Changes
WoW Forever beta changes
What Blizzard changed during the Forever beta, update by update, from the official development notes. Spell and talent names stay in English, as in the game.
Development Notes, October 8: City of Dalaran
General
- “Classic” looting returns: you can interact with creatures even if they left no loot.
- Fixed flickering visual effects on large creatures and creatures that could be pulled from very far away.
- You can once again swap several weapons in the same global cooldown (for example, a macro from a two-handed weapon to sword and shield).
- Group XP: the penalty based on the highest-level member is gone; only each player's own level counts, as in Classic Era (nobody gets XP if a member is far above the enemy's level).
- Rage from damage taken: fixed three bugs (it used the player's health instead of the creature's expected health, so more Stamina meant less Rage; it ignored multipliers such as critical and crushing blows; it counted absorbs).
- Rage from damage taken is rebalanced around 20–40% armor depending on level (was 50%, a tank value); Blizzard expects typical Warriors and Druids to get more Rage.
- Mac: “crazy” shadows fixed; MSAA disabled until its bugs are solved.
- Barbers replaced with local barbers.
Dungeons
- New dungeon in testing: City of Dalaran.
- XP from kills in dungeons increased by about 20%.
Legacy System
- All testers have the Legacy Challenge completed and receive 16 Legacy Points.
- Legacy talent reset costs 1 silver at the lowest tier and drops one tier every hour (beta only).
Druid
- Mana potions are usable again in Bear, Dire Bear and Cat Form.
- Extra Rage from critical strikes is 100% (was 75%).
- Thorns: base damage at Vanilla values, spell power ratio 6% (was 13.3%).
- Fixed Cat Form reducing maximum health.
- Bear Form and Dire Bear Form: threat bonus 50% (was 30%).
- Effects that replace your form (transformations) work closer to Classic, so you can always see which form a Druid is in (Noggenfogger Elixir still transforms).
- Demoralizing Roar now generates threat on all targets; Wrath ranks 1–5 adjusted for a consistent progression up to rank 6.
- Feral: Predatory Instincts is renamed Natural Instinct and also increases spell healing by 12/25% of Intellect.
- Feral: Shifting Power can no longer be used at full Energy; Thick Hide is now implemented in code instead of a script.
Hunter
- Disengage's threat reduction is doubled as intended; fixed pets repeatedly gaining health at low health.
- Beast Mastery: Unleashed Fury now actually increases pet damage.
- Marksmanship: Improved Concussive Shot has the correct proc chance.
- Survival: Improved Wing Clip has the correct proc chance (lower with very low ranks); Expose Prey lasts 10 sec (was 5).
- Survival: Entrapment has diminishing returns and triggers only on Frost Trap's initial activation.
Mage
- Fixed Impact triggering from Flamestrike's periodic damage.
- Frostbolt and Fireball ranks 1–5 and Arcane Missiles ranks 1–3 adjusted for a consistent progression.
Paladin
- Retribution Aura uses the Paladin's spell power (not the target's); its base damage returns to Vanilla (about 33% lower) with a 6% ratio (was 13.3%).
- Protection: Reckoning triggers at most once every 1.5 sec.
- Protection: Seal of Fury no longer refunds Mana without Improved Seal of Fury; Improved Seal of Fury and Shield Specialization no longer generate threat when they refund Mana.
Priest
- Smite ranks 1–4, Lesser Heal ranks 1–3 and Heal ranks 1–2 now have a consistent progression.
- Discipline: Penance damage and healing reduced (it was treated as a 3 sec channel instead of 2 sec).
- Discipline: Penance costs revised for a steady advantage over the Heal and Greater Heal family (rank 1 costs 50% more Mana), with more healing on ranks 2 and 4.
Rogue
- No class changes; map markers added for the Rogue quest “Plundering the Plunderers”.
Shaman
- Flametongue Totem uses the target's attack speed when it is shapeshifted (not its weapon's); Lightning Bolt ranks 1–5 now have a consistent progression.
- Elemental: Elemental Focus no longer triggers and gets consumed immediately with Fire Nova.
