WoW Classic Season of Mastery update improves experience bonuses and loot ahead of Phase 3


World of Warcraft Classic Season of Mastery is going into its third phase soon.

Phase 3 will feature new raid content like Blackwing Lair, as well as the addition of the Darkmoon Faire and more.

Before we get there, though, Blizzard has revealed a massive Season of Mastery update heading into Phase 3 content. This update includes general changes that are meant to tackle loot distribution from Molten Core, balance changes for Blackwing Lair bosses, and a massive boost to the bonus quest experience Season of Mastery offers.

With that in mind, here are the latest changes to WoW Classic Season of Mastery as we approach the release of SoM Phase 3.

What is WoW Classic Season of Mastery?

World of Warcraft Classic Season of Mastery allows players to start completely fresh with the WoW Classic experience, and also adds some exciting new changes.

WoW Classic Season of  Mastery onyxia
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OLD FOES, NEW CHALLENGE: Season of Mastery adds some new changes to WoW Classic

Working similar to the first release of WoW Classic, players will go through six content phases, but this time around they will be unlocking more quickly with the entire process lasting only a year from its launch back in November.

Season of Mastery changes things up from WoW Classic by offering additional bonus Quest experience as well as entirely revamped boss fights, mechanics, and stat values. These changes make for a much more complicated game, and a much more rewarding one as a result.

Beyond these changes, the Soul of Iron was also a new addition in WoW Classic Season of Mastery, a buff that proves if your character has died at all since its creation. This buff has allowed for Hardcore WoW communities to thrive in Season of Mastery, a trend that could continue in the future.

Latest Season of Mastery PTR Changes

World of Warcraft Classic Season of Mastery has been live since November 16 of last year. This means that players have gotten plenty of time to get used to the changes.

But as with any World of Warcraft game, updates come in to keep the game fresh, and Season of Mastery is no different.

Following feedback from the game's fans pertaining to Season of Mastery and some of the tuning so far, Blizzard decided to make some changes approaching Phase 3. According to Blizzard, these updates were all done after gathering data over the weekend.

With that, let's dive right into the newest set of WoW Classic Season of Mastery patch notes as we approach Phase 3.

General

  • The amount of loot dropped by bosses in Onyxia’s Lair, Molten Core, and Blackwing Lair has been increased by 1 item per boss.
  • There is now a chance to “proc” additional potions, elixirs, and flasks when max-level alchemists craft any of these types of items.
  • The “Adventure Awaits” quest experience buff has been increased from 40% to 100%.

Blackwing Lair

  • The global health buff applied to all creatures in Blackwing Lair other than Vaelastrasz (who has his own independent health values) has been removed

Razorgore

  • The Unstable Chromatic Drake add should once again properly use his abilities
  • The damage component of the Unstable Chromatic Drake’s Azure Bolt ability has been removed

Vaelastrasz

  • Essence of the Red now lasts 4 minutes up from 3
  • Burning Adrenaline will now target the primary threat target earlier in the encounter

Ebonroc and Flamegor

  • A text emote has been added to telegraph when Ebonroc and Flamegor begin casting Wing Buffet
  • Ebonroc and Flamegor will now root themselves in place and face each other when casting Wing Buffet
  • There is now a cooldown between when Wing Buffet is cast and when Shadow Flame is cast

Season of Mastery Status: Population Sizes & Hardcore Progression

Season of Mastery participants are just a microcosm of all World of Warcraft Classic as the game's population sits at just over 10,000 players with logs between raiding and PVP in contrast to The Burning Crusade's near 300,000, according to Ironforge Pro.

Although a niche section of Classic, Season of Mastery still thrives with the likes of the Road to Ragnaros guilds willing to push hardcore WoW to its limits.

Road to Ragnaros participants have to maintain their Soul of Iron buff to be part of the fun, this buff is proof that they've yet to die. On top of that, there are different groups that have added extra rules for themselves making the content extra challenging, including things like trading only internally and more.

Road to Ragnaros guilds and other Season of Mastery players can look forward to continuing the challenge as in two weeks, Phase 3 will bring Blackwing Lair and the Darkmoon Faire!

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