Patch 3.1 lesser-known changes
by Eliah Hecht 
Apr 19th 2009 at 2:00PM
Sure, you know about dual spec, the Argent Tournament, and Ulduar. But patch 3.1 was a patch of many changes, and some of them seem to have flown under most people's radar. Here are a few changes that have been surprising some people recently, judging by the tips we've been getting.
- Siphon Life is no longer a separate spell. The talent now adds a self-healing effect to your Corruption, as well as boosting the damage on Corruption, Seed of Corruption, and Unstable Affliction.
- Emblems are now automatically distributed to everyone upon the first person looting them, similar to gold. This means no more forgotten emblems, and no more rush to the corpse as everyone goes to get theirs. It will also make loot chests much less unpleasant.
- Many spells with ground effects, such as Rain of Fire, Blizzard, and Death and Decay, are not showing the same as they used to. This is because there is a new video effects option, "Show Projected Textures," which controls whether things like the rune circles from RoF/Blizz/DnD are rendered on your client. It also appears to control my framerate in 25-man raids.
- The 10% experience bonus from heirloom shoulders now applies to quest experience as well as experience gained from killing mobs.
Is there anything else that took you by surprise in patch 3.1?
Filed under: Patches, Odds and ends
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 8)
Jordan Apr 19th 2009 2:05PM
The flight path directly to Sholazar from Dalaran. That was pleasant.
Jamesisgreat Apr 19th 2009 2:28PM
Oh god - it was wasn't it!
Simes Apr 19th 2009 3:11PM
Especially if you happen to be flying over Wintergrasp when your side wins it - you get credit even on the gryphon!
DeeGee Apr 19th 2009 2:07PM
I was surprised to find my linked professions don't work half the time.
Wait a minute.....
Kadamon Apr 19th 2009 2:07PM
What? Quest exp as well?
Hot damn I need to get me some shoulders...this'll make life tons easier.
CursedSeishi Apr 19th 2009 2:10PM
I know, that made me smirk too, even better for leveling alts than it used to be. Roughly every 10 quests will equal completing one with 0 work :D
Panaçea Apr 19th 2009 2:41PM
Yeah, my dual-boxing with the recruit-a-friend just got better. The one character has shoulders as well, that means they're getting 330% more experience from quests and kills.
Instances are my best friend... Walk in at 20, walk out at 22, turn in the quests and ding to 24. I love it!
bundee Apr 19th 2009 3:18PM
Oh god yes! I got these because: A) good shoulders are hard to come by at low levels B) 10% kill XP bonus.
Now I have a third reason to wear these (tho still being XP bonus)
S Apr 19th 2009 6:04PM
GD it, I leveled a alliance shaman from 1-80 since after the expansion, and that would have been nice...
Rollo Apr 19th 2009 6:07PM
I thought the 3*xp bonus from recruiting a friend didn't stack with any other xp bonus (like rested)?
Hilton Apr 19th 2009 9:42PM
And most of the shoulders look good too!
nbcaffeine Apr 20th 2009 8:22AM
They don't stack. 300% is the best you can get
zappo Apr 20th 2009 10:34AM
It may be a bug, but I'm positive that the shoulders do stack with refer a friend. When I'm grouped with my friend, he can start a level above me and I level right past him - and we're both doing EXACTLY the same stuff. I've read a few places that the RaF bonus sort of "caps" the xp gain at 300%, but my experience says differently.
Rofllol Apr 19th 2009 2:11PM
- Alt clicking an item on your character page shows all the same slots for that item that are in your bag for easy switching
-You can turn on a video option that shows you the quality of an item [colorblind mode]
-Fishing Daily - I got the 100g grey item yesterday.
-Visit your cooking trainer, they'll likely have new recipes for you.
-There is a book of glyph mastery than can fetch upwards of 400-5000g depending on the server. It's a random drop in northrend like the JC necklace, not really farmable, you just sometimes get lucky.
-There is a new boss in Wintergrasp - this makes much more people fight in battles and if you're on an older comp you might think about sticking to the tower defense....lotta lag up north.
bundee Apr 19th 2009 3:22PM
That alt click thing is awesome! Although its more of a alt-hover, really. Also, its kinda annoying that the stats on the item and the little menu compete for space.
*grumble grumble*
/why doesn't blizzard ever test crap? Anyone use the new arrows at the AH and have them completely botch your search results?
Jamesisgreat Apr 19th 2009 3:53PM
On the subject of new stuff in Wintergrasp - the quatermaster there has loads of new epic gear such as titan-forged trinkets and (at least for my druid) an epic breastplate and belt to match the titan-forged leather helemt.
Great stuff - and you purchase them with Wintergrasp marks that, if your like me, you had not much use for anyway.
Valdorin Apr 19th 2009 2:14PM
The stealth deathstrike nerf
Liltimmy Apr 19th 2009 3:09PM
Yeah...my deathstrike heals went from like 1k plus to 300...huuuuuge nerf
Rofllol Apr 19th 2009 2:13PM
Also,
You can now only click on the profession links offered up by your own race....
Tauren can see tauren recipes...
Be can see BE links
Undead can see undead links....etc.
Blizzard are racists all along in hiding
Joelock Apr 19th 2009 2:48PM
same race OR class lol, not only are they racist, they're classist too! /scoff