- Restoration: Water Shield tooltip fixed (Mana returned, no nonexistent 15 sec cooldown); Mana Tide Totem shows its effect again.
Warlock
- Your current pet is stunned while you summon another; Shadow Bolt ranks 1–4 adjusted.
- Demonology: the bonus pet damage from Demonic Brand causes high threat only if it is Shadow damage.
Warrior
- Demoralizing Shout now generates threat on all targets.
- Arms: Deep Wounds is required again for Impale, and it no longer scales with off-hand Attack Power (it does not scale with Attack Power: it is a rolling DoT).
- Protection: fixed Last Stand giving the wrong amount of health.
Races
- Undead: fixed Will of the Forsaken sometimes being unusable while asleep or charmed.
- Skyborne Druid: bear and travel form textures updated; Cat Form, Zephras Isle creatures and some mounts and pets will follow in a future build.
Items
- Shoulders of the new sets resized.
- Wolfshead Helm grants 5 extra Energy when you use Shifting Power (the Rage part is unchanged).
- Several dungeon quest rewards changed from Rare to Uncommon with matching stats; Truthseeker's Bow requires level 40.
- Transformative Cocoon is a debuff; the Revelation enchant buff stays through Ghost Wolf and Druid forms.
- Sell prices changed for Peace Tea and Enchanting items (Minor Wizard Oil, wands from Novice's Practice Wand to Greater Eternal Wand).
- Booty Bay Bruiser's Buckshot no longer knocks back; damage from Discolored Healing Potions no longer breaks crowd control.
- 16 rewards of the new Gelkis and Magram quests in Desolace adjusted; an upcoming hotfix will raise their requirement to level 35.
PvP
- Critical strikes in PvP no longer have reduced effectiveness.
- The Shipwreck Cove capture point is in the right place.
Professions
- Armor Kits with Attack Power no longer give double Ranged Attack Power.
- Enchant Weapon - Recovery works for Druids in forms.
Quests
- “Blood Tithe” can be started again; Night Watchman's Torch no longer shows its aura on other players.
- Desolace: the Gelkis and Magram quests from “Valley of Bones” start at level 35 (was 30).
- Durotar: more eggs for “Break A Few Eggs”, respawning faster; Duskwood: Stitches is hostile again.
- Excavation Site: Wetlands: the Titan Relic is received again for the follow-up quests.
- Teldrassil: Sethir the Ancient fixed and Lynessa Duskblossom slower; Tirisfal: level raised for Shadowvale and Bandarion Keep.
- Quest fixes in the Barrens (“Echeyakee”, “The Principal Source”), Dun Morogh, Durotar (“Lazy Peons”), Hillsbrad, Loch Modan, Mulgore, Orgrimmar, Redridge and Stonetalon, in the Shaman quests “Storm, Earth, and Fire” and “Heed My Call” and in the Warrior quest “Ulag the Cleaver”.
Interface
- Cooldown Manager now covers all classes, racials and trinkets (consumables later).
- Gamepad: indicator for buttons to hold; fixed input lock after looting; the map opens on the quest log; raid frame navigation.
- Gamepad: the gamepad bar works in edit mode and layouts are saved per interface type (options such as the compact bar must be set again in edit mode).
- Voice chat also through Discord Voice (a party leader setting), and a voice mode for Group Finder posts.
- Updated Inspect window and combo points; quest type as text and required level in the tracker; boosted stats highlighted.
- Character-specific and general macros are no longer mixed; clicking a completed Legacy Challenge opens its window; “View Talents” in the target menu; level and class in the character panel.
· Build 70245
Brief realm maintenance, October 6
General
- Fixed occasional disconnections on elevators and transports.
- Fixed an error when joining or leaving a guild.
- Build 70245: “Secondary Lighting” no longer uses raid settings when they are turned off, a possible cause of performance drops.
Quests
- Quest objects that should respawn in a chest no longer disappear.
Gnomeregan loot fix
Dungeons
- Gnomeregan bosses were not dropping loot; fixed.
