Blizzard's beta development notes, known-issues posts and service notices, read and digested in plain words: what changed, and what it changed on this site.
Blizzard posts
39
Latest build
1.60.1.70755
Digests
35 / 39
Last read
2026-11-04
Blizzard posted the beta's development notes and known issues on the WoW forums, adding each build's notes as a new reply in the same thread and editing older posts in place. A watcher on this site re-reads those threads, replies included, every 30 minutes; a new or edited post shows up here as soon as it is caught, and its digest follows once it has been read against the talent calculator, the spellbooks, the racials and the pets pages. The site's data comes from talentsforever.com's export of the game client plus the server's hotfixes; on 4 November that export (client 1.60.1.70755, hotfixes to 3 November) follows Blizzard's notes of 2 November.
Not yet digested. This post was caught on 5 Nov 2026 and has not been read against the site yet. It opens: With a hotfix that is now live, we’ve fixed an issue where players who joined WoW Forever by using an Invite-a-Friend Code were unexpectedly restricted from using certain chat channels, leveling past 10, participating in guilds, forming parties, or trading items with other players. If you experienced this, you may wish to log out and back into WoW Forever. Thank you!Read it on Blizzard's forum.
Not yet digested. This post was caught on 5 Nov 2026 and has not been read against the site yet. It opens: Watch 4 hours of any eligible World of Warcraft stream on Twitch.tv during the World of Warcraft: Forever launch week to collect the Pouch of Violet Dust toy. View Full ArticleRead it on Blizzard's forum.
Posted by BlizzardEntertainment on , last edited .
Not yet digested. This post was caught on 5 Nov 2026 and has not been read against the site yet. It opens: Prefer a gamepad? Get to know another way to play World of Warcraft: Forever, from moving and casting spells to adjusting your settings. Gamepad support is available in a beta state, with more improvements to come. View Full ArticleRead it on Blizzard's forum.
A 4 November addendum to the launch notes: a User Interface and Accessibility section (swing timer no longer fades with distance, combined-bag slot art shows which bag a slot is from, Elite status on nameplates, click-through nameplate debuffs, the spellbook frame opens at panel height with a smaller combat mode, a redrawn PvP scoreboard, no honor text at the cap, keybind hover highlights).
On this site
Nothing to change on the site: interface changes only.
The digest
1 sections, in our words
User Interface and Accessibility
Swing Timer bar stays until the swing finishes; combined bags show each slot's source bag; nameplates show Elite status and their debuff icons can be clicked through; the Spellbook and Talents frame opens at the same height as other panels and its combat mode is smaller; PvP scoreboard updated; no honor gained text at the Honor cap; hovering a keybind highlights its action bar button.
Read against the site on 4 Nov 2026. The post is the source; this is the digest.
Launch day: WoW Forever opens in every region at the same moment, 3:00 p.m. PST on 4 November (midnight CET on 5 November), with a table of local times from Honolulu to Wellington.
On this site
Nothing to change on the site's data. The site's countdown strip was set to the same instant (23:00 UTC) and switched to live at launch.
Posted by Kaivax on , last edited , build 1.60.1.70755, 2 versions seen.
The launch notes, posted 2 November for the 4 November release and covering everything since the 15 October build: damage raised across the classes with tougher high-level creatures to match and no big tuning planned before the raids open; training costs flattened to about 206 gold for 1 to 60; new spells Poised (Druid, Rogue) and Shank (Rogue); Lacerate a Feral talent; Frost Blast, Salvation, Blessing of Light, Instrument of Law, Twist of Light, Murder, Quietus, Cutthroat, Thousand Cuts, Berserk, Gift of the Earthmother, Piercing Ice, Arcane Focus, Binding Heal and Lava Burst gone; the Paladin's three trees and the Rogue's three trees rebuilt with Oath of Light, Boundless Light, Stoicism, Shieldsworn, Turn Evil, Unsealed Wrath, Blood Splatter, Composure, Flash of Steel, Quick Getaway, Boot Knife and Death Mark; Druid, Hunter, Mage, Priest, Shaman, Warlock and Warrior changes; Righteous Fury at level 10; the final racial numbers repeated; gamepad support in functional beta; bags no longer auto-equip; faster respawns in low-level zones for launch.
On this site
Talent calculator: talentsforever.com applied these notes to the trees on 2 November, ahead of the game data (their changelog: Blizzard's 2 Nov notes on the calculator), on top of the 28 and 30 October hotfix reads for Mage, Hunter, Druid and Paladin, and the 4 November export the site runs on is that state. Eight classes say so in their source line; the Priest tree is the client's. Where the notes name a row but no column, the column is their pick until the game data shows Blizzard's. The site dropped its seven footage-era Rogue and Priest Shadow prerequisite arrows the same day, since the trees they described no longer exist.
Spellbooks: Shank (ranks at 24 and 44), Poised (Rogue 18, Druid 32), Ferocious Bite's new rank 1 at 24, Lacerate's ranks, Arcane Wrath and Totemic Call are in the spellbooks; Frost Blast, Salvation, Mass Salvation, Revoke, Blessing of Light and Totemic Projection are gone; Righteous Fury is learned at 10. Several ranks are marked with the server hotfix of 3 November as their source. Training costs are not shown on the site.
Racials: the repeated racial numbers match the racials page (see the 26 October entry). Base-stat and diminishing-return fixes, gamepad, items, quests and UI: nothing to change, the site has no pages for them.
The digest
11 sections, in our words
Direction
Damage raised across the classes and higher-level creatures given more health to compensate; the aim is for every class to feel valuable to a group, not numerical equality. Apart from bugs and serious outliers, no big tuning before the raids open next month; a large tuning pass is planned once players level past 30.
Low-rank spells no longer have a reduced chance to trigger most talents (Blizzard the spell keeps the penalty for Arcane Concentration, Frostbite and Fingers of Frost beyond 12 levels of down-ranking). New spells no longer land on your action bars by themselves. Training costs: most abilities of a level cost the same, 1 to 60 totals 206 to 207 gold for every class, Warlocks less to allow for Grimoires.
Bug fixes
Throw uses its 0.5 sec windup. Replica Ironforge Air Rifle works on allies with one equipped; its quitter debuff is 40 sec (was 5 min) and its stun 2.5 sec (was 3). Every race has correct base stats (a Tauren Warrior starts with +5 Strength over a Human, not +2; Skyborne too). Roots from procs (Frostbite, Entrapment, Improved Wing Clip, Counterattack, Improved Hamstring) have diminishing returns.
Druid
Lacerate is a Feral talent, not a trained spell. Ferocious Bite has a new rank 1 at level 24, old ranks renumbered. Bear and Dire Bear Form threat bonus 115% (was 50%) to make up for Blessing of Salvation's removal. New passive Poised at 32: at full Energy out of combat your next Energy ability costs 10 less. Shred 200% weapon damage (was 155%), Claw 140% (was 110%), Ravage 435% (was 350%); Rip, Rake, Ferocious Bite and Pounce about 25% more base and attack power scaling; Starfire about 40% more base damage.
Balance: Genesis 2/4/6/8/10% (was 1 to 5%); Moonkin Form's crit bonus applies to every crit type again and is exclusive with Leader of the Pack. Feral: Heart of the Wild to Restoration, swapping with Furor; Lacerate a 1-point row 4 talent replacing Primal Bite, with two extra ranks; new Predatory Discipline (row 4, column 3, replacing Shifting Power: Ferocious Bite keeps its extra damage from excess Energy without spending it); Predatory Strikes to column 1; Leader of the Pack applies to every crit type again and is exclusive with Moonkin Aura; Natural Instinct to column 4; Rend and Tear to column 1 at 3/6/9/12/15% (was 2 to 10%); Berserk removed; Primal Bite replaces it as a 1-point row 7 talent with 3 ranks, needing Leader of the Pack; Shifting Power is a 1-point row 7 talent needing Predatory Discipline, so Feral has a bear 31-pointer and a cat 31-pointer. Restoration: Furor from Feral; Naturalist 2/4/6/8/10% damage and 0.1 to 0.5 sec off Wild Growth; Reflection to row 2 and Subtlety to row 3; Gift of the Earthmother removed for Bloom (row 3: an expiring Rejuvenation or Regrowth heals for 100% of your Spirit, 50% if dispelled); Swiftmend needs your own Rejuvenation or Regrowth (the word consume in its tooltip is wrong); Wild Growth 3 sec cast.
