Posts with tag patch-5.3-ptr

One of my favorite scenarios to this day is Unga Ingoo. It's not because it has any major lore significance, some major story reveal that was shocking or inspired. It's not because it had any kind of meaningful impact on what we're doing right now, or on the leveling experience itself. No, the reason I love Unga Ingoo is because ships, ropes, and beating up pirates are all ridiculously fun things. Even more so when the pirates are monkey pirates.

In patch 5.3, we're getting four new scenarios -- three of which are interesting from a lore perspective, and one of which, Battle on the High Seas, is just a rollicking good time. There aren't any lore reveals. There's nothing in the scenario to further the story of patch 5.3, or lead into patch 5.4. The only thing Battle on the High Seas offers is the opportunity to smack the heck out of the opposite fashion in true swashbuckling style ... and honestly, that's more than enough reason to do it as far as I'm concerned!

Please note that this is being written from the Horde perspective of the scenario. I'm assuming that the Alliance side is much the same, just with a role-reversal involved.

Please note: This post contains spoilers for patch 5.3 content.

I remember Ragefire Chasm in vanilla, but only vaguely. It was usually completed once, at a very low level, and then never looked at again -- it never had any really compelling loot, and the story was only so-so. It has since received an update to both loot and story, and in a profound kind of way. In fact, if you haven't done the updated Ragefire Chasm, I suggest this would be an excellent time to do so. What happens down there is just the tip of the iceberg, it seems.

In patch 5.3, we're going to get a look at a section of Ragefire Chasm we haven't seen before, in one of four new scenarios introduced with the patch. It turns out not everything is as it seems in Orgrimmar ... and Garrosh's plans have never looked quite this grim. You'll be accompanying the Gob Squad on a mission to figure out just what kind of secrets Ragefire holds, and what the Horde can expect from their Warchief.

Please note: This post contains spoilers for patch 5.3 content.

Yesterday, we asked you what your best guess was for the arrival date of patch 5.3, and at the time the article was written, the PTR build was still a test. Since then, it has been updated, as many commenters mentioned, and is now a release candidate.

What does this mean for a potential release date? Looking back at patch 5.1, WoW Insider reported that a release candidate was live on November 13th, and the patch released on November 27th, a fortnight after the first release candidate went up. Patch 5.2 went to a PTR release candidate on the PTR on February 26th, and the patch dropped on March 5th, just one week later. We can't really discuss earlier patches, thanks to Blizzard's new, improved patch cycle, but these two indicate that the patch may well drop within the next fortnight, so May 21st or 28th, perhaps the first week in June at the latest.

Of course, this is just estimation, we're doing research and gathering clues, but it's not a firm confirmation. While you're waiting, you can check out all our patch 5.3 coverage.

Now, don't pretend you're not already guessing. There have been several official Blizzard blogs, on the new scenarios we're expecting, as well as a general guide to how you can best prepare for patch 5.3, and what's more the devs have begun their latest round of interviews. The official World of Warcraft twitter account even went as far as tweeting to confirm that the patch wasn't landing on Tuesday May 14. So, all this being said, what's your prediction for the launch date? Where's the smart money?

What do we have in the way of additional clues? Well, there's the PTR build information, which previously has flipped from "Test" to "Release" when a patch has crept closer It still says test, as you can see to the side. Also, the patch 5.3 PvP information has previously talked about a conquest catch-up of 15,000, and it'd be 11,000 right now. But of course, these are just clues. So what's your bet? And why?

A fair while back, Blizzard Lead Systems Designer Greg " Ghostcrawler" Street tweeted that the development team would be looking to implement catch-up mechanics, similar to those in place for cooking, to other professions. Blacksmithing had its changes, and now Mining and Herbalism are next on the agenda. MMO-Champion reported today on some changes on the patch 5.3 PTR, that make the grind to level these professions a whole lot easier.

I went onto the PTR, with a pre-made level 90, and learned apprentice herbalism and mining, then went and found some nodes. The tooltip shows the nodes as orange and they can be mined by characters who have only just learned the profession, with a skill level of 1, as can be seen from the image after the break.

The latest sets of PTR patch notes materialized a few hours ago, mostly featuring a multitude of class changes.

We've been quietly downloading patch 5.3 on the background service for a little while now. Needless to say, the major question on everyone's minds today has been whether or not we'll see the new patch hit tomorrow. Wonder no longer: It's been confirmed both by blue posters and on the official Warcraft Twitter account.

@steve_cam Hah! No I guess that was misleading. No, 5.3 will not be released this week.

- World of Warcraft (@Warcraft) May 13, 2013

Warning: this post may contain spoilers for patch 5.3, particularly content relating to the Battlefield: Barrens quests! If you don't want to read spoilers, don't read the section of this post that happens after the break!

