WoW Forever Warrior

Rage normalization: crits no longer pay extraTester reports

In Classic, rage generated from an auto attack scaled with the damage that attack dealt, so a critical hit produced noticeably more rage. Testers report that in Forever the generation is normalized: a critical auto attack gives the same rage as a normal one.

The practical effect is a flatter, more predictable opening. You no longer get the occasional crit that hands you a free Heroic Strike, which is why some testers describe low-level Warrior as an auto-attack simulator.

• Open with a charge or a pull that guarantees swings rather than hoping for a crit.
• Plan your first ability around the swing timer, not around luck.
• Rage from taking damage is unchanged, so tanking generates far more steadily than damage dealing at low level.

Forum: Warrior Rage Normalization - Auto Attack Crits Don't Generate Extra Rage · Forum: Warrior rage generation is a massive issue

Threat: Sunder Armor was retunedPatch notes

Build 70009 corrected the threat values on every rank of Sunder Armor, including a small increase in the threat it gains from attack power. Sunder is the rank-and-file threat tool before Shield Slam, so this lands squarely on low-level tanking.

• Keep Sunder Armor on cooldown while tanking: it is both your threat and the group's armor debuff.
• More attack power now means slightly more threat from it, so a damage trinket is not purely selfish on a tank.

WoW Forever Beta Development Notes, September 24

Protection: Focused Rage comes earlierPatch notes

The same patch swapped Bastion (row 5) and Focused Rage (row 6) in the Protection tree. Blizzard's note says the goal is to smooth out leveling before you get Shield Slam, giving cheaper abilities sooner instead of more damage.

That is a direct answer to the complaint in the Protection feedback threads, where tanks said the tree pays off far too late.

• If you levelled Protection before the patch, check your build: the two talents moved rows.

WoW Forever Beta Development Notes, September 24 · Forum: Protection Warriors: Forever Stuck in 2006

Arms: Bloodthrill up, Slam downPatch notes

Bloodthrill's chance to activate doubled to 4/8/12/16/20%, but it now only triggers from main-hand melee attacks, which includes Cleave and Heroic Strike. Slam's cooldown rose to 18 seconds, with Improved Slam cutting it by 1.5 or 3 seconds.

• Bloodthrill is worth more points than before, and off-hand hits no longer feed it.
• Slam is now a cooldown to plan around rather than a filler.

WoW Forever Beta Development Notes, September 24