Hunter
Hunter's Mark no longer stacks across ranks and rank 4 beats rank 3. All traps share one 30 sec cooldown. Aimed Shot bonus damage up about 110%; Arcane Shot base up about 30% with a 0.15 attack power coefficient (was 0.1); Serpent Sting 5% attack power per tick (was 3%) and about 20% more base; Aspect of the Hawk 20/35/50/70/90/110 ranged attack power by rank. Pets keep their attack speed passives when untrained. Beast Mastery: Pathfinding to row 3. Marksmanship: Barrage 5/10/15% (was 3/7/10%); Sniper Shot bonus damage doubled; Trueshot Aura 20/35/50/75/100. Survival: Lacerating Strikes always overwrites your own weaker one; Lightning Reflexes 3/6/9/12/15% Agility (was 2 to 10%).
Mage
Imbue Iceknife's visual reads as a root. Frost Blast removed. Arcane: Missile Barrage consumed at the start of the channel, moved to row 2; Arcane Resilience to row 1, up to 3 points for 75% of Intellect as armor; Clearcasting not consumed by Arcane Missiles under Missile Barrage, and Arcane Missiles procs Clearcasting; Arcane Focus removed, folded into Precision in Frost; Arcane Blast 100% cost per stack (was 175%), 12% of Intellect per stack (was 15%), 18 sec duration. Fire: Ignite applies to every Flamestrike tick; Incineration up to 5 points for 10% crit (was 3 for 6%); Improved Fireball renamed Accelerant and also cuts Arcane Wrath's cast by up to 0.5 sec; Critical Mass back to 3 points for 6%; Improved Fire Blast to row 3. Frost: Piercing Ice removed; Ice Barrier grants 15% Frost damage for 1 min on use and 5% more while it holds; Frost Warding raises Ice Barrier and Frost Ward absorbs and fully negates a spell instead of reflecting; Elemental Precision renamed Precision, 3 points for 2/4/6% spell hit; Ice Lance 8 sec cooldown shared with Fire Blast and back to 300% against Frozen; Winter's Chill 20% Cone of Cold damage per stack.
Paladin
Righteous Fury trainable at level 10 (was 16), free with The Quick and the Dead, and grants 33% to all threat plus 90% to Holy damage. Salvation, Mass Salvation, Revoke and Blessing of Light removed. Judgement of Fury lasts 3 sec (was 4).
Holy: Spiritual Focus to row 1 as 5 points; Improved Seals 5 points; Reverence to row 2 as 2 points; Unyielding Faith to Retribution; Purifying Power to row 2; Voice of Truth removed; Divine Favor and Illumination to row 3; Holy Conduit moved here from Retribution (row 3); Divine Precision to row 4 as 4/8% Holy hit plus 10/20% shorter Silences; new Oath of Light (row 4: a 5 min oath on one ally raising your Holy Light, Flash of Light and Holy Shock healing on them, one oath at a time); new Boundless Light (row 5: 15/30% Holy Shock crit on allies without your oath); Holy Power is 10/20/30/40/50% more critical healing; Light's Vigil friendly-only.
Protection: Reckoning counts attacks by stacks and never stacks while sitting; Divine Intellect from Holy to row 1; Sacred Duty to row 2, no Stamina but 30 sec/1 min off Divine Shield, Divine Protection and Templar's Bulwark and 5/10 sec off Forbearance; Improved Seal of Fury removed; Templar's Bulwark to row 3 and dispellable as Magic; Improved Righteous Fury 3/6/9% (was 2/4/6%); Shield Specialization 2 points for 15/30% block value and a 50/100% chance of 4% mana; Toughness to row 3; Anticipation to row 4; Swift Judgement unleashes your Seal without sharing Judgement's cooldown; One-Handed Weapon Specialization removed; new Stoicism (row 5: 10/20% shorter Stuns and Charms); Holy Shield to row 5 (was 7); Iron Creed 3 points for 10/20/30% Holy Strike threat and 2/4/6% damage reduction for 6 sec; new Shieldsworn (row 7: Holy Strike's cooldown 4 sec shorter, strikes with your shield triggering block talents, lets you block spells for 6 sec).
Retribution: Sanctified Judgement and Conviction to row 2, Conviction 2/4/6% crit for everything (was 1 to 5% melee); Vindication no longer adds attack power; Unyielding Faith to row 3; Two-Handed Weapon Specialization to row 4, 2/4/6% Holy and Physical damage and 7/14/20% less threat with a two-hander; Instrument of Law removed; Champion of the Light 12/24/36/48/60% of Intellect as spell damage and 0.2 to 1.0 sec off Hammer of Wrath; Vengeance stacks to 5 and needs Seal of Command; new Turn Evil (row 5: Turn Undead 0.5/1 sec faster, 5/10 sec shorter cooldown, works on Demons); Twist of Light removed; new 31-point Unsealed Wrath (melee attacks store your active Seal for 15 sec up to 3 times; landing an attack with a different Seal fires the stored one once per stack), needs Repentance.
Priest
Power Word: Shield replaceable by an equal or higher rank. Shadow Word: Death backlash 30% of max health on a non-kill (was 10%), none on a miss. Dark Sacrifice no longer breaks crowd control. Holy: Binding Heal removed for Holy Binding (Flash Heal on someone else also heals you for 50%, no threat). Shadow: Devouring Contagion ignores critters; Vampiric Embrace healing cannot crit; Cure and Abolish Disease keep Shadowform.
Rogue
Slice and Dice no longer stands the target up. New passive Poised at 18 (at full Energy out of combat your next Energy ability costs 10 less). New Shank at 24: 5 Energy, 10 sec cooldown, 50% off-hand weapon damage, generates 15 Energy, cannot miss; rank 2 at 44 generates 25. Deadly Poison 0.009 attack power (was 0.0045), Instant Poison 0.01 (was 0.005).
Assassination: Improved Expose Armor to row 2; Murder removed; Lethality 2 points for 10/20% (was 5 for 4 to 20%); Vigor to row 3; new Blood Splatter (row 3: Rupture 6 sec and Garrote 9 sec longer); Relentless Strikes to row 5 as 5 points, 4 to 20% per combo point to restore 25 Energy; Venom to row 5 as a passive (Shank raises poison damage 30% and poison application 20% for 6 sec); Seal Fate 3 points for a 33/66/100% extra combo point on crits; Mutilate to row 7 at 90% weapon damage (was 75%). Combat: Improved Eviscerate renamed Coup de Grace, 7/13/20% Eviscerate and Death Mark damage and storage; Improved Sinister Strike renamed Efficient Strikes, 3/5 Energy off Sinister Strike and Hemorrhage; Improved Sprint to row 2; new Composure (row 3: Poised saves 5/10 more); Flawless Execution saves 15 (was 10); Weapon Expertise and Aggression to row 4, Aggression 5/10/15% Sinister Strike and Eviscerate; Dual Wield Specialization to row 5 as 2 points for 25/50% off-hand damage; new Flash of Steel (row 6: Shank generates 3 to 15 more Energy and its cooldown drops 0.4 to 2.0 sec).
Subtlety: Hemorrhage and Ghostly Strike dagger damage fixed. Setup to row 1 at 15/30/45%; Opportunity 5 points for 4 to 20% Backstab, Garrote, Ambush and Mutilate; Dirty Deeds to row 2; Camouflage to row 2 as 3 points (5/10/15% stealth speed, 2/4/6 sec off Stealth's cooldown); Premeditation and Serrated Blades to row 3; Elusiveness and Ghostly Strike to row 4, Ghostly Strike lets your next Ambush or Garrote within 7 sec skip Stealth; Improved Distract removed; new Quick Getaway (row 4: one more Sap target and 15/30% speed for 3 sec after a Sap); Heightened Senses to row 5; Hemorrhage buffs Rupture and Garrote 15%; Quietus, Cutthroat and Thousand Cuts removed; new Boot Knife (row 6: Shank has a 20 to 100% chance to add 2 combo points); new Death Mark (row 7, 1 point: 25 Energy, 20 yards, 10 sec cooldown, a curse finisher that stores a share of your damage per combo point, Garrote and Rupture at twice the rate, and deals it after 6 sec, capped by attack power and crit).
