Cataclysm Hotfixes - Updated Dec. 20

Here you will find a list of hotfixes that address various issues related to the release of patch 4.0.3a and World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. While many have already been deployed on all realms, some may not be implemented until the next time your realm is restarted. We will continue to update this thread in the days ahead as additional hotfixes are applied.

December 20

• General
  • Paid services now allow characters level 81 or higher to be transferred with up to 50,000 gold.
  • Several Winter's Veil decorations and NPCs have been checked for proper placement.
  • Silverbound Treasure Chests can now be opened and looted correctly.
• Classes
  • Hunter
    • Cobra Shot is no longer refreshing the duration of the Wyvern Sting damage-over-time effect. Cobra Shot is correctly extending the damage-over-time effect applied by Serpent Sting.
  • Mages
    • Conjuring refreshments no longer count toward achievements like Set the Oven to "Cataclysmic" and Time To Open A Restaurant.
    • Impact is no longer applying damage-over-time effects to enemy targets who are not within line-of-sight of the original target. A target in line-of-sight with the original target is still affected appropriately, even if they are not in sight of the mage.
  • Priests
    • The range of the heal on Atonement has been increased to 15 yards. It has been verified to be working correctly for the priest and party/raid members.
    • Chakra is no longer consumed by a Prayer of Mending bounce.
    • Guardian Spirit's capped value did not rise properly from level 80-85. This has been corrected.
• Dungeons & Raids
  • Lava Surgers present in several dungeons now have loot and can be mined.
  • Bastion of Twilight
    • Cho'gall's Worshipping effect can now correctly be interrupted with stuns and other interrupt abilities.
    • Valiona will now prioritize taking flight and interrupt Devouring Flames if it's cast during a transition.
  • Blackrock Caverns
    • Bellows Slaves no longer grant reputation.
  • Blackwing Descent
    • Lava Parasites will no longer cause the Magmaw encounter to reset if they Evade. In addition, their mounting range has been reduced to 5 yards and they can fail to mount when attacking players.
  • Grim Batol
    • Quests for Grim Batol are now appropriately flagged as dungeon quests.
  • Halls of Origination
    • Players are now able to zone into the dungeon if Anraphet is in combat.
  • Lost City of the Tol'vir
    • The Lockmaw encounter no longer resets if a Frenzied Crocolisk Evades.
    • Players are now able to zone into the dungeon if General Hussam is in combat.
  • The Stonecore
    • Ozruk's Paralyze ability is not supposed to critically hit and has been fixed.
• Items
  • The buff from Corrupted Egg Shell will no longer absorb more than its intended amount.
  • Winged Steed of the Ebon Blade is no longer showing as available for purchase by any class but death knights.
  • Several shirts have been corrected so they no longer cause a player's item level to increase. They are item level 1.
• Professions
  • The search radius to find an Archaeology node from the Archaeology ability Survey has been increased. This will result in fewer searches needed while in the "green" range of surveying.
  • The Alchemy specialization Elixir Master was granting extra potion procs instead of Potion Master when used on Cataclysm level recipes. The potions found to be causing this have been fixed.
  • Both Willful Ember Topaz and Lucent Ember Topaz no longer award skill past 515 Jewelcrafting skill. The designs still show as grey in the Profession window, but no longer award skill up to 525.
  • Several cooking recipes were not counting toward the achievement Set the Oven to "Cataclysmic" and have been updated. Note that Darkbrew Lager, Highland Spirits, and Chocolate Cookie are not intended to count for this achievement.
• PvP
  • Killing a level 85 dwarf mage now properly updates the achievement criteria for Dwarf Slayer.
  • The return portal from Tol Barad now takes players to the appropriate capital city near the portal to Tol Barad.
• Quests & Creatures
  • Shy Highlands Turkeys in Twilight Highlands are now coming out to play for achievements.

