WoW update 9.1.0 adds Sanctum of Domination, nerfs Holy Paladins: patch notes

World of Warcraft: Shadowlands update 9.1 is now live on the PTR, which means it’ll reach the main servers soon after. It adds the Sanctum of Domination raid, a new zone named Korthia, balance changes to classes, and more.

The latest World of Warcraft: Shadowlands update is the biggest one yet. It was first announced during BlizzCon 2021 back in February, and players have been patiently waiting ever since. But now it’s finally here, and it’s got everything they promised, and more.

Let’s take a look at everything included, starting with the most anticipated feature, the new Sanctum of Domination raid.

Sanctum of Domination raid

World of Warcraft: Shadowlands has a lot to offer. However, raids have always been the heart and soul of the game in the eyes of its players, and the latest update finally adds a new one, Sanctum of Domination.

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It pits players against 10 fearsome bosses, including Sylvanas Windrunner, the Eye of the Jailer, the Tarragrue, and Kel’Thuzzad. Players have been able to test some of the encounters on the PTR, and if it all goes according to plan, the raid will be available the moment the patch goes live.

New Zone: Korthia

The patch also adds a new zone, Korthia, City of Secrets. It’s described as “an ancient realm of the Shadowlands that was long lost in the In-Between before being dragged into the Maw by the chains of the Jailer.”

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Not only is it a new environment for players to explore. It’s also packed with new creatures, quests, treasures, and more. The World of Warcraft: Shadowlands universe is always expanding, and fans can’t wait to jump into the new area.

Holy Paladin Nerf

As always, the patch introduces some much-needed balance changes in both PvE and PvP. However, nobody came out worse for wear than Holy Paladins. The biggest change is to Light’s Grace, the PvP Talent that used to increase Holy Light’s healing by 50% and reduce all damage on the target by 5% for 8 sec, which stacked three times.

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Now, the damage reduction has been reduced to 15% for 5 seconds and no longer stacks and it only increases Flash of Light healing by 25% instead of Holy Light. It’s been met with mixed reactions already. So, we’ll have to see how it plays out once the patch is live.

World of Warcraft Version 9.1.0 Patch Notes

Classes

Death Knight

• Blood
  • Damage of all spells and abilities increased by 6%.

Demon Hunter

• Havoc
  • Demon’s Bite damage increased by 15%.
  • Demon Blades (Talent) damage increased by 15%.
  • Chaos Strike damage increased by 15%.
  • Annihilation damage increased by 15%.
  • Unbound Chaos (Talent) now increases the damage of your next Fel Rush by 500% (was 600%).

Druid

• Balance
  • New Moon (Talent) now has 20 second recharge (was 25 seconds).
  • New Moon and Half Moon damage increased by 33%.
  • Solstice (Talent) now causes Shooting Stars to fall 250% more often (was 300%).
  • Stellar Drift (Talent) has been redesigned – Starfall damage increased by 50% and allows you to cast while moving while Starfall is active, but it has a 15 second cooldown.
  • The free Starfall from Oneth’s Clear Vision (Runecarving Power) ignores the Stellar Drift (Talent) Starfall cooldown.
  • Balance of All Things (Runecarving Power) now grants 24% increased critical strike chance (was 40%) and decreases by 3% every 1 second (was 8% every 1 second).

Hunter

• Survival
  • Raptor Strike damage increased by 15%.
  • Kill Command damage increased by 15%.
  • Mongoose Bite (Talent) damage increased by 15%.
  • Flanking Strike (Talent) damage increased by 15%.

• Pets
  • Mammoth Family
    • Trample is now instant cast (was 6 second channel).
  • Pterrordax Family
    • New Ability: Updraft – Your pet beats its powerful wings, slowing the fall speed of both itself and the hunter for 30 seconds.
    • Classic pterrordax pets and Mists of Pandaria python pets are now larger in size.

Mage

• Fire
  • Flamestrike damage reduced by 10%.
  • Flame Patch (Talent) damage reduced by 10%.
  • Kindling (Talent) cooldown reduction for Combustion reduced to 1 second (was 1.5 seconds).
  • Infernal Cascade (Conduit) Fire damage bonus reduced by 20%.

