Legends of Azeroth

‹ All news

Racial changes for the WoW: Forever launch: what changes for the Horde

· by Davina Asaria

Update October 27: Blizzard added a few changes it forgot to list. Orcs, Trolls and Undead all get a stronger cooldown, and the Skyborne buffs now stop at the raid door. We added everything below.

Just in time: one day before we all pick our race, Blizzard made a final pass on the racial abilities for launch.

Why

Some players felt the new racials were too generic, others found some of them simply stronger than the rest. Blizzard now puts racial identity first. That means some races will be a bit better at certain roles than others, and a few generic racials go back to their old role or class focused versions.

One exception: weapon specializations like the Orc's Axe Specialization don't come back. Blizzard doesn't want future raid and dungeon loot to be judged by "the weapon type your race needs".

Orc

  • Savage (1% more critical strike chance) is removed.
  • Command is back: Warlock and Hunter pets deal 5% more damage.
  • Blood Fury now has a 2 minute cooldown (was 3 minutes).

Good news for every orc Hunter and Warlock.

Tauren

  • Plainsrunning now gives 2% movement speed per stack, up to 60% (was 1% per stack, up to 30%).
  • Plainsrunning no longer works on your mount.
  • Endurance now only gives 5% more health. The extra hit chance and critical damage are gone.

Skyborne

  • Wind-Blessed Haste goes down to 2% (was 3%).
  • Read Leyline now gives 50% more mana and health regeneration for 15 seconds (was 100%). It can't be used while Innervate is active.
  • Use Read Leyline at a Ley Line and you become Attuned for an hour: then Read Leyline gives the full 100% again. Attuned stays when you die, but disappears when you enter a raid.
  • Skysight now gives 15% movement speed for 15 seconds (was 10%).
  • Use Skysight at an elemental convergence and you become Charged for an hour: then Skysight gives 30% movement speed. Charged also stays when you die, but disappears when you enter a raid as well.

Troll

  • Berserking now lasts 15 seconds (was 10 seconds).

Undead

  • The internal cooldown of Touch of the Grave goes down to 15 seconds (was 25 seconds).

And the Alliance

  • Human: Ruthless goes from 2% to 1% critical strike, Human Spirit from 5% to 10% Spirit.
  • Dwarf: Earth Fury (2% critical damage and healing) is removed, and Artisan's Precision gives 1% hit chance instead.

What this means for Legends of Azeroth

Tomorrow, Tuesday October 27 at 18:00 CET, character creation opens. Planning an orc Hunter or Warlock? Your pet just got stronger. Tauren lose their extra hit and crit, but stay the toughest race with 5% more health. Still doubting? Read our overview of all Horde races and classes: https://legendsofazeroth.com/news/horde-races-and-classes-in-wow-forever

Source: Blizzard (Community Manager Kaivax) in the development notes on the official forums at https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/2360696/7