Edit: Paladin Moderator Fhi kindly asked if they could quote this in a Class Beta write-up post and I am absolutely fine with that (and a little bit humbled :3) and if any others would like to then that's also awesome. Seems the next wave of patch notes will use a similar format to this so maybe that'll be better for folks.
I’ve separated “ability pruning” into three categories that have emerged predominant:
1. Removed entirely. (Removed)
2. Abilities that have been made Spec-specific. (Abilities Consolidated to Spec)
3. Passive bonus has been merged with the base effect of a spell or a spell was needlessly complicated whilst providing little to no gameplay has been consolidated. (Mechanical Redundancy)
These categorizations help divide the cluttered “pruning” section, improving readability and helping to clarify that many mechanics have not been removed but rather consolidated resulting in less shock at how much has seemingly been “removed”.
Some changes in the “pruning” section did not fit into the 3 categories and so I have moved those to a “Misc.” section and suggest that they be viewed more as actual class changes. I have not included the "PvP Disarmament" section or those changes here as I do not believe anybody is actually upset about THOSE changes beyond concerns of PvP balance and highly, highly niche PvE situations. Feel free to debate that decision, I'm not beyond folding those changes in too. It's just hella' tedious.
I'm sure there are errors. I'm sure there are typos. I'm sure you'll all happily point them out to me. I'll try to edit the corrections in without breaking it more. I think the formatting is consistent now. Hopefully this will better identify what is really happening to your class in one easy to read bite. I've no doubt much is still subject to change and I'll try to keep this up to date when the next wave of notes land later this week.
Death Knight
Removed
• Necrotic Strike has been removed.
• Rune of the Nerubian Carapace has been removed.
• Unholy Frenzy has been removed.
Consolidated to Spec
• Dark Command is now only available to Blood Death Knights.
• Dual Wield is now only available to Frost Death Knights.
• Raise Dead is now only available to Unholy Death Knights, summons a ghoul as a permanent pet, and has a 1-minute cooldown.
o Death Pact no longer requires a minion to activate.
• Frost Strike now replaces Death Coil for Frost Death Knights.
• Obliterate now replaces Blood Strike for Frost Death Knights.
Mechanical Redundancy
• Blood Strike has been removed.
• Master of Ghouls has been removed and it's functionality made baseline to Unholy Death Knights.
• Army of the Dead now deals 75% less damage.
• Horn of Winter no longer generates Runic Power, has no cooldown, and lasts 1 hour.
• Blood Boil has been removed.
o Blood Boil's effects have been merged into Pestilence.
• Rune Strike has been removed.
o Blood Death Knights now use Death Coil in its place.
• Blood Parasites has been removed.
o The healing provided by Blood Parasites has been rolled into Rune Tap.
Druid
Removed
• Bear Hug has been removed.
• Enrage has been removed.
• Hibernate has been removed.
• Nature’s Grasp has been removed.
• Mangle (Cat Form) has been removed. Mangle (Bear Form) remains unchanged.
• Nourish has been removed.
• Owlkin Frenzy has been removed.
• Symbiosis has been removed.
• Innervate has been removed.
• Mana costs have been adjusted accordingly.
Consolidated to Spec
• Barkskin is now available only to Guardian Druids but its base cooldown has been reduced to 30 seconds.
• Entangling Roots is now available only to Balance and Restoration Druids.
• Faerie Fire is now available only to Feral and Guardian Druids.
• Hurricane is now available only to Balance and Restoration Druids.
• Lacerate is now available only to Guardian Druids.
• Maim is now available only to Feral Druids.
• Maul is now available only to Guardian Druids.
• Might of Ursoc is now available only to Guardian Druids
• Moonfire is now available only to Balance and Restoration Druids.
• Nature’s Swiftness is now available only to Restoration Druids.
• Rake is now only available to Feral Druids.
• Rejuvenation is no longer available to Guardian Druids.
• Rip is now available only to Feral Druids.
• Swipe is now available only to Feral Druids, and is only usable in Cat Form.
Mechanical Redundancies
• Rake now also stuns the target for 4 seconds when used while stealthed.
o Pounce has been removed.
• Shred now deals an additional 35% damage in addition to having twice the normal chance to critically strike while stealthed.
o Shred is now available to all Druid specializations.
o Ravage! has been removed.
