WoW Forever Beta Development Notes – Updated Oct 15 PDT

Blizzard posted the development notes for the new build that went live after the October 15 maintenance on Do, 15. Okt., 17:15 PDT.

What this build changes for you

The Human, Dwarf and Orc weapon specialization racials are gone, replaced with new racials. Human Sword Specialization becomes Ruthless and Orc Axe Specialization becomes Savage, which now raise critical strike chance with any weapon. Dwarf Mace Specialization becomes Earth Fury, which grants 2% critical damage and healing instead of critical strike chance. Tauren Endurance also grants critical damage and healing instead of hit, and cooldowns and effects of racials such as War Stomp, Shatter Curse and Blood Fury are adjusted too.
Wands and the Hunter's Auto Shot now need you to stand still for 0.5 seconds before they fire, so you can no longer shoot on the move.
Several group buffs now cover the whole raid instead of the party (Moonkin Aura, Leader of the Pack, Trueshot Aura, Battle Shout, and the Grace of Air, Strength of Earth, Windfury and Flametongue Totems).
Mage, Priest, Shaman and Warlock talent trees change. Mages get a redesigned Arcane Blast, the new Arcane Wrath talent and a new level 24 spell, Frost Blast; the Shaman Elemental tree brings back Elemental Mastery as the 31-point talent and moves many talents around.
The Horde is now attacked on sight in the open-world city of Dalaran. Access to the City of Dalaran dungeon is unchanged.
A new tutorial for new players and a setting that switches Hunters between auto attack and Auto Shot are added, and Battleground Marks of Honor now stack to 30.

Talent calculator

Full development notes

Below are Blizzard's development notes in their original order and indentation. Italic lines are the developer notes that came with them.

Today, we’re updating the WoW Forever Beta with a new build that includes the following. ↗

CHANGE LOG

Bug Fixes

Summary of changes

WhatBeforeAfter

Kirin Tor reputation (Horde)Before: Horde could gain itAfter: Horde can no longer gain it

Creature health regenerationBefore: Did not properly regenerate out of combatAfter: Regenerates health out of combat

Development notes

Resolved an issue with extra bright fog at lower shadow settings.
Fixed an issue allowing Horde players to gain Kirin Tor reputation.
Creatures will now properly regenerate health when out of combat.
Fixed an issue with various Horde characters holding the Night Watchman’s Torch.
Fixed an issue with various drink tooltips that were not displaying the correct amount of total Mana regeneration.

Changes and Updates

Development notes

Added a new tutorial experience for new players.
Improved control over Lighting ‘Bloom Intensity’ in options to be a slider that has moved to the ‘Advanced’ graphics section.
Added ‘Auto Attack/Auto Shot’ setting. If enabled, Hunters will automatically switch between auto attack and auto shot. This is now also supported for gamepad.
Racial abilities have been updated.

Tauren

Summary of changes

WhatBeforeAfter

Before: +5% health, +1% hit chanceAfter: +5% health, +2% critical damage and healing

Before: Kept unless standing still (stutter-stepping kept it)After: +3% movement speed while mounted, Must move a minimum distance per second to keep it

Before: Cooldown: 60 minAfter: Cooldown: 15 min

Before: Cooldown: 2 minAfter: Cooldown: 90 sec

Development notes

: Now grants 2% increased critical damage and healing (was 1% hit chance).
: Also grants 3% increased mounted movement speed. This increase stacks with other mounted movement speed increases.
now requires the Tauren to move a minimum distance per second to keep the effect.
- Developers’ notes: Stutter-stepping is no longer sufficient to maintain the effect. This minimum does make some allowance for movement speed penalties.
: Cooldown reduced to 15 minutes (was 60 minutes).
: Cooldown reduced to 90 seconds (was 2 minutes).

Dwarf

Summary of changes

WhatBeforeAfter

Before: After: Chance to find extra items when opening most chests

Development notes

Mace Specialization: Replaced with Earth Fury: 2% increased critical damage and healing.
: Now also grants a chance to find additional items in most chests.

