WoW: ForeverCGN planner & guide

The beta so far

Beta changes by build

The whole of Blizzard's beta development notes, newest build first, in CGN's words. Filter by class to see what changed for yours. This is the full list; the planner and class pages show the class lines only.

Beta Build CGN checked October 9, 2026Level cap 30 since October 1

October 8 build

Beta BuildOctober 8, 2026Level cap 30 Blizzard's notes ↗

City of Dalaran opens for testing, dungeon kills give about 20% more experience and the party XP penalty is back to Classic Era rules, every tester gets 16 Legacy points, Rage from taking damage is fixed and rebalanced, and most classes get tuning, including Vanilla damage for Retribution Aura and Thorns.

Changes and updates

  • New City of Dalaran (levels 28 to 33) is open for testing.
  • Buff Experience from killing creatures in dungeons is up by about 20%.
  • Fix Party experience: a bug cut the XP you got from a kill when a higher-level player was in your group. Each player's own level now decides it again, as in Classic Era.Blizzard's note: Blizzard expects the two changes together to raise dungeon experience a lot for most players. If someone in the group is far above the enemy's level, nobody gets XP, as intended.
  • Fix You can again swap several weapons within one global cooldown, for example with a macro that swaps a two-handed weapon for a sword and shield.

Legacy System

  • New Every beta player was granted the Legacy Challenge, which gives 16 Legacy points to test the system fully.
  • The cheapest Legacy respec costs 1 silver, and the price falls back by one respec each hour.Blizzard's note: Like class talent respecs, this applies only to the beta.

Bug fixes

  • Fix Creatures that dropped no loot can be interacted with again, as in Classic.
  • Fix Visual effects no longer flicker on large creatures.
  • Fix Creatures no longer get pulled from unintended long distances.

Cooldown Manager

  • New All classes, racial abilities and trinkets are supported.Blizzard's note: Support for consumables comes in a later patch.

Gamepad

  • The gamepad action bar supports Edit Mode, and its settings (such as the compact bar) moved from the options menu into Edit Mode. Old settings don't carry over, so set them again there.
  • Edit Mode layouts are saved and loaded per interface type.
  • Opening the map puts focus on the Quest Log, so you keep running unless you use the map cursor.
  • Hold-to-use actions have a new input indicator, raid frame navigation was updated, and inputs no longer stop working after looting.

Classes: Druid

  • Fix Rage from taking damage was miscalculated and is fixed: it used your own health instead of the expected creature's (so Stamina gear lowered it), mishandled critical strikes and crushing blows, and counted damage absorbs. Warriors and Druids should get more Rage when hit.Blizzard's note: Rage gains had been balanced around 50% armor, which suited tanks but not questing Warriors. They are now balanced around 20 to 40% armor, depending on level.
  • Buff Bear Form and Dire Bear Form give 100% more Rage on critical strikes (was 75%).
  • Buff Bear Form and Dire Bear Form threat bonus is 50% (was 30%).
  • Nerf Thorns: base damage is back to Vanilla values and the spell power ratio is 6% (was 13.3%).
  • Fix Mana potions work in Bear, Dire Bear and Cat Form, and Cat Form no longer lowers your maximum health.
  • Fewer effects override your shapeshift form. Those that still do have another benefit, such as Noggenfogger Elixir letting you breathe underwater.Blizzard's note: Blizzard wants players to be able to see which form a Druid is in.
  • Fix Demoralizing Roar now causes some threat on every target it hits.
  • Wrath ranks 1 to 5 were retuned so each new rank is an upgrade and the ranks grow more evenly.
  • Buff Feral: Predatory Instincts is renamed Natural Instinct and also adds spell healing equal to 12/25% of your Intellect.
  • Feral: Shifting Power can't be used at full Energy.
  • Fix Feral: Thick Hide is now built into the game code instead of a script, so equipping gear while shapeshifted triggers it properly.

