Zul’Gurub patch, Ascension CoA: all 21 classes reworked

Guardian gets one of the most generous patches in this wave. There isn’t a single nerf on the list, everything goes up or stays neutral.

The core of the patch is Reprisal. Its global cooldown drops from 1.5 to 1 second, its damage goes from 105% to 135% weapon damage, and its flat values increase at every rank. Crashing Force follows suit, its damage bonus on Reprisal climbs to 20%/40% at ranks 1 and 2, up from 15%/30%. Legionnaire does the same on the crit side, its critical damage bonus on Reprisal goes from 10%/20% to 15%/30%. And Supremacy now lets you use Reprisal as well as refresh a charge, instead of choosing between the two.

On the damage side, Broad Sweep standardizes its damage to 90% weapon damage at every rank, up from 70 to 85% depending on rank, doubles its additional physical damage, and hits 8 targets instead of 4. Ram’s Attack Power scaling climbs from 37% to 42%. Pulverize follows with scaling going from 35% to 40%, and Rank 8 damage rising from 320 to 380. Spear Throw hits the hardest of the bunch. Its damage is roughly doubled from rank 1 to rank 7, with values going from 45 to 86 at rank 1 and from 499 to 948 at rank 7, and its Attack Power scaling climbs from 35% to 66.5%.

Final Verdict is now usable within the 35% health execute range, up from 20%. Standard of Recovery now has a baseline amount of healing, where it previously only healed for 25% of Strength with no base value. Valiant Effort‘s proc chance increases from 15% to 25%.

Field Commander changes in nature. It now triggers off casting the Standard itself, no longer requiring Song of Steel first, and gains two new effects for the Standards of Valiance and Supremacy. Its range drops from 100 to 40 yards, but its target cap is no longer limited to 5, it becomes uncapped in raid. Drums of Battle now applies automatically to anyone within 12 yards, without allies needing to click it.

Honor also gets a general increase, from rank 1 to rank 6.

Reaper gets an entirely positive patch. None of the seventeen changes on this list lowers a value, everything pushes the class upward.

The change that shapes this patch touches resources. Soul Infusion spells now refund their cost whenever the spell is dodged, parried or missed. Requiem is the exception, it only refunds if all targets are missed at once. This fix cuts down on wasted resources, in both PvP and dungeons.

On the damage side, the core rotation is strengthened across the board. Slaughter, ranks 1 to 7, sees its weapon damage go from 130% to 150%, and its base damage climb by roughly 20%, from 14 to 17 at rank 1 up to 202 to 242 at rank 7. Reap, ranks 1 to 8, gains across its whole line too, weapon damage raised from 80% to 90%, base damage increased at every rank, from 10 to 12 at rank 1 up to 123 to 166 at rank 8. Crow’s Harvest, ranks 1 to 7, sees its weapon damage go from 65% to 75%, and its normalized damage climb by roughly 25%, from 6 to 8 at rank 1 up to 99 to 124 at rank 7.

Secondary damage talents follow suit. Shudder Scythe now deals 40% damage per strike instead of 30%. Hemorrhage doubles its value, from 10% to 20%. Harvester’s Scythe goes from 15% to 20%. Soulstrider goes from 20% to 25%. Harvesting Grounds now lasts 15 seconds instead of 10. Limbo now lasts 6 seconds instead of 5. Spectre Strength now also grants Armor Penetration, 5% or 10% depending on rank.

On support and control, Empyrean Fortitude now generates 5 RP, up from 2. Spectre Stride now roots the target for 2 seconds, and Scythe Rush roots the enemy in place for 1 second. Both mobility abilities also become control tools.

Three last talents get stronger without the team detailing the numbers, Rite of Power from rank 1 to rank 4 with its upgraded version Greater Rite of Power, Rite of Resolve from rank 1 to rank 6 with its upgraded version Greater Rite of Resolve, and Greater Mark of Rivendare.

Knight of Xoroth comes out of this patch heavily strengthened. Thirteen of the seventeen changes are pure gains, one is a true nerf, and the last three rebalance mechanics without weakening them.

The centerpiece is Greater Imp. Its Attack Power scaling climbs by 31% and its Spell Power scaling by 36%. In exchange, a bug that kept its abilities from costing mana is fixed, they now cost mana as intended.

On the damage side, Hellstorm‘s direct damage base increases by 40%, with scaling reduced by 10%, while its damage over time doubles in both scaling and base value. Burst gains 35% base damage. Burning Slap gains 22% base damage and now extends the duration of Burning Mischief by 2 seconds. Burning Mischief itself gets a 30 second cooldown, but your Imp now heals and restores mana for 100% of all damage dealt, up from 20%, plus 15% increased Fire Damage for the duration. Seeking Flame now generates 2 Deathfire, up from one. Hellfire Forgemaster‘s value increases by 10%. An August 1 update adds a refund of Demonfire on abilities that consume it if your attack missed, was dodged, or parried.

