WoW Forever November 2 patch: 223 changes before launch

General changes

Going up

• ▲ThrowChangednow uses the 0.5 second windup timer, instead of the throwing weapon’s attack speed.
• ▲Low-rank spell penaltyChangedseveral talents that trigger on a chance no longer have a penalty when casting a low-rank spell. It stays for Blizzard: Arcane Concentration, Frostbite and Fingers of Frost have a reduced chance to trigger when the rank cast was learned more than 12 levels below the mage’s level.
• ▲Respawn ratesChangedrates adjusted in many areas, faster in low-level zones, starting zones above all, then slower and slower as you level. The developers want to absorb the launch crowd without hard bottlenecks, while keeping some competition for spawns. Once the first wave of low-level characters has settled, the low-level zones will go back to more usual rates.
• ▲Darkspear Islands, dropped flagChangedin the Darkspear Islands battleground, dropping the flag no longer places the “Recently Dropped Flag” debuff on the player.
• ▲BerserkingChangedTroll: the effect lasts 15 seconds, up from 10. This point was not in the October 26 and 27 notes.
• ▲CannibalizeChangedUndead: can once again be used while immune to Physical damage.
• ▲Touch of the GraveChangedUndead: fixed an issue where it was not activating frequently enough.

Going down

• ▼Proc rootsChangedthey are now subject to diminishing returns: Frostbite, Entrapment, Improved Wing Clip, Counterattack and Improved Hamstring.

Reworks and comfort

• ◆Legacy Reward – Replica Ironforge Air RifleChangedthe legacy reward can now be used on allies who already have one equipped. The notes attach two durations to it: the quitter debuff drops to 40 seconds, down from 5 minutes, and the stun to 2.5 seconds, down from 3.
• ◆Base statsChangedall races now have the correct amount of base stats. Example: a Tauren Warrior starts with 5 more Strength than a Human Warrior, not 2 by mistake. The fix also covers High Order and Windshaper Skyborne.
• ◆Action barsChangedlearning a new spell no longer adds it to your action bars automatically.
• ◆Training costsChangedadjusted for all classes. Most abilities learned at the same level cost the same to train, except Priest race-specific abilities. Training all class abilities from level 1 to 60 costs between 206 and 207 gold, whatever the class. Warlock costs are reduced by what their pets’ Grimoires would cost.
• ◆Racial abilitiesthe official notes repeat the whole pass announced on October 26 and 27, with no difference: Human, Dwarf, Orc, Tauren, Skyborne and Undead. It is detailed in our October 26 article. Only the Troll and two Undead fixes are new, above in this section and below.
• ◆Touch of the GraveChangedUndead: the beam visual left behind after the spell is fixed.
• ◆BagsChangeda bag you pick up no longer equips itself into an available bag slot: you have to equip it by hand.
• ◆Quests, general adjustmentsChangedthe experience of many quests is adjusted, along with prerequisites and level settings for a better flow across the world. Mouseover tooltips appear on objectives, missing point-of-interest markers are added or corrected, zone sorting in the quest log is fixed, and destroying a quest item now abandons the quest, and the other way round.
• ◆SatyrsChangedsome were classified as humanoids instead of demons. They are fixed, and Blizzard adds that they are now twice as scared of Paladins.
• ◆Eastern Kingdoms questsChangedAlterac Mountains: Dalaran Summoners no longer summon endlessly. Wetlands: “Carnage” no longer resets near the end of the fight, and Alba Fairmoon stays available to turn in “Destruction in Deadmines”. Ruins of Lordaeron: the dungeon quests all require level 15 to start, instead of a mix of 15 and 16, with adjusted prerequisites.
• ◆Kalimdor questsChangedBarrens: you can speak to Rethgar Deathgate to begin the event for “Counterattack!” when it is not active, and the Alliance Outrunners spawn in random locations. Darkshore: “Holy Diver” now gives an XP reward. Mulgore: Gloomrise Hatchlings give lower XP, in line with their lower health. Orgrimmar: the Lieutenant’s Insignia no longer stays in the inventory after “Hidden Enemies”. Teldrassil: slightly fewer spiders in The Cleft for “Twisted Hatred”.
• ◆Gamepad supportChangedsupport is now complete: movement, spells, interactions and interface navigation can all be played with a controller. Settings can be customized through Edit Mode and the Options menu.
• ◆Gamepad improvementsChangedarea items placed from the action bar (press again to confirm), targeting of friendly corpses, critters and the focus target, reworked bags showing remaining space and ammo count, ending a flight path early, the pet move command, better compatibility with add-ons. Several interface fixes come with them.

