The patch changes of Mage

Elemental Precision lost the Elemental and will work on all spells, and Improved Blizzard got a slight nerf, with the snaring effect percentage reduced. The full list of changes is after the break, but here's a quick summary: Evocation cooldown reduced to four minutes, with Arcane Flows also reducing the cooldown even further. Arcane Blast got an overhaul -will now increase the damage of your next Arcane spell by 30%, or you can stack it, for a higher mana charge. So you can use it to buff Barrage, or use it as it is now, just upping the Blast and mana costs every time. Interesting.
Mages, your changes for the next patch are out, and there's good news for the Arcane among you -GC says they're buffing the spec to bring it up to par with the rest of the Mage options. On the other hand, they're being careful about PvP, so Arcane Barrage is getting closely examined -you might want to Iceblock it whenever you can to avoid aggro on that one from the devs.
Actually, that's most of the changes right there, but for those of you at work unable to see the forums, they're pasted after the break anyway. I don't play a Mage but it looks like you guys got off easy -Arcane is the real winners, but even Frost and Fire got that Precision buff.
Update: GC explains the Blast change better than I can.
1) Torment the Weak – now works with Arcane Blast and does bonus damage to targets afflicted by any kind of slowing effect (e.g. Thunder Clap).

2) Elemental Precision – renamed Precision and now works on all spells.

3) Improved Blizzard – snaring effect reduced to 20/40/50%
4) Evocation – cooldown reduced to 4 min.

5) Arcane Flows – now also reduces the cooldown of Evocation by an additional 1 / 2 min.

6) Arcane Blast – overhauled. Will now increase the damage of your next Arcane spell by 30%. However using Arcane Blast itself does not consume the charge, but instead increases the mana of your next Arcane Blast, up to a maximum of 3 stacks. You can alternate Blast and Barrage to keep buffing Barrage, or you can build Blast up higher for a heavy mana cost.

Download the 3.0.8 PTR

download the 3.0.8 PTR  links for the client at https://www.worldofwarcraft.com/charcopy/downloads.html point to a 3.0.1 version of WoW. This version is several months old.
To put it another way: the version you get from the official download page will be updated upon installation. Just because it's old doesn't mean it's wrong.
This took Alex Ziebart and I a bit to realize, and we wanted to be sure that we shared this with you right away. Enjoy your PTRing!
We should note that the server names are a bit odd right now, but Alex is on the 3.0.8 PTR with his character he copied over earlier.
However once you download the version above, run the installer, and then run the game you'll be presented with the requirement to download another patch. This patch will bring you up to the latest 3.0.8 version of PTR client.

Tags: 3.0.8 PTR

The Northrend in patch 3.0.8

Shoveltusk Soup and Succulent Orca Stew were the two that didn't make it back into the game, which makes one of 3.0.8's patch notes make a lot more sense. You know, the one about Shoveltusk Meat being converted to quest items? And orcas are just Chilled Meat fodder now, it seems.The Northrend Gourmet has been a hot topic achievement since Northrend hit live realms, because it simply wasn't possible. Four of the required recipes were completely missing. As of the current PTR build, that's no longer true. Two of the recipes have been re-added to the game, and two recipes have been wiped out of existence. Not added to the game, but no longer an achievement requirement either.
Are there any major ramifications from removing the soup and stew? No, not really, unless you were sitting on a mountain of shoveltusk flesh. The buffs they supplied were redundant, offered by other meat as well as other fish. Sort of pointless recipes, really. This streamlines how many recipes you need more than anything else.
Kungaloosh is now taught by a drunkard in the sewers of Dalaran, who apparently has the recipes etched into his arm. And Fish Feast? I hope you like doing the Cooking daily, because it now requires 5 Dalaran Cooking Awards.

Tags: in patch 3.0.8