December 16

• General
  • Bonuses from Embrace of the Shale Spider and Blessing of Forgotten Kings can no longer stack.
  • Completing Archaeology projects will once again contribute to the guild achievement Making History once the player relogs.
  • The Orgrimmar portal to Mount Hyjal should now appear for players who flew directly into Hyjal to start questing, rather than take the Moonglade portal.
  • The old and busted Winter's Veil decorations in Brill have been disabled. Brill should now have new hotness.
• Classes
  • Paladins
    • Ancient Power now has a 30-second maximum duration and will properly be canceled when zoning or relogging.
    • Glyph of Seal of Insight now correctly increases healing done by Word of Glory and Light of Dawn while Seal of Insight is active.
  • Shaman
    • The Mana Tide Totem hotfix from yesterday has been reverted. The Mana Tide buff no longer stacks, as this had a major impact on encounter design.
  • Warlocks
    • It is no longer possible to waste a Soulstone by attempting to use it on a dead target. The player will receive an Invalid Target error message at the completion of their channel. In a future patch, we intend this functionality to work correctly, allowing a Soulstone to be used to instantly resurrect a dead target.
• Dungeons & Raids
  • Halls of Origination
    • The damage of Fireballs automatically cast by Temple Fireshaper with Molten Barrier active has been adjusted in normal and Heroic difficulty.
    • The damage of Pact of Darkness cast by Temple Shadowlancer has been adjusted in normal and Heroic difficulty.
  • Lost City of Tol'vir
    • Siamat will cast Deflecting Winds after a few seconds of entering combat regardless of any abilities used against him at the start of the encounter.
    • The damage of Dust Flail cast by Lockmaw has been adjusted in normal difficulty.
  • The Stonecore
    • The Crystal Shards creatures in the Corborus encounter are now level 86, down from 88.
• Items
  • Both normal and Heroic versions of Heart of Ignacious apply 20-second cooldowns on other similar items, rather than the full 2-minute duration.
  • Shroud of Dark Memories and Shade of Death now have different stats.
• Professions
  • Pyrite Ore is prospectable at 500 Jewelcrafting skill, down from 525.
  • Darkbrew Lager can be learned at 415 Cooking skill, down from 425.
  • The Engineering item High-Powered Bolt Gun can no longer be used in Arena and Rated Battleground matches.
  • Engineers can now purchase Smooth Cogwheels from Frank Natale using 4x Handful of Obsidium Bolts.

