Venomous Abyss Raid Nerfs - Patch 12.1 Hotfixes for September 1st, 2026

Posted 2 hr 35 min ago by Squishei

Sszorak now applies less Raging Crosswinds on Normal and Heroic.

Mythic Twin Fangs has been buffed and nerfed.

The Coiled Altar has been nerfed on all difficulties.

Nymrissa Wavecaller has been nerfed on all difficulties, but especially for small raid sizes.

Delves no longer drop trinkets as often.

Class Tuning for DK, Druid, Hunters, Mages and more!

Hotfixes September 1, 2026 Classes

Death Knight

Frost

Developers’ notes: We’re aiming to increase Frost Death Knight’s performance in single target and two target cleave scenarios.

Howling Blast main target damage increased by 15%.

Obliterate damage increased by 15%.

Frost Strike damage increased by 20%.

Melee damage increased by 10%.

Unholy

Resolved an issue causing Mastery: Dreadblade and Foul Infections to not increase the critical strike chance of Plague Erupt effects.

Demon Hunter

Havoc

All damage increased by 4%. This does not affect PvP combat.

Vengeance

Developers’ notes: Vengeance is still performing below expectations defensively, so universal mitigation effects are getting a buff. Additionally, Fel Devastation’s effectiveness as a recovery tool has fallen behind as maximum health pools go up, so its healing is being increased.

Demonic Wards now reduces damage taken by 15% (was 12%).

Void Reaver now causes Frailty to reduce damage taken by 6% (was 5%).

Fel Devastation healing increased by 25%.

Druid

Shred damage increased by 10%.

Balance

All ability damage increased by 4%. Does not affect PvP combat.

Feral

Developers’ notes: Feral is performing below expectations, particularly in raid encounters, so we’re providing both an overall lift as well as some specific buffs to single-target abilities.

All ability damage increased by 5%. Does not apply to PvP combat.

Auto-attack damage increased by 10%.

Ferocious Bite damage increased by 10%.

Restoration

All healing increased by 4%.

Hunter

Beast Mastery

All damage dealt by you and your pets increased by 7%.

Resolved an issue causing Wild Thrash to not take target bounding radius into account.

Survival

All damage dealt by you and your pet increased by 7%. This increase is only 3% while engaged in PvP combat.

Mage

Fire

All ability damage increased by 3%. Does not apply to PvP combat.

Frost

All ability damage increased by 6%.

Monk

Mistweaver

Developers’ notes: We’re looking to increase Mistweavers’ healing capabilities while increasing their 4-piece set bonus value.

All healing done increased by 5%.

The Venomous Abyss 4-piece set bonus chance to activate has been increased to 25% (was 20%).

Windwalker

All ability damage increased by 4%. Does not affect PvP combat.

Paladin

Protection

Developers’ notes: We’re adjusting Protection Paladin damage to help them keep up with other tanks, especially in dungeons.

Blaze of Glory damage increased by 150%.

Consecration damage increased by 30%.

Divine Guidance damage increased by 30%.

Priest

Discipline

Shadow Mend mana cost reduced by 20%.

Rogue

Assassination

Fixed an issue allowing Caustic Spatter to trigger from non-class Nature damage sources, such as trinkets.

Shaman

Hero Talents

Farseer

Fixed an issue that caused Natural Harmony to increase the healing of Nature’s Guardian by 20% instead of its listed and intended 10%.

Delves

Trinkets no longer drop as abundantly in Delves.

Dungeons and Raids

Den of Nalorakk

Addressed an issue where interacting with Food Offering while mounted can cause it to no longer be interactable for a short period.

Murder Row

Addressed an issue where Xathuux the Annihilator's Axe Toss can sometimes inflict less damage than intended.

The Venomous Abyss

Nek'zali the Soulcoiler

Nek'zali’s health reduced by 15% on Raid Finder difficulty.

Entombed Sentinels

Breath of Ula'tek and Blood of Ula'tek health reduced by 15% on Raid Finder difficulty.

Sszorak

Sszorak's health reduced by up to 10% for smaller raid sizes on Normal and Heroic difficulties.

Reduced the number of players targeted by Raging Crosswinds on Normal and Heroic difficulties.

The Twin Fangs

Resolved an issue where immunities would prevent players from receiving additional applications of Eternal Venom beyond the death threshold on Mythic difficulty.

Increased the number of applications before the target dies from Eternal Venom to 10 on Mythic difficulty.

