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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsPatch 4.1 PTR notes updated for March 30
by Mathew McCurley 
Mar 30th 2011 at 11:12PM
The PTR 4.1 patch notes have been updated for March 30. Of particular note is a new Battle.net account-bound classification for heirloom items, allowing players to transfer their heirlooms around from account to account when they're part of the same Battle.net ID. Hit the jump for the new notes.
Patch 4.1 patch note updates for March 30
Achievements PvP
Shaman
Warlock
- The following Battleground achievements have been permanently removed from the game, as they do not function correctly with the achievement tracking system:
- Guild Gankin' in Gilneas
- Guild Gulch
- The Peak of Perfection
- The Perfect Guild Storm
- Storming the Beach
- The guild achievements for earning exalted reputation with factions (Ambassador, Diplomacy, and United Nations) have been fixed to now correctly count cumulative guild members with exalted factions. Previously, these achievements would only count exalted factions on one guild member.
- The guild rated Battleground title achievements should now properly be awarded.
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Account Bound Items
- Many "Account Bound" heirlooms are now labeled as "Battle.net Account Bound", meaning that they can also be traded or mailed to characters that are on different World of Warcraft accounts under the same Battle.net account.
- Mail sent to characters on the same Battle.net account now arrives instantaneously, as it does for the same World of Warcraft account.
- Mailing account-bound items to characters of the opposite faction on the same Battle.net account will now correctly translate faction-specific items to their appropriate equivalent.
- Aura of Arcane Haste now has a clearer visual on the bearer of the aura.
- Bound Flames in the Karsh Steelbender encounter no longer create Lava Pools when they are killed.
- The Short Throw ability used by Twilight Sadists has had its range reduced to 10 yards.
- Ragezone cast by Defias Blood Wizards now only increases damage dealt, no longer increasing damage taken.
- Bleeding Wound damge from General Umbriss has been lowered by 20%.
- Malignant Trogg now moves more slowly.
- Encumbered damage bonus from Forgemaster Throngus has been reduced by 50%.
- Invoked Flaming Spirits should prefer non-tank targets to fixate on.
- The Twilight Flame Patch from the Twilight Drake has been removed.
- The cooldown portion of the Twisted Arcane buff cast by Azureborne Seers has been removed.
- Ground Slam now has a pre-cast visual on the ground in front of Ozruk. In addition, Ground Slam's damage and radius have been reduced.
- High Priestess Azil's Seismic Shard now has a more obvious warning visual.
- Gilgoblin Hunters' Poisoned Spear direct and periodic damage has been reduced.
- Gilgoblin Aquamages' Tsunami damage has been reduced.
- Visual effects during the Lady Naz'jar encounter have been improved for clarity.
- Blight Beasts summoned during the Ozumat encounter now deal less damage with Aura of Dread.
- The Air Nova ability triggered when a Gust Soldier is killed has had its knockback effect reduced.
- Altairus now spawns closer to the center of his platform, away from the edge.
- Temple Adepts and Ministers of Air now wait 2 seconds before starting a spell cast when they are first engaged.
- The maze section has been removed, and nearby creatures and bosses have been adjusted to compensate.
- Guild Challenges are now available for testing.
- These challenges can be found in the Info pane of the guild UI.
- Guild Challenges fall into three categories: Guild Dungeon Run, Guild Raid, and Guild Rated Battleground.
- Each challenge can be completed a set number of times per week. Guild groups participating in level-appropriate Heroic or normal difficulty dungeons and raids, or Rated Battlegrounds, will automatically qualify for challenge credit.
- Each time a Guild Challenge is completed, the guild will be awarded experience and gold deposited directly into the Guild Vault, as well as the opportunity to earn all-new achievements. A popup or "toast" will be displayed to confirm a Guild Challenge has been completed (similar to achievement alerts).
- Guild experience earned via Guild Challenges will be awarded above the daily cap. The experience cap will move forward relative to the amount of experience obtained through completing Guild Challenges (similar to rested experience for characters).
- Guilds already at the level cap will be awarded substantially more gold in place of guild experience.
- Gold rewards require the qualified guild members of the group to be honored with their guild, and the guild must be level 5.
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Alchemy
- Flask of Steelskin now grants 450 Stamina, up from 300. The Mixology bonus for alchemists remains at 120 stamina.
- The rate at which Honor Points are earned has been doubled.
- Arena matchmaking can now extend beyond a team's Battlegroup.
- Battleground raid leaders can now move players from other realms among raid subgroups.
