mind that some issues cannot be addressed without a client-side patch update,” write Blizzard. “We will continue to update this list as additional hotfixes are applied.”
Classes
Druid
- General
Thrash’s periodic damage component can once again be affected by critical chance.
- Balance
Solar Beam and the Symbiosis version of Solar Beam’s silence effect can no longer be reflected.
Shaman
- General
Elemental Overload version of Lava Burst should now properly deal 75% of the damage dealt by the Lava Burst that activated it.
Warlocks
- Destruction
Fire and Brimstone can now only be cast when the Warlock has at least 1 Burning Ember active.
Creatures
- Elite versions of Quivering Filth should now have a chance to drop Half-Empty Food Container.
Pet Battles
Pet Abilities
- Blackout Kick should now correctly have a 100% chance to hit.
- Deep Freeze should now only stun 100% of the time when target is chilled.
- Fury of 1,000 Fists should now only stun 100% of the time when target is blinded.
- Surge of Light should now only stun 100% of the time when the weather is darkness.
Raids, Dungeons, and Scenarios
Throne of Thunder
- Dark Animus
Anima Golems now generate more threat when attacking their current target.
- Durumu the Forgotten
Crimson Fog and Azure Fog should now properly remain visible after being revealed by cones of light.
Battlegrounds and Arenas
- Deepwind Gorge capture points will now properly use the faction you have been assigned to when capturing mines.
Items
- Champion’s Purse should now always award a Champion’s Seal again.
Battlefield: Barrens
- Goblin Kor’kron Commanders’ Throw Dynamite ability now deals 40% less damage.
- Shaman Kor’kron Commanders’ Crackling Fury will now only increase in damage by 50% each jump, down from 200%.
- Warrior Kor’kron Commanders will now only cast Titanic Thunderclap when there are enemies within 10 yards.
- Some Kor’kron Commander abilities will no longer target or affect pets and totems.
- Fixed an issue where Overturned Caravans were despawning earlier than intended.
Brawler’s Guild
- Challenge Card quests can now be completed while in a raid. Note that credit for defeating a boss will not be shared amongst party or raid members.
- Anthracite will now reset properly when a player dies or leaves the arena and can no longer be attacked by players spectating the fight.
Bug Fixes
- Achievement: Waste Not, Want Not should now be properly awarded to players that satisfied all but the Cooldown Power-Up requirement.
- Sound effects should no longer be cut out in areas with a large number of ambient sounds.
- Fixed an issue where some sounds were not playing correctly during boss fights.
- Fixed an issue where the raid warning sound was not playing correctly.
May 22
General
- Players that die and release around the Seat of Knowledge area will now be provided with a Spectral Gryphon (Wisp for Night Elves) or a Spectral Wyvern; allowing them to fly back to their bodies.
Classes
Druid
- Talents
Force of Nature: Balance Treant should be more responsive while chain casting. The global cooldown on their version of Wrath has been reduced to 0.5 seconds, down from 1.5 seconds.
Force of Nature: Restoration Treant should no longer cause their target to taunt enemies.
Priest
Shadow
Vampiric Embrace should now split healing amongst multiple allied targets by the proper amount.
Shaman
- General
Healing Rain’s area-of-effect now should cap properly at 6 targets.
- Talents
Conductivity should now split healing amongst multiple allied targets by the proper amount.
Healing Tide Totem’s heals no longer require line-of-sight.
Warlock
- General
Demonic Gateway now should correctly gain charges while the Warlock is mounted or on a passenger mount.
Siphon Life should now heal for the proper amount for Warlocks that have the Fel Armor passive ability.
- Glyphs
Glyph of Nightmares will now properly cancel the water walking effect when the Warlock dismounts or takes damage.
Quests
- Enemy at the Gates: Fixed an issue where players were unable to ride the War Serpent.
Pet Battles
- Fabled Pandaren Pet Supplies should now always contain a Lesser Pet Treat.
- Raids, Dungeons, and Scenarios
Scenarios
- Secrets of Ragefire: Fixed an issue where certain situations could cause the Scenario to get stuck on Stage 3.
Items
- Enchant Weapon – Spirit of Conquest is now soulbound.
- Enchant Weapon – Bloody Dancing Steel is now soulbound.
Battlefield: Barrens
- Kor’kron Commanders are now non-faction specific multi-tap for all characters that attack them.
May 21
Classes
Druid
Talents
- Force of Nature now summons a Treant that has 40% of the Druid’s health, up from 10%.
- Force of Nature: Balance Treant’s cast time for Wrath has been increased to 2.5 seconds, up from 2.0 seconds, and damage dealt has been increased by 25%.
Monk
Mistweaver
- Surging Mist will again properly grant Chi to the casting Monk when healing targets other than themselves while Glyph of Surging Mist is active.
Paladin
General
- Divine Protection should now be usable while stunned.
Shaman
General
- Fixed an issue for Restoration Shamans where Ascendance did not divide the amount healed by Restorative Mists among nearby allies properly.
Quests
- Path of the Last Emperor: Seer Hao Pham Roo should no longer be overlapping with Lorewalker Cho.
Creatures
- Galleon should now use the correct loot table while awarding loot.
Raids, Dungeons, and Scenarios
Karazhan
- Chess Event: Increased the delay between moves for enemy chess pieces.
Scenarios
- Fixed an issue with characters not shape-shifting back into the correct race while under the effects of an illusion spell enabling them to participate in an opposing faction’s Scenarios.
PvP
- Conquest Quartermasters (Armsmaster Holinka and Roo Desvin) have been temporarily disabled while we work to resolve an issue with the Tyrannical Conquest achievement.
- Big Zokk Torquewrench has been found by a search party and brought back from their extended leave of absence.
Battlegrounds and Arenas
- Deepwind Gorge has been temporarily removed from Rated Battlegrounds rotation while we work to resolve an issue affecting base capture.
Battlefield: Barrens
- Map markers for caravans that have been destroyed should now be properly removed from the world map.
- Overturned caravans should now despawn properly.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed a crash on startup for Macs with the GMA 950 chipset.