Paladin(Paladin)

Balanced

Going up

• ▲Righteous FuryChangedcan be trained at level 10, down from 16. That is the level at which the other tanks get their tanking stance.
• ▲Righteous FuryChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingincreases all threat generated by 33%, with an additional 90% threat from holy damage.
• ▲Righteous Furyis now properly made free by the legacy talent The Quick and the Dead, which was not the case until now.
• ▲Improved Righteous FuryChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingdamage reduction rises to 3 / 6 / 9%, up from 2 / 4 / 6%.
• ▲Shield SpecializationChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingbecomes a 2-rank talent with the same maximum: 30% more shield block value and a 100% chance to restore 4% of your maximum mana.
• ▲ReverenceChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingbecomes a 2-rank talent instead of 3 with the same maximum, and moves up to row 2 (row 3 before).
• ▲ConvictionChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingbecomes a 3-rank talent instead of 5 and moves up to row 2 (row 3 before). It gives 2 / 4 / 6% critical strike chance with all spells and attacks, up from 1 to 5% on melee attacks only.
• ▲Oath of LightNewIn Oct 30 dataminingRow 4 of the Holy tree. 40-yard range, 8% of base mana cost, no cooldown. The paladin swears to protect an ally for 5 minutes, increasing the healing of Holy Light, Flash of Light and Holy Shock. The bonus grows with the player’s level. Only one Oath of Light can be sworn at a time.
• ▲Boundless LightNewIn Oct 30 dataminingRow 5 of the Holy tree, passive, 2 ranks. Increases the critical strike chance of Holy Shock by 15 / 30% when cast on an ally not affected by your Oath of Light.
• ▲ShieldswornNewIn Oct 30 dataminingRow 7 of Protection. Reduces the cooldown of Holy Strike by 4 seconds. Holy Strike now strikes with your shield, triggering all talents that activate on a block without consuming their charges or starting their cooldowns, and lets you block spells for 6 seconds.
• ▲StoicismNewIn Oct 30 dataminingRow 5 of Protection, 2 ranks. Reduces the duration of Stun and Charm effects on you by 10 / 20%.
• ▲Turn EvilNewIn Oct 30 dataminingRow 5 of Retribution, 2 ranks. Reduces the cast time of Turn Undead by 0.5 / 1 second and its cooldown by 5 / 10 seconds, and lets it affect Demons.
• ▲Two-Handed Weapon SpecializationChangedmoves up to row 4 (row 5 before). It increases both Holy and Physical damage by 2 / 4 / 6% according to the notes (the in-game text still only mentions physical damage), where it only applied to two-handed weapon damage before, and reduces the threat generated by the paladin by 7 / 14 / 20% while wearing a two-handed melee weapon.
• ▲VengeanceChangednow stacks up to 5 times, up from 3, and requires Seal of Command instead of Sanctified Judgement.
• ▲RedoubtChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingnot in the official notes, found in the game data: the block chance increase rises to 30% at maximum rank, up from 20%.

Going down

• ▼SalvationIn Oct 30 dataminingremoved from the spellbook. It reduced the threat generated by a group member by 30% for one hour.
• ▼Mass SalvationIn Oct 30 dataminingremoved from the spellbook. This was the group version, applied to every player of a given class.
• ▼Blessing of LightIn Oct 30 dataminingremoved from the spellbook. It increased the healing the target received from Holy Light and Flash of Light.
• ▼Improved Seal of FuryIn Oct 30 dataminingremoved from the Protection tree. It restored mana when the Seal of Fury shield was fully absorbed.
• ▼Greater Blessing of LightIn Oct 30 dataminingnot in the official notes, found in the game data: removed from the spellbook along with the single-target version. It applied the effect to every group member of the same class.
• ▼One-Handed Weapon SpecializationIn Oct 30 dataminingremoved from the Protection tree. It increased the damage dealt with one-handed melee weapons by 10%.
• ▼VindicationChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingno longer increases the paladin’s Attack Power (it gave 1 / 2 / 3% before).
• ▼Divine PrecisionChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingmoves up to row 4 (row 5 before) and becomes a 2-rank talent: 4 / 8% chance to hit with Holy spells, down from 6 / 12 / 18%. It now also reduces the duration of Silence effects on you by 10 / 20%.
• ▼Spiritual FocusChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingmoves up to row 1 (row 2 before) and becomes a 5-rank talent instead of 2, with the same maximum: it costs more points.
• ▼Improved SealsChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingbecomes a 5-rank talent instead of 3, with the same maximum: it costs more points.
• ▼Seal of FuryChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingthe duration of Judgement of Fury drops to 3 seconds, down from 4.
• ▼Templar’s BulwarkChangedmoves up to row 3 (row 5 before) and is now a Magic effect, so it can be dispelled.