· Build 70205
Client build with performance improvements
General
- Performance improvements, released earlier than planned.
Development Notes, October 1: level cap 30
General
- The level cap is now 30.
- Rain visibility improved; the “Ray Traced Shadows” option has been removed until it works.
- Weapon size in hand and on the back is now consistent across races.
- Barbers in Darnassus and Thunder Bluff and in every barbershop; guards give directions.
- Changes to world instancing; the party leader is no longer transferred when a group is created or changed.
Dungeons
- New dungeon: Excavation Site: Wetlands (levels 26–31).
- Razorfen Downs (25+) and Uldaman (30+) are open, alongside Ragefire Chasm, Hall of Thanes, Ruins of Lordaeron, Wailing Caverns, The Deadmines, Shadowfang Keep, The Stockade, Blackfathom Deeps, Gnomeregan, Razorfen Kraul and Scarlet Monastery.
Camping
- The Boosted Rest debuff has a new icon and a clearer tooltip (“mutually exclusive” instead of “exclusive”).
- Campfires deal no damage below level 5 and less damage below 90% health.
Druid
- Bear Form and Dire Bear Form: 75% more Rage from critical strikes.
- Swipe now scales with 3% of Attack Power.
- Tiger's Fury has been removed.
- All forms are immune to Disarm (a Disarm applied before shifting stays).
- Faerie Fire no longer resets the attack timer.
- Feral: Primal Bite generates about twice as much threat, and the King of the Jungle talent has been removed.
- Feral: new talent Shifting Power (row 4, linked to Shredding Attacks): Cat Form only, 16 sec cooldown, costs 55% of base Mana and grants 40 Energy.
- Feral: new talent Improved Shifting Power (row 5) reduces its cooldown by 4/8 sec.
Hunter
- Marksmanship: Improved Stings has a new icon, and the 31-point talent Sniper Shot has a 45 yd range and extends the range of the next 3 shots within 10 sec by 10 yd.
- Survival: Predator's Edge has a new icon; Deflection grants 1/2/3/4/5% parry (was 2/4/6/8/10%).
- Pets: Aggressive Mode returns (pet tab of the spellbook), and ability ranks that were too high on some beasts are fixed (a pet could “forget” an ability).
Mage
- All Comprehension scrolls get a new balance pass and can no longer be cast while moving.
- Fire: Hot Streak is renamed Heating Up, and Combustion goes back to 3 charges (was 4).
- Fire: Improved Scorch's Fire Vulnerability no longer rolls resistance a second time; Frost: Winter's Chill does not roll resistance.
Paladin
- Protection: Redoubt grants 4/8/12/16/20% block chance with a shield (was 6/12/18/24/30%); Holy Shield is 30% (was 20%).
- Retribution: Champion of the Light converts 20/40/60% of Intellect into spell damage (was 33/66/100%); a healing effect that did not exist was removed from its tooltip.
Priest
- Devouring Plague can now critically strike; fixed Shadow Word: Death always getting the Early Demise bonus regardless of the target's health.
- Discipline: Inner Focus no longer gives critical strike to periodic effects; Shadow: Shadow Weaving can no longer fail.
Rogue
- A missed Expose Armor no longer loses all combo points.
- Subtlety: Setup adds combo points only on the target you dodged or resisted.
Shaman
- Ghost Wolf is more visible in bright areas, Disease Cleansing Totem lasts 5 minutes and Totemic Recall refunds Mana.
Warlock
- Drain Soul is interrupted when you start another spell, and Hellfire can now critically strike.
- The Incubus model is replaced with a lower-resolution one.
- Affliction: Soul Harvesting is renamed Soul Harvest and now actually grants 50/100% Mana regeneration.
- Pets: Aggressive Mode returns.
Warrior
- Extra Rage from critical strikes with a basic attack: 75% in the first version of the notes, raised to 100% in the October 2 addition.
- Rend and Sunder Armor immediately tag the enemy to the Warrior; a queued Heroic Strike no longer increases off-hand hit chance.