Shaman
Windfury Weapon and Windfury Totem animate the extra swing. Totemic Projection renamed Totemic Call: teleports your totems to you, 30 sec cooldown. Lightning Bolt base damage up on every rank, 80% at max rank, about 78% of Classic Era's base with a shorter cast. Chain Lightning 2.5 sec cast, about 145% of Lightning Bolt's damage and 225% of its mana. Shocks back to Classic Era base damage. Elemental: Lightning Overload 10/20/30% (was 3/7/10%); Lava Burst removed for Call of Thunder (5% Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning crit); Elemental Mastery renamed Lightning Mastery; Elemental Reach no longer touches Totemic Call. Enhancement: Improved Ghost Wolf to row 4; Maelstrom Weapon procs twice as often; Stormstrike 150% normalized weapon damage, 6 sec cooldown (was 100%, 8 sec); Mental Dexterity 50/100/150% of Intellect as attack power; Flurry 6 to 30% (was 5 to 25%). Restoration: Riptide mana down about 40%, 12 sec cooldown (was 6), no initial heal.
Warlock and Warrior
Warlock: Spellstones buff Shadow only; pets get 2 health per point of your Stamina (was 7.5); Bane of Agony updates its damage live; Drain Soul's shard chance on non-kill damage cut sharply. Affliction: Amplify Curse covers Curse of Exhaustion and Bane of Agony; Improved Drains buffs Drain Mana, not Wrack; Wrack's coefficient doubled and its base damage grows 2.5 per level per second (36 to 86 per second at 60). Destruction: Shadow and Flame 4/8/12/16/20% (was 2 to 10%).
Warrior: Victory Rush tooltip fixed; Defensive Stance threat bonus 80% (was 30%); Slam 15 sec cooldown (was 18). Arms: Improved Tactical Mastery 3 points for 5/10/15 Rage kept; Two-Handed Weapon Specialization 2/4/6% (was 1/2/3%); Bloodthrill 2 points, 10/20% chance on main-hand hits against your Rend target to allow Overpower; Improved Slam 2.5/5 sec off (was 3/3). Fury: Blood Craze and Gore Drinker heal without threat, Blood Craze not while sitting; Booming Voice also cuts Piercing Howl's Rage 5 to 25%; Enrage to row 3; new Reckless Swings (row 4, 1 point: 15 sec cooldown, costs 25% of base health, your next 4 attacks within 8 sec generate 5 extra Rage); Gore Drinker to row 5, linked to Blood Craze; Flurry no longer needs Death Wish and is 3 points for 10/20/30% for 3 swings; new Improved Whirlwind (row 6, 2 points: 1/2 sec off its cooldown, 15/30% more damage to the nearest enemy); Bloodthirst needs Death Wish. Protection: Defiance 7/13/20% threat (was 5/10/15%).
Races, PvP, gamepad, items, world, UI
Races: the 26 and 27 October racial pass, repeated in full. PvP: dropping the Darkspear Islands flag no longer debuffs the dropper. Gamepad: functional beta, every major gameplay and interface flow playable with a controller, with a long list of fixes. Items: bags no longer equip themselves. World: faster respawns, fastest in starting zones and easing with level, to be tuned down after the launch surge; quest XP, prerequisites, tooltips and markers adjusted across Alterac, the Barrens, Darkshore, Mulgore, Orgrimmar, Ruins of Lordaeron (level 15 to start), Teldrassil and Wetlands; satyrs are demons. UI (added 4 November): swing timer no longer fades with distance, combined-bag slot art, Elite nameplates, click-through nameplate debuffs, spellbook frame position, PvP scoreboard, no honor text at the cap, keybind hover highlights.
Read against the site on 4 Nov 2026. The post is the source; this is the digest.
A 27 October addendum to the racial pass: Blizzard added Orc Blood Fury's 2 min cooldown, Troll Berserking's 15 sec and Undead Touch of the Grave's 15 sec internal cooldown to the 26 October post, and clarified that Skyborne Charged and Attuned persist through death and are removed on entering a raid.
On this site
Racials: all three additions are in the current racial texts (Blood Fury 2 min, Berserking 15 sec, Touch of the Grave 15 sec).
The digest
1 sections, in our words
Added to the racial pass
Orc Blood Fury 2 min cooldown (was 3). Troll Berserking 15 sec (was 10). Undead Touch of the Grave internal cooldown 15 sec (was 25). Skyborne Charged and Attuned persist through death and are removed when entering a raid.
Read against the site on 4 Nov 2026. The post is the source; this is the digest.
The final racial pass before launch, posted 26 October (with 27 October additions): racial identity over generic bonuses, so some of the generic replacements are rolled back, though the weapon specializations stay gone. Human Ruthless 1% (was 2%) and Human Spirit 10%; Dwarf Earth Fury replaced by Artisan's Precision (1% hit); Tauren Plainsrunning 2% per stack to 60% and no mounted bonus, Endurance 5% health only; Orc Savage removed and Command (5% pet damage) back, Blood Fury 2 min; Troll Berserking 15 sec; Undead Touch of the Grave 15 sec internal cooldown; Skyborne Wind-Blessed 2%, Read Leyline 50% for 15 sec with a 1-hour Attuned at a Ley Line, Skysight 15% for 15 sec with a 1-hour Charged at a convergence, both persisting through death and removed in raids.
On this site
Racials: the racials page shows exactly this pass. talentsforever.com carried it on 26 and 27 October (their changelog: Racials changed before launch; Blood Fury, Berserking and Touch of the Grave added to the racial pass) and the 4 November export's texts read Ruthless 1%, The Human Spirit 10%, Artisan's Precision, Plainsrunning 2% to 60%, Endurance 5% health, Command 5%, Blood Fury 2 min, Berserking 15 sec, Wind Blessed 2%, Read Leyline 50% for 15 sec with Attuned, Skysight 15% for 15 sec with Charged. The Eureka! and Cultivation notes from September stay as history under those two abilities.
The digest
2 sections, in our words
Alliance
Human: Ruthless 1% crit (was 2%); The Human Spirit 10% Spirit (was 5%). Dwarf: Earth Fury removed; new Artisan's Precision, 1% hit with spells and attacks. Skyborne (both orders): Wind-Blessed 2% haste (was 3%); Read Leyline 50% health and mana regeneration for 15 sec (was 100%), not usable under Innervate; at a Ley Line it also grants Attuned for 1 hour, raising it to 100%; Skysight 15% movement speed for 15 sec (was 10%); at an elemental convergence it also grants Charged for 1 hour, raising it to 30%. Attuned and Charged persist through death and drop on entering a raid.
Horde
Tauren: Plainsrunning 2% per stack (was 1%), 60% at most (was 30%), no longer affects mounted speed; Endurance is 5% health and nothing else. Orc: Savage removed; Command back, 5% Hunter and Warlock pet damage; Blood Fury 2 min cooldown (was 3). Troll: Berserking lasts 15 sec (was 10). Undead: Touch of the Grave internal cooldown 15 sec (was 25).
Read against the site on 4 Nov 2026. The post is the source; this is the digest.
The beta closed on 23 October after five weeks. A few days of focused work on priority issues and the service follow, character creation opens on Tuesday 27 October so names and rulesets can be chosen early, the WoW Forever Podcast continues, and the game launches on 4 November.
On this site
Nothing to change on the site's data. The site's launch countdown already ran to 4 November; the beta cap on the spellbook pages was retired on launch day.
The digest
1 sections, in our words
Notice
Beta closed 23 October. Character creation opens 27 October. Podcast episodes 1 to 5 (beta launch, speed running classes, dungeons with the devs, PvP, end of beta special) are up. Launch 4 November.
Read against the site on 4 Nov 2026. The post is the source; this is the digest.
The beta went offline on 21 October ahead of the stress test at 2:00 p.m. PDT, with a screenshot of where the Stress Test version sits in the Battle.net app.
On this site
Nothing to change on the site: a service notice with no game data in it.
The digest
1 sections, in our words
Notice
Beta offline; stress test from 2:00 p.m. PDT; pick Stress Test under Game Version in the Battle.net app.
Read against the site on 4 Nov 2026. The post is the source; this is the digest.
Stress test timetable for 21 October in nine time zones, how to install the Stress Test game version in the Battle.net app, a reminder that characters are wiped afterwards, and the announcement that the beta closes for good at 10:00 a.m. PDT on Friday 23 October.
On this site
Nothing to change on the site: a service notice with no game data in it.
