The War Within Pre-Expansion Development Notes

[Blue Tracker]

The War Within Pre-Expansion Development Notes

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NEW FEATURES

• WARBANDS
  • Expand the potential of your alts with account-wide progression across your family of characters on your [Battle.net](http://Battle.net) account, regardless of their Faction. Share Warband Bank access, War Within Renown, achievements, collections and more.
• SKYRIDING
  • Explore the stunning new zones of Khaz Algar from the saddle of hundreds of in-game mounts, now with skyriding (previously dragonriding) capabilities first introduced in Dragonflight.

CHARACTERS

• New Human Racial: No Place Like Home – Your Hearthstone cooldown is reduced by 5 minutes and gains an additional charge. Replaces Diplomacy.

CLASSES

• The amount of talent loadouts that can be saved on a per character basis to has been increased to 40 (was 10).
• Talents that increase melee range have been removed.
  • Developer’s note: We are removing increased melee range talents across the game, such as Astral Influence and Acrobatic Strikes. Default melee range has increased since these talents were originally created, so they now allow specs to attack from well outside where it appears they should be able to. They make the melee experience inconsistent across classes in a way we’re not happy with, so we’re removing them.
• All Fear, Silence, Sleep, Stun, and Interrupt visual effects have been updated with a new visual. Additionally, all movement speed slowing effects greater than 50% will now display a universal Slow visual on the target.
  • Developers’ notes: Our main priority for this visual update is to help increase the clarity and consistency of messaging for common status effects. Slow (the status effect not the spell), for example has taken quite a few different visual forms over the years, mostly in the range of multicolored dust clouds around a target’s feet. As you can imagine this particular visual was difficult to notice from a distance and wasn’t easily recognizable. So, we did a pass on Slow and the other status effects listed to help address those clarity/messaging issues making them easier to quickly identify in combat.
• DEATH KNIGHT
  • Many talents have moved locations or have had their pathing updated.
  • New Talent: Subduing Grasp – When you pull an enemy the damage they deal to you is reduced by 6% for 6 seconds.
  • New Talent: Osmosis – Anti-Magic Shell increases healing received by 15%.
  • New Talent: Null Magic – Magic Damage taken is reduced by 10% and the duration of harmful Magic effects against you are reduced by 35%.
  • New Talent: Vestigial Shell – Casting Anti-Magic Shell grants 2 nearby allies a Lesser Anti-Magic Shell that absorbs magic damage and reduces the duration of harmful Magic effects against them by 50%.
  • New Talent: Ice Prison – Chains of Ice now also roots enemies for 4 seconds but its cooldown is increased to 12 seconds.
  • New Talent: Runic Protection – Your chance to be critically struck is reduced by 3% and your Armor is increased by 6%.
  • New Talent: Unyielding Will – Anti-Magic Shell’s cooldown is increased by 20 seconds and it now also removes all harmful magic effects when activated.
  • Chains of Ice now learned at level 13.
  • Anti-Magic Shell now learned at level 14.
  • Rune of the Stoneskin Gargoyle can now be Runeforged on 1-handed weapons.
  • Abomination Limb no longer grants Bone Shield, Runic Corruption, or Rime based on specialization.
    • Developer’s note: In Shadowlands it was important for the spec hooks to exist to better balance between the other covenant ability choices. With its re-introduction in Dragonflight its added to the influx of resources/procs that can often come at inopportune times or add to the feeling of being unable to spend down the bonuses it grants. By removing this it allows the ability to “breathe” on its own and lean into its strength of AoE control and damage.
  • Rune of the Apocalypse has been updated:
    • War Effect – Damage taken increased to 4% (was 1%) and duration increased to 10 seconds (was 6 seconds).
    • Pestilence Effect – Damage increased by 500%.
    • Famine Effect – Damage dealt to the caster reduced to 5% (was 2%).
    • Death Effect – Healing reduction increased to 5% (was 1%).
  • Icebound Fortitude cooldown reduced by 60 seconds.
  • Cleaving Strikes now also retains bonus effects for being within your Death and Decay for 4 seconds when leaving its area.
  • Veteran of the Third War now grants 20% Stamina (was 10%). Now a 1-point talent (was 2).
  • Icy Talons now increases attack speed per stack by 6% (was 3%). Now a 1-point talent (was 2).
  • Unholy Bond now increases effectiveness of Runeforge effects by 20% (was 10%). Now a 1-point talent (was 2).
  • Assimilation now reduces the cooldown of Anti-Magic Zone by 30 seconds. No longer increase Runic Power when absorbing damage.
  • Suppression now grants an additional 6% damage reduction to area of effects when you suffer a loss of control effect. Moved to gate 3.
  • Blood Scent Leech increased to 5%.
  • Blood Draw now also grants a buff reducing damage taken by 10% and reducing Death Strike cost by 10 for 8 seconds when falling below 30% health. Now a 1-point talent.
  • Blood Draw cooldown reduced to 2 minutes (was 3 minutes).
  • The following talents have been removed:
    • Might of Thassarian
    • Merciless Strikes
    • Clenching Grasp
    • Empower Rune Weapon
      • Developer’s note: This will still be available for Frost in their spec tree but both Blood and Unholy were often flooded with resources and a big unnecessary contributor to this was Empower Rune Weapon. To better dial in resources on Blood and Unholy we feel its best to keep Empower Rune Weapon for Frost only.
    • Rune of Hysteria
      • Developer’s note: Rune of Hysteria was a problematic design especially as it pertains to Breath of Sindragosa and the volatility of its uptime. We felt that for the overall health of the spec it would be best to remove Hysteria at this time to better enable us to meet our goals with the upcoming changes to Breath.
  • Blood
    • New Talent: Bone Collector – When you would pull an enemy, generate 1 charge of Bone Shield.
    • New Talent: Ossified Vitriol – When you lose a Bone Shield charge the damage of your next Marrowrend is increased by 15%, stacking up to 75%.
    • New Talent: Carnage – Blooddrinker and Consumption now contribute to your Mastery: Blood Shield. Each time an enemy strikes your Blood Shield, the cooldowns of Blooddrinker and Consumption have a chance to be reset.
    • Crimson Scourge now learned at level 21.
    • Death’s Caress now learned at level 23.
    • Tightening Grasp now Silences enemies for 3 seconds when they are pulled and no longer increases the damage enemies take from you when they are pulled by Gorefiend’s Grasp.
    • Blooddrinker now reduces the damage the enemy deals to you by 20% while channeling and for an additional 5 seconds after a channeling it fully. Now also generates 20 additional Runic Power over its duration.
    • Consumption now also causes your Blood Plague damage to occur 50% more quickly for 8 seconds and generates 2 Runes.
    • Bonestorm no longer costs Runic Power. Costs up to 10 Bone Shield Charges and lasts 1 second for each charge consumed. Generates 1 Bone Shield charge every 1 second while active.
    • Reinforced Bones now also lets Bone Shield stack 2 additional times.
    • Heartbreaker’s Runic Power per target hit increased to 2 (was 1). Now a 1-point talent (was 2).
    • Perseverance of the Ebonblade’s Versatility bonus increased to 6% (was 4%). Now a 1-point talent (was 2).