Classes: Hunter

  • Fix Disengage now reduces threat twice as much, as intended.
  • Fix Pets no longer gain health over and over when low.
  • Fix Beast Mastery: Unleashed Fury now increases your pet's damage.
  • Fix Marksmanship: Improved Concussive Shot triggers at the correct chance.
  • Buff Survival: Expose Prey lasts 10 seconds (was 5).
  • Fix Survival: Entrapment has diminishing returns and triggers only on Frost Trap's first activation, not periodically.
  • Fix Survival: Improved Wing Clip triggers at the correct chance, and less often with ranks far below your level.

Classes: Mage

  • Fix Fire: Impact no longer triggers from Flamestrike's periodic damage.
  • Frostbolt and Fireball ranks 1 to 5 and Arcane Missiles ranks 1 to 3 were retuned so each new rank is an upgrade and the ranks grow more evenly.

Classes: Paladin

  • Fix Retribution Aura now uses the Paladin's spell power, not the spell power of the target being struck.
  • Nerf Retribution Aura: base damage is back to Vanilla values (about 33% lower) and the spell power ratio is 6% (was 13.3%).
  • Nerf Protection: Reckoning can trigger at most once every 1.5 seconds.
  • Fix Protection: Seal of Fury no longer returns Mana without the Improved Seal of Fury talent, and Improved Seal of Fury and Shield Specialization no longer cause threat when they restore Mana.Blizzard's note: Tanking Paladins were restoring enough Mana to generate more threat than intended.

Classes: Priest

  • Smite ranks 1 to 4, Lesser Heal ranks 1 to 3 and Heal ranks 1 and 2 were retuned so each new rank is an upgrade and the ranks grow more evenly.
  • Nerf Discipline: Penance does less damage and healing, fixing a bug that treated it as a 3-second channel instead of 2 seconds.Blizzard's note: Blizzard wants Penance in line with other powerful spells that have a cooldown.
  • Nerf Discipline: Penance Mana costs were adjusted so it stays more Mana-efficient than Heal and Greater Heal. Rank 1 costs 50% more.
  • Buff Discipline: Penance ranks 2 and 4 heal more.

Classes: Shaman

  • Fix Flametongue Totem uses a shapeshifted target's attack speed instead of their weapon's.
  • Lightning Bolt ranks 1 to 5 were retuned so each new rank is an upgrade and the ranks grow more evenly.
  • Fix Elemental: Fire Nova no longer triggers and immediately uses up Elemental Focus.
  • Fix Restoration: Water Shield's tooltip shows the Mana it restores and no longer claims a 15-second cooldown. Mana Tide Totem shows its visual again.

Classes: Warlock

  • Your current pet is stunned while you summon a new one.
  • Shadow Bolt ranks 1 to 4 were retuned so each new rank is an upgrade and the ranks grow more evenly.
  • Demonology: Demonic Brand's bonus pet damage only causes high threat when it deals Shadow damage.

Classes: Warrior

  • Fix Rage from taking damage was miscalculated and is fixed: it used your own health instead of the expected creature's (so Stamina gear lowered it), mishandled critical strikes and crushing blows, and counted damage absorbs. Warriors and Druids should get more Rage when hit.Blizzard's note: Rage gains had been balanced around 50% armor, which suited tanks but not questing Warriors. They are now balanced around 20 to 40% armor, depending on level.
  • Fix Demoralizing Shout now causes some threat on every target it hits.
  • Changed Arms: Deep Wounds is required again to reach Impale.
  • Fix Arms: Deep Wounds no longer scales with your off-hand weapon's attack power.Blizzard's note: Deep Wounds doesn't scale with attack power, but unlike Classic it is a rolling damage-over-time effect.
  • Fix Protection: Last Stand gives the correct amount of health.

Items

  • Wolfshead Helm now gives 5 extra Energy when you use Shifting Power. Its Rage effect is unchanged.
  • Nerf Several dungeon quest rewards were lowered from Rare to Uncommon, with stats to match.
  • Rewards from the new Gelkis and Magram quests in Desolace were retuned, and an upcoming hotfix makes them require level 35.
  • Smaller fixes: new armor-set shoulders are smaller, Truthseeker's Bow requires level 40, Transformative Cocoon is a debuff, Revelation's buff survives Ghost Wolf and Druid forms, and Discolored Healing Potion damage no longer breaks crowd control.
  • Enchanting wands, Minor Wizard Oil and the Peace Tea recipe have new, small vendor prices.

