Change report · Warrior, Paladin, Druid
Build 70170 quietly marks every tank stance, and Aquatic Form shrugs off disarms
Blizzard's Oct 1 build gave Defensive Stance, Bear Form, Dire Bear Form and Righteous Fury the same new effect, one named after a test spell called IsEffectivelyTank. The notes mention neither it nor Aquatic Form's new disarm immunity.
Blizzard’s notes for the Oct 1 beta build, 70170, cover most of what its files changed. Two changes aren’t in them.
Game files · build 70170A marker for whoever is tanking
Defensive Stance, Bear Form, Dire Bear Form and Righteous Fury each gained one more effect in build 70170, all four of the same aura type (668). The only other spell in the files with that aura is a test spell, “[DNT] IsEffectivelyTank Aura - TEST” (1315538). So the game can now tell when a Warrior, Druid or Paladin is in tank mode. The files only hold the marker, at value 0; anything that reacts to it runs on Blizzard’s servers.
Game files · build 70170The notes do give Bear Form and Dire Bear Form 75% more Rage from critical strikes in this build. That bonus is Druid-only; the marker is on all four. Blizzard · Oct 1
Aquatic Form can’t be disarmed
Aquatic Form (Passive) gained an immunity to disarms, alongside its swim speed and water breathing.
Game files · build 70170The notes’ changes, in numbers
| Change | Build 70124 → 70170 | Blizzard said |
|---|---|---|
| Holy Shield block chance | 20% → 30% | Oct 1 notes |
| Disengage threat drop | 140 → 280 (rank 1), 280 → 560 (rank 2), 405 → 810 (rank 3) | “doubled”, Sep 30 deep dive |
| Combustion charges | 4 → 3 | Oct 1 notes |
| Sniper Shot | range 35 → 45 yards, plus a 10-second effect that adds 10 yards to the next shots | Oct 1 notes |
| Disease Cleansing Totem | 2 min → 5 min | Oct 1 notes, as a bug fix |
| Faerie Fire | no longer resets the swing timer | Oct 1 notes |
| Shifting Power, Improved Shifting Power | new Feral talents | Oct 1 notes |
39 class spells got reworded tooltips with the same numbers, among them Consecration, Flametongue Weapon and the Druid forms.
Items
Four seals moved up from item level 33 to 38, and from required level 28 to 33: Darkspear Voodoo Seal, Enriched Seal, Relentless Raider’s Seal and Volunteer’s Lucky Seal. Five others moved down. Field Researcher’s Loop went to item level 35 and is no longer Rogue-only, Philanthropist’s Ring to 35, and Crest of Elucidation, Researcher’s Night Light and Truthseeker’s Bow to 45.
Update, Oct 8: Blizzard’s Oct 8 notes say the doubled Disengage threat drop “was missed” until then and is in place since build 70291, and they raise the Bear Form crit Rage bonus from 75% to 100%.
Blizzard · Oct 8Every change in the build, internal settings included, is on the build 70170 page.