Reworks and comfort

• ◆Twist of LightChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingbecomes Unsealed Wrath, the 31st talent at the end of the Retribution tree, with an effect unrelated to the old one (Seal Mana cost reduced by 20%, Echo of the replaced Seal). Your melee attacks store a copy of your active Seal for 15 seconds, stacking up to 3 times. Landing an attack with a different Seal consumes all stacks, giving the stored Seal its normal chance to activate once per stack. It requires a point in Repentance.
• ◆Voice of TruthChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingis no longer a talent: the spell is now trained, with no talent point spent. It still grants immunity to Silence and Interrupt effects for 6 seconds, with a 3 minute cooldown.
• ◆RevokeIn Oct 30 dataminingremoved along with Salvation, which it was used to cancel.
• ◆Instrument of LawIn Oct 30 dataminingremoved. It reduced the cast time of Hammer of Wrath by 1 second (now handled by Champion of the Light) and all threat generated by 20% while Righteous Fury is not active.
• ◆Champion of the LightChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingnow increases the paladin’s spell damage by 12 / 24 / 36 / 48 / 60% of their Intellect and reduces the cast time of Hammer of Wrath by 0.2 / 0.4 / 0.6 / 0.8 / 1 second.
• ◆Sacred DutyChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingmoves up to row 2 (row 3 before). It no longer increases Stamina. It still reduces the cooldown of Divine Shield, Divine Protection and Templar’s Bulwark by 30 seconds / 1 minute, and now also reduces the duration of your Forbearance effect by 5 / 10 seconds.
• ◆Iron CreedChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingbecomes a 3-rank talent instead of 5. The threat of Holy Strike increases by 10 / 20 / 30%, up from 5 to 25%, and the damage reduction is 2 / 4 / 6% for 6 seconds, down from 2 to 10%.
• ◆Swift JudgementChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingnow instantly unleashes the energy of your active Seal on an enemy 10 yards away, without consuming it or sharing a cooldown with Judgement. Before, it finished the Judgement cooldown and made the next one free.
• ◆Holy PowerChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingnow increases the critical strike healing bonus of your Holy spells by 10 / 20 / 30 / 40 / 50%. Before, it gave 3 to 15% critical strike chance to Holy Shock and Holy Strike, and 1 to 5% to all other spells.
• ◆Light’s VigilChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingcan now only be used on friendly targets: its offensive version, which dealt damage and refunded mana, is removed. Range is 40 yards, up from 20.
• ◆Reckoningnow correctly performs its number of attacks based on stacks, and no longer gains stacks while the paladin is sitting.
• ◆Holy ShieldChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingnot in the official notes, found in the game data: costs 100 mana, down from 150, and deals 75 damage per block, down from 110. The spell ranks are also trained ten levels earlier; the maximum rank keeps its 221 damage per block.
• ◆Placement in the Holy treePurifying Power moves up to row 2 (row 3 before), Divine Favor and Illumination to row 3 (row 4 before), and Holy Conduit, which came from Retribution, joins row 3.
• ◆Placement in the Protection treeDivine Intellect, which came from the Holy tree, takes row 1. Toughness moves to row 3 (row 1 before), Anticipation to row 4 (row 2 before) and Holy Shield to row 5 (row 7 before).
• ◆Placement in the Retribution treeSanctified Judgement moves to row 2 (row 3 before). Unyielding Faith, which came from the Holy tree, settles in row 3 (row 2 of Holy before).

Rogue(Rogue)