    • Shattering Bone now a 1-point talent (was 2).
    • Red Thirst reduces the cooldown on Vampiric Blood by 2 seconds (was 1 second). Now a 1-point talent (was 2).
  • Frost
    • New Talent: Shattered Frost – When Frost Strike consumes 5 Razorice stacks, it deals 50% of the damage deal to nearby enemies. Deals reduced damage beyond 8 targets.
    • New Talent: Cryogenic Chamber – Each time Frost Fever deals damage, 15% of the damage dealt is gathered into the next cast of Remorseless Winter, up to 20 times.
    • New Talent: Arctic Assault – Consuming Killing Machine fires a Glacial Advance through your target.
    • New Talent: Smothering Offense – Your auto attack damage is increased by 5%. This amount is increased per stack of Icy Talons you have and can stack up to 2 additional times.
    • New Talent: Icy Death Torrent – Your auto attack critical strikes have a chance to send out a sleet of ice dealing Frost damage to enemies in front of you.
    • New Talent: The Long Winter – While Pillar of Frost is active, your auto-attack critical strikes increase its duration by 1 second, up to a maximum of 5 seconds.
    • New Talent: Hyperpyrexia – Your Runic Power spending abilities have a chance to additionally deal 30% of the damage dealt over 4 seconds.
    • Frostscythe has been redesigned – A sweeping attack that strikes all enemies in front of you for Frost damage. This attack always critically strikes and critical strikes with Frostscythe deal normal damage. Deals reduced damage beyond 5 targets. Consuming Killing Machine reduces the cooldown of Frostscythe by 1 second. Now has a 30 second cooldown and Rune cost increased to 2 (was 1).
    • Rime is now learned at level 21.
    • Breath of Sindragosa damage increased by 25%.
    • Chill Streak can now bounce off the Death Knight if a second enemy target isn’t found.
    • Enduring Strength’s Strength increased to 20% (was 10%). Now a 1-point talent.
    • Frostwhelp’s Aid now grants 8% Mastery per target hit (was 4%). Now a 1-point talent.
    • Killing Machine now stacks 1 additional time.
    • Rune of Razorice now displays the debuff on the enemy nameplate.
    • The following talents have been removed:
      • Fatal Fixation
      • Cold Blooded-Rage
      • Invigorating Freeze
    • Fixed an issue with Absolute Zero being available prior to the 3rd gate being unlocked.
  • Unholy
    • New Talent: Doomed Bidding – Consuming Sudden Doom calls upon a Magus of the Dead to assist you for 8 seconds.
    • New Talent: Raise Abomination – Summons an Abomination to attack nearby enemies applying Festering Wound with its melee attacks and infecting all nearby enemies with Virulent Plague. 90 second cooldown. Replaces Army of the Dead.
    • New Talent: Foul Infections – Your diseases deal 10% more damage and have a 5% increased chance to critically strike.
    • New Talent: Menacing Magus – Your Magus of the Dead Shadow Bolt now fires a volley of Shadow Bolts at up to 4 nearby enemies.
    • New Talent: Festering Scythe – Every 20 Festering Wound you burst empowers Festering Strike to become Festering Scythe for 12 seconds. Festering Scythe: Sweep through all enemies within 14 yards in front of you, dealing Shadow damage and infecting them with 2-3 Festering Wounds.
    • New Talent: Decomposition – Virulent Plague has a chance to abruptly flare up, dealing 50/100% of the damage it dealt to the target over the last 4 seconds. When this effect triggers, the duration of your active minions are increased by 1 second, up to 3 seconds. 2-point talent.
    • Epidemic now learned at level 18.
    • Outbreak now learned at level 13.
    • Sudden Doom causes your next Death Coil or Epidemic to critically strike.
    • Sudden Doom is no longer an RPPM proc and has instead been updated to have a 25% chance on auto-attacks to proc with build in bad luck protection to provide a more consistent proc.
    • Sudden Doom now reduces the cost of your next Death Coil/Epidemic by 10 (was free).
      • Developer’s note: With the update to Sudden Doom’s proc rate it further flooded Unholy with Runic Power and you weren’t able to spend the RP down fast enough in a lot of scenarios to prevent overcapping. This next iteration we are going to try a reduced cost Death Coil or Epidemic to help combat the problem of Runic Power overcapping. Internally we tested this as a full removal of the cost reduction but it left quite a bit of downtime in the rotation and felt particularly bad outside of cooldowns. A 10 Runic Power cost reduction felt reasonably well both inside and outside of cooldowns.
    • Sudden Doom now also causes your next Death Coil/Epidemic to burst a Festering Wound.
      • Developer’s note: We are looking into ways to increase the frequency you apply Festering Wound with Festering Strike so we are exploring having a Runic Power spender burst a wound instead of only rune spenders or Apocalypse. Internally with testing we have found it creates a natural cadence in which you want to press Festering Strike instead of relying only on passive wound applicators. The other perk of Death Coil bursting a Festering Wound when consuming Sudden Doom is it helps ease the friction of what to press during your cooldowns.
    • Army of the Dead cooldown reduced to 3 minutes (was 8 minutes).
    • Apocalypse cooldown reduced to 45 seconds (was 90 seconds).
    • Dark Transformation cooldown reduced to 45 seconds (was 60 seconds).
    • Vile Contagion cooldown reduced to 45 seconds (was 90 seconds).
    • Decomposition now functions with Gargoyle.
    • Apocalypse now always summons 4 ghouls regardless of Wounds burst.
    • Defile damage increased by 200% and no longer increases Mastery when dealing damage to enemies.
    • Festermight now functions like Ironfur, allowing multiple instances to overlap.
    • Ebon Fever now also affects Frost Fever and Blood Plague if Superstrain is talented.
    • The following talents are now 1 point:
      • Ghoulish Frenzy
      • Improved Death Coil
    • The following talents have been removed:
      • Replenishing Wounds
      • Army of the Damned
      • Unholy Command
      • Feasting Strike
• DEMON HUNTER
  • Vengeance
    • Sigil of Misery now disorients target for 15 seconds (was 20 seconds).
• DRUID
  • Many talents have moved locations or have had their pathing updated.
  • New Talent: Oakskin – Survival Instincts and Barkskin reduce damage taken by an additional 10%.
  • New Talent: Fluid Form – Shred and Rake can be used in any form and shifts you into Cat Form. Mangle can be used in any form and shifts you into Bear Form. Wrath and Starfire shifts you into Moonkin Form, if known.
  • New Talent: Ursoc’s Spirit – Stamina in Bear Form is increased by 10%.
  • New Talent: Instincts of the Claw – Shred, Swipe, Rake, Mangle, and Thrash damage increased by 5/10%.
  • New Talent: Lore of the Grove – Moonfire and Sunfire damage increased by 5/10%. Rejuvenation and Wild Growth healing increased by 3/5%.
  • New Talent: Starlight Conduit – Wrath, Starsurge, and Starfire damage increased by 5%. For non-Balance, Starsurge’s cooldown is reduced by 4 seconds and its mana cost is reduced by 50%.
  • Swiftmend has been removed from the talent tree and is now baseline for Restoration Druids.
  • Improved Swipe has been removed from the talent tree and its benefit added to Swipe by default.
