World of Warcraft & WOW CLASSIC – September 2021 Patch Notes

Introduction

In the latest patch notes for the popular game, players can expect some exciting changes and fixes. In the Dungeons and Raids category, the Sanctum of Domination has received attention. Kel'Thuzad's Howling Blizzard ice patches will no longer explode after entering the Phylactery Phase, providing a smoother gameplay experience.

SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

Dungeons and Raids

Sanctum of Domination
- Kel'Thuzad
  - Fixed an issue where Howling Blizzard ice patches would still explode after entering the Phylactery Phase.

Player versus Player

The amount of Conquest awarded has been increased from all activities by about 70%.

Burning Crusade Classic

Fixed an issue where Lady Vashj would sometimes evade when backing up into the shield generators around her encounter area.

SEPTEMBER 27, 2021

Dungeons and Raids

Sanctum of Domination
- Kel'Thuzad
  - Howling Blizzard ice patches are now immediately removed when pushing to his Phylactery Phase.
Theater of Pain
- Fixed an issue where gladiators in the Halls of Might could sometimes remain immune to player abilities after finishing their duel.

Burning Crusade Classic

[With realm restarts] Spell Haste now lowers the global cooldown (GCD) to a minimum of 1.0 second (was 0.75 seconds).
- Developers’ note: This hotfix is intended to bring the behavior of the GCD in line with version 2.4.0 of Burning Crusade, which the gameplay conditions of Burning Crusade Classic 2.5.2 are based on. Due to a bug in the original 2.4.0 code, players with high Spell Haste in original Burning Crusade were sometimes able to cast certain spells less than second apart, and they would also sometimes be delayed to over a second, based on how their actions were lining up with the server’s tick rate. We've decided that the fairest and most accurate thing we could do is to replicate the intent of the original game and enforce that Spell Haste cannot reduce the GCD below 1.0 second.

SEPTEMBER 24, 2021

Achievements

On the Offensive now requires 6 of the covenant assault achievements to be completed (was 9).

Classes

Rogue
- Fixed an issue which could cause a player to clip through the platform when using Shadowstep on Mueh'zala in De Other Side.

SEPTEMBER 23, 2021

Burning Crusade Classic

Items that are disenchanted should now be available on the Item Restoration support page to self-restore, as long as the materials gained are still present.
Creatures and NPCs
- Some missing NPCs around the world are now visible again.
Dungeons and Raids
- Fixed an issue where enemies, such as Kael’thas Sunstrider and Lady Vashj, could wipe threat from their primary target after mind controlling players.
Quests
- Fixed an issue preventing Druids in Flight Form from using Skyguard Bombs during the "Bombing Run" quest and using Skyguard Blasting Charges during the "Fires Over Skettis" quest.

SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

Classes

Hunter
- Beast Mastery
  - Fixed an issue that caused more pet abilities than intended to have their cooldown reduced by Kindred Beasts (PvP Talent).

Dungeons and Raids

Sanctum of Domination
- Eye of the Jailer
  - Fixed an issue that sometimes caused Annihilating Glare to be cast on transition into Phase 2.
- Painsmith Raznal
  - Fixed an issue causing players to be hit by two floor spikes in quick succession when moving through them at very high speeds.
- Sylvanas Windrunner
  - Implemented additional performance improvements to the beginning of the encounter.

SEPTEMBER 21, 2021

Dungeons and Raids

Tazavesh, the Veiled Market
- Playing instruments in Myza's Oasis no longer cancels shapeshift forms.

Burning Crusade Classic

The Shartuul's teleporter event has been enabled once again.
Fixed an issue where some bosses in Serpentshrine Cavern and Tempest Keep were missing certain items from their loot table.
Fixed an issue where Horde characters weren't automatically barking when riding a ram through Orgrimmar for the Brewfest quests “Bark for T’chali’s Voodoo Brewery!” and “Bark for Drohn’s Distillery.”
Fixed an issue during “Terokk's Downfall” that prevented Skyguard Ace from casting Skyguard Flare.
Fixed an issue preventing some players from using Skyguard Bombs during the "Bombing Run" quest.

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

Achievements

The 9.1 world achievements On the Offensive and Breaking the Chains are now properly account-wide. Completing Breaking the Chains should properly award the Hand of Salaranga mount.

