Changelog & Server Updates

WotLK 3.3.5a development progress and patch notes

Follow the latest development updates, patch notes, bug fixes, and content releases for Gemstone WoW. Join our Discord for live patch discussions.

Maintenance Notes

Bot Improvements

  • Pathing overhaul — Bots no longer freeze on hills, ramps, and slopes. Fixed a mismatch between navigation mesh (60°) and bot logic (was stuck at 40°). They now walk terrain properly.
  • Anti-pingpong — Bots no longer wobble back-and-forth indecisively. Fixed a broken direction guard and biased wander/travel to look natural and purposeful.
  • Smarter unstuck — Instead of vanishing when stuck against a wall, bots now try to physically step backward/sideways first. Teleport is last resort only.
  • Height fix — Bots now use validated ground height instead of a raw estimate, reducing wrong-floor navigation (e.g., under bridges, on roofs).
  • Chat spam reduced — Only one bot responds in /say now (no more bot-to-bot chains). Item link reactions are rarity-aware (no more hyping gray vendor trash as if it's epic).
  • Quest crash fix — Fixed a segfault when bots tried to complete certain quests (stale cached quest pointer).

Dungeon & Raid Fixes

  • Lord Marrowgar (ICC) — Bonestorm max distance fixed
  • Moroes (Karazhan) — Vanish/reset immunity now clears properly
  • Fathomlord Karathress — Crash fix
  • Magtheridon's Lair — Channelers no longer respawn during boss fight
  • Naxxramas — Web Wraps now have proper immunities

Wintergrasp & PvP

  • Full Wintergrasp overhaul: aura-driven resurrect queue, grace period for mid-war relog, relic-room kick restricted to wartime, raid groups disband on battle end, stale tracking cleared on enter
  • VoA pre-battle kick toggle added
  • "Within Our Grasp" restricted to attackers only
  • GMs excluded from war invites
  • PvP announce opt-out flags added
  • LFG proposals now sort players by role

General & Core

  • Phase change crash fix (dangling combat victim)
  • Taxi dismount now properly recalculates run speed
  • Feast spell text now shows the correct player name
  • Arcane Charges (world spell) fixed
  • Archimonde's Doomfire no longer subject to fire resistance
  • BoP trade window preserved when mailing roll-won items
  • .pet rename command added
  • Caravan escort (Kalimdor) can't restart while in progress

Server Update Log

Server Stability & Crash Fixes

  • Fixed a server crash (SIGSEGV) in creature combat — null pointer when checking attack range against a creature with no idle motion slot
  • Fixed a server crash in the MySQL keep-alive ping — after a DB connection drop, the ping could crash inside libmariadb; server now safely skips and reconnects
  • Fixed creature GUID overflow — after extended uptime with thousands of bots spawning pets and summons, the server would exhaust its GUID pool and shut down; GUIDs now recycle
  • Fixed a potential crash when using GetModuleString() from the server console
  • Fixed a null socket crash in the WorldSession idle check during network errors
  • Fixed a use-after-free crash in the GM trade log on item stack merges

Combat & Spells

  • Swiftmend now correctly benefits from healing-done % bonuses
  • Judgement of Light / Judgement of Wisdom no longer incorrectly proc caster heal trinkets
  • Reckoning talent now correctly grants an extra attack on miss, dodge, and parry
  • Fixed "still in combat" status persisting after a Hunter tames a beast during a quest
  • Fixed the DK Gargoyle not resuming its attack after being crowd-controlled
  • Druid shapeshift form is now properly preserved across map changes (portals, instances)
  • Shapeshift bonus auras are now rechecked correctly on talent spec swaps
  • Parachute effect now correctly triggers when exiting a vehicle mid-air
  • Pet-soloed kills no longer grant experience or loot to the pet's master
  • Removed incorrect threat redirection from vehicle passengers
  • Hunter pet happiness energize procs no longer generate threat
  • Fixed Dismantle incorrectly stripping shield-dependent auras