- All non-damaging interrupts off the global cooldown will now always hit the target. This includes Pummel, Shield Bash, Kick, Mind Freeze, Rebuke, Skull Bash, Counterspell, Wind Shear, Solar Beam, Silencing Shot, and related player pet abilities.
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Unholy
- Desecration no longer triggers when an applicable strike hits a snare-immune target. This is primarily to avoid unnecessary spell effect clutter during boss encounters.
- Cyclone duration has been reduced to 5 seconds, down from 6.
- Lacerate bonus threat has been removed and replaced with increased initial damage done.
- Savage Defense has been redesigned slightly. Instead of a single charge absorption, it now places an absorption effect on the druid absorbing up to 35% of the druid's attack power (modified by mastery, if applicable) in damage and lasting 10 seconds. There are no longer any charges on the effect.
- Swipe (Bear) cooldown has been reduced to 3 seconds, down from 6, and is now trainable at level 18 (training cost has been reduced). In addition, the bonus threat from this ability has been removed and replaced with increased damage done.
- Thrash bonus threat has been removed and replaced with increased damage done.
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Restoration
- Nature's Swiftness now also increases the healing done by th eaffected nature spell by 50%.
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Pets
- Summoned pets now start with 100 focus, up from 0.
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Hunter Bug Fixes
- Hunters will automatically acquire a new target if the current target dies in the middle of a cast.
- Aimed Shot and Steady Shot should no longer start casting Auto Shot on a new target when the "Stop Auto Attack" option is enabled.
- Auto Shot now automatically turns off until reactivated once Freezing Trap is cast on an enemy player.
- Scatter Shot's disorient effect should no longer sometimes be broken by the hunter's Auto Shot.Mage
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Arcane
- Arcane Blast damage has been increased by 13%. cast time has been reduced to 2.0 seconds, down from 2.35 seconds.
- Arcane Explosion damage has been increased by 30% 13%.
- Frost Fingers of Frost bonus damage applied to Ice Lance has been increased to 25%, up from 15%.
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Protection
- Sacred Duty can now be activated by Avenger's Shield in addition to Judgements. The effect now lasts 10 seconds, down from 15.
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Holy
- Holy Word: Sanctuary healing done has been increased by 35%. In addition, it has a new spell effect.
Shaman
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Restoration
- Cleansing Waters now has a 6-second internal cooldown.
Warlock
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Affliction
- Unstable Affliction damage done when it is dispelled has been doubled, but this damage can no longer be critical. Glyphs Glyph of Soul Swap now increases the cooldown of Soul Swap by 15 seconds, up from 10 seconds.
- Heroic Leap is no longer on the global cooldown, similar to other warrior movement abilities.
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Protection
- Gag Order now applies to Pummel and only affects Heroic Throw, giving these abilities a 100% chance to silence the target for 3 seconds. In addition, Gag Order lowers the cooldown of Heroic Throw by 30 seconds.
WoW Patch 4.1 is on the PTR, and WoW Insider has all the latest news for you -- from previews of the revamped Zul'Aman and Zul'Gurub to new valor point mechanics and new archaeology items.
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 6)
lancrkllr Mar 31st 2011 10:45AM
@ stella
Yeah, i agree, if blizzard wanted to create/implement a new heirloom system into the game they could.
I think the developers are thinking of it this way:
* either they can make a new panel in-game, attach a small data structure to the battle.net account and link between the two to create a new heirloom system that is accessible ingame (essentially creating the add-on you suggested)
* or they can get cross-realm mail working, which would still require you to do a bit of mailing to move around your heirlooms, but you could also then move gold from a main on one server to an alt on another
Since we've been hearing about cross realm mail for a while now, i believe that blizzard is simply waiting on its implementation, as cross-realm mail would solve the current problem.
lancrkllr Mar 31st 2011 10:50AM
@stella
lol, i'm retarded and read a portion of what you wrote wrong, my fault.
you're suggesting handling it like companion pets, so essentially there would be multiple copies of the heirloom instead of just one.
I agree, it could be implemented pretty much immediately. the tech is there.
Sally Bowls Mar 31st 2011 12:26PM
Like many Blizzard pronouncements and tooltips, we have a hint but don't really know anything.
Many "Account Bound" heirlooms
Does that many the two slots of 1-85 BoA? the five 1-80? Archaeology?
"All" is what I want; "many" causes me to expect a future emorage moment when I find out what they did.
V Magius Mar 31st 2011 12:36PM
I'm thinking it's a step in the right direction for true BOA gear.
-Get cross server/faction communication through Bnet.
-Allow for crossfaction mail. Checking main faction and account character lists.
-Allow for Bnet mail. Checking against character list for Bnet accounts, the next step up.