Paladin

• Blessing of Winter from Blessing of the Seasons (Night Fae Ability) can now be applied to multiple targets simultaneously.

Priest

• Clear Mind (Conduit) effectiveness reduced by 25%.
• Discipline
  • Spirit Shell (Talent) cooldown increased to 90 seconds (was 60 seconds).

• Holy
  • Symbol of Hope has been redesigned – Bolster the morale of party or raid members within 40 yards. They each recover 60 seconds of cooldown on a major defensive ability, and they regain 12% of their missing mana, over 5 seconds.

• Shadow
  • Shadow Word: Pain damage increased by 25%.
  • Vampiric Touch damage increased by 25%.
  • Devouring Plague damage reduced by 18%.
  • Dissonant Echoes (Conduit) now grants 20% increased Void Bolt damage (was 35%).
  • Shadowflame Prism (Runecarving Power) Shadowflame Rift damage reduced by 16%.
  • Talbadar’s Stratagem (Runecarving Power) Mind Blast’s damage increase reduced by 8%.

Rogue

• The shield from Cloaked in Shadows (Conduit) is now 50% larger, lasts for 4 seconds (previously had no duration) and no longer decays while the Rogue is out of stealth.
• Feint duration increased to 6 seconds (was 5 seconds).
• Subtlety
  • Shuriken Storm (Rank 2) now also increases Shuriken Storm’s chance to critically strike by 15%.
  • Black Powder’s damage per combo point increased by 33%.
  • Black Powder (Rank 2) now causes targets with Find Weakness to suffer an additional 40% damage as Shadow (was 50%).
  • Shadow Techniques now triggers more frequently.
  • Backstab damage increased by 20%.
  • Gloomblade (Talent) damage increased by 20%.

Warlock

• Dark Pact’s (Talent) additional absorb shield has been increased by 316%.
• Affliction
  • Malefic Rapture damage reduced by 18%.
  • Agony damage increased by 20%.
  • Corruption damage increased by 15%.
  • Seed of Corruption damage increased by 25%.
  • Dark Caller is no longer a talent and is now learned baseline at level 58.
  • Shadow Embrace is no longer learned at level 58 and is now a talent option on the level 45 row.
  • Shadow Embrace now lasts 16 seconds (was 12 seconds).
  • New Conduit: Withering Bolt – Shadow Bolt deals 20% (or Drain Soul deals 10%) more damage per damage-over-time effect active on your target.
  • Focused Malignancy (Conduit) effectiveness reduced by 53%.
  • Cold Embrace (Conduit) has been removed.
  • Sacrolash’s Dark Strike (Runecarving Power) has been redesigned – Corruption damage is increased by 25% (was 15%), and each time Corruption deals damage, it extends the duration of all your Curses active on the target by 2 seconds (was Corrupted targets movement speed slowed by 50%).
• Destruction
  • Chaos Bolt damage increased by 10%.

Warrior

• Arms
  • Mortal Strike damage increased by 10% in non-PvP situations.
  • Deep Wounds damage increased by 10% in non-PvP situations.
  • Overpower damage increased by 10%.
  • Execute damage increased by 10%. This does not apply to Condemn (Venthyr Ability).
• Protection
• Execute damage increased by 10%. This does not apply to Condemn (Venthyr Ability).

