WoW Dragonflight March 12 PvP changes: Huge Demon Hunter nerfs & Fire Mage buffs

The Demon Hunter has been a potent force in World of Warcraft PvP for some time, but the nerf hammer has finally hit and it could lower their effectiveness significantly.

Blizzard has confirmed the latest round of PvP buffs and nerfs and it’s bad news for Havoc spec Demon Hunters across the board. Several major incoming damage reductions and outgoing damage bonuses have been hit, as well as Versatility and survivability more generally.

Elsewhere, several class/spec combos received healthy buffs, including Holy Paladin and both Beast Mastery and Survival Hunter. The big winner was Fire Mage, which saw huge buffs in several key areas, likely with the intention of making the spec more usable in competitive PvP.

Complete list of WoW PvP changes for March 12

Most classes received changes in one form or another, the full details of which are as follows:

• Fixed an issue that caused Light’s Protection, Soulburn: Drain Life, Icy Feet’s lockout effect, Master of the Elements, and Fury of Elune to be vulnerable to enemy purge effects.

Demon Hunter

• Havoc
  • Demon Hide (talent) physical damage reduction is now 3% (was 5%).
  • Scars of Suffering (talent) Versatility bonus reduced to 2% (was 4%).
  • Illidari Knowledge (talent) Magic damage reduction is now 3% (was 5%).
  • Will of the Illidari (talent) max health bonus reduced to 3% (was 5%).
  • Essence Break (talent) damage bonus for Chaos Strike/Blade Dance reduced to 40% (was 50%).
  • Resolved an issue that prevented the 50% PvP reduction to the Throw Glaive cast by Screaming Torchfiend’s Brutality (2-piece) from being applied.

Druid

• Adaptive Swarm can no longer be cast during arena or battleground preparation.
• Fixed an issue that caused the Well-Honed Instincts debuff to not clear upon the start of a PvP match.
• Feral
  • Frenzied Regeneration is no longer reduced by 37.5% for Feral and Balance Druids in PvP combat. Restoration druids’ Frenzied Regeneration remains reduced by 50% in PvP combat.
  • Wild Attunement no longer activates when Cyclone is cast on an immune target.
• Restoration
  • Fixed an issue that caused Reforestation stacks to persist past the starting room in PvP instances.
  • Fixed an issue that caused Reactive Resin to apply to the Restoration Druid if heal over time effects were dispelled after being spell stolen.

Hunter

• Beast Mastery
  • Kill Shot damage increased by 25% in PvP (was 10%).
• Survival
  • Raptor Strike damage increased by 5% in PvP (was 11% reduced).
  • Mongoose Bite damage increased by 5% in PvP (was 11% reduced).

Mage

• Ring of Fire (PvP Talent) now deals 18% of its target’s health over 6 seconds (was 24%).
• Arcane
  • Prismatic Barrier now reduces magic damage taken by 10% (was 15%) and reduces the duration of incoming magic effects by 15% (was 25%) in PvP combat.
• Fire
  • Fevered Incantation now increases Critical Strike damage by 1% (was 2%) per stack in PvP combat.
  • Meteor’s damage increased by 30% (was 11%) in PvP combat.
  • Fireball’s damage increased by 35% (was 18%) in PvP combat.
  • Scorch damage increased by 300% (was 200%) in PvP combat.
  • Fire Blast damage is now reduced by 8% (was 14%) in PvP combat.
  • Living Bomb damage increased by 800% (was 440%) in PvP combat.

Monk

• Mistweaver
  • Vivify healing decreased by 10% (was 20%) in PvP combat.
  • Invigorating Mist healing increased by 12% in PvP combat.
  • Soothing Mist healing increased by 15% in PvP combat.
  • Soothing Mist (Jade Serpent Statue) healing increased by 15% in PvP combat.

Paladin

• Holy
  • Denounce (PvP talent) damage increased by 70%.
  • Judgment damage increased by 50% in PvP combat.
  • Greater Judgment absorb increased by 30% in PvP combat.

Priest

• Discipline 
  • Smite damage increased by 25% in PvP combat.
  • Atonement healing increased by 8% in PvP combat.

Rogue

• Outlaw
  • Float Like a Butterfly (talent) effectiveness is now reduced by 50% in PvP combat.
  • Precision Shot (talent) damage reduction is now 3% (was 5%) in PvP combat.
  • Take Your Cut (PvP talent) haste granted reduced to 10% (was 15%) and duration reduced to 10 seconds (was 12 seconds).

Shaman

• Enhancement
  • Healing Surge healing is now increased by 25% in PvP combat.

Warlock

• Soulburn: Demonic Circle now lasts 4 seconds in PvP Combat (was 6 seconds).
• Soulburn: Demonic Circle now increases movement speed by 30% in PvP combat (was 50%).
• Destruction
  • Flame Rift damage from the Amirdrassil 4-piece set bonus is now reduced by 30% in PvP combat.

Warrior

• Cacophonous Roar damage threshold is increased by 100% (was 200%) in PvP combat.
• Arms
  • Execute damage increased by 25% in PvP (was 15%).
• Fury
  • Execute damage increased by 65% in PvP (was 50%).

That’s every upcoming buff nerf and change to PvP in World of Warcraft. All of these will roll out following weekly maintenance on March 12.