On October 8 Blizzard took the WoW Forever beta offline for about six hours and reopened it with build 1.60.1.70291. The cap is still 30, but a lot changes in what people do at that level: dungeons give much more experience, the City of Dalaran opens, and warriors and druids finally get the rage they should. Here is everything, ordered by what affects you, with the official names from the client.
In short: dungeons give 20% more experience per enemy and you are no longer penalized for running with someone of a higher level; the City of Dalaran is playable (28-33); rage from taking damage was miscalculated and now arrives in larger amounts; Penance loses strength; many damage and healing spells spread their ranks better; Truthseeker's Bow now requires level 40; critical strikes in PvP are worth their normal value again; resurrecting at the Spirit Healer breaks 25% of your gear (it was 50%); and every tester has 16 Legacy points.
Dungeons: more experience and the City of Dalaran
It was the most repeated complaint since the beta reached 30: leveling in dungeons gave noticeably less than leveling with quests. Blizzard makes two changes:
- 20% more experience for every enemy you kill inside a dungeon.
- Other players' levels no longer take experience away from you. Until now, the experience for killing low-level enemies was calculated using the level of the highest member of the group. Now it is calculated for each player with their own level, as in Classic Era. If someone in the group is far above the enemy's level, nobody gets experience, same as before.
Blizzard says these two changes together will raise dungeon experience "a lot" for most players. In the podcast of the same day (episode 3), Rowan Ryder explained that the goal is for leveling in dungeons to land close to what questing gives, not above it.
This week's new dungeon is the City of Dalaran, in the Alterac Mountains. The Alliance gets in with the Image of Archmage Modera; the Horde needs the Dalaran Sewer Key, which comes from a chain that starts in Tarren Mill (it is enough for one person in the group to have it). Almost all enemies are immune to Arcane damage. The dungeon page lists its nine encounters with the client names and what to watch for in each.
After the dungeon, the Horde could enter the city of Dalaran. Josh Greenfield said that this was not intended and that they will review it, and that the Kirin Tor reputation the Horde was earning is already fixed for next week.
In the same podcast they also said there will be no dungeon maps barring a surprise (they prefer that dungeons be explored as in Classic) and that racials will change next week, without saying which ones.
Warriors and druids: rage, fixed
There were several bugs in the rage you gain when taking damage, and with this patch an ordinary warrior or druid should gain more:
- Rage was calculated from the player's health instead of the enemy's. So the more stamina you had, the less rage you got.
- It did not correctly account for the extra damage from critical strikes and crushing blows.
- Damage-absorbing shields no longer reduce the rage you receive: it counts as if you had no shield.
- Blizzard calculated rage assuming the warrior had 50% armor, which fits a tank but not someone leveling with quests. It now uses values between 20% and 40%, depending on level.
Also, Demoralizing Shout (warrior) and Demoralizing Roar (druid) did not generate threat; now they put some on every enemy they touch.
Class by class
Druid
- The extra rage from critical strikes rises to 100% (it was 75%), like the warrior since October 1.
- Bear Form and Dire Bear Form: the extra threat rises from 30% to 50%.
- Thorns goes back to its base Classic damage and its spell power share drops to 6% (it was 13.3%).
- Wrath: ranks 1 to 5 are spread out better and each new rank is always an improvement.
- Predatory Instincts is now called Natural Instinct and also raises your spell healing by 12/25% of your intellect.
- Shifting Power can no longer be used with full energy.
- Thick Hide works correctly when you swap gear while in a form.
- You can now use mana potions in Bear Form, Dire Bear Form and Cat Form, and Cat Form no longer lowers your maximum health.
- Effects that transform you no longer cover up your form unless they give something useful (the Noggenfogger Elixir does, because it lets you breathe underwater): Blizzard wants it to always be visible which form a druid is in.
- The Wolfshead Helm now gives 5 energy when using Shifting Power (it was 20). The rage part does not change.
Warrior
- Besides the rage changes: Deep Wounds is required again to reach Impale, and a bug that made it scale with off-hand attack power is fixed. Blizzard says it does not scale with attack power: it is a rolling bleed that refreshes and adds up with each crit.
- Last Stand gives the health it should again.
Priest
- Penance gets several changes so that it behaves like a strong spell with a cooldown: its damage and healing go down (it was calculated as if it lasted 3 seconds instead of 2), the rank 1 cost goes up by 50%, and the healing of ranks 2 and 4 goes up. It is still cheaper in mana than Heal and Greater Heal.
- Smite, Lesser Heal and Heal: the first ranks are spread out better.
