The October 8 WoW Forever beta update brings a few class and spell changes as well as a few QOL updates for players. The development notes next to it name the buffs, the nerfs, and the bugs that players have noticed. Rage is the biggest shared change. Dungeon creature XP is up about 20 percent. The City of Dalaran dungeon is now open for testing. Every beta account also got 16 Legacy Points.
Rage was wrong in several places as many warrior players have stated, and the notes say a typical warrior or druid should gain more rage from taking damage now. Critical strikes give 100 percent extra rage, up from 75 percent. The calculation was using the player's health instead of an expected creature's health, so stamina gear was earning less rage. Critical strikes and crushing blows were not feeding the formula. Absorbs were. They are ignored now, as if the absorb was not there. The old rage curve assumed a warrior at 50 percent armor, which is a tank number. Questing warriors sit closer to 20 to 40 percent, and the gain is rebalanced by level inside that band.
Druid
Bears and cats can drink mana potions in form. That was a bug. Cat Form was cutting maximum health. It does not. Bear Form and Dire Bear Form threat is 50 percent, up from 30. Demoralizing Roar was generating no threat. It now puts some on every target it hits. Thorns is back to vanilla base damage, and the spell power ratio is 6 percent, down from 13.3. Wrath ranks 1 through 5 were rescaled so each new rank is actually an upgrade.
Predatory Instincts is now Natural Instinct. It still raises melee crit damage, and it also adds spell healing equal to 12 or 25 percent of Intellect. Shifting Power cannot be used at full energy. Thick Hide is in code instead of a script, so gear swapped in form should apply it. Shapeshift overrides are closer to Classic. Blizzard said the form is information other players need to see. Noggenfogger still works, because it does more than change the model.
Warrior
Demoralizing Shout had the same threat bug as the roar. It now threatens every target it hits. Deep Wounds is required again to reach Impale. It was scaling off the off-hand's attack power. It does not scale with attack power at all. It is a rolling damage-over-time compared with Classic. Charge can be used in Defensive Stance in the datamine. Intercept's attack-power portion is listed higher. Shield Bash silence, Revenge damage, and rage-on-hit talents are in the same build sheet.
Paladin
Retribution Aura was using the victim's spell power. It uses the paladin's now. Base damage is back to vanilla, about a 33 percent cut, and the spell power ratio is 6 percent, down from 13.3. Reckoning has a 1.5-second cooldown on how often it can fire. Seal of Fury was handing mana back without Improved Seal of Fury. That is fixed. Improved Seal of Fury and Shield Specialization no longer generate threat when they restore mana. The note is direct: paladins restoring enough mana to stay in a pull were making more threat than the tank math allowed.
Priest
Penance was treated as a 3-second channel. It is 2. Damage and healing were reduced to match. Rank 1 mana went up 50 percent so the spell stays more efficient than Heal and Greater Heal without being free. Ranks 2 and 4 heal more. Smite, Lesser Heal, and Heal had their early ranks flattened so the next rank is always better. Blizzard called Penance a cooldown spell that needed to sit with the other cooldown spells.
Mage
Impact no longer procs off Flamestrike's tick. Frostbolt, Fireball, and Arcane Missiles had early ranks rebuilt the same way as Wrath: consistent growth, and a new rank is an upgrade.
Warlock
The current pet is stunned while you summon the next one. Shadow Bolt ranks 1 through 4 were rescaled. Demonic Brand's bonus pet damage only does high threat when that damage is shadow.
Shaman
Flametongue Totem uses the attack speed of a shapeshifted target, not the weapon they have equipped underneath the form. Lightning Bolt early ranks were rescaled. Elemental Focus no longer procs and is immediately eaten by Fire Nova. Water Shield's tooltip shows the mana it actually restores, and it no longer claims a 15-second cooldown it did not have. Mana Tide Totem shows its pulse again.
Hunter
Disengage's threat cut was supposed to be doubled. It is now. Pets were gaining health over and over at low health. Unleashed Fury actually raises pet damage. Improved Concussive Shot and Improved Wing Clip have the proc chance they were written with. Wing Clip's improved version is less likely if you are using a rank far below your level. Expose Prey lasts 10 seconds, up from 5. Entrapment has diminishing returns, and it only fires on Frost Trap's first hit, not on a loop.
Rogue
No talent pass in these notes.
The rest of the build has pretty generic or good things going for it. Dungeon kill XP is up about 20 percent, after an earlier pass had cut it. The cooldown manager covers every class, racials, and trinkets. Legacy Points are live for testing: 16 points, a 1-silver respec at the bottom, and the cost drops by one respec per hour. Launch will arrive on November 4.
Which of these are you retesting first, the rage fix or the Penance mana change? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.