On defense, Hellsmelted Armor now grants 5/10% block chance at all times, on top of its existing 1/2% per Imp bonus. Infernal Bulwark increases your armor contribution by 10% and reduces damage from blocked attacks by 15%.

Three mechanics change in nature rather than power. Doom now has a 1 minute cooldown, up from 30 seconds, but increases your Imp’s damage by 50%, up from 20%, and lasts 20 seconds, up from 12. Lesser Pestilence of Apocalypse now grants your Imp additional mana every 5 seconds while active, instead of increasing its mana regeneration in combat. Demon King, the level 40 passive, is merged into the level 20 passive for Defiance Knight of Xoroth. The new passive grants 10% additional parry chance every time you block, stacking until you parry.

Three Marks get stronger to close things out. Mark of Blaumeux and its greater version, Greater Mark of Blaumeux, improve on ranks 1 to 4, Mark of Korth’azz and its greater version, Greater Mark of Korth’azz, improve on ranks 1 to 6, and Mark of Rivendare improves on ranks 1 to 4.

Sun Cleric gets an entirely positive patch. No nerf has been identified on this class this cycle.

The most structural change is a rename. Adjudication becomes Herald of Dawn. The new name ends the confusion with the Adjudicator talent in the Seraphim tree. Vows move to the stance bar and now have a reduced global cooldown. The Radiant Halberds effect merges with Champion’s Arrival.

On the damage side, Justice now deals 50% weapon damage, up from 40%. All Gavel spells now deal 100% weapon damage, up from 80%. Valkyrie gets a new capstone, Sunstorm. Adjudicator now also causes Justicar’s Wrath to deal 50% more damage when it strikes only a single target. Ancient Rites now grants 150/300/450% of your intellect as mana depending on rank, in addition to its previous effects.

On the support side, a bug causing Adjudication to trigger a Rank 1 Dawnsear instead of the highest known rank is fixed. Sun Stride now also frees you from slows and roots, on top of its usual effect. Luminary Mendicant now also silences the target of Horusath Blast.

Eight Devotion talents get stronger. Devotion of Dawn, ranks 1 to 6, Devotion of Emperors, Devotion of Grace, ranks 1 to 8, and Devotion of Radiance, ranks 1 to 5, all improve, along with their greater versions, Greater Devotion of Dawn, Greater Devotion of Emperors, Greater Devotion of Grace, and Greater Devotion of Radiance. Vow of Dawn and Vow of Grace get the same treatment.

Barbarian comes out of this patch as a clear winner, though not where you’d expect.

The headline is Onslaught. A bug let it be extended indefinitely. Its duration extension is now capped at 20 seconds, and critical strikes extend it by 2 seconds instead of 1. To compensate, Brutality Barbarian and Headhunting Barbarian gain 29% PvE damage across all spells, abilities and auto attacks. The team stands behind the change. The old permanent Onslaught devalued crit and haste on gear, and would have increased damage taken by roughly 50% for the whole raid.

On pure damage, Whirling Assault goes from a 300% to a 500% damage bonus against enemies above 80% HP. Hail of Hammers now also increases the critical damage of Crush by the same amount, and Crush pauses your swing timer when cast instead of resetting it.

On defense and mobility, Ramhorn Rage now doubles your passive health regeneration, Drunken Brawler stacks last 5 seconds instead of 3 and grant 2% dodge chance per stack instead of 1%, Thick Skull can now break Horrify effects as well as Stuns, and Incredibly Strong no longer reduces the maximum range of Maiming Spear, instead increasing its duration.

Four talents change in nature rather than in raw power. Axe Twirling is now toggleable on and off, with no cooldown or fixed duration, at the cost of 15% less damage dealt while active. Born in Blood lasts one second longer and doubles its movement speed per stack, 10% instead of 5%, but its stack cap drops from 20 to 10. Iron Gut‘s poison duration reduction drops from 40% to 30%, but it now grants a 30% chance to fully resist poison application. Giant Tosser doubles the damage of Headhunter’s Spears thrown beyond 20 yards, but its energy bonus drops from 50% to 15%.

A new alternative node appears. Crusher is added as a switch node with Hail of Hammers. It removes Crush’s cast time entirely, in exchange for 25% less damage and the loss of its stun.

Worth noting for raid content, nine effects now persist through death. Ancestral Fury, Enduring Shout (ranks 1 to 4), Brutal Shout (ranks 1 to 7), Born in Blood, and the five Spirits, namely Spirit of Bloodshed, Spirit of Conflict, Spirit of Savagery, Spirit of the Hunt and Spirit of War.

