#1 - March 22, 2024, 10:43 p.m.
Blizzard Post

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.