WoW Hotfixes September 9: Evoker Stasis Arena Fix

What changed on September 9

Blizzard's September 9 hotfixes are the first new batch since September 4, and the one entry filed under Player versus Player closes a setup trick rather than moving a number: Stasis can no longer be used in the starting room of an arena or a battleground to bank spells for the moment the gates open. The rest of the batch is bug fixing. A Death Knight slow that was sticking to targets permanently is gone, Shaman stops splashing Windfury onto targets it was never meant to hit, and the The Venomous Abyss raid picks up fixes on three encounters. No specialisation received a damage, healing or cooldown adjustment.

Class changes

Death Knight

Blood

• Resolved an issue causing Grip of the Dead from Death and Decay to permanently be active on targets.

Druid

Guardian

• Fixed an issue where Wild Guardian was incorrectly increasing Thrash and Mangle damage regardless of whether Rank 3 was selected.

Paladin

Protection

• Fixed an issue that caused Glory of the Vanguard to sometimes fail to deal damage to distant targets.

Priest

• Fixed an issue where Flash Heal could not be tracked on the Cooldown Manager for Discipline and Shadow specializations.

Shaman

Enhancement

• Fixed an issue where damage from Doom Winds could interrupt channeled effects, such as the Font of Venomous Rage trinket.
• Totemic: Fixed an issue where Crash Lightning could cause unintended targets to be hit by Windfury Weapon.

Warrior

Arms

• The Venomous Abyss 4-set Bonus - The Winding Up bonus Slam damage buff can now be tracked in the Cooldown Manager.
• Rend is now able to be tracked in the Cooldown Manager.

Protection

• The Venomous Abyss 2-set Bonus - The "Vengeful Shield" bonus Shield Slam damage buff can now be tracked in the Cooldown Manager.
• Rend is now able to be tracked in the Cooldown Manager.

Player versus Player

Evoker

Preservation

• Fixed an issue where Stasis could be used in the starting room of arenas and battlegrounds to store spells for after the gates opened.

Dungeons and raids

Den of Nalorakk

• Addressed an issue where player pets were unable to damage The Winter Squall.

The Venomous Abyss

Entombed Sentinels

• Toxic Droplets are no longer instantly stepped on if they land directly on top of a player.
• Living Venom no longer pierces immunities.

The Lost Explorers

• Fixed a visual effect issue that sometimes occurred when the tortollans were empowered.
• Hoji will now teleport back to the main platform if he falls from the bridge.

Ula'tek

• Added in health backstops to ensure the boss transitions out of Rage of the Shackled when reaching specific health thresholds.

Items

• Fixed an issue causing the Preternatural Antivenom trinket effect to only be applied to the trinket wearer.
• Void Elf and Blood Elf eyebrows are now visible when wearing either the Aquatic or Brick Gloomcap.
• Removed Bouncy Mushrooms collision.

Achievements

• Soft Underbelly is now an account-wide achievement.

Delves

• Fixed an issue that prevented Bountiful Coffers from rewarding Zul'jarra's Forces reputation.

Prey

• Players may now receive 500 Corrosive Coin daily on each character that defeats Ral'kala after reaching Preyhunter's Journey rank 6 (was only the first character).

The Burning Crusade Classic

• Fixed an issue where Akama in Shadowmoon Valley could no longer be interacted with after turning in his quests in a very specific order.

What this means in rated PvP

Stasis stores helpful spells rather than casting them. Its tooltip has the Evoker duplicating their next three helpful spells into a time lock and reactivating within 30 seconds to release them at once. Casting it behind the gates meant the global cooldowns and the mana went in during the preparation phase, so the Evoker could walk into the opener with a bank of healing already paid for. That is what has been removed. Inside the match the ability is untouched, so a Preservation Evoker who was banking a set of casts before a kill attempt loses nothing.

The change is worded for arenas and battlegrounds together, so it lands in every gated bracket at once - 2v2, 3v3, Solo Shuffle, Battleground Blitz and rated battlegrounds. Solo Shuffle is where it will be felt most often, simply because that is where Preservation is queued in volume and where every one of the six rounds starts behind a gate.

Three fixes filed under Classes reach rated play even though Blizzard did not list them as PvP changes. Grip of the Dead sticking permanently meant a Blood Death Knight could leave a slow on an enemy long after they had walked out of the Death and Decay that applied it, which in a bracket decided by kiting is a real advantage to lose. The Totemic fix is the one to read twice: Crash Lightning spreading Windfury Weapon to unintended targets is a stray damage source, and stray damage breaks incapacitate effects. An Enhancement Shaman who kept breaking their own team's crowd control on cleave should find that stops.

Nothing in this batch changes a damage, healing or cooldown value, so the season's balance going into BlizzCon week is exactly where September 4 left it.

Preservation's position on this list is a rating and representation reading, and it moves with the ladder rather than with a starting-room fix. Check it against the same list a week from now to see whether losing the pre-gate bank shows up at all.

What to do next

• Preservation Evokers should rebuild the opener around casting Stasis after the gates, and can compare their own bracket standing on the EU and US Preservation Evoker pages.
• Enhancement Shamans playing Totemic can stop pre-positioning around the Windfury splash - the crowd control and diminishing returns guide covers which effects that stray damage was breaking.
• Solo Shuffle and Blitz players can read the round-start rules in the Solo Shuffle guide and the Battleground Blitz guide.
• The previous batch is in the September 4 hotfixes.