PvP

  • Buff Critical strikes no longer have reduced effect in PvP.
  • Fix The Shipwreck Cove capture point shows in the right place.

Professions

  • Fix Attack Power armor kits no longer give twice as much Ranged Attack Power, and Enchant Weapon - Recovery works for shapeshifted Druids.

Races

  • Fix Undead: Will of the Forsaken can be used while asleep or charmed again.

Quests

  • Desolace: the new Gelkis and Magram quests, starting with "Valley of Bones", need level 35 (was 30).
  • Tirisfal Glades: quests and creatures around Shadowvale and Bandarion Keep are higher level.Blizzard's note: They were lower than the quests before them and could turn green before you reached them.
  • Fix Durotar: there are more Taillasher Eggs for "Break A Few Eggs", and they respawn faster.
  • Fix Excavation Site: Wetlands: the Titan Relic is handed back for the follow-up quests, so you don't need a second one.
  • Many more quest fixes and map markers across the Barrens, Dun Morogh, Duskwood, Hillsbrad, Loch Modan, Mulgore, Orgrimmar, Redridge, Stonetalon, Teldrassil and class quests. Capital-city barbers were replaced with local ones.

Interface

  • Voice chat can use Discord voice (Audio settings), following the party leader's setting, and Group Finder listings can choose a voice mode.
  • The inspect window was updated, and View Talents is in the target frame's menu under Inspect.
  • Quest types show as text in the quest log, tracker and dialogue, and the tracker shows level requirements.
  • The character pane shows your level and class, buffed stats are highlighted again, and combo points were updated on the target frame and Personal Resource Display.

October 6 maintenance restart

Beta BuildOctober 6, 2026Level cap 30 Blizzard's notes ↗

Blizzard restarted the beta realms at 3:00 p.m. PDT to pick up priority fixes. A minor pass.

Bug fixes

  • Quest items that are meant to restock in a chest could go missing. Fixed.
  • You could occasionally be disconnected while riding an elevator or other transport. Fixed.
  • An error that could occur when joining or leaving a guild was addressed.

October 1 build (updated October 2)

Beta BuildOctober 1, 2026Level cap 30 Blizzard's notes ↗

Level cap raised from 20 to 30, a new dungeon, Fury Warrior reworked and the Protection Warrior tree rearranged, Feral Druid gets Shifting Power, higher PvP costs, and 50% less bonus XP from dungeon quests. Warrior changes were added to the notes on October 2.

Changes and updates

  • New Players can now level to a maximum of 30.
  • New New dungeon: Excavation Site: Wetlands (levels 26 to 31).
  • Razorfen Downs (level 25 and up) and Uldaman (level 30 and up) are now open, in addition to Ragefire Chasm, Hall of Thanes, Ruins of Lordaeron, Wailing Caverns, The Deadmines, Shadowfang Keep, The Stockade, Blackfathom Deeps, Gnomeregan, Razorfen Kraul and Scarlet Monastery.
  • New Barbershops now exist in Darnassus and Thunder Bluff, every barbershop now has barbers at work, and city guards give directions to them.

Bug fixes

  • Rain is easier to see.
  • Removed The Ray Traced Shadows option was removed. Blizzard says it will return in a future update once the feature is fixed.
  • Fix The Night Watchman's Torch no longer causes lag in some situations and can be cancelled.
  • The size of weapons held in hand and sheathed on the back was adjusted across all races to be more consistent.

Camping

  • The Boosted Rest debuff from camp features has a new icon and a clearer tooltip.
  • Camp feature wording now says "mutually exclusive" instead of just "exclusive", to reduce confusion.
  • Campfires no longer damage players below level 5, and they do less damage to players under 90% health.

Items

  • Savory Whimsyfin Delight now uses an orc version of the Ninja and Pirate outfits from Savory Deviate Delight.Blizzard's note: The earlier transformations were placeholders; similar ones may return.
  • Selling a bind-on-equip item to a vendor when you have not collected its appearance now makes the item soulbound (it used to become account-bound).

