Quote from: Blizzard (Source)

Druid

• Nurturing Instinct now increases your healing spells by 50%/100% (Rank 1/2) of your agility instead of your strength.

Mage

• Blink: For 2/4 (Rank 1/2) seconds after casting Blink, your chance to be hit by all attacks and spells is reduced by 25%. Blink costs 224 mana.
• Icy Veins: Hastens your spellcasting, increasing spell casting speed by 20% and gives you 100% chance to avoid interruption caused by damage while casting. Lasts 20 seconds.

Warlock

Lifetap now converts a % of your base health and mana.

Emberstorm changes:

• Emberstorm (Rank 1) Increases the damage done by your Fire spells by 2%, and reduces the cast time of your Incinerate spell by 2%.
• Emberstorm (Rank 2) Increases the damage done by your Fire spells by 4%, and reduces the cast time of your Incinerate spell by 4%.
• Emberstorm (Rank 3) Increases the damage done by your Fire spells by 6%, and reduces the cast time of your Incinerate spell by 6%.
• Emberstorm (Rank 4) Increases the damage done by your Fire spells by 8%, and reduces the cast time of your Incinerate spell by 8%.
• Emberstorm (Rank 5) Increases the damage done by your Fire spells by 10%, and reduces the cast time of your Incinerate spell by 10%.

Shaman

• Shamanistic Rage is no longer a magic ability and cannot be purged or mass dispelled in any way.

Quote from: Drysc (Source)

There is indeed a change in 2.4 intended to offset some of the mana regen from drinking away from the very beginning of the duration.

However, we specifically made sure the water would not change the amount of mana regenerated by players who drink between pulls or during gauntlet runs. You should see little to no difference in the amount of mana yielded if you sit to drink for at least 6 seconds, which most players do.

[edit] Time changed from 4 to 6 seconds, original information was incorrect.

Quote from: Kalgan (Source)

You haven’t read it wrong, but we’ve decided to have that rule only apply inside arenas. It’s an inconsistency, but one we’re ok with to prevent water from feeling unnecessarily weird everywhere else.

Quote from: Blizzard (Source)

Warlock

Mana Drain’s previous changes have been reverted back.

• Drain mana (Rank 1) now drains 42 mana every 1 sec from the target. (63 previously.)
• Drain mana (Rank 2) now drains 68 mana every 1 sec from the target. (102 previously.)
• Drain mana (Rank 3) now drains 99 mana every 1 sec from the target. (149 previously.)
• Drain mana (Rank 4) now drains 136 mana every 1 sec from the target. (204 previously.)
• Drain mana (Rank 5) now drains 169 mana every 1 sec from the target. (254 previously.)
• Drain mana (Rank 6) now drains 200 mana every 1 sec from the target. (300 previously.)

Emberstorm has been changed in an odd way.

• Emberstorm (Rank 1) now increases the Incinerate casting speed by 2% as well as the damage of all fire spells by 2%.
• Emberstorm (Rank 2, 3, 4, and 5) remain unchanged and only increase the damage of fire spells by 2%.

Druid

Feral Druid’s 4-piece bonus now works with travel form, again.

Quote from: Blizzard (Source)

Druid

• Lifebloom healing coefficient has been reduced.
• Many shapeshift form tooltips have been updated to be consistent with each other.
• Nurturing Instinct increases your healing spells by up to 50/100% of your Agility, and increases healing done to you by 10/20% of your Attack Power while in Cat form.

Hunter

• Improved Mend Pet now has a 50/100% chance to remove one Curse, Disease, Magic, or Poison effect, up from 15/50%.

Mage

• Arcane Fortitude now increases your armor by an amount equal to 100% of your Intellect, up from 50%. Blink, Slow, and Spellsteal have all had their mana cost reduced.
• Icy Veins no longer stacks with Bloodlust/Heroism.
• Improved FireWard has become Molten Shields.
• New Talent: Molten Shields will cause your Fire Ward to have a 10/20% chance to reflect Fire spells while active. In addition, your Molten Armor has a 50/100% chance to affect ranged and spell attacks.

