Class tuning lands November 10: tougher pets, a Wrack fix and Strength for Enhancement

Two days after launch, Blizzard’s Kaivax posted the first round of live class tuning for WoW Forever. It is still being worked on, but the plan is a set of hotfixes on Tuesday, November 10, and more Tuesdays after that if needed. Three problems are on the list.

Hunter pets and Voidwalkers will tank better

Blizzard says Hunter pets and Warlock Voidwalkers are not durable enough as tanks. The goal is for them to hold up about as well as in Classic Era, and their stats will be raised as far as that needs. No numbers yet.

The November 6 hotfixes already took a first step: Voidwalker base health went up by about 40 at every level. A second fix in the same list stops the Orc Command racial from boosting some Warlock pet abilities too much, so Orc Warlocks lost a little pet damage that was never intended.

If you level a Beast Mastery Hunter or a Voidwalker Demonology Warlock and your pet has been dropping on two-mob pulls, that is the problem Blizzard is fixing. Until Tuesday, pull one mob at a time and keep Mend Pet or Health Funnel ready.

Affliction: Wrack should not replace your DoTs

Affliction players found that channeling Wrack non-stop beats casting Corruption, Siphon Life and Bane of Agony alongside it. That is not what the spec is meant to be. Blizzard will change it so the DoTs are always worth casting together with Wrack, and says Affliction’s total damage will stay the same. It is a change to the rotation, not a buff or a nerf.

One related bug was already fixed on November 6: the Soul Siphon talent was making Wrack increase its own damage. That probably explains part of why Wrack spam looked so strong.

Our Affliction guide already plays DoTs first and Wrack on top, which is the rotation Blizzard says it wants.

Enhancement Shaman: Strength becomes the main stat again

This is the change with a direct effect on your gear. Enhancement Shamans found that Intellect and Spell Power were worth more than Strength and Attack Power, so the best Enhancement items were pieces meant for Mages and Warlocks. Blizzard will make Strength always Enhancement’s strongest stat. Ideal items will have Strength or Attack Power, plus some Intellect or Spell Power.

Blizzard’s own advice: if you are leveling an Enhancement Shaman, start keeping Strength and Attack Power gear now. Do not sell a good Strength mail piece because a Mage-looking robe has a bigger number today. The robe loses its value on Tuesday.

Talents like Mental Dexterity, which turns Intellect into Attack Power, are not named in the post, so we do not know yet whether they change. We will update our Enhancement guides and the Shaman talent tree once the hotfix is live and the new values can be read from the game.

What else changed on November 6

The same hotfix round fixed several smaller class problems:

• Druid: Bloom now heals its target. Shadowmelded Night Elf Druids could use Ravage and Pounce, and no longer can.
• Mage: Arcane Blast lasts its full 18 seconds again. The stray Research spell is gone; you only get Study after its quest.
• Rogue: Shank shows its rank, and the right combo point count with Boot Knife.
• Legacy talent: The Quick and the Dead sometimes did not work. Now it does.
• Items: Searing Dagger only triggers from spells that deal damage.

Blizzard also says it may find more problems over the weekend and will post them before Tuesday. We will cover the final list when it lands.