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WoW: Forever beta update: all changes of October 15

· by Davina Asaria

A new build is on the WoW: Forever beta (client 70425), and Community Manager Kaivax posted the development notes. The biggest news: the racial abilities got a big overhaul. Here is every important change, sorted by topic.

The highlights

  • Racials updated, for the Horde as well: Orcs, Tauren, Trolls and Undead all change.
  • Many buffs are now raid wide: Battle Shout, Trueshot Aura, Leader of the Pack, Moonkin Aura and the Shaman buff totems.
  • Mages get a new Arcane Blast and a new spell, Frost Blast.
  • Hunters and wands: Auto Shot and wands need you to stand still for 0.5 seconds again, like in the early days of WoW.
  • The Horde is no longer welcome in Dalaran: you will be attacked on sight.
  • A new tutorial for new players.

Racials

Horde

  • Orc: Axe Specialization is replaced by Savage (+1% crit chance). Blood Fury now has a 3 minute cooldown (was 2). Shatter Curse now dispels Curses and Banes instead of giving immunity, and magic damage taken is reduced by 5% (was 15%).
  • Tauren: Endurance now gives +2% critical damage and healing (was 1% hit). Plainsrunning also gives +3% mounted speed, but you have to really keep moving: stutter stepping no longer keeps it up. Cultivation cooldown 15 minutes (was 60). War Stomp cooldown 90 seconds (was 2 minutes).
  • Troll: Regeneration bonus doubled to 20% (was 10%).
  • Undead: Touch of the Grave procs more consistently and looks better. Touch of the Dead: 30% chance for casters, 20% for Paladins, Rogues and Warriors, with a 25 second internal cooldown. It no longer scales with Shadow damage bonuses and no longer gets weaker when you use a lower rank spell. Will of the Forsaken can no longer be used while Scatter Shot is on you.
  • Skyborne: Wind Blessed gives 3% haste (was 1%). Skysight and Read Leyline can be cast while moving, and Read Leyline lasts at least 30 seconds. Walk on Air cooldown 90 seconds. More Elemental Convergences and Leylines in most zones.

Alliance

  • Human: Sword Specialization is replaced by Ruthless (+2% crit chance).
  • Dwarf: Mace Specialization is replaced by Earth Fury (+2% critical damage and healing). Find Treasure can find extra items in most chests.
  • Gnome: Eureka! is now an 8 second buff without charges, and also helps Power Word: Shield.
  • Night Elf: Quickness now stacks with other speed bonuses.

Classes

Druid

  • Moonkin Aura (spell crit) and Leader of the Pack (melee and ranged crit) are now raid wide.
  • Faerie Fire now generates threat in Bear Form, and no longer triggers Omen of Clarity in forms.
  • Shred is learned at level 20 (was 22).
  • Furor keeps your Energy when you switch from Cat to Bear and back.
  • Your Rejuvenation no longer blocks other Druids' Rejuvenation.

Hunter

  • Auto Shot needs you to stand still for 0.5 seconds before it fires. Aimed Shot and Sniper Shot still keep Auto Shot going.
  • Trueshot Aura is raid wide.
  • Fire traps scale with Attack Power, and you can have 1 Fire Trap and 1 Ice Trap out at the same time.
  • Pet abilities nerfed: Dismember (Crocolisk) 25% healing reduction for 6 seconds, Sonic Blast (Bat) 30% cast slow, Mine! (Bird of Prey) 3 seconds with a 90 second cooldown.
  • Pets now use your higher crit chance (melee or ranged) and benefit from Expertise.
  • New option: Auto Attack/Auto Shot switches automatically between melee and ranged.

Mage

  • Frost Blast (new, level 24): a 1.5 second cast that deals damage and slows by 40%, and counts as Frostbolt for talents. It replaces the old trick of casting Rank 1 Frostbolt.
  • Arcane Blast redesigned: 1.5 second cast, every cast gives you 15% of your Intellect as spell damage for 15 seconds, up to 4 stacks.
  • Arcane Wrath (new 16-point milestone): a big hit that also scales with 5% of your maximum mana.
  • Missile Barrage moves to the first row as a 2 point talent.
  • Fire: Heating Up rework, Critical Mass up to 5 points, Fire Power redesigned (up to 12% more Fire damage based on your Fire effects on the target).
  • Frost: Ice Lance does 200% against frozen targets (was 300%), Cone of Cold slows the first 4 targets harder, and Winter's Chill now powers up your next Cone of Cold.

