Blizzard has dropped the newest patch notes for the penultimate World of Warcraft Season of Discovery phase, bringing in much-needed quality-of-life changes as well as more information about Vanilla raids.
We will take a closer look at the updates and adjustments for WoW SoD Phase 6 Version 1.15.5, bringing in the infamous The Temple of Ahn’Qiraj and the Ruins of Ahn’Qiraj and many more memorable instances to tickle your nostalgia, but with a twist.
Table of Contents
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Season of Discovery Phase 6 Patch Notes
Here is a massive list of the new and revamped content coming to WoW SoD Phase 6 Version 1.15.5.
The Silithus War Effort
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The war effort no longer requires player participation to complete. The war effort will begin on Thursday, November 21 and will end on Wednesday, December 4.
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Players may still hand in materials to support the war effort. Doing so will earn the players commendations that can be spent in the following ways:
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To increase faction reputation with numerous factions across Azeroth, not just the capital city factions, but also the Timbermaw Tribe, the Zandalar Tribe, the Steamweedle Cartel, the Hydraxian Waterlords, the Thorium Brotherhood, the Cenarion Circle, and the Argent Dawn
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To purchase consumables from those factions. Capital cities continue to provide scrolls and random equipment. Other factions provide consumable items allowing players to refresh world buffs for party or raid members that may have lost them, such as after a wipe or provide assistance with combat in Silithus.
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The gathering portion of the war effort will not end when the war begins, allowing players to continue gathering commendations and using them for reputation or consumables.
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In addition to the war effort, there are Qiraji crystals spawned in various locations across Azeroth, surrounded by agents of Ahn’Qiraj. Defeating these creatures will provide a variety of rewards.
Developers’ notes: Previously these camps only spawned during the war after the war effort had ended and the Scarab Gong had been rung. We’re extending these activities for Season of Discovery and allowing them to run for the full duration of the war effort.
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At the end of the war effort, the war in Silithus will begin and will run for 48 hours from December 4 to December 6 at 3:00 p.m., at which time the Ahn’Qiraj raids will become available.
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During this war, players can earn Brood of Nozdorumu reputation in Silithus by defeating the Qiraji, as well as take on massive world bosses that spawn throughout the event.
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Raids
The Temple of Ahn’Qiraj and the Ruins of Ahn’Qiraj will open on December 6.
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Temple of Ahn’Qiraj is now tuned for 20 players and allows up to 25 players in a raid.
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Ruins of Ahn’Qiraj is now tuned for 10 players and allows up to 15 players in a raid.
Descent into Madness
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When players arrive at the first boss (Prophet Skeram or Kurinaxx) they are presented with an interactive obelisk object.
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This object is enabled by default, which represents the baseline difficulty of the raid.
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Raid groups that wish for an additional challenge may deactivate the obelisk. Doing so will add difficulty and sanity-based mechanics to the encounters and provide the raid with a finite number of attempts in which to defeat the next three bosses.
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If the raid has no attempts remaining when they defeat a boss, the bonus chest will no longer be present and the next obelisk will no longer be able to be interacted with.
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Defeating the boss with attempts remaining will activate a bonus chest, containing additional rewards. However, daring players may refrain from opening the chest and continue onward in the raid with the attempts remaining and deactivate the next boss’s obelisk to continue descending into madness.
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After every third boss, the raid will reach a checkpoint and be able to open their chest and collect the rewards accrued to that point without ending their descent into madness run. The checkpoints occur after defeating the following bosses:
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Battleguard Sartura or Moam
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Princess Huhuran
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C’thun
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Due to the nature of this new challenge, the Season of Discovery version of Ahn’qiraj is now expected to be completed in the following order:
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Prophet Skeram; Bug Trio; Battleguard Sartura; Frankriss the Unyielding; Viscidus; Princess Huhuran; Twin Emperors; Ouro; C’thun
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Kruinaxx; General Rajaxx; Moam; Buru; Ayamiss; Ossirian
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The baseline number of rewards per boss has been increased in the Temple of Ahn’Qiraj & Ruins of Ahn’Qiraj, and few power-affecting rewards come from the bonus chests. Bonus chests mostly contain tradeskill-related or cosmetic items. Any power-affecting items that can be obtained from the bonus chests can also be obtained from usual sources.
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Nightmare Grove
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The four Dragons of Nightmare world bosses have been reimagined as a single raid instance housing all four encounters.
