Patch 4.0.3a

For the novel by Christie Golden, see The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm. For the Cataclysm event, see Shattering.

Patch 4.0.3a
“The Shattering”
Cataclysm Login Screen
Release date	November 23, 2010
Initial version	13329
Interface .toc	40000
Highlights & notes
Cataclysm intro cinematic and login screen Revamped classic Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor zones New race/class combinations for existing races
Official links
Patch Notes
Documented changes Undocumented changes
Patch chronology
← Previous Next → Patch 4.0.3 (Undocumented changes) Patch 4.0.6 (Undocumented changes)
Useful links
Patches • Patches category

Patch 4.0.3a, "The Shattering", is a pre-Cataclysm content patch that updates the old world in preparation for the expansion's release.

Re-release[]

This patch is the only patch in World of Warcraft history to be re-released. The original US patch on November 22nd was missing a key skin for boats, so users who patched with the ~20MB version were unable to use any boat. Users who patched in the evening of November 22nd were unaffected as Blizzard had added the missing skin to the patch (~130MB). Unfortunately the streaming client couldn't differentiate between the two separate versions, so on November 29th, this issue was resolved by re-releasing the entire patch to the entire US userbase, followed on November 30th to the EU userbase, with additional content (~162MB). This re-release also released a bug fix for users experiencing disconnection issues on entering a new zone.^[1][2]

The Shattering of Azeroth[]

In the frigid wastes of Northrend, the final battle against the merciless Lich King ended in victory for Azeroth's defenders. Upon returning home, veterans of the unforgiving conflict against the Scourge were showered with praise for their valiant sacrifices, while the honorable dead were mourned. Yet as hope flared anew in the wake of the Lich King's fall, Azeroth's native elemental spirits grew confused and erratic, setting off a series of deadly natural disasters. Horde and Alliance leaders scrambled for clues about the troubling state of the world, but nothing could have prepared them for what was to come.

Without warning, the corrupted Dragon Aspect, Deathwing, erupted from the stone heart of Deepholm, the domain of earth within the Elemental Plane. Jagged fissures were torn across the earth, and monstrous waves pummeled coastal regions. From Thousand Needles to the Blasted Lands, the surface of Azeroth was reforged through violent upheavals. Now, the Horde and the Alliance must defend their homes against Deathwing and his minions, burdened by the unsettling fact that the world as they know it has changed... forever.

General[]

Patch 4.0.3a race / class chart
Draenei	Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes		Yes
Dwarf	Yes		Yes	New	Yes	Yes	Yes	New	New	Yes
Gnome	Yes			Yes		New	Yes		Yes	Yes
Human	Yes		New	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes
Night elf	Yes	Yes	Yes	New		Yes	Yes			Yes
Blood elf	Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	New
Orc	Yes		Yes	New			Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Tauren	Yes	Yes	Yes		New	New		Yes		Yes
Troll	Yes	New	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes	New	Yes
Undead	Yes		New	Yes		Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes

Main article: Patch 4.0.3a (world changes)

• Azeroth Shattered
  • Deathwing's return has had an immeasurable impact throughout the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor. Players will notice drastically altered terrain, thousands of new quests from levels 1-60, and updated level ranges for some zones to improve the questing flow.
• New Race/Class Combinations
  • In the wake of a world on the brink of destruction, members of the Horde and Alliance have taken to new cultures and studies, mastering crafts previously foreign to them. Many existing playable races now have new class combinations.
• The World of Warcraft: Cataclysm cinematic trailer and login screen have been added to the game.
• Experience required to gain levels 71 through 80 has been reduced by 20%, which increases leveling rate by 25%.
• Many quests in zones on Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor have been removed from the game to make way for new adventures. These quests have been automatically removed from players' Quest Logs.

Classes[]

• Due to several talent revisions for select classes, druids, paladins, priests, and shaman have had their talent trees reset.
• The damage and healing done by players from levels 1-79 has been retuned, with the base points of almost all spells and abilities reduced. This was done to bring combat times at low levels to a more reasonable length. For most abilities that deal weapon damage, the weapon damage percent now rises per level until level 80, and starts at a lower percent.
• [Healing Rain], [Efflorescence], [Holy Radiance], [Holy Word: Sanctuary] now have a diminished effect when healing more than 6 players at once.
• [Mortal Strike], [Furious Attacks], [Wound Poison], [Widow Venom], [Permafrost], [Improved Mind Blast], [Monstrous Bite], and [Legion Strike] now reduce healing by 10%, down from 25%.
• Effects which are broken from taking too much damage ( [Fear], [Frost Nova], [Entangling Roots], etc.) now break automatically from about half as much damage taken as before.

