WoW Forever Beta Update Reworks Class Progression and Gamepad Controls
The October 15 beta notes pair class tuning with new gamepad options, quest fixes and adjustments to items—including changes to Wizard Oil and wand damage.
WoW Forever News
At a glance
Class tuning and progression
- Druid Wrath gains about 50% base damage, and Rejuvenation, Tranquility and Wild Growth can now critically hit. Thorns also updates dynamically with the caster’s spell power when that caster can be found nearby.[1]
- Hunter pets lose 40% of Furious Howl’s attack-power bonus, while Tame Beast no longer works on beasts above the hunter’s level. Strider Kick now grants 30% movement speed for three seconds.[1]
- Mage changes make Arcane Missiles check line of sight once at channel start, rather than for each missile. Ignite no longer double-dips on percentage damage modifiers; the two longer buff durations are listed above.[1]
- Paladin progression shifts Holy Strike cooldown reduction into the baseline ability: the Improved Holy Strike talent is removed, and the cooldown is lowered. Holy Strike also gains stronger weapon-damage percentages across ranks, while Vengeance’s maximum stacks fall from five to three.[1]
- Shaman totems receive stacking restrictions: Flametongue Totem cannot stack with itself, Flametongue Weapon or Windfury Totem, and Tranquil Air, Windfury and Grace of Air Totems no longer stack together within a group. Elemental talent positions also change, bringing Elemental Alacrity earlier in the tree.[1]
- Warrior Arms changes raise Bloodthrill’s activation chances and restrict it to main-hand melee attacks, including Cleave and Heroic Strike. Slam’s cooldown increases, with Improved Slam now reducing it.[1]
Gamepad and cooldown tools
Class-specific gamepad flyouts arrive for Druid shapeshifting, Hunter and Warlock pets, Paladin auras and Warrior stances. The pet bar also stops replacing the bottom gamepad action bar for Hunters and Warlocks.[1]
New gamepad settings include a compact action-bar layout, fixed party-member targeting and options to swap friendly or hostile targeting controls. Cooldown Manager testing is available for Druid, Mage, Priest, Warrior and Warlock; the notes list tracking gaps including spell ranks, pet cooldowns and item enhancements.[1]
Items and professions
Minor, Lesser and standard Wizard Oil are set to 8, 16 and 24 spell power respectively; Brilliant Wizard Oil is unchanged. Wands no longer gain additional damage from the user’s spell damage, a direct change to wand scaling that players should account for when evaluating their use.[1]
The notes do not specify any recipe, crafting-input or vendor-price changes. Enchanters and anyone considering consumable-related trades should check current item and material prices before crafting in bulk; the listed Wizard Oil values alone do not establish whether a particular craft is profitable.[1]
Tauren Cultivation now requires a player level tied to the herb’s required gathering level: divide that herb level by five, while herbs requiring more than 300 Herbalism skill can be cultivated at player level 60. Skinning can now be learned from Helene Peltskinner even while the related quest is active.[1]
Quest and quality fixes
Several quests receive practical fixes, including faster respawns or increased supply spawns for selected objectives. The Teldrassil “Bounty: Gnarlpine Furbolg” objective is reduced, and early caster rewards and some quest rewards are adjusted to the correct item level.[1]
Other fixes address Campfire buffing while seated or crafting, pet happiness, mail surnames, Mac display issues and a memory leak. The beta notes also flag a possible world-instance transfer when party composition is created or changed as an issue still being worked on.[1]
TL;DR
- Beta-only respec pricing is temporarily lower for players who have not recently changed talents, with the cost returning to a higher amount after the first reset before dropping again after an hour.[1]
- Class changes include revised ability scaling and talent progression, while the gamepad interface gains class-specific flyouts and more control options.[1]
- Item notes change Wizard Oil spell power values and remove the extra damage wands gained from user spell damage.[1]
Coverage is partial. This briefing reflects the sources and discussion samples collected at publication time. Follow the citations for more context.
Go to the source
- Blizzard Forums (US)WoW Forever Beta Development Notes – Updated October 15 (opens in a new tab)Published Checked