Patch 9.1.5 goes live today, bringing with it some nice and long-requested quality of life changes as well as Legion timewalking and the return of the mage tower!
Update: Patch 9.1.5 is now live in NA!
What is Coming This Week?
- Official Patch Notes
- Covenants
- The removal of conduit energy
- The ability to freely swap Covenants as often as you like with no penalty
- Covenant Soulbind/Renown Skips
- Covenant cosmetics no longer limited to specific covenant use
- New Night Fae soulshapes
- Grateful Offerings now rewarded from callings based on highest level of anima conductor upgrade
- The Redeemed Souls quest is now repeatable and starts at 20 souls for alts.
- New Customization Options
- Nightborne
- Lightforged Draenei
- Unique Paladin Mount for Lightforged Draenei
- Void Elves
- Highmountain Tauren
- Classes
- AoE cap removal
- Quality of Life Changes
- Solo queue for island expeditions
- No cap on Torghast resource farming
- Legendary Scrapping
- Maw intro skip
- Alt Leveling Improvements
- Korthian Armaments purchasable for specific slots.
- Legacy Raid Adjustments
- Legacy Loot Added to Battle for Azeroth Content
- Timewalking dungeon rotation changes
- Transmog Outfit Sharing
- Mechagon achievements made easier
- PvP Item Level Table Updated
What Is Coming in December
- Legion Timewalking
- Legion Timewalking Mage Tower
- New Mage Tower Cosmetic Rewards
Covenants
A large amount of changes are coming to the systems attached to Covenants!
Conduit Energy Removal
Conduit energy is being completely removed! You will now be able to change your conduits at your leisure within your covenant sanctum.
Freely Swap Covenants
You will now be able to swap covenants simply by talking to their representative in Oribos. There is no penalty to swap freely and no quests involved.
Covenant Soulbind and Renown Skips
The following changes are being made for alts in regards to soulbinds and Renown provided you have a character that is Renown capped:
- You will be able to purchase an item that instantly increases your alt’s renown to 40
- You will be able to unlock your additional soul binds immediately
- You can purchase an item to transfer anima between covenants or to alts
- You can purchase an item to instantly set one of your adventurers to level 30
Covenant Cosmetics No Longer Limited to Covenant Use
Cosmetics are no longer exclusive to Covenants. Once you unlock them, you may use them all on any character regardless of their chosen Covenant.
New Customization Options
Several Allied races have had their customization options overhauled!
Lightforged Paladin Mount
Lightforged paladins now have a unique Talbuk paladin mount with the Summon Lightforged Ruinstrider spell.
Class Changes
Classes have received major tuning adjustments, specifically in the realm of AoE target caps being removed!
- Some area-of-effect abilities are no longer maximum target capped and instead deal reduced damage beyond 5 or 8 targets. Abilities affected are listed in their class sections.
- Developers’ note: With the launch of Shadowlands, we reduced the maximum number of targets that several abilities could hit specifically to address a few gameplay problems related to pulling a large number of enemies in dungeons. Our intention was to reduce the effectiveness of burst AOE buttons against large target counts (i.e. 15-20 enemies) while also increasing their effectiveness against fewer targets (e.g. 3-5 enemies) and communicating that strength clearly in the tooltips. The abilities that remained “uncapped” were generally ones that offered lower damage over a longer period of time (e.g. Blizzard or Consecration). Along with other changes, we set out to move away from “pull as many enemies as possible, use all your cooldowns and delete them” as the predominant strategy across various forms of content.
We’ve received a lot of feedback that these abilities not hitting enemies in their range in any way creates a feel problem for WoW combat but is also an issue for trivial encounters like farming legacy content. For many of the abilities that underwent the change from uncapped to a strict target cap in Shadowlands, we’re converting the damage to be reduced beyond 5 or 8 targets (e.g. the ability will deal full damage against 5 targets, then reduced damage to each additional target beyond 5). This means that while the overall damage done by the ability increases with the number of targets, the individual damage done to each target will decrease. This solution means these abilities and their relative classes will still have a very strong niche against small packs of enemies.