  • Moonkin Form has been removed from the talent tree and is now baseline for Balance Druids.
  • Heart of the Wild now reduces the global cooldown of affected Balance cast-time spells.
  • Cat Form now increases the range of auto-attacks and melee abilities by 3 yards.
  • Feline Swiftness now increases movement speed by 15%. Now a 1-point talent.
  • Thick Hide now reduces damage taken by 4%. Now a 1-point talent.
  • Natural Recovery now increases healing received by 4% and no longer increases healing done. Now a 1-point talent.
  • Astral Influence now increases the range of all your spells by 5 yards and no longer increases auto attack or melee ability range. Now a 1-point talent.
  • Primal Fury now also increases critical strike damage of Mangle by 20%.
  • Ursine Vigor now increases Stamina and armor in Bear Form by 15% for 4 seconds. Now a 1-point talent.
  • Guardian Druid improved Bear Form Stamina bonus decreased to 10% (was 20%).
  • Lycara’s Teachings is now a 2-point talent that grants 3/6% of various secondary stats.
  • Forestwalk now increases your movement speed and healing received by 8% for 6 seconds. Now a 1-point talent.
  • Well-Honed Instincts’ effect now occurs once every 120 seconds. Now a 1-point talent.
  • Mass Entanglement now roots targets for 10 seconds (was 30 seconds).
  • Tireless Pursuit has been removed.
  • Balance
    • New Talent: Greater Alignment – Celestial Alignment lasts 40% longer. During Celestial Alignment, Solar Eclipse increases Nature damage done by an additional 5% and Lunar Eclipse increases Arcane damage done by an additional 5%.
    • New Talent: Stellar Amplification – Starsurge increases the damage the target takes from your periodic effects and Shooting Stars for 5 seconds. Reapplying this effect extends its duration, up to 20 seconds.
    • New Talent: Harmony of the Heavens – Starsurge or Starfall increase your current Eclipse’s Arcane or Nature damage bonus by an additional 1%, up to 5%.
    • New Talent: Touch the Cosmos – Casting Wrath in an Eclipse has an 8% chance to make your next Starsurge free. Casting Starfire in an Eclipse has a 10% chance to make your next Starfall free.
    • New Talent: Umbral Inspiration – Consuming Umbral Embrace increases the damage of your Moonfire, Sunfire, Shooting Stars, and Starfall by 20% for 5 seconds.
    • Umbral Embrace has been redesigned – Wrath and Starfire have a 20% chance to cause the next Wrath or Starfire you cast in Eclipse to become Astral and deal 100% additional damage. Now a 1-point talent.
    • Astral Smolder has been redesigned – Wrath and Starfire have a 45% chance to cause their targets to languish for an additional 80% of their damage dealt over 6 seconds.
    • Astral Communion has been redesigned – Maximum Astral Power increased by 20. Entering Eclipse grants 12 Astral Power.
    • Nature’s Grace has been redesigned – When Eclipse ends or when you enter combat, enter a Dreamstate, reducing the cast time of your next 2 Starfires or Wraths by 20% and increasing their damage by 50%.
    • All ability damage increased by 6%.
    • Wrath, Starfire, and Shooting Stars damage increased by 15%.
    • Wild Mushrooms damage increased by 25%.
    • Astral Power generation reduced:
      • Wrath: 6 (was
      • Starfire: 8 (was 10)
      • New Moon: 10 (was 12)
      • Half Moon: 20 (was 24)
      • Full Moon: 40 (was 50)
      • Fury of Elune: 40 / 2.5 per tick (was 48 / 3 per tick)
    • Celestial Alignment duration reduced to 15 seconds (was 20 seconds).
    • Incarnation: Chosen of Elune duration reduced to 20 seconds (was 30 seconds).
    • Mastery: Astral Invocation value reduced by 17%.
    • Aetherial Kindling now extends during of active Sunfires and Moonfires by 3 seconds (was 4 seconds).
    • Orbital Strike damage reduced by 25%.
    • Umbral Intensity now increases Starfire’s damage as well as its area-of-effect damage scaling. Solar Eclipse increases the damage of Wrath by an additional 20/40%. Lunar Eclipse increases the damage of Starfire by 20/40% and the damage it deals to nearby enemies by an additional 15/30%.
    • Waning Twilight now increases damage you deal to targets with 3 or more of your periodic effects by 6%. Now a 1-point talent.
    • Balance of all Things now increases Critical Strike chance by 10/20%, decreasing by 1/2% every second.
    • Denizen of the Dream damage increased by 50%.
    • Orbital Strike has temporarily had its line-targeting reticle disabled.
    • The following talents have been removed:
      • Friend of the Fae
      • Primodial Arcanic Pulsar
  • Feral
    • New Talent: Coiled to Spring – If you generate a combo point in excess of what you can store, your next Ferocious Bite or Primal Wrath deals 10% increased direct damage.
      • Developer’s note: This will only trigger during Berserk if you generate a combo point in excess of five while you already have 3 stacks of Overflowing Power.
    • New Talent: Savage Fury – Tiger’s Fury increases your Haste by 8% and Energy recovery rate by 20% for 6 seconds.
    • Mastery: Razor Claws has been redesigned – Now increases damage of Cat Form bleed and other periodic abilities.
    • Predator has been redesigned – No longer causes Tiger’s Fury’s cooldown to be reset when a target dies with one of your bleeds active. Tiger’s Fury lasts 5 additional seconds. Your combo point-generating abilities’ direct damage is increased by 40% of your Haste.
    • Taste for Blood has been redesigned – No longer scales with number of bleeds on a target. Ferocious Bite damage increased by 15% and an additional 15% during Tiger’s Fury.
    • Raging Fury has been redesigned – No longer increases Tiger’s Fury duration from spending combo points. Tiger’s Fury lasts 5 additional seconds.
    • Rampant Ferocity has been updated – Ferocious Bite also deals damage per combo point spent to all nearby enemies affect by your Rip. Damage reduced beyond 5 targets.
    • Rampant Ferocity damage relative to Ferocious Bite increased by 20%.
    • Rampant Ferocity’s damage increased by up to 50% when the player spends extra Energy on Ferocious Bite.
    • Cat Form no longer increases the range of auto-attacks and melee abilities by 3 yards.
    • All ability damage reduced by 20%.
      • Developer’s note: At the beginning of April we increased all of Feral’s ability damage by the value of their baseline passive aura (20%), but neglected to reduce their baseline passive aura at the same time.
    • Dreadful Bleeding increased to 20% (was 18%).
    • Tiger’s Tenacity also causes Tiger’s Fury to increase the periodic damage of your bleeds and Moonfire (if known) by an additional 10% for their full duration.
    • Finishing move damage (Ferocious Bite, Ravage, Rip, Maim, and Primal Wrath) increased by 10%.
    • Primal Wrath direct damage increased by an additional 50%.
    • Primal Wrath energy cost increased to 25 (was 20).
    • Primal Wrath range increased to 10 yards (was 8).
    • Shred, Rake, and Swipe direct damage increased by 10%.
    • Thrash direct damage increased by 30%.
    • Berserk duration reduced to 15 seconds (was 20 seconds).