Paladin
- Retribution Aura was using the spell power of the enemy it hit instead of yours. Fixed, and it also goes back to its base Classic damage (a third less) with 6% spell power (it was 13.3%).
- Reckoning (Protection) can only trigger once every 1.5 seconds.
- Seal of Fury no longer returns mana without the Improved Seal of Fury talent, and neither that talent nor Shield Specialization generate threat when returning mana: tank paladins were getting too much threat just from recovering mana.
Hunter
- Disengage reduces twice the threat, as intended.
- Unleashed Fury now raises pet damage, and Improved Concussive Shot and Improved Wing Clip trigger with the correct chance.
- Expose Prey lasts 10 seconds (it was 5) and Entrapment only triggers when the Frost Trap is activated, with diminishing returns.
Mage
- Frostbolt, Fireball and Arcane Missiles: the first ranks are spread out better.
- Impact no longer triggers from the periodic damage of Flamestrike.
Shaman
- Lightning Bolt: the first ranks are spread out better.
- Flametongue Totem uses the target's attack speed if it is transformed.
- Elemental Focus no longer activates and is spent immediately with Fire Nova.
- Water Shield shows the mana it returns correctly and no longer says it has a cooldown. The Mana Tide Totem is visible again.
Warlock
- Shadow Bolt: the first ranks are spread out better.
- Your demon is stunned while you summon another.
- Demonic Brand only generates high threat from the pet's Shadow damage.
Races
- Will of the Forsaken (Undead) can now always be used while asleep or charmed.
Items
- Truthseeker's Bow, the reward for turning in 25 library books, now requires level 40, like the other two rewards. It was the only one that could be equipped at 30. It is on the book list.
- Several dungeon quest rewards go from blue to green, with adjusted stats (mostly those of the Excavation Site).
- Wands and enchanting oils sell for more than 1 copper again: the Greater Magic Wand, for 2 silver.
- The Booty Bay Bruiser's Buckshot no longer pushes the target back (the change was already applied as a quick fix; we cover it in its guide).
- The new centaur quests from Gelkis and Magram in Desolace now require level 35 (it was 30), and their rewards are adjusted to that level.
PvP, Legacy and the rest
- Critical strikes in PvP are worth their normal value again. Since October 1 they did less in PvP, and Blizzard said it was a bug.
- Resurrecting at the Spirit Healer breaks 25% of your gear durability (it was 50%). Resurrection Sickness stays.
- 16 Legacy points for every tester, to try the whole tree, and changing your spread costs 1 silver (beta only). You can try spreads in our Legacy calculator.
- The Cooldown Manager now supports every class, racials and trinkets; consumables will come later.
- Macros: the bug where character macros showed the general ones is fixed, and you can again swap several weapons within the same global cooldown (for example, from a two-hander to sword and shield with one macro). We have macros like that in the macro guide.
- Voice chat can use Discord, the inspect window is new and the quest log shows the type of each quest and the level it requires.
- The quests in Shadowvale and Bandarion Keep, in Tirisfal Glades, go up in level, because they were showing up green by the time you got there.
- Stitches is hostile again when he arrives in Darkshire.
What this means for you
- If you level in dungeons, it pays off much more now, especially if you go with a friend of a higher level: before it took experience away from you and now it does not.
- If you play a warrior or a tank druid, you will notice more rage, and the bear druid generates a lot more threat.
- If you are a Discipline priest, Penance is no longer the center of everything: it is still efficient, but it hits and heals less.
- If you were saving books for the bow, you will not be able to wear it until 40.
Frequently asked questions
How much more experience do dungeons give in WoW Forever?
20% more per enemy, and it is no longer reduced because someone in the group is a higher level than you: each player receives experience based on their own level. Blizzard wants leveling in dungeons to land close to leveling with quests.
Can you play the City of Dalaran yet?
Yes, in the beta since October 8. It is for levels 28-33 and is in the Alterac Mountains. The Horde needs the Dalaran Sewer Key, which you get from a chain that starts in Tarren Mill.
Why does Truthseeker's Bow require level 40?
Because Blizzard matched it to the other two rewards of the 25-book quest, which already required level 40. Before, it was the only one that could be equipped at 30.
What happened to Penance?
It was calculated as if it lasted 3 seconds instead of 2, so it did more damage and healed more than it should. Now it hits and heals less, rank 1 costs 50% more mana and ranks 2 and 4 heal a bit more. It is still cheaper than Heal and Greater Heal.
When do racials change?
Blizzard said in the October 8 podcast that the change should arrive with the next week's beta update. It has not said which racials change.
