On October 15 Blizzard took the WoW Forever beta offline to push build 1.60.1.70425, the one that changes the most since level 30 opened. The big news is the racials: the weapon-based ones disappear and almost all the rest are touched. In addition, several buffs now apply to the whole raid, the mage reworks half of the Arcane tree and the Frost tree, and the paladin changes its Salvation. Here is everything, ordered by what affects you, with the official names from the client.
In short: gone are Sword Specialization, Mace Specialization and Axe Specialization: now the human has Ruthless (2% crit with any weapon), the dwarf Earth Fury (their crits do 2% more) and the orc Savage (1% crit); tauren, Skyborne and trolls come out ahead; Eureka! now lasts 8 s; Battle Shout, Trueshot Aura, Leader of the Pack, Moonkin Aura and four shaman totems serve the whole raid; wands and Auto Shot require standing still for half a second; the mage gets Frost Blast and Arcane Wrath; and the Horde can no longer enter the city of Dalaran (the dungeon is still open).
The race pages and the talent calculator are already up to date with this build; every text, before and after, is in the patch notes.
The racials, race by race
Blizzard does not want your race to tie you to a weapon. That is why the three weapon specializations disappear and their slot is taken by bonuses that work whatever you carry.
Human
Ruthless (new): replaces Sword Specialization. 2% crit with spells and attacks, with any weapon. Human page.
Dwarf
Earth Fury (new): replaces Mace Specialization. Your damage and healing crits do 2% more.
Find Treasure: also gives a chance to get extra items from most chests. Dwarf page.
Night Elf
Quickness: the extra speed now stacks with other speed increases. Night Elf page.
Gnome
Eureka!: no longer has 3 charges; it now lasts 8 s with the same effect, and for priests it also works on Power Word: Shield. It cannot be used while stealthed or invisible. Gnome page.
Skyborne
Wind Blessed: 3% haste (was 1%).
Skysight and 
Read Ley Line: cast while moving. Read Ley Line lasts at least 30 s and there are more ley lines and convergences in almost every zone.
Walk on Air: 90 s cooldown (was 2 min). Pages for the High Order and the Windshapers.
Orc
Savage (new): replaces Axe Specialization. 1% crit with everything, with any weapon.
Blood Fury: 3 min cooldown (was 2).
Shatter Curse: dispels curses and fears instead of granting immunity, and magic damage drops 5% (was 15%). Orc page.
Undead
Touch of the Grave: more consistent. A 30% chance for priests, mages and warlocks and 20% for warriors, paladins and rogues, at most once every 25 s; it no longer depends on Shadow damage or spell rank. Undead page.
Tauren
Endurance: 5% more health and 2% more crit damage and healing (it used to give 1% hit).
Plainsrunning: adds 3% mounted speed. It no longer holds if you only shuffle: you have to really move.
War Stomp: 90 s cooldown (was 2 min).
Cultivation: 15 min cooldown (was 60). Tauren page.
Troll
Regeneration: 20% (was 10%). Troll page.
If you chose your race for the weapon, that no longer matters: a human rogue with daggers has the same crit as with swords. If you want to compare, the guide to choosing a race is already up to date with these racials.
The general changes
- Raid-wide buffs. Battle Shout, Trueshot Aura, Leader of the Pack, Moonkin Aura and the Grace of Air, Strength of Earth, Windfury and Flametongue Totem stop being limited to your group. Leader of the Pack keeps the melee and ranged crit and Moonkin Aura keeps the spell crit.
- Wands and Auto Shot: you must stand still for 0.5 s before the shot, as in the first versions of the game. Auto Shot still fires while you cast Aimed Shot or Sniper Shot.
- Dalaran: the Horde is no longer welcome in the world city and is attacked on sight. The chain to get the Dalaran Sewer Key no longer opens the city. The City of Dalaran dungeon is still open for both factions.
- For newcomers: a new tutorial, and the option for the hunter to switch automatically between melee attack and Auto Shot (also with a controller).
- Graphics: lighting brightness becomes a slider in the advanced options, and fog that was too bright with low shadows is fixed. If you want to tweak it, the settings guide explains each option.
- Interface: new unit frames and minimap; the auction house shows the required level and the stats of items with suffixes; /who also searches by subzone; level-up messages return with the stats and talent points gained.
- PvP: Marks of Honor from battlegrounds stack up to 30 (was 20).
- Items: scrolls trigger the global cooldown, Draught of Predatory Senses becomes a combat potion and many profession items sell for less to the vendor.
- Legacy: Bartering was wrongly reducing training and repair costs; fixed.
Class by class
Mage
It is the class that changes the most.