    • Incarnation: Avatar of Ashamane duration reduced to 20 seconds (was 30 seconds).
    • Berserk now increases all ability and auto-attack damage by 10% (was increases the damage of Shred and Rake).
    • Sabertooth now increases damage Ferocious Bite’s primary target takes from all of your Cat Form periodic damage by 3% per combo point spent for 4 seconds (instead of 5% damage dealt by all Rips on all targets).
    • Tireless Energy now increases passive Energy generation by 8%/15% (was 10%/20%) and total Energy by 20/40 (was 30/60).
    • Tear Open Wounds now consumes 6 seconds of Rip damage during Berserk.
    • Moonfire in Cat Form with Lunar Inspiration duration increased to 18 seconds and damage reduced by 20%.
    • Moment of Clarity now increases the rate that Omen of Clarity triggers by 30% (was 50%).
    • Berserk: Heart of the Lion now reduces Berserk’s cooldown by 60 seconds (was reduces cooldown by 0.5 seconds per combo point spent).
    • Berserk: Frenzy now causes enemies to bleed for 135% of all direct damage dealt by combo point generating abilities (was 100%).
    • Soul of the Forest restores 2 Energy per combo point spent (was 3 Energy).
    • Apex Predator’s chance to trigger on a single target is reduced, but its chance to trigger in area-of-effect increases at a faster rate.
    • Omen of Clarity Clearcasting aura added to the personal resource bar.
    • Omen of Clarity Clearcasting aura no longer highlights the spell icons for Shred, Swipe, and Thrash.
    • Thrashing Claws now requires players to know Thrash in order to apply the bleed from Thrash.
    • The following talents have been removed:
      • Dire Fixation
      • Protective Growth
      • Relentless Predator
      • Tear Open Wounds
  • Restoration
    • New Talent: Dream of Cenarius – While Heart of the Wild is active, Wrath and Shred transfer 150% of their damage and Starfire and Swipe transfer 100% of their damage into healing onto a nearby ally.
    • New Talent: Call of the Elder Druid – When you shift into a combat shapeshift form or cast Starsurge, you gain Heart of the Wild for 10 seconds, once every 60 seconds.
    • New Talent: Thriving Vegetation – Rejuvenation instantly heals for 15/30% of its periodic healing and Regrowth’s duration is increased by 3/6 seconds.
    • New Talent: Prosperity – Swiftmend now has 2 charges.
    • Developer’s note: We are making some changes to raid healing cooldowns in The War Within to increase their effectiveness in content with less than 20 players. Our goal is to make these spells feel powerful in all forms of content, particularly smaller dungeon, PvP, or raid groups. The healing of these cooldowns will remain equal when healing 20 injured allies as they previously did and only take into account injured allies as contributing to their splash cap. This will be a slight reduction in effectiveness when healing more than 20 players, but this tradeoff has seemed reasonable to us as the availability and strength goes up as group sizes increase.
    • Tranquility initial healing increased by 400%.
    • Tranquility’s initial heal now decreases its healing beyond 5 targets.
    • Tranquility’s heal over time effect is no longer increased while out of a raid environment.
    • Rejuvenation healing increased by 30%.
    • Grove Guardian’s healing reduced by 15%.
    • Wild Synthesis Wild Growth healing reduced by 15%.
    • Verdant Infusion now extends the duration of heal over time effects by 8 seconds (was 12 seconds).
    • Nurturing Dormancy is now capped at 4 second extension (was 6 seconds).
    • Abundance now increases the Critical Strike chance of Regrowth by 8% and decreases its mana cost by 8% per stack (was 5%).
    • Soul of the Forest and Heart of the Wild added to Personal Resource Display.
    • The following talents have been removed:
      • Adaptive Swarm
      • Unbridled Swarm
      • Luxuriant Soil
• EVOKER
  • Many talents have moved locations or have had their pathing updated.
  • Evokers now start at level 10 (was level 58).
  • Evokers now unlock the talent pane immediately after choosing a specialization in the Forbidden Reach, and they no longer learn “temporary” talents as they complete the Forbidden Reach experience.
  • Several base spells that were previously learned at level 58 are now learned at level 10.
  • Mass Return is now learned at level 38.
  • Fury of the Aspects is now learned at level 48.
  • Overawe has been redesigned – Now grants 30 seconds of cooldown reduction (was cooldown reduction per Enrage dispelled).
  • Time Spiral is now a choice node with Spatial Paradox for all 3 Evoker specializations, available in the class tree.
  • Spatial Paradox cooldown increased to 3 minutes (was 2 minutes).
  • Lifecinders now upgrades Renewing Blaze to allow 1 friendly target. If no target is selected, it will find a nearby injured ally.
  • Renewing Blaze has swapped places with Source of Magic.
  • Panacea now also heals the caster when Verdant Embrace is cast. Healing reduced by 50%.
  • Panacea is now considered a Green spell, and is improved by Lush Growth.
  • Oppressing Roar cone increased to 60 degrees (was 45 degrees).
    • Developer note: Oppressing Roar with Overawe was too good specifically in Mythic+ dungeons with the Raging affix, but not really anywhere else. So, we’re reducing its effectiveness in that scenario but making it more generically useful as a talent. We’re also increasing Oppressing Roar’s cone radius since it can be difficult to aim it without a preview cone like Fire Breath or Dream Breath have.
  • Landslide now roots targets for 15 seconds (was 30 seconds).
  • Augmentation
    • Developer’s note: We’re making several adjustments to the Augmentation spec tree to create more build choices. We would like Prescience to be more easily available since it’s important for Ebon Might targeting, so it’s been moved up in the tree. We’re also rehabilitating Motes of Possibility and making large adjustments to the capstones and their pathing. Each capstone now has a synergistic node above it and has a more distinct theme. Please note that there are still tuning changes pending, and implementation is not complete on some of the newer talents.
    • New Talent: Arcane Reach – The range of your helpful magics is increased by 5 yards.
    • New Passive: Sense Power – While enabled, allies with their major cooldown active will be highlighted in the game field and will display a buff icon on party and raid frames. Learned automatically and can be toggled on/off.
    • New Talent: Rumbling Earth – Upheaval causes an aftershock at its location, dealing 50% of its damage 2 additional times.
    • New Talent: Molten Embers – Fire Breath causes enemies to take 20% more damage from your Black spells.
    • New Talent: Imminent Destruction – Breath of Eons reduces the Essence cost of Eruption by 1 and increases its damage by 10% for 15 seconds after you land.
    • Prescience has been updated – When cast without a friendly target, the smart-targeting will now prefer damage role players who have their major cooldowns active.
    • Motes of Possibility now give a random Augmentation Evoker buff (was reduces the cooldown of your major ability by 10 seconds). In addition, the motes will spawn closer to the caster, and they will also slowly float towards the nearest ally.
    • Echoing Strike now also increase Azure Strike damage by 15%.
    • Reactive Hide increases damage of Blistering Scales by 15% per stack (was 10%).
    • Overlord now guarantees Motes of Possibilities will spawn from the Eruptions it casts.
    • Seismic Slam is now a 1-point talent. The stun duration remains at 4 seconds.
    • Geomancy has been removed.
  • Devastation
    • New Talent: Scorching Embers – Enemies take 20% increased damage from your Red spells while affected by Fire Breath.