Covenants

• New Covenant Campaign Chapters
  • Chapters 1 and 2 are available in the April 13 update.
  • Chapters 3, 4 and 5 are available in the April 21 update.
  • Chapters 6 and 7 are available in the April 29 update.
• 40 new Renown levels
• Soulbinds
  • New Soulbind Tiers
  • All existing Soulbinds now have 4 new rows:
  • 3 new Conduit slots (1 Potency, 1 Endurance, and 1 Finesse)
  • 2 new Traits
  • 1 Capper Trait
• Kyrian
  • Soulsteel Clamps (Forgelite Prime Mikanikos) now reduces duration of stun and incapacitate effects by 20% (was 30%).
  • Sparkling Driftglobe Core (Forgelite Prime Mikanikos) cooldown increased to 1 minute (was 45 seconds) and now triggers at 30% health (was 35%).
• Necrolord
  • Sulfuric Emission (Emeni) fear duration reduced to 3.5 seconds (was 4.5 seconds).
• Venthyr
  • Familiar Predicaments (Nadjia the Mistblade) now reduces incoming interrupt, snare and root effects by 20% (was 25%).
• Conduits
  • Changing to a new Covenant will now refill your available Conduit Energy.

Dungeons and Raids

New Raid: Sanctum of Domination

• New encounters on Heroic difficulty and Raid Finder Wing 1: The Jailer’s Vanguard are available for testing this week. [Schedule 1]
• Mythic+ Rating – An in-game scoring system based off of personal performance in Mythic+ dungeons.
• May 4 update: More information is now available in mouseover tooltips for group creators and for group applicants.
• New Dungeon Teleports: Hero’s Path: Shadowlands – Completing each Mythic Keystone dungeon at Level 20 on time will now grant an achievement and a teleport to the completed dungeon’s entrance. The teleport has an 8 hour cooldown that resets after completing a Mythic Keystone dungeon.

Items and Rewards

• Shards of Domination – Select gear that is dropped in Sanctum of Domination can be enhanced by Shards of Domination, which can be found from defeating bosses in Sanctum of Domination. The system is still in development and will be updated in a forthcoming build of the 9.1 PTR.
• The Empyreal Ordnance trinket now puts other on-use trinkets on a 40 second cooldown when used (was 20 seconds).

Pet Battles

• New wild pets to discover and capture in Korthia.
• Removed the cap on the amount of pets that can be owned.

Player Versus Player

Death Knight

• Frost
  • New PvP Talent: Shroud of Winter.
  • Heartstop Aura (PvP Talent) has been removed.

Demon Hunter

• New PvP Talent: Glimpse.
• New PvP Talent: Blood Moon.
• Mana Break (PvP Talent) has been removed.

Druid

• High Winds (PvP Talent) now reduces healing done in addition to its existing effect. No longer available to Guardian Druids.
• Balance
  • New PvP Talent: Owlkin Adept
  • Celestial Guardian (PvP Talent) has been slightly redesigned – Bear Form reduces magic damage taken from spells by 10% and you can now cast Moonfire while in Bear Form.
• Feral
  • New PvP Talent: Wicked Claws
  • Ferocious Wound (PvP Talent) now stacks up to 2 times (was 3).
  • Rip and Tear (PvP Talent) has been removed.
• Guardian
  • New PvP Talent: Emerald Slumber
  • Roar of the Protector (PvP Talent) has been removed.
• Restoration
  • New PvP Talent: Keeper of the Grove

Hunter

• New PvP Talent: Tranquilizing Darts.

Mage

• Kleptomania (PvP Talent) is now Arcane only.
• Dampened Magic (PvP Talent) has been removed.
• Arcane
  • New PvP Talent: Arcanosphere.
  • Arcane Blast now deals 20% more damage in PvP combat.
• Fire
  • New PvP Talent: Ring of Fire.
  • Controlled Burn (PvP Talent) has been redesigned – Ignite deals 100% more damage while Combustion is not active.
  • World in Flames (PvP Talent) now causes Flamestrike to reduce the cast time of Flamestrike by 50% (was 1.25 seconds) and increases its damage by 30% for 3 seconds (was 20% permanently).
• Frost
  • New PvP Talent: Ice Wall.
  • Frostbolt now deals 100% more damage in PvP combat (was 15%).
  • Deep Shatter (PvP Talent) now increases the damage of Frostbolt by 75% on Frozen targets (was 150%).
  • Burst of Cold (PvP Talent) now increases the damage of Cone of Cold by 600% (was 400%).