- Fixed Dual Wield Specialization giving its hit bonus to both weapons (October 2).
- Arms: Spearing Strike no longer requires a two-handed weapon; it requires Battle Stance.
- Fury: Dual Wield Specialization no longer gives 20/40/60/80/100% more Rage from the off-hand nor off-hand hit chance; Unbridled Rage had a proc chance that was too low (fixed).
- Fury: Booming Voice increases Shout area by 10/20/30/40/50% and reduces their cost by 5/10/15/20/25%; Unbridled Wrath no longer gives double Rage with two-handed weapons.
- Fury: new talent Lingering Rage (row 2): Rage waits 2/4/6/8/10 sec longer before decaying out of combat.
- Fury: Blood Craze no longer triggers from Bloodthirst; Improved Cleave and Boundless Rage have been removed.
- Fury: new talent Furious Precision (row 3): 4/7/10% off-hand hit chance.
- Fury: Raging Blows reduces the cost of Cleave and Whirlwind by 3 Rage and no longer makes Whirlwind strike with the off-hand, since Whirlwind now always hits with both weapons.
- Fury: Flurry now requires Death Wish instead of Enrage.
- Fury: new talent Gore Drinker (row 6, requires Enrage): Enrage, Berserker Rage, Bloodrage, Death Wish and Bloodthirst make your next 3 attacks heal you for 0.5/1% of your health.
- Fury: Improved Berserker Rage moves to row 5 (was 6), Berserker Rage is learned at level 30 (was 32) and Bloodthirst's Attack Power ratio is 45% (was 35%).
- Protection: a path in the middle of the tree for players who don't use a shield: Iron Will to row 1 of Protection (was row 2 of Fury), Anticipation to row 2 (was 1), Improved Bloodrage to row 1 (was 2), Improved Revenge to row 2 (was 3), Improved Disarm to row 3 (was 4), Improved Shield Bash to row 4 (was 5).
- Protection: Toughness has been removed.
Races
- Gnome: Eureka! no longer benefits periodic effects at all; channeled spells do not count as periodic.
- Undead: Cannibalize cannot be used while immune to physical damage.
Items
- Savory Whimsyfin Delight uses orcish versions of the Ninja and Pirate costumes (the previous transformations were placeholders).
- Selling a BoE item with an uncollected appearance now makes it Soulbound (was Bound to Account).
- Night Watchman's Torch no longer causes lag and can be cancelled.
Interface
- Cooldown Manager supports racials and the Rogue, with no more duplicate entries for each rank.
- Gamepad: stable, Compact Raid and Party manager updated; gamepad interface controls are fixed (rebinding applies only to keyboard and mouse); macros on gamepad bars can be moved again.
- The character sheet explains that very low spell ranks get less benefit from Spell Damage and Healing and trigger abilities and talents less often (for example, a rank 1 Frostbolt at level 60 never triggers Frostbite).
- Character creation icons match the Standard Definition models; stable and combo point graphics updated; full names in loot rolls; item suffixes shown in the Auction House.
PvP
- Honor costs of gear and upgrade tokens increased by about 50%; the Honor cap rises from 15,000 to 25,000.
Professions
- Shenthul in Orgrimmar trains Windshaper Skyborne.
- Blacksmithing and Leatherworking recipes are available as dungeon drops.
- Enchanting: crafted common and uncommon wands sell for 1 copper; Mining: fewer Poor Copper veins in the starting zones; Skinning: a creature can once again be skinned only once.
Quests
- Extra XP from dungeon quests reduced by 50%.
- Escort quests can be started with 25 or more quests in the log; quest items no longer drop for several players or get shared by mistake.
- Faster respawns in Hillsbrad Foothills, Ashenvale, Wetlands, Duskwood and Thousand Needles.
- Druid quests: High Order Skyborne can complete “Power Over Poison” and learn Cure Poison.
- Mulgore: “Kyle's Gone Missing!” added.
- Quest fixes in Darkshore, The Deadmines, Dun Morogh, Loch Modan, Orgrimmar, Redridge, Ruins of Lordaeron, Wailing Caverns and Westfall.