December 15

• General
  • Many guards who maintain peace by slaughtering PvPers have been properly buffed to match the stats of Furious Hyjal Wardens. Beware!
  • Players are no longer able to go At War with the Dragonmaw faction.
  • Trapdoors and transporters should no longer break when hit with area-of-effect abilities.
• Classes
  • Druids
    • Rake will no longer receive twice the benefit from the Feral druid Mastery Razor Claws.
    • Soothe and Wild Mushroom are both correctly benefiting from, and consuming, Predator's Swiftness.
  • Mages
    • Ring of Frost does not cause the mage to stand up (interrupting eating/drinking) while it is active.
  • Priests
    • Blessed Resilience now increases healing received by 15/30%, up from 5/10%.
    • Focused Will now reduces damage taken by 5/10% and 10/20%, up from 4/8% and 6/12%.
    • Healing done by Glyph of Dispel Magic no longer improperly caps out at a certain health pool range.
    • Holy Concentration's mana regeneration component has been increased from 10/20% to 20/40%.
    • Player-controlled vehicles return an Invalid Target error when attempting to use Leap of Faith on them.
    • Rapture's mana regeneration component has been increased from 1.5/2/2.5 to 2/4/6%.
  • Shaman
    • The Mana Tide buff is now applied for each Mana Tide Totem on the ground.
  • Warriors
    • Rude Interruption is no longer incorrectly consumed by Execute, Mortal Strike, or Overpower.
• Dungeons & Raids
  • Both the 5- and 20-quest versions of the Dungeon Quests Completed achievements trigger correctly on dungeon quests done.
  • Baradin Hold
    • Argaloth now respects the faction that kills him and does not drop trinkets for the opposing faction.
  • Bastion of Twilight
    • The doors controlled by the Halfus and Ascendant Council encounters should no longer become stuck after a soft reset.
  • Blackwing Descent
    • Arcanotron's Shield should only proc off of player attacks and not things like Searing Totem, pets, etc.
    • Players can no longer engage Nefarian without killing all three sub-bosses first.
  • Deadmines
    • Defias Blood Wizards, Defias Shadowguards, and Defias Enforcers summoned during the Vanessa VanCleef encounter no longer award experience.
  • Halls of Origination
    • Spatial Anomaly can no longer critically hit.
    • Setesh's movement speed has been decreased.
  • Lost City of the Tol'vir
    • Frenzied Crocolisks should always despawn when Lockmaw resets.
  • Shadowfang Keep
    • Troll druids in particular, when shapeshifting into Cat/Bear form, were dealing an extra 5% damage to themselves via Beast Slaying when afflicted by Barion Ashbury's Asphyxiate. This caused them to die instead of being taken down to 1 health. This has been corrected and Asphyxiate now properly ignores damage modifiers.
  • The Stonecore
    • Slabhide can no longer be killed while he's in his air phase, and can be properly killed when he's back on the ground.
    • Flame Ascendants are now dropping loot that is appropriate for non-elite creatures.
  • Stratholme
    • Eyes of Naxxramas will now spawn a set number of Gargoyles (2).
  • The Vortex Pinnacle
    • The "corpse-catching" mechanic now properly teleports players to the entrance platform of the dungeon.
• Items
  • Normal and Heroic versions of the Corrupted Egg Shell were not properly granting mana. This has been corrected.
  • The Bloodthirsty Gladiator's Insignia of Victory now correctly grants Strength when it procs, rather than Agility.
  • All of the Bloodthirsty and Vicious Gladiator gloves now have the appropriate glove bonuses for their respective classes.
  • Players can no longer buy the opposing faction's mounts in Alterac Valley.
  • Some items improperly shared duplicate stats with other items and have had their stats adjusted, including: Emberstone Staff, Rockslicer, Elekk-Horn Waistguard, Termination Axe, Sorrow's End, Soulsurge Necklace, Corefire Legplates, Blockade's Lost Shield, Sussurating Treads of Shok'sharak, Blazewing's Furious Kilt, Armagedillo's Tail, Book of Origination, Torturer's Mercy, Modgud's Blade, Maldo's Sword Cane, Maldo's Sword Cane (Heroic), Shadowskulk Leggings, Drape of Fiery Dreams, Hood of the Crying Rogue, Spaulders of the Savage Beast, Helm of Fatal Vision, Oath-Bound Gauntlets, Belt of Guardianship, Dorian's Lost Necklace, Don Rodrigo's Fabulous Necklace, Pauldrons of Edward the Odd, Je'Tze's Sparkling Tiara, Heartbound Tome, Arrowsinger Legguards, Thartuk's Inimitable Gauntlets, Terborus's Rotating Bands, Tol'Vir Heriditary Girdle,
  • Reputation is no longer being granted while wearing the Tabard of the Guardians of Hyjal in normal mode Blackrock Caverns.
• Professions
  • Beauty in Blackrock Caverns can now be skinned.
  • Canopic Jars are no longer poor quality and now show as white (standard) items.
  • Obisidum Ore now spawns slightly less frequently in Mount Hyjal.
  • The Blacksmithing Redsteel Shoulders item is now uncommon (green) quality.
  • The Stormforged Legguards item is now rare (blue) quality.
• PvP
  • Progress is now properly tracked for the achievement Tol Barad Saboteur.
• Quests & Creatures
  • Feast of Winter Veil: there is now a quest blob surrounding the area of Growless Cave for the quest "You're a Mean One..."
  • Cataclysm Zones
    • Deepholm
      • Pebble is correctly able to be picked back up if he despawns while being escorted from the crumbling depths for the quest "Lost in the Deeps".
    • Mount Hyjal
      • Players are now able to enter the portal to the Firelands Hatchery as ghosts after the Aviana Regrowth event has occurred.
    • Twilight Highlands
      • Grot Deathblow (Dragonmaw Quartermaster) and Craw MacGraw (Wildhammer Quartermaster) can no longer be killed by members of the opposing faction.
      • "Bring Down the High Shaman" and "Warlord Halthar is Back" are now group quests.
      • The amount of Wildhammer Food Stores required to complete the associated quests has been reduced to 10, down from 15. Please note the quest text will still state that 15 are needed until a client-side patch can be implemented to correct this.
    • Uldum
      • Players are no longer able to receive Efficient Excavations before completing the quest "Do the Honors".
    • Vashj'ir
      • Players can now ride the Seahorse in Darkbreak and Tenebrous Cavern.
      • The questgiver Fiasco Sizzlegrin is now visible and giving the quest "Crafty Crabs" upon completion of "Waking the Beast". "Crafty Crabs" remain acceptable while players work on the other quests in the associated cave.
  • Eastern Kingdoms
    • Stormwind
      • Earthworm Mounds for the quest "Diggin' For Worms" should now respawn more quickly.
  • Northrend
    • Sholazar Basin
      • Bonescythe Ravagers no longer award experience or loot.
  • Outland
    • Hellfire Peninsula
      • The quest requirements for the achievement To Hellfire and Back have been lowered for both Horde and Alliance characters. Horde characters need to complete 86 quests and Alliance characters need to complete 76.