Ranger comes out as one of the big winners of this patch. Seventeen changes affect it, almost all of them buffs, and the talent tree is rearranged to better spread out power while leveling.

The most structural change hits Archery. Corrosive Poison is merged into the level 10 spec passive. The new passive makes Toxic Dart deal 30% more damage, tick 30% faster, and causes all of your abilities to ignore 25% of the target’s armor against poisoned targets.

Hookshot, ranks 1 to 6, gains 50% more damage, from 66 → 99 up to 378 → 567. Ravage follows with 25% more damage on ranks 1 to 7, from 28 → 35 up to 176 → 220, and its attack power scaling rises from 6% to 8%. Freezing Toxin now slows by 30%, up from 20%. Knuckleduster also increases the range of Bushwhack. Cutthroat‘s cooldown drops to 45 seconds, from 1 minute, and Onslaught goes to a 2 minute cooldown, from 3 minutes.

On survivability and quality of life, Waterskins heal 30% more. Blur now also reduces the chance for enemies to detect you while stealthed. Since August 1, Advantage refunds abilities that consume it when your attack missed, was dodged, or parried, cutting down on wasted resources. The one downside of the patch, a bug kept Woodland Stalker active all the time except while in Eluder, the opposite of the intended effect. Its behavior now matches the original design.

One talent changes in nature rather than power. Skirmisher no longer reduces the duration of Toxic Dart, it now increases its damage by 30% instead.

A new alternate node makes its appearance. Skewer joins the Brigand capstones, as a switch with Viper’s Bite. These two capstones and Barbed Quills each gain a new connection in the tree.

The tree is also rearranged in depth. Opportunist moves down to Tier 1, swapping with Superb Shot. Deadeye and Studded Arrows swap positions, as do Skirmish and Swiftshot. The team wants to better pace the power felt while leveling, since Rangers used to fall behind before their second talent tier, then spike sharply afterward.

Finally, both Footpad’s Adaptation, ranks 1 to 6, and Woodsman’s Adaptation, ranks 1 to 7, along with their greater versions, are strengthened.

The Stormbringer comes out of this patch clearly stronger. Longer buff durations, new defensive tools, and a welcome fix to botched teleports.

The most talked-about change hits Conductive. The buff no longer consumes on use, it can now stack higher, but its value per stack goes down. Dev note: « This is a shocking change. This change will be monitored closely over the next few days. » Ride the Lightning now runs on its own cooldown, separate from the main GCD, so it can no longer be accidentally double-tapped. Its range also drops from 40 to 30 yards. Dev note: 40 yards too often left you teleporting into walls.

On the damage side, Flux Arc now lasts 10 seconds, up from 8, and Kinetic Energy gets the same increase, also going from 8 to 10 seconds. Thorim’s Gift now inherits 15% of the damage dealt from Arm of Thorim, up from 10%. A bug preventing Stormcloud damage from critically hitting has been fixed. Shockingly Powerful now causes critical strikes with Torrential Wrath to trigger Conductive directly. Drown‘s maximum stack count is raised to 8, up from 6. Ranks 1-5 of Call of the Storm and ranks 1-6 of Call of the Wind are stronger, along with their upgraded versions Greater Call of the Storm and Greater Call of the Wind. The only loss on the list: Volt no longer scales with haste.

On defense and mobility, the Air Elemental gains two new abilities, Cyclonean Protection and Wind Tunnel. Unshackle and Windsurf are no longer on the global cooldown.

Venomancer comes out of this patch with no downside anywhere. Every line of the patch is a gain, whether in damage, comfort, or accessibility.

The common thread is easing mana management across the whole Rot rotation. Venom Bolt‘s base mana cost drops from 15% to 13%. Base mana costs fall across Spore, Wilt, Fungal Assailant, and Mycosis too, respectively from 15% to 13%, from 10% to 9%, from 20% to 15%, and from 16% to 14%. Weaver Form flat out loses its internal cooldown on mana regeneration.

On pure damage, Wilt’s spell power coefficient rises from 18% to 20% per tick, and Spore’s from 18% to 24%. Cycle of Decay now lets Spore and Wilt land critical strikes. Serpent’s Fang, ranks 1 to 8, sees its damage rise by roughly 30%, from 27→35 up to 596→775, and its healing by roughly 40%, from 32→45 up to 245→343. Spider Lord‘s chance to summon a Scarab on auto attack rises from 5% to 15%, and now also triggers from Carapace Crash on top of Hivebreak, each at a 40% chance. Withering Venom now generates a Brood Mark, and Brood Marks no longer expire. Prophetic Speaker also increases the maximum number of targets hit by Decay by 5. Suffocating Coils‘ proc chance rises from 5% to 8%. Mycelial Ring now increases the damage of every Mushroom you trigger by 50%, once learned.