Skyborne

Summary of changes

WhatBeforeAfter

Before: +1% spell, melee and ranged hasteAfter: +3% spell, melee and ranged haste

Before: Can't cast while movingAfter: Castable while moving

Before: Can't cast while moving, Duration with no Leyline nearby: 15 sec (notes: 20 sec)After: Castable while moving, Duration with no Leyline nearby: 30 sec

Before: Cooldown: 2 minAfter: Cooldown: 90 sec

Development notes

: Haste bonus increased to 3% (was 1%).
: Now castable while moving.
: Now castable while moving. Minimum duration increased to 30 seconds (was 20 seconds).
: Cooldown reduced to 90 seconds (was 2 minutes).
Increased the number of spawn locations of Elemental Convergences and Leylines in most Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor zones.

Human

Summary of changes

WhatBeforeAfter

Sword Specialization → Before: +2% critical strike chance while a sword or two-handed sword is equippedAfter: +2% critical strike chance with any weapon

Development notes

Sword Specialization: Replaced with : 2% increased critical strike chance.

Orc

Summary of changes

WhatBeforeAfter

Before: Cooldown: 2 minAfter: Cooldown: 3 min

Before: Removes and grants immunity to Curses and Banes, 15% less magic damage takenAfter: Removes Curses and Banes, 5% less magic damage taken

Development notes

Axe Specialization: Replaced with Savage: 1% increased critical strike chance.
: Cooldown increased to 3 minutes (was 2 minutes).
: Now dispels Curses and Banes (was granting immunity). Magic damage taken reduced by 5% (was 15%).

Undead

Summary of changes

WhatBeforeAfter

Before: Chance to drain health: 5% (10% for priests, mages, warlocks), Time before it can trigger again: 1 sec, Scaled with Shadow damage increases, lower multiplier from lower-rank spellsAfter: Chance to drain health: 20% (30% for priests, mages, warlocks), Time before it can trigger again: 25 sec, No longer scales with Shadow damage increases, no penalty from lower-rank spells

Before: Usable while under After: Not usable while under

Development notes

: Proc chance and cooldown adjusted to make benefit more consistent. Improvements made to visuals.
Undead will no longer have available to them while under the effects of .
Touch of the Dead now has a 30% chance to activate for casters and a 20% chance to activate for Paladins/Rogues/Warriors, as well as a 25 second internal cooldown.
Touch of the Dead no longer scales with Shadow increases on the target or the caster.
Touch of the Dead no longer suffers from a decreased multiplier when a lower ranked spell is used.
- Developers’ notes: This shouldn’t have been in place because it’s a racial, not a Class spell or ability.

Gnome

Summary of changes

WhatBeforeAfter

Before: Only your next 3 damaging abilities (15 sec), Usable in stealth or invisibilityAfter: All damaging abilities for 8 sec, no charges, Not usable in stealth or invisibility

Development notes

: Now an 8 second buff with no charges. Same effect on damage and ability costs. Now also benefits .
Eureka cannot correctly be used while in stealth or invisibility.

Night Elf

Summary of changes

WhatBeforeAfter

Before: Its 2% movement speed doesn't stack with other speed increasesAfter: Its 2% movement speed stacks with other speed increases

Development notes

: Movement speed increase now stacks with other movement speed increases.
Night Elves no longer display their shields while in Wisp Form.

Troll

Summary of changes

WhatBeforeAfter

Before: +10% health regeneration, 10% continues in combatAfter: +20% health regeneration, 20% continues in combat

Development notes

: Health regeneration bonuses increased to 20% (was 10%).

Summary of changes

WhatBeforeAfter

Mace Specialization → Earth FuryBefore: +1% critical strike chance while a mace or two-handed mace is equippedAfter: +2% critical damage and healing with any weapon

Summary of changes

WhatBeforeAfter

Axe Specialization → SavageBefore: +1% critical strike chance while an axe or two-handed axe is equippedAfter: +1% critical strike chance with any weapon

Classes

Wands now require you to stand still for 0.5 seconds before shooting, matching early versions of World of Warcraft.

Druid

Summary of changes

WhatBeforeAfter

Before: Other Druids couldn't apply it over a higher rankAfter: Other Druids can apply it

Before: Could trigger from in Cat, Bear and After: No longer triggers from in those forms

Before: Only started combat at 0 threat in Bear and , several could be on one targetAfter: Generates threat in Bear and , one per target

Before: Learnable from the trainer at level 22After: Learnable from the trainer at level 20

Before: Multiple instances kept reducing hit chanceAfter: Hit reduction no longer stacks from multiple instances

Before: Party onlyAfter: Raid wide, increases spell critical strike chance only

Before: Party onlyAfter: Raid wide, increases melee and ranged critical strike chance only