Classes: Druid

  • Buff Bear Form and Dire Bear Form give 75% more Rage when you land a critical strike.
  • Fix Swipe now scales with attack power (3% of it). Fixed a bug that stopped this.Blizzard's note: The tooltip will not update correctly until a later build.
  • Removed Tiger's Fury was removed.
  • New All shapeshift forms are immune to Disarm. If you are disarmed before you shift, the form does not remove the Disarm and you deal reduced damage until it ends.
  • Fix Faerie Fire no longer resets your swing timer.
  • Buff Feral: Primal Bite's threat was roughly doubled.
  • Removed Feral: the King of the Jungle talent was removed.
  • New Feral: new talent Shifting Power, connected to Shredding Attacks in row 4. Cat Form only, 16-second cooldown, costs 55% of base mana and instantly converts it into 40 Energy. Effects that reduce shapeshift cost reduce its cost, and it costs the same as Cat Form.
  • New Feral: new talent Improved Shifting Power in row 5 shortens Shifting Power's cooldown by 4 or 8 seconds.

Classes: Hunter

  • Marksmanship: the Improved Stings icon was changed to feel more like the original game.
  • Buff Marksmanship: Sniper Shot, the 31-point talent, now has a 45-yard range and adds 10 yards to your next 3 shots within 10 seconds.
  • Survival: the Predator's Edge icon was changed to feel more like the original game.
  • Nerf Survival: Deflection gives 1/2/3/4/5% parry (it was 2/4/6/8/10%).
  • New Pets: Aggressive Mode is back, found under the pet tab of the spellbook.Blizzard's note: Some tameable beasts had pet ability ranks that were too high for their level. Those were fixed, and a pet may appear to have forgotten an ability.

Classes: Mage

  • All Mage scrolls from comprehension got another balance pass and can no longer be cast while moving.
  • Changed Fire: Hot Streak was renamed Heating Up, since it no longer depends on a streak.
  • Nerf Fire: Combustion has 3 charges again (it had 4).
  • Fire: Improved Scorch's Fire Vulnerability does not roll a second resist check.
  • Frost: Winter's Chill does not roll to be resisted, since the original spell had to hit.

Classes: Paladin

  • Nerf Protection: Redoubt's block chance is 4/8/12/16/20% (it was 6/12/18/24/30%).
  • Buff Protection: Holy Shield's block chance is 30% (it was 20%).
  • Nerf Retribution: Champion of the Light's Intellect-to-spell-damage ratio is 20/40/60% (it was 33/66/100%).Blizzard's note: The tooltip wrongly said it increased healing. It did not, and the line was removed.

Classes: Priest

  • Fix Devouring Plague can now critically strike.
  • Fixed Shadow Word: Death always benefiting from Early Demise regardless of the target's health.
  • Nerf Discipline: Inner Focus no longer adds its critical strike bonus to periodic effects.
  • Fix Shadow: Shadow Weaving can no longer fail to apply.

Classes: Rogue

  • Fix Fixed Expose Armor missing and costing you all your combo points.
  • Nerf Subtlety: Setup only adds combo points to your current target if it is the one that dodged or resisted you.

Classes: Shaman

  • Ghost Wolf is easier to see in well-lit areas.
  • Fix Disease Cleansing Totem now lasts 5 minutes as intended.
  • Fix Totemic Recall now restores Mana as intended.

Classes: Warlock

  • Fix Drain Soul is now interrupted if you begin casting another spell.
  • Fix Hellfire can now critically strike.
  • The Incubus pet model was replaced with a lower-resolution one.
  • Fix Affliction: Soul Harvesting was renamed Soul Harvest and now correctly grants its 50/100% Mana regeneration increase.
  • New Pets: Aggressive Mode is back, under the pet tab of the spellbook.