The digest
1 sections, in our words
Notice
21 October: 19:00 to 03:00 CEST, 18:00 to 02:00 BST, 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. EDT, 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. PDT; 22 October: 10:00 a.m. NZDT, 8:00 a.m. AEDT, 5:00 a.m. Taipei, 6:00 a.m. Seoul. Install World of Warcraft: Forever Stress Test under In Development in the Battle.net app. All stress test characters deleted afterwards. The beta closes at 10:00 a.m. PDT on 23 October.
Read against the site on 4 Nov 2026. The post is the source; this is the digest.
The 15 October build, the last full beta build: a racial pass (Tauren Endurance to 2% crit damage, Plainsrunning with a 3% mounted bonus and a movement requirement, Cultivation 15 min, War Stomp 90 sec, Dwarf Mace Specialization replaced by Earth Fury, Human Sword Specialization by Ruthless, Orc Axe Specialization by Savage, Shatter Curse now a dispel, Eureka! an 8 sec buff, Troll Regeneration 20%, Skyborne Wind Blessed 3%), wands and Auto Shot need 0.5 sec standing still, new Mage spell Frost Blast and Arcane Wrath as Arcane's 16-point talent, Arcane Blast and Fire talents redesigned, Paladin Salvation and Mass Salvation replace the blessings, Shadow Priest and Elemental Shaman tree reworks, raid-wide auras and totems, and a long list of Hunter pet, Shaman, Warlock and Warrior fixes.
On this site
Racials: most of this pass was overwritten again by the 26 and 27 October racial pass (Earth Fury, Savage and the 3% Wind Blessed are gone, Endurance is 5% health only); the racials page shows the 4 November export, which carries the final 26 October numbers. Cultivation's 15 min cooldown, War Stomp's 90 sec, Troll Regeneration 20%, Shatter Curse as a dispel, the 8 sec Eureka! and Find Treasure's extra items are in the current racial texts.
Spellbooks: Shred rank 1 at level 20 and the new Mana Tide Totem rank at 38 are in the current spellbooks. Frost Blast, Salvation, Mass Salvation and Revoke were removed again in the 2 November notes and are not in the export; Arcane Wrath (ranks from level 25) is. Pets: the pets page carries the Dismember (25% for 6 sec, 15 sec cooldown), Sonic Blast and Mine! (3 sec disarm, 90 sec cooldown) numbers from this build.
Talent calculator: the Shadow Priest, Elemental Shaman, Arcane and Fire Mage and Discipline Priest tree changes here were read by talentsforever.com and then reshaped again by the 28 and 30 October hotfixes and the 2 November notes; the trees show the 4 November state. Legacy perks: the legacy page is read from build 1.60.1.70425 and shows Master Chef and Luremaster where this build moved them.
The digest
9 sections, in our words
General
New-player tutorial. Bloom Intensity slider under Advanced graphics. Auto Attack/Auto Shot toggle for Hunters (gamepad too). Wands need 0.5 sec standing still. Creatures regenerate health out of combat; Horde no longer gain Kirin Tor reputation and are attacked on sight in Dalaran (the dungeon stays open).
Races
Tauren: Endurance 2% crit damage and healing (was 1% hit); Plainsrunning adds 3% mounted speed and needs real movement, not stutter-stepping; Cultivation 15 min cooldown (was 60); War Stomp 90 sec (was 2 min). Dwarf: Mace Specialization replaced by Earth Fury (2% crit damage and healing); Find Treasure finds extra items in chests. Skyborne: Wind Blessed 3% haste (was 1%); Skysight and Read Leyline castable while moving, Read Leyline minimum 30 sec; Walk on Air 90 sec; more Convergences and Leylines.
Human: Sword Specialization replaced by Ruthless (2% crit). Orc: Axe Specialization replaced by Savage (1% crit); Blood Fury 3 min (was 2); Shatter Curse dispels Curses and Banes and reduces magic damage 5% (was immunity and 15%). Undead: Touch of the Grave 30% for casters, 20% for Paladins, Rogues and Warriors, 25 sec internal cooldown, no Shadow scaling or down-rank penalty; Will of the Forsaken blocked by Scatter Shot. Gnome: Eureka! is an 8 sec buff with no charges, same effect, also benefits Power Word: Shield, unusable in stealth. Night Elf: Quickness stacks with other speed bonuses. Troll: Regeneration 20% (was 10%).
Druid
High-rank Rejuvenation no longer blocks other Druids' Rejuvenation. Omen of Clarity not triggered by free Faerie Fire in forms. Faerie Fire generates threat in bear forms; only one Faerie Fire per target. Shred rank 1 at level 20 (was 22). Balance: Insect Swarm no longer stacks its hit reduction; Moonkin Aura is spell crit only and raid wide. Feral: Leader of the Pack is melee and ranged crit only and raid wide; Shred's tooltip scales with Savage Fury; Furor keeps your last Cat Form Energy through bear forms.
Hunter
Auto Shot needs 0.5 sec standing still (still fires during Aimed and Sniper Shot). Pets benefit from Expertise and inherit the higher of melee or ranged crit. Fire traps scale with attack power; one Fire and one Ice trap at once. Pets: Dismember 25% healing reduction for 6 sec, 15 sec cooldown (was 50%, 10 sec, 6 sec); Sonic Blast 30% cast slow for 20 sec, 60 sec cooldown (was 60%, 30 sec, 30 sec); Mine! 3 sec disarm, 90 sec cooldown (was 4 sec, 60 sec). Beast Mastery: Summon Hawk spawns on and sticks to its target; Improved Mend Pet lowers the cost. Marksmanship: Trueshot Aura raid wide; Sniper Shot gets its talents. Survival: Strider Kick usable disarmed or unarmed; Resourcefulness works on melee and ranged ability crits only (not traps) and reduces Strider Kick's cost; Predator's Edge tooltip clarified.
Mage
New spell Frost Blast at level 24: 1.5 sec cast, damage and a 40% slow, benefits from Frostbolt talents (the down-rank-proof replacement for rank 1 Frostbolt). Arcane: Presence of Mind consumed properly; Missile Barrage to row 1 as a 2-point talent that also procs from Arcane Missiles hits; Arcane Blast redesigned (1.5 sec cast, each cast adds 15% of Intellect as spell damage for 15 sec, stacks to 4, raises its own cost, damage and coefficients down 40%); new Arcane Wrath as the 16-point talent (Fireball-like damage, 3.5 sec cast, plus spell power equal to 5% of max mana, 6 sec cooldown). Fire: Heating Up not consumed under Presence of Mind and always gains a charge from Fire Blast; Wake of Fire reverted to Improved Fire Blast (+8/15 yards range); Critical Mass to 5 points for 10%; Fire Power redesigned to 3 points, 1/2/3% per Fire effect on the target up to 12%; Frost Channeling reduces threat; Clearcasting rolls once per cast and not from Dampen or Amplify Magic or out of combat. Frost: Frostbite and Fingers of Frost proc from Ice and Frost Armor; Ice Lance 200% against Frozen (was 300%); Cone of Cold slows the first 4 targets an extra 10% for 3 more sec; Winter's Chill redesigned around Cone of Cold (each stack adds 5% damage taken and 7% of your spell damage to your next Cone of Cold, up to 5 stacks, applied by Frostbolt, Frost Blast and empowered Ice Lance).
Paladin
Blessing of Salvation and Greater Blessing of Salvation replaced by Salvation and Mass Salvation, not exclusive with blessings, plus Revoke to remove them. Judgement coefficients corrected; Seal of Righteousness gained about half its spell damage benefit back; Consecration 0.042 per tick (was 0.095); Righteous Fury Holy threat 90% (was 60%); Seal of Fury rank 3 at level 26. Holy: Light's Vigil focus macros fixed; Infusion of Light no longer buffs Holy Shock against enemies. Protection: Shield Specialization returns 4% mana (was 6%); Reckoning stores up to 4 charges released on your next swing, as in Classic Era. Retribution: Champion of the Light 10/20/30% of Intellect (was 20/40/60%); Sanctified Judgement's mana return generates no threat.
