Dragonflight Season 4 PTR Development Notes

Blue Tracker

This Public Test Realm (PTR) is a testing environment for the content coming with the Dragonflight: Season 4 update.

Dragonflight: Season 4 Update Development Notes

SEASON 4 MYTHIC+ DUNGEONS

Season 4 brings back all eight Dragonflight dungeons to the Mythic+ rotation: Ruby Life Pools, Brackenhide Hollow, The Nokhud Offensive, Uldaman: Legacy of Tyr, Neltharus, The Azure Vault, Halls of Infusion, and Algeth’ar Academy.
DIFFICULTY CHANGES
- One of the most notable changes players can look forward to is the removal of the timer for Mythic Keystone dungeons for what are currently 0 and 10. Players can run through these dungeons at their own pace without the need to watch the clock while still honing their skills.
- Heroic difficulty and rewards will move up to roughly the current level of Mythic 0. These dungeons will remain available to queue into via Group Finder (default hotkey: “I”), though the item level requirement to queue will also go up accordingly.
- Mythic 0 difficulty and rewards will move up to roughly the current level of Mythic 8-10 (this is a bit hand-wavy - numerically it’s close to M10 but not having a timer at all or affixes really offsets that quite a bit).
- The existing Mythic+ system will pick up where that leaves off, such that a Mythic 5 in Season 4 is roughly equivalent in difficulty, rewards, and M+ Rating awarded, to a Mythic 15 today.
  - Normal
    - This difficulty is unchanged.
  - Heroic
    - The tuning and rewards of this difficulty are increasing to be equivalent to a baseline Mythic (Mythic 0) dungeon in the current system.
    - Mythic difficulty changes and mechanics will not be present in this difficulty.
    - This remains a queueable experience.
  - Mythic
    - The tuning and rewards of this difficulty are increasing to the equivalent of a +10 dungeon with affixes in the current system.
    - There are no timers, affixes, or limitations on changing specializations or talents while in the dungeon.
    - The goal is to create a mega-dungeon like difficulty for this experience. This difficulty should present a meaningful challenge and provide commensurate rewards without the pressures of the current Mythic+ system.
    - Mythic 0 is still on a weekly lockout under this model.
  - Mythic+
    - The Mythic+ system will have rewards up to level 10, with +2 starting from what would regularly be a +11 in the current Mythic+ system.
      - A +5 should be as hard as a +15 and +10 should be as hard as a +20 in the current Mythic+ system etc.
    - Affixes would slot in at +2, +5, and +10
      - +2 - Fortified/Tyrannical
      - +5 - Entangling / Incorporeal etc.
      - +10 - Bursting / Bolstering etc.
    - Dungeon ratings should be equivalent to what they represent in the current system.
    - There should be a smaller range of keystone levels to find groups for, and more meaningful progression between each level.
- It’s important to note that the basic structure of dungeon rewards is not changing significantly, so what you would have earned for completing a Mythic 0 will be earnable in the Heroic difficulty dungeon instead. Here is a basic rundown of what you can expect:
Crest and Flightstone rewards are changing to match the same difficulty with only some minor adjustments.
- Flightstone earnings for any given Mythic+ will match the equally challenging Mythic+ from previous seasons. This means that a Mythic +2 in Season 4 will give the same number of Flightstones as a Mythic +12 in Season 3 currently does. The rewards will continue to match difficulty, even if what we’re calling those difficulty changes.
- Bonus Flightstone awards for increasing any party member’s Mythic+ score remain unchanged.
- Whelpling Crests are no longer available from Mythic+ dungeons, as those difficulties no longer exist. Players can continue to collect Whelpling Crests from many outdoor sources.
- Players will earn 10 Drake Crests on successful completion of a Mythic 0 dungeon, as there is no timer to beat.
- Wyrm Crests will be available in Mythic +2 to Mythic +5 dungeons in the same quantities as existing Mythic+ dungeons.
- Aspect Crests will be available in any Mythic difficulty from +6 and up, also in the same quantities as existing Mythic+ dungeons.

Dungeon Updates

The following are the most notable changes in each dungeon:

HALLS OF INFUSION

General

Dungeon checkpoint added after defeating Gulping Goliath.
Normalized the spawn rate of Crashing Tsunami during the gauntlet.
Containment Apparatus Containment Beam’s damage has been reduced by 42%
Primalist Galesinger
- Wind Buffet has been removed.
- Thunderstorm has been removed.
- Now uses Thunderstrike – Inflicts Nature damage to all players within 7 yards of impact.
Primalist Earthshaker Rumbling Earth’s rim visual will no longer clip into the terrain.