Classes: Warrior

  • Buff You generate 100% more Rage when you land a critical strike with a basic attack. It was added at 75% and raised to 100% on October 2.
  • Rend and Sunder Armor now instantly tap enemies to you.
  • Queueing Heroic Strike no longer increases off-hand hit chance.
  • Fix Fixed a bug that gave Dual Wield Specialization's hit chance to both weapons.Blizzard's note: Tests had to be corrected because of that bug, so Fury got another pass.
  • Buff Arms: Spearing Strike no longer needs a two-handed weapon. It requires Battle Stance.
  • Nerf Fury: Dual Wield Specialization no longer gives 20 to 100% extra Rage from off-hand attacks, and no longer gives hit chance to off-hand attacks.
  • Fury: fixed Unbridled Rage having a lower proc chance than intended; Unbridled Wrath no longer gives two-handed weapons twice the Rage.Blizzard's note: Goal: more utility and meaningful choices early in the tree for leveling, and free points later instead of forcing them into Enrage to reach Flurry.
  • New Fury: Booming Voice is now a 10/20/30/40/50% bigger area for shouts and 5/10/15/20/25% lower Rage cost for them.
  • New Fury: new talent Lingering Rage in row 2 delays Rage decay after combat by 2/4/6/8/10 seconds.
  • New Fury: new talent Furious Precision in row 3 adds 4/7/10% off-hand hit chance.
  • New Fury: new talent Gore Drinker in row 6 (requires Enrage). Your Enrage, Berserker Rage, Bloodrage, Death Wish and Bloodthirst make your next 3 melee attacks restore 0.5/1% of your maximum Health.
  • Removed Fury: Blood Craze no longer triggers from Bloodthirst. The Improved Cleave and Boundless Rage talents were removed.
  • Changed Fury: Raging Blows now cuts the Rage cost of Cleave and Whirlwind by 3, and no longer makes Whirlwind strike with the off hand. Whirlwind always strikes with both weapons without a talent.
  • Changed Fury: Enrage is no longer required to reach Flurry. Death Wish is.
  • Changed Fury: Improved Berserker Rage moved to row 5 (it was row 6). Berserker Rage is available at level 30 (it was 32).
  • Buff Fury: Bloodthirst's attack power ratio is 45% (it was 35%).
  • Changed Protection: Iron Will moved to row 1 (it was row 2 of Fury), Anticipation to row 2, Improved Bloodrage to row 1, Improved Revenge to row 2, Improved Disarm to row 3 and Improved Shield Bash to row 4. Toughness was removed.Blizzard's note: Goal: give non-shield users a clear path to the middle of the tree so Protection can serve as a PvP tech secondary specialization, with access to Improved Bloodrage, Iron Will, Improved Disarm, Last Stand and Improved Shield Bash.

Cooldown Manager

  • Racial abilities are now supported.
  • Rogue is now supported.
  • Duplicate entries for each spell rank on already supported classes are gone.

Gamepad

  • The pet stable interface supports gamepads.
  • Gamepad UI bindings are now static. Rebinding a gamepad only affects the keyboard and mouse interface.
  • The compact raid and party manager frames support gamepads.
  • Fix Macros placed on a gamepad action bar can be moved again.

PvP

  • Nerf Honor costs for PvP gear and upgrade tokens rose, most items by about 50%, to better match Blizzard's gear-acquisition targets.
  • Buff The Honor cap rose from 15,000 to 25,000 to fit the higher costs.

Professions

  • Shenthul in Orgrimmar will now train Windshaper Skyborne. Blizzard lists this under Professions without saying what he trains.
  • A number of Blacksmithing and Leatherworking recipes meant as random dungeon drops are now available.
  • Enchanting: crafted common and uncommon wands sell to vendors for 1 copper.
  • Mining: fewer Poor Copper Vein nodes in starter areas.
  • Skinning: creatures can once again be skinned only once before they disappear.