Monk

• Mistweaver
  • New PvP Talent: Peaceweaver.
  • New PvP Talent: Dematerialize.
  • New PvP Talent: Thunderous Tea.
  • Counteract Magic (PvP Talent) has been redesigned – Each hostile Magic effect removed from a target increases the healing they receive from you by 2% for 10 seconds, stacking up to 10 times.
  • Refreshing Breeze (PvP Talent) has been redesigned – Healing done by Soothing Mist increases the healing of the next Expel Harm on the target during the channel, and causes it to dispel 1 Magic, Poison, or Disease effect.
  • Eminence (PvP Talent) has been redesigned – Transcendence: Transfer can now be cast while stunned and its cooldown is decreased by 15 seconds if it is cast while not stunned.
  • Surging Mist (PvP Talent) has been removed.
  • Chrysalis (PvP Talent) cooldown reduction for Life Cocoon reduced to 30 seconds (was 40 seconds).
• Brewmaster
  • New PvP Talent: Nimble Brew.
  • New PvP Talent: Rodeo.
  • Craft: Nimble Brew (PvP Talent) has been removed.

Paladin

• Luminescence (PvP Talent) has been redesigned – When healed by an ally, allies within your Aura gain 5% increased damage and healing for 5 seconds.
• Judgements of the Pure (PvP Talent) is now available to all specializations (was Protection only) and has been redesigned – Casting Judgement on an enemy cleanses 1 Poison, Disease, and Magic effect that they applied on allies within your Aura.
• Holy
  • Holy Light healing increased by 20% in PvP combat.
  • Darkest Before the Dawn (PvP Talent) healing bonus per stack increased to 20%, stacking up to 5 times (was 10%, stacking up to 10 times).
  • Divine Favor (PvP Talent) healing bonus of next Holy Light reduced to 50% (was 100%).
  • Light’s Grace (PvP Talent) damage reduction granted to the target of your Holy Light is now 15% for 5 seconds and no longer stacks (was 5% damage reduction for 8 seconds, stacking 3 times) and now increases Flash of Light healing by 25% (was increases Holy Light healing by 50%).
• Retribution
  • Jurisdiction (PvP Talent) now increases the range of Blade of Justice by 10 yards and the radius of Divine Storm by 4 yards, in addition to its current effect.
  • Aura of Reckoning (PvP Talent) damage bonus for the next auto-attack reduced to 200% (was 250%) and the Paladin now gains 1 additional stack if the Paladin is the victim of the critical strike (was 2 additional stacks).
  • Ultimate Retribution (PvP Talent) has been redesigned – Mark an enemy player for retribution after they kill an ally within your Retribution Aura. If the marked enemy is slain within 8 seconds, cast Redemption on the fallen ally.
  • Lawbringer (PvP Talent) has been slightly redesigned – Damage increased to 10% of max health and the debuff duration increased to 1 minute, but no longer deals its damage to the primary target of your Judgement (was 5% of max health and the debuff lasted 45 seconds, and could be repeated on the same target to deal the bonus damage to that target).
  • Vengeance Aura (PvP Talent) has been slightly redesigned – Critical strike chance bonus per stack increased to 6%, stacking up to 2 times, and no longer grants increased Holy damage (was 3% Holy damage and critical strike chance per stack, stacking up to 4 times).
  • Cleansing Light (PvP Talent) has been removed.
• Protection
  • Cleansing Light (PvP Talent) has been removed.