Dungeons & Raids

  • Icecrown Citadel / Putricide — Mutated Plague now correctly casts in Phase 3
  • Halls of Reflection — Fixed the Quel'Delar freeze; leader intro events persist across double-resets; Arthas correctly drops player combat on chase end
  • Culling of Stratholme — Arthas no longer spams Exorcism
  • Naxxramas / Patchwerk — Hateful Strike now uses correct target selection logic
  • Ulduar / Kologarn — Eye Beam emote is no longer visible to all players server-wide
  • Gundrak / Gal'darah — Puncture aura now properly removed after boss kill
  • Obsidian Sanctum — fixed a race condition where a Drake would not land; Twilight Torment aura correctly cleared on encounter end
  • Eye of Eternity / Malygos — removed duplicate kill-credit achievement criteria
  • Gruul's Lair — fixed a time unit typo in the High King Maulgar script
  • Utgarde Pinnacle — fixed the "My Girl Loves to Skadi All the Time" achievement
  • Karazhan / Moroes — dinner guests now correctly respawn after Moroes evades

World & Quests

  • Fixed pooled creature and gameobject respawn timers in instanced maps
  • "On Ruby Wings" — prevented Antiok from despawning during the encounter
  • "Kickin' Nass and Takin' Manes" — fixed premature creature despawn
  • "Don't Kill the Fat One" — fixed the quest item submission flow
  • Fixed SmartAI escort and follow missions not granting quest credit correctly
  • Fixed Warlock Doomguard suppression quest behavior
  • Corrected Night Elf shapeshift models

Bot Improvements

  • Bots have completed over 124,000 quests and accepted 532,000+ since the last update
  • Bot level rebalancing system keeps world population spread across all level ranges
  • Bots are smarter about recovering from stuck states, below-terrain rescues, and forced revives
  • Numerous pathfinding and movement improvements to reduce bots getting stuck

Quality of Life & GM Tools

  • New .pet list and .pet delete GM commands
  • New .respawn command to force-respawn creatures/gameobjects by GUID or entry
  • .character deleted list now shows character level and sorts by most recently deleted
  • .sendmoney now properly parses and validates money strings
  • Resurrection durability loss percentage is now configurable
  • Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) system merged — more granular GM permission management
  • Roll-won loot items are now mailed to players when inventory is full
  • Chat logging now has a configurable ChatLog.Enable option

Gemstone WoW Emulator Update

Gemstone Custom Fixes

  • Potion Cooldown Fix : Players couldn't use healing/mana potions after combat ("You cannot drink any more yet"). Potions now properly reset when combat ends.
  • Bot Pile-up at Dungeon Entrances : Fixed bots getting stuck in large groups near dungeon entrances (e.g. Wailing Caverns). Bots now skip dungeon-only quests when solo.
  • Hearthstone Cooldown Reduced : Reduced from 60 minutes to 30 minutes.

Raids & Dungeons

  • Naxxramas : Fix Gothik the Harvester evading during phase 2 teleport; Fix Heigan evading and regenerating HP at end of Phase 2; Reset threat when Thaddius becomes active
  • Utgarde Pinnacle : Rework Skadi the Ruthless encounter
  • The Oculus : Fix Mage-Lord Urom not teleporting between platforms
  • Gundrak : Fix Drakkari Colossus not activating when Living Mojo is attacked
  • Ulduar : Overhaul with improved data persistence; Fix Brundir invincible during Overload; New Guardian Lasher + Destroyed Vehicles in 25M
  • Eye of Eternity : Fix Malygos not engaging due to spawn flag; Fix Phase 3 Surge of Power warning; Cross-faction Wyrmrest Skytalon support; Fix loot
  • Obsidian Sanctum : Fix Flame Tsunami path and visual effects
  • Blackrock Depths : Fix Doom'rel and Gloom'rel gossip
  • Deadmines : Fix door states saved to DB
  • Fix Solarian vanish phase evicting encounter
  • Fix idle scourge NPCs in The Battle For Crusaders' Pinnacle

