The Siege of Orgrimmar is just three weeks away, and we can expect that the changes for patch 5.4 are starting to solidify. Blizzard released the notes for the latest PTR build yesterday and there are some notable changes as well as reminders -- such as the fact that these next three weeks mark the final opportunity you have to nab the achievements that correspond with Vol'jin's rebellion as well as the Golden Lotus's "Eternally in the Vale." Time to get going on those, if you want them!

• Frost DKs: Frost Strike now deals 115% weapons damage (up from 105% weapon damage), and Obliterate now deals 250% weapon damage (up from 230% weapon damage).
• Rogues: Glyph of Redirect now reduces the cooldown of Redirect by 50 seconds (down from Redirect no longer has a cooldown).

Other major changes are noted in red text, and we've summarized the biggest ones for you after the break:

• Shaman: Echo of the Elements' spell duplication effect can no longer occur more than once every 4 seconds when used against hostile players, and their pets or guardians.
• Affliction Warlocks: Soul Swap no longer does any damage, and now copies damage-over-time effects instead of just moving them without needing a glyph. Copied effects now once again preserve their power and duration. Duration has been reduced to 3 seconds (down from 20 seconds).
• Arms Warriors: Slam now deals 25% more damage, but the Rage cost has been increased by 25% as well. While Sweeping Strikes is active, Slam will deal 35% of damage dealt against the primary target to all other enemies within 2 yards, and targets affected by Colossus Smash receives 10% more damage.
• Battlegrounds and Arenas: All non-gladiator gear in Battlegrounds, Rated Battlegrounds, and Arenas will be scaled down to an item level ceiling of 496.
  • Grievous Gladiator gear is exempt from this item level ceiling.
  • The item level ceiling will increase at a rate of 1 item level point per week until it reaches a maximum of 512.

You can check out the full patch notes here.

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Tags: achievement-changes, achievements, class-changes, glyph-changes, patch-5.4, patch-5.4-notes, patch-5.4-ptr, patch-5.4-release, pvp-changes, siege-of-orgrimmar

Filed under: News items, Mists of Pandaria