Encounters

Watcher Irideus
- Titanic Fist now has a visual during cast.
- Power Overload now has a rim visual around afflicted player.
- Power Field now gradually grows to its full size.
Khajin the Unyielding
- Added rim visuals on Ice Boulders that will trigger Avalanche.
Primal Tsunami
- Cast Away now occurs at 50% health (was 100% energy).

AZURE VAULT

General

Increased the timer of Azure Vault by 1 minute.
Crystal Fury
- Piercing Shard now has a precast visual.
- Piercing Shard ’s impact area has been reduced.
Conjured Lasher Mystic Vapors will now be cast less frequently.
Arcane Tender Erratic Growth’s cast time has been increased to 3.5 seconds (was 2.5 seconds).
Unstable Curator Heavy Tome will now be cast less frequently.
Drakonid Breaker
- Shoulder Slam’s knock back has been removed.
- Shoulder Slam now inflicts Physical damage and increases Physical damage taken by 10%.
- Shoulder Slam will now be cast less frequently.

Encounters

Leymore
- Erupting Fissures now follows current target player.
Azure Blade
- Reduced the frequency of periodic damage from Overwhelming Energy to every 2.5 seconds (was every 2 seconds).
Umbrelskul
- Oppressive Miasma removed in Mythic difficulty.
- Crystalize now pulses Arcane damage while the crystal is shielded.
- Crackling Vortex now has a larger movement radius.

BRACKENHIDE HOLLOW

General

Rotbow Stalker
- Renamed to Rotbow Ranger
- Shoot now has a recast of 6 seconds.
- Diseased Meat renamed to Rotten Meat, and is now a Poison dispel.
Brackenhide Shaper
- Summon Lashers has been removed.
- Touch of Decay has been removed.
Stinkbreath
- Violent Whirlwind ’s radius has been reduced to 6 yards (was 7 yards).
- Stink Breath now locks facing after targeting a player.
- Stink Breath now has a visual while casting.
Gutstabber Withering Poison has been removed.
Bracken Warscourge Bloody Bite has been removed.
Claw Fighter Bloody Bite has been removed.
Decay Speaker Rotchanting Totem has been removed.

Encounters

Hackclaw’s War-Band
- Predatory Instincts’ Haste bonus has been reduced to 5% (was 10%).
- Mark for Butchery’s damage frequency has been increased to 1 seconds (was 0.5 seconds).
- Gash Frenzy’s damage reduced by 21%.
- Gash Frenzy’s duration reduced to 15 seconds (was 45 seconds).

ALGETH’AR ACADEMY

General

Spellbound Scepter Arcane Rain has been removed.
Spectral Invoker Arcane Missiles’s damage has been reduced by 50%.

Encounters

Crawth
- Firestorm ’s frequency has been reduced.
- Savage Peck ’s initial and periodic damage has been reduced.
Echo of Doragosa
- Unleash Energy added as the new Mythic mechanic.

NELTHARUS

General

Each Burning Chain can only be used once.
Burning Chain now stuns all enemies in it and increases their damage taken by 50% for 5 seconds.

Encounters

Chargath
- Fiery Focus’s pulsing damage near the Chargath has been removed.
- Fiery Focus’s now channels damage on current target.
- Grounding Chain now persists on defeated player.
- Grounding Chain now does a small knockback to the player when applied.
Warlord Sargha
- Curse of the Dragon Hoard now stacks.
- Curse of the Dragon Hoard duration reduced from to 30 seconds (was 5 minutes).
- Azure Stone of Might has been removed.

THE NOKHUD OFFENSIVE

General

Nokhud Longbow
- Multi-Shot has been removed.
- Rain of Arrows will now be cast less frequently.
Nokhud Beastmaster Hunt Prey ’s damage bonus has been reduced by 25%.
Nokhud Thunderfist Storm Shock has been removed.
Primalist Stormspeaker Storm Bolt has been removed.

Encounters

Balakar Khan
- Frequency of Stormwinds during intermission has been reduced to every 10 seconds (was every 6 seconds).

RUBY LIFE POOLS

General

Primal Terrasentry Stone Missiles has been removed.

Encounters

Kyrakka
- Infernocore’s duration has been increased to 4 seconds (was 3 seconds).
- Infernocore’s periodic damage has been reduced by 25%.

ULDAMAN: LEGACY OF TYR

Encounters

The Lost Dwarves
- Fiery Surges’ s damage has been reduced by 50%.

DAWN OF THE INFINITE: HARD MODE

Dawn of the Infinite: Hard Mode is available for testing with updated tuning and rewards.

Hard mode does not have a timer and rewards a Hero track item. Hard mode is intended to be more challenging than a standard Mythic difficulty dungeon.

Blizzard Forum Source: Dragonflight Season 4 PTR Development Notes, Author: Kaivax, Posted: Tuesday, March 26th 2024, 9:41 pm