Net buff

Going up

• ▲PoisedNewnew passive ability learned at level 18. When you are not in combat and have your maximum Energy, you gain Poised, which reduces the Energy cost of your next Energy ability by 10.
• ▲ShankNewnew spell learned at level 24. 5 Energy cost, 10 second cooldown, melee range. Instantly strikes with your off-hand weapon for 50% weapon damage and generates 15 Energy. It cannot miss. Rank 2, learned at level 44, generates 25 Energy.
• ▲Deadly PoisonChangedthe Attack Power coefficient rises to 0.009, up from 0.0045.
• ▲Instant PoisonChangedthe Attack Power coefficient rises to 0.01, up from 0.005.
• ▲LethalityChangedbecomes a 2-rank talent instead of 5, with the same maximum: 10 / 20% more critical strike damage on the listed abilities, up from 4 to 20% before.
• ▲Blood SplatterNewRow 3 of Assassination, passive, 1 rank. Increases the duration of your Rupture by 6 seconds and your Garrote by 9 seconds.
• ▲MutilateChangedmoves up to row 7 (row 9 before). Its damage rises to 90% of weapon damage, up from 75%, and the flat amount added on top is also higher.
• ▲Seal FateChangedbecomes a 3-rank talent: critical strikes from abilities that add Combo Points have a 33 / 66 / 100% chance to add an additional Combo Point.
• ▲Improved EviscerateChangedis renamed Coup de Grace. Increases the damage of your Eviscerate by 7 / 13 / 20%, and the damage and storage rate of your Death Mark by 7 / 13 / 20%.
• ▲Improved Sinister StrikeChangedis renamed Efficient Strikes. Reduces the Energy cost of Sinister Strike and Hemorrhage by 3 / 5, where only Sinister Strike was discounted before.
• ▲ComposureNewRow 3 of Combat, passive, 2 ranks. Increases the Energy cost reduction of your Poised ability by 5 / 10.
• ▲Flawless ExecutionChangedthe Energy cost reduction rises to 15, up from 10.
• ▲AggressionChangedmoves up to row 4 (row 6 before). Increases the damage of Sinister Strike and Eviscerate by 5 / 10 / 15%, up from 2 / 4 / 6% for Sinister Strike, Eviscerate and Backstab.
• ▲Dual Wield SpecializationChangedmoves to row 5 (row 4 before) and becomes a 2-rank talent instead of 5: 25 / 50% more off-hand weapon damage, up from 5 to 25%.
• ▲Flash of SteelNewRow 6 of Combat, passive, 5 ranks. Increases the Energy generated by your Shank ability by 3 / 6 / 9 / 12 / 15 and reduces its cooldown by 0.4 / 0.8 / 1.2 / 1.6 / 2 seconds.
• ▲OpportunityChangedbecomes a 5-rank talent: 4 / 8 / 12 / 16 / 20% more damage for Backstab, Garrote, Ambush and Mutilate, up from 5 / 10% before.
• ▲CamouflageChangedmoves to row 2 (row 1 before) and becomes a 3-rank talent instead of 5: 5 / 10 / 15% movement speed in stealth and 2 / 4 / 6 seconds off the stealth cooldown, the same maximums as before.
• ▲Ghostly StrikeChangedmoves to row 4 (row 3 before). It now also lets your next Ambush or Garrote cast within 7 seconds work without Stealth.
• ▲HemorrhageChangednow increases the damage of the caster’s Rupture and Garrote by 15%, where it only increased Rupture before.
• ▲Quick GetawayNewRow 4 of Subtlety, passive, 2 ranks. Increases the maximum number of targets you may have affected by Sap by one, and your movement speed by 15 / 30% for 3 seconds after sapping a target.
• ▲Boot KnifeNewRow 6 of Subtlety, passive, 5 ranks. Gives your Shank ability a 20 / 40 / 60 / 80 / 100% chance to add 2 Combo Points to the target.
• ▲Death MarkNewRow 7 of Subtlety, active, 1 rank. 25 Energy cost, 20-yard range, 10 second cooldown. A Curse and finishing move that marks the target, storing a portion of the damage dealt by your attacks per Combo Point. Garrote and Rupture damage is stored at twice the rate. After 6 seconds, the stored damage is dealt, up to a maximum increased by Attack Power and Critical Strike chance.

Going down

• ▼Relentless StrikesChangedmoves to row 5 (row 3 before) and becomes a 5-rank talent instead of 1: 4 / 8 / 12 / 16 / 20% chance per Combo Point to restore 25 Energy. The maximum of 20% per Combo Point is unchanged, but it now costs 5 points instead of 1.
• ▼SetupChangedmoves up to row 1 (row 2 before). The chance to add a Combo Point after dodging an attack or fully resisting a spell drops to 15 / 30 / 45%, down from 33 / 66 / 100%.
• ▼Murderremoved from the Assassination tree.
• ▼Improved Distractremoved from the Subtlety tree.
• ▼Quietusremoved from the Subtlety tree.
• ▼Cutthroatremoved from the Subtlety tree.
• ▼Thousand Cutsremoved from the Subtlety tree.
• ▼Hemorrhage and Ghostly Strikea bug made them deal much more damage than intended when using a Dagger. It is fixed, bringing their damage back to the intended level.