Paladin

• Resistance Auras: It is no longer possible for two Paladins in the same party to make it appear that players have two of the same resistance aura active.
• Righteous Defense: This spell will now always be castable on friendly npcs.
• Seal of Blood: This ability will no longer cause spell pushback for the Paladin with this seal active.
• Turn Undead(Rank 3):This spell has been reworked and has been renamed to “Turn Evil”. It will now work on Demons in addition to Undead. Turn Evil is subject to diminishing returns, and lasts 10 seconds in PvP.

Priest

• Chastise no longer disorients the target, but now is instant cast and roots the target for 2 seconds.
• Focused Will now reduces damage by 2/3/4%, down from 1/3/5%.
• Power Infusion: Infuses the target with power, increasing their spell haste by 20% for 15 seconds.

Rogue

• Improved Backstab is now called Puncturing Wounds.
• Puncturing Wounds increases your critical strike chance with Backstab by 10/20/30%, and the critical strike chance with your Mutilate ability by 5/10/15%.
• Improved Sprint: This ability will now always remove Entangling Roots.

Shaman

• Ghost Wolf: Cast time reduced to 2 seconds, down from 3.
• Nature’s Swiftness and Elemental Mastery now share a 10 second cooldown.
• Tremor Totem now pulses every 3 seconds, down from 4.

Warlock

• Blood Pact now has a tooltip.
• Demonic Sacrifice: Now works properly in sanctuary regions (such as Shattrath City and the Stair of Destiny).

PvP
Arenas

• Matchmaking: If a queued player has a personal rating higher than their team rating, the matchmaking system will now use the highest personal rating of a queued member of that team for matchmaking purposes, instead of the team rating.

Alterac Valley

• There is now a Join as Party option.

Quote from: Blizzard (Source)

Paladin

• 4-piece bonus on all season healing sets (Redemption) has been changed to “Reduces the cooldown of your Hammer of Justice by 10 sec.” to “Increases the healing from your Holy Shock spell by 30%.”
• Paladin Season 1/2 Retribution gear now now has resilience (Gladiator’s Vindication, Merciless Gladiator’s Vindication).

Druid

• 4-piece bonus on Restoration-spec Arena and PvP sets has been changed to “The casting time on your Healing Touch spell is reduced by 0.25 sec.” (In 2.3 it was a 15% increase to outdoor movement speed.)
• 4-piece bonus on Balance-spec Arena and PvP sets has been changed to “Your Wrath casts have a chance to reduce the cast time on your next Starfire by 1.5 sec.” (In 2.3 it was a 15% increase to outdoor movement speed.)

Mage

• 4-piece bonus on Season 3 set has been changed to “Reduces the cooldown of your Blink spell by 2 sec.” (In 2.3 it was a 0.15 second reduction to Polymorph casting time.)

Shaman

• 4-piece bonus on Vengeful Gladiator’s Thunderfist now Gives you a 50% chance to avoid interruption caused by damage while casting Lightning Bolt. (In 2.3 it was 70%.)

Quote from: Blizzard (Source)

Warlocks

• Drain mana (Rank 1) now drains 63 mana every 1 sec from the target. (Was 42)
• Drain mana (Rank 2) now drains 102 mana every 1 sec from the target. (Was 68)
• Drain mana (Rank 3) now drains 149 mana every 1 sec from the target. (Was 99)
• Drain mana (Rank 4) now drains 204 mana every 1 sec from the target. (Was 136)
• Drain mana (Rank 5) now drains 254 mana every 1 sec from the target. (Was 169)
• Drain mana (Rank 6) now drains 300 mana every 1 sec from the target. (Was 200)

Quote from: Blizzard (Source)

General

• Characters will now retain talented spell ranks so when they retalent they do not have to relearn the spells from trainers.
• Spell Haste: Spell haste now reduces the global cooldown on spells, down to a minimum of 1 second. This change does not apply to melee and ranged abilities.
• Spirit-Based Mana Regeneration: This system has been adjusted so that as your intellect rises, you will regenerate more mana per point of spirit.