Before: Energy was lost after shifting to Bear or After: Keeps your last Energy through

Development notes

Fixed an issue where high ranks of were preventing other Druids from applying Rejuvenation to the target.
: Fixed a bug where this could be triggered by while in , , or . Since Faerie Fire costs no resources in those forms, it cannot trigger Omen of Clarity.
: Now generates threat while in or (instead of just initiating combat at 0 threat).
Fixed an issue allowing multiple debuffs to be active on a target.
(Rank 1) is now learned at level 20 (was 22). It was possible to get before knowing Shred or
Fixed an issue where , , , and were not applying correctly to characters when they logged in.
Balance
- Multiple instances of will no longer continue to reduce the target’s hit chance.
- now only increases Spell Critical Strike chance, and is Raid wide.
Feral
- now only increases Melee and Ranged Critical Strike chance, and is Raid wide.
- The flat damage on ’s tooltip will now correctly scale with the % damage increase of the talent.
  - Developers’ notes: This was just a visual bug. The damage is unchanged.
- now allows the player to retain the Energy they had when they were last in even if they go into Bear or Dire Bear Form.
  - Developers’ notes: Bear and Dire Bear Form still prevent Energy regeneration.

Hunter

Summary of changes

WhatBeforeAfter

Before: Could fire while movingAfter: Must stand still for 0.5 sec before firing

Fire and Ice trapsBefore: Fire traps did not scale with Attack Power, Only 1 trap of any type at onceAfter: Fire traps scale with Attack Power, 1 Fire trap and 1 Ice trap at once

PetsBefore: No Expertise benefit, inherited only your melee critical strike chanceAfter: Benefits from Expertise, inherits the higher of your melee or ranged critical strike chance

Before: Healing on the target reduced by 50%, Healing reduction lasts 10 sec, Cooldown: 6 secAfter: Healing on the target reduced by 25%, Healing reduction lasts 6 sec, Cooldown: 15 sec

Before: Target's spell casting time increased by 60%, Casting slow lasts 30 sec, Cooldown: 30 secAfter: Target's spell casting time increased by 30%, Casting slow lasts 20 sec, Cooldown: 60 sec

Before: Disarm lasts 4 sec, Cooldown: 60 secAfter: Disarm lasts 3 sec, Cooldown: 90 sec

Before: The Hawk could spawn away from or leave the targetAfter: The Hawk spawns at and sticks to the target

Before: Increased 's Mana costAfter: Reduces 's Mana cost

Before: Party onlyAfter: Raid wide

Before: Missed some Marksmanship talent bonusesAfter: Benefits from those talents

Before: Not usable while disarmed or without a main-hand weaponAfter: Usable while disarmed or without a weapon

Before: Did not reduce 's Mana cost or activate properly on critical strikesAfter: Reduces 's Mana cost, activates on melee and ranged ability critical strikes

Development notes

now requires you to stand still for 0.5 seconds before shooting, matching early versions of World of Warcraft.
- Developers’ notes: Your character will still fire Auto Shot while casting spells like Aimed Shot or Sniper Shot.
Arrows should now be visible when a character has their bow drawn back.
Pets now correctly benefit from Expertise.
The Hunter’s Fire traps now correctly scale with Attack Power.
The Hunter may now correctly have 1 active Fire Trap and 1 active Ice Trap (was 1 Trap among all types).
Pets
- Fixed an issue where pets were only ever inheriting the player’s Melee Critical Strike chance instead of whichever is higher, melee or ranged.
- (Crocolisk)
  - Healing reduction reduced to 25% (was 50%).
  - Duration reduced to 6 seconds (was 10 seconds).
  - Cooldown increased to 15 seconds (was 6 seconds).
- (Bat)
  - Cast speed reduction reduced to 30% (was 60%).
  - Duration reduced to 20 seconds (was 30 seconds).
  - Cooldown increased to 60 seconds (was 30 seconds).
- (Bird of Prey)
  - Duration reduced to 3 seconds (was 4 seconds).
  - Cooldown increased to 90 seconds (was 60 seconds).
Beast Mastery
- will now correctly cause the Hawk to spawn at the target the spell was cast on.
- will now stick your Hawk to the target that it was summoned on.
- Fixed an issue causing the talent to increase the Mana cost of instead of decrease.
Marksmanship
- is now Raid wide.
- Fixed an issue where was not benefitting from a few Marksmanship talents.
Survival
- can now be used while disarmed or while no weapon is equipped in your Main Hand.
- now correctly reduces the Mana cost of .
- now correctly activates when landing a critical strike, but it has been changed to only activating on melee and ranged ability critical strikes to prevent spamming.
  - Developers’ notes: Is not activated by Traps.
- Updated the tooltip for Predator’s Edge changed to better convey that it only increases the critical strike damage of your abilities.