-Copy server character list for an account onto the Bnet account. This can be updated at logoff. Any characters created/deleted can't be done unless on that server, so the Bnet list should be up-to-date if the info is copied up when logging out or changing realms.
-Since we can already check the bnet account list for Bnet account bound items, we should be able to transfer cross realm at this point. Just need a verification of some sort that the item was transferred properly. Something similar should be in place from transferring to other accounts.
I don't know about the rest of you, but when working with complex environments, I prefer going piecemeal. Does this feature work? Build up from there and add a new feature. Does this feature work? Build up and continue.
Mondi Mar 31st 2011 12:37AM
I so hated that maze in Wailing Caverns.
Blightmare Mar 31st 2011 12:41AM
is this the april fools joke cuz the huge nerf to 5 mans sounds to good for some reason
angellusEU Mar 31st 2011 4:41AM
whats todays date?
Baba Mar 31st 2011 4:48AM
Well it makes sense really, everyone who wanted a challenge in 5-man's have already experienced that, now I just want my valor points / orb without having to kick a healer running around in PvP gear.
People are going to complain, but I support this.. on the caveat that they don't ever nerf raid content, regardless of what patch we're in, and that they don't make it possible to get raid-ready purely on badge stuff.
Amanda A. Mar 31st 2011 9:31AM
Nerfing the first gen 5-mans does make sense. All the geared people will be in the new troll dungeons. The ones in the old heroics will be 333-geared alts, new 85s, and other people who aren't geared yet, for whatever reason, which means that, otherwise, the runs would go back to being really, really, really hard, like they were at the start of Cata. They only seem easy now because you significantly outgear it.
If that doesn't help, remember that Zul'whatever are still hard, and a lot of people thought the original heroics were way too hard. This gives both groups a compromise-- there are now easier (but still pretty tough) heroics and really challenging heroics. Take your pick.
Beyond that, most of these nerfs are either incredibly minor or needed badly to prevent frustration. (My god, they made some spell effects easier to see! They must be catering to casuals who can't run all graphics setting on max! Sky is falling, augh!) For some reason I didn't get ToT until late in the gearing process. The hunters still hit me like a truck; I went from full to dead in about 2 seconds. It was easier once I knew the trick, but how many alt-heavy pugs would just go 'lol u suck' *kick* to the healer for not healing the tank through the burst of damage?
Bapo Mar 31st 2011 12:42AM
Many "Account Bound" heirlooms are now labeled as "Battle.net Account Bound", meaning that they can also be traded or mailed to characters that are on different World of Warcraft accounts under the same Battle.net account.
Well damn, there goes what I was hoping for : /
Hopefully we'll get the cross server mailing soon...
Grovinofdarkhour Mar 31st 2011 12:43AM
◦Summoned pets now start with 100 focus, up from 0.
I'm OK with that. :)
Saeadame Mar 31st 2011 12:47AM
Some interesting nerfs to the various heroics, should make running them a little nicer.
As a side note, I think there should be a new section and bullet for "Shaman" and "Restoration," they're currently in with the Holy priest bullet =).
Hugo C Mar 31st 2011 12:49AM
I think this huge nerf pretty normal. Next content patch will give a chance to those who were still having trouble with heroics, while the others will move on to the next tier.
Jeff (Not that one ^ ) Mar 31st 2011 12:54AM
Not that I mind, but why are they nerfing the Heroics into the ground?
PonTelon Mar 31st 2011 3:10AM
You automatically lose a discussion if you use "to the ground" or "slap in the face" to discuss WoW.
It's the Godwin of WoW discussion.
Drakkenfyre Mar 31st 2011 12:59AM
"Hunters will automatically acquire a new target if the current target dies in the middle of a cast."
I am seeing this as a problem right now. If it continues the cast.
It's already too easy to hit something by accident because you Tab target something else a second before autoattack is turned off. If you automatically target something else in the middle of a cast, I can see this pulling unaggro'd things unintentionally.
Syggy Mar 31st 2011 1:44AM
I am worried about this, as well. It's going to make for some very annoying situations.
Dragoniel Mar 31st 2011 4:18AM
I've laughed out loud when I've read about that change. Hunters are constantly accidentally pulling already - with this change non-intended pull is guaranteed.
Udderpowered Mar 31st 2011 7:53AM
Don't forget about moving not cancelling autoshot anymore, that's earnt me the anger of the tank a couple of times. :( (It's great in other respects though!)
redwinger_6 Mar 31st 2011 9:16AM
This is bad. There are too many trash pulls where there's another group within range. Last mob dies right as you throw out a shot, and it's another pull, and you get called every name in the book.