World of Warcraft News and Raiding Strategies

Greetings,

The WoW Classic team wanted to take a moment dig into a few adjustments we plan to make next week as well as share some details about how the next few phases of Season of Discovery will handle endgame raiding and our thought process around this.

XP Buff and Leveling

When we first concepted Season of Discovery we knew we wanted alts to be a major fixture of the experience, and so we decided to add an XP buff, Discoverer’s Delight, into previous level bands at the beginning of each phase. This is great for existing characters that were not yet at the current level cap or were new characters created after the phase changes, but if you went into phase 2 with several characters at 25 already, it can be a little daunting to level them right now. We’ve been considering ways to help with this over the past several days and we’ve made adjustments to our existing plans.

• Starting next week (March 5th, with maintenance), the Discoverer’s Delight XP buff will be enabled on all realms, increasing XP gained from levels 1-39 by 100% (up from 50%).
  
  • We had always intended to increase Discoverer’s Delight to a 100% buff from 1-39 when phase 3 launches, so this is merely moving this change forward from the start of next phase, to a mid-point of this current phase.
• Alongside Discoverer’s Delight adjustments, we’ll also be reducing the cost of normal racial mounts and mount training by roughly half at level 40. We do not have changes planned for epic mounts at 60 at this time.
• Lastly, we will also be increasing the base gold reward from all quest rewards while players are level 1-39.
  
  • Please note that this bonus gold will NOT be in effect at level 40, meaning this will not impact the XP->Gold conversion for quests completed at the current max level. This will help equalize things and make questing while leveling a bit more lucrative, which will help players with things like purchasing new skills and buying their mount, since they will be leveling twice as fast.

Going forward, we are also looking at leveling adjustments for when phase 3 launches and the level cap raises to 50. We’d also like to continue to make mid-phase adjustments like this to help smooth over the leveling curve for alts a bit, or help those leveling a bit slower to get that nudge over the finish line. We think alts are great and we want you to feel good about playing them, and we think this will help.

Raid Size at level 60

Recently a hot topic of debate is the raid size at level 60 and we’ve been watching the commentary on this closely. To help quell confusion, here’s a look at exactly what to expect in the net few phases in terms of raid size:

• The yet-to-be-announced level 50 raid will be a 20 player experience
• Molten Core will also be a 20 player experience in Season of Discovery

Past that, we are still discussing exactly what raiding in the later tiers of Season of Discovery will look like in terms of raid size.

For a bit of background, when we first concepted Season of Discovery we felt that it was perfectly natural for a version of Original World of Warcraft to have 40 player raids. This is partially because the development time needed to scale them was not planned within the scope of what we set out to accomplish on the aggressive schedule we have, but mostly because 40 player raids felt like such a defining characteristic of Original WoW and are utterly unique to this version of the game. It wasn’t really even in consideration to eschew them entirely.

When we set out to create our level-up raids however, we did feel that asking people to field 40 players would be a tall ask at level 25. We wanted these first few raids to be somewhat easy to form pick-up groups for as well. As a result, we decided on 10-player experiences instead for the first two level-up raids. As we’ve played the game ourselves and watched how players approach community building, we’ve realized that we’ve set some communities up to potentially struggle a bit by asking them to recruit up from one or two 10-player raid groups to a full 40, should they choose to. As a result, we wanted make it clear now what our plans are to start “bridging” from 10 player raids to higher raid sizes.

While overhauling all 40 player raids down to 20 would be theoretically possible, this may be prohibitively difficult and detract significantly from the other features and content we have planned to implement in a post-60 Season of Discovery. We are doing some investigation now to help us understand what would be needed and what the framework of the Original WoW data can support in this regard. There are some features that just cannot currently exist in Original WoW as well, such as Flex Raiding, so we are constrained in exactly what we are able to do here. Molten Core is definitely unique here in that it is simple enough mechanically and under the hood that it would be relatively easy to pare down to a 20 player experience.

Itemization changes at level 60

One thing we’ve also not talked about yet is our thoughts around level 60 endgame rewards and the very significant changes we have planned there, and that may also be a key piece of context missing to help illustrate our philosophy on different raid sizes in Season of Discovery.

• We currently plan to revamp many items from dungeons and raids (including the existing 20 player raids) at level 60, as well as adding new items across all phases of endgame. We have a ton of exciting playstyles that are new or were traditionally seen as “off specs” that have been given life in Season of Discovery and will come into their full power at 60. We want to itemize well for as many different builds and playstyles as we are able to in the time we have.
• We currently also have plans to make adjustments to the difficulty of all raids, as well as the power level of rewards available. This does not mean making raids harder or easier across the board relative to player power, but looking individually at each experience and defining what those experiences are about and what their purpose is.
  
  • Theoretical Example: A raid that may have traditionally been considered to be “catchup” raid such as Zul’Gurub could see adjustments that bring their challenge level up slightly, but also greatly increase the quality and diversity of the rewards so that they feel like a viable progression path alongside other current content in that phase, such as Blackwing Lair.
  • On the flip side, we also always wanted to make sure that any 40 player raids that exist remain approachable (i.e. able to be completed in pick-up groups) and that they maintain that “soda and pretzels” feel of 2019 Classic raiding, where you could bring almost any group composition or experience level and have success.

