Blizzard Entertainment has shipped a new version of the World of Warcraft Dragonflight public test realm, featuring buffs and nerfs to several classes and items. With Patch 10.1 set to launch in just over one week on May 2, the WoW dev team is making the final rounds of testing and balancing before the patch goes live.
In addition to seven different specs getting adjusted this weekend, two of the most popular items from the first season of Dragonflight are getting hit with nerfs. The two items—Furious Ragefeather and the Algeth’ar Puzzle Box—have been two of the most effective trinkets in the game during the expansion’s first season, but moving into season two, they’re both getting their relative power decreased.
On the Patch 10.1 PTR, the Furious Ragefeather has had its damage throughput decreased by 10 percent, while the Algeth’ar Puzzle Box has had its Mastery buff decreased by 38 percent. To compensate for the 38 percent nerf, the Puzzle Box is having its buff duration upped from 20 seconds to 30 seconds.
Both items have been popular across many of the game’s DPS specs, with the Furious Ragefeather being a go-to choice for Intellect-based ranged DPS players, and the Algeth’ar Puzzle Box a must-have for Mastery-stacking classes such as Feral Druids and Havoc Demon Hunters.
Related: 4 lessons we learned during WoW Dragonflight season one
These nerfs are likely part of an effort to decrease the viability of trinkets from season one at the start of season two. If an item from season one continues to be stronger at the start of the next season, players would theoretically be less incentivized to use items from season two’s pool.
These changes are slated to go live when WoW Dragonflight Patch 10.1 releases on May 2. Season two of Dragonflight will begin on May 9.
