You have five days before Season 2 starts. Here is what actually matters.

• Melee damage +20%; Heart Strike +25%; Marrowrend +50%.
• Dancing Rune Weapon now grants 30% Parry (was 25%).
• Apex: Dance of Midnight (Rank 2) reduces damage taken 6% per active Dancing Rune Weapon (was 4%).
• Permafrost shield 50% of damage dealt (was 40%); Voracious 15% Leech (was 12%).
• Rapid Decomposition increases Blood Plague healing 85% (was 50%); Relish in Blood healing +25%.
• Sanguinary Burst heals 18% of damage (was 15%); Umbilicus Eternus absorbs 6x Blood Plague damage (was 5).
• Perseverance of the Ebon Blade: 4% damage reduction on Crimson Scourge, duration 10s (was 6s).
• Bloodshot now also reduces damage taken 4% while Blood Shield is active.
• San'layn: Blood Beast auto-attack +1400%; Blood-Soaked Ground 8% physical reduction (was 5%).

A straightforward, broad buff to both damage and survivability. Blood is in a good place.¹

• All ability damage -10%; melee damage -20%; Pillar of Frost grants 20% Strength (was 30%).
• Big filler buffs: Howling Blast +100%, Frost Fever +100%, Steady damage up across Empower Rune Weapon (+30%), Glacial Advance (+30%), Icy Death Torrent (+30%), Remorseless Winter (+40%), Frost Strike (+25%), Frostscythe (+20%).
• Burst cut: Obliterate -12.5%, Breath of Sindragosa -20%, Frostbane -30%, Frostwyrm's Fury -20%.
• Deathbringer: Deathly Blows increases Frost Strike 35% (was 15%); Reaper's Mark -25%; Exterminate -17%; Wither Away 75% faster Frost Fever (was 100%).
• Rider of the Apocalypse: Whitemane's Undeath -30%.

Explicitly a burst-to-steady transfer. Obliteration inside Pillar was strong, so power moved into your filler. Expect similar totals with smoother pacing.¹

• Summon density deliberately reduced. Blizzard states the Rider of the Apocalypse combination pushed summon counts past what they are comfortable with.
• Reanimation renamed Lord of the Dead and redesigned: controlling 3 Magus of the Dead sacrifices them to summon their Lord for 15s, casting chaining Frostbolts.
• Army of the Dead redesigned: summons or empowers Lesser Ghouls into an army of 8 for 30s; while active you command them via Scourge Strike, executing Death Order (single target) or Epidemic Order (AoE, reduced beyond 5).
• Soul Reaper no longer consumes Putrefy charges; now consumes up to 3 Lesser Ghoul stacks to summon them instantly.
• Apex: Forbidden Knowledge (Rank 3) — Magus no longer grants stacking damage to Necrotic Coil and Graveyard; Putrefy via Dread Plague now 100% effective (was 60%).
• Other players now see at most 3 of your Lesser Ghouls at a time.
• Tuning: all damage -3%; auto-attack +100%; Epidemic +54%; Putrefy AoE +35%; Magus -15%, Putrefy -15%, Pestilence -25%, Infected Claw -25%, Army Lesser Ghoul -25%.
• Commander of the Dead now 10%/20% (was 15%/30%). Rider: Whitemane Death Coil and Undeath both -25%.

The biggest visual and rotational change in the patch. Same fantasy, far less pet spam, and a genuinely different AoE flow through Scourge Strike orders.¹

• Demon Hunters can now equip daggers, explicitly so Devourer can use Intelligence weapons.
• Mastery: Monster Within bonus damage during Void Metamorphosis reduced by 66%.
• All ability damage +32% to compensate. Net: less damage inside Metamorphosis, significantly more outside.
• Consume +60% (does not affect Devour); Collapsing Star +12%; Eradicate -6% and secondary target -15%.
• Void Metamorphosis increases Void Ray damage 40% (was 67%); Impending Apocalypse 20% per Collapsing Star (was 30%).
• Hungering Slash now grants a temporary Vengeful Retreat charge rather than a free cast plus cooldown reset.
• Annihilator: Otherworldly Focus 30% single-target (was 35%); Final Hour Voidfall persists 6s (was 8s).

Mastery was crowding out other stats. Rebuild your stat priority before assuming your old weights hold.¹

• New Talent Never Say Die: +3% damage above 50% health, +5% Leech below 50%.
• Demon Blades, Blade Dance and Chaos Strike now require Warglaives, Axes, Swords or Fist Weapons (not daggers).
• Trail of Ruin damage now applies immediately instead of over 4s.
• Serrated Glaive is now a 12s buff on you, not a 15s debuff on the target.
• Fury generation smoothed: Demon Blades 10-16 per attack (was 8-15); Burning Hatred +30 Fury (was 40); Blind Fury 10/20 per second (was 15/30).
• Damage: Blade Dance, Death Sweep, Chaos Strike, Annihilation all +6%; The Hunt +12%; Essence Break initial +49%; Immolation Aura -8%.
• Inertia now 12% for 6s (was 18% for 5s). Inner Demon moved to a choice node with Chaos Theory. Dash of Chaos removed.

A small net Fury increase paced more evenly, with less dependence on Immolation Aura talents. Check your weapon type still qualifies.¹

• Fracture and Soul Cleave now require Warglaives, Axes, Swords or Fist Weapons.
• Sigil of Chains is now baseline at level 35, cooldown 60s (was 90s), and no longer replaces Sigil of Misery. Sigil of Silence now replaces Sigil of Misery when selected.
• Improved Sigil of Misery no longer affects Sigil of Chains; instead reduces Sigil of Silence cooldown by 15s.
• All damage +5.5%.
• Self-healing up across the board: Soul Cleave +25%, Fel Devastation +25%, Feast of Souls +25%, Charred Warblades 5% of Fire damage (was 4%), Frailty 10% (was 8%), Revel in Pain 6% (was 5%).
• Several talents moved position.

