The WoW Forever beta goes to level 30: the October 1 patch, explained

On October 1 Blizzard took the WoW Forever beta offline for a few hours and reopened it with build 1.60.1.70170. It is the biggest update since the beta opened: the level cap goes from 20 to 30, a new dungeon arrives and every class changes something. Here is everything, ordered by what affects you, with the official English names.

In short: you can level up to 30; the Excavation Site opens (Wetlands, 26-31) and, from Classic, Razorfen Downs (25+) and Uldaman (30+); dungeon quests give half the extra experience; Fury warrior is reworked almost entirely and all warriors get double the rage from critical hits; feral druids lose Tiger's Fury and gain Shifting Power; and PvP gear costs 50% more honor.

Names that the game client does not yet provide in a given language are flagged in the calculator as provisional; in English this does not apply, since the names here are the official ones.

Level 30 and what it opens

The cap rises to 30 and, according to what Blizzard told Wowhead, it stays there until the end of the beta (October 21). Three dungeons open with it:

The Excavation Site has four bosses in the client: Saltspine, Shadetooth, Highland Horror and Relic Guardian. Its loot and quests cannot be checked yet; we will add them to its page. The City of Dalaran dungeon is not coming this week: Blizzard is leaving it for another update.

All dungeons, with their levels and bosses, are in the dungeon ladder, and level 30 gear by class and role is in the BiS.

Leveling costs more: less experience from dungeons

Blizzard says many people were complaining that leveling was too fast. Its answer: dungeon quests give 50% less extra experience than they would over a normal quest. In addition:

• There are more creatures and quest objects in Hillsbrad Foothills, Ashenvale, the Wetlands, Duskwood and Thousand Needles, because quests were hard to complete.
• The quest "Kyle's Gone Missing!" returns to Mulgore.
• Campfires no longer deal damage below level 5 and deal less if you have under 90% health.

What to do at each level, with these dungeons included, is in What do I do at my level?.

Warrior: double the rage and a new Fury

This is the class that changes the most. Blizzard published a separate note for it the same day.

• Rage from crits: critical hits from basic attacks give 100% more rage (in the morning it was going to be 75%; they raised it in the afternoon).
• Dual Wield Specialization was giving hit chance to both hands by mistake, which skewed Blizzard's tests. Fixed.
• Fury, reworked for leveling: Improved Cleave and Boundless Rage are out; in come Lingering Rage (row 2: rage takes up to 10 s longer to decay after leaving combat), Furious Precision (row 3: up to 10% more hit chance with the off hand) and Gore Drinker (row 6: your next 3 attacks heal you for up to 1% of your health after Enrage, Berserker Rage, Bloodrage, Death Wish or Bloodthirst). Whirlwind always hits with both weapons; Flurry requires Death Wish instead of Enrage; Bloodthirst moves to 45% of attack power; Berserker Rage is learned at 30.
• Protection, open to those without a shield: Iron Will moves up to row 1, Toughness disappears, and Improved Bloodrage, Improved Revenge, Improved Disarm and Improved Shield Bash move down a row.
• Spearing Strike no longer requires a two-handed weapon, but it does require Battle Stance. Rend and Sunder Armor assign you the enemy instantly.

Druid: goodbye to Tiger's Fury

• Tiger's Fury disappears, and with it the talent King of the Jungle.
• In its place, Shifting Power (row 4 of Feral Combat, after Shredding Attacks): in cat form only, it instantly converts 55% of base mana into 40 energy, with a 16 s cooldown. Improved Shifting Power (row 5) removes up to 8 s from it.
• Bear forms give 75% more rage from crits; Swipe finally scales with attack power; Primal Bite generates roughly double the threat.
• All forms are immune to disarm, and Faerie Fire no longer resets your melee attack.

The rest of the classes

• Hunter: Sniper Shot reaches 45 yd and extends the range of your next 3 shots; Deflection drops to 1-5% parry; the pet's aggressive mode returns, in the pet tab of the spellbook.
• Mage: Hot Streak is now called Heating Up; Combustion goes back to 3 charges; Comprehension scrolls are nerfed again and can no longer be cast while moving (you have them in the scrolls guide).
• Paladin: Holy Shield rises to 30% block and Redoubt drops to 4-20%; Champion of the Light gives 20 to 60% of intellect as spell damage (it never increased healing: the text was wrong).
• Priest: Devouring Plague can now crit; the extra crit from Inner Focus no longer affects periodic effects; Shadow Weaving no longer misses.
• Rogue: if Expose Armor misses you no longer lose your combo points; Setup only gives points against whoever you dodged.
• Shaman: Totemic Recall now returns mana and Ghost Wolf is easier to see in light.
• Warlock: Hellfire can crit; Soul Harvest (formerly Soul Harvesting) finally gives its mana regeneration; Drain Soul is cut off if you start another spell.

All talents are already in the calculator. If you had saved builds for druid, hunter, mage, warlock or warrior, you will see a notice: the tree has changed.

Races

• Eureka! (gnome) no longer affects periodic effects. It is its second nerf in a week: on September 24 it had already dropped to 10%.
• Cannibalize (Undead) cannot be used if you are immune to physical damage.

PvP, professions and items

• PvP gear and upgrade tokens cost 50% more honor, and the honor cap rises from 15,000 to 25,000. The ranks and what they unlock are in PvP.
• Each creature can be skinned only once again (it was a confirmed bug) and there are fewer poor copper veins in the starting zones.
• Wands crafted by an enchanter sell for 1 copper: the business of making them to sell to the NPC is over.
• The Savory Whimsyfin Delight no longer turns you into a murloc or an ogre: it now gives an orc costume. Blizzard says the earlier behavior was provisional and something similar may return (we covered it in the Whimsyfin guide).
• When you sell a bind-on-equip item whose appearance you do not have, it becomes character-bound (before, account-bound).

Interface and controller

• The character sheet explains that low spell ranks make less use of your spell power and trigger your talents less. Blizzard gives the example of casting rank 1 Frostbolt at level 60: 0% chance of Frostbite.
• The cooldown manager supports racials and the rogue, and controller support reaches stables, raid frames and macros.
• Barbershops also in Darnassus and Thunder Bluff; guards tell you where they are.
• The ray-traced shadows option disappears for now, and will return when it works properly.

What is still unknown

• What each Excavation Site boss drops and what quests it has. The client has the bosses, not the loot.
• When the City of Dalaran dungeon arrives.
• Blizzard has announced that in an upcoming build it will give 16 Legacy points to everyone to test the system. No date.

Every client change, talent by talent, is in the patch notes.

Frequently asked questions

What level does the WoW Forever beta go up to now?

Up to 30 since October 1, 2026. It opened at 20 and, according to Blizzard, it stays at 30 until it closes on October 21.

What new dungeons are there in the level 30 beta?

The Excavation Site, in the Wetlands, for levels 26-31. Two Classic ones also open: Razorfen Downs (25+) and Uldaman (30+). The City of Dalaran one will come later.

Why is leveling slower in the beta now?

Because Blizzard halved the extra experience from dungeon quests: it says people were leveling too fast.

What happened to Tiger's Fury?

It disappears from the druid in this build. In exchange, the feral druid gets Shifting Power, a talent that converts mana into energy in cat form.

How much rage do warrior crits give now?

100% more than a normal hit with basic attacks. Blizzard first announced 75% and raised it the same day.