Death Knights[]

• [Death Pact] now heals for 25% of maximum health, down from 40%.
• [Death Strike] now heals for 25% of damage taken in the last 5 seconds, down from 30%, and will heal for a minimum of 7% of maximum health, down from 10%.
• [Icebound Fortitude] now provides 20% damage reduction, down from 30% (now 50%, down from 60% when talented), and has a 3-minute cooldown, up from 2 minutes.
• Talent Specializations
  • Blood
    • [Rune Tap] now heals for 10% of maximum health, down from 15%. The tooltip may not yet be updated to reflect this change.
• Glyphs
  •  [Glyph of Rune Tap] now heals for 5% of maximum health, down from 10%.
• Bug Fixes
  • [Frost Fever] critical strikes now apply the correct amount of bonus damage.
  • [Horn of Winter] will once again provide runic power when used while another Attack Power buff is already present on the death knight.

Druids[]

Hunters[]

Mages[]

Paladins[]

Priests[]

Rogues[]

Shaman[]

Warlock[]

Warriors[]

• Cleave damage has been reduced by approximately 17%.
• Execute damage has been reduced by approximately 17%.
• Heroic Strike damage has been reduced by approximately 17%.
• Overpower now does 125% weapon damage, down from 150%.
• Rend base damage has been reduced by approximately 17% and percent of weapon damage per tick lowered to 25%, from 30%.
• Shield Block now only increases block chance by 25%, but excess block that pushes avoidance plus block to over 100% is now converted to critical block chance.
• Slam now costs 15 rage, down from 20, and now does 125% weapon damage, down from 150%.
• Victory Rush damage has been reduced by approximately 17%.
• Whirlwind now does 65% weapon damage, down from 75%.
• Talent Specializations
  • Arms
    • Mortal Strike now does 150% weapon damage, down from 185%.
    • Second Wind now heals for 2/5% of total health, down from 5/10%.
    • Strikes of Opportunity now does 100% weapon damage, down from 115%.
  • Fury
    • Blood Craze now heals for 1/2/3% of total health, down from 2.5/5/7.5%.
    • Bloodthirst damage has been reduced by approximately 17%.
    • Raging Blow now does 110% weapon damage, down from 150%.
    • Unshackled Fury now gains approximately 50% more benefit per point of Mastery.
  • Protection
    • Critical Block now grants an equal amount of block chance and critical block chance (1.5% each per point of Mastery).
    • Devastate no longer provides bonus threat.
    • Shield Slam: Contribution of attack power reduced to 60%, down from 75%, and base damage brought up so that a level 85 warrior in Heroic dungeon gear deals the same damage with no Vengeance, but Vengeance has less impact. In addition, Shield Slam no longer generates 30% bonus threat from its damage.
    • Vigilance no longer provides 3% damage reduction, but still refreshes Taunt and provides Vengeance.
• Glyphs
  • Glyph of Bloody Healing increases the healing received from Bloodthirst by 40%, down from 100%.
  • Glyph of Intimidating Shout no longer causes targets to flee slowly, but roots them instead.
  • Glyph of Shield Wall increases damage reduction to 60%, but increases the cooldown from 2 minutes to 4 minutes (talented).
• Bug Fixes
  • Taste for Blood should once again proc on every other tick of Rend.

Achievements[]

• The Gladiator reward mounts now award Master Riding.
• What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been now awards Master Riding.

Items[]

Professions[]

• Perfect Gem Cutting and Mixology have been removed as trainable skills and are instead passives profession abilities. When players reach the appropriate skill levels, they will start getting bonuses from Mixology (they must know the recipe to gain the benefit) and/or cutting perfect gems (depending on their profession, of course).

• Alchemy
  • Alchemy recipes now require Crystal Vials. Deathwing broke all the others because he's mean (or because he didn't want alchemists to carry 5 different vials around with them).
• Engineering
  • The Engineering Tinkering enchants will no longer provide their bonus stats, but the activated effects will stack with other enchants. In 4.0.1 the stats were there (but hidden) and are now removed.
• Bug Fixes
  • Several epic gem transmutes that were missing from the trainer have been added back.

Bug Fixes[]

• Certain area-of-effect abilities are no longer ignoring the area-of-effect damage cap.
• Mobs and NPCs should no longer appear to randomly gain or lose health during combat.
• Re-summoning pets in Battlegrounds should no longer count towards a player's total healing done.

Known Issues[]

• Some tooltips may not reflect the most recent changes to certain abilities.
• Worgen hunters are currently unable to learn Dual Wield.
• The achievement Explore Tol Barad will not be possible to complete upon release of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm.

References[]