Patch 4.0.3a (undocumented changes)

General

 * A new starting experience for gnomes is now available, starting at Pinned Down.
 * New starting experience for trolls is also available with starting quest The Rise of the Darkspear.
 * New background music for many old-world zones has been added.
 * Experience required to advance between level 84 and 85 has been increased from what it was in beta.
 * Numerous treasure chests have changed names and chests that were small are now the more basic size. Some players are unable to open chests in certain areas at this time.


 * Newly created characters now automatically get the following flight points:
 * Alliance (all races)
 * In Eastern Kingdoms: Stormwind City, Goldshire, Eastvale Logging Camp, Ironforge, Kharanos, Gol'Bolar Quarry
 * In Kalimdor: The Exodar, Azure Watch, Darnassus, Rut'theran Village, Dolanaar, Lor'danel, Moonglade
 * Horde (all races)
 * In Kalimdor: Orgrimmar, Razor Hill, Sen'jin Village, Thunder Bluff, Bloodhoof Village
 * In Eastern Kingdoms: Undercity, Brill, The Bulwark, Silvermoon City, Falconwing Square, Fairbreeze Village
 * Characters no longer need to 'discover' flight points on their own. Characters receive undiscovered flight points zone-by-zone on reaching suitable character levels.

PvP

 * Vehicles in Wintergrasp no longer have tiered speeds (siege engines move as fast as catapults) and are now subject to snares and roots. It is unknown whether this is intended behavior or not.

Achievements

 * Quest achievements for old world zones are now split by zone, the way it is done for Outland and Northrend.
 * and have been converted to Feats of Strength. All other Dungeon & Raid Emblem achievements have been removed.
 * now requires . As such, it is currently impossible to complete before the release of the Cataclysm expansion. However, players who obtained this achievement before the patch keep it even without exploring Cataclysm zones.
 * has been removed.
 * no longer requires exalted status with the Shen'dralar.
 * All dungeon and raid achievements are now categorized based on expansion rather than instance.
 * The achievements For The Alliance! and For The Horde! have been updated with the changes in leadership for the orcs, tauren and dwarves. Player who completed the achieves before this patch have been credited with these new leaders automatically.
 * The Undying (achievement) and The Immortal (achievement) are now Feats of Strength and can no longer be obtained.
 * Deadmines (achievement) criteria changed from Edwin VanCleef to "Captain" Cookie.
 * Shadowfang Keep (achievement) criteria changed from Archmage Arugal to Lord Godfrey.
 * Stormwind Stockade (achievement) criteria changed from Bazil Thredd to Hogger.

NPCs

 * As Anduin Wrynn is a teenager, he now uses a custom adolescent model, as well as new voiceover.
 * The formerly engineering-only auctioneers of Dalaran &mdash; Brassbolt Mechawrench (Alliance in Silver Enclave) and Reginald Arcfire (Horde in Sunreaver's Sanctuary) &mdash; now serve anyone.
 * Malfurion Stormrage and Thrall have new unique models.
 * Pre-Cataclysm Goblin NPCs (except for Landro Longshot) now use the new models.
 * Flight masters are now level 85, up from level 65.
 * The little girl Hilary in Lakeshire is now called Nida, resetting the Necklace quest to the new name throughout.
 * Stephanos the flightmaster in The Exodar has moved inside the city.
 * Harrison Jones, Archaeology Trainer, has taken up residence in the Royal Library, though does not offer any training yet. Dariness the Learned also resides in Dalaran.
 * Cloth Quartermasters have disappeared from the major cities, in their place are new faction Quartermasters.
 * New bankers in Dwarven quarter of Stormwind are Jamie, Lee, and Curtis Crester; Leslie, Ann, and Warren Wainwright; and Fineas G. Bankworthy.
 * New bankers in the Trade District of Stormwind are Kirsten, Scott and Thomas Westmill, and Kristin Cazarez.
 * City guards are now level 85, up from 75.
 * Guards in starting areas are now level 90 (Elite) up from 75.
 * Wisps can now hover above the ground and circle buildings and trees.
 * Ancient Protectors in Teldrassil are now level 85, up from level 60.
 * Mother Matterly is the innkeeper running the new inn at Chillwind Camp, Western Plaguelands.
 * Hira Snowdawn is now part of the Kirin Tor faction.
 * Lady Sylvanas Windrunner and Prophet Velen will now pull with their respective battlemasters when aggroed.