Paladin

  • Salvation and Mass Salvation replace the Blessing of Salvation, so they no longer block your other blessings. New spell Revoke removes Salvation from someone.
  • Consecration's spell power per tick lowered, Seal of Righteousness fixed (it got almost twice the spell damage bonus it should).
  • Righteous Fury: more threat from Holy damage (90%, was 60%).
  • Reckoning stores up to 4 charges again, like in Classic Era.
  • Champion of the Light lowered to 10/20/30% of your Intellect.

Priest

  • Devouring Plague cooldown 24 seconds (was 1 minute). Shadow Word: Death cooldown 18 seconds (was 12).
  • Shadow: Vampiric Embrace cooldown 30 seconds and can no longer be resisted. New talent Dark Inspiration: Mind Blast and a full Mind Flay give you and your party up to 15% more Spirit for 10 seconds. Improved Mind Flay makes every tick deal more damage than the last. Devouring Contagion spreads to 2 targets. Improved Fade and Shadow Infinity are gone.
  • Discipline: Mental Strength moves up and now gives up to 10% Intellect. Power in Light also boosts Penance. Twin Disciplines works with more spells.
  • Your Renew no longer blocks other Priests' Renew.

Rogue

  • Poisons no longer proc on targets that attack you, Sap no longer triggers weapon procs.
  • No more swapping specs to refill Energy.

Shaman

  • Grace of Air, Strength of Earth, Windfury and Flametongue Totem are raid wide. Grace of Air no longer conflicts with Windfury and Flametongue.
  • Chain Lightning costs about 35% less mana. Fire Nova deals less damage but costs much less.
  • Elemental: Elemental Mastery is back as the 31-point milestone (faster Lightning Bolt and Lava Burst, no Chain Lightning cooldown for 15 seconds). Lava Burst moves to the 21-point milestone. Call of Thunder is gone, lots of talents moved.
  • Enhancement: Stormstrike costs 8% of base mana.
  • Restoration: an extra rank of Mana Tide Totem at level 38, and Water Shield triggers from any spell crit.

Warlock

  • Affliction: Malediction becomes Grim Reach (more range), Shadow Mastery up to 10% Shadow damage.
  • Destruction: Destructive Reach now increases range.

Warrior

  • Battle Shout is raid wide.
  • Slam no longer suffers spell pushback.
  • Lingering Rage no longer stops health regeneration after combat.

Items

  • Profession items sell for less at vendors.
  • Scrolls now trigger the global cooldown.
  • Draught of Predatory Senses is now a combat potion with a shorter duration.
  • Several white items from the starting zones (Elwynn Forest, Dun Morogh and Tirisfal Glades) are now green, with a small stat bonus.

Quests and world

  • Dalaran: the Horde is no longer welcome in Dalaran and will be attacked on sight. The City of Dalaran dungeon stays open to us, but the Dalaran Sewer Key questline no longer gives free access to the city. Horde players can also no longer gain Kirin Tor reputation.
  • Mulgore: the Novice Warriors in "Sparring Match" no longer flag you for PvP.
  • Ashenvale: more Bloodtooth Guards for "Raene's Cleansing".
  • Wetlands: faster and more even respawns for Dragonmaw Orcs, Gnolls and Incendicite Ore.
  • Zephras Isle: fix for "The Anchors of Zephras".
  • Mobs now regenerate health when out of combat.

Legacy System and PvP

  • Bartering no longer gives discounts on training and repairs.
  • The Quick and the Dead affects more Priest spells.
  • Marks of Honor now stack up to 30 (was 20).

Interface and gamepad

  • New unit frames and minimap header, and the Bloom Intensity setting is now a slider under Advanced graphics.
  • The Auction House shows a column for the level you need to equip an item, and shows the stats of items like "of the Monkey".
  • Level up messages show your stat gains and talent points again.
  • /who also searches subzones, for example "/who northshire".
  • Lots of gamepad improvements, including a swing timer and support for trading, the guild window and transmog.

What this means for Legends of Azeroth

Big week for the Horde: Tauren get crit and a faster War Stomp, Trolls heal twice as fast and Orcs swap Axe Specialization for Savage. With all those raid wide buffs, raid groups get a lot easier to build. And from now on Dalaran is enemy territory, so watch your back. Testing the beta? Share what you find in Discord or on the forum.

Source: Blizzard's development notes on the official forums at https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/wow-forever-beta-development-notes-updated-october-15/2360696