The WoW Forever beta patch notes for October 1 come with the build that raises the level cap to 30. Community manager Kaivax posted them as an update to the WoW Forever Beta Development Notes on the official forums, and added a second batch of warrior changes a few hours later. The build also opens a new dungeon, Excavation Site: Wetlands (levels 26 to 31), plus Razorfen Downs and Uldaman.
The changes with the biggest effect on play: warrior critical strikes generate extra rage again, the Fury talent tree is rebuilt, dungeon quests give half as much bonus XP, and feral druids lose Tiger’s Fury in exchange for a new energy talent. Paladin tanks see their block chance shifted from Redoubt to Holy Shield.
This is still beta data. The beta runs until October 21, World of Warcraft: Forever launches on November 4, and any number can change before then. Our September 24 beta patch notes cover the previous build.
Level 30 Cap and New Dungeons
What changed: as of the October 1 build, WoW Forever beta characters can reach level 30. Excavation Site: Wetlands (26 to 31) is new, and Razorfen Downs (25+) and Uldaman (30+) join the eleven dungeons already open. Respawn rates went up in Hillsbrad Foothills, Ashenvale, Wetlands, Duskwood and Thousand Needles.
What it means: the level 20 to 30 range is where most specs pick up their first defining talents, so this is the first build where testers can judge them in play. Warcraft Tavern reports that 30 stays the cap for the rest of the beta. If that holds, nothing past level 30 gets public testing before launch.
Warrior: Crit Rage Is Back, Fury Rebuilt
What changed: critical strikes with a basic attack now generate 100% more rage. The first version of the notes said 75%, and Blizzard raised it the same evening in a separate warrior post. That post also explains a second pass on Fury: a bug had given Dual Wield Specialization’s hit bonus to both weapons, which skewed Blizzard’s tests.
- Rage sources: Dual Wield Specialization no longer doubles off-hand rage at 5/5, and Unbridled Wrath no longer gives two-handers twice the rage.
- Hit: Dual Wield Specialization no longer gives off-hand hit. The new Furious Precision (row 3) gives 4/7/10% off-hand hit instead.
- Removed: Improved Cleave and Boundless Rage. Whirlwind now always hits with both weapons, and Raging Blows instead cuts Cleave and Whirlwind’s rage cost by 3.
- Path to Flurry: it now requires Death Wish instead of Enrage. The new Gore Drinker (row 6) makes Enrage, Berserker Rage, Bloodrage, Death Wish and Bloodthirst heal you for up to 1% of maximum health on each of your next 3 melee attacks.
- Other Fury: Bloodthirst’s attack power ratio rises to 45% (was 35%), Berserker Rage unlocks at level 30 (was 32), Lingering Rage delays out-of-combat rage decay by up to 10 seconds, and Booming Voice now also cuts shout costs by up to 25%.
Protection moves Iron Will, Improved Bloodrage, Improved Disarm and Improved Shield Bash earlier in the tree and removes Toughness, so players without a shield can reach its middle. Blizzard’s stated goal is a Protection build that works as a PvP secondary spec. Arms only sees Spearing Strike drop its two-handed requirement (it now needs Battle Stance).
What it means: this answers the biggest warrior complaint of the beta. Auto attack rage stays normalized to weapon speed, but crits now double it, so average white-hit rage scales with crit chance: about 10% more at 10% crit, about 25% more at 25%. Dual-wield Fury loses its off-hand rage talent in the same build, so the net effect depends on crit levels nobody can measure at 30 yet. The notes don’t define “basic attack”, so whether Heroic Strike and Cleave crits count is unclear. Replies in the warrior thread welcome the Fury and Protection changes and ask when Arms gets its pass.
Our WoW Forever class changes guide rated warrior a loser on September beta data, mainly because crits gave no rage. This build changes exactly that part.
Dungeon Quest XP Halved
What changed: dungeon quests in the WoW Forever beta now reward 50% less extra experience beyond normal quest values, and some other quest rewards were recalibrated. Blizzard’s developer note links this to feedback on leveling speed.