- Developers’ note: With the launch of Shadowlands, we reduced the maximum number of targets that several abilities could hit specifically to address a few gameplay problems related to pulling a large number of enemies in dungeons. Our intention was to reduce the effectiveness of burst AOE buttons against large target counts (i.e. 15-20 enemies) while also increasing their effectiveness against fewer targets (e.g. 3-5 enemies) and communicating that strength clearly in the tooltips. The abilities that remained “uncapped” were generally ones that offered lower damage over a longer period of time (e.g. Blizzard or Consecration). Along with other changes, we set out to move away from “pull as many enemies as possible, use all your cooldowns and delete them” as the predominant strategy across various forms of content.
Death Knight
- The following area-of-effect abilities are no longer maximum target capped and now deal reduced damage beyond 5 targets:
- Abomination Limb (Necrolord Ability)
- Frostscythe (Frost)
- The following area-of-effect abilities are no longer maximum target capped and now deal reduced damage beyond 8 targets:
- Sacrificial Pact
- Consumption (Blood)
- Bonestorm (Blood)
- Bursting Sores (Unholy)
- Reanimated Shambler (Runecarving Power)
- Shackle the Unworthy (Kyrian Ability) damage reduced by 10%, but now has a 100% chance to spread to nearby enemies when triggered (was 50%).
- Abomination’s Frenzy (Necrolord Runecarving Power) now applies its 10% damage increase to all enemies damaged by Abomination Limb (was enemies pulled by Abomination Limb).
- Withering Ground (Night Fae Conduit) effect increased by 50%.
- Impenetrable Gloom (Venthyr Conduit) damage effect increased by 50%.
- BLOOD
- Consumption (Talent) now deals 60% more damage.
- Debilitating Malady (Conduit) effect increased by 600%.
- The following area-of-effect abilities are no longer maximum target capped and now deal reduced damage beyond 5 targets:
Demon Hunter
- The following area-of-effect abilities are no longer maximum target capped and now deal reduced damage beyond 5 targets:
- Blade Dance (Havoc)
- Glaive Tempest (Havoc)
- Soul Cleave (Vengeance)
- Spirit Bomb (Vengeance) – previously was soft-capped at 20 targets.
- The following area-of-effect abilities are no longer maximum target capped and now deal reduced damage beyond 8 targets:
- Fel Barrage (Havoc)
- Sinful Brand (Venthyr Ability) cooldown has been reduced to 45 seconds (was 1 minute).
- Blind Faith (Kyrian Runecarving Power) now grants 1% Versatility (was 1% Mastery) and 10 Fury when a Lesser Soul Fragment is consumed while Blind Faith is active.
- HAVOC
- Dancing with Fate (Conduit) damage effect increased by 300%.
- The following area-of-effect abilities are no longer maximum target capped and now deal reduced damage beyond 5 targets:
Druid
- Discover 4 new Travel Form appearances with 2 color variations each.
- The following area-of-effect abilities are no longer maximum target capped and now deal reduced damage beyond 5 targets:
- Swipe
- Brutal Slash (Feral)
- The Well-Honed Instincts conduit is now categorized for all specs (was Guardian only).
- Adaptive Swarm (Necrolord Ability) jump range has been increased to 50 yards (was 25 yards) and will now jump to a friendly target if it expires on a friendly target and there are no valid hostile targets within 50 yards.
- FERAL
- Adaptive Swarm (Necrolord Ability) will now gain a damage bonus for its initial duration when cast during Tiger’s Fury.
- Fixed an issue that prevented certain ranks of the Carnivorous Instinct conduit from improving auto-attack and periodic damage while Tiger’s Fury’s damage bonus is active.
- Fixed an issue that prevented the Carnivorous Instinct conduit from affecting the damage over time of Thrash and Feral Frenzy.
- RESTORATION
- Efflorescence now has a new visual. For those who enjoy the previous visual, Glyph of the Wild Mushroom is available to return the spell to its fungi appearance.
