Colossal Upcoming Class Tuning Pass, March 25th: All Classes Get Changes

With Season 2 now in full swing, and following the Mythic raid being fully cleared, we’ve compiled a major set of tuning changes to address over- and under-performance in all types of group content. We’re planning to make the following adjustments with scheduled weekly maintenance on Tuesday, March 25 in this region.

CLASSES

• DEATH KNIGHT
  • Frost
    • All ability damage increased by 4%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
• DEMON HUNTER
  • Vengeance
    • Deflecting Spikes (Talent) now causes Demon Spikes to increase Parry chance by 10% (was 15%).
• DRUID
  • Balance
    • Wrath damage increased by 30%.
    • Starsurge damage increased by 5%.
    • Elune’s Chosen: Lunar Calling increases Starfire’s damage to its primary target by 160% (was 100%).
  • Guardian
    • Druid of the Claw: Dreadful Wound damage increased by 20%.
    • Druid of the Claw: Empowered Shapeshifting increases Swipe’s damage by 12% (was 6%) and Mangle’s damage by 25% (was 15%).
    • Druid of the Claw: Wildpower Surge’s bonus to Rip damage reduced to 200% (was 225%).
• EVOKER
  • Devastation
    • Fixed an issue where the final tick of Disintegrate would not benefit from Titanic Wrath or Iridescence while talented into Azure Celerity.
    • Developers’ notes: The Nerub-ar raid tier set bonus was too strong and was causing players to not want to equip new gear from Undermine(d). We’re reducing the Nerub-ar tier set’s effectiveness and buffing the new Undermine(d) set to encourage people to use the newer items.
    • Devastation Evoker Nerub-ar 4-piece now reduces the cooldown of Shattering Star and Eternity Surge by 1 second (was 4 seconds).
    • Devastation Evoker Undermine 2-piece now casts Shattering Star at 100% effectiveness (was 50%).
    • Chance for Devastation Evoker Undermine 2-piece now triggers 25% more frequently.
    • Devastation Evoker Undermine 4-piece increases the damage of your next empower spell by 25% per stack (was 20%).
  • Augmentation
    • Developers’ notes: After our last round of tuning, we were pleased with Augmentation’s support capabilities, as that’s the strength of the spec. However, their personal damage contribution is lower than we’d like. We’re buffing their personal damage to bring their overall output up without further increasing their support contributions.
    • Damage of all spells and abilities increased by 15%.
  • Preservation
    • Developers’ notes: The Nerub-ar tier set bonus was too strong, so we’re reducing the Nerub-ar tier set’s effectiveness and improving Preservation output overall with some targeted changes to improve Preservation’s performance in raid and Mythic+.
    • Preservation Evoker Nerub-ar 4-piece increases the healing of empower spells by 5% per stack (was 10%).
    • Healing of all spells and abilities increased by 5%.
    • Spiritbloom healing increased by 20%.
    • Energizing Flame refunds 80% of the mana cost of Living Flame when used to attack an enemy target (was 50%).
    • Disintegrate damage increased by 25% for Preservation.
    • Living Flame damage increased by 25% for Preservation (does not apply to PvP combat).
• HUNTER
  • Beast Mastery
    • Developers’ Note: Beast Mastery is performing well, but we have a few planned changes to address some quality-of-life issues as well as a few bug fixes.
    • Dark Ranger: Black Arrow periodic effect duration increased to 14 seconds (was 10 seconds).
    • Dark Ranger: Withering Fire now prioritizes enemies that do not have Black Arrow’s periodic effect.
    • Pack Leader: Fixed a bug preventing Lead From the Front from increasing the Pack Leader Boar’s damage.
    • Withering Fire now fires 4 additional Black Arrows (was 2).
  • Survival
    • Developers’ Note: We’re increasing the frequency and power of Pack Leader’s summons for Survival to help make this Hero Talent tree more appealing.
    • All damage dealt increased by 4%.
    • Pack Leader: Dire Summons Kill Command cooldown reduction increased to 2 seconds (was 1 second).
    • Pack Leader: Bear damage increased by 40%.
    • Pack Leader: Boar damage increased by 40%.
    • Pack Leader: Howl of the Pack Leader duration reduced to 25 seconds (was 30 seconds).
    • Pack Leader: Fixed a bug preventing Lead from the Front from increasing the Pack Leader Boar’s damage.