Reworks and comfort

• ◆VenomChangedmoves up to row 5 (row 7 before) and becomes a passive: your Shank ability increases your Poison damage by 30% and your chance to apply Poisons by 20% for 6 seconds.
• ◆Slice and Diceno longer causes the target to stand up if sitting.
• ◆Ruthlessnessactivating no longer causes the target to stand up if sitting.
• ◆Placement in the Assassination treeImproved Expose Armor moves to row 2 (row 3 before) and Vigor to row 3 (row 5 before).
• ◆Placement in the Combat treeImproved Sprint moves to row 2 (row 3 before) and Weapon Expertise to row 4 (row 6 before).
• ◆Placement in the Subtlety treeDirty Deeds moves to row 2 (row 5 before), Premeditation and Serrated Blades to row 3 (row 4 before), Elusiveness to row 4 (row 2 before) and Heightened Senses to row 5 (row 4 before).

Druid(Druid)

Net buff

Going up

• ▲Bear Form and Dire Bear FormChangedthreat bonus raised to 115%, up from 50%. It makes up for the removal of Blessing of Salvation.
• ▲ShredChangedweapon damage at 200%, up from 155%.
• ▲ClawChangedweapon damage at 140%, up from 110%.
• ▲RavageChangedweapon damage at 435%, up from 350%.
• ▲RipChangedbase points and attack power scaling increased by about 25%.
• ▲RakeChangedbase points and attack power scaling increased by about 25%.
• ▲Ferocious BiteChangedbase points and attack power scaling increased by about 25%.
• ▲PounceChangedbase points and attack power scaling increased by about 25%.
• ▲StarfireChangedbase damage points increased by about 40%.
• ▲GenesisChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingperiodic damage and healing increased by 2/4/6/8/10% by rank, up from 1/2/3/4/5%.
• ▲PoisedNewpassive ability learned at level 32. When out of combat with maximum energy, the druid gains Poised, which reduces the energy cost of the next energy ability by 10.
• ▲Predatory DisciplineNewIn Oct 30 datamining1-point talent, row 4 of Feral Combat, column 3, no prerequisite. Ferocious Bite no longer converts extra energy into damage, but still deals extra damage based on the excess energy.
• ▲Rend and TearChangeddamage bonus of 3/6/9/12/15%, up from 2/4/6/8/10%.
• ▲NaturalistChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingall damage increased by 2/4/6/8/10% by rank, up from 1/2/3/4/5%. Also reduces the cast time of Wild Growth by 0.1/0.2/0.3/0.4/0.5 seconds.
• ▲BloomNewIn Oct 30 datamining1-point talent on row 3 of Restoration, in place of Gift of the Earthmother. When Rejuvenation or Regrowth expires on its own, the target is healed for 100% of the druid’s Spirit, or 50% if the spell was dispelled.
• ▲Primal BiteChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingnot in the official notes, found in the game data: the rank granted by the talent deals 100% weapon damage plus 42, up from plus 26. The ranks learned from the class trainer also hit harder but are learned later: plus 62 at level 50, up from plus 38 at level 36, and plus 77 at level 60, up from plus 59 at level 48.
• ▲Shifting PowerChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingnot in the official notes, found in the game data: the cooldown drops to 8 seconds, down from 16.

Going down

• ▼BerserkIn Oct 30 dataminingtalent removed from the Feral Combat tree.
• ▼Primal BiteChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingtakes Berserk’s place on row 7, column 2, with Leader of the Pack as a prerequisite. The talent is reduced to 3 ranks.
• ▼Gift of the EarthmotherIn Oct 30 dataminingtalent removed. Bloom takes its place.
• ▼Wild GrowthChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingbase cast time of 3 seconds. Naturalist reduces it by up to 0.5 seconds.
• ▼SwiftmendChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingnow requires the Rejuvenation or Regrowth on the target to be one placed by the druid casting Swiftmend.