We think that adjusting the quality of rewards to a more consistent level between different raid sizes could help provide a larger “menu” of activities to do that all feel rewarding or worth doing to a wide variety of players or playstyles, and add a lot of fun things for players to chase to increase the efficacy of their chosen Season of Discovery role or playstyle.

Ultimately, we recognize that not knowing what’s coming can be a cause for anxiety. We also recognize that what we set out to create and the audience we created it for have grown and evolved in the short time since we announced Season of Discovery. It’s also difficult for players outside of our development process to understand what the true “endgame” is for SoD without us being extremely specific, but it is a bit too soon to really share the nitty gritty details on every aspect of the level 60 endgame. Some things are still in concept, and other things will change based on other future learnings and where your feedback takes us. We want to arrive at a place where, ideally, if your guild wants to strictly stick to a smaller raid team of 20 people the rewards are compelling enough that you don’t feel “behind” a team focused on 40 player raiding.

We want your feedback!

In closing, what we’d really like to hear from you is feedback on what you want. While we think that 40 player raiding is important to Original World of Warcraft, we are also interested in doing the thing that will create the most enjoyment to the most amount of players, but ideally not also remove enjoyment from another large contingent of players so long as it is feasible to do. This is one of the great challenges of being the custodians of this game. There are many people who want very different things from Season of Discovery and Classic at this time, and our team has constraints in what we can accomplish as we are moving full speed through these releases. We are going to continue to do our best to strike a balance and compromise between a great many perspectives, while still trying to keep key aspects of Classic WoW, Classic. The best way we can do that and prioritize the right changes is for you to share your feedback and constructive suggestions with us to help us forge the right path forward together.

We appreciate the time everyone has taken to comment on this and other issues. We hope to hear from you on this, and we hope to be able to share even more information very soon. Thank you!

-The WoW Classic Dev Team

The War Within expansion introduces Hero Talents as a new update to World of Warcraft classes. They are an evergreen form of character progression for each class specialization that introduces new powers and class fantasies. Feedback is critical to us as a part of creating an impactful and fun addition to the game, so we are sharing our goals for Hero Talents with the community to get first impressions of them and learn how well we’re meeting those goals.

In this article, we take a closer look at the philosophies around Hero Talents for eight more trees: Elune’s Chosen and Wildstalker Druids, Scalecommander Evoker, Herald of the Sun and Templar Paladins, Trickster Rogue, Diabolist Warlock, and Colossus Warrior.

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What Are Hero Talents?
Hero Talents are new, self-contained talent trees that players unlock access at level 71. Hero Talents build on the abilities and talents of current classes and specializations. Players can choose a single Hero Talent tree to activate on a character and these talents can be changed in the same way class talents can be currently changed in the game. There are three Hero Talent trees for each class (excepting druid with four and demon hunter with two). Each specialization has two Hero Talent trees they can choose between, and each of these trees is available as an option for two specializations.

For example, warriors have three Hero Talent tree options: Slayer, Colossus, and Mountain Thane. Fury has access to Mountain Thane and Slayer, Protection has access to Mountain Thane and Colossus, and Arms has access to Colossus and Slayer.


There are 11 nodes in a Hero Talent tree. The first of these unlocks with the system at level 71, and you earn 1 talent point per level from level 71 to 80, so you get every talent in the tree by level 80. Hero Talents will have starter builds available, and your saved builds will save your Hero Talent choices as well.

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What to Expect from Hero Talents
Each Hero Talent tree starts with a “keystone” talent that introduces the core mechanic and concept of the tree. This could be a new ability, an enhancement to an existing ability or cooldown, or a new buff you can trigger. The bottom talent of each tree is a “capstone” talent that builds on the core themes of the tree or adds new power to the keystone.

Each tree will offer or modify some class utility and include defensive bonuses that are useful to all specializations. We are aiming for all trees to be about equal in the amount of utility and defensiveness they provide. Trees for characters that can take on a tanking role may have some additional defense bonuses that will be less valuable to healers or damage dealers (DPS), such as bonuses to tank talents or cooldowns. Three or four nodes in each tree will be choice nodes where you can choose between two options.

Hero Talents are meant to add enough damage or healing throughput to be significant without being so important that these new talents overshadow your current class and spec tree talents. Most Hero Talent trees add new visual effects to classes, both to communicate what they’re doing and bring their class fantasies to life. However, these are not complete visual reworks – your class and spec are still the same at their core, and that will continue to come through.

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Maintaining Freedom to Choose
We want players to be free to choose the Hero Talent tree that has the gameplay, visuals, or flavor that they prefer. Our goal is for both options to feel similarly effective in raid dungeons, Mythic+, and PvP. We're working to avoid abilities or bonuses in Hero Talents that could make a certain tree feel "required" for activities where we can.

We know that for some players, prioritizing total throughput is the most important thing to them, even if the difference between choices seems small. That’s okay but keeping Hero Talent balance close is one of our priorities so that players can play what they prefer and still be viable in any content.