Mage

Summary of changes

WhatBeforeAfter

Before: Was not consumed by spell castsAfter: Consumed by your spell cast

Before: Talent tree row 4, Up to 1 talent point, Also reduced the cost and duration of a second After: Talent tree row 1, Up to 2 talent points, Applies to one only

Before: Up to 3 talent pointsAfter: Up to 5 talent points

Before: Up to 5 talent pointsAfter: Up to 3 talent points

Before: Did not reduce threatAfter: Reduces the Mage's threat

Before: and did not trigger Frostbite or After: and can trigger them

Before: Deals 300% damage to frozen targetsAfter: Deals 200% damage to frozen targets

Before: After: New spell, learned at level 24

Development notes

Frost Blast: This new spell is learned at level 24. It deals damage and slows the target’s movement by 40%. It has a 1.5 second cast time, and is affected by all talents that affect .
- Developers’ notes: The purpose of this spell is to provide the functionality formerly granted by Rank 1 despite the penalization of “down-ranking”. It does have a higher Mana cost and deals a little more damage as well.
Arcane
- Fixed an issue where would not be consumed by spell casts.
- Fixed an issue where could reduce the cost and duration of a second cast.
- : This talent has moved to the first row and become a 2-point talent. It now also grants a chance for hits to trigger Missile Barrage.
- : Redesigned. This spell is now a 1.5 second cast, and each time it is cast it grants the casting Mage 15% of their Intellect as additional Spell Damage. This effect also increases the cost of Arcane Blast as before and still stacks to 4 times. However, the effect now lasts 15 seconds from when it is first applied, instead of just until the next spell cast. Mana cost unchanged, but damage done and Spell Damage coefficients both reduced 40%.
- Arcane Wrath: New 16-point gold medal talent. This new spell deals base damage similar to , with a 3.5 second cast, but also deals damage as if the Mage had additional Spell Power equal to 5% of the Mage’s maximum Mana. 6 second cooldown.
Fire
- is no longer consumed if the Mage also had active for the cast. Heating up also always gains an additional charge each time the Mage casts . This does mean Fire Blast critical strikes generate 2 charges.
- Wake of Fire: Talent reverted back to and no longer grants a bonus when the Mage kills a target. It also now increases the range of Fireblast by 8/15 yards.
- : Mages can now spend up to 5 points in this talent for 10% total critical strike increase.
- : Redesigned. Now only 3 talent points. Increases damage done by Fire spells by 1/2/3% per the Mage’s Fire effects on the target, up to a maximum increase of 12%. Spells that mix multiple schools of magic do not grant this bonus.
  - Developers’ notes: Specifically, the effects which can grant increased Fire damage from this talent are , , , and , and . does not grant the damage increase but can benefit from it.
- now correctly reduces the Mage’s threat.
- Fixed an issue where was too transparent.
- Fixed various issues around . Clearingcast now correctly does not roll for every target struck by a spell. Clearcasting no longer has a chance to activate off of and . Clearcasting no longer has a chance to be activated by abilities cast when not in combat.
Frost
- Fixed an issue preventing and from activating from your and spells.
- damage against Frozen targets changed to a 200% increase (Was 300%).
- : Movement speed of the first 4 targets hit is decreased by an additional 10% and the slow lasts an additional 3 seconds on those targets.
  - Developers’ notes: The ability of this spell to control massive number of targets was the primary reason it was previously reduced in effectiveness and duration. It feels reasonable to let it retain this level of power when used against 4 or fewer targets.
- Winter’s Chill: Redesigned. No longer increases critical strike chance. Instead, it causes to deal 40% increase damage per stack of Winter’s Chill on the target, consumed by next Cone of Cold.
- Slightly changed the positioning of the spell visual for .
- New spell Frost Blast. 1.5 second cast. Deals low frost damage. Slows/chills. Benefits from talents that benefit .
- Winter’s Chill change to: Gives your , Frost Blast, and empowered spells a 20/40/60/80/100% chance to apply Winter’s Chill, increasing the target’s damage taken from your next by 5% and it gains an additional 7% of your spell damage, stacking up to 5 times.