  • Marksmanship
    • Developers’ Note: Dark Ranger’s performance is lower than expected, so we are making some substantial tuning changes to bring them closer to where we’d expect. We’d like Phantom Pain to be a compelling source of damage and worth playing around in Mythic+ and AOE scenarios, especially when combined with Trueshot and Withering Fire.
    • Explosive Shot damage increased by 15%.
    • Volley damage increased by 25%.
    • Dark Ranger: Black Arrow damage increased by 50%.
    • Dark Ranger: Black Arrow periodic effect duration increased to 14 seconds (was 10 seconds).
    • Dark Ranger: Phantom Pain damage share increased to 24% (was 8%).
    • Dark Ranger: Bleak Powder damage increased by 100%.
    • Dark Ranger: Withering Fire now prioritizes enemies that do not have the Black Arrow periodic effect.
• MAGE
  • Arcane
    • All damage dealt increased by 8%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
  • Frost
    • All damage dealt increased by 4%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
  • Fire
    • All damage dealt reduced by 3%.
• MONK
  • Windwalker
    • All damage decreased by 4%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
    • Slicing Winds damage increased by 20%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
  • Mistweaver
    • Developers’ notes: We’re decreasing Mistweaver’s overall damage while leaving their healing relatively unchanged. Spinning Crane Kick has still felt a touch weaker than we would like compared to the rest of Mistweaver’s kit, so we’re increasing the damage of Spinning Crane Kick alongside these changes.
    • All damage decreased by 25%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
    • Jadefire Teachings now increases Ancient Teaching’s transfer amount by 215% (was 160%). Does not apply to PvP combat.
    • Spinning Crane Kick damage increased by 15%.
    • Awakened Jadefire now transfers 120% of damage done (was 110%).
  • Brewmaster
    • 3% increase to all ability damage.
    • Undermine set bonus now increases damage of your next 2 casts of Blackout Kick by 250% (was 150%).
• PALADIN
  • Holy
    • Developers’ notes: Holy Paladin’s throughput has been below our targets so we are combining an overall buff with targeted increases to a few spells we would like to feel particularly more impactful.
    • All healing increased by 3%.
    • Word of Glory and Eternal Flame healing increased by an additional 20%.
    • Light of Dawn healing increased by an additional 20%.
    • Holy Prism AoE healing and damage increased by an additional 30%.
    • Holy Prism single target healing and damage increased by an additional 50%.
    • Shield of the Righteous damage increased by 30%.
  • Retribution
    • Final Verdict damage increased by 20%.
• PRIEST
  • Holy
    • Developers’ notes: Our aim with this Holy Priest tuning is to increase healing from weaker spells and talents. We’re also tuning up Oracle to improve its viability.
    • Prayer of Healing healing increased by 25%.
    • Prayer of Mending healing increased by 20%.
    • Renew healing increased by 60%.
    • Lightwell healing increased by 30%.
    • Divine Image healing increased by 20%.
    • Divine Image damage increased by 20%.
    • Holy Fire damage increased by 20%.
    • Renewed Faith now increases healing done to allies with Renew by 10% (was 6%).
    • Renews from Empowered Renew now heal for 120% more than a normal Renew (was 60%).
    • Oracle: Preemptive Care now increases the duration of Renew by 40% (was 25%).
    • Oracle: Preventive Measures now increases the healing of Prayer of Mending by 40% (was 25%).
    • Oracle: Preventive Measures now increases the damage of Smite, Holy Fire, and Holy Nova by 40% (was 25%).
  • Shadow
    • All damage done reduced by 3%.
  • Discipline
    • Lenience now causes Atonement to reduce damage taken by 2% (was 3%).
    • Atonement now causes spell damage to heal all targets affected by Atonement for 32% of damage done (was 35%). Not applied to PvP combat.
• ROGUE
  • Assassination
    • Nerub-ar 2-piece set bonus – Vile Tincture max stacks reduced to 5 (was 10).
    • All ability damage increased by 3% (does not affect PvP).
    • Mutilate damage increased by 40% (does not affect PvP).
    • Ambush damage increased by 40% (does not affect PvP).
• SHAMAN
  • Elemental
    • Developers’ notes: Elemental is performing lower than we would like in single target, and our changes to Primordial Wave in season 2 left it feeling a bit lackluster. We’re increasing damage of several core spells, and significantly increasing the damage and Maelstrom generation of Primordial Wave.
    • Lava Burst damage increased by 8%.
    • Lightning Bolt damage increased by 8%.
    • Icefury damage increased by 8%.
    • Frost Shock damage increased by 8%.
    • Primordial Wave now generates 12 Maelstrom (was 3).
    • Primordial Wave damage increased by 500%.
  • Restoration
    • Undermined 2-piece set bonus: Fixed an issue that caused Totemic Projection to apply Insurance! while using Surging Totem.
    • Undermined 2-piece set bonus: Insurance! healing increased by 30%.
• WARLOCK
  • Demonology
    • All damage increased by 3%.
• WARRIOR
  • Protection
    • Shield Slam damage reduced by 5%.
    • Colossus: Practiced Strikes’s bonus to Shield Slam and Revenge damage reduced to 10% (was 20%).
    • Colossus: One Against Many reduced to 3% per target (was 5%).
    • Colossus: Tide of Battle reduced to 7% per stack (was 10%).
    • Mountain Thane: Strength of the Mountain’s bonus to Shield Slam damage increased to 15% (was 10%).

Player versus Player

• Developers’ notes: We’re adding a healing reduction effect to Rated Battlegrounds and Battleground Blitz this week to reduce the potential for stalemates in these modes. This does not affect unrated Battlegrounds. Similarly, 2v2 Arena matches are being drawn out when there’s a healer on both teams, so we’re increasing the starting healing reduction in 2v2 Arena to allow for initial kill opportunities to be viable earlier.
• All healing done is now reduced by 10% in Rated Battlegrounds and Battleground Blitz.
• 2v2 Arena matches now start with an additional 10% healing reduction.
• DEATH KNIGHT
  • Developers’ notes: We’re aiming to improve Death Knight defenses against other melee specializations while increasing the damage of some underperforming abilities.
  • Bloodforged Armor now lasts 4 seconds (was 3 seconds) and reduces Physical damage taken by 25% (was 20%).
  • Soul Reaper’s damage to targets below 35% health increased by 75% in PvP combat.
  • Blood
    • San’layn: Vampiric Strike damage increased by 30% in PvP combat.
  • Unholy
    • San’layn: Vampiric Strike damage increased by 30% in PvP combat.
• DRUID
  • Balance
    • Developers’ notes: We’re increasing the damage of multiple Balance spells and reducing the spec’s reliance on Harmony of the Grove for burst potential. We’re also looking to increase the spec’s survivability by removing the PvP reduction on Frenzied Regeneration.
    • Moonfire and Sunfire damage increased by 33% in PvP combat.
    • Frenzied Regeneration is no longer reduced by 38% in PvP combat for Balance.
    • Keeper of the Grove: Harmony of the Grove increases spell damage by 4% in PvP combat (was 8%).
  • Feral
    • Tireless Pursuit (PvP Talent) now increases movement speed by 25% (was 40%).
    • Wicked Claws (PvP Talent) now decreases healing received by 16% (was 20%).
  • Restoration
    • Frenzied Regeneration healing is no longer decreased by 50% in PvP combat for Restoration.
• MAGE
  • Developers’ notes: We’re adding some reductions to the power of Mage mobility and defensives with emphasis on Arcane which is especially tough to chase. Overpowered Barrier is something we’re excited to see used. We feel the 5 second duration is too high to encourage the gameplay we want from this talent, which is for enemies to consider waiting for the barrier to expire to continue attacking. We’re reducing its duration to encourage that. This also reduces its defensive value since it has indeed been a bit overpowered.
  • Overpowered Barrier now causes Barriers to last 4 seconds (was 5 seconds).
  • Barrier Diffusion is now 50% effective in PvP combat.
  • Accumulative Shielding is now 33% effective in PvP combat.
  • Temporal Velocity is now 50% effective in PvP combat.
  • Incantation of Swiftness is now 50% effective in PvP combat.
  • Arcane
    • Chrono Shift now increases movement speed by 10% (was 25%).
    • Spellslinger: Slippery Slinging is now 50% effective in PvP combat.
    • Arcane Surge now increases spell damage by 15% in PvP combat (was 20%).
    • Arcane Surge damage increased by 40% in PvP combat.
  • Frost
    • Spellslinger: Slippery Slinging is now 50% effective in PvP combat.
• HUNTER
  • Marksmanship
    • Black Arrow damage reduced by 15%.