Hunter
- Aquilons, Corspeflies, and Gromits are now tameable as pets.
- The following area-of-effect abilities are no longer maximum target capped and now deal reduced damage beyond 5 targets:
- Beast Cleave (Beast Mastery)
- Multi-Shot (Beast Mastery and Marksmanship)
- Explosive Shot (Marksmanship)
- Carve (Survival)
- Butchery (Survival)
- Soulforge Embers (Runecarving Power)
- The following area-of-effect abilities are no longer maximum target capped and instead deal reduced damage beyond 8 targets:
- Barrage (Beast Mastery and Marksmanship)
- Death Chakram (Necrolord Ability) now also increases all physical damage done by you and your pet to the targets damaged by 10% for 10 seconds.
- Flayed Shot (Venthyr Ability) now deals an additional hit of damage when cast. This damage also has 15% chance (increased with Empowered Release Conduit) to reset the cooldown of Kill Shot.
Mage
- The following area-of-effect abilities are no longer maximum target capped and now deal reduced damage beyond 5 targets:
- Glacial Fragments (Runecarving Power)
- The following area-of-effect abilities are no longer maximum target capped and instead deal reduced damage beyond 8 targets:
- Arcane Echo (Arcane)
- Frozen Orb (Frost)
- Gift of the Lich (Necrolord Conduit) effect increased by 100%.
- The following area-of-effect abilities are no longer maximum target capped and now deal reduced damage beyond 5 targets:
Monk
- The following area-of-effect abilities are no longer maximum target capped and now deal reduced damage beyond 5 targets:
- Spinning Crane Kick
- Rushing Jade Wind (Brewmaster)
- Fists of Fury (Windwalker)
- Rushing Jade Wind (Windwalker)
- Chi Burst (Talent) now deals reduced healing beyond 6 targets.
- Developers’ note: This spell previously used a complicated, invisible AoE-capping scheme for healing. This is being replaced with a clearer one where the amount of healing decays on each target after the 6th target is healed.
- Fallen Order (Venthyr Ability) now spawns an equal amount of off-spec Adepts (was random) and Adepts now apply Mystic Touch to their targets.
- Ox Adepts now throw a Fallen Brew at the Monk after spawning, granting the Monk an absorb shield for 10% of the Monk’s maximum health for 8 seconds.
- Tiger Adept’s Tiger Palm damage increased by 200%.
- Tiger Adepts now cast Spinning Crane Kick if there are more than 1 enemy within range.
- While Tiger Adepts are active, the Monk and their allies gain 5% movement speed, stacking with other movement speed increasing effects such as the Monk’s Windwalking.
- Way of the Fae (Night Fae Conduit) effect increased by 100%.
- BREWMASTER
- Special Delivery (Talent) now deals 100% more damage.
- Ox Adept’s Breath of Fire damage reduction from Fallen Order (Venthyr Ability) now stacks with your Breath of Fire damage reduction.
- Crane Adepts from Fallen Order (Venthyr Ability) now prefer to heal the Monk over other friendly targets.
- MISTWEAVER
- Crane Adept’s Enveloping Mist from Fallen Order (Venthyr Ability) no longer gains cooldown reduction from the Monk’s Haste.
- Crane Adepts from Fallen Order (Venthyr Ability) now cast Enveloping Mist twice when summoned.
- WINDWALKER
- Spinning Crane Kick (Rank 2) now increases Spinning Crane Kick’s damage by 18% (was 15%) for each unique target struck with Blackout Kick, Tiger Palm and Rising Sun Kick in the last 20 seconds. Stacks up to 5 times (was 6).
- Tiger Adepts attacks from Fallen Order (Venthyr Ability) now count towards your recently attacked Spinning Crane Kick bonus.
- Crane Adepts from Fallen Order (Venthyr Ability) now prefer to heal the Monk over other friendly targets.