Paladin

Summary of changes

WhatBeforeAfter

Before: A blessing, exclusive with your other blessingsAfter: Replaced by Salvation and , which stack with blessings

Before: Gained almost twice the intended benefit from Spell DamageAfter: Gains the intended benefit from Spell Damage

Before: Spell power coefficient on damage: 0.095After: Spell power coefficient on damage: 0.042

Before: +60% threat from Holy damageAfter: +90% threat from Holy damage

Before: Overwritten by , Rank 3 learned at level 25After: No longer overwritten by , Rank 3 learned at level 26

Before: Increased damage against enemies by 50%After: No longer increases damage against enemies

Before: Chance on block to restore 6% of maximum manaAfter: Chance on block to restore 4% of maximum mana

Before: After: Stores up to 4 extra attacks

Before: Spell damage equal to 20/40/60% of IntellectAfter: Spell damage equal to 10/20/30% of Intellect

Before: Its Mana restore generated threatAfter: Its Mana restore generates no threat

Development notes

is no longer overwritten by .
Blessing of Salvation and Greater Blessing of Salvation have been replaced with and . These are applied in the same manner as the blessings were, but are not exclusive with blessings.
Paladins now also learn Revoke when Salvation is learned. Revoke removes target party or raid member’s Salvation or Mass Salvation.
- Developers’ notes: This is to restore the functionality of giving the Paladin more finesse and control over who has Salvation active and who doesn’t.
and now have the correct spell power coefficients for instant cast spells.
Fixed an issue causing to gain almost twice as much benefit from Spell Damage than intended.
Fixed an issue where Judgement of Righteousness had an incorrect Spell Damage coefficient.
’s Spell Power Coefficient per tick has been changed to 0.042 (was 0.095).
’s Holy damage threat generation increased to 90% (was 60%).
Rank 3 is now correctly available for training at level 26 (was incorrectly level 25).
Holy
- Fixed an issue where using a focus macro to cast Light’s Vigil was causing it to not go onto the appropriate target.
- Fixed an issue causing to grant 50% increased damage against enemies.
Protection
- Mana restored to the Paladin lowered to 4% with a 3 second internal cooldown (was 6% with a 3 second internal cooldown).
- : This talent has been adjusted so you gain a charge of Reckoning each time it triggers. Your next melee swing (auto attack) will trigger all accumulated charges for 1 extra attack each. You may have a maximum of 4 charges.
  - This restores the Classic Era functionality of storing up to 4 charges and delays all the triggers until your next swing so that it does not cause the auto attack timer to be reset by instant attacks.
Retribution
- now increases your spell damage by 10/20/30% of your Intellect (was 20/40/60%).
- ’s Mana restore effect no longer generates threat.

Priest

Summary of changes

WhatBeforeAfter

Before: Other Priests couldn't apply it over a higher rankAfter: Other Priests can apply it

Before: Cooldown: 1 minAfter: Cooldown: 24 sec

Before: Cooldown: 12 sec, Didn't benefit from Shadowform's critical damage increaseAfter: Cooldown: 18 sec, Benefits from Shadowform's critical damage increase

Before: Could apply to two spells if you queued a spell during PenanceAfter: Applies to one spell only

Before: Threat reduction on some spells onlyAfter: Threat reduction on all spells

Before: Talent tree row 4, +3/6/9/12/15% IntellectAfter: Talent tree row 2, +2/4/6/8/10% Intellect

Before: Talent tree row 2After: Talent tree row 3

Before: Did not apply to , , Starshards and PenanceAfter: Applies to those spells

Before: The bounced cost Mana and put Devouring Plague back on full cooldownAfter: Spreads to 2 targets with no Mana cost or cooldown reset