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Players may access Nightmare Grove through the Emerald Dream portals scattered around the world.
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This new instance is tuned for 20 players and allows up to 25 players in a raid.
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Players may choose which boss they want to start with by going to a specific portal somewhere in the world and each boss is accessible at a predefined location for that boss:
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Emeriss - Duskwood
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Lethon - Feralas
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Taerar - Ashenvale
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Ysondre - Hinterlands
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Defeating one dragon spawns a portal that leads to the next in sequence, so players can fight all four without leaving the instance.
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Each Dragon has new and unique mechanics to Season of Discovery.
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Items and Rewards
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Most item rewards from Ahn’Qiraj and the Dragons of Nightmare have been changed and reworked in some way.
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Players who complete the Descent into Madness challenges in the Temple of Ahn’Qiraj may receive Void-Touched Emblems.
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Equipping this Emblem and right-clicking any equipped weapon that drops in the Ruins or Temple of Ahn’Qiraj will prompt a visit from a certain familiar friend and convert that weapon into a Void-Touched variant with a special cosmetic effect.
Developers’ notes: We really liked the Molten and Shadowflame weapon variants in previous phases but based on feedback and our own experiences raiding in previous phases, we acknowledge that it could feel bad to get a normal version of one of these weapons and then have the special flashy version drop afterwards. For this new cosmetic effect, we’ve decided to allow you to apply it to any equipped weapon that drops in the Temple of Ahn’Qiraj rather than requiring a fully separate weapon drop with the special cosmetic appearance.
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There are many new professions recipes available from a variety of locations including the Ahn’Qiraj raids, Nightmare Grove, and various reputations.
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There are several new crafting components related to many of these new recipes available in Silithus and in the Ahn’Qiraj raids.
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There have been several adjustments to the Cenarion Circle reputation process and rewards.
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Rank 14 PvP weapons have also seen an update and overhaul, including a new PvP-oriented effect.
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Darkmoon Faire decks have returned, and the original 4 max-level decks have been reworked for Season of Discovery.
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A new Toy vendor has been added to Booty Bay. This vendor will sell a variety of new toys as well as older toys from previous Season of Discovery level-up phases for those that missed them. These toys may be purchased with Tarnished Undermine Reals. As with previous phase toys these may all be found in the player’s keyring storage when purchased.
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Tarnished undermine reals can now be earned from previous phase level 60 raid including Molten Core, Zul’Gurub, and Blackwing Lair. This adjustment goes live with the release of the Ahn’Qiraj raids on December 6.
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Class Changes
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Lock and Load now activates its buff on trap cast rather than trap activation.
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Sniper Training now causes Aimed Shot to become instant at 2 stacks (was 5).
Developers’ notes: The two adjustments above are meant to smooth out some of the more clunky aspects of the ranged hunter playstyle. Allowing Lock and Load to proc on trap cast rather than trigger should provide the hunter with more consistent output should one of their traps fail to trigger, and the adjustment to Sniper Training should cause small amounts of movement during encounters to be less punishing.
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Burn Rune - The bonus to spell damage granted from intellect has been increased by 50%.
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The baseline healing of Earth Shield and Riptide have been reduced to offset the change above.
Developers’ notes: The intent behind this adjustment is to keep the same power level of these runes for those heavily invested in restoration, but reduce the effectiveness of these abilities for those shamans that are not.
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Earth Shield and Riptide now deal less healing baseline but are augmented by the Purification talent to provide roughly the same healing output that they had before this adjustment.
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User Interface
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The Looking for Group tool has been added for Season of Discovery realms. You may access this tool by selecting the Eyeball icon on the upper-left of your minimap or using the (I) Hotkey. Players may use this tool to list themselves for a variety of activities, or browse listings of other players looking for groups.
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A new option has been added to the options menu to toggle between the new and classic Guild interface.
Developers’ notes: We understand that some players prefer the simplicity of the older Guild UI but we also appreciate how difficult it can be for guild leaders to use, particularly when it comes to managing roles in large guilds and the new UI has a much more user-friendly interface for that functionality. As a result, we’ve decided to simply let each player choose which interface they’d prefer and allow them to swap back and forth as desired.
And that covers all of the changes coming to World of Warcraft Season of Discovery Phase 6. You can also check out the official patch notes, here.
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