Free utility from baseline Sigil of Chains plus a solid survivability bump. Clear winner.¹

• Core goal: build, spend and pool Astral Power. Generation and free-spender procs reduced; spender damage increased.
• New passive at level 42 Stellar Protection: if Moonfire and Sunfire are dispelled, Stellar Flare is applied to the target. Generates 12 Astral Power.
• Umbral Intensity now increases Wrath and Starfire damage 12% at all times.
• Apex: Ascendant Eclipses (Rank 2) — Astral Smolder 10%/20% of crit damage (was 12%/24%), duration 8s (was 6s). Solar Bolt +27%, Lunar Bolt +10%.
• All damage +8%. Starfire +20%, Wrath +10%, Starsurge +7%, Meteorites +15%, Shooting Stars +10%, Moonfire and Sunfire +5%, Starfall +4%.
• Proc reductions: Touch the Cosmos 12% from Wrath (was 15%) and 15% from Starfire (was 20%); Orbit Breaker 50% (was 60%). Total Eclipse up to 15%/30% (was 10%/20%).
• Sculpt the Stars reduces Eclipse cooldown 3s (was 2s) and swapped position with Astral Communion. Stellar Amplification now single-target only.
• Elune's Chosen: Star Cascade no longer triggers from Wrath; 30% chance at 50% effectiveness (was 40% at 70%). Bask in Moonlight +5% Starsurge (was 10%).
• Keeper of the Grove: Bounteous Bloom extends Treants 4s instead of adding a fourth; Cenarius' Might 6% haste (was 8%); Potent Enchantments 6% (was 10%); Dryad's Starfall 250% (was 200%); Spirit of the Thicket 18% (was 12%); Dream Burst +30%; Power of Nature treant melee +300% (was 200%).

Fewer free spenders, more deliberate pooling. If Balance felt like whack-a-mole in 12.0, this is the fix.¹

• All damage +3%. Shred and Cat Form Swipe +10% (class-wide).
• Rampant Ferocity and Merciless Claws swapped positions in Gate 1, explicitly to make Rampant Ferocity takeable in raid builds and fix Feral's AoE/cleave weakness.
• Rampant Ferocity +25%; Chomp +30%; Saber Jaws 60% per point (was 50%); Rip and Tear 20% (was 15%).
• Merciless Claws 25% (was 20%); Focused Frenzy 15% (was 20%); Apex Predator's Craving 4% base (was 5%).
• Blood Spattered 8% per stack (was 2%) but caps at 6 stacks (was 10). Taste for Blood 16% (was 12%), +8% during Tiger's Fury (was 12%).
• Cooldown Manager now shows empowered icons for Tiger's Fury-enhanced Rake and Rip.

Aimed squarely at build diversity and Feral's AoE gap. Chomp builds are now genuinely viable.¹

• Gory Fur redesigned: Ironfur can make your next Maul/Raze/Ravage free, and those can make your next Ironfur free — a two-way loop encouraging balanced Rage spending.
• Apex: Wild Guardian fully redesigned. Rank 1: spending Rage has a 10% chance to awaken a guardian spirit for 8s that attacks when you Thrash or Mangle. Rank 2: Mangle/Ravage/Raze/Maul deal 20%/40% extra Nature damage over 12s; Mastery +3%/6%. Rank 3: awakening resets Thrash and Mangle cooldowns and boosts them 30%; each spirit attack generates 8 Rage; Berserk or Incarnation grants a guaranteed-awaken charge.
• Lunation reworked to reduce rotational pressure: now reduces Lunar Beam cooldown by a flat 20s (was 3s per Arcane ability).
• All damage +8%. Brambles absorb +25%, After the Wildfire +25%, Lunar Beam healing +25%, Matted Fur +25% (class-wide).
• Ursoc's Fury absorb 35% of Thrash and Maul (was 30%); Elune's Favored heals 18% of Arcane damage (was 15%).
• Elune's Chosen: Boundless Moonlight Leech 12% (was 10%).

A real rework, not tuning. Lunation no longer distorts your rotation, and Wild Guardian spreads its impact across the whole kit.¹

• New Talent Overgrowth: Nature's Swiftness makes your next Regrowth apply Lifebloom, Rejuvenation and Wild Growth's HoT to an ally.
• New Talent Flash of Clarity: Omen of Clarity increases Regrowth healing 40%.
• Innervate redesigned: now regenerates 25% of the target's maximum mana over 8s rather than making spells free.
• Abundance redesigned: with 5+ Rejuvenations active, Regrowth gains +50% crit chance and -50% mana cost.
• Tranquility now grows roots absorbing 60% of your health and preventing knockbacks.
• Incarnation: Tree of Life now casts Regrowth on up to 3 injured allies on shapeshift.
• Swiftmend healing increased by 40% of the consumed HoT. Everbloom (Rank 3) now triggers on Swiftmend (was Soul of the Forest).
• Verdant Infusion no longer extends HoTs; Germination no longer adds 2s to Rejuvenation; Nature's Splendor removed.
• Ysera's Gift overhealing now transfers to a nearby ally.
• Mastery: Harmony +15%. All healing +6%. Verdancy +40%. Wild Growth +20% healing, +15% mana. Regrowth -20% healing, -10% mana. Rejuvenation -10% mana, Lifebloom -20% mana.
• PvP: Ancient of Lore returns as a PvP talent. All healing -10% in PvP combat.

Broad usability fixes plus Swiftmend restored as a punchy single-target heal. Innervate is now a mana gift, not a free-cast window — adjust how you use it.¹

• Apex: Rising Fury (Rank 3) redesigned. When Dragonrage ends, Rising Fury persists 4s per stack and Dragonrage becomes Unbound Flame, castable 4 times before the cooldown finishes.
• Unbound Flame: instant, 25 yard, always crits for Fire damage to target and nearby enemies (reduced beyond 5), causes 1 Essence Burst.
• Tyranny now interacts with Unbound Flame, always granting maximum Mastery: Giantkiller benefit regardless of target health.
• Big filler buffs: Living Flame +50%, Disintegrate +40%, Deep Breath +30%, Pyre +10%.
• Risen Fury removed and streamlined into Rising Fury.
• Shattering Stars from Scintillation now correctly subject to the 40% multiplier.
• Flameshaper: Twin Flame damage and healing -20% (now scales with Mastery). Scalecommander: Wingleader reduces Deep Breath cooldown 1s per target (was 0.5s).

The Apex talent finally has a visible payoff moment. Strong buffs to core filler make the non-Dragonrage window much better.¹

• Dream Breath rebalanced toward a heal-over-time: instant healing -50%, periodic healing +118%.
• Apex: Merithra's Blessing now increases all Dream Breath healing 60% (was 250%, instant-only).
• Font of Magic now also reduces Dream Breath and Fire Breath empower time by 20%.
• Temporal Barrier absorption +30%. Inner Flame 50% periodic (was 60%). Spiritual Clarity -6s Dream Breath cooldown (was 10s).
• Flameshaper: Consume Flame heals 240% of the amount consumed (was 200%) and can now crit. Expanded Lungs +20% (was 30%); Conduit of Flame +10% crit (was 15%); Fulminous Roar 15% (was 20%).
• Fluttering Seedlings can now trigger Consume Flame and are boosted by Titan's Gift.
• Panacea healing +25% (class-wide).

Dream Breath is a flexible HoT again rather than a third burst button. Consume Flame is finally worth its capstone slot.¹

• Apex: Duplicate — Upheaval casts from your Duplicate no longer knock enemies into the air. Blizzard cites uncontrolled timing warping dungeon gameplay.
• All ability and pet damage +3%.
• Midnight Season 1 2-set no longer increases how long Eruption extends Ebon Might.
• Chronowarden: Double-time stats from Ebon Might crits now last 15s (modified by Mastery: Timewalker) and extend on reapplication.
• Scalecommander: Wingleader redesigned — Mass Disintegrate/Mass Eruption reduces Deep Breath/Breath of Eons cooldown 0.5s/1s per target struck; now 1.5s per target for Breath of Eons.
• Healing: Living Flame, Verdant Embrace, Emerald Blossom, Defy Fate, Molten Blood all +25%.

Losing the Duplicate knock-up is a real utility loss in dungeons. The 3% damage bump does not replace it.¹

• Blizzard states BM felt weak outside Bestial Wrath and is buffing steady damage directly.
• Kill Command +20%, Cobra Shot +25%, Barbed Shot +10%, Auto Shot +720%.
• Beast Cleave duration increased to 10s (was 8s), can no longer be cancelled, and pets now strike for 55% (was 40%) — Blizzard expects 100% AoE uptime with Wild Thrash.
• Heart of the Pack renamed Razor Sharp: increases pet Bite, Claw and Smack damage 100%.
• Piercing Fangs redesigned: Kill Command critical damage +15%.
• Kill Cleave now cleaves 20% of Kill Command during Beast Cleave (was 40%). Bloody Frenzy reduces Barbed Shot periodic rate increase 33% (was 50%).
• Serpentine Strikes 20% Cobra crit damage (was 50%); Cobra Senses +10% Cobra damage (was 35%).
• Wild Instincts removed. Pack Leader: Hogstrider +100% next Cobra Shot (was 200%); Hoof and Blade 25% (was 50%).

Clean, direct buffs to your most-pressed buttons plus permanent AoE uptime. BM looks strong.¹

• Explosive Shot redesigned: every 1s for 3s the target explodes for Fire damage in 8 yards (reduced beyond 5). Recasting incorporates remaining damage from previous Explosive Shots.
• New Talent Unstable Trigger: Explosive Shot can be used a second time within 3 seconds.
• Precision Detonation redesigned: Explosive Shot lasts 1 additional second.
• Shrapnel Shot renamed Accuracy by Volume: Bulletstorm affects your next 1 Aimed Shot.
• Bulletstorm redesigned: Rapid Fire increases your next Aimed Shot damage 20%.
• Headshot and Double Tap removed. Deathblow updated: Aimed Shot has a chance to make your next Aimed Shot grant Deathblow. Rapid Fire's 100% Deathblow chance is unchanged.
• Apex: Take Aim (Rank 2) redesigned — crit damage +5%/10%, ranged ability damage +3%/6%. No longer makes Aimed Shot a guaranteed crit. Rank 3 Spotter's Mark now boosts Aimed Shot and Rapid Fire.
• Windrunner Quiver redesigned: Rapid Fire +10% damage and 30% chance to grant Lock and Load.
• All ability damage +5%. Multi-Shot +73%, Steady Shot +50%, Kill Shot +50%, Rapid Fire +44%, Arcane Shot +38%, Aimed Shot +20%, Volley +20%, Auto Shot +756%.
• Aspect of the Hydra: Arcane Shot no longer cleaves. Eagle's Accuracy now 1 point (+5% Aimed, +10% Rapid Fire). Focused Aim -1s Aimed Shot cooldown (was 2s).
• Dark Ranger: Through the Eyes redesigned (+10% Kill Shot and Black Arrow); Black Arrow +25% but direct damage -40%.

The most rebuilt ranged spec in the patch. Removing Headshot and the guaranteed Aimed Shot crit de-emphasises Aimed Shot modifiers — your old stat and talent logic will not transfer.¹

• New Talent Razor Edge: Raptor Strike, Raptor Swipe and Kill Command gain +10% crit chance and +10% crit damage.
• New Talent Bombardier: Wildfire Bomb damage, crit chance and crit damage +15%.
• Wildfire Imbuement redesigned: throwing a Wildfire Bomb can imbue your weapon, adding Fire damage to your and your pet's auto-attacks for 10s.
• Grenade Juggler redesigned: Boomstick increases Wildfire Bomb cooldown recovery 60% for 8s.
• Lunge +3% Agility (was 2%), +1% more while dual-wielding (was 2%). Wildfire Shells 3s cooldown reduction (was 2s).
• Flamefang Pitch and Shower of Blood removed. Primal Surge moved to an easier tree position.
• Sentinel: Open Fire redesigned (+5% Fire damage); Lethal Barbs now has a very high chance to generate 3 Focus rather than 1 per auto-attack, explicitly so you are not forced into the fastest dual-wield weapons; Sentinel's Mark duration 16s (was 12s); Moon's Blessing 6s Wildfire Bomb reduction (was 4s).
• Pack Leader: Hogstrider lasts 1 minute (was 20s) but cancels when starting a raid encounter or M+ dungeon.

Two new damage talents and the Lethal Barbs fix removing weapon-speed tyranny. Good patch for Survival.¹

• Blizzard unified Improved Barrier: every spec now gets an additional Barrier charge plus one spec-specific rider.
• Improved Prismatic Barrier: extra charge, and magic damage taken reduced a further 5%.
• Improved Blazing Barrier: extra charge, and heals you for 15% of damage absorbed.
• Improved Ice Barrier: extra charge, and physical damage taken reduced 10%.
• New Talent Improved Warding: AoE damage taken reduced 4%.
• Temporal Realignment now immediately heals 20% of health, plus 30% over 6s.

A meaningful across-the-board survivability patch for a class that has struggled with it.¹

• New Apex Talent: Prismatic Bolt. Rank 1: Arcane Barrage has a 1% chance per Arcane Salvo stack consumed to trigger it — heavy Arcane damage to target and nearby enemies, generates 4 Arcane Charges, unaffected by Arcane Blast talents. Rank 2: 50%/100% chance to grant Clearcasting, Arcane Missiles +15%/30%. Rank 3: +1% trigger chance per Salvo, Arcane Barrage +15%.
• New Talent Refractive Images: 10% of damage taken is instead dealt over 8s; Mirror Image raises this to 30% for 15s.
• Arcane Pulse redesigned: 2s cast (was 2.25s), radius 8 yards (was 2), 15s cooldown, generates 1 Arcane Charge per enemy struck, costs 10% base mana, and no longer scales with Arcane Charges.
• Orb Mastery redesigned: Arcane Orb fires 2 additional orbs at 50% effectiveness.
• Expanded Mind: Arcane Orb grants 1 Salvo stack (was 2); Prismatic Bolt grants 4.
• Arcane Blast +20%. Touch of the Archmage removed.
• Spellslinger: Splintering Orbs Arcane Orb bonus +50% (was 10%); Polished Focus refunds 3 Salvo stacks (was 5).
• Sunfury: Glorious Incandescence summons a Meteorite per 5 Salvo stacks (was 6).

Blizzard explicitly wants Arcane Missiles back in the rotation after Orb Mastery crowded out Clearcasting. Expect a real rotational change, not just numbers.¹

• All damage +19%. Pyroblast +15%, Flamestrike +15%.
• Apex: Fired Up (Rank 1) now 2% Fire damage for 8s (was 4% for 12s); Rank 2 now 5%/10% (was 3%/6%); Rank 3 chance during Combustion slightly reduced.
• Pyroclasm duration 20s (was 15s).
• Sunfury: Spellfire Sphere generation 12% for Fire (was 25%); Mana Cascade stack cap removed; Rondurmancy redesigned to +6%/12% sphere chance with spheres granting +1% spell damage.

A large steady-state buff with Combustion pulled back slightly. Time outside Combustion now matters.¹

• All ability and pet damage +7%.
• Glacial Bulwark no longer grants an additional Ice Barrier charge (folded into the unified Improved Ice Barrier).
• Splitting Ice: Flurry and Frostbolt second-target effectiveness 50% (was 80%).
• Fractured Frost: Ice Lance second-target effectiveness 50% (was 100%).
• Apex: Hand of Frost (Rank 2) now 0.5%/1% spell damage (was 1%/2%), Blizzard citing excess burst with Frost's Hero Talents.

Cleave effectiveness roughly halved on two key talents. The +7% does not cover that in two-target situations.¹

• Celestial Brew and Celestial Infusion absorb increased 150%, cooldown increased 100% — a much chunkier, less frequent shield.
• Staggering Strikes Stagger reduction +25%. Spirit of the Ox healing sphere chance +20%.
• Awakening Spirit maximum absorb +25%. Vital Flame heals 50% of Fire or Nature damage (was 40%).
• Cooldown Manager now tracks Fuel on the Fire, Hot Potato, Scorched, Crackling Jade Lightning and August Blessing.

The Celestial Brew change alters your defensive rhythm significantly — bigger shield, half as often. Plan cooldowns around it.¹

• New Talent Vital Expenditure: Soothing Mist healing +300% but mana cost +200%. Choice node with Dancing Mists.
• Mastery: Gust of Mist healing +50% — explicitly to make Mastery a competitive secondary stat.
• Throughput shifted out of Spinning Crane Kick (-7% damage) and into Ancient Teachings: Jadefire Teachings transfer 320% (was 270%); Way of the Crane 280% (was 340%).
• All healing -3%. Morning Breeze effectiveness -60% to offset the Mastery buff.
• Dance of the Wind updated: physical damage taken -10%, plus another 10% every 4s until you take a physical hit, stacking to 4.
• PvP: Vital Expenditure is +100% healing / +33% mana in PvP combat.

Re-evaluate your stat priority. A 50% Mastery buff paired with a Morning Breeze cut is a deliberate stat-weight shove.¹

• Explicit burst-to-steady transfer.
• Tiger Palm +200%, Blackout Kick +50%, Jade Ignition +50%, melee auto-attack +30%, Whirling Dragon Punch AoE +30%, Dual Threat +30%.
• Cut: Zenith Stomp -30%, Spinning Crane Kick -12%, Weapon of Wind +5% during Zenith (was 10%).
• Apex: Tigereye Brew (Rank 2) crit damage +5%/10% (was 10%/20%).
• Survivability: Calming Presence reduces damage taken 10% (was 6%); Combat Wisdom +5% Stamina; Vivify and Expel Harm healing +25%.
• Conduit of the Celestials: Celestial Conduit -25%; Temple Training now boosts Fists of Fury and Spinning Crane Kick 30% (was 10%).

Tiger Palm at +200% is not a typo. Your filler now genuinely contributes.¹

• All healing +19%, all damage +20%.
• Eternal Flame and Word of Glory +20%; Holy Shock +10%; Judgment and Hammer of Wrath +25%.
• Beacon of Virtue made dungeon-viable: Pillar of Light's Beacon of Virtue healing +50%.
• Avenging Crusader transfers 55% of healing (was 80%). Call of the Righteous reduces Avenging Wrath duration 3s (was 4s).
• Ringing of the Heavens casts Divine Toll at 200% effectiveness (was 100%). Overflowing Light transfers 50% of Holy Shock healing (was 30%).
• Awakening activates at 15% (was 10%). Tirion's Devotion -40% Lay on Hands cooldown (was 30%). Saved by the Light absorb +50%. Truth Prevails +30%. Glistening Radiance 2% up to 6% (was 1% up to 5%).
• Lightsmith: Divine Guidance updated — each Holy Power ability makes your next Consecration deal immediate split Holy damage, healing up to 3 allies.
• PvP: all healing -15% in PvP combat.

A large, broad buff plus a real fix to Beacon of Virtue in five-mans. Good patch.¹

• Huge baseline damage transfers: Shield of the Righteous +150%, Consecration +100%, Judgment +51%, Hammer of the Righteous +50%, Lesser Weapon +50%, Avenger's Shield +30%.
• Cooldown power reduced: Hammer of Light -33%, Empyrean Hammer -33%, Hammer and Anvil -20%, Divine Exaction's Divine Toll 80% (was 150%). Avenging Wrath now +10% damage/healing and +10% crit.
• New Talent Blessed Word: Word of Glory can no longer crit, but healing scales with your crit chance and 80% of overhealing becomes an absorb shield.
• Improved Ardent Defender redesigned: +20% maximum HP while active, and no longer cancels on fatal damage.
• Seal of Reprisal redesigned: Blessed Hammer reduces enemy damage dealt to you 10% for 8s.
• Masterwork updated: after a Holy Armament, your next 3 Hammer of the Righteous/Blessed Hammer/Crusader Strike casts bestow a Lesser Armament on an ally.
• Sentinel duration 20s and now inherits Avenging Wrath's crit bonus. Bulwark of Order absorb 75% of Avenger's Shield (was 60%). Solace 375% (was 300%). Undying Embers 125% (was 100%). Bulwark of Righteous Fury 10% per stack (was 20%).
• Sanctified Wrath removed. Many talents moved.

Explicitly targets threat pain points and how combat feels outside cooldowns. Shield of the Righteous at +150% is transformative for baseline damage.¹

• All damage -6%, with big single-ability buffs: Judgment +50%, Hammer of Wrath +50%, Templar Strike +50%, Templar Slash +50%, Blade of Justice +40%, Divine Storm +26%, Final Verdict +15%.
• Avenging Wrath now +15% damage and crit (was 20%). Divine Toll's Judgment +50% (was 100%).
• Art of War no longer activates from additional Skyfury attacks, and increases Blade of Justice damage 80% (was 150%). Blizzard is deliberately removing Skyfury's grip on the rotation and Holy Power economy.
• Crusading Strikes now increases auto-attack speed 15% (was decreasing it by 20%), and additional Skyfury attacks no longer generate Holy Power with it.
• Apex: Light Within (Rank 1) lets Art of War and Righteous Cause each accumulate an extra time; Rank 3 damage -25%.
• Execution Sentence radius 10 yards and now includes target bounding radius (was 8).
• Templar: Hammer of Light -30% damage but now costs 3 Holy Power (was 5).

This is the spec Blizzard used as their worked example of the burst-to-steady philosophy. The Skyfury removal is the real story — your rotation will feel different.¹

• Shadow Mend is now a passive upgrade to Flash Heal rather than a proc off Shadow Word: Pain damage — a stronger heal at higher mana cost.
• New Talent Grim Deliverance: Shadow Mend heals 30% more and extends Atonement 4s, but cast time +0.5s.
• Apex: Master the Darkness (Rank 3) — Mind Blast now deterministically upgrades your next Power Word: Shield to Void Shield. Void Shield chance from Penance cut to 15% (was 33%) and absorption -28%. Apex can now hold 2 charges.
• Penance no longer applies Atonement when cast on an ally — Blizzard says the 12.0 behaviour caused too much friction.
• All healing and absorption +10%. Atonement heals 32% of damage (was 30%). Flash Heal +25%. Smite +40%. Ultimate Penitence +30%. Inescapable Torment -30%.
• Greater Smite duration 4s (was 2s) and now a 1-point talent.
• Oracle: Unfolding Vision redesigned — an expiring shield with absorption left jumps to a nearby injured ally, once per shield.
• Voidweaver: Void Blast +25%, Voidwraith +30%, Void Infusion 75% during Entropic Rift (was 50%).

Less proc-gambling, more deterministic. The Penance change is the one that will break muscle memory.¹

• Divine Hymn now also grants Guardian Spirit while channelled (extends it by 5s if already active; removes the added time if you cancel early).
• Apex: Benediction (Rank 3) — Apotheosis no longer upgrades Flash Heal; instead Holy Word: Serenity has a 100% chance to upgrade your next Flash Heal to Benediction. Benediction mana cost -30% and healing +15%.
• All healing +16%. Flash Heal and Prayer of Healing mana cost -10% each.
• Apotheosis now reduces Holy Word mana cost 70% (was 50%).
• Archon: Resonant Energy redesigned — creating a Halo increases healing done 2% for 10s, stacking to 4.

Cheaper rotation plus Benediction spread beyond Apotheosis. Divine Hymn is now far easier to justify pressing.¹

• New Talent Shadeburst: Shadowy Apparitions reaching your primary target explode for Shadow damage in 8 yards (reduced beyond 5) — added specifically to reduce AoE reliance on Psychic Link.
• Voidform now grants 3 uses of Void Volley instead of Void Volley having a cooldown during Voidform. Improved Voidform redesigned: +5% spell damage and 2 additional Void Volley uses.
• Ancient Madness redesigned: Shadow Word: Madness increases Haste 2% during Voidform and extends it 1.5s, stacking to 5; Haste lingers and decays over 10s after Voidform ends.
• All ability damage +8%. Void Volley -10%. Power Word: Shield absorb +25%.
• Idol of N'Zoth now generates 2 Insanity at 50 stacks and 6 at 100 (was 4 and 12) to rein in the Insanity economy.
• Phantom Menace removed.
• Archon: Focused Outburst redesigned — Void Volley +5% damage, and Shadow Word: Madness during Voidform unleashes a Void Volley at 25% effectiveness.

Void Volley as a charged resource is a genuine gameplay upgrade — you choose the moment instead of obeying a cooldown.¹

• Thistle Tea is now a choice talent: keep the auto-cast-at-low-Energy version, or take a new version that must be used actively.
• Atrophic Poison reduces damage dealt 4% (was 3%) and lasts 60s (was 10s). PvP duration unchanged.
• Fatebound: Deal Fate now has a 60% chance to grant an extra combo point on Seal Fate (was 100%).
• Deathstalker: fixed Unshakable Drive multiplying per stack and removing more than one stack per ability.

The Atrophic Poison duration change alone removes a lot of maintenance tedium.¹

• All damage +20%.
• New Talent Unstable Toxin: Envenom damage +18% but duration -2s.
• Apex: Implacable (Rank 1) reworked so that refreshing Envenom late is consistently correct — Envenom +10% damage and restores 2 Energy per combo point spent. Rank 3 Implacable Strike +15%.
• Internal Bleeding now triggers from Kidney Shot and Rupture only (no longer from Crimson Tempest copies), damage +10%.
• Iron Wire updated: Garrotes from stealth or during Improved Garrote silence for 5s.
• Dashing Scoundrel: Envenom now grants +10% weapon poison crit (was 5%); Energy generation +4% per lethal poison.
• Deathmark 75% (was 100%). Kingsbane -15%. Shrouded Suffocation 30% (was 20%). Avulsion 25% (was 20%). Motivated Murderer 30% Energy (was 20%). Rapid Injection 20%/40% (was 15%/30%). Blindside 10% (was 15%), 20% at low health (was 30%).
• Venomous Wounds now generates more Energy with multiple bleeding targets. Deadly Momentum removed.

+20% across the board and the Implacable fix removing the awful 'let Envenom drop on purpose' pattern.¹

• All damage +9% (not in PvP). Killing Spree damage +60% (not in PvP).
• Killing Spree updated: duration no longer extends past maximum combo points; each extra combo point spent adds 15% damage instead. Adrenaline Rush speeds it up 20%. It now prefers valid, non-immune targets.
• Heavy Hitter 15%/30% (was 10%/20%). Summarily Dispatched 15%/30% (was 10%/20%).
• Zero In value per stack reduced to 2% (was 3%), with a proc-rate normalisation so you are not forced into off-hand daggers.
• Audacity now also increases Ambush damage 80%. Hidden Opportunity: Ambush grants Opportunity at 100% of Sinister Strike's rate (was 80%) and reduces Ambush Energy cost by 5.
• Improved Between the Eyes: crits deal 2.5x (was 3x). Fast Action -8s Between the Eyes cooldown (was 5s) and +1% damage per stack.
• New talent tree connectors between Ruthlessness/Find an Opening and Flickering Steel/Grand Melee.

Aimed at build diversity. The Zero In weapon-speed fix is a quiet but real quality-of-life win.¹

• A double-generation bug was removed from the resource economy; base rates were raised to compensate.
• Shadow Techniques base frequency +40% and Energy generation 5 (was 4) — so moments outside Shadow Dance feel less starved.
• Shadowcraft updated: during Shadow Dance, Shadow Techniques triggers 25% more often and generates 1 additional combo point (preserving the in-Dance rate).
• Relentless Strikes now generates 4 Energy per combo point (was 5).
• Goremaw's Bite redesigned: hits your target and 2 nearby enemies, causing a 14s bleed; 20% of all Finishing Move damage is repeated as Shadow, split among affected enemies.
• The First Dance +4s Shadow Dance (was 3s). Lingering Shadow now also applies to Shuriken Storm.
• All damage +2% (not in PvP). Apex: Ancient Arts now considers Secret Technique's total damage, not just the initial hit.
• PvP: Goremaw's Bite repeats 10% of Finishing Move damage.

Energy still ramps during cooldowns, just far less dramatically. Goremaw's Bite is now a real AoE and cleave tool.¹

• Large baseline buffs: Chain Lightning +60%, Flame Shock +60%, Lava Burst +30%, Lightning Bolt +30% (the last two not in PvP).
• Ascendance now increases Elemental Overload damage 30% (was 75%); bonus Lava Bursts on activation are 50% effective (was 100%).
• Apex: Feedback Loop (Rank 1) now +10% Overload damage (was 35%) plus +10% Elemental damage; Rank 2 grants 15%/30% crit damage (was 25%/50%).
• Power of the Maelstrom redesigned: Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning have a 15% chance to make your next Lava Burst deal 20% more damage, stacking to 2.
• Stormkeeper no longer causes Lightning Bolt to generate an additional Elemental Overload.
• Tempest direct damage -20%. Molten Wrath +10% Lava Burst (was 15%). Elemental Blast from Fusion of the Elements grants 40% of normal buff duration (was 100%).
• Farseer: Chain Lightning hits 5 targets (was 3); Lava Burst also scales with crit chance; Ancestors' Lava Burst and Chain Lightning both -20%.
• Stormbringer: Supercharge redesigned — Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning and Tempest overloads deal 10% additional damage.

Ascendance burst was compounding with Apex talents. Damage moved into your spells; the spike is smaller but still there.¹

• Blizzard states they are happy with Enhancement's gameplay and are only fixing weak non-cooldown windows.
• Melee damage +15%, Stormstrike +15%, Lava Lash +15%, Lightning Bolt +20%, Chain Lightning +20%.
• Doom Winds now increases Windfury Weapon activation chance 50% (was 100%) — the one pullback, targeting the Windfury/Maelstrom Weapon feedback loop.
• Healing Surge, Earth Shield and Healing Stream Totem all +25%.
• Stormbringer: Tempest main target -10%, secondary -30%. Totemic: Surging Totem Tremor -15%, Surging Bolt -10%.

Exactly what it says: same spec, better downtime. Comfortable buff.¹

• New Talent Swelling Tides: Healing Stream Totem and Stormstream Totem extend active Riptides by 3s.
• Unleash Life healing +100%. Riptide direct +25% and periodic +100%. Healing Rain +20% and now heals 6 targets (was 5). Healing Wave +10%.
• Healing Rain now has a 12s cooldown and an 18s duration; recasting despawns the previous one. Explicitly to let you reposition it.
• Acid Rain +50% but ticks every 2s (was 1s). Current Control now also reduces Chain Heal mana cost 15%.
• Midnight S1 2-set: Unleash Life direct healing +50% (was 100%). Earthen Accord now additive +20% rather than multiplicative.
• Farseer: Ancestors' Chain Heal bounces to 5 targets (was 3), loses 10% per jump (was 30%), jump range 20 yards (was 15), and healing +50%.
• Totemic: Pulse Capacitor +10% Surging Totem healing (was 25%); Surging Totem boosts Healing Rain 10% (was 20%).
• Calm Waters removed. Wavespeaker's Blessing moved up the tree.

Substantial buffs, and the Farseer Chain Heal change is enormous. Healing Rain gaining a cooldown is the one thing to actively relearn.¹

• Drain Life health drain +25%. Zevrim's Resilience healing +25%.
• A long list of abilities that should have granted Soul Leech but did not now do so, including Wither, Blackened Soul, Infernal Bolt, Soul Anathema, Unstable Affliction, Malefic Grasp, and most pet attacks (Wild Imp Fel Firebolt, Demonic Tyrant's Demonfire, Vilefiend, Gloomhound).
• Conversely Legion Strike, Cunning Cruelty and Channel Demonfire no longer erroneously grant Soul Leech.
• Hellcaller: Blackened Soul redesigned — if the target has your Wither, Chaos Bolt and Shadowburn add a stack; each stack gain has a chance to collapse, consuming a stack per second for Shadowflame damage until 1 remains. Damage +45%. Wither +25%.
• Hellcaller: Mark of Peroth'arn redesigned to boost Wither crits to 215% and Blackened Soul crits to 225% (from the usual 200%).

The Soul Leech fixes are a meaningful passive survivability gain. Hellcaller can finally focus a priority target.¹

• New Talent Hedonic Gorging: Drain Life +10%, Siphon Life adds a further 10% to Corruption, Dark Harvest channels 10% faster and deals 15% more.
• New Talent Impetuous Wrath: Shadow Bolt, Drain Soul and Malefic Grasp +10% damage, or +20% if the target has Haunt. Dark Harvest likewise.
• Shard Instability redesigned: Shadow Bolt or Drain Soul damage has a 20% chance to make your next Unstable Affliction or Seed of Corruption free and instant.
• Haunt now increases your damage to the target 16% for 18s (was 12%).
• Nocturnal Yield and Patient Zero removed. Blizzard says Nocturnal Yield offered no real choice (Seed was always correct) and Patient Zero warped Seed of Corruption into a priority-damage tool, diluting its identity.