Increased the number of minimum targets to 4 for Ravenous Feast on Mythic difficulty.

Vexhul and Ithraz health reduced by 20% on Raid Finder difficulty.

Reduced the maximum health damage effect of Eternal Venom to 50% on Raid Finder difficulty.

Resolved an issue where Protection Paladin's Mastery did not function correctly against Caustic Deluge or Eternal Venom.

The Coiled Altar

Coalesced Venom damage reduced by 15% on Mythic difficulty.

Venom Rupture damage reduced by 10% on Mythic difficulty.

Venom Rupture damage reduced by up to 15% on smaller group sizes on Heroic difficulty.

Volatile Venom damage reduced by up to 15% on smaller group sizes on Raid Finder, Normal, and Heroic difficulties.

Spiteful Soulcoiler health reduced by up to 10% on smaller group sizes on Heroic difficulty.

Zul'jan's health reduced by up to 10% on smaller group sizes on Raid Finder, Normal, and Heroic difficulties.

Wail of Terror cast time increased by up to 20% on smaller group sizes on Heroic difficulty.

Reduced the minimum players needed to be hit by Guillotine and Grim Guillotine to avoid failure damage to 3 players on Raid Finder, Normal, and Heroic difficulties.

Ula’tek

Killing a Blightscale Wretch while outside of its Toxic Womb no longer triggers the Spectral Head to submerge.

Adjusted the impact animation on a creature affected by the application of Revenge so their nameplate does not shift making interrupts more difficult.

Tidebound Grotto

Nymrissa Wavecaller and her murlocs’ health reduced by up to 10% for lower group sizes on Normal, Heroic, and Mythic difficulties.

Frost Orb initial and periodic damage reduced by up to 33% for lower group sizes on Normal and Heroic difficulty.

Frost Orb initial and periodic damage reduced by up to 17% for lower group sizes on Mythic difficulty.

Frost Orb aura duration reduced to 12 seconds (was 16 seconds).

Voidscar Arena

Updated visuals of Taz'Rah's Darkbloom orbs to better match their impact radius.

Items

Satchel of Corrosive Coins sold by Er'iyne is no longer unique.

Player versus Player

Developers’ notes: Healers are able to top off targets too quickly in PvP, resulting in very long combat times. We’re reducing the primary stat from the PvP trinket set bonus for all healer specializations to increase the pace of combat.

Gladiator’s Distinction set bonus grants 5% primary stat for all healing specializations (was 10%).

Fixed an issue where the Training Grounds quest for casting an interrupt was not properly granting credit. Note that you may need to abandon and re-accept the quest for this fix to apply.

Demon Hunter

Devourer

All ability damage increased by 5% in PvP combat.

Havoc

Rain from Above now deals damage equal to 6% of max health per bolt (was 8%).

Druid

Innervate grants 20% mana in PvP combat (was 25%).

Feral

Developers’ notes: We’re increasing Feral’s general damage, especially for Druid of the Claw, and nudging down their defensiveness to speed up the pace of combat for Feral.

Ravage (Druid of the Claw) damage increased by 15% in PvP combat.

Survival Instincts reduces damage taken by 40% in PvP combat (was 50%).

Restoration

Developers’ notes: We’re increasing Restoration’s overall healing while at the same time reducing the power of Swiftmend and some of their mana regeneration talents. The goal is to better balance Restoration’s healing kit to not be so reliant on Swiftmend to top up allies.

Potent Enchantments increases the duration of Incarnation: Tree of Life by 4 seconds in PvP combat (was 6 seconds).

Reforestation grants Incarnation: Tree of Life for 8 seconds in PvP combat (was 10 seconds).

Swiftmend healing reduced by 20% in PvP combat.

Blossom Burst (Ancient of Lore PvP talent) costs 1.89% base mana (was free).

Blossom Burst (Ancient of Lore PvP talent) now prioritizes applying Rejuvenation over Lifebloom.

Mass Blooming (Ancient of Lore PvP talent) costs 3.5% base mana (was free).

Evoker

Devastation

Developers’ notes: The Devastation Flameshaper build is not being utilized much compared to Scalecommander. We’re increasing the power of some Flameshaper focused spells to open up more options for them.

Disintegrate triggers Consume Flame at 200% effectiveness in PvP combat (was 150%).

Enkindle damage increased to 30% in PvP combat (was 20%).

Expanded Lungs increases damage of Fire Breath’s periodic by 40% in PvP combat (was 30%).

Preservation

Mana regeneration is now reduced by 35% in PvP combat (was 30%).

Hunter

Beast Mastery

Developers’ notes: Beast Mastery’s damage during burst windows is higher than we’d like in PvP, reducing some of the abilities that can contribute to this situation.

Bloodshed damage reduced by 25% in PvP combat.

Bestial Wrath initial damage reduced by 10% in PvP combat.

Pack Leader: Stampede! damage reduced by 10% in PvP combat.

Mage

Developers’ notes: Mages have been extending the duration of PvP matches with frequent access to strong defensive abilities, so we’re reducing the effectiveness of their barriers and the cooldown of Ice Block. Fire damage is also being reduced to bring them in line with other specializations.

Improved Conjuration reduces the cooldown of Mirror Image by 15 sec in PvP combat.

Winter’s Protection reduces Ice Block cooldown by 15/30 sec in PvP combat. Tooltip in PvP will be updated in a later patch.

Arcane

Prismatic Barrier absorb reduced by 25% in PvP combat.

Fire

Blazing Barrier absorb reduced by 25% in PvP combat.

All damage reduced by 3% in PvP combat.

Frost

Ice Barrier absorb reduced by 25% in PvP combat.

Priest

Discipline

Developers’ notes: Discipline could use some help, particularly Voidweaver, so we’re increasing some of its absorption and Atonement healing capabilities to bring them on par with other healers.

Void Shield absorption increased by 15% in PvP combat.

Power Word: Shield absorption increased by 15% in PvP combat.

Atonement healing increased by 10% in PvP combat.

Rogue

Developers’ notes: Rogues’ defensive potential improves in coordinated play and as ratings increase, with the predictive effect of Preemptive Maneuver standing out as being too rewarding, so it’s being brought down to be more appropriate.

Preemptive Maneuver now reduces damage taken by 25% while its effect is active (was 40%).

Assassination

All ability damage reduced by 4% in PvP combat.

Shaman

Elemental

Developers’ notes: Elemental’s Farseer hero talent tree is performing better than expected defensively, and its Stormbringer hero talent tree is performing below expectations offensively. As a result we’re targeting key effects of each type to adjust: Natural Harmony’s improvements for the Nature’s Guardian effect are being diminished, while multiple key Stormbringer effects (including Tempest itself) are receiving buffs intended to improve overall damage and burst potential.

Farseer: Natural Harmony now reduces the cooldown of Nature’s Guardian by 10 seconds in PvP combat (was 15 seconds).

Stormbringer: Tempest damage increased by 20% in PvP combat.

Stormbringer: Natural Gift now increases Nature damage by 4% in PvP combat (was 2%).

Stormbringer: Stormcaller now increases Nature spell critical strike damage by 10% in PvP combat (was 5%).

Enhancement

Developers’ notes: Enhancement is on the weaker side offensively, so we’re increasing some of its sustained damage while also reducing its healing capabilities slightly.

Healing Surge healing reduced by 20% in PvP combat.

Stromstrike damage increased by15% in PvP combat.

Lava Lash damage increased by 15% in PvP combat.

Warrior

Developers’ notes: Arms and Fury Warriors provide strong group defensive utility through the Safeguard PvP talent, but the frequency of damage reduction prevented enemy teams from having a window of time to strike.

Arms

Safeguard (PvP Talent) now increases the cooldown of Intervene by 20 seconds.

Fury

Safeguard (PvP Talent) now increases the cooldown of Intervene by 20 seconds.

Quests

Fixed an issue that prevented Midnight World Quests from rewarding Adventurer Crests.

Comment by Soleruhso when you guys gonna fix Wildfire bomb not working properly on ula'tek and twin fangs, since you guys can clearly fix it for BM.Comment by DigitalDecafAre people really getting hit by stampede? I feel like nerfing it in pvp is akin to “people can’t stop getting hit by completely avoidable damage so we have to nerf it”Comment by SituationThat delve trinket change! Finally! Last week I used a map and got an F tier trinket, got a champ trinket. Vault for delves 2 trinkets.

I used a map today and got bracers!

I cannot believe it took them sooo long to lower the trinket drop chance I've gotten like 75% trinkets that are trash since delves came out.Comment by DardrolorI love the delve trinkets so powerfulComment by Kilgharrah96 Resolved an issue causing Wild Thrash to not take target bounding radius into account