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How We Chose Hero Talent Concepts
Since we announced Hero Talents at BlizzCon, it's been great to see all the conversation and speculation surrounding the 39 Hero Talent titles. We'd like to share some of the thinking that went behind choosing those concepts.

Each Hero Talent concept must be appropriate for both of the specs that can use it. Some concepts build on overlaps in abilities or flavors between the two specs that can use it, like Colossus warriors, which are as mighty as Arms warriors and as imposing as Protection warriors. Others create new themes that are appropriate for both specs, like Fatebound rogues.

Hero Talents also retain your combat role and the gear that you use so that you're not competing for new types of gear. For iconic Warcraft character archetypes, we wanted to be sure that we could deliver on their fantasy with World of Warcraft’s classes. Blademasters just wouldn’t be Blademasters without abilities like Wind Walk and Mirror Image, but those abilities don’t fit in a warrior’s toolkit.

Lastly, there are several iconic character archetypes that are strongly tied to specific races and factions, such as Keeper of the Grove or Mountain Thane. It’s exciting to embody these storied archetypes, but we want to ensure that characters of every race and faction can see themselves as those archetypes. We’re open to feedback on what feels good for your characters versus what is frustrating.

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Gameplay and Hero Talents
We have several goals for what it feels like to play World of Warcraft with Hero Talents. Here are some of our guiding principles for how they affect your capabilities, your rotation, what you pay attention to in combat, and your user interface.

We like to say on the team that our goal for Hero Talents gameplay is for them to make you “what you are, but more.” We know that many of you have long histories with your favorite classes, and you play them because you like their gameplay and the spells and abilities that matter in their rotation, whether it’s the spinning plates of Affliction, the cycles of Arcane, or the frenetic reactivity of Fury. Hero Talents don’t override what matters to a class. You should feel like you’re playing your spec with a twist or a boost and not as if the things you care about have become unimportant or been replaced.

A Hero Talent tree might add new behavior or bonuses to an existing ability, like Keeper of the Grove’s bonuses to Force of Nature and Grove Guardian treants. They might occasionally reset the cooldown on abilities or replace spells with more powerful versions. They might make it easier to maintain important buffs or grant additional resources at key moments.

One thing that we’re keeping a close eye on is complexity. Classes in WoW have a lot of abilities and talents, and there’s a lot to learn about each one. We want Hero Talents to add new fun without creating new burdens, either in customizing or playing a character. Most Hero Talent trees do not add new buttons that players will need to add to their action bar or find a new keybind for. There will be additional opportunities for players to express their skill, but we’re trying not to add things like complex maintenance buffs that increase the cognitive load for everyone playing a class. Most of the choices a player will make about how complex they want their rotation to be will continue to be made in their class and spec talent trees.

Some Hero Talents do require you to take certain talents in your class or spec trees to access their powers. This is often because those talents fit the flavor and theme of that specific Hero Talent tree. The Mountain Thane warrior tree enhances Avatar and Thunder Clap, Templar paladin gives extra power to Wake of Ashes, and Elune’s Chosen druids can cast a particularly strong Fury of Elune. However, a Hero Talent tree will only ever require or enhance a small number of class or spec talents. It's important to us that there still is freedom in customizing your class build.

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Show Us the Hero Talent Trees!

Over the coming months, we’ll continue to share full designs for Hero Talent trees from The War Within. We’re excited to hear what you think of them.

Below, you’ll find the Hero Talents for Elune’s Chosen and Wildstalker Druids, Scalecommander Evoker, Herald of the Sun and Templar Paladins, Trickster Rogue, Diabolist Warlock, and Colossus Warrior.


Elune's Chosen Druid

Specializations: Balance and Guardian

Dedicate yourself to the Moon Goddess, increasing your control over the moon and stars. Infuse abilities with astral might and call down potent lunar magic from the sky.


ELUNE’S CHOSEN KEYSTONE

Boundless Moonlight:

• Fury of Elune (Balance and Guardian) now ends with a flash of energy, blasting nearby enemies for Astral damage.
  
• Full Moon (Balance) calls down 2 Minor Moons that deal Astral damage and generate 3 Astral Power.
  
• Lunar Beam (Guardian) now causes you to leech life equal to 10% of all damage dealt to enemies within the beam.

ELUNE’S CHOSEN ROW 1

Moon Guardian: (Balance) Moonfire and Starfire generate 2 additional Astral Power. (Guardian) Free automatic Moonfires from Galactic Guardian generate 5 Rage.

Lunar Insight:Moonfiredeals 10% additional damage.

Glistening Fur:Bear Form and Moonkin Form reduce Arcane damage taken by 6% and all other magic damage taken by 3%.

ELUNE’S CHOSEN ROW 2

Lunar Amplification:Each non-Arcane damaging ability you use increases the damage of your next Arcane damaging ability by 3%, stacking up to 3 times.

Atmospheric Exposure: Enemies damaged by Full Moon, Fury of Elune, or Lunar Beam take 4% increased damage from you for 6 seconds.

Choice Node: Moondust and Elune’s Grace

• Moondust:Enemies affected by Moonfire are slowed by 30%.
  
