WoW Season of Discovery February 12 Patch: Huge Druid Nerfs

Phase 2 of Season of Discovery launched just a couple of days ago, and players are already experimenting with all of the new runes and items available to their classes. With so many different combinations becoming available with the increased level cap, as well as all of the new additions to the game, it's no wonder that some of them are going to be a bit stronger than expected.

One of these has undoubtedly been centered around the Druid class, with them dealing a crazy amount of damage in the new Stranglethorn PvP event. For this reason, Blizzard has decided to push through a hotfix aimed at reducing their effectiveness by nerfing one of their main abilities - Starsurge. Here is everything you need to know about the Season of Discovery February 12 hotfix.

• General Changes
• Class Changes
• Stranglethorn PvP Event

World of Warcraft: Season of Discovery February 12 Patch Notes

The February 12 hotfix for World of Warcraft's Season of Discovery has a ton of different changes, with the highlights being the nerf to the Druid's Starsurge ability, as well as some changes to how the Drained of Blood debuff works in the Stranglethorn PvP event. Druids have been a bit too strong in PvP, prompting Blizzard to change the way they deal damage by shifting some of their Starsurge effectiveness into the Starfire ability.

Additionally, some new changes to the Blood Moon event in Stranglethorn Vale aim to prevent players from camping the graveyards with the hopes of earning the new PvP currency at a much faster rate. This is a welcome change that will incentivize players to actually take part in fair battles throughout the zone. Here is the full list of patch notes for the new February 12th hotfix for World of Warcraft's Season of Discovery:

General Changes

• You can now get a new Squall-breakers Potion from Rau Cliffrunner in Freewind Post upon accepting the quest “Calm Before the Storm”.
• Recipe: Lesser Arcane Elixir is now bind-on-pickup.
• The Battle for Ashenvale weekly quests “Clear the Forest!” and “Repelling Invaders” now grant full XP and reputation rewards, through level 40.
• The Ashenvale Rallying Cry world buff is now usable through level 39.
• The Spark of Inspiration world buff now correctly increases +healing.
• Item requirements for the quests “Power of da Wind”, “Power of da Earth”, and “Power of da Water” have been reduced.

Class Changes

Ana

Starsurge

• Starsurge base damage reduced by 35%, and its benefit from bonus spell damage effects reduced to 42.9%, matching other instant spells.
• Starsurge now provides a new effect: your next Starfire cast within 15 seconds deals 66% increased damage.

• Fixed an issue with Enhanced Restoration preventing Nourish from gaining increased healing from Rejuvenation and Regrowth.

Paladin

• Fixed an issue where the Sheathe of Light spell power proc wasn’t correctly activated by melee attacks.

Shaman

• Fixed an issue where Ravaging Tempest could sometimes not lose its protective aura when Ailgrah Splittusk was killed.

Stranglethorn Vale PvP Event

• Players who resurrect in Stranglethorn Vale during the Blood Moon event and gain Drained of Blood will now be immune to attack during its duration, but unable to cast spells or attack. They can mount and move to another location and are invisible to players outside their party.
• Drained of Blood duration reduced to 20 seconds (was 60 seconds).
• Drained of Blood now has a visual.
• Players who wish to opt out of Blood Moon should now more easily notice the Zandalarian Emissary.

That concludes the full list of changes that are coming to World of Warcraft Season of Discovery on February 12th. Druid players are going to be quite disappointed to learn that one of their hardest-hitting abilities has been nerfed substantially. While they did get a small compensation buff, these changes are definitely going to be felt going forward. For more Season of Discovery news and guides, check out our dedicated section on the website!