Spells & Combat

  • Fix ranged spell minimum range incorrectly applying leeway
  • Fix Flexweave Underlay script targeting wrong spell
  • Fix Chimera Shot + Viper Sting mana cap
  • Fix Explosive Trap crit bonus multiplier
  • Fix Entrapment not proccing from trap activation
  • Fix Divine Purpose not removing Intimidating Shout stun
  • Fix Arcane Potency consumed by same cast that triggered it
  • Glyph of Polymorph should not remove Shadow Word: Death backlash
  • Fix Retaliation self-proc on activation
  • Judgement of Wisdom restores 2% base mana per proc
  • Fix Arcane Blast and Missile Barrage spell proc corrections
  • Restrict Rime proc to Obliterate only
  • Piercing Howl should break stealth
  • Skip level-based resistance for binary spells
  • Fix Incanter's Absorption missing Ice Barrier AuraScript
  • Use correct beacon copy spell for Flash of Light
  • Correct Demonic Pact ICD to 20 seconds
  • Keep Lightwell alive on player death
  • Partial immunity for mixed spells

Movement & Pathing

  • Followers now match their target's motion speed
  • Fix creature freeze when switching chase targets
  • Teleport pet when pathfinding fails
  • Prevent vehicles from following their own passenger on evade
  • Add creature formation movement generator
  • Enable smooth waypoint transitions for flying creatures
  • Fix pet teleport pathfinding edge case

Combat System

  • Improved heap-based threat system
  • Prevent burst melee attacks from attack timer debt
  • Fix snake trap AI + prevent recursive evade
  • Fix immune NPCs reacting to stealthed players
  • Mirror Image stops attacking invisible targets
  • Fix infinite loop in RemoveAllControlled
  • Prevent Minigob Manabonk from targeting GMs

New GM Commands

  • .autobroadcast : manage server autobroadcasts
  • .mail list / .mail return : mail management
  • .debug loot : debug loot tables
  • .debug factionchange : debug faction changes
  • .npc info now works with GUID when no target selected

Database & Content

  • Major database release update
  • Creature immunities improvements
  • Fix Koltira Deathweaver immunities, spawn and equipment
  • Death Knight Initiate script improvements
  • Chromie dialog options fixed (Culling of Stratholme)
  • WotLK world loot green chances corrected
  • Multi-raid faction leader credit fix
  • Configurable realm first kill time window
  • Fix multi-stage holiday events ending early on restart
  • NPC translations added (deDE, esES, esMX, frFR, koKR, ruRU, zhCN, zhTW)
  • Various creature spawn updates with sniffed data

Gemstone Emulator Update

Core & Gameplay

  • Fixed spell immunity system : new separate immunities table
  • Fixed item-dependent auras removed on disarm or weapon swap
  • Fixed Ebon Gargoyle infinite evade loop
  • Fixed pet/owner combat propagation
  • Fixed boss scripts resetting during death/defeat RP sequences
  • Fixed stale Wintergrasp queue/invite entries
  • Fixed warrior stances lost when boarding Oculus drakes

Movement & Pathfinding

  • Ported smooth waypoint movement : NPCs now move with natural interpolated paths
  • Refactored collision data for improved performance and memory usage
  • Introduced spawn group infrastructure
  • Fixed swim/fly/waterwalk transitions, fishing move bug, flightmaster search

Dungeons & Raids

  • Halls of Reflection : Fully modernized encounter scripts
  • Forge of Souls : Bronjahm and Devourer of Souls modernized
  • Ulduar : Mimiron : Fixed Assembly of Iron unkillable while grounded
  • Ulduar : Keepers spawn at Observation Ring; Hodir, Thorim, Yogg-Saron improvements
  • Culling of Stratholme : NPC talk scripts now working