Priest
High-rank Renew no longer blocks other Priests' Renew; Holy Fire rank 5 fixed; Power Word: Shield refusal message; Devouring Plague 24 sec cooldown (was 1 min); Shadow Word: Death 18 sec (was 12). Discipline: Inner Focus spent on one spell; Divine Aegis tooltip shows its cap and non-periodic rule; Power in Light also buffs Smite and Penance against Holy Fire or Shadow Word: Pain targets; Silent Resolve on all spells; Mental Strength to row 2 as 2/4/6/8/10% Intellect; Improved Power Word: Shield to row 3; Twin Disciplines covers Shadow Word: Death, Mind Flay, Starshards and Penance. Shadow: Shadow Word: Death gets Shadowform's crit damage; Devouring Contagion fixed and spreads to 2 targets; Vampiric Embrace unresistable, 30 sec cooldown; Improved Fade and Shadow Infinity removed; Improved Mind Blast to row 2; new Dark Inspiration (row 4: Mind Blast and a full Mind Flay give you and your party 3 to 15% Spirit for 10 sec); Improved Mind Flay makes each tick hit 10/20% harder than the last.
Rogue, Shaman, Warlock, Warrior
Rogue: poisons no longer proc from being attacked; Sap triggers no weapon procs; spec swaps no longer refill Energy; Cold Blood consumed by Mutilate crits.
Shaman: Totemic Recall costs 22 silver; Grounding Totem dies after redirecting; Grace of Air no longer exclusive with Windfury or Flametongue Totem; Grace of Air, Strength of Earth, Windfury and Flametongue Totems raid wide; Chain Lightning mana down about 35%; Fire Nova base damage, mana and coefficient (0.143) cut; totems affect players only. Elemental rework: Elemental Mastery returns as the 31-point talent (Lightning Bolt and Lava Burst 0.5 sec faster and no Chain Lightning cooldown for 15 sec, 3 min cooldown, needs Lava Burst); Lava Burst to row 5 as the 21-point talent with a rank 4; Elemental Fury needs Lightning Overload, which needs Elemental Alacrity (row 2); Elemental Warding to row 3; Call of Thunder removed; Earthbound to row 4 as the 16-point talent; Elemental Reach cuts Totemic Projection's cooldown 10/20 sec; Call of Flame extends Flame Shock 3/6/9 sec; Clearcasting survives Lightning Overload. Enhancement: Stormstrike debuff kept on a miss, only the Shaman consumes it, costs 8% of base mana. Restoration: Mana Tide Totem rank at level 38 (ranks at 25, 38, 48, 58); Restorative Totems buffs all of Healing Stream; Tidal Focus and Totemic Focus swap rows; Water Shield procs from any crit.
Warlock: Incubus costs a shard with Reagent Economy; one Curse of Recklessness per target. Affliction: Malediction replaced by Grim Reach (10/20% Affliction range); Shadow Mastery 2/4/6/8/10% (was 1 to 5%). Demonology: Soul Link on your pet works. Destruction: Destructive Reach is 10/20% range.
Warrior: Battle Shout raid wide; Slam immune to pushback; Overpower works against much lower-level enemies. Arms: Sword Specialization not triggered by Shield Bash or Shield Slam. Fury: Lingering Rage no longer stops health regeneration; Improved Berserker Rage removes movement impairments.
Gamepad, items, Legacy, quests, PvP, UI
Gamepad: swing timer on the reticle, voice transcription bindings, targetable bobber, ground-targeted items, trade, guild, chat channel and transmog dialogs. Items: Mystic Mushroom and Insight give Spirit; scrolls incur a global cooldown; profession items sell for less; Draught of Predatory Senses is a combat potion. Legacy: Bartering no longer discounts training and repairs; Master Chef and Luremaster drawn one column left (no change to cost); The Quick and the Dead covers more Priest spells. Quests: Ashenvale, Dalaran, Darkshore, Mulgore, Stormwind, Teldrassil, Wetlands and Zephras Isle fixes. PvP: Marks of Honor stack to 30. UI: unit frames and minimap header redrawn, ranks merged in the Cooldown Manager, auction house equip-level column and suffix stats, scrolling combat text options, nameplate distance culling, level-up stat messages back, Who search by subzone.
Read against the site on 4 Nov 2026. The post is the source; this is the digest.
Posted by Kaivax on , last edited , 2 versions seen.
The WoW Forever stress test: first announced for 19 October, then moved to 21 October. The beta goes offline, the game opens for a few hours on its launch hardware to anyone with a WoW account, no subscription needed, and every character is wiped afterwards, names included.
On this site
Nothing to change on the site: a service notice with no game data in it.
The digest
1 sections, in our words
Notice
Stress test on 21 October (moved from 19 October): 19:00 CEST, 2:00 p.m. PDT, 5:00 a.m. Taipei and 6:00 a.m. Korea on 22 October. Anyone with a WoW account can join. Make a character, quest, trade, chat and group. A complete wipe follows and the beta reopens.
Read against the site on 4 Nov 2026. The post is the source; this is the digest.
Not yet digested. This post was caught on 5 Nov 2026 and has not been read against the site yet. It opens: Continuing the discussion from RP-PVP is a must! (Part 1) - #5110 by Riggy-2969442. Previous discussions: RP-PVP is a must! (Part 1)Read it on Blizzard's forum.
Known issues new on 8 October: Skyborne cat form and various creature, mount and pet textures wait for a later build, Ferocity's pet crit does not show on the character sheet (visual only), and some Professions icons are broken.
On this site
Nothing to change on the site.
The digest
1 sections, in our words
New 8 October
Skyborne druid cat form, Zephras Isle creatures and some mounts and pets get their texture updates later. Ferocity's pet critical strike chance is missing from the character sheet, a display bug. Some Professions window icons are broken.
Read against the site on 4 Nov 2026. The post is the source; this is the digest.
The 8 October build (client 1.60.1.70291): City of Dalaran dungeon opens, dungeon kill XP up 20% and party XP back to Classic's per-member rule, the Legacy Challenge granted to every tester (16 points), Rage-from-damage bugs fixed and Rage rebalanced for questing Warriors, Thorns and Retribution Aura back to Vanilla base values with 6% spell power, early ranks of Frostbolt, Fireball, Arcane Missiles, Wrath, Smite, Lightning Bolt and Shadow Bolt smoothed, Penance toned down, Deep Wounds again required for Impale.
On this site
Talent calculator: talentsforever.com read this build on 8 October (their changelog: Impale needs Deep Wounds, Penance hits softer), and the site has carried it since; later builds have moved on, the trees now show the 4 November state. Natural Instinct (renamed from Predatory Instincts) is in the Feral tree.
Spellbooks: the early-rank smoothing of Frostbolt, Fireball, Arcane Missiles, Wrath, Smite, Lesser Heal, Heal, Lightning Bolt and Shadow Bolt is in the tooltips the client ships. Nothing to change for dungeons, XP, Legacy points, items, PvP, professions, quests or the UI.
The digest
7 sections, in our words
Scope and systems
City of Dalaran dungeon testable. Weapon swaps within one global cooldown work again. Dungeon creature XP up about 20%; party XP for lower-level kills is judged per member as in Classic Era, not by the highest-level member. Classic looting: empty corpses stay clickable.
Cooldown Manager supports every class, racials and trinkets. Gamepad: hold indicators, Edit Mode support for the gamepad bar, per-UI layouts. Legacy: every tester granted the Legacy Challenge (16 points); Legacy respec from 1 silver, dropping one step per hour.
Rage
Rage from damage taken no longer scales with your own health (so Stamina gear stopped reducing it), counts crits and crushing blows properly, and ignores absorbs. Rage gains were rebalanced around 20 to 40% armor by level instead of a tank's 50%.
Druid
Mana potions usable in forms. 100% extra Rage on crits in bear forms (was 75%). Thorns back to Vanilla base damage, 6% spell power (was 13.3%). Cat Form no longer lowers max health. Bear and Dire Bear threat bonus 50% (was 30%). Transformations override forms the Classic way again. Demoralizing Roar generates threat. Wrath ranks 1 to 5 smoothed. Feral: Predatory Instincts renamed Natural Instinct and adds 12/25% of Intellect as spell healing; Shifting Power unusable at full Energy; Thick Hide reimplemented.
Hunter, Mage, Paladin
Hunter: Disengage's threat reduction doubled as intended; pets no longer regain health repeatedly at low health; Unleashed Fury works; Improved Concussive Shot and Improved Wing Clip proc correctly (Wing Clip less with down-ranks); Expose Prey lasts 10 sec; Entrapment has diminishing returns and fires once per Frost Trap.
Mage: Impact no longer procs from Flamestrike ticks; Frostbolt, Fireball and Arcane Missiles early ranks smoothed so each rank is an upgrade.