Quests

  • Nerf Dungeon quests now give 50% less extra experience than normal quest values.Blizzard's note: A response to feedback on leveling speed; Blizzard says discussions are ongoing and some quest rewards were recalibrated too.
  • Fixed being unable to start escort quests with 25 or more quests in your log; certain quest items that dropped multiple times; and quests that could be shared and gave items on start.
  • Respawn rates increased across many creatures and objects in Hillsbrad Foothills, Ashenvale, Wetlands, Duskwood and Thousand Needles.
  • New Mulgore: the quest "Kyle's Gone Missing!" was added.
  • Darkshore: fixed the Tharnariun's Hope item in "Plagued Lands". Deadmines: "Destruction in Deadmines" sorts correctly in the quest log.
  • Druid: loot now drops reliably in "The Great Cat Spirit" and "The Great Windborne Cat Spirit". High Order Skyborne can do "Power Over Poison" to learn Cure Poison.
  • Dun Morogh: Shimmer Ridge trolls respawn more evenly and faster. Loch Modan: troggs respawn slightly more slowly for "In Defense of the King's Lands".
  • Orgrimmar: Smooth Boulders for "Rocks to Rests" are far more plentiful. Redridge Mountains: "Blackrock Blockade" was updated and its spawn rates adjusted.
  • Ruins of Lordaeron: "A Frightened Request" sorts correctly, and players can no longer receive several Bloodied Insignia quest items. Wailing Caverns: Serpentbloom Snakes now despawn after a couple of minutes.
  • Westfall: the pocket watch in Furlbrow's Wardrobe respawns much more slowly for "The Forgotten Heirloom"; the undead for "Collecting Memories" and Foreman Thistlenettle for "Oh Brother..." respawn faster.

Races

  • Nerf Gnome: Eureka! no longer benefits periodic effects at all. Channeled spells do not count as periodic.
  • Undead: Cannibalize cannot be used if the caster is immune to Physical damage.

Interface

  • On the character sheet, Spell Damage and Spell Healing now explain that spells cast at ranks far below your level get less benefit and a lower chance to trigger class abilities and talents, such as Frostbite and Omen of Clarity.Blizzard's note: Example: a Rank 1 Frostbolt at level 60 has a 0% chance to trigger Frostbite, so you choose between a quick slow and a spell that can proc it.
  • Character creation shows matching icons when Standard Definition models are toggled. Stables art and combo point art on the target frame and Personal Resource Display were updated.
  • Fix Loot rolls in chat show a player's full name, and the auction house shows item suffixes correctly.

World

  • World instances were adjusted. Party leaders should no longer be transferred when you create or change party composition.Blizzard's note: Blizzard is still iterating on features that affect population and grouping and wants feedback.

September 24 build

Beta BuildSeptember 24, 2026Level cap 20 Blizzard's notes ↗

The first beta development notes: class tuning for every class, 1-silver respecs, the Cooldown Manager, gamepad updates, and many quest fixes.

Bug fixes

  • Casters play their precast animations and no longer sometimes stand while casting.
  • Changed the splash sound when jumping into water; adjusted Human death sounds.
  • Fix Crafting or casting while waiting for your Campfire buff no longer makes you stand up. You can buff others, cast and craft while you wait, and you get the buff while sitting, in a chair, sleeping, lying down or kneeling.
  • Fixed Huey Sunnydale's legs not rendering, a Season of Discovery rune ability being visible, pets' Happiness not dropping at max loyalty, an over-bright ooze in the Undercity Canal, and a setting that could switch fog off.
  • Fixed a water display issue and other artifacts on Mac, a memory leak that slowed some players over time, and in-game mail ignoring surnames.

Classes: General

  • New Talent resets cost 1 silver if you have not recently reset them. This is temporary and for the beta only. After your first reset the next one costs much more, then drops back to 1 silver after an hour.

Classes: Druid

  • Buff Rejuvenation and Tranquility can now land critical hits. Wrath's base damage rose about 50%.
  • New Thorns scales with the caster's spell power and falls back to its base values if the caster is missing or too far away.
  • Changed Feral: Mangle was renamed Primal Bite because its debuff was removed. Talents that named Mangle now name Primal Bite, and Primal Fury was renamed back to Blood Frenzy with its original icon.
  • Fix Feral: Feral Charge (Cat) can no longer be cast on allies.
  • Fix Restoration: Wild Growth can now land critical hits.

Classes: Hunter

  • Nerf Pets: Furious Howl's attack power bonus was cut by 40%. Sonic Blast now works for Bat pets. Tame Beast no longer works on beasts above the Hunter's level.
  • Fix Marksmanship: talenting out of Lone Wolf no longer leaves a -4% damage penalty while your pet is out.
  • Fix Survival: Lacerating Strikes can land critical hits. Strider Kick now gives 30% movement speed for 3 seconds.