• Elune’s Grace: Using Wild Charge in Bear Form or Moonkin Form incurs a 3 second shorter cooldown.

ELUNE’S CHOSEN ROW 3

Choice Node:Stellar Command and Lunar Calling

• Stellar Command Increases the damage of Full Moon by 15% (Balance). Increases the damage of Lunar Beam by 30% (Guardian.) Increases the damage of Fury of Elune by 15% (Balance/Guardian.)
  
• Lunar Calling:Starfire deals 40% increased damage to its primary target, but no longer triggers Solar Eclipse. Thrash now deals Arcane damage, and its damage is increased by 12%.

Choice Node: The Light of Elune and Astral Insight

• The Light of Elune: Moonfiredamage has a chance to call down Fury of Elune to follow your target for 3 seconds and generates 18 Astral Power or Rage over its duration.
  
• Astral Insight: Incarnation: Chosen of Elune and Incarnation: Guardian of Ursoc increase Arcane damage from spells and abilities by 10% while active. Convoke the Spirits duration and number of spells cast increased by 25%.

Choice Node: Arcane Affinity and Lunation

• Arcane Affinity: All Arcane damage from your spells and abilities is increased by 3%.
  
• Lunation: Your Arcane abilities reduce the cooldown of Fury of Elune by 2 seconds and the cooldown of New Moon, Half Moon, and Full Moon by 1 second. Your Arcane abilities reduce the cooldown of Lunar Beam by 3 seconds.

ELUNE’S CHOSEN CAPSTONE
The Eternal Moon: Increases the power of Boundless Moonlight:

• Fury of Elune (Balance and Guardian): The flash of energy now generates 6 Astral Power or 6 Rage and its damage is increased by 50%.
  
• Full Moon (Balance): New Moon and Half Moon now also call down 1 Minor Moon.
  
• Lunar Beam (Guardian): Lunar Beam increases Mastery by an additional 8%, deals 30% increased damage, and lasts 3 seconds longer

Wildstalker Druid

Specializations: Feral and Restoration

Wildstalkers are druids who feel such an affinity for the remote wilds of the world that they live amongst them, mostly in cat form, hunting to perpetuate the cycle of life and death and destroy those who would despoil nature. They use their healing powers to restore life to barren spaces and the creatures who live there.


WILDSTALKER KEYSTONE

Thriving Growth: Rip and Rake damage has a chance to cause Bloodseeker Vines to grow on the victim, dealing bleed damage over 6 seconds.&

Wild Growth, Rejuvenation, and Efflorescence have a chance to cause Symbiotic Blooms to grow on the target, healing over 6 seconds. Multiple instances of these can overlap.

WILDSTALKER ROW 1

Hunt Beneath the Open Skies: Damage and healing while in Cat Form increased by 5%. Moonfire and Sunfire damage increased by 10%.

Strategic Infusion: Tiger’s Fury and attacking from Prowl increases the chance for Shred, Rake, and Brutal Slash to critically strike by 8% for 6 sec. Casting Regrowth increases the chance for your periodic heals to critically heal by 10% for 6 sec.

Wildstalker’s Power:Rip Damage increased by 6%. Ferocious Bite damage increased by 4%. Rejuvenation healing increased by 3%. Efflorescence and Lifebloom healing increased by 6%.

WILDSTALKER ROW 2

Wildstalker’s Prescence:Wild Growth and Rake last 20% longer.

Choice Node:Entangling Vortex and Flower Walk

• Entangling Vortex: Enemies pulled intoUrsol’s Vortex are rooted in place for 6 seconds. Damage may cancel the effect.
  
• Flower Walk: During Barkskin your movement speed is increased by 10% and every second flowers grow beneath your feet that heal up to 3 nearby injured allies.

Choice Node: Bond with Nature & Harmonious Constitution

• Bond with Nature: Healing you receive is increased by 10%.
  
• Harmonious Constitution: Your Regrowth’s healing on yourself is increased by 50%.

WILDSTALKER ROW 3

Choice Node: Resilient Flourishing and Root Network

• Resilient Flourishing: Bloodseeker Vines and Symbiotic Blooms last 2 additional seconds. When a target afflicted by Bloodseeker Vines dies, the vines jump to a nearby unaffected target for their remaining duration.
  
• Root Network: Each active Bloodseeker Vine increases the damage your abilities deal by 2%. Each active Symbiotic Bloom increases the healing of your Lifebloom and Wild Growth by 2%.

Bursting Growth: When Bloodseeker Thorns expire they explode in thorns, dealing physical damage to nearby enemies. Damage reduced above 5 targets. When Symbiotic Blooms expire, flowers grow around their target, healing them and up to 3 nearby allies.

Choice Node: Twin Sprouts and Implant

• Twin Sprouts: When Bloodseeker Vines or Symbiotic Blooms grow, they have a 10% chance to cause another growth of the same type to immediately grow on a valid nearby target.
  
• Implant: Feral Frenzy immediately causes a Bloodseeker Vine to grow on the target. Casting Regrowth that is made instant via Nature’s Swiftness causes a Symbiotic Bloom to grow on the target.