Paladin: Retribution Aura uses the Paladin's spell power, back to Vanilla base damage (about a third less) with 6% spell power. Protection: Reckoning triggers at most every 1.5 sec; Seal of Fury only returns mana with Improved Seal of Fury; mana returns from Improved Seal of Fury and Shield Specialization generate no threat.
Priest, Shaman, Warlock, Warrior
Priest: Smite, Lesser Heal and Heal early ranks smoothed. Discipline: Penance treated as a 2 sec channel (damage and healing down), rank 1 mana cost up 50%, ranks 2 and 4 heal more.
Shaman: Flametongue Totem uses a shapeshifted target's attack speed; Lightning Bolt ranks 1 to 5 smoothed; Elemental Focus not wasted by Fire Nova; Water Shield tooltips fixed; Mana Tide Totem pulses visibly.
Warlock: your pet is stunned while you summon a new one; Shadow Bolt ranks 1 to 4 smoothed; Demonic Brand only high-threat on Shadow damage.
Warrior: Demoralizing Shout generates threat. Arms: Deep Wounds required for Impale again, and no longer scales with off-hand attack power. Protection: Last Stand grants the right health.
Items, PvP, quests, UI
Wolfshead Helm grants 5 Energy on Shifting Power. Dungeon quest rewards lowered to Uncommon. Truthseeker's Bow needs level 40. Enchanting wands and oils sell for set prices. Gelkis and Magram rewards tuned and will need level 35. Critical strikes in PvP no longer reduced. Attack-power armor kits no longer double ranged attack power.
Quests: dozens of respawn and marker fixes (Barrens, Desolace to level 35, Dun Morogh, Durotar, Duskwood, Excavation Site, Hillsbrad, Loch Modan, Mulgore, Orgrimmar, Redridge, the Rogue and Shaman class quests, Stonetalon, Teldrassil, Tirisfal, the Warrior quest). Capital barbers sacked and replaced.
UI: Discord Voice option for parties, voice mode on Group Finder postings, inspect window, quest types and level requirements shown, View Talents in the target menu, level and class on the character pane.
Known issues new to this build
Skyborne cat form and some creature textures wait for a later build; Ferocity's pet crit does not show on the sheet (visual only); some Professions icons broken.
Read against the site on 4 Nov 2026. The post is the source; this is the digest.
Posted the evening of 1 October: the Warrior changes added to that day's development notes after the fact. 100% extra Rage on crits (was 75%), the Dual Wield Specialization hit bug fixed, and the full Fury and Protection tree rework (Booming Voice, Lingering Rage, Furious Precision, Gore Drinker, Toughness, Improved Cleave and Boundless Rage removed, Flurry behind Death Wish, Berserker Rage at 30, Bloodthirst 45% attack power, Iron Will, Anticipation, Improved Bloodrage, Improved Revenge, Improved Disarm and Improved Shield Bash moved).
On this site
Talent calculator: the Warrior trees followed these changes through talentsforever.com's October reads and were reworked again by the 2 November notes (Enrage to row 3, Reckless Swings, Gore Drinker to row 5, Flurry freed from Death Wish, Improved Whirlwind, Bloodthirst behind Death Wish); the calculator shows the 4 November state. Berserker Rage at level 30 is in the spellbook.
The digest
3 sections, in our words
Warrior
100% extra Rage from critical strikes (was 75%). Dual Wield Specialization no longer grants hit to the main hand.
Fury
Booming Voice is 10 to 50% shout area and 5 to 25% shout Rage cost. Unbridled Wrath even for two-handers. New Lingering Rage (row 2): Rage decays 2 to 10 sec later. Blood Craze not from Bloodthirst. Improved Cleave and Boundless Rage removed. New Furious Precision (row 3): 4/7/10% off-hand hit. Raging Blows cuts Cleave and Whirlwind by 3 Rage; Whirlwind always hits with both weapons. Dual Wield Specialization grants no off-hand hit. Flurry needs Death Wish, not Enrage. New Gore Drinker (row 6, needs Enrage): rage abilities make your next 3 attacks heal 0.5/1% of max health. Improved Berserker Rage to row 5. Berserker Rage at level 30. Bloodthirst 45% attack power (was 35%).
Protection
Iron Will to row 1 (from Fury row 2). Anticipation to row 2. Toughness removed. Improved Bloodrage to row 1. Improved Revenge to row 2. Improved Disarm to row 3. Improved Shield Bash to row 4.
Read against the site on 4 Nov 2026. The post is the source; this is the digest.
Known issues new on 1 October: chained casts hide the next spell's precast effects, enemies parry and block from behind at close range, the install is larger than intended, Gamepad UI switches reset Edit Mode, Scroll of Liminal Passage is broken, Dwarves lack new splash sounds, Eureka! misses some spells, Faerie Fire and Demoralizing Shout cause no threat, Research can lock Mages out, Warrior Dual Wield Specialization grants hit to both hands, Retribution Aura uses the target's spell power, Taillasher Eggs respawn slowly, and the children of Azeroth have hats.
On this site
Nothing to change on the site. The Dual Wield Specialization and Retribution Aura bugs were fixed in the 1 and 8 October builds; the spellbook tooltips describe the intended behaviour.
The digest
1 sections, in our words
New 1 October
Precast effects and sounds of a chained spell wait for the first cast to finish. Enemies can parry and block from behind when you stand close. Install size larger than intended. Switching Gamepad UI resets Edit Mode to the default layout. Scroll of Liminal Passage does not work. Dwarf splash sounds pending. Eureka! does not affect every damaging or healing spell. Faerie Fire and Demoralizing Shout generate no threat. Mages who learn Research can be locked out of it. Dual Wield Specialization grants hit to both hands. Retribution Aura uses the target's spell power. Taillasher Eggs respawn too slowly. Children have hats.
Read against the site on 4 Nov 2026. The post is the source; this is the digest.
Posted by Kaivax on , last edited , build 1.60.1.70170.
The 1 October build: level cap raised to 30, a new dungeon (Excavation Site: Wetlands), Razorfen Downs and Uldaman opened, Tiger's Fury and King of the Jungle removed for Shifting Power, a Fury and Protection Warrior tree rework (five talents moved, Toughness, Improved Cleave and Boundless Rage gone, Lingering Rage, Furious Precision and Gore Drinker new), 75% then 100% extra Rage on crits, Hot Streak renamed Heating Up, Sniper Shot's range buff, dungeon quest XP halved, Honor costs up 50%.
On this site
Talent calculators and spellbooks: the Warrior rework, the Druid Shifting Power talents and the Hunter, Paladin, Priest and Mage talent numbers listed here were read from the client by talentsforever.com in early October and have since been overtaken by the 15 October and 2 November notes; the site shows the 4 November state (Shifting Power and Improved Shifting Power are not where this post put them, see the 2 November entry). Berserker Rage at level 30 is in the Warrior spellbook.
Racials: Eureka! no longer benefiting periodic effects is in the current Eureka! text (non-periodic damaging abilities). Nothing to change for dungeons, camping, items, professions, quests, PvP or the Cooldown Manager: the site has no pages for them.
The digest
9 sections, in our words
Beta scope
Level cap 30. New dungeon Excavation Site: Wetlands (26 to 31); Razorfen Downs (25+) and Uldaman (30+) open, joining Ragefire Chasm, Hall of Thanes, Ruins of Lordaeron, Wailing Caverns, the Deadmines, Shadowfang Keep, the Stockade, Blackfathom Deeps, Gnomeregan, Razorfen Kraul and Scarlet Monastery. Barbershops in Darnassus and Thunder Bluff.
Ray Traced Shadows option removed until fixed; rain visibility improved; weapon sizes made consistent across races.
Druid
Bear and Dire Bear Form generate 75% more Rage on critical strikes. Swipe now scales with 3% of attack power (tooltip lags). Every form is immune to Disarm; Faerie Fire no longer resets the swing timer. Tiger's Fury removed.
Feral: Primal Bite's threat roughly doubled. King of the Jungle removed. New Shifting Power (row 4, under Shredding Attacks): Cat Form only, 16 sec cooldown, converts 55% of base mana into 40 Energy, same cost as Cat Form. New Improved Shifting Power (row 5): cooldown down 4/8 sec.
Hunter
Marksmanship: Sniper Shot has a 45-yard range and extends your next 3 shots within 10 sec by 10 yards. Survival: Deflection's parry is 1/2/3/4/5% (was 2/4/6/8/10%). Pets: Aggressive mode is back in the pet tab; tameable beasts no longer carry pet-ability ranks above their level.