A wide wave of poisons and pheromones also benefits from this patch, with no exact numbers listed but a confirmed gain on each one. Envenomed Weapons is part of it, along with Beetle Pheromones, ranks 1 to 6, and its upgraded version, Greater Beetle Pheromones, Spider Pheromones, ranks 1 to 6, and its upgraded version, Greater Spider Pheromones, as well as Toxic Pheromones, ranks 1 to 4, and its upgraded version, Greater Toxic Pheromones. Adrenal Venom also gets stronger, alongside Blight Venom, Debilitating Venom, Nullifying Venom, Rejuvenating Venom, Fang Venom: Toxic Rejuvenation, and Venom Shield.

Shapeshifting also gets more comfortable. All Shapeshift forms now grant immunity to polymorph effects while active, you can now shapeshift while silenced, and Undead can now play Venomancer. Weaver Form now regenerates 5% of your base mana instead of 5% of missing mana, a deliberate choice meant to make mana regeneration feel more consistent, instead of only mattering while you’re already low. From Life Comes Death becomes a passive instead of an on-cooldown spell. The effect, spawning Mushrooms on kill, stays the same.

Chronomancer gets a generous patch, geared toward survivability, healing control, and quality of life, with very few losses on the other side.

The most structural change touches the class’s architecture. Cycling Aeons becomes baseline, shared across all four Aeons, reducing every aeon’s cooldown by 50%. Its old talent slot is taken over by Rapid Acceleration, which instantly heals for 15% of Accelerated Recovery‘s total periodic amount and increases that spell’s healing power contribution by 15%. It also shifts position in the tree, along with Timeline Tether.

On the offensive side, Gravity Bomb will now explode if the target dies before its timer runs out.

On defense and healing, Constant Recovery now also reduces the threat generated by your holy school spells by 20%. Infinite Shield‘s range increases to 40 yards. Timeguard‘s damage reduction goes from 40% to 50%, and a new mechanic reduces attacks dealing more than 20% of your health by 50% (consuming a Timeguard charge). Temporal Anomaly can now be released early, healing you for the currently stored value. Rewind is now usable while crowd-controlled, and increases your movement speed while slowing enemies around you. Keep Accelerating now prioritizes applying Accelerated Recovery to targets not yet affected by it.

Only two adjustments go the other way. A bug where Moment’s Reprieve had no cooldown and no mana cost has been fixed. Correct the Mistake‘s scaling is reduced by 20%.

All four Aeons are reworked, each trading a stat for a new effect on Epoch. Aeon of Resilience reduces Epoch’s cast time by 25% but increases its mana cost by 25%, and makes Accelerated Recovery bounce to another target. Aeon of Protection increases cast time by 25% but also healing by 25%, and shields the target for 50% of the amount healed. Aeon of Renewal reduces healing by 25% but increases crit chance by 25%, and makes Epoch heal for 75% of the amount over 6 seconds, stacking, like Ignite. Aeon of Oblivion reduces crit chance by 25% but also mana cost by 25%, and Epoch then deals 100% of its healing done as damage to a nearby enemy.

A new tool joins the kit. Fray Magic is a new spell available from the class trainer at level 26, a pure interrupt.

Chromie’s Wisdom, ranks 1 to 9, and Greater Chromie’s Wisdom get stronger, along with Nozdormu’s Wisdom, ranks 1 to 5, and Greater Nozdormu’s Wisdom.

The Witch Hunter comes out ahead in this patch, with no nerf identified.

The most significant change hits Stake, which now ignores enemy armor. It can finally out-damage Dawn Blade once your enemy is within execute range, as originally intended by the team.

Stake’s damage also climbs across the board. From rank 1 to rank 7 of Inquisition, it rises by roughly 39%, from 201 to 279 at the first rank up to 486 to 675 at the last. Heartseeking Bolt‘s cooldown drops from 15 to 10 seconds. Heartless‘s value rises by 10 to 20 percentage points, up to 25% or 50%. Vengeful Intent can now also trigger from avoided damage, dodge and parry included. Brimming Hatred now also restores 5% of your maximum mana on a critical strike, once every 3 seconds. Darkslayer’s Lantern now interrupts non-player spellcasting for 3 seconds, even against enemies immune to stuns.

All six spells in the Edict family also gain power across their ranks. Inquisitor’s Edict scales up from rank 1 to rank 11, and so does its upgraded version, Greater Inquisitor’s Edict. Knight’s Edict and Greater Knight’s Edict improve too, ranks 1 to 4 included. Same story for Witching Edict, ranks 1 to 4, and for Greater Witching Edict.