What it means: only the bonus on top of a normal quest is cut, so dungeon quests still pay more than regular ones. Running every dungeon while leveling is a smaller shortcut than in the first two beta weeks.
Druid: Tiger’s Fury Removed, Shifting Power Added
What changed: Tiger’s Fury and the King of the Jungle talent are gone. Feral gets Shifting Power in row 4: in Cat Form, it converts 55% of base mana into 40 energy on a 16-second cooldown, at the same mana cost as Cat Form. Improved Shifting Power (row 5) cuts that cooldown by up to 8 seconds. Bear forms now gain 75% more rage from crits, Primal Bite’s threat roughly doubles, Swipe gains 3% of attack power, and all shapeshift forms are immune to Disarm.
What it means: Shifting Power gives cats what powershifting used to, mana turned into energy, now on a cooldown. With Improved Shifting Power that’s 40 energy every 8 seconds while the mana lasts. Bears get more threat and rage in the same build.
Paladin: Block Chance Moves to Holy Shield
What changed: Holy Shield’s block chance rises to 30% (was 20%), while Redoubt drops to 4/8/12/16/20% (was 6/12/18/24/30%). Retribution’s Champion of the Light now converts 20/40/60% of Intellect into spell damage (was 33/66/100%).
What it means: if the two stack the way they did before, a paladin with 5/5 Redoubt and Holy Shield active still gets 50% extra block chance (30 plus 20 instead of 20 plus 30). What changes is where it comes from: less from five passive talent points, more from a button you have to keep up. A paladin who doesn’t take Holy Shield, or lets it drop, ends up 10 points of block chance worse off than before. The Champion of the Light cut is a straight nerf to the Holy Shock hybrid build.
Other Changes in the October 1 Beta Patch Notes
| Area | Notable changes |
|---|---|
| Hunter | Sniper Shot range 45 yards, and your next 3 shots within 10 seconds get 10 more yards. Survival’s Deflection parry halved to 1 to 5%. Pet Aggressive mode is back. |
| Mage | Hot Streak renamed Heating Up. Combustion back to 3 charges (was 4). Comprehension scrolls can’t be cast while moving. |
| Priest | Devouring Plague can crit. Shadow Word: Death no longer always gets Early Demise. Inner Focus crit no longer affects periodic effects. |
| Warlock, Shaman | Hellfire can crit. Soul Harvest now grants its mana regeneration. Shaman’s Totemic Recall now restores mana. |
| Racials | Eureka! no longer affects periodic effects (channels don’t count as periodic). Cannibalize can’t be used while immune to physical damage. |
| PvP | Most honor gear and upgrade token costs up about 50%. Honor cap raised from 15,000 to 25,000. |
| Professions | Fewer Poor Copper Vein nodes in starter areas. Creatures can be skinned only once again. Crafted common and uncommon wands sell to vendors for 1 copper. |
One more change affects every caster: spells cast at ranks far below your level now visibly get less from spell power and a lower chance to trigger talents. Blizzard’s example: a Rank 1 Frostbolt at level 60 has a 0% chance to trigger Frostbite.
Open Questions and Known Issues
The notes contradict themselves on one point: the warrior section says Dual Wield Specialization no longer grants off-hand hit, while the known issues still list it granting hit to both hands. That second line describes the bug Blizzard says it fixed, so it is probably out of date. Among the other known issues, enemies can parry and block from behind if you stand too close, and debuffs such as Faerie Fire and Demoralizing Shout generate no threat.
What to watch next: an Arms pass (Blizzard hasn’t announced one, but warrior testers are asking), whether druid bear crit rage moves to 100% like the warrior value, and the Server Slam, which Blizzard promised for some point before October 21.
Sources: Blizzard’s WoW Forever Beta Development Notes, October 1, Blizzard’s warrior updates post and its replies, Blizzard’s beta announcement (beta end date), and Warcraft Tavern’s coverage of the October 1 build and the level 30 announcement. Screenshot: Blizzard Entertainment.