Mage
Comprehension scrolls rebalanced and no longer castable while moving. Fire: Hot Streak renamed Heating Up; Combustion back to 3 charges; Improved Scorch's Fire Vulnerability no longer rolls a second resist. Frost: Winter's Chill no longer rolls to be resisted.
Paladin
Protection: Redoubt's block chance 4/8/12/16/20% (was 6/12/18/24/30%); Holy Shield blocks 30% (was 20%). Retribution: Champion of the Light 20/40/60% of Intellect as spell damage (was 33/66/100%), and its tooltip no longer claims healing.
Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warlock
Priest: Devouring Plague can crit; Shadow Word: Death only benefits from Early Demise below the health threshold; Inner Focus no longer boosts periodic crits; Shadow Weaving always applies. Rogue: a missed Expose Armor keeps your combo points; Setup only adds points against the target you dodged or resisted. Shaman: Ghost Wolf more visible, Disease Cleansing Totem lasts 5 min, Totemic Recall restores mana. Warlock: Drain Soul interrupts on a new cast, Hellfire can crit, Soul Harvesting renamed Soul Harvest and grants its 50/100% mana regeneration, Aggressive mode back for pets.
Warrior
Everyone: 100% extra Rage on basic-attack crits (posted as 75%, raised the same day). Rend and Sunder Armor tap the target. Heroic Strike queueing no longer adds off-hand hit. Arms: Spearing Strike needs Battle Stance, not a two-hander.
Fury rework: Booming Voice is 10/20/30/40/50% shout area and 5/10/15/20/25% shout Rage cost; Unbridled Wrath no longer favours two-handers; new Lingering Rage (row 2, Rage decays 2 to 10 sec later); Blood Craze no longer fires from Bloodthirst; Improved Cleave and Boundless Rage removed; new Furious Precision (row 3, 4/7/10% off-hand hit); Raging Blows cuts Cleave and Whirlwind Rage by 3 and Whirlwind always hits with both weapons; Dual Wield Specialization no longer grants off-hand hit or extra off-hand Rage; Flurry needs Death Wish, not Enrage; new Gore Drinker (row 6, needs Enrage: your rage abilities make your next 3 attacks heal 0.5/1% of max health); Improved Berserker Rage to row 5; Berserker Rage at level 30 (was 32); Bloodthirst 45% attack power (was 35%).
Protection: Iron Will to row 1 (from Fury row 2), Anticipation to row 2, Toughness removed, Improved Bloodrage to row 1, Improved Revenge to row 2, Improved Disarm to row 3, Improved Shield Bash to row 4.
Races, systems, economy
Gnome: Eureka! no longer benefits periodic effects (channels do not count). Undead: Cannibalize fails while immune to Physical damage.
Cooldown Manager tracks racials and Rogues, no duplicate rank entries. Gamepad: stable, compact raid frames, static UI bindings. PvP: Honor costs up about 50%, Honor cap 25,000 (was 15,000). Professions: Shenthul trains Windshaper Skyborne, dropped dungeon recipes added, crafted wands sell for 1 copper, fewer Poor Copper Veins, creatures skinned once.
Quests: dungeon quests give 50% less bonus XP; escort quests start with a full log; multi-drop and shareable-item fixes; faster respawns in Hillsbrad, Ashenvale, Wetlands, Duskwood and Thousand Needles; a new Mulgore quest (Kyle's Gone Missing!); Druid cat-spirit loot fixed; High Order Skyborne can do Power Over Poison.
UI: the character sheet explains that low-rank spells get less spell power and a lower chance to trigger talents (a rank 1 Frostbolt at 60 cannot trigger Frostbite). World instances adjusted; party leaders no longer transferred.
Known issues new to this build
Precast effects of a chained spell wait for the first cast; enemies parry and block from behind at close range; the install is larger than intended; Gamepad UI switches reset Edit Mode; Scroll of Liminal Passage broken; Eureka! misses some spells; Faerie Fire and Demoralizing Shout cause no threat; Research can lock out Mages; Dual Wield Specialization grants hit to both hands; Retribution Aura uses the target's spell power; children have hats.
Read against the site on 4 Nov 2026. The post is the source; this is the digest.
Blizzard plans to grant every beta tester 16 Legacy points in a later week so the Legacy system can be tested without levelling several classes; the grant stays until the beta ends (it landed with the 8 October build).
On this site
Nothing to change on the site: the legacy perks page shows the perks, not anyone's points.
The digest
1 sections, in our words
Notice
All testers to receive 16 Legacy points in a future beta week, kept until the end of the beta.
Read against the site on 4 Nov 2026. The post is the source; this is the digest.
The 24 September known-issues update: two quest issues marked resolved for the next build (Sentinel Lynessa Duskblossom's speed, Snowbound's XP) and the Cooldown Manager's gaps listed as new issues (banes and curses lose tracking on retarget, Healthstone, Arcane Blast, pet cooldowns and weapon enchants untrackable, Priest tracks everything, the mana gem needs a cast first), plus party changes moving players between world instances, the Stormwind minimap and missing combo points on the Personal Resource Display.
On this site
Nothing to change on the site; the same list appears at the foot of the 24 September development notes.
Cooldown Manager: banes and curses lose tracking on retarget; Healthstone, Arcane Blast, pet cooldowns and item enhancements (Windfury, poisons) cannot be tracked; Priest tracks every spell by default; the mana gem needs one more cast. Changing party composition can move players to another world instance. Stormwind minimap misdraws. Personal Resource Display shows no combo points.
Read against the site on 4 Nov 2026. The post is the source; this is the digest.
Posted by Kaivax on , last edited , build 1.60.1.70009, 6 versions seen.
The first full development notes of the beta, posted 24 September (the fifth beta build): class tuning across all nine classes, three talent-tree edits (Improved Holy Strike gone, Elemental Fury and Elemental Alacrity swapped, Bastion and Focused Rage swapped), Mangle renamed Primal Bite, a flat 10% Eureka! for every Gnome, a level rule for Tauren Cultivation, the first look at the Cooldown Manager, gamepad flyouts, and a 1 silver respec for the rest of the beta. Every later set of notes (1, 8, 15 and 26 October, 2 November) is a reply in this same thread and has its own entry below; the thread is renamed after the newest one.
On this site
Superseded in large part: the 1 October, 8 October, 15 October and 2 November notes below changed many of these numbers again, and the site's data on 4 November (client 1.60.1.70755 with the 2 November notes applied) reflects the latest state, not this post.
Talent calculators and spellbooks: the talentsforever.com exports of 25 and 26 September read this build's files, so the trees already show Primal Bite and Blood Frenzy, the Elemental Fury and Elemental Alacrity swap, Improved Holy Strike gone from Holy, the Bloodthrill, Improved Slam, Vengeance, Two-Handed Weapon Specialization, Sacred Arbiter, Twist of Light, Holy Power, Hot Streak, Wake of Fire and Strider Kick numbers, Holy Strike's weapon damage climbing 25% to 50% across its ranks, Slam's 18 sec cooldown and Righteous Fury at 60%. The files also dropped Crusade from Retribution, which the notes do not mention.
Not in the files: the notes say Bastion and Focused Rage swap rows for Protection Warriors, but build 70009's data still has Bastion in row 5 and Focused Rage in row 6. The Warrior calculator shows the files and will follow the build that carries the swap.
Racials: the Eureka! text on the racials page already described the 10% version, so it gained a note about the per-class values it replaced. Cultivation gained its level rule. Touch of the Grave's text already said it only fires from damaging effects and does not break crowd control.
Pets: the pets page shows the export's Furious Howl numbers. Sonic Blast is not listed for Bats in the export yet, and Tame Beast's tooltip does not mention the level limit; both wait on the next upstream read.
Nothing to change for the respec price, the Cooldown Manager, gamepad support, items or quests: the site has no pages for them.
The digest
14 sections, in our words
All classes
Respec costs 1 silver for the rest of the beta if you have not reset talents in the last hour. The first reset after a change costs more, then it drops back to 1 silver after an hour.
Druid
Rejuvenation, Tranquility and Wild Growth can now land critical hits.
Wrath base damage up about 50%.
Thorns now scales with the caster's spell power and falls back to base values when the caster is gone or far away.
Mangle is now Primal Bite; its debuff is gone, and every talent that named Mangle names Primal Bite. Primal Fury is Blood Frenzy again, with the old icon.
Feral Charge (Cat) can no longer be cast on allies.