Priest

• New PvP Talent: Improved Mass Dispel.
• Thoughtsteal’s (PvP Talent) “Confused” spell that players are afflicted with after being Thoughtstolen is now a 20 second cooldown to indicate the duration of the lockout.
• Discipline
  • New PvP Talent: Inner Light and Darkness.
  • Searing Light (PvP Talent) renamed to Blaze of Light and has been redesigned – Increases the damage of Smite and Penance by 15%, and Penance increases or decreases your target’s movement speed by 40% for 2 seconds (was Smite damage increased by 15%, and reduced the cooldown of Penance by 1 second).
  • Ultimate Radiance (PvP Talent) healing increased by 150% (was 250%).
  • Trinity (PvP Talent) no longer increases Atonements damage to healing transfer by 20% and the critical strike chance of Smite, Penance and Shadowfiend has been increased to 30% (was 25%).
  • Atonement’s damage to healing transfer has been increased by 20% in PvP combat.
• Holy
  • Cardinal Mending (PvP Talent) has been redesigned – Increases the healing of Prayer of Mending by 50% and its jump range by 10 yards.
  • Miracle Worker (PvP Talent) Holy Word: Serenity cooldown reduced by 20% (was 25%).
  • Greater Heal (PvP Talent) cooldown decreased to 12 seconds (was 15 seconds) and now ignores healing reduction effects.
  • Divine Ascension (PvP Talent) now increases the range of your spells by 50% while you are in flight.
  • Greater Fade (PvP Talent) duration reduced to 3 seconds (was 4 seconds).
  • Flash Heal healing increased by 15% in PvP combat.
• Shadow
  • Greater Fade (PvP Talent) duration reduced to 3 seconds (was 4 seconds).
  • Lasting Plague (PvP Talent) has been removed.

Shaman

• Elemental
  • New PvP Talent: Static Field Totem.
  • New PvP Talent: Seasoned Winds.
  • Elemental Attunement (PvP Talent) has been removed.
• Enhancement
  • New PvP Talent: Seasoned Winds.
• Restoration
  • New PvP Talent: Living Tide.
  • Healing Rain healing increased by 20% in PvP Combat.
  • Spirit Link (PvP Talent) has been removed.

Rogue

• Mark of the Master Assassin (Runecarving Power) duration has been reduced by 40% in PvP combat.
• Dismantle (PvP Talent) is now available to all specializations (was Outlaw only).
• Thick as Thieves (PvP Talent) is now available to all specializations (was Outlaw only) and now increases the target’s damage by 15% (was 10%), but no longer increases the Rogue’s damage (was 10%).
• Maneuverability (PvP Talent) now removes all roots when activated in addition to its current effect.
• Honor Among Thieves (PvP Talent) has been removed.
• Assassination
  • New PvP Talent: Hemotoxin.
  • Neurotoxin (PvP Talent) has been removed.
  • Intent to Kill (PvP Talent) cooldown reduction for Shadowstep increased to 90% (was 66%).
  • Mind-Numbing Poison (PvP Talent) has been removed.
• Outlaw
  • New PvP Talent: Float Like a Butterfly
  • New PvP Talent: Enduring Brawler
  • Control is King (PvP Talent) has been redesigned – Cheap Shot grants Slice and Dice for 15 seconds and Kidney Shot restores 15 Energy per Combo Point spent.
  • Drink up me Hearties (PvP Talent) has been redesigned – Crimson Vial restores 5% additional maximum health and grants 60% of it healing to allies within 15 yards.
  • Blade Flurry damage transferred from single target attacks increased by 50% in PvP combat.
  • Boarding Party (PvP Talent) radius increased to 15 yards (was 10 yards) and duration increased to 6 seconds (was 5 seconds).
  • Take Your Cut (PvP Talent) radius increased to 15 yards (was 8 yards).
  • Cheap Tricks (PvP Talent) has ben removed.
  • Plunder Armor (PvP Talent) has been removed.
• Subtlety
  • New PvP Talent: Distracting Mirage
  • Thief’s Bargain (PvP Talent) has been redesigned – Shadow Blades, Vanish, and Feint have 33% reduced cooldowns, but you deal 10% less damage for 6 seconds after using each ability.
  • Shadowy Duel (PvP Talent) duration reduced to 5 seconds (was 6 seconds).
  • Silhouette (PvP Talent) cooldown reduction for Shadowstep increased to 67% (was 50%).
  • Cold Blood (PvP Talent) has been removed.
• Warlock
• New PvP Talent: Shadow Rift.
• Affliction
  • Soul Shatter (PvP Talent) has been removed.
• Demonology
  • New PvP Talent: Fel Obelisk.
  • Call Fel Lord (PvP Talent) now deals 200% of the caster’s Spell Power per swing (was 5% of target’s maximum health). Cooldown of the ability increased to 2 minutes (was 1.5 minutes).
  • Singe Magic (PvP Talent) has been removed.
• Destruction
  • New PvP Talent: Bonds of Fel.
  • Chaos Bolt now deals 40% more damage in PvP combat (was 15%).
  • Focused Chaos (PvP Talent) has been removed.