• Shred and Mangle now naturally apply the Infected Wounds snare for Feral and Guardian Druids.
o Infected Wounds has been removed
• Cat Form now naturally includes the ability to track humanoids.
o Track Humanoids has been removed
• Bear Form now increases armor by 330% for all Druid specializations. For Guardian Druids, it also naturally reduces magical damage taken by 25%, reduces physical damage taken by 12%, reduces the chance to be critically hit by 6%, and reduces the chance for attacks to be parried by 3%.
o Thick Hide has been removed.
• Lifebloom can no longer stack. Its healing has been increased to compensate.
Misc.
• Regrowth now has a duration of 12 seconds (up from 6 second), but no longer refreshes itself on targets below 50% health.
• Skull Bash no longer increases the mana cost of the victim’s spells.
• Leader of the Pack no longer restores Mana.
o Mana regeneration for Feral and Guardian Druids has been increased by 100%.
• Omen of Clarity (Feral) now affects all Druid spells and abilities.
• Travel Form now automatically transitions between Aquatic, Land, and Flight versions, as is appropriate to the Druid’s location.
o Glyph of the Stag now teaches the Druid a separate shapeshift ability, Stag Form. Stag Form will not switch between different Travel Forms, and allows the Druid to act as a mount for other players.
Hunter
Removed
• Aspect of the Hawk has been removed.
• Concussive Barrage has been removed.
• Cower has been removed as a pet ability.
• Hunter’s Mark has been removed.
• Master Marksman has been removed.
o Master Marksman's effects now occur naturally on Aimed Shot. [Waiting for Confirmation]
• Piercing Shots has been removed.
o TBD: Another change will be made to ensure that Critical Strike is more valuable to Marksmanship Hunters.
• Steady Focus has been removed.
• Rabid has been removed as a pet ability.
• Scare Beast has been removed.
• Widow Venom has been removed.
Consolidated to Spec
• Arcane Shot is no longer available to Marksmanship Hunters.
o Thrill of the Hunt now also reduces the cost of Aimed Shot when active, to preserve its value to Marksmanship Hunters.
• Kill Shot is no longer available to Survival Hunters.
• Rapid Fire is now available only to Marksmanship Hunters.
Mechanical Redundancies
• Aspect of the Iron Hawk has been renamed to Iron Hawk, and now passively provides 10% damage reduction.
• Focus Fire now naturally grants the Hunter's pet the ability to gain Frenzy.
o Frenzy has been removed.
• Lock and Load’s effect has been incorporated into Black Arrow, which now has a chance to cause the effect.
o Lock and Load has been removed.
• Bestial Wrath now naturally includes the effects of The Beast Within.
o The Beast Within has been removed.
• Invigoration now also grants 15 Focus to the Hunter's pet from auto-shot Critical Strikes.
o Go for the Throat has been removed.
• Revive Pet and Mend Pet now share the same button and changes based on whether the Hunter has a live pet.
• Serpent Sting, Improved Serpent Sting, and Viper Venom have been removed.
o Serpent Spread has been renamed Serpent Sting, and remains as a passive ability for Survival Hunters. It causes Multi-Shot and Arcane Shot to also apply the Serpent Sting poison, which does instant and periodic damage. Each time it deals damage, the Hunter receives 3 Focus, with a 3 second cooldown.
• Rapid Recuperation has been removed.
o It's effects have been made baseline to Rapid Fire.
Misc.
• Aspect of the Cheetah and Aspect of the Pack now share a 10-second cooldown.
• Stampede is now a level-75 talent, replacing Lynx Rush.
o Lynx Rush has been removed.
• Chimera Shot no longer heals the Hunter.
Mage
Removed
• Conjure Mana Gem has been removed.
• Pyromaniac has been removed.
Consolidated to Spec
• Arcane Barrage now replaces Fire Blast for Arcane Mages.
• Arcane Blast now replaces Frostfire Bolt for Arcane Mages.
• Arcane Explosion is now available only to Arcane Mages.
• Evocation is now available only to Arcane Mages.
• Combustion now replaces Deep Freeze for Fire Mages.
• Dragon’s Breath now replaces Cone of Cold for Fire Mages.
• Flamestrike is now available only to Fire Mages.
• Blizzard is now available only to Frost Mages.
• Deep Freeze is now available only to Frost Mages.
• Shatter is now available only to Frost Mages.
• Ice Lance now replaces Fire Blast and is only available to Frost Mages.
• Frost Armor is now available only to Frost Mages and is now a passive effect.
• Mage Armor is now available only to Arcane Mages and is now a passive effect.