Quest Fixes

  • Fixed Filling the Cages, Rallying the Troops, Escape from Silverbrook
  • Fixed Ruthless Cunning, Terokk, Klaven's Tower

Core Fixes & Bot Improvements

Combat & Systems

  • Completely reworked threat system for better performance and accuracy
  • Fixed rare crash when pets/summons dismissed during combat
  • Fixed Entrapment not proccing correctly
  • Followers now properly match target's movement speed
  • Demonic Pact internal cooldown corrected to 20 seconds

Dungeons & Raids

  • Malygos : Fixed boss not engaging; loot table corrected; retail-accurate gameobjects
  • The Oculus : Fixed Stop Time spell targeting

Bot Chat

  • Short, natural responses instead of long rambling messages
  • Removed unnatural repetitive phrases
  • Bots no longer leak server information
  • Fixed bots not replying to whispers
  • Added realistic typing delay and chat logging

Bot Behavior

  • Active level rebalancing : starter zones stay populated
  • Bots spread across all level brackets instead of clustering
  • Each race spawns in correct racial starting zone
  • Fixed Death Knights spawning below level 55
  • Fixed bots appearing naked or standing still after level changes

Big Bot & Software Update

Bot Improvements

  • Bots no longer stand still for ages : they find their next activity way faster
  • Smoother bot movement : less stop-go-stop walking pattern
  • Bots unstick themselves : auto-teleport after 60 seconds stuck
  • No more bot crowds at flight masters : bots head out immediately after landing
  • Starting zones always have bots : at least 20 bots at levels 1-5
  • Server crash fix : fixed bots falling through the world causing hangs

Software Fixes

  • Fixed infinite loop crash : big stability fix
  • Lightwell stays alive when priest dies
  • Stealthed players no longer aggroed by immune-to-PC NPCs
  • Malygos Phase 3 Surge of Power warning fixed
  • DK starting zone : DK Initiate script improved
  • Chimera Shot + Viper Sting mana cap fixed
  • Ice Barrier now triggers Incanter's Absorption
  • Binary spells no longer affected by level-based resistance
  • Illidan's Demon Fire can no longer miss

Server Rates & Improvements

Server Rates Adjusted

  • Kill & Quest XP: 2x | Explore XP: 1.5x
  • Rested bonus cap: 2x | Reputation: 1.5x | Gold: 1.5x
  • Gathering skills: 2x | Crafting: 1.5x
  • Item drops, honor, arena points remain Blizzlike

Bot Improvements

  • Bots spawn in correct racial starting zones
  • Faster chat responses : removed artificial delays
  • More natural bot chat : rewritten style, subtle typos
  • Bots get stuck less : faster stuck detection, better pathfinding
  • Weighted level brackets : bots spread across all level ranges

Core & Spell Fixes

  • Fixed Retaliation proccing on itself
  • Fixed creatures freezing when switching chase targets
  • Fixed Flash of Light beacon copying wrong spell
  • Fixed Arcane Potency consumed by same cast that triggered it
  • Fixed Glyph of Polymorph removing SW:D backlash
  • Fixed Divine Purpose not removing Intimidating Shout
  • Mirror Image stops attacking invisible targets
  • Fixed Judgement of Wisdom : now restores 2% base mana
  • Fixed Piercing Howl not breaking stealth
  • Restricted Rime proc to Obliterate only

Dungeons & Raids

  • Ulduar : Brundir invincible fix; new formations; Destroyed Vehicles in 25-man
  • Deadmines : Fixed doors and levers with sniffed data
  • Culling of Stratholme : Fixed Chromie dialog

World & Misc

  • Holiday events no longer end early on server restart
  • Tweaked WotLK world loot green drop chances
  • Faction leader kill credit works across multiple raids
  • Added German (deDE) translations

Server Update : Critical Fixes

Bug Fixes

  • Bots Can't Join Groups : Fixed : Bot pending invite state was never cleared when inviter was unavailable. Bots now self-recover.
  • Server Crash on Startup : Fixed : Crash in Battlefield scripting system. Added bounds safety checks.