Dungeons and Raids

Sanctum of Domination
- Painsmith Raznal
  - [With realm restarts] Reduced the distance between floor spike gaps during Stage Two on Mythic difficulty.
    - Developers’ note: The distance between safe locations should now be more consistent with this change.
  - [With realm restarts] Shadowsteel Chains periodic damage reduced by 15% on Mythic difficulty.
- Fatescribe Roh-Kalo
  - [With realm restarts] Updated the rune locations to be more consistent with clockwise rotations and slightly less demanding with counterclockwise rotations on Normal and Heroic difficulties.
  - [With realm restarts] Players now have an additional 10 seconds on Raid Finder difficulty, 10 seconds on Normal difficulty, and 5 seconds on Heroic difficulty to realign their fate.
- Kel'Thuzad
  - [With realm restarts] Kel’Thuzad health reduced by 5% on Mythic difficulty.
  - [With realm restarts] Remnant of Kel'Thuzad health reduced by 20% on Mythic difficulty.
  - [With realm restarts] Unstoppable Abomination health reduced by 20% on Mythic difficulty.
  - [With realm restarts] Soul Reaver health reduced by 20% on Mythic difficulty.
  - [With realm restarts] Frozen Destruction’s initial damage reduced by 40% on Mythic difficulty.
  - [With realm restarts] Frozen Destruction’s damage over time effect reduced by 10% and the duration reduced to 8 seconds (was 10 seconds) on Mythic difficulty.
  - [With realm restarts] Fixed an issue where Kel'Thuzad would cast abilities during Howling Blizzard on Mythic difficulty.
  - [With realm restarts] Howling Blizzard now inflicts stacking damage over the duration of the channel on Mythic difficulty.
    - Developers' note: As we saw the community strategies for defeating Kel'Thuzad on Mythic difficulty settle on a preferred approach that involved long stretches of time stalling, waiting for cooldowns to come back up, we started exploring ways of changing the encounter so that this no longer felt required. Players have been clear from the outset that this was frustrating and tedious gameplay, or lack thereof. But we also wanted to be careful to avoid increasing the difficulty of the encounter or introducing other issues and force guilds to re-learn the encounter. We internally tested a few different approaches, including just bypassing the waiting period by resetting cooldowns like we would at the start of an encounter (a portion of which was recently seen on the 9.1.5 Public Test Realm), but testing indicated that this benefited some specs much more than others, and caused worry that groups reaching the encounter now would feel pressure to stack those specs for an easier time. The changes we've settled on aim at making it impossible to stall indefinitely, while reducing the difficulty of key elements of the encounter to make it no longer feel required.
- Sylvanas Windrunner
  - [With realm restarts] Domination Arrows health reduced by 15% on Mythic difficulty.
  - [With realm restarts] Dark Sentinels health reduced by 15% on Mythic difficulty.
  - [With realm restarts] Curse of Lethargy base duration reduced to 4 seconds on Mythic difficulty (was 6 seconds).
  - [With realm restarts] Decrepit Orb Detonation damage reduced by 10% on Mythic difficulty.
  - [With realm restarts] Veil of Darkness radius during Stage Two reduced to 12 yards on Mythic difficulty (was 15 yards).
  - [With realm restarts] Banshee's Fury unavoidable damage reduced by 15% on Mythic difficulty.
  - [With realm restarts] Ranger's Heartseeker, Banshee's Heartseeker, and Banshee's Blades damage reduced by 8% on Mythic difficulty.
  - Resolved an issue which could cause Ruin to unintentionally fail to inflict damage.
The Necrotic Wake
- Surgeon Stitchflesh
  - [With realm restarts] Fixed an issue that caused the first Stitchflesh’s Creation to not increase its applications of Festering Rot.
  - [With realm restarts] Fixed an issue that sometimes caused two Stitchflesh’s Creations to be summoned in quick succession.

SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

Classes

Monk
- Fixed an issue that allowed Bonedust Brew (Necrolord Ability) to deal damage based on non-hostile damage events, such as Blessing of Sacrifice.

Dungeons and Raids

Sanctum of Domination
- [With NA and EU realm restarts] Congratulations to the top 100 Horde and Alliance guilds for defeating Sylvanas on Mythic difficulty! With the next reset, cross realm groups can enter Sanctum of Domination on Mythic difficulty.
Theater of Pain
- Falling from a platform in the Altars of Agony before Kul'tharok will now place the character's body on the platform they fell from.

Quests

The Shardhides for “Spill the Tea” should now be more plentiful.

Burning Crusade Classic

Fixed an issue that prevented the pop-up notice that is displayed when a Battlefield is ready from hiding when you leave the queue.
Fixed a sound issue when riding ram, horse, talbuk and deathcharger mounts.

SEPTEMBER 15, 2021

Classes

Demon Hunter
- Fixed an issue which could prevent some Demon Hunters from receiving Memory of a Burning Wound (Runecarving Power).
Priest
- Shadow Word: Death will no longer apply the Shard of Dyz item effect when it damages the Priest.

Burning Crusade Classic

The Shartuul's Transporter event has been temporarily disabled, due to a bug.
- Developers' note: We expect to have it fixed in a few days, and we'll post an update here when we do.

SEPTEMBER 13, 2021

Classes

Warlock
- Demonic Circle can no longer be placed with the Kilrogg's Cunning conduit while Eye of Kilrogg is off the ground.
Warrior
- Arms
  - Fixed an issue causing Warbreaker (Talent) to not apply the Colossus Smash debuff to enemies if it was used while the Warrior was Disarmed.

Dungeons and Raids

Sanctum of Domination
- Sylvanas Windrunner
  - [With realm restarts] Optimized game performance at the initialization of the first two phases of the encounter.
    - Developers' note: Thanks to community reports, we discovered a way to optimize the processes that caused performance drops at the beginning of the fight and at the beginning of the second phase of the fight (the bridge scene).
  - Fixed an issue where Mistweaver Monks could be preferentially targeted by Wailing Arrow in Stage 3.
  - Fixed an issue where both Tank-specialized players could be targeted with the same Black Arrow cast.
  - Fixed an issue where Dark Sentinels could cast Rage on targets struck by a very recent Black Arrow.
Theater of Pain
- [With realm restarts] The Mythic+ completion timer has been increased to 38 minutes (was 37 minutes).

SEPTEMBER 7, 2021

Covenants

Conduit Energy now refills at a rate of 10 per day (was 1 per day).
- Developers' note: We are entirely removing Conduit Energy as a system in the upcoming 9.1.5 patch, but in the meantime, we wanted to hotfix in a stopgap measure that should effectively remove it as a meaningful constraint.

Items and Rewards

The Trueheart Spear debuff can no longer be applied more than once on a target.

SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

Dungeons and Raids

Sanguine Depths
- Fixed an issue where Gluttonous Ticks were not exploding upon death.

Items and Rewards

The covenant cosmetic armor that can show up on Korthia Dailies should now show up more often.
Fixed an issue that would prevent players who switched covenants from being able to upgrade their Korthia gear to Tier 5.