WILDSTALKER CAPSTONE

Vigorous Creepers: Bloodseeker Vines increase the damage your abilities deal to affected enemies by 10%. Symbiotic Blooms increase the healing your spells do to affected targets by 8%.


Scalecommander Evoker

Specializations: Augmentation and Devastation

Scalecommanders are the chosen generals of the Dracthyr, specializing in calling targets and inspiring those around them. They are experts in using flight during a battle, and are often seen leading the charge while in the sky.


SCALECOMMANDER KEYSTONE

Mass Eruptions / Mass Disintegrate: Empower spells cause your next Disintegrate (Devastation) and Eruption (Augmentation) to strike up to 3 targets. When striking less than 3 targets, Disintegrate or Eruption damage is increased by 25% for each missing target.

SCALECOMMANDER ROW 1

Might of the Black Dragonflight: Black spells deal 10% increased damage.

Bombardments: Mass Disintegrate marks your primary target for destruction for the next 10 seconds. You and your allies have a chance to trigger a Bombardment when attacking marked targets, dealing Volcanic damage split amongst all nearby enemies.

Onslaught: Entering combat grants a charge of Burnout, causing your next Living Flame to cast instantly.

SCALECOMMANDER ROW 2

Melt Armor: Deep Breath (Devastation) and Breath of Eons (Augmentation] cause enemies to take 20% increased damage from Bombardments and Essence abilities for 12 seconds.

Wingleader: Bombardments reduce the cooldown of Deep Breath (Devastation) and Breath of Eons (Augmentation) by 1 second for each target struck, up to 3 seconds.

Unrelenting Siege: For each second you are in combat, Azure Strike and Living Flame deal 1% increased damage, up to 50%.

SCALECOMMANDER ROW 3

Choice Node: Hardened Scales and Menacing Presence

• Hardened Scales: Obsidian Scales reduces damage taken by an additional 5%.
  
• Menacing Presence: Knocking an enemy up or backward reduces their damage done to you by 15% for 8 seconds.

Choice Node: Extended Battle and Diverted Power

• Extended Battle: Essence abilities extend Bombardments by 1 second.
  
• Diverted Power: Bombardments have a chance to generate Essence Burst.

Choice Node: Nimble Flyer and Tailwinds

• Nimble Flyer: While Hovering, damage taken from area of effect attacks is reduced by 10%.
  
• Tailwinds: Deep Breath (Devastation) and Breath of Eons (Augmentation) reset the cooldown of Hover.

SCALECOMMANDER CAPSTONE

Maneuverability: Deep Breath (Devastation) and Breath of Eons (Augmentation) can now be steered in your desired direction. In addition, Deep Breath (Devastation) and Breath of Eons (Augmentation) burn targets for Volcanic damage over 12 seconds.


Herald of the Sun Paladin

Specializations: Holy and Retribution

Heralds of the Sun infuse themselves with Radiant Solar energy to inflict burns on enemies and cauterize their allies’ wounds. They are deeply bonded to this power and can manifest potent solar rays while fully connected to the Light.


HERALD OF THE SUN KEYSTONE

Sunspot: Wake of Ashes (Retribution) and Holy Prism (Holy) cause your next 2 Holy Power spending abilities to create a Sunspot on your target, dealing Radiant damage or healing over 8 seconds. 10% of Sunspots damage and healing radiates to nearby allies or enemies, reduced beyond 5 targets.

HERALD OF THE SUN ROW 1

Choice Node: Morning Star and Gleaming Rays

• Morning Star: Every 5 sec, your next Sunspot’s damage or healing is increased by 5%, stacking up to 10 times. Morning Star stacks twice as fast while out of combat.
  
• Gleaming Rays: While a Sunspot is active, your abilities that use Holy Power deal 10% increased additional damage or healing.

Eternal Flame: Heals an ally immediately and over an additional 20 seconds. Healing increased by 25% when cast on self. Replaces Word of Glory, costs 3 Holy Power.

Luminosity: Critical strike chance of Hammer of Wrath and Divine Storm (Retribution) and Holy Shock and Light of Dawn (Holy) increased by 10%.

HERALD OF THE SUN ROW 2

Choice Node: Illumine and Will of the Dawn

• Illumine: Sunspots reduce the movement speed of enemies by 50% and increase the movement speed of allies by 20%.
  
• Will of the Dawn: Movement speed increased by 5% while above 80% health. When your health is brought below 35%, your movement speed is increased by 40% for 5 seconds. Cannot occur more than once every 60 seconds.

Choice Node: Eternal Sun and Lingering Radiance

• Eternal Sun: Sunspot’s duration is increased by 2 seconds and Eternal Flame’s duration is increased by 3 seconds.
  
• Lingering Radiance: Sunspots leave an Eternal Flame for 12 seconds on allies or a Greater Judgment on enemies when they expire or are extended.

Sun Sear: Hammer of Wrath and Divine Storm (Retribution) and Holy Shock and Light of Dawn (Holy) critical strikes cause the target to burn for additional Radiant damage over 4 seconds or be healed for over 4 seconds.

