PTR Patch 3.3: Patch notes updated

Some major highlights (although you should really read everything after the break, all of it is very important):
- Players who take part in groups who have one or more members who have been matched with them randomly from within the Dungeon System will receive extra rewards, up to and including the coveted Perky Pug non-combat pet. The more random players with whom one groups, the faster the pet can be obtained.
- Players can be placed in a group for a random dungeon no more than once every 15 minutes.
- The Need Before Greed loot system will be the unalterable default looting system for pick-up groups in the Dungeon System and has been updated.
- Need Before Greed will now recognize gear appropriate for a class in three ways: the class must be able to equip the item, pure melee will be unable to roll on spell power items, and classes are limited to their dominant armor type (ex. paladins for plate). All items will still be available via Greed rolls as well as the new Disenchant option should no member be able to use the item.
- Players will be able to roll on items with a required minimum level higher than a player's current level.
- LFG channel has returned to being a realm-wide channel accessible in any city!
General
- Will of the Forsaken now shares a 45-second cooldown with similar effects, including the Medallion of the Horde, Titan-Forged runes, Insignia of the Horde, etc.
- Predatory Strikes: The Predatory Swiftness buff from this talent now has an 8-second duration.
- Sacred Shield: The damage absorption effect from this ability now triggers only once every 30 seconds.
- Infusion of Light: This talent now also reduces the cooldown on the effect of Sacred Shield by 12/24 seconds.
- Divine Guardian: This talent no longer increases the amount of damage transferred to the paladin from Divine Sacrifice. Instead it causes all raid and party members to take 10/20% reduced damage while Divine Sacrifice is active. In addition, the duration has been changed to 6 seconds, however the effect does not terminate when Divine Sacrifice is removed before its full duration.
- This feature has replaced the Looking For Group tool and provides all-new dungeon party creation functionality.
- Players can join as individuals, as a full group, or a partial group to look for additional party members.
- Groups using this tool will be able to teleport directly to the selected instance. Upon leaving the instance, players will be returned to their original location. If any party member needs to temporarily leave the instance for reagents or repairs, they will have the option to teleport back to the instance.
- Players can choose the Random Dungeon option.
- The Heroic Wrath of the Lich King Daily Random Dungeon option will award two Emblems of Frost no more than once a day.
- The normal Wrath of the Lich King Daily Random Dungeon option will award two Emblems of Triumph no more than once a day.
- Continuing to complete Wrath of the Lich King Heroic instances using the Daily Random Dungeon option will award players two additional Emblems of Triumph each time.
- Daily Heroic and normal dungeon quests have been removed. These quests have been replaced with weekly raid quests (see the "Quests" section for details).
- Level-approp
riate rewards will be offered to players who choose the Random Dungeon option for pre-Wrath of the Lich King dungeons. - Players can be placed in a group for a random dungeon no more than once every 15 minutes.
- Random Dungeon rewards will be placed in each player's inventory automatically upon completion of the dungeon (final boss killed). A pop-up notification will display any rewards earned through the Dungeon System.
- Instead of choosing a random dungeon, players can also choose specific dungeons appropriate for their level range. Multiple instances can be selected at one time. The feature no longer limits the choice to look for only 3 dungeon groups at one time.
- Pick-Up Groups
- Cross-realm instances are now available and use an improved matchmaking system to assist players in looking for additional party members. As with Battlegrounds, the realms in each Battlegroup are connected.
- As part of the matchmaking system, some of the more difficult dungeons will have a minimum gear requirement. Players also need to meet the requirements for dungeons that require attunement, such as keys or quests. If a player does not meet the requirements for a particular dungeon, a lock icon will be displayed next to that dungeon. Hovering over this icon will display the requirements which have not been met.
- Only conjured items and loot dropped in a dungeon for which other party members are eligible can be traded between players from different realms.
- A Vote Kick feature will be available in the event a member of a party is not performing to the expectations of the other members.
- Players who leave the group prematurely are subject to a Deserter debuff preventing them from using the Dungeon System tool for 15 minutes.
- If an existing group loses a member, the leader will be asked if he or she wants to continue the dungeon. Choosing to continue will automatically place the group back into the Dungeon System queue.
- A Player will not be placed in a group with people on his or her Ignore list.
- Players who take part in groups who have one or more members who have been matched with them randomly from within the Dungeon System will receive extra rewards, up to and including the coveted Perky Pug non-combat pet. The more random players with whom one groups, the faster the pet can be obtained.
- The Need Before Greed loot system will be the unalterable default looting system for pick-up groups in the Dungeon System and has been updated.
- Need Before Greed will now recognize gear appropriate for a class in three ways: the class must be able to equip the item, pure melee will be unable to roll on spell power items, and classes are limited to their dominant armor type (ex. paladins for plate). All items will still be available via Greed rolls as well as the new Disenchant option should no member be able to use the item.
- Players will be able to roll on items with a required minimum level higher than a player's current level.
There is a new Looking For Raid option available to players that can be accessed via the Raid Information screen in the interface or by typing "/LFR."
- Players will be able to browse the system manually for any other players looking for a raid dungeon group.
- While browsing LFR players may sort the list ascending or descending by left-clicking the following headers: Name, Level, Class, Tank Role, Healer Role, and Damage Role. The crown is the Leader Role (representing a raid group with 2 or more people). Players can left-click on this header to sort the list with groups at the top or at the bottom.