    • Snapfire has been slightly redesigned – Now grants a free cast of Firestorm that does not trigger the cooldown. It now also triggers from Pyre instead of Living Flame.
      • Developer’s note: The free cast of Firestorm that does not trigger the cooldown is so the Snapfire proc will be full value even if Firestorm wasn’t on cooldown.
    • Feed the Flames has been redesigned – Now causes enemies to take 20% more damage from Pyre and Disintegrate if they are inside your Firestorm.
    • Feed the Flames once again triggers a Firestorm after casting 10 Pyres.
    • Fire Breath threat generated reduced by 50%.
    • Pyre threat generated reduced by 30%.
      • Developer’s note: Devastation Evoker can generate very high threat at the start of a pull due to a combination of their Mastery: Giantkiller and the burstiness of spells like Fire Breath and Pyre (particularly when used with Dragonrage and Charged Blast). As a result, we’re reducing the threat these spells generate.
    • Animosity can no longer extend Dragonrage beyond 16 seconds.
    • Firestorm radius increased to 10 yards (was 8).
    • Firestorm’s tick rate now increases with Haste.
    • Imminent Destruction now also increases Disintegrate and Pyre damage by 10%, and lasts 12 seconds (was 10 seconds).
    • Honed Aggression now increases Azure Strike and Living Flame damage by 10% per point (was 5%).
    • Snapfire can now trigger from both Living Flame and Pyre.
    • The following talents have been removed:
      • Everburning Flame
      • Raging Inferno
  • Preservation
    • New Talent: Lifespark – Reversion healing has a chance to grant you instant cast Living Flame and increase its damage/healing by 50%.
    • New Talent: Titan’s Gift – Essence Burst increases the effectiveness of your next Essence ability by 25%.
    • Temporal Compression reduces the cast time of Empower spells by 10% per stack (was 5%).
    • Time of Need now triggers at 30% health (was 20%). Passive now displays in spellbook, and the cooldown can now be tracked on the passive.
    • Dream Flight healing increased by 100% outside of raid.
      • Developer’s note: We are making some changes to raid healing cooldowns in The War Within to increase their effectiveness in content with less than 20 players. Our goal is to make these spells feel powerful in all forms of content, particularly smaller dungeon, PvP, or raid groups. The healing of these cooldowns will remain equal when healing 20 injured allies as they previously did and only take into account injured allies as contributing to their splash cap. This will be a slight reduction in effectiveness when healing more than 20 players, but this tradeoff has seemed reasonable to us as the availability and strength goes up as group sizes increase. We’d also like to note that we are making an exception in the case of Dream Flight as we feel the healing increase outside of raid is a more appropriate tool for consistency as otherwise the falloff of its healing would make its effectiveness inconsistent in raid scenarios.
    • Mana cost of Emerald Blossom reduced by 15%.
    • Flow State can now trigger from Empower spells cast from Stasis.
    • Threads of Fate can no longer trigger from Empower spells cast from Stasis.
      • Developer’s note: There is inconsistency here, but it’s necessary to balance Threads of Fate between Augmentation and Preservation. Threads of Fate tooltip also indicates “casting an Empower spell” while Flow State does not use the keyword “casting.”
    • Reversion’s tooltip has been updated to include Golden Hour’s effect, if the talent is learned – Reverse an ally’s injuries, instantly healing them for 15% of damage taken in the last 5 seconds and an additional amount of healing over 12 seconds.
    • Life-Giver’s Flame is now 1-point (was 2).
    • Grace Period is now 1-point (was 2).
• HUNTER
  • Many talents have moved locations or have had their pathing updated.
  • New Talent: Padded Armor – Survival of the Fittest gains an additional charge.
  • New Talent: Kodo Tranquilizer – Tranquilizing Shot removes up to 1 additional Magic effect from its target.
  • New Talent: Devilsaur Tranquilizer – If Tranquilizing Shot removes only an Enrage effect, its cooldown is reduced by 5 seconds.
  • New Talent: Scout’s Instincts – You cannot be slowed below 80% of your normal movement speed while Aspect of the Cheetah is active.
  • New Talent: Scrappy – Casting Aimed Shot reduces the cooldown of Intimidation and Binding Shot by 0.5 seconds.
  • New Talent: Kindling Flare – Stealthed enemies revealed by Flare remain revealed for 3 seconds after exiting the flare.
  • New Talent: Unnatural Causes – Your damage over time effects deal 10% increased damage. This effect is increased by 50% on targets below 20% health.
  • New Talent: Moment of Opportunity – When a trap triggers, you gain Aspect of the Cheetah for 3 seconds. Can only occur every 1 minute.
  • New Talent: No Hard Feelings – When Misdirection targets your pet, it reduces the damage they take by 50% for 5 seconds.
  • New Talent: Territorial Instincts – Intimidation summons a pet if you do not have one out and stuns two additional nearby enemies at 50% effectiveness.
    • Developer’s note: This talent is not fully implemented yet, but we wanted to give players access to it early for feedback. The intended vision for this spell is for Hunters to summon their pet, and then it Intimidates their target. We are not interested in circumventing a Hunter’s need for their pet to be out to access Intimidation.
  • New Talent: Tar-Coated Bindings – Binding Shot’s root duration is increased by 1 second.
  • New Talent: Serrated Tips – You gain 5% more critical strike from critical strike sources.
  • New Talent: Moment of Opportunity – When a trap triggers, you gain Aspect of the Cheetah for 3 seconds. This effect has a 60 second cooldown.
  • New Talent: Ghillie Suit – You take 20% reduced damage while in Camouflage. This bonus persists 3 seconds after leaving Camouflage.
  • New Talent: Specialized Arsenal – Kill Command, Aimed Shot, and Wildfire Bomb damage increased by 10%.
  • Lone Survivor now also reduces Counter Shot and Muzzle’s cooldown by 2 seconds.
  • Survival of the Fittest now reduces all damage you and your pet take by 30% (was 20%).
  • Improved Tranquilizing Shot now also grants 10 focus when you interrupt an effect with Counter Shot or Muzzle.
  • Quick Load now resets the cooldown of Scatter Shot and Bursting Shot.
  • Steel Trap damage reduced by 80%.
  • Born to be Wild now reduces Aspect of the Cheetah, Survival of the Fittest, and Aspect of the Turtle by 30 seconds (was 7/15%).
  • Explosive Shot now explodes early when applied to a target that already is affected by Explosive Shot.
    • Developer’s note: Survival has gotten substantially increased access to Explosive Shot, so we wanted to make Explosive Shot stacking feel more responsive and exciting.
  • Barrage, Kill Command, Improved Kill Command, Killer Instinct, and Alpha Predator have moved to the Beast Mastery talent tree.
  • Barrage, Master Marksman, and Hydra’s Bite have moved to the Marksmanship talent tree.
  • Kill Command and Alpha Predator have moved to the Survival talent tree.
  • Bursting Shot is now a choice node with Scatter Shot (was in Marksmanship tree).
  • Explosive Shot projectile and explosion visual effects have been updated.
