WoW Forever classes: Blizzard retunes three on Tuesday

An Enhancement Shaman who is leveling up should collect Strength and Attack Power right now. That is the instruction published on Friday, November 6 at 22:11 Paris time by Kaivax, Blizzard community manager, and the only one in the message that applies before Tuesday. The next round of changes to WoW Forever classes, planned as hotfixes (changes pushed to the servers without a client update) on Tuesday, November 10, covers three points: tanking pets, Affliction and Enhancement.

Blizzard gives no before or after numbers and no time for Tuesday, and adds that the list may grow: “We may find new issues over the weekend”. Here is what the message says about WoW Forever classes, one by one, and what is already live.

Hunter pets and Voidwalkers: too fragile to tank

Blizzard says Hunter pets and Warlock Voidwalkers (the pet, not other demons: the message says “Warlock Voidwalkers”) are not as durable in the tank role as intended. The stated goal is an effectiveness “relatively the same as in Classic Era”. Stats will be adjusted “as necessary”, with no value announced.

The message names no Hunter specialization, and not Demonology either. So it does not say which builds are targeted, and nothing allows us to infer it. There is some context, though: in the Crix Forever interview, recorded before the post, a team member explains that the health of Hunter and Warlock pets had been lowered. The comparison is with Classic version 1.15, where pets do not inherit their master’s stats whereas they do on Forever, and the same person says someone will look at the Voidwalker. These remarks come from the video’s automatic subtitles.

The site’s three Hunter builds are here: Beast Mastery, Marksmanship and Survival.

Affliction: looping Wrack beats damage over time

Affliction Warlocks report that channeling (casting continuously) Wrack does more damage than combining it with damage-over-time effects: Siphon Life, Corruption and Bane of Agony. Blizzard promises adjustments so these effects are always worth casting alongside Wrack, “without affecting Affliction Warlocks’ total damage output”.

So this is neither a buff nor a nerf: total damage stays the same, and what has to change is how it is split between Wrack and the damage-over-time effects. Blizzard does not say how. In the same interview, the idea mentioned out loud is to lower Wrack’s own damage and strengthen the bonus it gives to damage-over-time effects: that is a lead, not the announcement. The site’s Affliction build is the first one concerned.

Enhancement: Strength must become the main stat again

For Enhancement Shamans, Blizzard acknowledges that Intellect and Spell Power are better than Strength and Attack Power. The plan: make Strength “always their strongest stat”, so these Shamans stop preferring gear meant for Mages and Warlocks. The specialization’s best items should carry Strength or Attack Power, with some Intellect or Spell Power.

The immediate instruction fits on one line, in bold in the message: “Enhancement Shaman players who are leveling up will want to collect Strength and Attack Power gear from now on”. The site’s Enhancement build is the first one concerned. The Shamans’ broader grievances and Blizzard’s answer on their talents are covered in a separate article.

WoW Forever classes in a table, with what applies until Tuesday

Class	Reported problem	What Blizzard promises for November 10	What you can do until Tuesday
Hunter	Pets tank worse than intended	Stats adjusted to match Classic Era effectiveness, no value given	No official instruction
Warlock (Voidwalker)	Same finding for the tank pet	Same goal, same adjustments, no value given	No official instruction; about +40 base health already went live on November 6
Affliction Warlock	Looping Wrack beats damage-over-time effects	Damage-over-time effects become worth casting with Wrack again, total damage unchanged	No official instruction
Enhancement Shaman	Intellect and Spell Power better than Strength and Attack Power	Strength becomes the best stat again; Strength or Attack Power items come first	Collect Strength and Attack Power now (Blizzard’s instruction)

Blizzard says it wants to repeat the WoW Forever balance pass: one on Tuesday, then on the following Tuesdays if needed, so WoW Forever classes may move again.

What the November 6 hotfix already changed for WoW Forever classes

Four hours after that post, around 02:00 Paris time on November 7, the official hotfix page added its November 6 section, with three lines on these classes. The Voidwalker’s base health (Summon Voidwalker) goes up by about 40 points at all levels, with no total value published. The talent Soul Siphon no longer wrongly increases Wrack’s damage. Finally, some Warlock pet abilities benefited too much from the Orc Command racial ability (the orcs’ one).

The same section touches other classes. Bloom now properly heals its target, and the tooltips of Bear Form, Ravage and Swiftmend are fixed with no change to damage. The Mage, Rogue and Warrior also appear there. Blizzard says the list will be completed as hotfixes go out.