• Molten Armor is now available only to Fire Mages and is now a passive effect.
Mechanical Redundancies
• Polymorph's cosmetic variants are now all learned as spells instead of having some as a Minor Glyph that alters the visuals of Polymorph: Sheep. All of these variants (except for the automatically learned one, Polymorph: Sheep) are now grouped in a Polymorph variants flyout in the Spellbook.
Misc.
• Combustion no longer deals direct damage or stuns.
Monk
Removed
• Adaptation has been removed.
• Avert Harm has been removed.
• Clash has been removed.
• Power Guard has been removed.
• Spinning Fire Blossom has been removed.
• Sparring has been removed.
Consolidated to Spec
• Disable is now available only to Windwalker Monks.
• Stance of the Wise Serpent now also causes Spinning Crane Kick to heal allies instead of dealing damage.
• Teachings of the Monastery has been removed.
• Touch of Death is no longer available to Mistweaver Monks.
• Transcendence is no longer available to Mistweaver Monks.
• Zen Meditation is no longer available to Mistweaver Monks.
Mechanical Redundancies
• Stance of the Fierce Tiger now provides Combo Breaker and Combat Conditioning and is replaced by another stance for non-Windwalkers.
o Brewmaster: Stance of the Sturdy Ox replaces Stance of the Fierce Tiger.
o Mistweaver: Stance of the Spirited Crane now replaces Stance of the Fierce Tiger.
Combat Conditioning has been removed.
Combo Breaker has been removed.
o Brewmaster Training has been removed.
o Desperate Measures has been removed.
Misc.
• Surging Mist is now available to all Monk specializations. It costs 30 Energy in Ox or Tiger Stance. It only generates Chi for Mistweaver Monks.
• Healing Sphere (the spell, not any other sources of healing spheres) has been removed. Mistweavers' Gift of the Serpent, Brewmasters' Gift of the Ox, and Windwalkers' Afterlife still summon healing spheres.
• Zen Meditation no longer redirects harmful spells cast against party and raid members
Paladin
Removed
• Hand of Salvation has been removed.
• Holy Light has been removed.
o Divine Light has been renamed Holy Light.
• Inquisition has been removed.
• Divine Favor has been removed.
• Divine Plea has been removed.
o Mana costs for Paladins have been adjusted accordingly.
Consolidated to Spec
• Avenging Wrath is no longer available to Protection Paladins.
• Guardian of Ancient Kings is now only available to Protection Paladins.
• Seal of Righteousness is no longer available to Holy Paladins.
• Seal of Truth is no longer available to Holy Paladins.
Mechanical Redundancies
• Judgment is now naturally free for Holy Paladins, and naturally generates 1 Holy Power for Retribution Paladins.
o Judgments of the Bold has been removed.
• Beacon of Light now naturally generates 1 Holy Power when healing the target of Beacon of Light with Flash of Light or Divine Light.
o Tower of Radiance has been removed.
• Exorcism's cooldown now naturally has a chance to be reset on auto attacks.
o The Art of War has been removed.
Misc.
• Daybreak now heals all allies within 10 yards for 15% of Holy Shock's healing (instead of 75%, split between each ally).
Priest
Removed
• Borrowed Time has been removed.
• Hymn of Hope has been removed.
• Inner Fire has been removed.
• Inner Focus has been removed.
• Inner Will has been removed.
• Rapture has been removed.
• Spirit Shell has been removed.
• Strength of Soul has been removed.
• Train of Thought has been removed.
• Void Shift has been removed.
Consolidated to Spec
• Binding Heal is now only available to Holy Priests.
• Evangelism is now available only to Discipline Priests.
• Renew is now available only to Holy Priests.
• Shadow Word: Death is now available only to Shadow Priests.
o Discipline and Holy Priests can add a self-damaging utility to Holy Fire through a new Major Glyph.
Mechanical Redundancies
• Evangelism no longer affects the damage or mana cost of spells.
o Damage of affected spells have been adjusted to compensate.
• Heal has been removed.
o Greater Heal has been renamed to Heal.
Misc.
• Dispersion and Vampiric Touch no longer restores mana.
o Base mana regeneration rate for Shadow Priest has been increased by 200%.
o Shadow Word: Pain and Vampiric Touch mana costs have been reduced by 50% to compensate.
• Divine Hymn now heals all party or raid members instead of a variable number depending on raid size. Its healing has been adjusted to compensate.