Hunter
Furious Howl's attack power bonus is down 40%. Bats now get Sonic Blast. Tame Beast fails on beasts above your level.
Untalenting Lone Wolf no longer leaves a 4% damage penalty while a pet is out.
Lacerating Strikes can crit. Strider Kick now gives 30% movement speed for 3 sec.
Mage
Arcane Missiles checks line of sight once, when the channel starts, so a target stepping out of sight no longer stops the missiles.
Wake of Fire lasts 30 sec (was 20). Hot Streak lasts 20 sec (was 15). Ignite no longer double-dips on percentage damage modifiers.
Paladin
Retribution Aura scales with spell power. Consecration fixes: its damage bonus applies to every target and it no longer reaches or pulls targets above or below the caster.
Holy Strike does 25/29/32/36/39/43/46/50% weapon damage by rank (was 25/25/30/30/35/35/40/40%), so every new rank is an upgrade. Echo of Justice proc chance corrected. Righteous Fury adds 60% Holy threat (was 90%).
Holy: Holy Strike's cooldown is 10 sec for everyone (was 12), Improved Holy Strike leaves the tree, Holy Power adds 15% crit chance to Holy Strike on top of its old effects, and Light's Vigil's tooltip is clearer about which version refunds mana.
Retribution: Vengeance triggers on non-periodic crits and caps at 3 stacks (was 5). Two-Handed Weapon Specialization is 2/4/6% (was 3/6/9%). Sacred Arbiter raises Holy Strike damage 20% (was 10%). Twist of Light also cuts Seal mana costs by 20%.
Priest
Renew can crit. Power Word: Shield overwrites an existing shield on a target without Weakened Soul.
Gnome: Contingency Plan can crit; Confounding Flash has a Holy cast visual and new sounds. Night Elf: Starshards gains pushback resistance from Twilight Focus. Undead: Dark Sacrifice no longer breaks crowd control and its tooltip says the mana scales with Spirit.
Rogue
Sap on a PvP-flagged target now flags the Rogue.
Shaman
Lightning Bolt ranks 3 and 4 do more damage, so they are upgrades despite their longer cast times.
Totems: Windfury and Flametongue Totem buffs carry the totem's name. Flametongue Totem has no duration, is replaced by the next totem, no longer stacks with itself, with Flametongue Weapon or with Windfury Totem. Tranquil Air, Windfury and Grace of Air totems no longer stack across Shamans.
Elemental: Elemental Fury (row 3) and Elemental Alacrity (row 6) trade places, so the cast-speed talent comes early. Lava Burst ranks 1 and 2 do about 10% more base damage than the Lightning Bolt learned at the same level.
Enhancement: Rage of the Far Seer no longer speeds up spell casting. Restoration: Riptide can crit.
Warlock
Life Tap's tooltip shows the real amount converted and says it scales with Spirit. Voidwalker Sacrifice scales with 10% of the Warlock's spell healing.
Warrior
Sunder Armor threat corrected on every rank, with a small increase from attack power.
Protection: Bastion (row 5) and Focused Rage (row 6) swap places so Focused Rage comes before Shield Slam.
Arms: Bloodthrill procs 4/8/12/16/20% (was 2/4/6/8/10%) and only from main-hand attacks, Cleave and Heroic Strike included. Slam's cooldown is 18 sec (was 15); Improved Slam cuts it by 1.5/3 sec.
Races
Gnome: Eureka! is a 10% discount on Mana, Rage or Energy abilities for every class.
Human: Will to Survive's visual now matches Dispel Magic. Tauren: Cultivation needs a character level of each herb's Herbalism requirement divided by 5; herbs above 300 skill grow at 60.
Undead: Touch of the Grave only fires from effects with a damage part and no longer breaks crowd control: Shadow Word: Pain triggers it on cast but not per tick; Distract, Pick Pocket and Polymorph never trigger it.
Cooldown Manager and gamepad
The Cooldown Manager lifts important cooldowns and buffs into a movable frame. Off by default (Options, Gameplay Enhancement); Druid, Mage, Priest, Warrior and Warlock can test it, more classes later. It does not track spell ranks yet. Blizzard wants to hear which spells should be tracked by default.
Gamepad: shapeshift, pet, aura and stance flyouts on the action bar; the pet bar no longer replaces the bottom bar; new options for a compact action bar, fixed party targeting and swapping the targeting sides.
Items and quests
Some guns and bows were not using ammunition; they do now. Quest reward item levels corrected, a few early caster rewards adjusted. Minor, Lesser and plain Wizard Oil are back at Classic's 8, 16 and 24 spell power; Brilliant is unchanged. Wands no longer gain damage from spell power.
Twenty-odd quest fixes across Dun Morogh, Durotar, Elwynn Forest, Mulgore, Silverpine, Teldrassil, Westfall, Undercity and Zephras Isle, mostly respawn times and drop rates. Khonsu's arrival in Silithus is out of the beta and returns later.
Known issues new to this build
Cooldown Manager gaps: banes and curses lose tracking on retarget, Healthstone, Arcane Blast, pet cooldowns and weapon enchants cannot be tracked, Priest tracks everything by default, the mana gem needs another cast first. Changing party composition can move you to another world instance. The Stormwind minimap misdraws. The Personal Resource Display shows no combo points.
Read against the site on 4 Nov 2026. The post is the source; this is the digest.
Posted by Kaivax on , last edited , 4 versions seen.
The running known-issues list, opened with the beta on 17 September and edited in place up to 8 October; each later batch of new issues is a reply in this thread and has its own entry below. Several items it marked as fixed in the next build (Starshards and Twilight Focus, Vengeance on periodic crits, Holy Strike's ranks, Coldridge Valley on the map) landed in the 24 September notes.
On this site
Nothing to change on the site. Worth knowing when reading the spellbooks: the character sheet under-reports pet stats and glancing-blow numbers, so in-game sheet values can disagree with the tooltips here without either being wrong.
The digest
1 sections, in our words
Still open on 24 September
Barber chairs throw a Lua error; character friends are disabled in the beta; the minimap can sit partly off screen; the character pane hides level, class and titles.
Pets: mana, health-from-Stamina, hit and expertise on the pet sheet do not show the master's scaling; movement speed shows wrong base values.
Glancing blows: caster chance and penalty wrong at every level; melee penalty wrong against higher-level targets, so the sheet's glancing numbers are off.
Opening the Legacy window with Y before level 25 throws Lua errors on two tabs. Guild charters can be handed in unsigned as a workaround. Bear Form multiplies consumable and buff armor. Queueing Heroic Strike, Cleave or Raptor Strike disables the spell queue window. Arcane Missiles fires a full-damage bolt when you take damage while channeling. Resurrection sickness lasts the wrong time at low levels. The Cooldown Manager is unfinished and varies by class.
Read against the site on 4 Nov 2026. The post is the source; this is the digest.
Five issues added to the known-issues list on 18 September: the unfinished Cooldown Manager, Bear Form multiplying consumable and buff armor, on-next-attack abilities disabling the spell queue window, Arcane Missiles firing a full bolt when damaged while channeling, and resurrection sickness lasting the wrong time at low levels.
On this site
Nothing to change on the site; these are listed in the 17 September digest's still-open items.
The digest
1 sections, in our words
Added 18 September
Cooldown Manager varies by class. Consumable and buff armor is multiplied by Bear Form. Queueing Heroic Strike, Cleave or Raptor Strike disables the spell queue window. Arcane Missiles fires a full-damage bolt when you are hit while channeling. Resurrection sickness lasts the wrong time at low levels.
Read against the site on 4 Nov 2026. The post is the source; this is the digest.
How this page works
A watcher reads the WoW: Forever Beta Discussion forum every 30 minutes and keeps a copy of every post made by Blizzard staff there, replies included: Blizzard posts each build's notes as a new reply in the same thread and edits older posts in place, so a reply or an edit counts as much as a new thread. When one moves, this page republishes at once with the post marked as not yet digested, and the digest follows once the post has been read against the talent calculators, the spellbooks, the racials and the pets. The talent and spell text itself comes from the beta client's files through talentsforever.com, usually within a day of a build; the digest says when the notes and the files disagree.
The posts are Blizzard's; the digests are Sixty Forever's own words with Blizzard's numbers, and every entry links the post it was read from. Spotted a change we have not caught, or a digest that reads a note wrong? Tell us. This page's data is available as JSON.
Sixty Forever