Tonics change shape. Their effectiveness rises by 50% to 100% across the board, but their duration drops from 15 to 10 seconds.

The talent tree shifts too. Guard Strike, an interrupt spell, leaves the Black Knight tree and moves to the class trainer at level 18. Black Guard, a new passive talent, takes its old spot in the tree. At level 40 you can now learn Trap Launcher, letting you launch your traps up to 30 yards away. Night Elf can now play this class, opening it up to a new audience.

Starcaller comes out clearly stronger in this patch. Only one loss shows up on the list, and it stays minor.

The most significant change hits Lunar Lance. The spell, along with its damage-over-time effect for players who take the Moonlit Lancer talent, now deals Spellfire damage instead of Arcane. The DoT can therefore trigger Tyrande’s Training, and the spell hits harder against targets vulnerable to Arcane as well as Fire. Tyrande’s Training itself moves to the level 50 spec passive. It now also affects Trueshot and grants 25% crit chance and crit damage against burning targets, up from 10%. A new talent takes the spot it leaves behind. It gives Starfire Shot a Lunar Eclipse effect, a damage-over-time Burn that also prevents the target from stealthing or going invisible.

On the damage side, Celestial Cleave can now be cast without a target, gains 1 yard of range and a wider cone. Its targeting issues are fixed, it now hits correctly every time. Starfire Shot carries the patch’s only real loss. Its mana scaling is slightly reduced. Three straight power talents move up a notch. Celestial Mind, ranks 1 to 5, Greater Celestial Mind, and Arcane Protection, ranks 1 to 5, all gain effectiveness.

On the healing side, Touch of Moonlight now properly scales with healing power. Warden’s Blade gains a new effect for Aspect of the Goddess. Elune’s Cradle spawns a healing-over-time circle around the Blade’s target, healing up to 8 allies every 3 seconds.

Several talents change in nature rather than in power. The level 20 Sentinel passive now converts 10% of Intellect into Ranged Crit Rating. The effects of Celestial Glaives and Lunar Combatant are merged into the Celestial Glaives node. Lunar Combatant is reworked. It now increases intellect based on strength, and weapon damage based on spell power. The level 30, 40, and 50 Warden vertical talents are repositioned in the tree. The level 50 Moon Guard passive is merged into the level 30 passive. The new level 50 passive protects you with the Light of Elune, absorbing 10% of damage taken into mana from attacks dealing more than 20% of your maximum health.

As a small quality-of-life bonus, Starcallers can now wear daggers.

Primalist comes out of this patch with no downside at all. No nerfs anywhere in the class, only gains to damage, survivability, and quality of life.

Earth Pummeling now also grants 3% crit, on top of its usual effect. Terrasurge scales up on its ranks 1 to 9, its damage rises by 10%, from 140 to 154 at the first rank up to 2182 to 2400 at the last. Stoneshard follows the same curve on its own ranks 1 to 9, damage also up by 10%, from 40 to 44 up to 802 to 882. Seismic Tremor climbs even harder on its ranks 1 to 5, its periodic damage rises by roughly 34%, from 41 to 55 up to 196 to 265. Earthbreaker now also increases the threat generated by Geode Barrage.

Golem Form is no longer dispellable, a real reliability gain in PvP. Dreamway now spawns a portal usable by allies, handy for regrouping the party. Thane’s Guidance now also works with Primal Rush. Heavy Earth keeps the same values, only its in-game tooltip now correctly describes its stacking mechanic.

Spirit Stable changes position in the tree. The talent is now granted through the Spirit Beast Communion vertical node. It arrives alongside a new spell, Beastmaster’s Recall, which makes your next Recall Animal Spirit instant cast and cheaper on mana.

Three minor passives also gain power, without changing in nature. Earthen Endurance, ranks 1 to 4, along with its upgraded version, Greater Earthen Endurance, both improve. Grove Instinct climbs on its ranks 1 to 7, its upgraded rank 6 version, Greater Grove Instinct, too. Primal Instinct follows suit on its ranks 1 to 6.

Tinker gets a clear boost across the entire healing and survivability kit, with no nerf anywhere in this patch.

Emergency Heal’s base value is increased by 30%, and its cast time drops from 1.8 to 1.5 seconds. The range of Med Pack triples, going from 10 to 30 yards. Restorative Beacon’s base value is doubled, and its scaling is increased by 6%. Macro Designer now increases the duration of Beacons by an additional second, from +5 to +6 seconds, allowing one additional full tick. The Mechano-Bear now generates increased threat with Mechano-Growl.

Defensively, Mechanical Enhancements now reduces damage taken from bleeds by 20%, up from 10%.