  • The following talents are now 1 point:
    • Improved Traps
    • Pathfinding
    • Trailblazer
    • Wilderness Medicine
    • Natural Mending
    • Rejuvenating Wind
  • The following talents have been removed:
    • Sentinel Owl
    • Sentinel’s Perception
    • Sentinel’s Protection
    • Serpent Sting
    • Poison Injection
    • Stampede
    • Beast Master
    • Arctic Bola
    • Nature’s Endurance
    • Serrated Shots
  • Beast Mastery
    • New Talent: Laceration – Whenever your pets critically strike, they cause their target to bleed for 15% of the damage dealt.
    • New Talent: Go For the Throat – Kill Command deals increased critical strike damage equal to 100% of your critical strike chance.
    • New Talent: Killer Cobra – Kill Shot applies Serpent Sting for 12 seconds.
    • New Talent: Venomous Bite – Bloodshed damage bonus increased by an additional 15% and makes Kill Command deal 20% increased damage to the target.
    • New Talent: Shower of Blood – Bloodshed now hits two additional targets near the primary target.
    • New Talent: Basilisk Collar – Each damage over time effect on your target increases the damage they receive from your pet’s attacks by 5%/10%.
    • New Talent: Huntmaster’s Call – Every third cast of Dire Beast sounds the Horn of Valor to summon a legendary wolf to aid you in battle for 15 seconds, either Hati or Fenryr. Hati increases the damage of all your pets by 15%. Fenryr applies a heavy bleed on your target and grants you additional Haste.
    • New Talent: Explosive Venom – Every 5 casts of Cobra Shot or Multi-Shot makes your next Multi-Shot or Explosive Shot apply Serpent’s Sting to up to 5 targets.
    • Bloodshed is now in gate 3 and has been updated – Command your pet to tear into your target, causing your target to bleed for high damage over 18 seconds and take 15% increased damage from your pet.
    • A Murder of Crows is now passive and has been updated – Every 5 casts of Kill Command summons a Murder of Crows. Murder of Crows no longer resets its cooldown if the affected target dies.
    • Barrage, Kill Command, Improved Kill Command, Killer Instinct, and Alpha Predator are now Beast Mastery talents (was Class).
    • Killer Instinct now deals 25/50% increased damage against enemies below 35% health.
    • Barrage now also grants Beast Cleave.
    • Bestial Wrath initial damage increased by 280%.
    • Many 2-point talents are now 1 point.
    • The following talents have been removed:
      • One With the Pack
      • Sharp Barbs
      • Wailing Arrow
      • Cobra Sting
  • Marksmanship
    • New Talent: Rapid Fire Barrage – Your Barrage now instead shoots Rapid Fires at up to five nearby enemies at 30% effectiveness but has its cooldown increased to 60 seconds.
    • New Talent: Small Game Hunter – The damage of Multi-Shot is increased by 100% and the damage of Explosive Shot is increased by 25%.
    • New Talent: Penetrating Shots – Gain critical strike damage equal to 20% of your critical strike chance.
    • New Talent: Kill Zone – Your spells and attacks deal 8% more damage and ignore line of sight against any target in your Volley.
    • Legacy of the Windrunners has been redesigned – Each time Rapid Fire deals damage, there is a 5% chance to coalesce a Wind Arrow at your target.
    • Wind Arrows damage increased by 300%. Wind Arrows are longer affected by Aimed Shot modifiers. No longer grants Focus or Aimed Shot charges after firing 24 Wind Arrows.
    • Wailing Arrow has been redesigned and is now passive – Now replaces your Aimed Shot with a Wailing Arrow after generating 20 Wind Arrows.
    • Wailing Arrow only silences the primary target and it now benefits from bonuses to Aimed Shot such as Trick Shots.
    • Readiness now causes Trueshot to immediately grant you Wailing Arrow and you generate 2 additional Wind Arrows while in Trueshot. Wailing Arrow resets the cooldown of Rapid Fire and generates 2 charges of Aimed Shot.
    • Eagle Talon’s True Focus has been redesigned – Trueshot lasts an additional 3 seconds. During Trueshot, Aimed Shot’s Focus cost is reduced by 50% and Arcane Shot and Multi-Shot casts an additional time at 30% effectiveness.
    • Barrage, Master Marksman, and Hydra’s Bite are now Marksmanship talents (was Class).
    • Hydra’s Bite has been redesigned – When Aimed Shot strikes an enemy affected with your Serpent Sting, it spreads Serpent Sting to up to 2 nearby enemies. Serpent Sting’s damage over time is increased by 20%.
    • Killer Accuracy has been updated – Kill Shot’s critical strike chance and critical strike damage are increased by 20%.
    • Razor Fragments has been updated – Kill Shot damage increase to 75% (was 50%). Moved to Gate 3.
    • Lone Wolf reduced to 5% increased damage when you do not have an active pet (was 10%).
      • Developer’s note: The opportunity cost of having your pet out as a Marksmanship Hunter is so high that it can feel as though you’re locked out of all pet based utility, especially in AOE situations. Marksmanship is always going to be the Hunter spec that provides more throughput without a pet, but lowering this talent’s power should help to make those times where you’re the only lust or need an extra defensive feel a bit less bad.
    • Rapid Fire damage reduced by 8%.
    • Precise Shots now always grants 2 stacks and reduces the Focus cost of your next Multi-Shot or Arcane Shot by 50%.
    • Many 2-point talents are now 1 point.
    • Bursting Shot has moved to the Class tree.
  • Survival
    • Mastery: Spirit Bond has been redesigned – You and your pet deal increased damage and take 3% reduced damage, increased by 100% when within 25 yards of each other.
      • Developer’s note: We’ve also implemented a “Mercy” effect to Spirit Bond that allows the proximity bonus to persist up to 10 seconds after you or your pet breaks the Mastery’s boundary.
    • New Talent: Sulfur-lined Pockets – Every third Quick Shot is replaced with an Explosive Shot at 100% effectiveness.
    • New Talent: Grenade Juggler – Wildfire Bomb deal 5% increased damage and has a 25% chance to reset the cooldown of Explosive Shot and reduce its Focus cost to 0. Explosive Shot reduces the cooldown of Wildfire Bomb by 4 seconds.
    • New Talent: Exposed Flank – Your Flanking Strike exposes a weakness in your enemy’s defenses, increasing the damage of Kill Command by 10% and allowing your Kill Command to also hit two additional enemies for 10 seconds.
    • New Talent: Contagious Reagents – Reapplying Serpent Sting spreads it to up to 2 nearby enemies.
    • New Talent: Outland Venom – Each damage over time effect you have on a target increases the critical strike damage they receive from you by 2%.
    • New Talent: Merciless Blow – Casting Butchery makes your next Raptor Strike or Mongoose Bite to hit up to three nearby targets.
    • New Talent: Sic 'Em – Kill Shot critical strikes reset the cooldown of Kill Command.
    • New Talent: Symbiotic Adrenaline – The cooldown of Coordinated Assault is reduced by 60 seconds.
    • New Talent: Relentless Primal Ferocity – While Coordinated Assault is active, Kill Command generates 2 stacks of Tip of the Spear, you gain 10% Haste, and Tip of the Spear’s damage bonus is increased by 50%.
    • Tip of the Spear has been redesigned – Kill Command increases the damage of your next non-pet spell by 15%, stacking up to 3 times.