HERALD OF THE SUN ROW 3

Aurora: After you cast Wake of Ashes (Retribution) or Holy Prism(Holy) gain Divine Purpose.

Solar Grace: Your Haste is increased by 4% for 12 seconds each time you apply a Sunspot. Multiple stacks may overlap.

Second Sunrise: Hammer of Wrath and Divine Storm (Retribution]) and Holy Shock and Light of Dawn (Holy) have a 15% chance to cast again at 30% effectiveness.

HERALD OF THE SUN CAPSTONE

Sun’s Avatar: During Avenging Wrath, you become linked to your Sunspots, causing Radiant damage to enemies or healing to allies that pass through the beams, reduced beyond 5 targets.

Activating Avenging Wrath applies 4 Sunspots onto nearby allies or enemies and increases Sunspot’s damage and healing by 20%.


Templar Paladin[/b]

Specializations: Protection and Retribution

Templar stop at nothing to fulfil their divine purpose of bringing justice and purging the wicked. They call down hammers of light and unleash devastating combinations of Physical and Holy attacks that vanquish their enemies.


TEMPLAR KEYSTONE

Light's Guidance: Wake of Ashes (Retribution) and Eye of Tyr (Protection) are replaced with Hammer of Light for 12 seconds after they are cast.

• Hammer of Light: Hammer down your enemy with the power of the Light, dealing Holy damage to the target and up to 4 nearby enemies. Additionally, calls down Empyrean Hammers from the sky to strike 3 nearby enemies for Holy damage. Costs 5 Holy Power.

TEMPLAR ROW 1

Choice Node: Templar’s Watch and For Whom the Bell Tolls

• Templar’s Watch: Hammer of Light, Wake of Ashes (Retribution), and Eye of Tyr (Protection) deal 30% increased damage when striking only 1 enemy. This amount is reduced by 6% for each additional target struck.
  
• For Whom the Bell Tolls: Divine Toll grants up to 100% increased damage to your next 3 Judgments when striking only 1 enemy. This amount is reduced by 20% for each additional target struck.

Shake the Heavens: After casting Hammer of Light, you call down an Empyrean Hammer on a nearby target every 2 seconds for 8 seconds.

Empyrean Hammer: When Empyrean Hammer critically strikes, 60% of its damage is dealt to nearby enemies. Enemies hit by this effect deal 5% reduced damage to you for 8 seconds.

TEMPLAR ROW 2

Sacrosanct Crusade: When you cast Wake of Ashes (Retribution) or Eye of Tyr (Protection), gain Shield of Vengeance at 10% effectiveness.

Higher Calling: Crusader Strike, Hammer of Wrath, and Blade of Justice (Retribution) and Judgment (Protection) extend the duration of Shake the Heavens by 1 second.

Choice Node: Bonds of Fellowship and Unrelenting Charger

• Bonds of Fellowship: You receive 20% less damage from Blessing of Sacrifice and each time its target takes damage, you gain 4% movement speed up to a maximum of 40%.
  
• Unrelenting Charger: Divine Steed lasts 2 seconds longer and increases your movement speed by an additional 30% for the first 3 seconds.

TEMPLAR ROW 3

Choice Node: Endless Wrath and Sanctification

• Endless Wrath: Calling down an Empyrean Hammer has a 10% chance to reset the cooldown of Hammer of Wrath and make it usable on any target, regardless of their health.
  
• Sanctification: Casting Judgment increases the damage of Empyrean Hammer by 10% for 10 seconds. Multiple applications may overlap.

Hammerfall: Templar's Verdict and Divine Storm (Retribution) and Shield of the Righteous and Word of Glory (Protection) call down an Empyrean Hammer on a nearby enemy. While Shake the Heavens is active, this effect calls down an additional Empyrean Hammer.

Undisputed Ruling: Hammer of Light applies Judgment to its targets and increases your Haste by 15% for 6 seconds (Protection). Additionally, Eye of Tyr grants 3 Holy Power.

TEMPLAR CAPSTONE

Light's Deliverance: You gain a stack of Light's Deliverance when you call down an Empyrean Hammer. At 50 stacks, casting Hammer of Light empowers you for 12 seconds to cast Hammer of Light an additional time for free.


[Trickster Rogue

Specializations: Outlaw and Subtlety

Misdirection, dirty tricks, and flashing blades are on display when a Trickster enters a fight. A clever Trickster distracts an opponent with a devious misdirection or sword’s flourish then slashes the fool with a blade they never saw coming. Coins are taken, leaving pockets lighter and egos bruised.


TRICKSTER KEYSTONE

Unseen Blade: Feint now grants 2 Combo Points and quickly slashes with an Unseen Blade dealing damage to nearby enemies. Targets struck are Fazed for 5 seconds.

Fazed enemies take 5% more damage from you and cannot parry your attacks.

TRICKSTER ROW 1

Surprising Strikes: Attacks that generate Combo Points deal 25% increased critical strike damage to Fazed targets.

Choice Node: Smoke and Mirrors

• Smoke: You take 5% reduced damage from Fazed targets.
  
• Mirrors: Feint reduces area damage taken by an additional 10%.

Flawless Form: Killing Spree (Outlaw) and Secret Technique (Subtlety) grant Mastery for 5 seconds. Multiple applications may overlap.

TRICKSTER ROW 2

Choice Node: So Tricky and Don’t Be Suspicious

• So Tricky: Tricks of the Trade’s threat redirect duration is increased to 1 hour.
  
• Don’t Be Suspicious: Blind and Shroud of Concealment have 10% reduced cooldown. Pick Pocket and Sap range increased by 10 yards.

Devious Distractions: Distract and Killing Spree (Outlaw) and Secret Technique (Subtlety) cause targets to be Fazed for 10 seconds.

Choice Node: Thousand Cuts and Flickerstrike

• Thousand Cuts: Slice and Dice grants 10% additional attack speed and gives your auto attacks a chance to trigger Unseen Blade.
  
• Flickerstrike: Taking area damage while Feint is active or dodging while Evasion is active triggers Unseen Blade. This effect may only occur once every 5 seconds.

RICKSTER ROW 3

Nimble Flurry: Killing Spree (Outlaw) and Secret Technique (Subtlety) deal 10% more damage and have a 10% reduced cooldown.

Choice Node: Cloud Cover and No Scruples

• Cloud Cover: Distract now creates a cloud of smoke for 10 seconds and its cooldown is increased to 90 seconds. Attacks from within the cloud afflict targets with Fazed for 5 seconds.
  
• No Scruples: Finishing moves have a 10% increased chance to critically strike Fazed targets.

Elaborate Twirl: Increases the duration of Flawless Form by 2 seconds.

TRICKSTER CAPSTONE

Coup de Grace: After 4 strikes with Unseen Blade, your next Dispatch (Outlaw), Eviscerate, or Black Powder (Subtlety)will be performed as a Coup de Grace, dealing 40% increased damage. If the primary target is Fazed, gain 5 stacks of Flawless Form.


Diabolist Warlock

Specializations: Demonology and Destruction

The defeat of the Legion has left many demons unbound and potent magics untouched. Bring the remnants of the Burning Crusade to heel, commanding greater demons once thought to be uncontrollable and wreak havoc across the battlefield using abyssal powers from the Twisting Nether.


DIABOLIST KEYSTONE

Diabolic Ritual: Spending a Soul Shard grants Diabolic Ritual for 20 seconds. While Diabolic Ritual is active, each Soul Shard spent reduces its duration by 1 second. When Diabolic Ritual expires you gain Demonic Art, causing your next ability that costs Soul Shards to summon an Overlord, Mother of Chaos, or Pit Lord that unleashes a devastating attack against your enemies.

DIABOLIST ROW 1

Cloven Souls: Enemies damaged by your Overlord have their souls cloven, increasing damage taken by you and your pets by 10% for 20 seconds.

Touch of Rancora: Diabolic Ritual increases the damage of your next ability that costs Soul Shards by 30% and reduces its cast time by 50%.

Secrets of the Coven: Mother of Chaos empowers your next Shadow Bolt or Incinerate to become Demonfire Barrage.

• Demonfire Barrage: Channel a barrage of 4 Shadow Bolts at 150% effectiveness toward the enemy target over 1.5 seconds.

DIABOLIST ROW 2

Choice Node: Soul-Etched Circles and Annihilan’s Bellow

• Soul-Etched Circles: You always gain the benefit of Soulburn when casting Demonic Circle: Teleport, increasing your movement speed by 50% and making you immune to snares and roots for 6 seconds.
  
• Annihilan's Bellow: Howl of Terror cooldown is reduced by 15 seconds and range is increased by 5 yards.

Choice Node: Cruelty of Kerxan and Infernal Machine

• Cruelty of Kerxan: Nether Portal, Summon Demonic Tyrant, and Summon Infernal grant Diabolic Ritual and reduce its duration by 3 seconds.
  
• Infernal Machine: Abilities that cost Soul Shards decrease the duration of Diabolic Ritual by 1 additional second while your Demonic Tyrant, Nether Portal, or Infernal is active.

Choice Node: Infernal Vitality and Infernal Bulwark

• Infernal Vitality: Unending Resolve heals you for 30% of your maximum health over 10 seconds.
  
• Infernal Bulwark: Unending Resolve grants Soul Leech equal to 10% of your maximum health and increases the maximum amount Soul Leech can absorb by 10% for 8 seconds.

DIABOLIST ROW 3

Flames of Xoroth: Fire damage increased 2% and damage dealt by your demons is increased 2%.

Abyssal Dominion: Grimoire: Felguard and Cataclysm gain additional effects:

• Grimoire: Felguard (Demonology) lasts 3 seconds longer and its cooldown is reduced by 30 seconds.
  
• Casting Cataclysm (Destruction) summons an Overfiend that casts Chaos Bolt 2 times at 80% effectiveness before departing.

Gloom of Nathreza: Hand of Gul'dan deals 15% increased damage for each Soul Shard spent. Enemies marked by your Havoc take 5% increased damage from your single target spells.