- The following area-of-effect abilities are no longer maximum target capped and now deal reduced damage beyond 5 targets:
Paladin
- The following area-of-effect abilities are no longer maximum target capped and instead deal reduced damage beyond 5 targets:
- Divine Storm (Retribution)
- Vanquisher’s Hammer (Necrolord Ability) now increases the effectiveness of the free Holy Power spender by 25%.
- Righteous Might (Necrolord Conduit) damage effect increased by 400% and healing effect reduced by 50%.
- Blessing of Seasons (Night Fae Ability): Blessing of Spring now increases healing done by 15% (was 10%) and healing received by 30% (was 20%). Blessing of Winter now reduces the hostile target’s attack speed and movement speed by 5% per stack (was 3%) and its damage has been increased by 40%.
- The following area-of-effect abilities are no longer maximum target capped and instead deal reduced damage beyond 5 targets:
Priest
- Festering Transfusion (Necrolord Conduit) damage and healing effect increased by 100%
- Divine Star (Talent) and Halo (Talent) now deal reduced healing beyond 6 targets.
- Developers’ note: These spells previously used a complicated, invisible AoE-capping scheme for healing. This is being replaced with a clearer one where the amount of healing decays on each target after the 6th target is healed.
- Halo (Talent) healing reduced by 20%.
- Developers’ note: Combined with the above change, this is still a net healing increase on large numbers of targets.
- Divine Star (Talent) heal cap is now independent on the outgoing and return trips.
- DISCIPLINE
- Divine Star (Talent) damage increased by 40%.
- Contrition (Talent) healing increased by 15%.
- Shadow Covenant (Talent) healing increased by 10%, mana cost reduced by 10%, and duration lowered to 7 seconds (was 9 seconds).
- HOLY
- Divine Star (Talent) damage increased by 40%.
- SHADOW
- Surrender to Madness duration increased to 30 seconds (was 25 seconds).
- Psychic Link (Talent) deals 60% of Mind Blast’s damage (was 50%).
Rogue
- The following area-of-effect abilities are no longer maximum target capped and instead deal reduced damage beyond 5 targets:
- Secret Technique (Subtlety)
- The following area-of-effect abilities are no longer maximum target capped and instead deal reduced damage beyond 8 targets:
- Fan of Knives (Assassination)
- Crimson Tempest (Assassination)
- Black Powder (Subtlety)
- Shuriken Storm (Subtlety)
- Toxic Onslaught (Runecarving Power) has been slightly redesigned – When Sepsis expires on your target, you are granted two of the following effects for 10 seconds: Shadow Blades, Adrenaline Rush, or Vendetta is applied to your current target. Bonuses granted are those that are not available to your spec, eg. An Assassination Rogue will gain Adrenaline Rush and Shadow Blades.
- Septic Shock (Night Fae Conduit) effect increased by 50%.
- OUTLAW
- Dreadblades (Talent) initial strike deals 26% more damage and now immediately fills your Combo Points in addition to its current effects.
- The following area-of-effect abilities are no longer maximum target capped and instead deal reduced damage beyond 5 targets:
Shaman
- The following area-of-effect abilities are no longer maximum target capped and instead deal reduced damage beyond 5 targets:
- Storm Elemental’s Eye of the Storm (Elemental)
- Elysian Dirge (Kyrian Conduit) effect increased by 50%.
- RESTORATION
- Spirit Link Totem’s tooltip has been updated to better match its functionality. No functional change has been made to Spirit Link Totem.
- The following area-of-effect abilities are no longer maximum target capped and instead deal reduced damage beyond 5 targets:
Warlock
- The following area-of-effect abilities are no longer maximum target capped and instead deal reduced damage beyond 8 targets:
- Felguard’s Felstorm (Demonology)
- Impending Catastrophe (Venthyr Ability) chaotic anima cloud width has been increased 60%, now deals a tick of its periodic damage on impact and will more accurately apply its damage-over-time effect to hostile targets.
- Decimating Bolt (Necrolord Ability) cast time reduced to 2 seconds (was 2.5 seconds).
- Scouring Tithe (Kyrian Ability) instant and periodic damage increased by 20% and cast time reduced to 1.5 seconds (was 2 seconds).