One talent changes flavor rather than power. Goblin Depravity now creates a Crash Site instead of Tear Gas, and deals Fire Damage instead of Nature Damage.

Five modules also get stronger, with no specific numbers given in the patch notes. Arcane Bionics, Mana Module (ranks 1-7), Greater Mana Module, Power Module (ranks 1-7), and Greater Power Module are all buffed.

Cultist is one of the big winners of this patch, carried by a new spell that reshapes half the tree. Eldritch Shock enters as a new Insanity spender, usable to either damage an enemy or heal an ally. It weaves a real web of synergies. Oblivion’s Embrace, Dark Reservoir, Instilling Fear, the Dread and Terror talents, and Void Augmentation all now work with it. Dark Whispers becomes Twilight Horror, a capstone built on that same synergy. The Insanity generator also benefits from the change. Abyssal Destruction now causes your periodic and channeled damage to generate 2 Insanity.

On the damage side, the Madness debuff duration increases to 20 seconds, up from 10, since Obliteration Beam‘s cooldown wouldn’t otherwise let you stack it. Horrorbolt Volley‘s base cast time drops from 3.5 to 2.5 seconds. Void Reaver now also removes the mana cost of your next Blade of the Empire. Whispers ranks also get stronger. Greater Whispers of C’thun, Greater Whispers of N’zoth, and Greater Whispers of Y’shaarj are buffed, along with ranks 1-3 of Whispers of C’thun, Whispers of N’Zoth, and ranks 1-3 of Whispers of Y’shaarj.

In healing and survivability, Black Blood now prioritizes the ally affected by your Abyssal Covenant, then allies not affected by Black Blood, then the lowest-health players for stacking it. A bug is fixed along the way. Black Blood wasn’t scaling correctly with spell power and wasn’t benefiting from healing-taken increases. The class’s only real nerf, Dark Prophet now heals the 2 lowest-health nearby allies, down from 5.

Two talents change flavor rather than power. Eldritch Devastation‘s duration is reduced from 6 to 4 seconds, but it now ticks significantly faster. Black Blood no longer ticks immediately on application, but its duration can now be refreshed by repeat applications without resetting its tick timer.

A new alternative node appears. Dark Channeler is added as a switch node with Misery. Misery now reduces Psychic Suppression‘s cooldown by 4 seconds, up from 1, when you cast Gaze of C’Thun.

The talent tree also gets reorganized in several places. Doomsayer and Embodied Presences are combined, and Doomsayer swaps places with Devourer in the class tree. Twilight Horror and Abyssal Destruction also swap places, and Horrorbolt Volley becomes a pre-capstone, taking Dark Whispers’ old spot. Dark Infusion moves to the class tree.

Necromancer comes out clearly stronger from this patch. Fourteen changes benefit the class, only two hurt it, and two adjustments rework existing mechanics without leaning clearly one way or the other.

The most visible change is a new spell taught at level 60, Graveyard. You mark a graveyard and begin turning corpses below your feet, resurfacing them. Nearby enemies suffer plague damage when a resurfaced corpse is brought back to its grave.

Several bug fixes restore damage and haste the Necromancer was already meant to have on paper. Sepulchral Might was not correctly increasing your minions’ damage from the spell power gained, that’s fixed. Unholy Runes was not increasing the damage of Crypt Swarm, that’s fixed too, and the talent now also increases the damage of Blight, which has a 5% chance when it deals damage to reset the cooldown of Corpse Explosion. Scourge Disciple is fixed as well, your Skeletal Archers now properly provide you haste while active.

On the pure damage side, Fiend‘s talent value increases from 20% to 30%. Study of Death now summons 5 total Zombies, up from 3. Foul Invocation now additionally causes you and your minions to emit a Disease Cloud dealing area of effect damage while active. This cloud benefits from disease damage modifiers such as Plague Scientist, which increases all disease damage dealt by 100% for targets under 20% health.

Defensively, the picture is more mixed. Entomb loses its full damage immunity, it now only blocks Physical damage, a real step back in emergency survivability. Anti-Magic Shell was mistakenly applying to you instead of your summoned minions, that’s fixed.

Corpse Explosion changes flavor. The spell now explodes ALL corpses near the target corpse, with each explosion dealing its own damage, but its cooldown is increased from 10 to 30 seconds. Frozen Barbs from Crypt Fiend could never miss its target due to a bug, that’s fixed, the ability can now miss like any other.

On the quality of life side, your summoned minions are now instantly summoned when you are resurrected inside a battleground, and Necromancer AI is improved. Your minions are now less likely to attack targets that pose no danger to you or your party. Foul Mandate, ranks 1 to 5, along with its greater version Greater Foul Mandate, get stronger. The same goes for Grim Mandate, ranks 1 to 3, and its greater version Greater Grim Mandate, for Fetid Ward, for Glacial Ward, and for Bone Ward.