Core Updates (Merged)

  • Seal of Command : Fixed cleave interaction with Crusader Strike
  • Multiple Paladin, Rogue, Mage, Shaman spell corrections
  • Ulduar : Flame Leviathan and Mimiron major reworks; Razorscale fix
  • SSC : Lady Vashj encounter improvements
  • Wintergrasp : Improvements and new scripting hooks
  • Strand of the Ancients : Battleground fixes
  • Improved pet AI, fleeing movement, random creature wandering
  • Race system refactored to data-driven
  • 29 new SQL updates : translations, creatures, quests
  • Added Spanish (esES/esMX) translations

Class & Spell Patch

Class Fixes

  • Death Knight : Hungering Cold no longer breaks from disease damage; Threat of Thassarian miss/dodge/parry proc; KM PPM fixed
  • Druid : Added missing T10 Balance 2P set bonus
  • Hunter : Kill Command requires pet; Cobra Strikes fix; Piercing Shots rolls remaining damage; Rapid Recuperation fixes
  • Paladin : Beacon of Light attributes healing correctly; restricted to intended heals
  • Rogue : Cut to the Chase refreshes SnD; Turn the Tables rogue-only; Focused Attacks offhand fix; Retaliation self-damage fix
  • Shaman : Maelstrom Weapon PPM updated; removed duplicate T8 Electrified script
  • Warrior : Retaliation self-damage and charge loss fixed

General Spell Fixes

  • Stealth no longer breaks from friendly spells or procs
  • Split damage auras (Soul Link) no longer fail on range checks
  • Death and Decay properly ticks while standing still
  • Swift Hand of Justice no longer heals for 0
  • Duplicate spell scripts removed to prevent double-firing

Dungeons & Raids

  • Ulduar : Razorscale : Harpoon system reworked; teleporters activate after boss kills
  • Naxxramas : Gluth loot corrected; Heigan Plague Fissure objects respawn
  • Serpentshrine Cavern : Console objects fixed with sniffed flags

PvP & Systems

  • Wintergrasp Titan Relic spawns updated
  • Silithus outdoor PvP fixes
  • New Dungeon Finder cooldown prevents same dungeon repeatedly
  • Removed incorrect ilvl 146 weapons from level 72:74 mobs

Major Content Patch

Spell & Class Fixes

  • Hunter : Kill Command stacks consumed; Lock and Load procs from Frost/Explosive Trap; Thrill of the Hunt base mana
  • Mage : Fingers of Frost proc with Blizzard; Combustion non-crit adds stacks; Master of Elements mana refund with Living Bomb
  • Priest : Prayer of Mending bounces to full-HP members
  • Paladin : Beacon no longer double-dips healing modifiers; JoL no longer triggers it; Avenging Wrath/Divine Protection interaction; Sacred Shield duplicate fix; Illumination base mana
  • Rogue : Honor Among Thieves fully implemented
  • DK : Blood Presence now heals for damage dealt
  • Druid : Omen of Clarity procs from utility spells
  • Trinket : Swift Hand of Justice no longer uses wrong proc spell

Dungeons & Raids

  • Eye of Eternity : Malygos Vortex mechanic now works
  • Ulduar : Kologarn pit kill bunny fixed
  • Zul'Gurub : Venoxis Holy Wrath targeting fixed
  • Naxxramas : Four Horsemen chest respawns after 7 days
  • Vault of Archavon : Vehicles no longer receive party/raid auras

Arena & PvP

  • Personal rating persists correctly when joining arena team
  • Fixed inverted arena team member update hook
  • Removed error message when leaving battleground group