- Languishing Soul Detritus (Kyrian Runecarving Power) critical strike chance bonus increased to 45% (was 40%) and now also grants the Warlock a 33% movement speed buff and a 15% critical strike chance increase when Scouring Tithe (Kyrian Ability) expires.
- Demonology
- Nether Portal (Talent) cooldown reduced to 2.5 minutes (was 3 minutes).
- The following area-of-effect abilities are no longer maximum target capped and instead deal reduced damage beyond 8 targets:
Warrior
- The following area-of-effect abilities are no longer maximum target capped and instead deal reduced damage beyond 5 targets:
- Whirlwind
- Cleave (Arms)
- Ravager (Arms)
- Dreadnaught (Arms)
- Ravager (Protection)
- The following area-of-effect abilities are no longer maximum target capped and instead deal reduced damage beyond 8 targets:
- Bladestorm (Arms and Fury)
- Harrowing Punishment (Venthyr Conduit) effect increased by 50%.
- Impending Victory (Talent) cooldown reduced to 25 seconds (was 30 seconds) and now heals for 40% of your max health (was 30%).
- ARMS
- Merciless Bonegrinder (Conduit) effect increased by 100%.
- FURY
- Hack and Slash (Conduit) increased by 50%.
- PROTECTION
- Sinful Surge (Venthyr Runecarving Power) now extends the duration of Avatar (Talent) by 2.5 seconds when Condemn (Venthyr Ability) is cast (was Last Stand duration extended by 3 seconds).
- The following area-of-effect abilities are no longer maximum target capped and instead deal reduced damage beyond 5 targets:
Quality of Life Changes
Many requested quality of life improvements have been added to the game!
Solo Queue Island Expeditions
You now have the option to queue solo at the Island Expedition table!
Torghast
Rewards from Torghast no longer have a weekly limit.
Legendary Scrapping
You may now scrap any legendary to receive the Soul Ash or Soul Cinders back. You will not, however, receive the empty slot item or missives back.
Skip the Maw Intro on Alts
Alts may now skip the entire Maw intro for Shadowlands!
Alt Leveling Improvements
Alts can now enter Torghast and use it to level, and many Threads of Fates bonus missions and objectives have been toned down and provide more experience!
Specific Korthia Armaments
Duchess Mynx in Korthia now sells versions of Korthian Armaments that create a piece of gear for specific slots.
Legacy Raid Adjustments
Many Legion encounters that have been notoriously difficult to solo have been adjusted to make it easier to complete!
- ANTORUS, THE BURNING THRONE
- Antoran High Command
- Eonar the Life-Binder
- Varimathras
- Coven of Shivarra
- Aggramar
- TOMB OF SARGERAS
- The Desolate Host
- Fallen Avatar
- Kil’Jaeden
- THE NIGHTHOLD
- Gul’dan
- TRIAL OF VALOR
- Helya
Legacy Loot Added to Battle for Azeroth Content
All Battle for Azeroth dungeons and raids now use legacy loot instead of personal loot!
Timewalking Dungeon Rotation Changes
Several dungeons have been added or removed from the timewalking rotations.
- THE BURNING CRUSADE
- NEW
- The Blood Furnace
- The Botanica
- The Underbog
- REMOVED
- The Arcatraz
- The Black Morass
- The Slave Pens
- NEW
- WRATH OF THE LICH KING
- NEW
- Azjol-Nerub
- The Forge of Souls
- Utgarde Keep
- REMOVED
- Ahn’kahet: The Old Kingdom
- Pit of Saron
- Utgarde Pinnacle
- NEW
- CATACLYSM
- NEW
- Blackrock Caverns
- REMOVED
- Grim Batol
- NEW
- MISTS OF PANDARIA
- NEW
- Scholomance
- REMOVED
- Siege of Niuzao Temple
- NEW
- WARLORDS OF DRAENOR
- NEW
- Grimrail Depot
- REMOVED
- Iron Docks
- NEW
Transmog Outfit Sharing
Patch 9.1.5 adds the ability to share your transmog outfits in chat and online. The copy to clipboard string will be something like this:
/outfit v1 15631,8875,0,63937,8872,1706,0,73930,8877,62446,74381,73934,74460,-1,0,0,0
Mechagon Achievements Made Easier
- The following changes have been made to Mecha-Done:
- Vinyl: Triumph of Gnomeregan – Now a guaranteed drop from the Hard Mode version of the Reclamation Rig event.