• Lightwell’s healing effect is no longer canceled if the target takes enough damage.
• Pain Suppression no longer reduces the target’s threat by 5%.
• Shadowform no longer allows any healing spells to be cast but also no longer has a restriction on casting other Holy spells.
• Vampiric Embrace now heals all party and raid members for 10% of damage done, and this healing is no longer split between targets (up from 75% of damage done, split between targets).
• Focused Will now triggers from any damage taken instead of being limited to being the victim of any damage above 5% of total health or being critically hit by non-periodic attacks.
Rogue
Removed
• Disarm Trap has been removed.
• Shadow Blades has been removed.
Consolidated to Spec
• Fan of Knives is no longer available to Combat Rogues.
• Rupture is no longer available to Combat Rogues.
Mechanical Redundancies
• Redirect has been removed as Combo Points are no longer "on target".
• Dispatch now naturally has a chance to be made free and usable on any target when using Mutilate.
o Blindside has been removed.
• Envenom now naturally refreshes Slice and Dice.
o Cut to the Chase has been removed.
• Stealth for Subtlety Rogues now also increases damage while stealthed, and for an additional 6 seconds after breaking stealth.
o Master of Subtlety has been removed.
• Fleet Footed now also reduces falling damage taken.
o Safe Fall has been removed.
• Venomous Wounds no longer triggers from Garrote.
• Ambidexterity has been removed.
o Off-hand damage has been tuned accordingly for Combat Rogues.
• Shadow Walk has been removed.
o Base Stealth effectiveness has been improved for Assassination Rogues.
Misc.
• Killing Spree no longer increases all damage done for the duration. Its damage has been increased to compensate.
• Main Gauche now deals off-hand weapon damage. Its damage has been increased to compensate.
Shaman
Note: Many changes have been made to reduce the number of passive bonus damage sources, particularly for Enhancement Shaman, so if you note a removed Passive Ability is has likely been consolidated elsewhere affecting neither complexity nor overall damage.
Removed
• Ancestral Awakening has been removed.
• Bind Elemental has been removed.
• Burning Wrath has been removed.
• Earthliving Weapon has been removed.
• Elemental Focus has been removed.
• Elemental Oath has been removed.
• Feral Spirit's Spirit Wolves no longer have the Spirit Bite ability.
• Mana Tide Totem has been removed.
o Restoration Shaman Mana costs have been adjusted to compensate.
Consolidated to Spec
• Chain Heal is now available only to Restoration Shaman.
• Chain Lightning is no longer available to Restoration Shaman.
• Earth Shock is now available only to Elemental Shaman.
o Enhancement and Restoration Shaman should use Frost Shock in its place.
• Lava Burst now replaces Primal Strike for Elemental and Restoration Shaman.
• Magma Totem is now available only to Enhancement Shaman.
• Spiritwalker’s Grace is no longer available to Enhancement Shaman.
• Water Shield now replaces Lightning Shield for Restoration Shaman.
o Now only triggers from melee attacks.
o Mana costs for Restoration Shaman have been adjusted to compensate.
o Resurgence no longer requires Water Shield to be active.
• Unleashed Fury has been split into different versions based on specialization.
o Unleash Elements is now available only to Enhancement Shaman, and always provides the previous benefits of Unleash Elements with Windfury and Flametongue.
o Unleash Flame has been made into a separate ability available only to Elemental Shaman, and always provides the previous benefits of Unleash Elements with Flametongue.
o Unleash Life has been made into a separate ability available only to Restoration Shaman, and always provides the previous benefits of Unleash Elements with Earthliving.
Flametongue, Frostbrand, Rockbiter and Windfury Weapon have been removed.
Mechanical Redundancy
• Enhanced Weapons is a new passive ability available to Enhancement Shaman only, causing main-hand weapon attacks to have a chance to trigger 3 extra attacks, and off-hand weapon attacks to deal additional fire damage.
o Lava Lash’s damage done is no longer increased by Flametongue Weapon, and its damage has been increased to compensate.
Flametongue Weapon and Windfury Weapon have been removed.
o Elemental Fury has been removed.
• Flurry’s duration has been increased to 30 seconds.
• Healing Wave has been removed.
o Greater Healing Wave has been renamed to Healing Wave.
• Enhancement Shaman Mana regeneration has been increased by 100%.
o Primal Wisdom has been removed.
• Elemental Shaman Mana regeneration has been increased by 50.
o Thunderstorm no longer regenerates Mana.