Development Notes, September 24
General
- Casters play their pre-cast animations again (they sometimes stood still while casting).
- The water jump sound has changed and Human death sounds have been adjusted.
- Fixed a memory leak that degraded performance, plus water and graphical artifacts on Mac.
- Fixed Huey Sunnydale's legs, a visible Season of Discovery rune ability, overly bright slime in the Undercity canals and an option that removed fog.
- Mail no longer ignores surnames.
- Talent reset costs 1 silver if you haven't reset recently (beta only); after the first reset the cost rises steeply, then returns to 1 silver after an hour.
Camping
- Casting or crafting no longer makes you stand up while waiting for the Campfire buff: you can buff, cast and craft while you wait.
- The Campfire buff is also gained while sitting (chairs included), sleeping, lying down or using the kneel emote.
Druid
- Rejuvenation and Tranquility can now critically strike.
- Wrath base damage increased by about 50%.
- Thorns updates with the caster's spell power (base values if the caster is absent or far away).
- Feral: Mangle is now called Primal Bite and no longer has its signature debuff; talents that referenced Mangle now reference Primal Bite.
- Feral: the Primal Fury talent returns to its original name and icon, Blood Frenzy.
- Feral: Feral Charge (Cat) can no longer be cast on allies.
- Restoration: Wild Growth can now critically strike.
Hunter
- Fixed Pet Happiness not decreasing at maximum loyalty.
- Pets: Furious Howl's Attack Power bonus reduced by 40%.
- Pets: Sonic Blast is now available to Bats.
- Tame Beast no longer works on beasts higher level than the Hunter.
- Marksmanship: removing Lone Wolf no longer leaves a 4% damage reduction with an active pet.
- Survival: Lacerating Strikes can now critically strike, and Strider Kick grants 30% movement speed for 3 sec.
Mage
- Arcane Missiles checks line of sight only once, at the start of the channel.
- Fire: the Wake of Fire buff lasts 30 sec (was 20) and Hot Streak lasts 20 sec (was 15).
- Fire: Ignite no longer counts percentage multipliers twice.
Paladin
- Retribution Aura updates with the caster's spell power.
- Fixed the Flash of Light animation and several Consecration issues (damage bonus missing on some targets, Z axis, targets pulled above or below).
- Holy Strike: weapon damage per rank is 25/29/32/36/39/43/46/50% (was 25/25/30/30/35/35/40/40%).
- Echo of Justice: fixed a proc chance that was too high.
- Righteous Fury increases Holy threat by 60% (was 90%).
- Holy: Holy Strike cooldown is 10 sec (was 12), and Improved Holy Strike has been removed from the tree with its effect made baseline.
- Holy: Light's Vigil tooltip reorganized; Holy Power also gives Holy Strike 15% critical strike chance.
- Retribution: Vengeance triggers only from non-periodic critical strikes and stacks up to 3 times (was 5).
- Retribution: Two-Handed Weapon Specialization is 2/4/6% (was 3/6/9%) and Sacred Arbiter increases Holy Strike damage by 20% (was 10%).
- Retribution: Twist of Light also reduces the Mana cost of Seals by 20%.
Priest
- Renew can now critically strike.
- Power Word: Shield always overwrites another Power Word: Shield on a target without Weakened Soul.
- Gnome racial spells: Contingency Plan can now critically strike, and Confounding Flash has a cast animation (more Holy than Arcane) with updated sounds.
- Night Elf racial spell: Starshards now receives the interrupt resistance from Twilight Focus.
- Undead racial spell: Dark Sacrifice no longer breaks crowd control effects that break on damage; its tooltip now says the Mana scales with Spirit.
Rogue
- Using Sap on a PvP target now flags the Rogue for PvP.
Shaman
- Lightning Bolt: ranks 3 and 4 deal more damage so that each rank is always an upgrade.
- Windfury Totem and Flametongue Totem buff names fixed.
- Flametongue Totem has no duration, is replaced immediately by another totem and does not stack with itself, Flametongue Weapon or Windfury Totem.