Classes

 * The cost of Dual specialization has been reduced to and level to 30.
 * Buff scrolls can no longer be used on player controlled units, such as combat pets.

Hunter

 * Starter pets:
 * Alliance
 * Human: A grey wolf.
 * Worgen: A grey mastiff.
 * Horde
 * Goblin: A red crab.
 * Undead: A black widow spider.

Paladin

 * Draenei paladins now have their own class mounts: Exarch's Elekk and Great Exarch's Elekk.
 * Tauren paladins now have their own class mounts: Sunwalker Kodo and Great Sunwalker Kodo.

Professions

 * Towns in starting zones now have Profession Trainers, which can train all professions (but not secondary professions) up to a skill level of 75.

Cooking

 * Basic Campfires have had a graphical update.
 * Venison Jerky is now trainable from cooking trainers.

Enchanting

 * Enchanting Vellums are now available at your neighbor Enchanting Supplier
 * Enchant Cloak - Stealth now increases agility and dodge rating by 8 rather than slightly increasing effective stealth level.

Engineering

 * Nitro Boosts and Mind Amplification Dish are now belt tinkers instead of boot and helm, respectively.
 * MOLL-E has a new icon.
 * Mechanical bosses require higher levels of engineering to dismantle.

Fishing

 * Moving your mouse over a fishing bobber now shows a unique fishing icon rather than the generic cogwheel.
 * Muddy Churning Waters is removed.

Herbalism

 * Experience gained from gathering herbs has been increased.

Inscription

 * Low-level inks can no longer be traded for Ink of the Sea but now for Blackfallow Ink. However, since the ingredients for this ink aren't available before the release of Cataclysm, low-level inks can't be traded right now.

Mining

 * Experience gained from Mining has been increased.

Riding

 * Smart mount macros are broken because all of Azeroth is now marked as flyable, although it is not yet possible to purchase Flight Master's License.
 * Some, but not all, flying mounts are now usable in Azeroth as land mounts - this seems to be mostly crafted mounts such as Tailor-made flying carpets and Engineer-made flying machines. The mount operates only as a land mount, unless in water, where you will be unmounted like on a flying mount.
 * Is it possible to mount up and fly on a flying mount when swimming at the surface of water.
 * Dalaran is no longer a no-fly area.
 * Due to added mud and silt to the Stormwind Canals, making them much more shallow, they can be ridden in as though they are land when using larger mounts such as mammoths.

Skinning

 * Some mobs, such as Cyanigosa require more than 450 skinning, this is a known bug.

Items

 * Relentless Earthsiege Diamond now requires more blue gems than red gems, rather than 1 gem of each color.
 * Chaotic Skyflare Diamond now requires more blue gems than red gems, rather than 2 blue gems.
 * Hardened Elementium Bar is now Enchanted Elementium Bar.
 * Arcanite Fishing Pole now has a new model.
 * Numerous keys were removed as they are no longer necessary. Some may be retrieved from a Locksmith or their respective NPCs but will auto-delete again after some time.
 * Disgusting Jar now takes only 3 days to turn into a ripe disgusting jar.
 * Wildfire Cape now has 6 Stamina, 6 Intellect, and 14 critical strike rating rather than 20 Fire Resistance.
 * Some PvP items can now be sold and disenchanted.
 * The Twin Blades of Azzinoth and their corresponding achievement are now available to Death Knights.