Before: Could be resistedAfter: Can't be resisted

Before: Cooldown: 1 minAfter: Cooldown: 30 sec

Before: Talent tree row 3After: Talent tree row 2

Development notes

Fixed an issue where high ranks of were preventing other Priests from applying Renew to the target.
Fixed an issue causing Rank 5 periodic damage to be higher than Rank 6.
will now correctly tell the player they can’t replace a Power Word: Shield on a target if the Power Word: Shield they have is stronger.
Fixed an issue where casting would say SHIELDED twice in your scrolling combat text.
cooldown reduced to 24 seconds (was 1 minute).
cooldown increased to 18 seconds (was 12 seconds).
Fixed an issue where casting would cause the target to stand up and interrupt drinks.
Discipline
- will now correctly only be used on a single spell, even if you spell queue another spell into ’s channel.
- Added to the tooltip for explicitly that it is activated by Non-Periodic critical heals.
- Added to the tooltip for what the maximum value for the shield is.
- now increases and if the target is afflicted by or Shadow Word Pain.
- Silence Resolve threat reduction now applies to all spells.
- moved to Row 2 from Row 4 and changed to increase your intellect by 2/4/6/8/10%.
- moved to Row 3 from Row 2.
- now correctly benefits , , and .
Shadow
- Fixed an issue where was not benefitting from ’s increase to critical strike damage.
- Fixed an issue where was causing the bounced to cost Mana, perform a cast animation, and put the caster’s Devouring Plague back on full cooldown.
- Changed so that it can’t be resisted.
- cooldown reduced to 30 seconds (was 1 minute).
- Improved Fade removed.
- Shadow Infinity removed.
- moved from Row 3 to Row 2.
- New talent (Row 4): Dark Inspiration – Your and fully channeled causes Dark Inspiration, increasing yours and your party’s Spirit by 3/6/9/12/15% for 10 seconds.
- changes to: Each instance of damage of deals 10/20% more damage than its previous instance of damage.
- now spreads to 2 targets.
- Fixed an issue with ’s Tooltip. It now correctly states that it causes the target to take increased damage from you.

Rogue

Summary of changes

WhatBeforeAfter

Rogue PoisonsBefore: Could activate against targets attacking youAfter: No longer activates against your attackers

Before: Could activate weapon procsAfter: No longer activates weapon procs

Swapping specializationsBefore: Could be used to keep Energy fullAfter: No longer keeps Energy full

Before: Not consumed when Mutilate landed a critical strikeAfter: Consumed when Mutilate lands a critical strike

Development notes

Rogue Poisons will no longer incorrectly activate against targets that are attacking them.
no longer has a chance to activate weapon procs.
Fixed an issue where Rogues could swap specializations to keep their energy full.
Assassination
- is now correctly consumed when lands a critical strike.

Shaman

Summary of changes

WhatBeforeAfter

Before: Trainer cost: 70 silverAfter: Trainer cost: 22 silver

Before: Could survive after redirecting a spellAfter: Destroyed after redirecting a spell

Before: Exclusive with Windfury and After: Can be used with them (Windfury and Flametongue stay exclusive with each other)

Grace of Air, Strength of Earth, Windfury and Flametongue TotemsBefore: Party only, Windfury and Flametongue also affected petsAfter: Raid wide, Windfury and Flametongue affect players only

Before: Mana cost: 225 / 305 / 390 / 485 by rankAfter: Mana cost: 145 / 200 / 250 / 315 by rank

Before: Spell power coefficient on damage: 0.214After: Spell power coefficient on damage: 0.143, Base damage and Mana cost greatly reduced

Before: Clearcasting could be spent on the that triggered it or on After: No longer spent on those

Before: Talent tree row 7After: Talent tree row 5

Before: Talent tree row 5After: Talent tree row 4

Before: Talent tree row 3After: Talent tree row 2

Before: Talent tree row 2After: Talent tree row 3

Before: After: Also reduces Totemic Projection's cooldown by 10/20 sec

Before: After: Also extends by 3/6/9 sec

Before: The debuff was consumed even on a miss, and by other players or pets, Mana cost: 125After: Consumed only when the casting Shaman's spell lands, Mana cost: 8% of base mana

Before: Ranks learned at levels 25, 48, 58After: Ranks learned at levels 25, 38, 48, 58