- Vinyl: Battle for Gnomeregan – Drop rate increased from all hologram bosses.
- Blueprint: Holographic Digitalization Relay – Drop rate increased from all hologram bosses.
- Blueprint: Emergency Rocket Chicken – OOX-Fleetfoot/MG respawns faster and no longer despawns if not killed by the end of its path. OOX-Fleetfoot/MG now has a Vignette star that pings the minimap when he races by if you are eligible to loot OOX-Avenger/MG.
- Paint Vial: Lemonade Steel – Droprate of Exothermic Evaporator Coil increased. Duration of rain reduced, but the spawn rate of Oxidized Leachates during rain is drastically increased (700% faster). Oxidized Leachbeast now has significantly more chances to spawn during rain.
- “Playtime’s Over” and “Battle Tested” – Both of these quests are now always offered as follow-ups to “Toys of Destruction” (was 1, chosen randomly).
- Available in Eight Colors – This Achievement is now account-wide and grants all color options for the X-995 Mechanocat mount to all characters on your account.
Patch 9.1.5 – PvP Item Level Table Updated
Blizzard has updated the PvP item level table from the PTR 9.1.5 Development Notes to include the ilvl in PvP situations and unranked PvP item levels.
| New Rating | Rated PvP Title | Item Level | iLvl in PvP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank 1 Unranked | 220 | 233 | |
| 1000 | Rank 2 Combatant I | 226 | 239 |
| 1200 | Rank 3 Combatant II | 229 | 242 |
| 1400 | Rank 4 Challenger I | 233 | 246 |
| 1600 | Rank 5 Challenger II | 236 | 249 |
| 1800 | Rank 6 Rival I | 239 | 252 |
| 1950 | Rank 7 Rival II | 242 | 255 |
| 2100 | Rank 8 Duelist | 246 | 259 |
| 2400 | Rank 9 Elite | 249 | 259 |
| Unrated PvP Step | Item Level | iLvl in PvP |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | 177 | 213 |
| Step 1 | 184 | 216 |
| Step 2 | 190 | 220 |
| Step 3 (Renown 44) | 197 | 223 |
| Step 4 | 203 | 226 |
| Step 5 (Renown 59) | 210 | 229 |
| Step 6 | 216 | 233 |
Legion Timewalking
Legion Timewalking is being added, with it first showing up in December for two weeks before being added to the normal rotation. It will also include the brand new mythic plus option for Legion Timewalking dungeons as well!
- Black Rook Hold
- Court of Stars
- Darkheart Thicket
- Eye of Azshara
- Neltharion’s Lair
- Vault of the Wardens
Legion Timewalking Mythic Plus Affix
Infernal – Infernal Beacons can be found near some bosses. Activating a Beacon or engaging a nearby boss will trigger a Legion invasion. Available on Legion Timeworn Keystone level 10 or higher.
Legion Timewalking Mage Tower
With the return of Legion Timewalking we will also see a return of the Mage Tower challenges complete with new cosmetic rewards!
Soaring Spelltome Mount
This mount is a reward from completing A Tour of Towers.
Legion Mage Tower Timewalking Spell Restrictions
Patch 9.1.5 disables a long list of spells in the Mage Tower. Some of these spells might be old or have gone unused since they were added back in Beta.
You can see a full list of spells not allowed in the Timewalking Mage Tower by clicking the banner below, but most of the following spells are not usable:
- Runecarver Legendary effects
- Soulbind Conduit effects
- Covenant class abilities
- Covenant signature abilities
- A few item procs