Reputation

 * Playable faction reputation quartermasters have been added to capital cities.
 * Gilneas reputation from the Worgen of Gilneas available to the Alliance.
 * Bilgewater Cartel reputation from the Goblins of Kezan available to the Horde.
 * Timbermaw Hold reputation gains have been greatly increased.
 * Argent Dawn reputation is no longer available from Eastern Plaguelands quests and mobs. Instead there is a quest chain at Light's Hope Chapel that leads you to Fiona. This leads you to a repeatable quest.

Dungeons

 * Some classic dungeons have been reduced in size or have had trash mobs reduced.
 * Some instances have lowered their level range.
 * Dire Maul North no longer requires a key for the final room.
 * Dire Maul's North wing is now cut off from the other two. The door and tunnel to the Shen'dralar room is no longer usable.
 * Scholomance no longer requires the Viewing Room Key to proceed to the second portion.
 * Stratholme's live and undead sides are now cut off from each other.
 * Blackrock Depths now contains teleporters to various locations within the instance.
 * Attacking in Blackrock Depths no longer aggros other nearby mobs.
 * After defeating Auriaya in Ulduar the Spark of Imagination may be teleported to right away, allowing Mimiron's trash to be skipped.
 * Completing a Normal Cataclysm Dungeon is rewarded with 70 Justice Points.
 * All classic dungeons have been completely retuned, often for different level ranges.

User Interface



 * New loading screens have been implemented for Kalimdor, Eastern Kingdoms, Outland and Northrend, displaying:
 * Kalimdor: Cairne Bloodhoof, Garrosh Hellscream, Trade Prince Gallywix, Vol'jin, Velen, Tyrande Whisperwind;
 * Eastern Kingdoms: Sylvanas Windrunner, Lor'themar Theron, King Genn Greymane, Gelbin Mekkatorque, Magni Bronzebeard, Varian Wrynn;
 * Outland: Akama, Maiev Shadowsong;
 * Northrend: Bolvar Fordragon (the new Lich King);
 * Character creation screens for gnomes and trolls have been updated with new backgrounds, featuring the Gnomeregan surface and Echo Isles respectively.
 * The Azeroth world map, maps of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms, and most old-world zone maps have been updated for the Cataclysm changes, and now feature a different visual style reminiscent of TBC/Wrath maps.
 * The PvP interface has been updated to support rated battlegrounds. It also allows creating an arena team without visiting an arena master.
 * Quests with a main antagonist now has a box displaying the picture and a short paragraph about them.
 * For these quests, the main antagonist's portrait will show a yellow between the name and portrait.
 * Also for these quests, the antagonist's location will be shown as a skull on the mini-map, white if outside and you're outside, gray if you're outside and the antagonist is inside.
 * Hunter pets now have their family listed in the tooltip (for example, Level 49 Moth).
 * Classic dungeon and raids (those still remaining after the Shattering) now have instance maps.
 * Upper Blackrock Spire is now listed in the Dungeon Finder rather than the Raid Browser.

Quests

 * Classic dungeons now have quest givers inside the entrance.
 * Basic Chemistry and Neutralizing the Plague can now be done by a single player as the quest item's cooldown has been reduced to 30 seconds (was 90 seconds).
 * The quest Get Kraken! now requires 8 hits on the kraken and 6 Deepcallers slain (was 6 and 3 respectively). The Kraken Tooth from killing the kraken can also be obtained once again (was unavailable in 4.0.3).
 * The quest to activate the frost trap in Dire Maul North no longer requires any items.
 * The quest to obtain a Gordok Ogre Suit now only requires Ogre Tannin. The crafted versions remain unchanged.

The following notable quests have been removed:
 * Quests relating to the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj opening The Scepter of the Shifting Sands quest chain.
 * Quests relating to the level 60 version of Naxxramas (previously the quests not requiring Frozen Runes could still be completed in the level 80 version).
 * Quests relating to Librams in Dire Maul.
 * Free Knot!.
 * The Dungeon Set 2 quest chain.
 * The Battle for the Undercity quests after the Wrathgate event.

Note: With the world revamp, a vast number of quests in old-world zones was removed, far too numerous to list here. They can be found in Category:Removed in patch 4.0.3a.