    • Undermine Class 4-set effectiveness reduced to 25% in PvP combat (was 50%).
• MONK
  • Windwalker
    • Celestial Conduit healing increased by 50% in PvP combat.
    • Last Emperor’s Capacitor now increases the damage of Crackling Jade Lightning by 300% (was 400%) per stack in PvP combat.
    • Slicing Winds damage decreased by 15% in PvP combat.
  • Mistweaver
    • Developers’ notes: Mistweaver’s general throughput has been lacking since changes to Jade Empowerment and we would like Celestial Conduit to be a more impactful cooldown as its effect can feel lackluster when split between several players in PvP.
    • Mana regeneration is now reduced by 40% in PvP combat (was 50%).
    • Celestial Conduit healing increased by 50% in PvP combat.
    • Vivify healing increased by 25% in PvP combat.
    • Enveloping Mist healing increased by 25% in PvP combat.
    • Renewing Mist’s healing increased by 40% in PvP combat.
• PALADIN
  • Blinding Light no longer removes damage over time effects from enemy players.
  • Holy
    • Divine Protection now reduces damage taken by an additional 5% in PvP combat.
  • Retribution
    • Developers’ notes: We’re pulling back on a few of Retribution Paladin’s negative PvP multipliers that we no longer feel are necessary.
    • Avenging Wrath now increases damage and healing done by 15% (was 10%) in PvP combat.
    • Blade of Justice damage increased by 20% in PvP combat.
    • Divine Protection now decreases damage taken by 15% in PvP combat (was 10%).
• PRIEST
  • Discipline
    • Developers’ notes: We’re making some adjustments to Discipline’s emergency healing, set bonus, and would like their mana to be more of a factor in matches.
    • Mana regeneration is now reduced by 45% in PvP combat (was 30%).
    • Evangelism healing reduced by 25% in PvP combat.
    • The healing taken bonus from the Undermine Class 4-set is now 20% effective in PvP combat (was 50%)
  • Holy
    • Developers’ notes: Between these changes and the game-wide changes above, we’re looking to improve sustained healing and mana regeneration for Holy.
    • Mana regeneration is now reduced by 50% in PvP combat (was 65%).
    • Flash Heal healing increased by 8% in PvP combat.
    • Heal healing increased by 8% in PvP combat.
    • Holy Word: Serenity healing increased by 8% in PvP combat.
    • Holy Word: Sanctify healing increased by 8% in PvP combat.
    • Prayer of Mending healing increased by 8% in PvP combat.
• ROGUE
  • Outlaw
    • Preemptive Maneuver now decreases damage taken by an additional 15% in stuns (was 40%) and reduces the cost of feint by 10% (was 30%) for Outlaw Rogues.
• SHAMAN
  • Elemental
    • Developers’ notes: We’re increasing Elemental’s sustained single target damage with our changes in the game-wide section, with emphasis on Maelstrom generators. We are also positioning Primordial Wave as a more threatening spell which should allow for more kill opportunities.
    • Stormbringer: Tempest damage increased by 20% in PvP combat.
  • Enhancement
    • Developers’ notes: Our aim is to increase Enhancement’s overall sustained damage while reducing some of its burst. We’re also looking at small increases to uptime and survivability through a targeted Healing Surge and Ice Strike buff.
    • Stormstrike damage increased by 15% in PvP combat.
    • Windstrike damage increased by 15% in PvP combat.
    • Lightning Bolt damage increased by 10% in PvP combat.
    • Chain Lightning damage increased by 10% in PvP combat.
    • Ice Strike damage increased by 10% in PvP combat.
    • Ice Strike now slows enemies by 60% in PvP combat (was 50%).
    • Healing Surge healing increased by 15% in PvP combat.
    • Primordial Storm damage reduced by 15% in PvP combat.
    • Windfury Attack damage reduced by 10% in PvP combat.
    • Stormbringer: Tempest damage increased by 20% in PvP combat.
• WARLOCK
  • Affliction
    • The Undermine Class 4-set bonus now applies 2 Unstable Afflictions in PvP combat (was 3).
• WARRIOR
  • Arms
    • Developers’ notes: Execute, Bladestorm, and Demolish have not had the impact we would like from them, so we are increasing their damage.
    • Execute damage increased by 25% in PvP combat.
    • Bladestorm damage increased by 20% in PvP combat.
    • Demolish damage increased by 15% in PvP combat.