Pyromancer comes out ahead in this patch. The only downside is a bug fix to Phoenix Dive’s absorb value, easily offset by its new target cap.

The most structural change is Draconic Invocation, which is now baseline. The spell is now learned from the trainer at level 24, freeing up a talent point.

On defense and mobility, Volcanic Shell gains roughly 56% absorb across ranks 1 to 5. Rank 1 goes from 400 to 625, and the top rank goes from 1961 to 3064. Phoenix Dive now hits up to 10 targets instead of just one. Its absorb value drops back to its intended level at the same time, since a bug was causing it to apply its coefficient twice. The bug is now fixed.

One talent changes in nature rather than power. Phoenix Egg is now permanent, up from 1 minute, but it now has a cast time to resummon.

On the quality of life side, Pyroclasm damage now properly obeys PvP mods. Inferno is reworked. There’s now a 50% chance for direct healing critical spells to apply Inferno on an ally, healing 3 nearby allies every second for 5 seconds, with a final heal to nearby party and raid members at the end of the duration. It can only trigger once every 5 seconds. A bug that kept Inferno from showing up correctly in the Pyromancer’s combat log is also fixed. The spell was already healing properly, only the tracking was off.

Three other effects get a damage increase, with no further detail given by the team. Ascension of Thaurissan, Seal of Al’ar with ranks 1 to 5 and its upgraded version Greater Seal of Al’ar, and Seal of Alysrazor, also ranks 1 to 5, with its upgraded version Greater Seal of Alysrazor.

Runemaster comes out clearly ahead in this patch. There’s no nerf to report, only damage gains, some quality of life on glyphs, and a deliberate rebalance on two signature spells.

On the damage side, Runic Explosion’s base damage increases by roughly 25%. Primordial Strength now converts 30% of Attack Power into Spell Power, up from 25% before this patch. Hoarfrost‘s AoE range increases from 5 to 8 yards. Tempo now also increases the damage of Runic Brand.

On the quality of life side, Unleashed Flame Glyph’s duration increases from 6 to 10 seconds, for 2 extra ticks. Overloaded Flame Glyph now lasts 12 seconds instead of 5, but its tick rate drops from 1 to 1.5 seconds, for a net gain of 3 ticks.

Two spells change in nature rather than power. Fist of the Ancients sees its Attack Power scaling reduced from 65% to 58%, but gains 20% Spell Power scaling, a scaling it didn’t have before. Runic Brand in turn sees its Attack Power scaling reduced from 30% to 28%, but gains 15% Spell Power scaling, also new for this spell. The team owns the choice, more of a rebalance than a clear gain or loss. They also confirm work is being done on a broader pass on Weapon Enhancements for a future update.

Three etchings get stronger. Etching of the Leylines and its upgraded version, Greater Etching of the Leylines, improve. Etching of the Dextrous, ranks 1 to 4, along with its upgraded version, Greater Etching of the Dextrous, benefit too. Etching of the Magi rounds out the list.

Bloodmage comes out clearly ahead in this patch, carried by a damage rebalance and several cost reductions, offset by tighter curse control.

The most notable change hits Blood Shards. The spell now deals Spellshadow (Shadow+Arcane) damage and finally benefits properly from Dark Hunt. It also hits harder against targets vulnerable to Shadow or Arcane.

Several other offensive levers improve too. Forbidden Power now increases your spell penetration by an amount equal to 100% of your Armor Penetration. Eternal Curse is now instant cast. Wicked Howl‘s cooldown drops from 3 to 2 minutes, and Bloodbolt‘s Rage cost drops from 40 to 30. The Rage talent now grants you 10% more Spell Power from your Attack Power, and Blood Hunt now also grants you 10 Expertise.

The trade-off hits curse control. Transgression no longer requires Insatiable to cast, but its duration drops from 30 to 15 seconds and it no longer casts a free Vampiric Fang. Hemal Excision becomes more restrictive. It can no longer be preserved through map changes, it can no longer be cast on pets, guardians and non-player targets to remove their curses, and the curses it applies now last a maximum of 30 seconds.

The class tree also changes structure right at the start of the path. Connections have been repathed for more build diversity in the first tier. Alacrity can now connect to Dark Curse and Bloody Sacrifice.

Seven shield and offering talents also get stronger. Blood Shield, Coagulated Shield and Vital Shield gain more absorb. Bloodsoaked Offering at ranks 1 to 4, Greater Bloodsoaked Offering, Sanguinary Offering at ranks 1 to 6 and Greater Sanguinary Offering are strengthened as well.