Blizzard Community Manager Nethaera has posted a blog providing both back-up information and useful clues about the events taking place in the areas surrounding Orgrimmar, giving players the heads up on the various new elements being introduced to those zones, how they are used and the stories behind them. As the devs commented in the recent live Q&A, this is a new angle on maximum level questing for WoW, and it's pretty fun. Again, beware spoilers, but you can also check out WoW Insider's initial look at the goings on in the area.

Final spoiler warning! They lurk ominously after the break. Watching. Waiting.

The countdown to patch 5.3 is well and truly upon us, as Blizzard Community Manager Daxxarri posted a detailed blog on how to ready your account and gird your loins for the upcoming conflict. As ever, you can see the full post after the break.

There's a reduction in XP to get from 85-90, first and foremost, and Daxxarri actually posts that you should dust off your alts! Next up on the list is clarification of Item Upgrades. The voidbinders have returned from their vacation in, well, the void most likely, and are back to upgrade your items. PvPers can only upgrade season 12 items, at the same cost as before, 750 Conquest for upgrades of four item levels, and (most likely, although the blog says different) 1500 honor points for an upgrade of eight item levels. PvE gear can be upgraded in the usual manner, at the massively reduced cost of 250 Valor Points to upgrade per 4 Item Levels, for a total of 500 Valor for 8 Item Levels per item. This also applies retroactively to all items that can be upgraded using Valor, and the exact same numbers apply to Justice gear.

Blizzard is also adding more ways to get your hands on Lesser Charms with patch 5.3, they will drop from outdoor world creatures level 90 and above, as well as from rare spawns in Pandaria. There are also a ton of PvP changes, which we've covered at length, and some other useful tidbits. One thing which isn't discussed is currency conversion, but it seems likely, though not absolutely certain, that no conversion will take place. The PvP season is still ongoing, and there is no new raid tier. Hit the break for Daxxarri's full post.

The latest batch of patch 5.3 PTR patch notes have landed on the official Blizzard blog, containing various highlights, some of which have recently been covered here on WoW Insider. Let's take a look at our highlights, and you can check out all the patch note changes after the break.

Wowhead's Perculia has been as busy as ever cataloging the new achievements currently on the patch 5.3 PTR, putting together a comprehensive guide over at Wowhead.

Do head over to check that out, but we're going to pull some of the more exciting ones out, with a focus on pets and mounts. WoW Insider also recently covered the new Gorgeous title, which comes from completing all the achievements in the new battleground, Deepwind Gorge.

First up, for completing Raiding with Leashes II: Attunement Edition, collecting all 10 of the new pets which have been dropped into the old raids listed on the achievement, players are awarded yet another pet, Tito's Basket! In the same vein of pet-related achievements awarding yet more pets, the Brutal Pet Brawler achievement awards a Stunted Direhorn. Lastly, in the pet battles category, there's an achievement called The Longest Day, which, when you look at the tooltip, you'll realise is aptly named. Carrying out that mammoth task will award you a Marked Flawless Battle Stone, which can be used to boost any pet to Rare quality.

What's more, mount collectors rejoice, because there's a new benchmark, 200 mounts, for which Mount Parade awards yet another mount, the Armored Dragonhawk, in blue for the Alliance and a fetching red for the Horde.

Heirloom shields are looking good for patch 5.3, according to a tweet from Lead Systems Designer Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street:

@addohm No known issues with them at the moment. Looks positive for 5.3.

- Greg Street (@Ghostcrawler) April 30, 2013

Heirloom shields were amongst the things that didn't quite make the cut for patch 5.2. Blizzard Senior Community Rep Jonathan "Zarhym" Brown posted the following a little while back on the official forums by way of explanation for their absence:

Zarhym

Heirloom shields were originally planned to be added in patch 5.2, but, unfortunately, due to a late-breaking bug with these items which prevented them from properly scaling with level, we had to remove them. We still want to get these shields in the game and plan to do so in a future patch.

source

The latest PTR build has brought with it a change to PvP Power, as MMO-Champion reported earlier today. The change was to the amount of points of PvP Power that it takes to push your percentage up by 1%. The number of points for a 1% increase in PvP Power went from 265 to 400. Currently, if you have, say, 12,000 PvP Power, on live servers you would get around +45% damage from PvP Power, and 22.6% additional healing from PvP Power.

On the PTR, however, 12,000 PvP Power will only give you an extra 30% damage from PvP Power, and, at current numbers, which are still fairly fluid, around 30% extra healing. Of course, don't forget with those healing numbers that Battle Fatigue has been increased to a proportionate level.

This change was a little surprising, so I did what I always do now, tweeted Senior PvP Designer Brian Holinka to get his input on the change. He tweeted the following shortly thereafter: