MMO-Champion Feed - December 1 Hotfixes, Blizzard Holiday Activity, This Month in WoW, DLC #610

[MMO-Champion]

Taking a Deeper Look into Murlocadin - An Aggressive Fishy Surprise of the Light

Patch 7.3.2 Hotfixes - December 1

Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Classes

• Mage (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator / Artifact Calculator / PvP Talent Calculator)
  
  • Frost
    
    • Fixed an issue where the Runebound Regalia 4-piece bonus, Arctic Blast, would sometimes only benefit part of an Ice Lance cast when using the talent Splitting Ice.
      
• Monk (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator / Artifact Calculator / PvP Talent Calculator)
  
  • Windwalker
    
    • Reapplying Mark of the Crane to a target will now properly increase Spinning Crane Kick's damage.
      

Dungeons and Raids

• Antorus, the Burning Throne
  
  • Argus the Unmaker
    
    • Fixed a bug that caused Argus the Unmaker to stop casting Soulbomb during the final phase of the encounter.
      
    • Fixed a bug that prevented some players from being successfully resurrected after dying during the encounter.
      

Items

• [With Server Restart] Insignia of the Grand Army now displays item level 1000.
  
• Fixed a bug that briefly prevented players collecting Pristine Argunite while in a raid group.

UI

• [With Server Restart] Crafted Legendary items should no longer display an item level of 1060.

Blizzard Holiday Activity 2017-2018

Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Hey all!

Another year has flown by, and now the heroes of Azeroth are rushing from their footholds on Argus into Antorus to bring an end to the Burning Legion.

But back on Azeroth, the seasons are changing and Winter Veil is nearly here. Those old Azerothian traditions of good cheer and high spirits are starting to captivate us as we move into a colder time of year; a season where we gather together around the hearth with those who we hold closest to us - our family, friends, and colleagues.

In the same spirit, winter is nearly upon us here at Blizzard, and with it we wanted to share some notes on what you can expect from us over the next month and into the new year, especially during the holidays.

• There will be less Blizzard employee activity across most World of Warcraft forums, especially normal Community Manager activity in General Discussion.
• There will be reduced activity on World of Warcraft's social media platforms.
• Customer Support staff will still be hard at work during the holidays - if you need to contact Customer Support for any reason, you will be able to do so through the Blizzard Support site. Please take note that there will still be Support staff monitoring the forums and assisting with moderation, and our Customer Support forums will remain active through the holiday season!

I'd like to remind you, and I think it's an important note, that discussions will still be monitored throughout the holidays, so please continue to share your feedback and take part in discussions while we're away!

As always, we’d like to thank everyone for their understanding as many of us step away from our keyboards and take time to travel and visit with our loved ones. We look forward to returning after the holidays in 2018, for what looks to be an epic year for World of Warcraft.

From all of us here at Blizzard Entertainment: Happy holidays, happy New Year, and we will see you in 2018!

Inside Azeroth - December Edition

Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Put on your dancing shoes. This month is about to get merry and ends with a fantastical light show over the cities of Azeroth!

Antorus, the Burning Throne
The Horde and Alliance continue to push further into Sargeras’ seat of power in Antorus, the Burning Throne Raid dungeon as both Mythic and Raid Finder difficulties become available.

Mythic and Raid Finder Wing One Opens - December 5
Mythic difficulty of Antorus, the Burning Throne awaits the boldest of adventurers, and players may now use the Raid Finder to access the first section of the raid: Light’s Breach.

Raid Finder Wing 2 Opens - December 19
Players may now use the Raid Finder to access the second section of Antorus, the Burning Throne: Forbidden Descent.

View the complete release schedule in our preview blog.

Holidays
‘Tis the season for delightful delicacies and treats and a grand end to another year in Azeroth with a night full of color and celebration.

Feast of Winter Veil* - December 16–January 2
Greatfather Winter is visiting the cities of Ironforge and Orgrimmar, courtesy of Smokywood Pastures. And throughout Azeroth, it is the season to be jolly!

Fireworks Celebration - December 31–1
Azeroth celebrates! Each racial capital holds fireworks shows every hour, all night long!


Timewalking
Step back in time and visit the dungeons of Cataclysm and Mists of Pandaria with two Timewalking events this month.

Cataclysm Timewalking - December 5–12
While this event is active, players level 86 or higher may access a special Timewalking Dungeon Finder queue, which scales players and their items down to revisit past dungeons from the Cataclysm expansion. While Timewalking, bosses will yield loot appropriate for a player’s regular level.

Mists of Pandaria Timewalking - December 26–January 2
While this event is active, players level 91 or higher may access a special Timewalking Dungeon Finder queue, which scales players and their items down to revisit past dungeons from the Mists of Pandaria expansion. While Timewalking, bosses will yield loot appropriate for a player’s regular level.


PvP Events
Dust off your battle gear and ready yourself to scramble in Warsong Gulch and have gravity (or the lack thereof) send your feet flying in this month’s Brawls. But first, you’ll be able to head into the Arena to take part in some skirmishes and hone your skills against some of the most challenging foes there are in Azeroth–other players.

Arena Skirmish Bonus Event - December 12-19
While this event is active, Arena Skirmishes will award Honor at an increased rate. Will you answer the call to battle?

PvP Brawl: Gravity Lapse - December 12–19
Gravity getting you down? Step into the Eye of the Storm and be prepared for an en-lighten-ing experience. Every minute, players on the battlefield will find themselves launched into the air, only to gently fall toward the ground once more in a perpetual aerial ballet as they try to accrue enough resources to take the win home for their team.

PvP Brawl: Warsong Scramble - December 26–January 2
Warsong Gulch has always been the scene of an epic capture-the-flag battle, but what happens when you can capture your enemy’s flag without having your own at your base? Find out when you step into this PvP Brawl! We’ve also added a few more power-ups to the field of battle to stir things up a bit. To win, your team must be the first to capture five flags.


Quest Events
Get out into the world, meet interesting new people, and sway them with your heroic deeds to earn their favor and fabulous rewards.

World Quest Bonus Event - December 19-26
While this event is active, completing Broken Isles and Argus World Quests awards bonus reputation with the appropriate faction.

Each Month
Take a trip to the greatest of great (and only) faires in Azeroth. It has all the best food, and items, and games. You won't want to miss a moment! But if you do, don't worry, it will be back again next month.

Darkmoon Faire - December 3—9
Meet Silas Darkmoon and his troupe, play games that test mind and nerve, and behold exotic sights from the four corners of Azeroth…and beyond!


Promotions and Events

Adopt Shadow the Fox
Lost on Argus and overtaken by darkness, this playful fox can shrug off the void just being by your side. Your new companion can use its cunning to shift its way through Shadow and Light directly into your heart and home. Adopt between now and December 31, 2017 and 100% of the adoption fee will go to support disaster relief efforts for those affected by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, flooding in South Asia, and countless other crises.

Once you have the in-game pet, you’ll want to cuddle up to the real thing! The Shadow plush features a light-up rune and poseable ears, and comes in a collector’s box to keep Shadow safe. Between November 9, 2017 and December 31, 2017, sales of the plush will help support the American Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies—visit Shadow’s page on the Blizzard Gear Store for more information.

*Shamelessly brought to you by Smokywood Pastures fine purveyors of Graccu’s Mincemeat Fruitcake—Timelessly Preserved!

Antorus Minimalist Raid Guide
Vetaro has updated his minimalist guide to Antorus, the Burning Throne!

This Week in WoW History
We're taking a look back at old MMO-Champion posts and World of Warcraft news that occurred during Nov 26 - Dec 2 in previous years.

Product Slate Leak
In late 2010 a Product Slate was leaked from Blizzard containing planned projects up to 2015. At the time of the leak, this document was already about 8 months old, which allowed us to connect some of their products that came out during the year the document. Estimated release dates for the next two WoW expansions (X4 and X5), along with the new MMOFPS game Titan were among the most important dates. Looking back now, Titan was scrapped and replaced with the Overwatch project, and the WoW movie date was much later, but this gave everyone an idea of what the company was working on at the time.

Patch 4.3: Hour of Twilight
The last content patch of Cataclysm brought a lot of new content into the game. The new raid introduced was Dragon Soul, where heroes fought to defeat Deathwing, the cause of the Cataclysm. The introduction of this new raid also brought us Raid Finder, which became the lowest difficulty and allowing players to queue for it through an automated system. The new raid was also accompanied by three new dungeons, Well of Eternity, Hour of Twilight, and End Time. This content patch also added the Legendary Daggers, new mounts, Void Storage, new companion pets, and Transmogrification.

Darkmoon Faire Updated
Patch 5.1 made a few changes to the Darkmoon Faire. The Darkmoon Carousel replaced an Under Construction tent, and riding it gave players a buff which increased Experience and Reputation gains by 10%. Daily pet battle quests were also added here, with a chance at rewarding players with two new battle pets. Darkmoon Prize Tickets can now also be used to purchase the Swift Forest Strider and three companions.

Ghostcrawler Leaves Blizzard
Greg Street, known in the gaming community as Ghostcrawler announced that he will be leaving Blizzard to pursue another opportunity. His tweets famously became the beloved "Ghostcrawler Tweets" on MMO-Champion, and continued long after he left the company. He is currently employed by Riot Games.

Highmaul and Tier 17
The first raid of Warlords of Draenor was only 7 bosses long, which is about typical of beginning of expansion raids. This short raid ended with the defeat of Imperator Mar'gok which featured an interesting mythic only phase that was unknown until the top guilds defeated him. During this week the Tier sets for Blackrock Foundry were also featured, showing off a few iconic sets which were very well designed for the second raid of the expansion.

Artifact Weapon Preview
During the Beta stages of Legion, a series of posts previewed the artifact weapons which would be unlocked by each of the classes in the new expansion. Artifact Weapons were the biggest change introduced in Legion, bringing with them the Artifact power system.

Secondary Stats and Artifact Knowledge in Legion
This rework made secondary stats less impactful, to ensure that an item level upgrade meant an output increase in general. This patch also brought a much needed catch-up mechanic for players with alts. Artifact Research Compendium could be purchased and sent to alts to increase their Artifact Knowledge level.

Make-A-Wish
The yearly charity companion in 2015 was Brightpaw the Mana Kitty, and during the 2016 holiday season Mischief was added to the collection. These pets are purchasable in the Battle.net Shop, and the adoption fee goes to the Make-A-Wish foundation, who are focused on granting wishes to children in life threatening medical conditions. If you want to embrace your charitable nature while also getting a cool in-game pet, this is the way to go.

Dark Leagcy Comics #610
DLC #610 has been released!

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