Classes: Mage

  • Buff Arcane Missiles checks line of sight only once, at the start of the channel, so a target moving out of sight no longer stops the missiles.
  • Buff Fire: Wake of Fire lasts 30 seconds (it was 20) and Hot Streak lasts 20 seconds (it was 15). Ignite no longer double-dips on percentage damage bonuses.Blizzard's note: Wake of Fire was hard to use while leveling because Mages must restore Mana between fights.

Classes: Paladin

  • Fix Retribution Aura scales with the Paladin's spell power. The Flash of Light cast animation plays at the end of the cast.
  • Fix Consecration fixes: it now applies its increased-damage effect to all targets, its vertical position is consistent, and it no longer pulls targets from above or below the caster.
  • Buff Holy Strike's weapon damage per rank is 25/29/32/36/39/43/46/50% (it was 25/25/30/30/35/35/40/40%).Blizzard's note: Early ranks did not always feel like an upgrade when you trained them.
  • Nerf Echo of Justice no longer activates more often than intended. Righteous Fury's Holy threat bonus is 60% (it was 90%).
  • Removed Holy: Holy Strike's cooldown is 10 seconds (it was 12). Improved Holy Strike was removed from the tree and its effect made baseline.Blizzard's note: A talent that cuts a core ability's cooldown that early in a healing tree felt required, so it was made baseline.
  • Buff Holy: Light's Vigil's tooltip was reorganized, and Holy Power now also adds 15% critical strike chance to Holy Strike.
  • Changed Retribution: Vengeance triggers from non-periodic crits and stacks to 3 (it was 5). Two-Handed Weapon Specialization is 2/4/6% (it was 3/6/9%). Sacred Arbiter adds 20% Holy Strike damage (it was 10%). Twist of Light also cuts Seal mana costs by 20%.

Classes: Priest

  • Fix Renew can now land critical hits. Power Word: Shield can always overwrite an existing Power Word: Shield on a target without Weakened Soul.
  • Fix Gnome: Contingency Plan can land critical hits, and Confounding Flash has a cast visual with a more Holy look.
  • Fix Night Elf: Starshards now gets Twilight Focus's spell pushback resistance. Undead: Dark Sacrifice no longer breaks crowd control that breaks on damage and its tooltip shows the Spirit scaling.

Classes: Rogue

  • Fix Sap now flags the Rogue for PvP when used on a PvP-flagged target.

Classes: Shaman

  • Buff Lightning Bolt ranks 3 and 4 hit harder so they are always upgrades over earlier ranks despite their cast times.
  • Nerf Totems: Windfury and Flametongue buffs show their proper names. Flametongue Totem has no duration and is replaced instantly when you place another totem, cannot be stacked by recasting, and does not stack with Flametongue Weapon or Windfury Totem. Tranquil Air, Windfury and Grace of Air Totems no longer stack even from different Shaman in one group.
  • Changed Elemental: Elemental Fury (row 3) and Elemental Alacrity (row 6) swapped places. Lava Burst ranks 1 and 2 deal about 10% more base damage than the Lightning Bolt rank learned around the same level.Blizzard's note: Early crit damage is less exciting for the core leveling spec, so a better Elemental talent moves earlier. It affects Enhancement's spell crit damage, and Blizzard says it will use the room to add more to Enhancement later.
  • Nerf Enhancement: Rage of the Far Seer (row 7) no longer adds spell casting speed.Blizzard's note: The speed was not needed for the ability's core function.
  • Fix Restoration: Riptide can land critical hits.

Classes: Warlock

  • Fix Life Tap's tooltip shows the Life converted and says only that it scales with Spirit. Voidwalker Sacrifice scales with 10% of the Warlock's spell healing.

Classes: Warrior

  • Fix Sunder Armor's threat was corrected on all ranks, with a small increase from attack power.
  • Changed Protection: Bastion (row 5) and Focused Rage (row 6) swap places.Blizzard's note: Give Focused Rage sooner to smooth leveling before Shield Slam. Players reported this swap was not in the client yet, and the planner follows the client.
  • Changed Arms: Bloodthrill's chance is 4/8/12/16/20% (it was 2/4/6/8/10%) but only triggers from main-hand attacks, including Cleave and Heroic Strike. Slam's cooldown is 18 seconds (it was 15) and Improved Slam shortens it by 1.5 or 3 seconds.

