Blizzard released the complete patch notes for World of Warcraft Patch 11.2: Ghosts of K'aresh, launching August 5th (August 6th EU). The final major update for The War Within expansion delivers sweeping class balance changes, system overhauls, and quality-of-life improvements alongside new content arriving with Season 3 on August 12th.
Death Knights Get Fundamental Redesign
Death Knights undergo massive changes targeting both raid utility and core gameplay mechanics. Blizzard aims to restore the class's tactical identity while fixing long-standing ability interaction issues.
Major Utility Overhaul
Abomination Limb Removed: The ability made Death Grip positioning too easy, forcing developers to give mobs blanket immunity. Removing it lets Death Grip serve as a powerful tactical tool again.
Anti-Magic Zone Returns to Glory: Back to percentage-based magic damage reduction without caps, reversing Castle Nathria nerfs. Now reduces magic damage by 15% for 6 seconds with a 4-minute cooldown. The Assimilation talent cuts cooldown by 60 seconds and adds 2 seconds of duration.
Death Grip Gets Faster: Cooldown drops to 15 seconds outside PvP (down from 25), making it more useful for dungeon and raid positioning.
Frost Death Knight Complete Rework
Frost gets fundamental mechanical changes focused on reducing resource friction and emphasizing iconic abilities. The redesign fixes passive resource generation problems while creating more engaging gameplay.
Eight New Talents Added:
- Frostbound Will: Rime consumption cuts Empower Rune Weapon cooldown by 6 seconds
- Runic Overflow: Frost Strike and Glacial Advance deal 10/20% more damage
- Icy Onslaught: Frost Strike and Glacial Advance make next casts deal 15% more damage and cost 5 more Runic Power, stacking until Runic Empowerment
- Frostbane: Arctic Assault hits transform next Frost Strike into a powerful AoE that strikes twice with chaining damage reduction
- Killing Streak: Obliterate and Frostscythe consume all Killing Machine stacks for 25% increased crit damage and 1.5% Haste per stack for 6 seconds
- Northwinds: Howling Blast hits one additional target at full effectiveness, Rime boosts damage by an extra 75%
- Frostreaper: Obliterate gets 10% damage boost and tethers enemy souls, Frost Strike severs tethers for Shadowfrost damage
- Howling Blades: Rime-powered Howling Blast unleashes 2 icy blades with 15% Killing Machine chance
Core Abilities Rebuilt:
Empower Rune Weapon: Total redesign turns it into a 2-charge ability with 30-second recharge. Deals Shadowfrost damage, grants 40 Runic Power, and Killing Machine. No global cooldown, but adds 0.75-second cast cooldown.
Breath of Sindragosa: Now an 8-second channeled cone dealing continuous Frost damage. Killing Machine or Rime consumption extends duration by 0.8 seconds. Grants Empower Rune Weapon charge at start and 2 Runes at end.
Rime Changes: Triggers from Frost Strike/Glacial Advance (45%) and Breath of Sindragosa (30%) instead of Obliterate. Fixes resource overcapping issues.
Damage and Resource Tweaks:
- All Runic Power spenders cost 35 Runic Power
- Glacial Advance becomes baseline at level 10, damage up 25%
- Obliterate damage up 24%
- Frostwyrm's Fury cooldown cut to 90 seconds (from 3 minutes), baseline 3-second stun
- Overall ability damage down 8% (offset by other improvements)
Removed Talents: Absolute Zero, Chill Streak, Cold Heart, Enduring Chill, Frostwhelp's Aid, Horn of Winter, Icecap, Improved Frost Strike, Improved Obliterate, Improved Rime, Piercing Chill, Shattered Frost
Unholy Death Knight Improvements
Unholy gets cooldown reductions and better AoE capabilities, especially targeting M+ dungeon ramp speed.
Three New Talents:
- Plague Mastery: Disease crits deal 25% more damage
- Grave Mastery: Minion crits deal 15% more damage
- Desecrate: Death and Decay replacement that consumes remaining damage for instant burst, applies/bursts Festering Wounds
Major Updates:
- Legion of Souls: Replaces Abomination Limb, summons attacking souls that apply up to 6 Festering Wounds over 12 seconds
- All Will Serve Rework: Raise Dead summons extra skeletal archer firing Blighted Arrows
- Apocalypse Integration: Replaces Dark Transformation when known, also summons pet ghoul
- Epidemic: Damage up 30%
- Death Coil: Damage up 8%
- Festering Wound Burst: Damage up 25%
- Death and Decay: Damage up 100% (Defile unaffected)
Hero Talent Adjustments
Deathbringer: Exterminate ditches RNG for guaranteed effects. Frost gets guaranteed Killing Machine, Blood gets guaranteed 2-second Bonestorm. Reaper's Mark damage up 30%.
