World of Warcraft Raises PvP Rating Inflation and Halves Font of Venomous Rage’s Damage
The Sept. 17 hotfixes also fix enemy-force credit in Ruby Life Pools and tank targeting in The Coiled Altar.

World of Warcraft’s Sept. 17 hotfixes now apply a large increase to PvP rating inflation across every rated mode, with Battleground Blitz, Rated Battlegrounds, and Rated 3v3 Arena receiving particular attention. Blizzard also cut Font of Venomous Rage’s damage by 50% in PvP combat.
Blizzard said achievable ratings had not been meeting expectations. The rating adjustment is intended to give progression more room as the season continues and support healthier ladder movement, while Blizzard monitors rating distribution for further changes.
Font of Venomous Rage is the more direct combat nerf in this batch. Anyone using the trinket in rated or other PvP combat will now get half of its previous damage, which should make its contribution easier to account for when planning around enemy cooldowns.
Two dungeon and raid fixes round out the update. In Ruby Life Pools, Blazebound Destroyers and Primalist Flamedancers should now contribute correctly toward enemy forces if no player was on their threat table when their death sequence finished. Blizzard noted that the fix also means the default UI will no longer show those creatures’ enemy-force contribution on their tooltips.
The Venomous Abyss also received a targeted correction. Unnerving Fixation in The Coiled Altar had been selecting tanks more often than intended, and that behavior has been fixed. Blizzard’s Sept. 17 hotfix post contains the complete notes.
Patch Notes: World of Warcraft: Midnight 12.1
Rating inflation is the main player-facing change, while the remaining entries correct enemy-force tracking and an encounter targeting issue.
Dungeons and Raids
- Ruby Life Pools
- Addressed an issue where Blazebound Destroyers or Primalist Flamedancers could fail to contribute towards enemy forces if no player was on their threat table when they finished their death sequence.
- Developers’ notes: A known side-effect of this change is that these creatures will no longer display their contribution towards enemy forces on their tooltip in the default UI.
- Addressed an issue where Blazebound Destroyers or Primalist Flamedancers could fail to contribute towards enemy forces if no player was on their threat table when they finished their death sequence.
- The Venomous Abyss
- The Coiled Altar
- Fixed an issue where Unnerving Fixation was targeting tanks more often than intended.
- The Coiled Altar
Player versus Player
- Significantly increased PvP rating inflation for all rated PvP modes with emphasis on Battleground Blitz, Rated Battlegrounds, and Rated 3v3 Arena.
- Developers’ notes: We’ve seen your feedback that achievable PvP ratings are not meeting expectations, so we’re applying a significant increase to PvP rating inflation starting now for all rated PvP modes with emphasis on Battleground Blitz, Rated Battlegrounds, and Rated 3v3 Arena. As with past changes to inflation, this adjustment is intended to improve progression as the season continues and support healthier ladder movement. We’ll continue monitoring rating distribution and make further adjustments as necessary. Thank you for your continued feedback and we’ll see you on the battlefield!
- Font of Venomous Rage trinket damage reduced by 50% in PvP combat.
How will the higher rating inflation affect your climb, and does the Font of Venomous Rage nerf change which trinkets you want to use? Share your thoughts, then follow us on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram.
World of Warcraft: Midnight
Developed by Blizzard Entertainment