Reworks and comfort

• ◆Improved Shifting PowerIn Oct 30 dataminingnot in the official notes, found in the game data: talent removed. It reduced the cooldown of Shifting Power by 8 seconds, which is now 8 seconds without it.
• ◆Moonkin FormChangedthe critical strike bonus is again an increase to all types of critical strikes, and is again exclusive with Leader of the Pack.
• ◆Leader of the PackChangedthe critical strike bonus is again an increase to all types of critical strikes, and is again exclusive with Moonkin Aura.
• ◆LacerateChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingbecomes a 1-point talent on row 4 of Feral Combat, in place of Primal Bite, and is no longer learned by all druids. Two ranks are added to account for learning it earlier.
• ◆Ferocious BiteChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingnew rank 1 at level 24. All existing ranks are relabeled one rank higher.
• ◆Shifting PowerChangedIn Oct 30 datamining1-point talent on row 7, with Predatory Discipline as a prerequisite. As on row 4, Feral Combat now has two late-tree talents: one focused on bear gameplay, one on cat gameplay.
• ◆Heart of the Wild and FurorHeart of the Wild moves to the Restoration tree and Furor to the Feral Combat tree: the two talents swap places.
• ◆Placement in the Feral Combat treePredatory Strikes moves from column 3 to column 1, Natural Instinct from column 1 to column 4, Rend and Tear from column 3 to column 1.
• ◆Placement in the Restoration treeReflection moves from row 3 to row 2 and Subtlety from row 2 to row 3: the two talents swap places.

Mage(Mage)

Net buff

Going up

• ▲Missile BarrageChangedis now correctly consumed at the start of the Arcane Missiles channel, instead of at the end.
• ▲Arcane ResilienceChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingup to 3 talent points can be spent, for a maximum armor increase of 75% of Intellect.
• ▲ClearcastingChangedis no longer consumed on Arcane Missiles if Missile Barrage is active at the same time.
• ▲Arcane MissilesChangedfixed: the spell did not proc Clearcasting.
• ▲Arcane BlastChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingthe mana cost increase per stack is reduced to 100%, down from 175%.
• ▲Arcane BlastChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingduration increased to 18 seconds.
• ▲IgniteChangedfixed: Ignite was not applying to Flamestrike damage past the initial instance.
• ▲IncinerationChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingup to 5 talent points for 10% critical chance on affected spells, up from 3 talent points for 6%.
• ▲Improved FireballChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingrenamed Accelerant. Now also reduces the cast time of Arcane Wrath by up to 0.5 seconds.
• ▲Ice BarrierChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingnow increases your Frost damage dealt by 15% for 1 minute when activated, up from 3%, and grants an additional 5% Frost damage while the barrier holds, up from 3%.
• ▲Frost WardingChangedincreases the amount of damage your Ice Barrier and Frost Wards can absorb.
• ▲Elemental PrecisionChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingrenamed Precision, a 3-point talent: 6% chance to hit with all spells at maximum rank, up from 6% with Frost and Fire spells. Blizzard’s notes wrongly give 1/2/3/4/5% as the old value.
• ▲Ice LanceChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingbonus damage to Frozen targets increased back to 300%.
• ▲Winter’s ChillChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingbonus to Cone of Cold damage increased to 20% per stack.
• ▲Arctic ReachChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingnot in the official notes, found in the game data: also increases the range of Ice Lance by 20%.

Going down

• ▼Arcane BlastChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingpercent of Intellect as spell damage reduced from 15% to 12% per stack.
• ▼Critical MassChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingreverted to a maximum of 3 talent points, instead of 5, for a total of 6% critical strike chance, down from 10%.
• ▼Piercing Icetalent removed. The developers see it as a few more talents to play around with early in the tree, while the empowered Ice Barrier gives a reason to go all the way down the tree for PvE.
• ▼Ice LanceChangednow has an 8-second cooldown shared with Fire Blast.
• ▼Frost BlastIn Oct 30 dataminingspell removed.

Reworks and comfort

• ◆Imbue Iceknifethe visual has been changed to better convey that it is a Root and not a Stun.
• ◆Placement in the Arcane treeIn Oct 30 dataminingMissile Barrage moves from row 1 to row 2, and Arcane Resilience from row 2 to row 1.
• ◆Arcane FocusIn Oct 30 dataminingtalent removed, as it is now combined into the talent Precision in the Frost tree.
• ◆Improved Fire BlastChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingmoves from row 1 to row 3 of the Fire tree.
• ◆Frost WardingChangedno longer has a chance to reflect spells, and instead has a chance to fully negate the damage of the spell without depleting the Frost Ward.

