WoW May 22, 2025 Hotfixes: Patch 11.1.5 Class and Vision Fixes
A recap of WoW's May 22, 2025 Patch 11.1.5 hotfixes: class bug fixes for Ret, Unholy DK, and Warlock, plus Horrific Visions and Season of Discovery.
By:
John Langan
Key Takeaways
- The May 22, 2025 hotfixes covered The War Within alongside Cataclysm Classic, Season of Discovery, WoW Classic Era, and Hardcore, all on the retail Patch 11.1.5 build.
- Retribution Paladin's Avenging Wrath was fixed to activate correctly when talented into Radiant Glory.
- Unholy Death Knight pets stopped keeping certain bonuses after being despawned and resummoned.
- The Hellcaller Warlock fix stopped Vile Taint from triggering Blackened Soul more times than intended, and Destruction's Crashing Chaos stopped lingering into a Mythic+ run.
- In Horrific Visions, destroying the Voidfire Deathcycle that Haymar the Devout rides too quickly no longer blocked the intended outcome, and Torie's items no longer required the We Have the Memories achievement.
- Season of Discovery's Scarlet Enclave, the final raid of Phase 8, had two Warrior gear pieces corrected for wrong item categories.
With the batch summarized, here is what each fix did and why several of them landed when they did.
What the May 22, 2025 Hotfixes Covered
This was a wide sweep of a hotfix day. Blizzard's notes spanned The War Within, Cataclysm Classic, Season of Discovery, WoW Classic Era, and Hardcore, so a single post touched five very different versions of the game. On retail the live build was Patch 11.1.5, which had launched on April 22, 2025. The timing of the Horrific Visions fixes is the tell: the Horrific Visions Revisited event had only just returned as a Patch 11.1.5 feature the week of May 20, so these were day-two cleanups on freshly-live content.
Retail Class Fixes
The retail class list was short and entirely bug fixes rather than tuning, with no buff or nerf numbers attached:
| Spec | What Blizzard fixed |
|---|---|
| Retribution Paladin | Radiant Glory no longer stopped Avenging Wrath from working; the two now function together. |
| Unholy Death Knight | Pets stopped retaining certain bonuses after being despawned and resummoned. |
| Hellcaller Warlock | Hellcaller's Vile Taint no longer triggered Blackened Soul more times than intended. |
| Destruction Warlock | Crashing Chaos no longer persisted after the start of a Mythic+ run. |
None of these were balance changes, so nobody gained or lost power on paper; they simply made the talents behave as designed. A player re-reading how their spec changed this patch is often the same player weighing a re-roll, and anyone in that spot can level a fresh main character to try the fixed build. The Destruction fix in particular mattered inside dungeons, since Crashing Chaos leaking into a key skewed the opening burst, and a Warlock main can push a Mythic+ key run once the bug was gone.
Horrific Visions: Haymar's Voidfire Deathcycle and Torie's Items
The Horrific Visions entries are where the original patch-note shorthand hid the real story. The headline bug was specific: if you destroyed the Voidfire Deathcycle that Haymar the Devout rides too quickly, it failed to go out of control, which meant you could not bring it out of the vision with you. The fix restored the intended sequence so the Deathcycle behaved correctly when you broke it.
The second Horrific Visions fix was a quality-of-life change. Torie's items no longer required players to earn the We Have the Memories achievement first, which removed an extra gate on acquiring them.
Season of Discovery: Scarlet Enclave Warrior Gear
Over in Season of Discovery, the fixes touched Scarlet Enclave, the final raid of the mode, added in the culminating Phase 8. Two Warrior pieces were carrying the wrong item category on one of their effects: the Scarlet Enclave Protection Warrior Shoulders and the Damage Warrior Feet. Blizzard corrected both so the effects registered under the right category, which matters for how set and effect bonuses stack. It was a small fix, but on end-tier raid gear a miscategorized effect can quietly cost throughput.
Frequently Asked Questions
What patch were the May 22, 2025 hotfixes on?
On retail they applied to Patch 11.1.5 of The War Within, which had released on April 22, 2025. That patch has no subtitle; it is simply Patch 11.1.5. The same hotfix post also covered Cataclysm Classic, Season of Discovery, Classic Era, and Hardcore.
What was the Radiant Glory fix for Retribution?
Avenging Wrath had not been activating properly for Retribution Paladins who talented into Radiant Glory. The hotfix resolved the interaction so Radiant Glory triggered Avenging Wrath as intended.
What did the Hellcaller Warlock hotfix change?
It was a bug fix, not a nerf. Vile Taint had been triggering the Hellcaller mechanic Blackened Soul more times than intended, and the hotfix corrected the trigger count so it matched the design.
What was the Voidfire Deathcycle bug in Horrific Visions?
If you destroyed the Voidfire Deathcycle ridden by Haymar the Devout too quickly, it failed to go out of control, so you could not bring it out of the vision. The fix restored the intended behavior when the Deathcycle was broken.
What is the Scarlet Enclave?
Scarlet Enclave was the final raid of WoW Classic's Season of Discovery, added in Phase 8, the mode's culminating phase. It was live content in May 2025, which is why its Warrior gear was still receiving tuning fixes.
Which game versions did these hotfixes touch?
Five: The War Within on retail, plus Cataclysm Classic, Season of Discovery, WoW Classic Era, and Hardcore. A single Blizzard hotfix post frequently spans multiple live versions of the game at once.
Last reviewed 2026-07-20 against Patch 11.1.5 (The War Within) — Maintained by WowCarry's WoW team.