• Frost Shock no longer generates additional threat.
• Healing Tide Totem now heals all party or raid members, but amount healed per target has been reduced to compensate.
• Shamanistic Rage no longer reduces Mana costs while active.
• The Passive Bonus from Searing Flames has been rolled into other Passive Abilities for Enhancement Shaman.
o Searing Flames has been removed.
• Fulmination now causes Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning damage and multistrike damage to always generate an additional Lightning Shield charge, up to a maximum of 15. Earth Shock will consume any charges beyond 1, dealing their total damage to the enemy target.
o Rolling Thunder has been removed.
• Stormstrike and Stormblast now deal 30% more damage when Lightning Shield is active.
o Static Shock has been removed.
Misc.
• Grace of Air now also provides 5% Haste to all party and raid members.
• Totems will no longer cause hostile creatures to enter combat with the Shaman based on proximity.
Warlock
Removed
• Fel Flame has been removed.
• Malefic Grasp has been removed. Its effects have been merged into Drain Soul, which Affliction Warlocks should use in its place.
• Metamorphosis: Void Ray has been removed.
• Metamorphosis: Carrion Swarm has been removed.
• All of the various Soulburn effects are learned together with Soulburn, instead of at different levels.
o Unending Breath no longer gains a benefit from Soul Burn.
o Drain Life no longer gains a benefit from Soul Burn.
o Health Funnel no longer gains a benefit from Soul Burn.
Consolidated to Spec
• Seed of Corruption now replaces Rain of Fire for Affliction Warlocks.
Mechanical Redundancies
• Pyroclasm has been removed. The altered behavior it granted for Chaos Bolt is now baseline to Backdraft.
Misc.
• Curse of Exhaustion and Curse of the Elements now affect all enemies within 10 yards of the target, and are no longer mutually exclusive.
o Metamorphosis: Cursed Auras has been removed.
o Curse of Exhaustion and Curse of the Elements no longer gain a benefit from Soulburn.
o Fire and Brimstone no longer applies to Curses.
• Demonic Breath has been removed.
o Howl of Terror is now a Level-30 talent, replacing Demonic Breath.
Warrior
Note: Warriors are still undergoing extensive revision. The below changes are highly subject to change. Since this version of the Patch Notes (June 18th) many of these changes already have been reverted or compensated.
Removed
• Berserker Stance has been removed.
• Cleave has been removed.
o A Glyph has been added to return the functionality of Cleave to Rage Spenders.
• Demoralizing Banner has been removed.
• Flurry has been removed.
• Meat Cleaver has been removed.
• Overpower has been removed.
• Throw has been removed.
• Ultimatum has been removed.
Mechanical Redundancies
• Deep Wounds is now available only to Protection Warriors.
• Mortal Strike now replaces Heroic Strike for Arms Warriors.
• Rallying Cry is no longer available to Protection Warriors.
• Recklessness is now available only to Fury and Arms Warriors.
• Shield Wall is now available only to Protection Warriors.
• Whirlwind now requires Battle Stance and is available only to Arms and Fury Warriors.
Consolidated to Ability
• Crazed Berserker now includes the functionality of Single-Minded Fury and Titan’s Grip.
o Single-Minded Fury has been removed.
o Titan’s Grip has been removed.
• Devastate now naturally has a 30% chance to reset the cooldown of Shield Slam.
o Sword and Board has been removed.
• Enraged Regeneration healing has been increased by 100%, but no longer is increased by being Enraged.
Misc.
• Battle Shout now lasts 1 hour and no longer generates Rage.
• Commanding Shout now lasts 1 hour and no longer generates Rage.
• Hamstring now costs 10 Rage and deals 20% weapon damage in addition to reducing movement speed, and is only usable in Battle Stance or Gladiator Stance.
• Mass Spell Reflection, Mocking Banner, Rallying Cry, Revenge, Safeguard, Shield Slam, Spell Reflection, Taunt and Vigilance now requires Defensive Stance.
o Revenge and Shield Slam may also be used in Gladiator Stance.
• Sweeping Strikes now requires Battle Stance.
• Warrior Stances once again have their own action bars.
Limited PvP -> PvE Free Character Transfers
The Cataclysm Classic Pre-Expansion Patch Arrives April 30
Did Blizzard just hotfix an ilvl requirement onto Awakened LFR?
Season 4... Just old dungeons and new ilvl?
What's the state of PvP like today?
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