Patch 1.7 Changes
Zul'Gurub
Hidden within the jungles of Stranglethorn, an ancient Troll city full of peril has been uncovered. Do you have what it takes to delve into its mysteries with a band of hardy explorers? There's only one way to find out! Zul'Gurub is a high-level, 20-man raid instance with 120 new rare and epic items to uncover. Adventure awaits!
Arathi Basin
Join the League of Arathor or the Forsaken Defilers as they battle for the precious resources stockpiled within the latest Battleground, Arathi Basin! Pitting 15 members of each faction against each other, the race is on to be the first to 2000 resources, capturing strategic landmarks around the Basin to increase your team's gain and cripple the enemy. With an all-new set of reputation-based rewards, there's never been a better time to join the war!
Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza
The Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza is a grand new event set along the coasts of Stranglethorn Vale. Early on the appointed day, friendly neighborhood goblins will visit Ironforge and Orgrimmar to inform aspiring anglers of the grand tournament and give instructions. At the appropriate time, the shout will ring out across Stranglethorn to bait your hooks and cast your lines!
General
* Switching weapons in combat triggers a 1 second global cooldown for all abilities for rogues and a 1.5 second global cooldown for everyone else.
* Tauren can now ride wolves if they learn the wolfriding ability.
* Possessed units (e.g. Mind Control, Eyes of the Beast etc...) can now cancel combat mode by clearing your current target. In addition, the UI will have a gold border when the possessed unit is actively in combat mode with the target.
* Several stun spells and abilities that were previously unresistable can now be resisted as was always intended.
* Damage absorption no longer protects against falling, drowning, or fatigue damage.
* The targeting circles for area effect spells will no longer be cancelled when the caster moves.
* Absorbed and resisted environmental damage is now shown in the combat log.
* If an attack deals non-physical damage, the type of damage is now reported in the combat log.
* Fixed bug where you could kill someone in a duel with spell reflection.
* Auras and shapeshift forms can be cancelled while you are fleeing or confused.
* Fixed bug where you couldn't right click to attack a hunter who is feigning death.
* You can no longer unequip weapons while they are disarmed.
* Debuffs and area effect spells now use their actual cast level rather than effective cast level for calculating periodic resistance.
* Escape Artist works with Frost Nova and Frost Trap again.
* Damage absorption is now applied before damage splitting effects.
* Casting spells on your pets and summons will no longer cause guards in neutral towns to attack you.
* Fixed a bug where mana was being regenerated while channelling spells that use mana.
* Fixed a bug where the Dazed ability used by creatures when attacking targets from behind was countered/dispelled by some spells (e.g. Blessing of Freedom).
* Fixed a bug where area of effect periodic damage spells were being resisted more frequently than they should have been when casting lower level ranks of the spell (affected spells were Blizzard, Consecration, Explosive Trap, Flamestrike, Hurricane, Rain of Fire and Volley).
* Effects that make players immune to physical will no longer be immune to the "Recently Bandaged" effect from First Aid.
* Made general improvements to the camera.
* Meeting Stones
o A number of miscellaneous improvements have been made that should allow for better group forming when using the meeting stones.
o You will no longer be kicked from the meeting stone queue when a player declines a group invite or when inviting someone that is already in a group.
o You will now be informed that you have left the meeting stone queue when the group leader logs out.
o Tanks and Healers will now be immediately added to the group by the meeting stone when they are the 5th member of the group.
o You can now be added to a group by the meeting stone when that group contains characters that have disconnected.
PvP
* Battlegrounds
o Battleground "holidays" have been added to Warsong Gulch, Alterac Valley and Arathi Basin. Holidays occur during most weekends, starting on Thursday night at midnight and continuing until Tuesday morning. During a holiday, emmissaries from that Battleground will be found in the major cities, and honor/faction rewards for performing objectives in that battleground are increased.
o System Messages have been added to Warsong Gulch to replace the heralds.
o Losers of Warsong Gulch are now given a "Ribbon of Sacrifice" which they may turn in to Captain Shatterspear or Sentinel Farsong for a faction reward.
o Offensive use of damage immunities no longer causes the flag to drop in Warsong Gulch.
o In the Battlegrounds, you will now automatically be resurrected by Spirit Healers unless you choose to decline.
o A bug that allowed ghost players to pass through the Warsong Gulch starting gate has been fixed.
o Alterac Valley now correctly rewards honor for owning graveyards at the end of the game.
o Characters that use the Battlemaster to enter a Battleground will now port back to that Battlemaster when they leave the Battleground for any reason.
o Fixed range check for removing insignia from players in Battlegrounds.
o Fixed a bug that would cause players to stand up when a turnin was made in Alterac Valley.
o Players will no longer be able to gain health by repeatedly entering and leaving the effect of a Battle Standard.
o Entering a battleground now resets the timer for the AFK flag. This should prevent players being kicked by the AFK timer moments after they enter the Battleground instance.
o Using the /who command while in a Battleground instance will now only display players in your instance.
* Consecration and other similar spells can no longer be used by non-PvP flagged players to damage PvP flagged enemies.
* Racial "Leaders" have been strengthened, and are now worth slightly less honor.
* Players may no longer purchase items that require a PvP rank unless they meet the rank requirement at the time of purchase.
Druids
* Improved Starfire - The stun effect can now be resisted.
* Druids should now be able to shapeshift back into caster form while Feared.
* Cat Form - The base weapon damage of the form has been increased.
* Cat Form - Each point of agility now adds 1 attack power.
* Cat Form - Rip's damage per combo point has been increased.
* Cat Form - Ferocious Bite's damage per combo point has been increased. In addition, extra energy now converts to damage at a higher rate.
* Cat Form - Replaced global cooldown on Tiger's Fury with a 1 second self cooldown. In addition, its duration has been increased to 6 seconds.
* Cat Form - Rake's damage has been increased.