Warrior(Warrior)

Net buff

Going up

• ▲RevengeChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingnot in the official notes, found in the game data: at rank 6, 137.7 to 168.3 damage plus 25% of Attack Power, versus a flat 138 to 168.
• ▲Defensive StanceChangedthreat bonus raised to 80%, up from 30%.
• ▲SlamChangedcooldown of 15 seconds, down from 18.
• ▲Improved Tactical MasteryChangedbecomes a 3-point talent: 5/10/15 Rage retained when changing stances, versus 3/6/9/12/15 over 5 points. Same maximum, two talent points freed.
• ▲Two-Handed Weapon SpecializationChangeddamage increased by 2/4/6% with a two-handed melee weapon, up from 1/2/3%.
• ▲BloodthrillChangedbecomes a 2-point talent: your main hand attacks against enemies afflicted by Rend have a 10/20% chance to allow an Overpower, versus 4/8/12/16/20% over 5 points. Same maximum, three talent points freed.
• ▲Improved SlamChangedreduces the cooldown of Slam by 2.5/5 seconds, versus 3/3. The maximum rises from 3 to 5 seconds.
• ▲Blood Craze and Gore DrinkerChangedno longer generate threat when they restore Health to the Warrior.
• ▲Booming VoiceChangednow also reduces the Rage cost of Piercing Howl by 5/10/15/20/25%.
• ▲Reckless SwingsNew4th row, 1 point, 15 second cooldown, costs 25% of base health. Your next 4 melee attacks generate 5 additional Rage, for 8 seconds.
• ▲Death WishChangedis no longer required to get Flurry.
• ▲FlurryChangedbecomes a 3-point talent: 10/20/30% more attack speed for 3 swings after a critical strike, versus 5/10/15/20/25% over 5 points. The maximum rises from 25% to 30%, with two talent points freed.
• ▲Improved WhirlwindNew6th row, 2 points, passive. Reduces the cooldown of Whirlwind by 1/2 seconds and increases the damage it deals to the closest enemy by 15/30%.
• ▲DefianceChangedthreat bonus raised to 7/13/20%, up from 5/10/15%.

Going down

• ▼Blood CrazeChangedno longer activates while the Warrior is sitting.
• ▼BloodthirstChangednow requires Death Wish.

Reworks and comfort

• ◆Victory RushChangedtooltip fixed, it displayed the wrong damage. Actual damage does not change.
• ◆Placement in the Fury treeEnrage moves from the 4th to the 3rd row. Gore Drinker moves from the 6th to the 5th row and now connects to Blood Craze instead of Enrage.

Shaman(Shaman)

Net buff

Going up

• ▲Lightning BoltChangedbase damage raised at every rank, more on the higher ranks: max rank gains 80%. Each rank now deals roughly 78% of the Classic Era base damage, with a shorter cast time than in Classic Era.
• ▲Earth Shock, Flame Shock, Frost ShockChangedbase damage of all shocks goes back to Classic Era values, higher than the Forever Beta ones.
• ▲Lightning OverloadChanged10/20/30% chance to trigger a duplicate spell, up from 3/7/10%.
• ▲Maelstrom WeaponChangedchance to trigger doubled.
• ▲StormstrikeChangeddeals 150% normalized weapon damage, up from 100%, and its cooldown drops to 6 seconds from 8.
• ▲Mental DexterityChangedattack power increased by 50/100/150% of Intellect, up from 33/67/100%.
• ▲FlurryChangedattack speed increased by 6/12/18/24/30%, up from 5/10/15/20/25%.
• ▲Call of Thunderreplaces Lava Burst: the critical strike chance of Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning rises by 5%.

Going down

• ▼Lava Burstremoved from the game. Every mention of Lava Burst disappears. It is replaced by Call of Thunder, next line.
• ▼Elemental ReachChangedno longer reduces the cooldown of Totemic Projection.

Reworks and comfort

• ◆Windfury WeaponChangedthe Shaman now animates an additional weapon swing when the effect triggers. According to the notes this is visual only, with no announced damage change.
• ◆Windfury TotemChangedthe player who benefits now animates an additional weapon swing. According to the notes this is visual only, with no announced damage change.
• ◆Totemic ProjectionChangedrenamed Totemic Call. It now teleports the totems to the Shaman’s own location, and its cooldown drops to 30 seconds.
• ◆Chain LightningChangedcast time raised to 2.5 seconds. Primary target base damage rises to about 145% of the comparable Lightning Bolt rank, and the mana cost to about 225% of Lightning Bolt’s.
• ◆Elemental MasteryChangedrenamed Lightning Mastery, with a new icon. The notes give no other change.
• ◆Placement in the Enhancement treeImproved Ghost Wolf moves from the 2nd to the 4th row.
• ◆RiptideChangedmana cost reduced by about 40%, cooldown of 12 seconds instead of 6, and no initial healing anymore: it now heals over time only.