Bot AI & Chat

  • AI-powered conversations : Bots give intelligent, contextual replies in /say, whisper, party
  • Server awareness : Bots know they play on GemstoneWoW
  • Player info : Ask a bot your level/class and they'll tell you
  • Personality : Each bot has unique backstory, location, join date
  • Only 1-2 bots reply per message; fixed "ty"/"type" confusion

Quality of Life

  • Flight Path Fix : Bots no longer fall off flight paths mid-air
  • Noggenfogger Elixir : Mount while in skeleton/shrink form
  • Login Announcements : "[GemstoneWoW] PlayerName has logged in. Welcome!"
  • Stuck detection : 30 seconds instead of 5 minutes
  • Bot mounts : Learn fast mounts at level 40
  • Starting zones : Low-level bots spawn throughout zones, not just spawn points

Major Server Update : Raids & Dungeons

Raids & Dungeons

  • Ulduar : Complete script modernization with boss states; Auriaya updated
  • Naxxramas : Four Horsemen chest fix; Thaddius Ball Lightning; Undying/Immortal achievement; Blaumeux/Zeliek uninterruptable
  • Obsidian Sanctum : Full modernization; Lava Strike event; Sartharion drakes patrols
  • Eye of Eternity : Complete script modernization
  • Tempest Keep : Solarian teleport and threat reset
  • Magister's Terrace : Delrissa and Helpers no longer split on aggro
  • Serpentshrine Cavern : Coilfang Water handling rewritten
  • Sunken Temple : Idol of Hakkar spawn corrected
  • Shadowfang Keep : Love is in the Air event fix

Combat & Gameplay

  • Fixed duplicate hit info in spell damage logs
  • Armor calculation fix for specific spell attributes
  • Follow teleports no longer consider height incorrectly; won't clip through walls
  • Pets can attack players from any angle
  • Trade packets, exchange checks, distance logic corrected
  • Rare guild bank bug fixed

New Features

  • .quest info : detailed quest availability
  • .npc near / .gobject near : grid-based search
  • .go creature / .appear : transport support
  • Configurable BG XP rate and Arena bracket point multipliers

Database Fixes

  • Fixed "Speak with Ruga" quest starters; Kodo Roundup; Terokk's Downfall rewrite; Last Rites scripting
  • General Lightsbane damage reduced; various NPCs money loot adjusted
  • Leatherworking drums level 80+ restriction fixed
  • Time-Lost Proto Drake rewritten; waypoint system improvements

Bot Behavior Update

New Features

  • Random Bunny Hop : Bots randomly jump while following, making them look more human. Only when following, not in combat, mounted, flying, or swimming.

Fixes

  • Flight Path AFK Fix : Bots sometimes fell off and stood AFK at landing. Now auto-recover with 30-second timeout and 5-minute safety max.

Bot Dungeon Teleportation Fix

Bug Fix

  • Bot Dungeon Teleportation Fixed : Bots sometimes wouldn't teleport into dungeons when invited. Had to kick and reinvite to fix.
  • Bots now auto-teleport to you when you're in a dungeon and they're outside. Works for group invites too.

First Update : Launch Patch Notes

Loot & Items

  • Time-Lost Proto Drake now drops correct loot

Combat & Spells

  • Blade Barrier (DK) now procs from Horn of Winter and Pestilence
  • Explosive Decoy item fixed
  • Improved resistance calculation in combat
  • Gluth (Naxxramas) : Decimate now leaves targets at 5% health

Dungeons & Raids

  • SSC & Tempest Keep : Creature groups respawn properly on evade
  • Naxxramas : Sludge Belcher respawn timer increased
  • Violet Hold Heroic : Now awards proper reputation
  • Stormforged Tacticians correctly target random players with Arc Weld

Quests & World

  • A Flawless Plan : Fixed quest requirements and phasing
  • Azure Saboteur flags corrected
  • Glimmering Pillar quest credit creature moved to proper position
  • Various gravestone spawns corrected