Blizzard details new WoW patch

Blizzard has whipped the wraps off its upcoming content patch 2.3 for World of Warcraft.

The biggest feature is a 10-man raid instance lurking in the Ghostlands called Zul'Aman, an outdoor dungeon probably not too dissimilar to Zul'Gurub all those many moons ago. There will be six bosses to murder for epics, each bearing the aspect of a different ferocious creature.

Forest troll leader Zul'jin will meet you for the final showdown, but Blizzard also wants to offer returning raid groups a challenge with bonus rewards for completing time-limited objectives.

On top of all the new goodies in Zul'Aman there will be a full set of new Honour, Badge of Justice and gladiator rewards to buy, and Engineers will now be able to build themselves fancy Flying Machine mounts.

Elsewhere Guild Banks let you keep track of and organise your stocks much more efficiently, the Auction House has been revamped so it is easier to use, and you will be able to pick up daily quests so you have something to keep you from falling asleep as you go back to the same dungeons or battlegrounds again and again.

The old 40-man Alterac Valley battleground has been fiddled with, too, so it should now have extra added fun, and those of you around the mid-level mark should head to Dustwallow Marsh for new quests and speedy levelling.

Speaking of speedy levelling, Blizzard has made it much easier to get to 60. Not only do you require less experience to go up a rank now, but you will also be given bigger amounts of experience as a reward for completing quests between levels 30-60.

Healers worried you are a bit wimpy compared to a Fury Warrior or something will be pleased to know that one third of your bonus healing will go towards your spell damage now, and the skill rating on items is being replaced by a new statistic called Expertise.

This takes into account how adept you are with your weapon, and reduces the chance that your opponent will dodge, block or parry your blow.

Full patch notes are expected soon, so keep your eyes on the official European World of Warcraft site.

Further down the line Blizzard is looking to implement an high-end 25-man raid instance called Sunwell Plateau located north of Silvermoon City.

It is also keen to keep adding five-man content so you can find an adequate challenge and get good rewards without spending your life playing the game. Not that I ever did that.