    • You now consume one stack of Tip of the Spear at a time and multiple stacks of Tip of the Spear no longer increase its damage bonus.
      • Developer’s note: We’re pleased with the theme and gameplay that Tip of the Spear provides and enjoy its role as a meaningful outlet for Kill Command resets. As such, we’re expanding this talent’s use case and introducing a range of effects across the tree to make it more of a core rotational concept.
    • Flanking Strike now gains double the damage bonus from Tip of the Spear.
    • Flanker’s Advantage has been redesigned – Kill Command has a 10% increased chance to immediately reset its cooldown, increased by 100% when Kill Command critically strikes a target. Tip of the Spear’s damage bonus is increased by up to 100%, based on your critical strike chance.
    • Spearhead has been redesigned – You and your pet charge your enemy target, applying a heavy bleed that increases your chance to critically strike them by 30% for 10 seconds.
    • Deadly Duo has been redesigned – The cooldown of Spearhead is reduced by 30 seconds and increases your critical strike damage against the target by 30% for 10 seconds.
    • Viper’s Venom has been redesigned – Raptor Strike and Mongoose Bite apply Serpent’s Sting.
    • Aspect of the Eagle has been redesigned – Increases the range of your Raptor Strike and Mastery: Spirit Bond to 40 yards for 15 seconds.
    • Bombardier has been redesigned – Casting Coordinated Assault grants 2 charges of Wildfire Bomb. When Coordinated Assault ends, Explosive Shot has no cooldown and costs zero Focus for 4 seconds.
    • Ruthless Marauder has been redesigned – Wildfire Bomb cooldown reduction effect is now 1 second by default and no longer is increased by the second talent point.
    • Coordinated Assault has been updated – Now also allows Kill Shot to be usable on targets regardless of Health.
    • Wildfire Infusion has been redesigned – Mongoose Bite and Raptor Strike have a 15% chance to reset Kill Command’s cooldown. Kill Command reduces the cooldown of Wildfire Bomb by 2 seconds.
    • Kill Command and Alpha Predator are now Survival talents (was Class).
    • Lunge no longer increases attack range by 3 yards.
    • Wildfire Bomb’s damage over time effect is now a rolling periodic.
    • Grenade Juggler and Bombardier now use an activation overlay.
    • Many 2-point talents are now 1 point.
    • The following talents have been removed:
      • Carve
      • Coordinated Kill
      • Birds of Prey
      • Intense Focus
      • Sharp Edges
• MAGE
  • Many talents have moved locations or have had their pathing updated.
  • New Talent: Barrier Diffusion – Whenever one of your Barriers is removed, reduce its cooldown by 4 seconds. Located in Dragon’s Breath previous location.
  • New Talent: Inspired Intellect – Arcane Intellect grants you an additional 3% Intellect. Choice node with Time Anomaly.
  • Time Anomaly has been updated – Now grants Brain Freeze instead of Fingers of Frost for Frost Mages.
  • Supernova added to Mage class tree and now has a 45 second cooldown (was 25 seconds).
  • Mass Polymorph now polymorphs targets for 15 seconds (was 60 seconds).
  • Mass Slow has been removed.
  • Arcane
    • New Talent: Energized Familiar – During Arcane Surge, your Arcane Familiar fires 4 bolts instead of 1. Damage from your Arcane Familiar has a small chance to grant you up to 2% of your maximum mana.
    • New Talent: Eureka – When a spell consumes Clearcasting, its damage is increased by 25%.
    • New Talent: Wizened Wit – The cast time of Arcane Blast is reduced by 5%.
    • New Talent: Time Loop – When you apply a stack of Arcane Debilitation, you have a 10% chance to apply another stack of Arcane Debilitation. This effect can trigger off of itself.
    • New Talent: Arcane Debilitation – Damaging a target with Arcane Missiles increases the damage they take from Arcane Missiles, Arcane Barrage, and Arcane Blast by 1.0%.
    • New Talent: Aether Attunement – Consuming Clearcasting has a 15% chance to grant you Aether Attunement, causing your next Arcane Missiles to deal 150% increased damage to your primary target and fires at up to 4 nearby enemies dealing 100% increased damage.
    • New Talent: Leysight – Nether Precision damage bonus increased to 30%.
    • New Talent: Leydrinker – Consuming Nether Precision has a 10% chance to make your next Arcane Blast or Arcane Barrage echo, repeating its damage at 25% effectiveness to the primary target and up to four nearby enemies.
    • New Talent: Improved Touch of the Magi – Your Touch of the Magi now accumulates 25% of the damage you deal.
    • New Talent: Magi’s Spark – Your Touch of the Magi now also conjures a spark, increasing the damage your target receives from your next Arcane Barrage, Arcane Blast, and Arcane Missiles by 25%. Upon receiving damage from all three spells, the spark explodes, dealing Arcane damage to all nearby enemies.
    • New Talent: Nether Munitions – When Magi’s Spark or Improved Touch of the Magi detonates, it increases the damage all affected targets take from you by 6% for 12 seconds.
    • New Talent: Surging Urge – Arcane Surge damage increased by 5% per Arcane Charge.
    • Arcane Missiles has been redesigned – Can now only be cast when you have Clearcasting. The wording of talents that are associated with Arcane Missiles have been updated to reflect this change.
    • Nether Precision has been redesigned – Consuming Clearcasting increases the damage of your next 2 Arcane Blasts by 20% or your next 2 Arcane Barrages by 20%.
    • Arcane Familiar has been redesigned – Casting Arcane Intelligence also summons you a Familiar that attacks your enemies and increases your maximum mana by 10% for 1 hour. Now passive.
    • Illuminated Thoughts has been redesigned – Clearcasting has a 5% increased chance to trigger and spells that consume Clearcasting deal 5% more damage.
    • Concentration has been redesigned – Casting Arcane Blast has a small chance to make your next cast of Arcane Blast free.
    • Spark of the Magi has been redesigned – Now makes your next Arcane Blast, Arcane Barrage, and Arcane Missiles echo for 25% extra damage (was increase the damage dealt by these spells).
      • Developer’s note: This updated behavior will allow you to properly benefit from the Spark of the Magi damage bonus on an Arcane Barrage you fired before Touch of the Magi is applied.
    • Improved Prismatic Barrier is now baseline.
    • Cracking Energy and Improved Arcane Missiles are now a 1-point talent.
    • Clearcasting’s chance to trigger is no longer tied to mana spent, and now has a 10% chance of triggering when casting any damaging spell.
    • You can no longer trigger Clearcasting by casting damaging spells while out of combat.
    • Evocation now grants one stack of Clearcasting.
    • Mastery: Savant now properly increases the damage dealt by Arcane Surge.
    • Siphon Storm duration has been reduced to 20 seconds (was 30 seconds).
    • Arcing Cleave and Charged Orb have swapped locations.
    • Arcane Surge is now guaranteed to generate Clearcasting.
      • Developer’s note: Arcane Surge was a reliable source of Clearcasting that Arcane Mages lost with the removal of mana-based Clearcasting procs. We’re making Arcane Surge proc Clearcasting baseline to ensure you’re rolling into your burns with some more Clearcasting availability.