Rider of the Apocalypse: Undeath damage down 20%. Reaper's Mark jumps to the nearest enemy when the target dies instead of auto-exploding at 5% health.
San'layn: Blood Beast spawning becomes guaranteed instead of chance-based. Damage split changes to 15% for Unholy, 25% for Blood.
Healing Gets Group Size Scaling Fix
Blizzard implemented global healing changes to fix group size scaling issues. Healing cooldowns get stronger in smaller groups without affecting 20-player raid performance.
Scaling Breakdown:
- Big buffs for 5-player content
- Medium buffs for 6-19 players
- No change at 20 players
- Nerfs beyond 20 players
Druid Restoration
Major Healing Boosts:
Tranquility: Initial healing up 100%, healing over time up 200%, both with rapid dropoff beyond 5 targets
Visual Overhaul: Efflorescence, Lifebloom, Regrowth, Rejuvenation, Swiftmend, Tranquility, Wild Growth get updated effects
Talent Changes:
- Lycara's Meditation becomes Lycara's Inspiration: Form-specific bonuses (4% Magic Damage in caster form, 5% Movement Speed in Bear, 4% Stamina in Cat, 3% Avoidance in Moonkin)
- Maim: Cooldown up to 30 seconds (from 20)
- Bear Form: Threat generation down for Balance, Feral, and Restoration
Monk Mistweaver
Healing Adjustments:
- Revival and Restoral: Healing up 100% with rapid dropoff beyond 5 targets
- Sheilun's Gift: Healing up 20%
- Vivify: Direct healing up 80%, PvP bonus removed
- Chi Harmony: Healing taken bonus down to 25% (from 50%)
- Overall: Healing down 5% (PvP excluded)
Brewmaster Gets New Toys:
- Vivacious Vivification Rework: Next Vivify becomes instant after Rising Sun Kick
- New Defensive Talents: Zen State, Niuzao's Resolve, Celestial Infusion
- Invoke Niuzao Redesign: 25-second duration, 40% Stagger sharing, heals from purified Stagger
Paladin Holy
New Talent: Pillars of Light makes Beacon targets heal every 3 seconds, Beacon of Virtue instantly heals allies.
Healing Boosts (12% across multiple spells, PvP excluded): Holy Shock, Holy Prism, Word of Glory, Light of Dawn
Mechanical Changes:
- Beacon of Light: Only transfers from direct healing and Light of Dawn, transfer amount up 10%
- Infusion of Light: Triggers on Holy Shock chance instead of crits, cuts Holy Light cast time 30%, makes Flash of Light instant with 150% healing boost
- Divine Favor: 100% mana cost reduction, cast time reduction removed
- Beacon of Virtue: Range up to 40 yards (from 30)
Priest Overhauls
Discipline Mana Economy Shifts:
- Power Word: Shield: Mana cost up 8%
- Power Word: Radiance: Mana cost up 10%
- Renew: Mana cost down 30%
- Ultimate Penitence: Healing and damage up 35%
- Surge of Light: Flash Heal mana reduction changed to 50% (from 100%)
- Holy Nova: Mana cost down 75%
Holy Healing: Divine Hymn heals up 100% with a rapid dropoff beyond 5 targets. Holy Fire mana cost down 40%. Multiple spells get 5% mana cost reductions.
Shadow Priest Major Rework:
Shadow gets extensive talent tree restructuring focused on core fantasy and reduced complexity.