Hunter(Hunter)

Net buff

Going up

• ▲Hunter’s MarkChangedfixed: rank 4 now gives the 143 ranged attack power it displays, up from 71 actually applied, which was less than rank 3.
• ▲Aimed ShotChangedbonus damage increased by about 110% on all ranks.
• ▲Arcane ShotChangedbase damage increased by about 30% on all ranks, and attack power coefficient raised from 0.1 to 0.15.
• ▲Serpent StingChangedattack power coefficient per tick raised from 3% to 5%, and base damage increased by about 20% on all ranks.
• ▲Aspect of the HawkChangedranged attack power bonus of 20, 35, 50, 70, 90 and 110 for ranks 1 to 6, up from 15, 22, 30, 38 and 47 for ranks 1 to 5 since October 30.
• ▲Petshunter pets no longer lose their innate Attack Speed passives when untraining them.
• ▲BarrageChangeddamage increase of 5/10/15% by rank, up from 3/7/10%.
• ▲Sniper ShotChangedbonus damage increased by 100% on all ranks.
• ▲Trueshot AuraChangedranged attack power bonus of 20, 35, 50, 75 and 100 for ranks 1 to 5, up from 15, 22, 30 and 40 for ranks 1 to 4 since October 30.
• ▲Lightning ReflexesChangedAgility bonus of 3/6/9/12/15% by rank, up from 2/4/6/8/10%.

Going down

• ▼Hunter’s MarkChangedcan no longer be applied to a target multiple times by using different ranks of the spell.
• ▼Trapsall types of Hunter traps now share the same 30-second cooldown, instead of separate cooldowns for fire-based and frost-based traps.

Reworks and comfort

• ◆Explosive TrapChangedfixed the wording of the debuff.
• ◆Lacerating StrikesChangedthis effect always overwrites an existing one from the same Hunter, even if the new effect is weaker damage per second.
• ◆PathfindingChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingmoves from row 2 to row 3 of Beast Mastery.

Priest(Priest)

Balanced

Going up

• ▲Power Word: ShieldChangedcan now correctly be replaced by a Power Word: Shield of equal or greater rank.
• ▲Shadow Word: DeathChangedwill no longer damage the Priest when the spell misses.
• ▲Dark SacrificeChangedfixed: the Undead Priest’s spell was still breaking crowd control effects.
• ▲Holy BindingNewIn Oct 30 dataminingtakes Binding Heal’s slot in the Holy tree. When the Priest heals a target other than themselves with Flash Heal, 50% of the healing done by the Flash Heal is also done to the Priest. This healing generates no threat.
• ▲Cure Disease and Abolish DiseaseChangedfixed: these spells would take the Priest out of Shadowform.

Going down

• ▼Shadow Word: DeathChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingnow causes 30% of maximum Health damage to the Priest if it fails to kill the target, up from 10%.
• ◆Binding HealIn Oct 30 dataminingleaves the Holy tree, where Holy Binding takes its place. Blizzard’s notes call it a removal, but the game data lists it as a spell trained from the class trainer, with 6 ranks from level 25.
• ▼Devouring ContagionChangedno longer spreads Devouring Plague if it is spreading from a critter.
• ▼Vampiric EmbraceChangedhealing can no longer roll a critical effect.

Reworks and comfort

• ◆Renewed HopeChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingnot in the official notes, found in the game data: no longer lists Binding Heal among the heals that benefit from its critical strike bonus on a weakened target.

Warlock(Warlock)

Balanced

Going up

• ▲Amplify CurseChangednow also correctly affects Curse of Exhaustion and Bane of Agony.
• ▲WrackChangedspell damage coefficient doubled, to match the expected 0.286 per second of cast time. Base damage per second increases by 2.5 with each level: at level 60 it goes from 36 to 86 in practice.
• ▲Shadow and FlameChangedincreases Fire or Shadow damage by 4/8/12/16/20%, up from 2/4/6/8/10%.

Going down

• ▼SpellstonesChangednow only increase Shadow damage. They also increased Fire damage, by mistake according to Blizzard.
• ▼PetsChangedthey gain 2 Health per point of their master’s Stamina, down from 7.5: about 73% less.
• ▼Drain SoulChangedthe chance to grant a Soul Shard when dealing damage, without killing the target, is greatly reduced.
• ▼Bane of AgonyChangednow updates its damage continuously: you can no longer lock in a high spell power at cast time, then swap gear.

Reworks and comfort

• ◆Improved DrainsChangedIn Oct 30 dataminingthe 20% bonus applies to the health drained by Drain Life, the damage of Drain Soul and the mana drained by Drain Mana, but no longer to Wrack damage.