Templar is the quietest class in this patch. No spell loses or gains power, no number changes on its damage or survival. The only real change touches what a training talent grants, plus a long list of death-persistence confirmations for the raid.

Scarlet Training changes what it gives you. It used to transform your Argent Blade into Chastise. It now transforms it into Scarlet Hammer instead.

Sixteen effects are confirmed to persist through your death, with no change to their power. Gift of Zeal ranks 1-7, Greater Gift of Zeal, Gift of Fervor, Greater Crusader’s Oath, Harmonic Disposition and Righteous Custodian all remain active after you die. The ten Tithes follow the same rule. Tithe of Alacrity, Tithe of Courage, Tithe of Crusading, Tithe of Elements, Tithe of Heroism, Tithe of Ingenuity, Tithe of Liberty, Tithe of Might, Tithe of Mysticism and Tithe of Order all carry over through death too.

This patch neither buffs nor nerfs Templar. It adds its death-persistence effects to the official list and clarifies the reward from a training talent, nothing more.

Witch Doctor doesn’t gain or lose net power with this patch. It’s a redistribution of damage across the rotation, not an overall buff or nerf to the class.

The change that shapes everything else hits Spirit Volley. Its base damage drops by roughly 34%. The developers stand behind the call. This AoE spell was the best choice in every scenario, including single target. With several other spells’ damage and scaling increased for Shadow Hunting, it stays strong without overshadowing the rest of the kit.

Five spells benefit from that redistribution. Reclamation‘s base damage and scaling rise by 21%. Auto Shot‘s damage rises by 19%. Hex of Malice gains 18% on its base damage and scaling. Veil of Darkness also rises by 22%. Spirit Glaive jumps by 69%, the biggest increase in the patch.

Several fixes repair spells that had been underperforming for a while. Spirit Link Idol regains its full duration and the benefit of Hastened, which a bug was stripping from it. Spirit in a Bottle has its rank progression fixed, it wasn’t consistently granting gains at every rank. Damage triggered by Puppeteer’s Threads can no longer be reflected. On the flip side, a fix removes the double haste bonus Spirit Volley’s cast time was getting on top of ranged weapon haste.

On the defensive side, Bwonsamdi’s Gift loses its most useful effect. It no longer reduces the cooldown of Mimic Ward, and its damage bonus to Spirit Volley drops from 3% to 2% per Spirit. Loa Spirits‘ chance to trigger an extra cast of Reclamation drops by 1%, capping at 20% instead of 25% with maximum Spirits.

Three changes shift the nature of certain spells rather than their raw power. Spirit Volley now uses ranged critical strike chance. Godslayer‘s damage is now split more evenly between base value and scaling. Mojo: Jungle Thistle loses its threat reduction on hit targets, but its secondary effect value rises by 10%. The developers explain the tradeoff. The old threat reduction could hit tanks through AoE application, making them lose aggro unintentionally.

Two last fixes close out the list. Loa Spirits no longer trigger off replicated spell instances from Mimic Ward, and the radius of Healing Ward is now consistent.

Felsworn closes out this patch. It’s the only class ranked as a net nerf in the whole article, 21st and last place in the ranking. The picture isn’t one-sided though. Several offensive spells gain real power, but the class loses ground on nearly everything that keeps it alive.

The patch’s logic is straightforward. Offense goes up, survivability goes down. That imbalance explains the overall verdict despite real raw damage gains.

Azzinoth’s Assault gets its base damage increased by 20%. Immolation Aura climbs sharply at every rank, from rank 1 (7 to 25 damage) up to rank 7 (100 to 182). Legionfall now makes your next Annihilan Strike cost 50% less energy. Felcaked Blades has its agility scaling rise from 20% to 25%.

On defense, Felsworn takes a series of cuts. Bulwark of Azzinoth has its damage reduction lowered from 10% to 5%. Hateforged Barrier loses 30% of its damage absorb. Pure Hatred has its Maximum Health scaling cut in half, from 30% to 15%. Nether Disciple no longer provides dodge chance. Nether Strength has its cooldown reduction lowered from 1 second to 0.5 seconds. Cripple becomes less reliable for crowd control. Its movement and casting slow drops to 40% from 50%, and its per-stack tick falls from 10% to 8%, with duration unchanged.

Three offensive talents also lose effectiveness. Chaotic now grants only 2 energy per melee ability critical strike, down from 3. Outland Slaver has its damage bonus lowered by 5 to 10%. Felbane can no longer target bosses.

Other talents improve too, without exact numbers specified in the patch. That’s the case for Demonfire Pact, Man’ari Intuition at ranks 1 to 7, Eye of the Tyrant in its passive version, and Illidari Intuition at ranks 1 to 12, along with its greater version, Greater Illidari Intuition.