Before: Increased only 's base valueAfter: Increases the whole effect

Before: Talent tree row 2After: Talent tree row 1

Before: Talent tree row 1After: Talent tree row 2

Before: Triggered only by critical healsAfter: Triggered by any critical spell

Development notes

Fixed an issue where cost 70 silver on the trainer instead of 22 silver, as intended.
is now correctly destroyed after redirecting a spell.
’s attacks now appear as White hits in the scrolling combat text.
is no longer exclusive with and .
- and retain their exclusivity.
, , , and are now Raid wide.
: Mana cost reduced by approximately 35% on all four ranks.
’s Spell Power Coefficient has been changed to 0.143 (was 0.214).
’s base damage has been significantly reduced.
’s mana cost has been significantly reduced.
and now correctly only affect players.
Added a little green to the visual of without overpowering the original effect.
Elemental
- Your from the talent will no longer have a way to be spent on the same that activates it.
- Elemental Mastery: This talent has returned as the new 31-point gold medal talent. Reduces the cast time of and by 0.5 seconds and removes the cooldown from for 15 seconds. 3-minute CD. Lava Burst is pre-requisite.
- : Moved from the 7th row to the 5th row as the 21-point gold medal talent. New rank 4 added and ranks reflowed. No longer has any pre-requisite.
- : Now has as pre-requisite.
- : Now has as pre-requisite.
- : Moved from 3rd row to 2nd row.
- : Moved from 2nd row to 3rd row.
- Call of Thunder: Talent removed.
- : Moved to 4th row as the 16-point gold medal talent.
- : Now also reduces the cooldown on Totemic Projection by 10/20 seconds.
- : Now also extends duration of by 3/6/9 seconds.
- Column Arrangement: Many talents moved to make room for other talents and their connections.
- will no longer be consumed by activations.
- ’s tooltip now correctly increases when placing talents into (the talent formerly known as Improved Fire Nova).
Enhancement
- Your debuff is no longer consumed if your spell does not land.
- Fixed an issue where could be consumed by other players or pets that weren’t the casting Shaman.
- ’s cost changed to 8% of Base Mana (was 125 Mana at all points in the game).
Restoration
- Added an additional Rank of that is learned at level 38, so now you have ranks at level 25, 38, 48, 58 (was levels 25, 48, 58).
- The talent now correctly increases the effect of the entirety of Healing Stream totem (was the base value).
- and have swapped locations. Tidal Focus is now in the 1st row, and Totemic Focus is now in the 2nd row.
- : Can now trigger from any critical spell cast by the Shaman (was only critical heals).

Warlock

Summary of changes

WhatBeforeAfter

Before: Could be summoned without a Soul Shard with the Reagent Economy Legacy PerkAfter: Requires a Soul Shard

Before: Several could be on one targetAfter: One per target

Malediction → Before: +1/2/3/4/5% periodic damage from your Warlock spells (5 points)After: +10/20% range on your Affliction spells (2 points)

Before: +1/2/3/4/5% Shadow spell damageAfter: +2/4/6/8/10% Shadow spell damage

Before: Couldn't be cast on your petAfter: Can be cast on your pet

Development notes

Fixed an issue where was available to summon at no Soul Shard cost with the Legacy Perk.
Fixed an issue allowing multiple Cure of Recklessness debuffs to be active on a target.
Affliction
- Malediction replaced with , which increases the range of your Affliction spells by 10/20%.
- changed to increasing your Shadow spell damage by 2/4/6/8/10% (Was 1/2/3/4/5%).
Demonology
- Fixed an issue where you couldn’t cast on your pet.
Destruction
- changed to Increases the range of your Destruction spells by 10/20%.

Warrior

Summary of changes

WhatBeforeAfter

Before: Party onlyAfter: Raid wide

Before: Subject to spell pushbackAfter: No longer subject to pushback

Before: Could not activate against much lower level enemiesAfter: Activates against them too

Before: Its Sword Specialization could trigger from and After: No longer triggers from or

Before: Stopped Health regeneration after combatAfter: Health regenerates normally after combat

Before: Did not remove movement impairing effectsAfter: Removes movement impairing effects

Development notes

is now Raid wide.
is no longer subject to spell pushback.
Fixed an issue where was not able to activate vs. significantly lower level enemies.
Arms
- Fixed an issue where ’s Sword Specialization could be activated by and .
Fury
- no longer stops the player’s Health Regeneration after combat.
- Fixed an issue where was not removing Movement Impairing Effects.

Gamepad Support

Added a swing timer to the center reticle.
Added bindings to enable and disable Voice Channel Transcription via the Chat Channels menu.
Ensured your own fishing bobber is always targetable.
Fixed using ground-targeted items. Using them a second time will now confirm the placement.
Fixed an issue causing the gamepad action bar to be invisible upon relogging after creating and selecting a custom Edit Mode layout.
Fixed an issue causing the cast bar to not be properly customizable with Edit Mode.
Fixed an issue making it difficult to activate actions using the class-specific flyouts.
Fixed an issue with quest reward selection that prevented completion of certain quests.
Fixed an issue where quests offered by interactive objects or other non-character quest givers could not be turned in with a gamepad.
Made the “Press and Hold Casting” setting compatible with gamepad.
Updated the Trade confirmation dialog to be usable with a gamepad.
Updated the Guild & Communities dialogs to be usable with a gamepad.
Updated the Chat Channels menu to be usable with a gamepad.
Updated the Transmog frame to be useable with a gamepad.