Eight New Talents:
- Dark Thoughts: 25% more Shadowy Insight chance, Mind Blast generates 1 extra Insanity when consuming
- Death's Torment: Shadow Word: Death deals damage 2 extra times at 15% effectiveness
- Madness Weaving: Mastery gains 25%/50% extra benefit from Devouring Plague
- Void Volley: Replaces Void Torrent for 20 seconds after casting, fires 10 bolts at target and 1 bolt at enemies within 10 yards
- Subservient Shadows: Summoned minions last 20% longer and deal 15% extra damage
- Phantom Menace: Shadowy Apparitions get 10% crit chance and 40% crit damage
- Instilled Doubt: Vampiric Touch and Shadow Word: Pain get 8%/15% crit chance and 20%/40% crit damage
- Descending Darkness: Shadow Crash damage up 300%
Major Redesigns:
- Dark Evangelism: Now 6% periodic spell damage increase, 1-point talent
- Deathspeaker: 25% Shadow Word: Death damage, damage bonus triggers at 35% instead of 20%
- Idol of Y'Shaarj: Call of the Void grants 15% Haste for 12 seconds, followed by Overburdened Mind (-10% Haste for 8 seconds)
- Idol of N'Zoth: Horrific Visions stack system with 50-stack and 100-stack payoffs dealing increasing Shadow damage
Damage Shifts:
- Overall: Damage down 4%
- Mind Blast: Damage up 30%
- Mind Flay: Insanity: Damage up 20%, Insanity generation down to 8 (from 12)
- Halo: Damage up 30%
- Shadow Crash: Cooldown down to 15 seconds with 2 charges, applies Vampiric Touch to 6 targets
- Void Torrent: Cooldown down to 30 seconds (from 45)
- Shadowy Apparitions: Can now crit
Removed Talents: Malediction, Mind Spike, Unfurling Darkness, Whispering Shadows
DPS Classes Get Across-the-Board Changes
Mage Specializations
Arcane: Mastery: Savant gets major buffs - mana bonuses up 10%, Arcane Blast bonus up 30%, Arcane Barrage bonus up 40%, overall Arcane damage up 10%. Prodigious Savant simplified to give 15/30% extra Arcane Charge damage. Overall damage up 3%.
Fire: Meteor's enemy closest to the center takes 40% more damage. Hyperthermia stacks Pyroblast/Flamestrike damage by 15% up to 150%. Mastery: Ignite damage down 10%. Meteor damage up 20%, Pyroblast up 30%, Flamestrike up 10%.
Frost: Mastery: Icicles damage bonuses up 40%. Overall damage up 10%. Blizzard cooldown and duration up to 15 seconds.
Hunter Overhauls
Beast Mastery Major Changes:
- Dire Beast: Now passive with 4% chance from bleed effects
- Bloodshed Rework: 12-second duration (from 18), damage every 1 second (from 3), much higher damage, better Dire Beast attraction
- Huntmaster's Call: Needs 6 Dire Beast summons, Hati and Fenryr base damage doubled, duration cut to 10 seconds
- Barbed Shot: Replaces Steady Shot
- Overall damage down 10%
Marksmanship Updates:
- New Talents: Unmatched Precision (Precise Shots damage bonus up 20/40%), Light Ammo (Trick Shots ricochet for Aimed Shot/Rapid Fire)
- Shrapnel Shot Rework: Explosive Shot gets 100% chance to grant Lock and Load
- Precise Shots: Also cuts global cooldown by 50%
- Calling the Shots: Cuts Trueshot cooldown by 30 seconds
- Overall damage down 10%, Aimed Shot damage up 10%
Survival Changes: Improved Wildfire Bomb returns with 8% damage boost. Cull the Herd redesigned so Kill Shot deals an extra 30% damage over 6 seconds. Born to Kill gives 5% more Deathblow chance and 25% Kill Shot damage.
Warlock Damage Surges
Affliction: Unstable Affliction damage up 68% (PvP excluded). Shadow Bolt and Drain Soul up 25%. Haunt damage up 50%, damage taken increases improved to 12% for 18 seconds.
Demonology: Master Summoner is no longer PvP-only, giving 4% Mastery and 25% cast time reduction for summoning spells. Overall damage up 6%. Shadow Bolt up 55%, Demonbolt up 35%. Demonic Tyrant demon damage bonus up to 25% (from 15%).
Destruction: Incinerate up 50% (PvP excluded), Conflagrate up 30%, Chaos Bolt up 32%. Inferno has been removed from the talent tree.
Other DPS Updates
Rogue: Assassination damage up 12%, Outlaw up 13%, Subtlety up 5% (PvP excluded). Killing Spree is redesigned as a channeled finishing move.
Warrior: Arms and Fury damage up 5%, Bladestorm up 15%. Fury gets Whirlwind damage up 10% and Improved Whirlwind hitting 4 targets at 65% (from 55% to 4 targets).