Races

  • Gnome: Eureka! was changed on every class to a 10% discount on Mana, Rage or Energy abilities.
  • Human: the Will to Survive visual now matches Dispel Magic instead of Will of the Forsaken.
  • Tauren: Cultivation has a player-level requirement for every herb, equal to the herb's pick level divided by 5. Herbs needing more than 300 skill can be cultivated at level 60.
  • Undead: Touch of the Grave no longer breaks crowd control or triggers from spells without a damage component.Blizzard's note: Shadow Word: Pain triggers it on cast but not on periodic damage; Distract and Pickpocket no longer trigger it, and Polymorph can no longer activate it.

Cooldown Manager

  • A customizable display for buffs and cooldowns pulled from your buff bar or action bar. Off by default; enable it in Options under Gameplay Enhancement.
  • Druid, Mage, Priest, Warrior and Warlock are available for testing. Other classes come later. It does not support spell ranks yet. Blizzard most wants feedback on which spells should be tracked by default.

Gamepad

  • New class flyouts on the action bar: shapeshift forms for Druids, pet control and pet spells for Hunters and Warlocks, auras for Paladins and stances for Warriors. The pet bar no longer replaces the bottom gamepad bar for Hunters and Warlocks.
  • New Gamepad options: compact action bar, fixed party targeting, swap target modifier sides, and swapped friendly or hostile action sides. Edit mode layouts now apply while the gamepad UI is on. Map and quest log bindings were updated and POI pins have hover behavior.

Items

  • Some guns and bows were not using ammunition correctly. Several quest rewards were corrected to the right item level, and a few early caster rewards were adjusted.
  • Nerf Wizard Oils returned to Classic Era values: Minor 8, Lesser 16 and Wizard Oil 24 spell power. Brilliant Wizard Oil is unchanged. Wands no longer gain damage from the user's spell damage.

Quests and world

  • Several dungeon quests were shareable and gave the receiver a quest item when shared. Fixed.
  • Dalaran: faction adjustments, with spawns now just outside the city entrance.
  • Dun Morogh, Durotar, Elwynn Forest, Mulgore, Silverpine Forest, Teldrassil and Westfall: respawn, loot and quest-item fixes for many quests. Teldrassil's "Bounty: Gnarlpine Furbolg" now needs 15 kills (it was 20).
  • Silithus: Khonsu's arrival was removed from the beta phase and Blizzard says it will return later.
  • Undercity: the Skyborne quest "Exploring the Horde" now completes the objective to talk with Lady Sylvanas Windrunner.
  • Zephras Isle: the High Order quest "Catching Wind" was redesigned with spawn changes at the Overlook Standing Stones in Shen'dar Highlands. Nightclaw Cavern druids award credit for "Wounds of Betrayal" when healed, and "A Firm Response" grants credit.

Interface

  • The Nameplate selection display and Personal Resource Display textures were updated.

Beta opens

Blizzard ConfirmedSeptember 17, 2026Level cap 20 Blizzard's notes ↗

The beta opened with a level cap of 20. Blizzard said the cap would be raised to 30 later in the test.

What was available in week 1

  • The Skyborne race and Zephras Isle.
  • New dungeons Hall of Thanes (levels 13 to 18) and Ruins of Lordaeron (levels 15 to 20).
  • All zone content up to level 20.
  • Additional zones, dungeons and the new battleground were promised for later in the beta, plus a Server Slam: a window of several hours when anyone can enter. No date yet.

About build numbers. Blizzard's posts do not give a client build number, and CGN does not take one from a third party. Builds here are identified by the date Blizzard posted the notes. Notes get edited in place, so a line can change after the date shown; CGN re-reads the thread each time it checks.

Sources on this page

Labels: Blizzard Confirmed Beta Build Beta Data Developer Interview Press Report Community Observation Survey / Concept Only Not Yet Known