- Tranquil Air Totem, Windfury Totem and Grace of Air Totem do not stack with each other, even from different Shamans.
- Elemental: Elemental Fury (row 3) and Elemental Alacrity (row 6) have swapped places, which also affects Enhancement.
- Elemental: Lava Burst ranks 1 and 2 deal about 10% more base damage than Lightning Bolt of the same level.
- Enhancement: Rage of the Far Seer (row 7) no longer increases casting speed.
- Restoration: Riptide can now critically strike.
Warlock
- Life Tap tooltip fixed: it scales only with Spirit.
- Voidwalker Sacrifice scales with 10% of the Warlock's healing.
Warrior
- Sunder Armor threat values corrected on all ranks (slightly more threat from Attack Power).
- Protection: Bastion (row 5) and Focused Rage (row 6) have swapped places.
- Arms: Bloodthrill is 4/8/12/16/20% (was 2/4/6/8/10%) and works only with main-hand attacks, Cleave and Heroic Strike included.
- Arms: Slam cooldown is 18 sec (was 15); Improved Slam reduces it by 1.5/3 sec.
Races
- Gnome: Eureka changed on every class to a 10% discount on Mana, Rage or Energy abilities.
- Human: Will to Survive now uses an animation like Dispel Magic instead of Will of the Forsaken's.
- Tauren: Cultivation requires a player level for each herb, equal to the herb's gathering level divided by 5 (herbs above 300 Herbalism need level 60).
- Undead: Touch of the Grave no longer breaks crowd control and no longer triggers from abilities that deal no damage.
Interface
- Cooldown Manager: off by default (Options, Gameplay Enhancement), testable with Druid, Mage, Priest, Warrior and Warlock; it does not handle spell ranks yet.
- Gamepad: pop-up menus for Druid forms, Hunter and Warlock pets, Paladin auras and Warrior stances; the pet bar no longer replaces the bottom bar.
- Gamepad: new options (Compact Action Bar, Fixed Party Targeting, side swaps for targeting modifiers) and edit mode usable with the gamepad.
- Gamepad: map, quest log, points of interest, Compact Raid Frame Manager and Role Poll updated.
- Nameplate selection and Personal Resource Display textures updated.
Items
- Fixed some guns and bows that did not consume ammunition.
- Quest rewards are at the correct item level, and some caster rewards have been adjusted.
- Minor, Lesser and regular Wizard Oil return to their Classic Era values (8/16/24 spell power); Brilliant Wizard Oil is unchanged.
- Wands no longer gain damage from spell damage.
Quests
- Dungeon quests can no longer be shared (sharing them gave the item).
- Faster respawns or more quest objects in Dun Morogh, Durotar, Elwynn Forest, Mulgore, Silverpine and Westfall.
- Elwynn Forest: Mother Fang respawns more slowly and no longer guarantees a green item; candles removed from Jasperlode and Fargodeep.
- Teldrassil: “Bounty: Gnarlpine Furbolg” is now level 15 (was 20).
- Silithus: Khonsu's arrival removed from the beta phase.
- Undercity: the Skyborne quest “Exploring the Horde” fixed.
- Zephras Isle: “Catching Wind” redesigned; “Wounds of Betrayal” and “A Firm Response” fixed.
· Build 69977
Beta client update (September 22)
General
- Mac: display and stability fixes.
Interface
- Gamepad: character select can be navigated with a controller.
- Gamepad: objects that start quests can now be interacted with.
Quest fix on Zephras Isle
Quests
- “A Firm Response” (Windshaper Skyborne): the event with Belathaan Brightwish at the Shrine of Akir no longer gets stuck after Lorthuna appears.
Beta opens: level cap 20
General
- The beta level cap is 20, to be raised to 30 later on.
- All zones up to level 20 are available.
Races
- The new Skyborne race and the Zephras Isle zone are available from week one.
Dungeons
- New dungeons: Hall of Thanes (levels 13–18) and Ruins of Lordaeron (levels 15–20).
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