Demon Hunter Vengeance: All damage up 8%, Mastery effectiveness down 17%.
Monk Windwalker: All damage up 13% (PvP excluded).
Paladin Retribution: Divine Hammer damage up 12%, duration up to 10 seconds. Multiple abilities get 10-30% damage increases.
PvP Balance Gets Tank-Friendly Changes
Global PvP Adjustments
Focused Assault and Brutal Assault Nerfs:
- Damage per stack down from 10% to 8%
- Healing reduction up from 5% to 8% per stack
- Brutal Assault movement penalty down 30%
New Item Effectiveness Rules:
- Manaforge Omega class sets: 67% effective in PvP
- Manaforge Omega raid trinkets: 50% effective
- All-Devouring Nucleus: Banned from rated PvP, 50% damage reduction elsewhere
- Season 3 delve trinkets: 50% effective
Class-Specific PvP Changes
Death Knight Blood: New PvP talent Price of Progress sacrifices 1% health per second for immunity to slows below 100% speed and knockback immunity. Death Grip immunity kicks in after 3 applications within 30 seconds.
Evoker: Nullifying Shroud redesigned so Verdant Embrace prevents next full control loss for 4 seconds instead of the old 3-charge system.
Mage Arcane: New PvP talent Nether Flux replaces Touch of the Magi, brands the target for 100% damage increase on the next targeted spell.
Warrior Protection: New PvP talent Power Through Adversity scales damage reduction from 10-40% based on health, with healing reduction immunity during major defensives.
Rated Solo Shuffle: No more getting the same player on your team 3 times in a row. Protection Paladins are now treated like other tanks.
System Changes and Quality of Life
Delve System Updates
Brann Progression: Hits level 100 (likely final cap). All Season 2 curios reset, new Season 3 versions available.
Underwater Removal: Sinkhole and Tak-Rethan Abyss lose underwater mechanics, become standard delves.
Ethereal Portals: Second Reshii Wraps upgrade unlocks random shortcut portals leading to boss rush encounters that complete the delve when beaten.
Faction War: Horde vs Alliance competition tracks delve completions. Winner gets a permanent banner in Dornogal Delver's Headquarters.
Overcharged Removal: System removed, but Titan Disc belt stays obtainable through regular delves. Previous rewards cost 15,000 Undercoins (mounts) and 5,000 Undercoins (hearthstones) from the delve vendor.
Mythic+ Improvements
Vote to Abandon: Players can vote to abandon Mythic+ runs after key insertion.
Deserter System: Players leaving before completion, timer end, or successful abandon vote get Keystone Deserter mark in Group Finder. Complete runs without leaving remove the mark.
Interface Overhauls
Character Bank Redesign: Six tabs with 98 slots each. Costs 1g, 100g, 500g, 1000g, 2500g, 5000g. Auto-unlock at level 80. Any tab works as a reagent storage. The entire bank is accessible for crafting. Reagent bank and void storage removed with automatic item migration.
Spell Density Upgrade: Better system for reducing visual effects that don't communicate combat info. Reduced and Essential settings improve visibility and performance.
Currency Improvements: Transfer windows stay open after transactions. New visual spark tracking shows seasonal progress and caps. Valorstones don't reset between seasons (first time).
Other Upgrades: Toys and expansion names searchable from inventory. Quest items glow when quests suggest usage. New high-res cursors. Friends List text size options. New audio slider for gameplay sound effects. New /lean emote for all races.
Profession Updates
K'areshi Materials: New gathering materials trade for Khaz Algar materials through vendors.
Alchemy: Invigorating Healing Potion beats Algari Healing Potion. Umbra Essentia provides stealth detection reduction (20 seconds to 1 minute based on quality).
Other Professions: Enchanting gets magical appearance transformation. Inscription adds K'aresh Trust contracts and cartel faction titles. Tailoring gets four Pure Fiber recipes, adding secondary stats to Reshii Wraps.
Technical Notes
Bank Conversion: During high-demand periods, bank conversion might not start immediately. Bank access is disabled until conversion finishes.
Horrific Visions: Stay in Season 3 but remain scaled for Season 2 damage and loot. Achievements and cosmetics are still available.
Legacy Loot: Fixed incorrect Legacy Loot Mode for certain Battle for Azeroth and Shadowlands content.