- Hovering over players listed in LFR will display their name, class, level, roles and comments. Hovering over a raid/group will display the leader's name, the raid information (number of people the raid), comments, if there are any bosses dead (and which ones), and if there are any friends from your Friends list or ignored players from your Ignore list in the raid group.
- The Looking For Group chat channel has returned and can be accessed in all major cities (similar to the Trade chat channel) without the use of the Dungeon system interface.
- Players may only be queued or listed in one of the following systems at a time: Dungeons, LFR, Battlegrounds, or Arenas.
- Ignore List: The amount of characters a person can ignore has been increased to 50. In addition, players on other realms can be placed on the Ignore list.
- Commendation Badges which award reputation with various Wrath of the Lich King factions can be purchased with Emblems of Triumph in Dalaran.
- Sceptor of Celebras: Since this item is no longer needed as a key, Celebras will no longer give one out to a player who loses it. The item can now be sold or disenchanted as normal.
Patch 3.3 is the last major patch of Wrath of the Lich King. With the new Icecrown Citadel 5-man dungeons and 10/25-man raid arriving soon, patch 3.3 will deal the final blow to the Arthas. WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.3 will keep you updated with all the latest patch news.Filed under: Patches, News items
Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 news





Reader Comments (Page 4 of 10)
lolMYNEWAIMSNlol Oct 27th 2009 8:14PM
Is the Disenchant option only a choice for those who have Enchanting? If not that's really screwed. Perhaps next patch I can skin something without having skinning?
DAWG Oct 27th 2009 8:55PM
Did you forget about the whole "Being able to enchant items" thing
ziggler Oct 27th 2009 8:21PM
that wotf change...
(no words can describe how upset I am with that)
Ryar Oct 27th 2009 8:32PM
Please tell me the WotF change is a joke....
Valt Oct 27th 2009 10:03PM
Too many humans crying about it ruining RMP teams alliance side.
nearlysober Oct 27th 2009 8:30PM
Undead should get free class re-rolls if that wotf nerf goes live... I've been playing my rogue for two years mainly because of that ability... and yeah yeah whatever you can complain its over-powered & this is a fix not a nerf... but it still doesn't change the fact that it completely changes my character I've had for years.
aboozan Oct 27th 2009 8:34PM
I approve this message
lolMYNEWAIMSNlol Oct 27th 2009 8:37PM
Race change, It just went live. Cha-ching!
velutina Oct 27th 2009 8:51PM
They've said that all the racials are getting an overhaul in 4.0. You could just wait it out. I wouldn't know what to change to because in a few months they'll all change anyway.
MrMindless Oct 27th 2009 9:04PM
if you had to roll a certain race just for its racials I'd say the nerf was a justified one
commence downranking
Nazgûl Oct 27th 2009 9:42PM
Why sir, that was in no way Mindless at all. Best comment I've seen all day, makes complete sense and is probably the reason for the nerf.
jfofla Oct 27th 2009 8:31PM
Bravo Blizzard!
Excellent work. Well thought out, this will be a joy to run!
Darias.Perenolde Oct 27th 2009 8:33PM
*sigh* Still no change on the level 10 raid limitation.
Chris Anthony Oct 27th 2009 9:05PM
No, and there won't be. Blizzard's been pretty clear about why they're doing it: because jerks enjoy inviting low-level characters to raids and then bailing. New players often don't have any idea what a raid group is, what its limitations are, or - sometimes - even how to get out of it. All they know is that a "friendly" higher-level player invited them to a group, and all of a sudden they couldn't pick up quest items and their XP from mobs was dramatically reduced.
Seraph Oct 28th 2009 10:19AM
With Blizz's push for adding more tutorials, why not add a tutorial that activates if you get into a raid group for the first time, letting you know the limitations and telling you how to get out?
Jafari Oct 28th 2009 3:14PM
@ Seraph
They did.
http://www.wow.com/gallery/patch-3-3-ptr-new-tutorial-gallery/2395000/
Tim Oct 27th 2009 8:33PM
Is it Need > Greed > DE? Cuz I'm an enchanter.. and I'm just gonna hit Greed if I'm always going to miss out on the possibility of mats.
Fierna Oct 27th 2009 8:49PM
Unfortunately no, according to the patch notes greed and DE have the same priority.
So now all enchanters are forced to DE for PUGs. I'd be k with that if I could roll on the skins and extra cloth other professions get to pick up.
Chris Anthony Oct 27th 2009 9:06PM
"Forced to DE"? You can't just roll Greed like everyone else?
Mirantha Oct 27th 2009 9:35PM
No, it is Need > Greed/DE. Meaning Need rolls come first, if there is no need then the highest Greed/DE roll wins their choice. So if players 1, 3 and 5 choose Greed and players 2 and 4 choose DE, the highest roll gets their preference (either the item or the resulting mats). The enchanter is NOT de'ing for free for the group, in fact the enchanter is no longer having to do anything other than make their own personal choice as to item or mats. The reason for this is that you cannot trade items cross-realm. Therefore, if the enchanter was de'ing along the way, they could not trade the shards/crystals at the end of the run to anyone not from their realm.