Quote from: Blizzard (Source)

Druid

• Empowered Rejuvenation: This talent now properly affects the final heal from Lifebloom.
• Gift of Nature: This talent now properly affects the healing from Tranquility.
• Insect Swarm: Casting lower ranks of this spell is now properly penalized like other healing and damage effects.
• Lacerate: This ability now deals additional damage based on the attack power of the Druid.
• Mangle (Bear) now properly triggers a 1.5 second global cooldown, increased from 1.0.
• Natural Perfection: This ability will no longer be triggered by taking critical strikes while sitting. In addition, it is now affected by the Subtlety talent.
• When a Druid in cat form casts Pounce it will now properly animate.

Quote from: Blizzard (Source)

Hunter

• Equipping a thrown weapon while in the middle of an Auto-Shot will no longer cause animation issues.
• Casting Flare while in any way not visible, will no longer cause your flare to be invisible to other players.
• Hunter’s Mark: Hunters with Improved Hunter’s Mark will now properly overwrite Hunter’s Mark cast by Hunters without the talent.
• The stamina tooltip for hunter pets will now display the proper health increase.

Quote from: Blizzard (Source)

Mage

• Using low ranks of Fire Ward and Frost Ward spell will now be penalized the same way healing spells are penalized.
• Fire Ward: Using low ranks of this spell is now properly penalized like other healing spells are penalized.
• Frost Ward: Using low ranks of this spell will now be penalized the same way healing spells are penalized.
• Frostbite: When a frost spell is reflected back at a Mage, it is now possible for the Mage to suffer from the Frostibte effect.
• Ice Barrier: Using low ranks of this spell will now be penalized the same way healing spells are penalized.
• Permafrost: This talent will now correctly increase the movement slowing effect of frost Armor instead of the attack speed slow.
• Spellsteal will no longer overwrite a longer duration buff.

Quote from: Blizzard (Source)

Paladin

• Avenger’s Shield, Holy Shield and Holy Shock: Casting lower ranks of these spells is now properly penalized like other healing and damage effects.
• Divine Illumination: The mana energize from this talent no longer has a chance to set off other triggered effects.
• Holy Shield and Holy Shock: Casting lower ranks of these spells is now properly penalized like other healing and damage effects.
• Judgment of the Crusader: It is no longer possible to have icons for two different ranks of Judgment of the Crusader appear at the same time when judged by multiple Paladins.
• Judgment of Wisdom: Some abilities (such as Frostbolt) were not triggering the mana energize effect from this spell. This has now been fixed.

Quote from: Blizzard (Source)

Priest

• Fear Ward is now usable while in Shadow form.
• Inner Focus: Chastise now benefits from Inner Focus. In addition, Starshards no longer consumes Inner Focus.
• Power Word: Shield: Using low ranks of this spell will now be penalized the same way healing spells are penalized.
• Prayer of Mending: This spell will now fade from players who leave or enter an instance, change continents, or exit the game.
• Reflective Shield: The reactive damage from this talent no longer breaks crowd control affects which break on taking damage.
• Shadowguard: No longer consumes the charge of Inner Focus when triggered.
• Silent Resolve: This talent is now affects Surge of Light, Power Infusion, Inspiration, Spirit Tap, Blackout, Levitate, Shackle Undead, Touch of Weakness, Hex of Weakness, and Symbol of Hope.
• Touch of Weakness: No longer consumes the charge of Inner Focus when triggered. It will also function properly even when the Priest with Touch of Weakness on is silenced or stunned.
• Vampiric Touch: Casting lower ranks of this spell is now properly penalized like other healing and damage effects.

Quote from: Blizzard (Source)

Rogue

• Cheat Death: A combat log message will now show when this ability activates.
• Vanish: This ability will no longer sometimes cause the UI to display.
• Shadowmeld as active when it has been cancelled.
• Abilities that can be used while stealthed, without breaking stealth, can now be cast without breaking Vanish when used at the same time. Sap mechanic changed from “Incapacitate” to “Sap”. This will allow more humanoids that were previously immune to Sap to be vulnerable to Sap, but still immune to Gouge. Note that anything that removed Sap previously will still remove Sap after the change.