December 14

• General
  • Master Riding now properly grant players 310% flight speed in Eastern Kingdoms with X-53 Touring Rocket, Celestial Steed, Headless Horseman's Mount, X-51 Nether-Rocket, X-51 Nether-Rocket X-TREME, and Invincible.
• Battlegrounds
  • Battleground Demolishers in Strand of the Ancients have had their health lowered in all Battleground brackets except for the level 80-84 range, where their health has been increased.
  • Lifegiving Seeds can no longer be used in Battlegrounds.
• Classes
  • Hunters
    • Players who have the Insanity debuff can't benefit from Time Warp until the debuff has expired. Players can no longer benefit from both Ancient Hysteria and Time Warp prior to the Insanity Debuff fading.
  • Mages
    • Frostfire Orb cannot trigger Fingers of Frost if Rank 2 of Frostfire Orb is not learned. Fingers of Frost functions normally otherwise. Note that the debuff will still appear on the target until a client-side patch is applied to correct this display issue.
  • Paladins
    • Zealotry no longer consumes the Hand of Light proc effect.
    • Tower of Radiance no longer grants Holy Power from Holy Lights cast on a target buffed with Beacon of Light. It continues to work as the tooltip describes for Flash of Light and Divine Light. Please note the tooltip may not be updated to reflect this change until a client-side patch is applied.
    • Healing done by Beacon of Light is now properly affected by healing modifiers on targets which reduce healing done (i.e. Mortal Strike).
    • The healing done by Light of Dawn has been reduced by approximately 40%. Please note the tooltip may not be updated to reflect this change until a client-side patch is applied.
• Dungeons & Raids
  • The Looking For Dungeon random bracket for Throne of the Tides and Blackrock Caverns has been changed from level 80-81 to 80-82, and the specific bracket has been changed from level 80-83 to 80-85.
  • Blackrock Caverns
    • Twilight Dragonkin Armorers in Throne of the Tides and Blackrock Caverns now always drop some sort of loot. Get your Shimmering Claws while they're fresh!
  • Blackwing Descent
    • All four golems are now immune to Distract in the Omnotron Defense Council encounter.
    • Poison Bombs in the Golem Council encounter will now only attack and explode on targets they're fixated on.
    • The gate beyond Magmaw and Omnotron should not close after the bosses are killed if a soft reset takes place.