Items

Summary of changes

WhatBeforeAfter

Mystic Mushroom, Insight enchantBefore: Did not increase Spirit properlyAfter: Increases Spirit properly

ScrollsBefore: No global cooldownAfter: Triggers the global cooldown

Draught of Predatory SensesBefore: Usable separately from potionsAfter: Now a Potion on the Combat Potion cooldown, shorter duration

Development notes

now correctly increases Spirit.
The Insight enchant now correctly increases Spirit.
Morbent’s Bane no longer causes other nearby players to play visual effects.
Scrolls now incur a global cooldown when used.
Many items created by professions have had their vendor sell price reduced.
Draught of Predatory Senses is now a Potion, on the Combat Potion cooldown, and had its duration reduced to fit within this design space.

Legacy System

Summary of changes

WhatBeforeAfter

Before: Also discounted training and repairsAfter: No longer discounts training and repairs

Development notes

Fixed an issue where was discounting training and repairing.
Visually moved the and perks 1 row to the left.
- Developers’ notes: They were already available with only 5 points committed, so this is only a visual change.
should now affect more Priest spells.

Quests

General
- Fixed several quest items that were multi-drop and should not be.
Ashenvale
- There are more Bloodtooth Guards available during the quest “Raene’s Cleansing”
Dalaran
- Members of the Horde are no longer welcome in Dalaran under any circumstances and will be attacked on sight. This does not affect access to the City of Dalaran dungeon, but the Horde questline to obtain the Dalaran Sewer Key no longer grants unrestricted access to the city in the open world.
Darkshore
- Fixed an issue where many of the furbolg camps would not grant credit for the quest “How Big a Threat?”
- The quest “For Love Eternal” can now be turned in to Cerellian Whiteclaw at all times.
- “Body and Heart”: Cenarion Moondust is no longer used up when you sprinkle it on the stone, so if you need to try again, you can come back later and use it again to re-summon Lunaclaw.
Mulgore
- The Novice Warriors will no longer flag players for PvP during the quest “Sparring Match”.
Stormwind
- “The Attack!” is no longer an escort quest and is now shareable, even while the event is active. Speak to Tyrion to begin the event if it is not active.
Teldrassil
- Lord Melenas no longer evades at low health during the quest “Twisted Hatred”.
Wetlands
- Several areas have had their respawn rates increased and evened out, including Dragonmaw Orcs, Gnolls, and Incendicite Ore.
Zephras Isle
- Addressed an issue that could prevent players from using Halaan’s Gift to scry on the anchors of Zephras and progress the quest “The Anchors of Zephras.”

Player versus Player

Summary of changes

WhatBeforeAfter

Battleground Marks of HonorBefore: Stacks to 20After: Stacks to 30

Development notes

Battleground Marks of Honor now stack up to 30 (was 20).

User Interface

Unit Frames display has been updated.
Minimap header display has been updated.
Spells with different rankings now behaves as a single entry in the Cooldown Manager.
Auction House now displays a column for equippable level.
Auction House will now properly display equipment stats from items with suffixes (example: “___ of the Monkey”).
Added detailed Scrolling Combat Text options under Options > Gameplay > Combat > Scrolling Combat Text for Self > Text on Me/Text on Target.
Searching for “Threat” will now pull up the Aggro Display option.
To reduce Nameplate clutter, the distance visibility for Nameplates for enemies and NPCs above and below the player have been adjusted. Your current target’s nameplate is not affected.
Restored level-up messages showing stat increases and talent points gained.
In-game Tutorials have been updated.
If party members are different character levels, the Looking For Group UI will now properly update the eligibility statuses of the dungeon list.
Group Finder checkbox “Show All Level Ranges” will properly update the dungeon list.
Fixed an issue where art assets were running amok on the Professions UI panel.
Who List search now supports subzones (example: characters in Northshire Valley will show up in both queries “/who northshire” and “/who elwynn”).
Players can no longer accept the ‘refresh world’ prompt while in combat.

Sources