    • Arcane Blast now has a 5% increased chance to generate Clearcasting.
      • Developer’s note: Clearcasting availability has marginally decreased in pure single target scenarios. We’re buffing up Arcane Blast’s chance to proc Clearcasting to compensate.
    • The following talents have been removed:
      • Foresight
      • Nether Tempest
      • Reverberate
      • Mana Gem
      • Radiant Spark
      • Harmonic Echo
      • Cascading Power
      • Supernova
      • Rule of Threes
  • Fire
    • New Talent: Lit Fuse – Consuming Hot Streak has a 10% chance to grant Lit Fuse. Lit Fuse makes your next Fire Blast apply Living Bomb to up to three targets. Living Bomb explodes after 2 seconds, dealing damage to the target and up to 5 nearby enemies. Up to 5 enemies hit by this explosion gain Living Bomb, but this effect cannot spread further.
    • New Talent: Explosive Ingenuity – Your chance of gaining Lit Fuse when consuming Hot Streak is increased to 20%. Living Bomb damage increased by 50%.
    • New Talent: Down in Flames – Scorch deals 300% damage to targets below 30% health.
    • New Talent: Quickflame – Flamestrike damage increased by 20%.
    • New Talent: Focused Fury – Living Bomb deals more damage the fewer targets it hits, up to 300% at 1 target.
    • New Talent: Mark of the Fire Lord – Flamestrike and Living Bomb apply Mastery: Ignite at 100% increased effectiveness.
    • New Talent: Spontaneous Combustion – Casting Combustion refreshes up to 3 charges of Fire Blast and up to 3 charges of Phoenix Flames.
    • New Talent: Fire’s Ire – When you’re not under the effect of Combustion, your critical strike chance is increased by 2.5%. When you’re under the effects of Combustion, your critical strike damage is increased by 2.5%. 2-point talent.
    • New Talent: Explosivo – Casting Combustion grants Lit Fuse. Your chance of gaining Lit Fuse is increased to 40% while under the effects of Combustion.
    • New Talent: Blast Zone – Lit Fuse can now apply Living Bomb to up to five targets. Living Bombs can now spread to eight enemies.
    • New Talent: Ashen Feather – If Phoenix Flames hits only one target, it deals 50% increased damage and applies Ignite at 100% effectiveness.
    • New Talent: Majesty of the Phoenix – When Phoenix Flames damages 3 or more targets, your next 2 Flamestrikes have their cast time reduced by 1.5 seconds and their damage is increased by 20%.
    • New Talent: Molten Fury – Damage dealt to targets below 35% health is increased by 8%.
    • New Talent: Heat Shimmer – Damage from Ignite has a 5% chance to make your next Scorch instant cast and deal damage as though your target was below 30% health.
    • New Talent: Sparking Cinders – Living Bomb explosions have a 15% chance to increase the damage of your next Flamestrike or Pyroblast.
    • Fervent Flickering has been redesigned – Now reduces the cooldown of Fire Blast by 2 seconds.
    • Controlled Destruction has been redesigned – Damaging a target with Pyroblast increases the damage it receives from Ignite by 0.5%. This effect stacks up to 50 times.
    • Improved Scorch has been redesigned – Casting Scorch on targets below 30% health increases the damage the target takes from you by 5% for 12 seconds. This effect stacks up to 2 times.
    • Flame Accelerant has been redesigned – Every 12 seconds, your next Fireball, Flamestrike, or Pyroblast has a 40% reduced cast time.
    • Unleashed Inferno has been redesigned – While Combustion is active your Fireball, Pyroblast, Fire Blast, Scorch, and Phoenix Flames deal 50% increased damage and reduce the cooldown of Combustion by 1.25 seconds. While Combustion is active, Flamestrike deals 25% increased damage and reduces the cooldown of Combustion by 0.25 seconds for each critical strike, up to 1.25 seconds.
    • Convection has been redesigned – When a Living Bomb expires, if it did not spread to another target, it refreshes its duration. A Living Bomb can only benefit from this effect once.
    • Pyromaniac has been redesigned – Casting Pyroblast or Flamestrike while Hot Streak is active has an 8% chance to repeat the spell cast at 100% effectiveness, but the copied spell cannot contribute to Hot Streak. This effect counts as consuming Hot Streak.
    • Phoenix Reborn has been redesigned – When your direct damage spells hit an enemy 25 times the damage of your next 2 Phoenix Flames is increased by 200% and they refund a charge on use.
    • From the Ashes has been redesigned – Phoenix Flames damage increased by 15% and your direct-damage spells reduce the cooldown of Phoenix Flames by 1 second.
    • Deep Impact has been redesigned – Meteor now turns one target hit into a Living Bomb. Additionally, its cooldown is reduced by 15 seconds.
    • Fuel the Fire is now baseline.
    • Searing Touch’s critical strike threshold functionality is now baseline to Scorch.
    • Improved Scorch’s movement speed increase is now baseline to Scorch.
    • Sun King’s Blessing now grants Sun King’s Fury after consuming 10 Hot Streaks.
    • Flame On no longer reduces the cooldown of Fire Blast.
    • Living Bomb applications are slightly desynced to minimize overlapping.
    • Living Bomb damage increased by 100%. Damage not increased in PvP combat.
    • Kindling now benefits from Flamestrike – Flamestrike critical strikes reduce the remaining cooldown of Combustion by 0.2 seconds for each critical strike, up to 1 second.
    • Unleashed Inferno’s non-Flamestrike damage bonus increased to 60%. Flamestrike damage bonus increased to 35%.
    • Fevered Incantation now grants 1% increased critical strike damage per point (was 2%).
    • Call of the Sun King no longer grants 15% increased Phoenix Flames damage and instead makes Phoenix Flames always critically strike.
    • Alexstrasza’s Fury no longer makes Phoenix Flames always critically strike.
    • Hyperthermia now has an activation overlay.
    • The following talents are now 1 point:
      • Critical Mass
      • Wildfire
      • Flame On
    • Fevered Incantation is now 2 points.
    • The following talents have been removed:
      • Incendiary Eruptions
      • Firemind
      • Tempered Flames
      • Conflagration
      • Searing Touch
      • Surging Blaze
      • Focused Fury
        • Developer’s note: Convection and Focused Fury were intended to be flex talents to help you get a bit more single target damage while in an AOE build. However, the combination of these two talents were making Living Bomb so powerful in single target that it was overshadowing spells like Pyroblast. We don’t have a problem with Living Bomb being present in single target builds, but it shouldn’t be one of your highest damage contributors. Given the design of Focused Fury, it stands very opposed to this principle, and thus we opted to remove it.
  • Frost
    • New Talent: Death’s Chill – While Icy Veins is active, damaging an enemy with Frostbolt increases spell damage by 1%.
    • Fractured Frost has been redesigned – While Icy Veins is active, your Frostbolts hit up to 2 additional targets. Now a 1-point talent.
    • Ice Barrier’s absorb increased to 24% of maximum health (was 22%).
    • Hailstones is now a 1-point talent.

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Update notes continued in next post.

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Source: The War Within Pre-Expansion Development Notes, Author: Linxy, Posted: Wednesday, June 12th 2024, 11:30 pm