Warrior

• Fury
  • Slaughterhouse (PvP Talent) has been redesigned – Your Rampage damage reduces the healing the target receives by 15% for 5 seconds, stacking up to 4 times.

Professions

• New Recipes
  • New Optional Reagent: Crafter’s Mark III – Sets the crafted equipment to item level 200.
  • New Optional Reagent: Crafter’s Mark of the Chained Isle – Sets the crafted equipment to item level 230. Only one piece of equipment created with the Crafter’s Mark of the Chained Isle can be worn at a time.
  • Enchanting
    • Formula: Anima-ted Leash
• Alchemy
  • Coloration Powders
  • Blossom Burst
  • Marrow Burst
  • Glory Burst
  • Torch Burst
  • Widow Burst
  • Transmute: Stones to Ore
• Inscription
  • New Vantus Rune Technique: Sanctum of Domination
• Jewelcrafting:
  • Porous Stone Statue
  • Shaded Stone Statue
• Tailoring:
  • Shrouded Hand Towel
  • Cooking:
  • Bonemeal Bread
  • Porous Rock Candy
  • Twilight Tea
• Leatherworking
  • Elusive Pet Treat
  • Pallid Bone Flute
  • Pallid Oracle Bones

Runecarving

• New Runecarving Powers
  • Death Knight, Druid, Warrior and Mage have new powers available in the April 13 update.
  • Druid, Rogue and Shaman have new powers available in the April 21 update.
  • Druid has new and updated powers available in the April 29 update.
  • Demon Hunters and Paladins have new powers available in the May 4 update.
• A new legendary currency – Soul Cinders, is now available from completing Torghast Layers 9–12.

The Maw

• New Zone: Korthia
  • Archivist and Dreadlord Questlines
  • Visitor Dailies
    • New Visitor dailies added in the April 21 update.
    • New Visitor dailies added in the April 29 update.
    • New Visitor dailies added in the May 4 update.
  • New: Maw Assaults
  • New: Tormentors of Torghast
  • New rares and treasures to discover in Korthia and Desmotaeron.

Torghast, Tower of the Damned

• The total number of floors per run is now 5 (was 6).
• The Tarragrue will now be terrorizing players in the Sanctum of Domination and as such, there is no longer a death counter barrier for continuing your run.
• Bosses no longer regenerate health after they have defeated you.
• New Scoring System and Perks
  • You are now scored based on performance after successfully completing a run. At the end of the run, your score will be ranked and you will be awarded with Tower Knowledge, which can be spent at The Box of Many Things to acquire permanent Perks and grow stronger, which will allow you to acquire permanent Perks and grow stronger in Torghast.
  • Play efficiently to become Anima Empowered, earning bonus score for how long you were Empowered during your run and a bonus to your movement speed and Haste.
• New Layers
  • Four new and more challenging Layers have been introduced, Layers 9–12.
  • Layers are now unlocked by reaching a specific rating in the previous Layer’s run.
• New Bonus Floor: Adamant Vaults
  • Brave adventurers who make their way through Layers 9–12 efficiently will now be given the option to enter the Adamant Vaults, a new floor in Torghast. There they will be challenged against the new creatures and traps that lie within for a chance at even greater rewards.
• Torments
  • Starting at Layer 4, Torments are applied to increase the challenge of the run.
  • Torments are displayed on the HUD and provide an additional challenge to overcome.
  • Torments are selected per wing per day.
  • The existing Torments are no longer applied.
• Blessings
  • Through Tower Knowledge, you can unlock Blessings that will provide bonuses to your run.
  • Like Torments, Blessings are selected per wing per day