WoW Dragonflight Patch 10.2.6 is finally here, and it doesn’t just include fixes and updates, but a new gameplay mode as well.
After months of teasing, Blizzard launched WoW Patch 10.2.6 on Tuesday, March 19 in the U.S. and on Wednesday, March 20 in Europe. So, here’s a rundown of all the biggest changes and additions the patch brings to World of Warcraft.
What’s new in WoW Dragonflight Patch 10.2.6?
Plunderstorm, a new battle royale mode
The highlight of Patch 10.2.6 is Plunderstorm, a new pirate-themed gameplay mode that’s essentially WoW‘s take on the battle royale formula. The mode sees you and 59 other players gathering loot to power up your characters with different abilities and spells while fighting to be the last one standing. There’s a whole host of rewards you can earn for the base game, not just Plunderstorm, but you’ll need to make the most of the mode since it’s not a permanent fixture and is only available for a limited time.
Class changes and adjustments
Patch 10.2.6 comes with a very long list of class adjustments, with many abilities being altered or outright reworked. For starters, Macros that use the non-healer versions of dispels will override the ability with the healer dispel variant if the player is in a healer specialization. This was already the case for Mistweaver Monk and Preservation Evoker, but it now also applies to Discipline and Holy Priest, Holy Paladin, Restoration Druid, and Restoration Shaman. Blizzard also updated the power of many returning set bonuses so they match the increased power of the rest of the new gear in season four.
Most classes saw changes in the update, with Priest getting the lion’s share. Rather than listing off all the changes (because there are a lot), we’ve only included the new additions and major reworks, and left out stat changes like damage increases, mana reductions, and so on.
- Evoker
- Preservation
- Reversion critical heals now extend Reversion by two seconds regardless of Haste
- Emerald Communion will now display an error message and fail to cast if used while in Diamond Ice
- Preservation
- Mage
- Fire
- Added an activation overlay for Fury of the Sun King
- Fire
- Monk
- Mistweaver
- New Talent: Dance of Chi-Ji—Your spells and abilities have a chance to make your next Spinning Crane Kick deal an additional 300 percent damage
- New Talent: Peer into Peace—five percent of your overhealing done onto targets with Soothing Mist is spread to three nearby injured allies. Soothing Mist now follows the target of your Enveloping Mist or Vivify and its channel time is increased by four seconds
- Mistweaver
- Priest
- Leap of Faith no longer interrupts spell casts from the ally it was used on
- Holy
- Empyreal Blaze has been redesigned—Holy Word: Chastise causes your next two casts of Holy Fire to be instant, cost no mana, and incur no cooldown. Refreshing Holy Fire on a target now extends its duration by seven seconds
- Pontifex has been redesigned—Flash Heal, Heal, Prayer of Healing, and Circle of Healing increase the healing done by your next Holy Word spell by six percent stacking up to five times. Lasts 30 seconds
- Lightwell has been redesigned—Creates a Holy Lightwell. Every second, the Lightwell will attempt to heal a nearby party or raid member within 40 yards that is lower than 50 percent health and apply Renew for six seconds. Lightwell lasts for two minutes or until it heals 15 times. Cooldown reduced by three seconds when you cast Holy Word: Serenity or Holy Word: Sanctify
- Casting Holy Word: Serenity with Divine Word active no longer increases the critical strike chance of Flash Heal, Heal, and Renew
- Harmonious Apparatus has been renamed to Voice of Harmony and its icon has changed
- Voice of Harmony now causes Holy Nova to reduce the cooldown of Chastise in addition to Holy Fire
- Gales of Song is now a one-point talent with the values of the previous two-point version
- Orison now has a connection to Pontifex
- Divine Service now has a connection to Say Your Prayers
- Empowered Renew and Rapid Recovery have been removed
- The final three rows of the tree have been reorganized
You can find the full list of class changes on Blizzard’s website.
Dungeons and raid fixes
You’ll be pleased to know several issues with the Ulduar Timewalking raid have been fixed, including Tar not properly slowing and damaging enemies and Liquid Pyrite not restoring ammunition. Plus, if you cast Bloodlust, Heroism, Time Warp, or Fury of the Aspects in a Follower Dungeon, the followers no longer cast their own version unless you tell them to.
Item adjustments
There’s a sizable list of item adjustments in Patch 10.2.6 as well, which includes many changes and tweaks to certain dungeon trinkets. On top of that, raid loot from Vault of the Incarnates and Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible is now in line with the changes made in Amirdrassil, the Dream’s Hope.
So, class set tokens will drop at a ratio of 1:3 relative to non-token items and all Very Rare items have a separate chance to drop in addition to a boss’s standard quantity of loot. The Covenant quartermasters also sell new glyphs, which can transform the appearance of the recently updated Covenant abilities back to their old Covenant visuals.
Pet battles
Pet battles only received one update in Patch 10.2.6. The Briarhorn Hatchling pet was labeled a Mechanical-type for some reason, but has been corrected to be a Beast-type.
PvP changes
The last batch of changes concerns WoW‘s PvP gameplay, specifically the Battleground Blitz Brawl mode. Firstly, since Blizzard isn’t happy with the low frequency of capture the flag games, since they’re only available to teams with a tank. Patch 10.2.6 added a new buff called Empowered Carrier that’s applied to any non-tank specializations if they grab the flag. This buff grants additional health and movement speed, as well as reducing damage for four seconds if the player is stunned.
Also, while there’s been positive feedback regarding increased mount speed, Blizzard has decided it’s too fast for its own good and has adjusted mount speed across all maps. Having said that, it will still be higher than usual on larger maps, like Arathi Basin and Deepwind Gorge. Again, for the full list of details, check Blizzard’s website.
Is Patch 10.2.6 the final patch of Dragonflight?
This patch does not mark the end of Dragonflight. Content updates are still planned ahead of scheduled WoW’s next expansion, The War Within. Players can expect the launch of Dragonflight season four several weeks after Patch 10.2.6, which means it should arrive sometime in April.
Another midpoint patch, Patch 10.2.7, will also come at some point in the spring or summer. This patch, titled “Dark Heart,” will include new questlines, Heritage Armor for Draenei and Trolls, as well as an unspecified holiday event.
WoW: The War Within is expected to launch at some point before the end of the year, with the fall being a likely time window for its release.
This article will be updated throughout the WoW Dragonflight Patch 10.2.6 patch cycle.