Arcane
Missile Barrage moves to the first row with 2 points and also triggers on Arcane Missiles hits. Arcane Blast is reworked: 1.5 s cast and each stack gives you 15% of your intellect as spell damage for 15 s, instead of raising the damage of everything else; it does less damage itself. And Arcane Wrath arrives, the new 16-point capstone: a 3.5 s projectile with extra power equal to 5% of your maximum mana.
Fire
Wake of Fire goes back to being Improved Fire Blast (shorter cooldown and more range, without the bonus on kills), Critical Mass reaches 5 points (10%) and Fire Power stays at 3 points that grow with your Fire effects on the target, up to 12%. Heating Up gains an extra charge each time you cast Fire Blast.
Frost
The new spell Frost Blast (level 24) slows by 40% with a 1.5 s cast: it replaces the trick of using rank 1 Frostbolt, which no longer pays off. Winter's Chill stops giving crit and now raises the damage of your next Cone of Cold, which also slows more and for longer the first four enemies. Ice Lance does 200% more to frozen targets (was 300%).
Shaman
Elemental
The tree is reordered: Lava Burst becomes the 21-point capstone and Elemental Mastery returns as the 31-point one (for 15 s, Lightning Bolt and Lava Burst cast half a second faster and Chain Lightning has no cooldown). Call of Thunder disappears and Improved Fire Nova is renamed Trial by Fire. Chain Lightning costs 35% less mana.
Enhancement
Stormstrike costs 8% of base mana.
Restoration
Water Shield triggers on any spell crit.
All specs
Fire Nova does less damage and costs less mana, the Mana Tide Totem gains a rank at level 38, and the Grace of Air, Strength of Earth, Windfury and Flametongue totems serve the whole raid.
Priest
Discipline
Mental Strength moves up to the second row and gives 2 to 10% intellect, and Power in Light also counts Shadow Word: Pain.
Shadow
Improved Fade and Shadow Affinity go away and Dark Inspiration arrives (you and your group gain spirit after Mind Blast or a full Mind Flay). Vampiric Embrace drops to 30 s and can no longer be resisted, Devouring Plague to 24 s and Shadow Word: Death rises to 18 s.
Paladin
All specs
Blessing of Salvation and its greater version disappear: they are now Salvation and Mass Salvation, applied the same way but stacking with the other blessings. When you learn Salvation you also learn Revoke, to remove it from whoever does not need it (the tank). Consecration and Seal of Righteousness lose coefficient.
Protection
Reckoning goes back to storing up to 4 attacks that it releases on your next hit.
Retribution
Champion of the Light drops to 10-30% of your intellect.
Hunter
Beast Mastery and pets
Summon Hawk now appears over the target. And the three pet abilities that stood out the most are toned down: Dismember (Crocolisk) reduces healing by 25% for 6 s (was 50% and 10 s), Sonic Blast (Bat) slows casting by 30% and Mine! (Bird of Prey) lasts 3 s. If you are choosing a beast, the pets guide explains what each family learns.
Marksmanship
Trueshot Aura serves the whole raid.
Survival
Fire traps scale with attack power and you can have one Fire and one Frost trap at the same time.
Druid
Balance
Moonkin Aura serves the whole raid and keeps the spell crit.
Feral Combat
Leader of the Pack serves the whole raid (melee and ranged crit).
Restoration
Furor (a talent in this tree) keeps your cat form energy even if you pass through bear form.
All specs
Shred is learned at level 20 and Faerie Fire generates threat in bear form.
Warlock
Affliction
Malediction is replaced by Grim Reach (more range for your Affliction spells) and Shadow Mastery reaches 10%.
Rogue
All specs
Sap no longer triggers weapon effects, and you can no longer switch specialization to regain energy.
Warrior
All specs
Battle Shout serves the whole raid and Slam is no longer delayed when you take hits.
What it means for you
If you have saved builds for mage, priest, shaman or warlock, the calculator will warn you: the trees have changed and some point is no longer where it was. The guides for each class are being redone with the new builds. And if you were wondering which race to pick for your class, today the decision depends much less on the weapon you are going to carry.
Frequently asked questions
Do the racial weapon specializations still exist?
No. Since October 15, humans, dwarves and orcs trade them for Ruthless, Earth Fury and Savage, which work with any weapon.
Which buffs are now raid-wide?
Battle Shout, Trueshot Aura, Leader of the Pack, Moonkin Aura and the Grace of Air, Strength of Earth, Windfury and Flametongue Totems.
Can the Horde still enter Dalaran?
In the world city, no: they are attacked on sight. The City of Dalaran dungeon is still open for both factions.
Why does the mage have a new Frost spell?
Because low ranks no longer perform well and many people used rank 1 Frostbolt just to slow. Frost Blast does that job at level 24, costs a bit more mana and does a bit more damage.
Are my saved builds still valid?
Warrior, paladin, hunter, rogue and druid ones, yes. Mage, priest, shaman and warlock ones may not be: when you open them, the calculator warns you that the data has changed.