The Nightfall economy is rebuilt around Shard Instability. Two removed talents means your imported build will not load correctly.¹

• Demonbolt +55%, Shadow Bolt +45%, Summon Gloomhound +35%.
• Diabolist pulled back: Chaos Salvo, Felseeker, Wicked Cleave and Eye Explosion all -20%; Flames of Xoroth +3% (was 4%).

A clean transfer from Diabolist procs into your core casts. Very light-touch patch for Demonology.¹

• Conflagration of Chaos redesigned: Conflagrate and Shadowburn now always crit, and their damage scales with your crit chance.
• All damage +4.5%. Soul Fire +45%. Chaos Bolt +5%.
• Havoc now causes spells to deal 50% of their damage to the marked target (was 60%).
• Apex: Embers of Nihilam (Rank 1) tooltip now shows the Echo of Sargeras proc chance.
• Shadowburn added to the Cooldown Manager; Conflagration of Chaos removed from it.

Guaranteed crits that scale with crit chance is a notable stat-weight change. Re-check your gearing.¹

• Blizzard states their Midnight approach to Rend did not work out and is redistributing it per spec.
• Rend is now exclusive to Arms, single-target again, Rage cost reduced to 10. Cleave applies Rend to all targets if you know Rend.
• New Talent (Fury) Storm of Blood: Whirlwind applies Rend to all targets. With Crashing Thunder it also applies via Thunder Clap for Mountain Thane.
• New Talent (Protection) Blood and Thunder: Thunder Clap applies Rend to all targets.
• Thunder Clap no longer innately applies Rend.
• Colossus: Demolish cooldown 30s (was 45s) to align with Colossus Smash; Dominance of the Colossus now 20% damage reduction (was 10%) and no longer reduces Demolish cooldown; No Stranger to Pain +30% Ignore Pain (was 20%).
• Mountain Thane: Thunder Blast +20%; Crashing Thunder now +10% Thunder Clap (was 30%).

Every spec's Rend access changed. Check your talents before your first pull — this one will silently break builds.¹

• Ravager reworked: +50% damage, duration no longer reduced by Haste, and it no longer boosts Cleave and Whirlwind. Instead, enemies it damages take 50% increased Bleed damage from you for 12s.
• Dreadnaught damage +100% and no longer damages your Overpower target — making it pure AoE so Arms' AoE is not entirely Cleave.
• Tactical Edge redesigned: Colossus Smash immediately grants 1 use of Sudden Death.
• Bloodletting updated: +5% crit chance against Rend targets; if you know Rend, Mortal Strike applies it below 35% health; Deep Wounds lasts 33% longer.
• Broad Strokes updated: Colossus Smash grants 6 stacks of Sweeping Strikes.
• Melee auto-attack +100%. Cleave -10%. Execute -15%. Ignore Pain absorb +25%.
• Powerful Momentum +20% Sweeping Strikes chain damage (was 25%). Midnight S1 2-set +3% Colossus Smash (was 5%). Improved Sweeping Strikes removed.
• Slayer: Slayer's Dominance triggers at 25% (was 15%); Opportunist grants 20% damage and 20% crit damage to your next Overpower (was 10% each).

Explicitly de-Cleaving the AoE rotation. Ravager is now a Bleed amplifier, which changes where you drop it.¹

• New Talent Carving Blades: Whirlwind deals 50% additional damage when it strikes only one target — opening the door to single-target Whirlwind.
• Whirlwind now generates 3 Rage innately; Improved Whirlwind no longer provides that but still adds 1 Rage per target, up to 8.
• Rampaging Ruin redesigned: while Improved Whirlwind is active, Rampage's final strike slams the ground for Physical damage in 8 yards (reduced beyond 5).
• Hack and Slash updated: Rampage now has a 75% chance to refund a Raging Blow charge and boost your next Raging Blow 20%. Blizzard wants deliberate uncertainty about your next button.
• Bloodbath initial damage -12%, bleed damage +300% — described as net neutral overall, shifting damage into the bleed.
• Mountain Thane: Ground Current +150%.

Whirlwind is a real single-target button again. Hack and Slash will feel less automatic by design.¹

• All ability damage +11%.
• Revenge reworked: successful dodges, parries and auto-attacks can now make your next Revenge free (was dodges and parries only), damage +20%. Blizzard's goal is to close the gap between dungeon Revenge spam and raid Rage starvation.
• Ravager reworked as for Arms: +50% damage, no Haste scaling, no longer boosts Revenge and Thunder Clap; instead applies a 50% Bleed damage amplifier for 12s. Duration reduced to 4s with Whirling Blade.
• Devastating Focus now increases Revenge and Execute damage. Bloodborne now increases all Bleed damage (was only Rend and Deep Wounds).
• Ignore Pain absorb +25%. Brutal Vitality adds 10% of damage dealt (was 8%). Fueled by Violence heals 125% of Bleed damage (was 110%). Unyielding adds 6% to Defensive Stance (was 4%).
• Colossus: Practiced Strikes generates 4 extra Rage on Shield Slam (was 3); Tide of Battle now boosts Revenge and Execute.

A strong tanking patch. The Revenge change smooths the wild swing between dungeon and raid Rage economies.¹