(Update) Here’s a full rundown of World of Warcraft Shadowlands’ Pre-Patch, coming October 13

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[Update: The full patch notes have been released by Blizzard. You can find a list of some of the bigger changes below, or check out the entire thing here.]

Big changes are coming to World of Warcraft, and they’re happening before the Shadowlands expansion. On October 13, actually, when the pre-patch hits.

The most important thing to note is easily the “level squish,” which is bringing level 120 players down to 50, to make progression more meaningful (read: leveling will grant you new abilities and talents).

You can also change your gender and appearance at the barbershop at will, which grants you more customization options, like tattoos for dwarves and less/more bone exposure for undead. Corrupted gear will be cleansed when Shadowlands hits and season four will end.

So that’s all of the housekeeping stuff. In terms of content, you’re called into action to combat an undead invasion in Icecrown. It’s confirmed as a “limited time event” with special rewards: aiming to end around when Shadowlands launches. Par for the course! I hope that the “tee-up” pre-patch questline has some meaningful beats.

Shadowlands Pre-Expansion [Battle.net]

GENERAL

  • Most non-periodic damage or healing abilities on all classes will have a 5% variance on each individual use.
  • Power Word: Fortitude, Arcane Intellect, and Battle Shout give 5% of their respective stats (was 10%).
  • Area target spells can now be cast at the player’s position using self-cast modifier keys.
  • Abilities (like Mortal Strike or Wound Poison) that reduce the healing received by a target have had their effectiveness doubled against creatures. The value of these abilities will remain the same against players.
    • Warrior, Hunter, Monk: Mortal Wounds now reduces healing taken by 50% (25% against players).
    • Rogue: Wound Poison now reduces healing taken by 8% per stack (4% against players).
    • Warlock: Mortal Cleave/Legion Strike now reduces healing taken by 20% (10% against players).
  • Many area-of-effect abilities have had their damage and their maximum number of targets adjusted. See individual class sections for a list of specific spells.

DUNGEONS AND RAIDS

  • Mythic Keystone Dungeon Affixes
    • Bursting
      • Bursting is now a dispellable Magic debuff.
      • Bursting deals a flat amount of damage instead of a percentage based off of max HP.
    • Volcanic
      • Players are now knocked in the air when hit by Volcanic.
      • Volcanic now deals damage equal to 15% of the player’s health (was 40%).
    • Sanguine
      • Sanguine’s duration reduced to 20 seconds (was 60 seconds).
    • Grievous
      • Non-periodic heals now removes 1 stack of Grievous.
      • Grievous now deals a flat amount of damage instead of a percentage based off of max HP.
    • Explosive
      • Explosive Orbs now spawn 4 to 8 yards from the unit that summoned them (was 3 yards).
      • Explosive Orb health has been reduced and no longer scales with keystone level.
      • Explosive Orbs now have a sound effect when defeated.

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