Quote from: Blizzard (Source)

Shaman

• Call of Thunder: (Rank 5) now gives 5% critical strike chance.
• Earth Shield: Mana cost reduced roughly in half, and charges reduced from 10 to 6.
• Elemental Focus: This buff will no longer be removed when Shamanistic Focus is triggered.
• Healing Grace: This talent now reduces the chance your spells will be dispelled by 10/20/30%.The resistance to being dispelled modifier from this talent now applies correctly to Water Breathing.
• Rockbiter Weapon: Tooltip and error messages have been adjusted slightly.
• Stormstrike has a new icon.
• Totem timer icons will now show up under your player portrait when you cast totem spells. Right-clicking a totem timer icon will destroy that totem.
• The Shaman spell Fire Nova Totem will no longer sometime detonate without doing any damage.

Quote from: Blizzard (Source)

Warlock

• Demonic Knowledge: This buff will no longer remain on enslaved demons when Enslave Demon is removed.
• Pyroclasm: This talent now works correctly again with Rain of Fire.
• Ritual of Summoning can be used to summon players into instances if they meet the instance requirements.
• Shadow Ward: Using low ranks of this spell will now be penalized the same way healing spells are penalized.

Quote from: Blizzard (Source)

Warrior

• Endless Rage will now give the correct amount of rage as intended from damage dealt by a Warrior.
• Stances: It is no longer possible to accidentally change into a stance you are already in via macros (resulting in a global cooldown and loss of rage).
• Whirlwind: Critical strikes with the off-hand weapon from this ability can now trigger Flurry and Rampage.
• Flurry will properly refresh if a crit occurs with 1 charge left.
• Improved Hamstring (Arms) effect is now subject to diminishing returns when used in PvP.

Quote from: Blizzard (Source)

PvP

• Diminishing returns on honor for kills is being eliminated.
• Honor will now be instantly calculated, and available for player use.
• Players that have the resurrection sickness debuff will be worth no honor.
• Added new PvP daily quests that send players to Halaa and the Spirit Towers of the Bone Wastes. These quests are available for Alliance and Horde at their respective local quest hubs.

Quote from: Blizzard (Source)

Arenas

• Shadow Sight now increases damage taken by 5% rather than dealing damage over time. Duration has been reduced from 21 seconds to 15 seconds.

Quote from: Blizzard (Source)

IRVINE, Calif. – February 14, 2008 – Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today announced plans to launch a new type of tournament competition using the Arena system in World of Warcraft®, its popular subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game. The tournaments will take place on special realms that allow competitors to instantly create level-70 characters with epic equipment, placing the focus on tactics and execution rather than normal adventuring.

“eSports is one of the most exciting facets of online gaming today,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “We’re pleased to expand World of Warcraft’s tournament options for players who want to focus mainly on the competitive aspect of the game.”

The tournaments are scheduled to start in April with two rounds of online qualifiers in Europe, South Korea, North America, and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau. Each qualifier round will have a per-competitor entry fee — €15/£12 in Europe; 20,000 won in South Korea; $20 in North America; and NT$450 in the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau — and will run for six weeks. During this time, teams will play 3-vs.-3 matches on the tournament realm in their region, with the top four teams from each round advancing to the regional finals to compete for more than $27,000 in cash prizes. Winners from each regional will then be invited to a global championship event to compete for $120,000 in cash prizes, including a $75,000 grand prize.

Quote from: Blizzard (Source)

Can I have more than three people on my team roster?
You can participate in more than one 3v3 Arena team; however, you must meet the minimum play requirements to qualify for the tournament. Each player may only qualify for one team. If a player is a member of two qualifying teams, he or she must choose which team to play for. Each team must have three eligible participants to advance to the regional finals.

How many games do I have to play to be eligible to qualify?
Each team must play a minimum of 200 games per qualifier. Each player, including “bench players,” must participate in at least 30% of the team’s total games to be eligible to advance to the regional finals. If a team were to play the minimum of 200 games, then each player on the team would have to have played in at least 60 of those games.