DIABOLIST CAPSTONE

Ruination: Summoning a Pit Lord causes your next Hand of Gul'dan or Chaos Bolt to become Ruination.

• Ruination: Call down a demon-infested meteor from the depths of the Twisting Nether, dealing Chaos damage on impact to all enemies within 8 yards of the target and summoning 3 Wild Imps.

Colossus Warrior

Specializations: Arms and Protection

Colossus Warriors are the peak of pure physical might and resilience. They are veterans of countless battles and have the scars to show for it. Colossus’ know not only how to take a hit and keep going, but how and where to put their strikes to use to ensure their enemies don’t.

Developer’s Note: The Warrior tree will be updated in the War Within to make the Shockwave talent more easily accessible via class talents.

We wanted to call this out as the Colossus tree interacts with Shockwave in a few places.



COLOSSUS KEYSTONE

Demolish: Unleash a series of precise and powerful strikes against your target and enemies within 8 yards of it. You can block, parry, and dodge while using this ability. 45 second cooldown.

COLOSSUS ROW 1

Martial Expert: Your critical strike damage is increased by 10% and the amount blocked by your critical blocks is increased by 10%.

Colossal Might: Mortal Strike and Shield Slam grant a stack of Colossal Might. Colossal Might increases damage dealt by Demolish by 10% and stacks up to 5 times. Demolish consumes Colossal Might.

Choice Node: Boneshaker and Earthquaker

• Boneshaker: Shockwave's stun duration is increased by 2 seconds.
  
• Earthquaker: Shockwave also knocks enemies into the air, and its cooldown is reduced by 5 seconds.

COLOSSUS ROW 2

Choice Node: One Against Many and Arterial Bleed

• One Against Many: Shockwave, Cleave, Whirlwind, and Revenge deal 5% more damage per target affected up to 5.
  
• Arterial Bleed: Colossal Might increases the damage of Rend and Deep Wounds by 2% per stack.

Tide of Battle: Colossal Might increases the damage of Overpower and Revenge by 2%.

Choice Node: No Stranger to Pain and Rally

• No Stranger to Pain: Total damage prevented by Ignore Pain increased by 15%.
  
• Rally: Taking damage has a low chance to give you a Second Wind for 2 seconds.

COLOSSUS ROW 3

Practiced Strikes: Mortal Strike and Shield Slam damage increased by 15%.

True Might: Mortal Strike and Shield Slam critical strikes grant an additional stack of Colossal Might.

Mountain of Muscle and Scars: You deal 5% more damage and take 2.5% less damage. Size increased by 5%.

COLOSSUS CAPSTONE

Unstoppable Force: Colossal Might now stacks 10 times. If you were to gain an additional stack of Colossal Might but are already at max stacks, the cooldown of Demolish is reduced by 2 seconds. While channeling Demolish, you are grounded, making you immune to stuns and effects that move you.

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We look forward to hearing your thoughts and sharing more as we progress.

Visit our first and second preview articles to learn more about additional Hero Talents in development.

We’re teaming up with Amazon Prime Gaming* for a special offer From February 27, 2024, at 9:30 a.m. PST (16:30 GMT) until March 26, 2024, at 9:29 a.m. PDT (16:29 GMT) Prime Gaming subscribers can claim the Tabard of Frost^*.

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Link Your Blizzard and Twitch Accounts:

• Log in to your Twitch account.
  
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Claim Your Prime Gaming Offer:

• Visit the Prime Gaming Rewards page for World of Warcraft.
  
• Log in to your Prime Gaming account and authorize.
  
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• Success! You are ready to redeem your items in-game.

Redeem Your Rewards:

• Launch the Blizzard Battle.net desktop app.
  
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• The Tabard of Frost will appear in each character’s Collections interface.

Before linking your Twitch and Blizzard accounts, check to see that you’re not logged in to any other Blizzard accounts at the same time in the same browser, as this could cause complications. For the best results, complete the process in "private browsing" or "incognito" mode.

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**Prime Gaming items not available in WoW Classic games.

Dungeons

• [With realm restarts] The maximum number of Follower Dungeons that a player can enter in a 24-hour period has been increased to 50 (was 10).
  
• The presence of Followers in dungeons no longer decreases the XP earned by the human players.

Player versus Player

• Fixed an issue preventing Arathi Blizzard from being queued.

WoW Classic: Season of Discovery

• Hyperconductive Caster Set's 3-piece bonus now works correctly with healing and damaging runes.
  
• Chronostatic Preservation duration increased to 20 seconds (was 15 seconds), and now works with mouseover macros.
  
• Drained of Blood will now periodically remove debilitating effects that are still affecting the player.
  
• Additional Chained Spirit graveyards and patrols have been added during the Blood Moon event.
  
• Fixed an issue with Lesser Arcane Elixir that caused it to not be usable at the required level on the tooltip.
  
• Kha'damu's Blood Craze will no longer increase his damage dealt.
  
• Hunter
  
  • Chimera Shot no longer extends the duration of Wyvern Sting's periodic damage.
    
    • Developers’ notes: That interaction was never intended.
      
• Rogue
  
  • Between the Eyes no longer shares a cooldown with ranged attacks.