The October 15, 2026 patch notes at a glance
Blizzard posted the WoW Forever patch notes for beta build 1.60.1.70425 on 15 October 2026. The beta level cap stays at 30. These are the changes that matter most for your main.
- New racial kits. Human Sword Specialization becomes Ruthless, +2% critical strike chance on all spells and attacks. Orc Axe Specialization becomes Savage, +1% crit, and Dwarf Mace Specialization becomes Earth Fury, +2% critical damage and healing.
- 8 raid-wide buffs. Battle Shout, Trueshot Aura, Leader of the Pack, Moonkin Aura and the Grace of Air, Strength of Earth, Windfury and Flametongue totems now reach the whole raid.
- Lava Burst at level 30. Lava Burst moves to the 5th row as the 21-point gold talent, so Elemental
Shamans can take it at the beta cap. Elemental Mastery returns as the 31-point gold talent. - Shadow
Priest cooldowns. Devouring Plague's cooldown drops from 1 minute to 24 seconds, and Vampiric Embrace's from 1 minute to 30 seconds. 
Hunter pets. Dismember now cuts healing by 25% for 6 seconds, with a cooldown of 15 seconds (was 50% for 10 seconds, every 6 seconds).- Systems. Battleground Marks of Honor stack to 30 (was 20). Members of the Horde are attacked on sight in Dalaran, and the City of Dalaran dungeon stays open to them.
Every spec's new grade is on our tier list.
Your new kit at 60 before the raids open
A booster plays the race and class you picked after the 15 October notes, from launch day.
WoW Forever Power Leveling & Gearing
Racial changes, race by race
Every race got a new or retuned racial on 15 October. Human and Skyborne gain the most, and Orc trades some burst for a crit passive that works with any weapon.
| Race | What the 15 October notes changed | Best for after the notes |
|---|---|---|
| Human | Sword Specialization becomes Ruthless: +2% critical strike chance on all spells and attacks. | Every Human class, casters most |
| Skyborne | Wind Blessed haste rises from 1% to 3%. Skysight and Read Leyline can be cast while moving, Read Leyline lasts at least 30 seconds (was 20), and Walk on Air's cooldown drops from 2 minutes to 90 seconds. | Haste for every Skyborne class; PvE damage |
| Orc | Axe Specialization becomes Savage: +1% critical strike chance with any weapon. Blood Fury's cooldown rises from 2 to 3 minutes. Shatter Curse grants no immunity and cuts magic damage taken by 5% (was 15%). | Still a melee and Hunter pick, with less burst |
| Dwarf | Mace Specialization becomes Earth Fury: +2% critical damage and healing. Extra items from most chests with Find Treasure are announced in the 15 October notes. | Healers and crit builds |
| Tauren | Endurance keeps +5% health and swaps +1% hit for +2% critical damage and healing. Plainsrunning adds 3% mounted speed, and War Stomp's cooldown drops from 2 minutes to 90 seconds. Cultivation every 15 minutes is announced in the 15 October notes. | Tanks and PvP control |
| Undead | Touch of the Grave now procs 30% of the time for casters and 20% for Paladins, Rogues and Warriors (was 10% and 5%), with a cooldown of 25 seconds (was 1). Will of the Forsaken can't be used under Scatter Shot. | PvP keeps Will of the Forsaken; less caster sustain |
| Gnome | Eureka! is now a buff that lasts 8 seconds with no charges and the same effect, and it also boosts Power Word: Shield. | Priests, Rogues, Warriors |
| Night Elf | Quickness now stacks with other movement speed bonuses. | Leveling and PvP mobility |
| Troll | Regeneration rises from 10% to 20% health regeneration. | Leveling sustain |
Find Treasure and Cultivation are announced in the 15 October notes. Every full kit is in our racials guide.
Pick race and class →1 booster plays your character 12 hours a day until 60. Free live stream, 24/7, 100% of the playtime.
Class changes, class by class
Every class has lines in the 15 October notes. Open a class to see all of them; the numbers are the ones in Blizzard's notes.
Druid: 5 changes
- Leader of the Pack (melee and ranged crit) and Moonkin Aura (spell crit) now reach the whole raid and stack.
- Furor now keeps the Energy you had in Cat Form when you shift to Bear Form. Bear Form still stops Energy regeneration.
- Faerie Fire now generates threat in Bear Form.
- Shred is learned at level 20 (was 22).
- Several Druids can now keep Rejuvenation on the same target.
The full kit is in our Druid guide.
Hunter: 7 changes
- Auto Shot now needs 0.5 seconds of standing still before it fires, and it still fires while you cast Aimed Shot.
- Fire traps now scale with attack power, and you can have 1 Fire Trap and 1 Ice Trap out at once (was 1 trap of any type).
- Dismember (Crocolisk) now cuts healing by 25% for 6 seconds, with a cooldown of 15 seconds (was 50% for 10 seconds, every 6 seconds). Sonic Blast (Bat) and Mine! (Bird of Prey) are weaker, with longer cooldowns.
- Trueshot Aura now reaches the whole raid.
- Strider Kick now works while disarmed.
- A new Auto Attack/Auto Shot setting switches between the 2 for you, gamepad included.
- Pets now take Expertise and the higher of your melee or ranged crit.
The full kit is in our Hunter guide.
Mage: 7 changes
- Arcane Blast is redesigned with a cast time of 1.5 seconds. Each cast grants 15% of your Intellect as extra spell damage and raises the cost of the next Arcane Blast.
- Arcane Wrath is a new 16-point gold talent: a cast of 3.5 seconds with damage close to Fireball's, plus damage as if you had 5% of your maximum mana as spell power.
- Missile Barrage moves to the 1st row as a 2-point talent, and Arcane Missiles hits can now trigger it.
- Critical Mass now takes up to 5 points for 10% crit. Fire Power is redesigned as a 3-point talent worth up to 12% Fire damage, and Fire Blast always adds a Heating Up charge.
- Ice Lance against frozen targets now deals 200% more damage (was 300%).
- Frost Blast is a new level 24 spell: a cast of 1.5 seconds that slows by 40% and benefits from your Frostbolt talents.
- Cone of Cold slows the 1st 4 targets it hits by an extra 10%, for 3 seconds longer. Winter's Chill is redesigned around Cone of Cold and no longer adds crit chance.
The full kit is in our Mage guide.
Paladin: 7 changes
- Consecration's spell power per tick drops from 0.095 to 0.042.
- Righteous Fury's Holy threat rises from 60% to 90%.
- Seal of Righteousness no longer gains almost double the intended benefit from spell damage.
- Salvation and Mass Salvation replace the Salvation blessings and no longer take a Blessing slot. Revoke removes them from a party or raid member.
- Holy: a bug that gave Holy Shock 50% more damage against enemies through Infusion of Light is fixed.
- Protection: Shield Specialization now returns 4% mana (was 6%), and Reckoning stores a charge each time it triggers, for extra attacks on your next swing.
- Retribution: Champion of the Light now adds 10/20/30% of your Intellect as spell damage (was 20/40/60%).
The full kit is in our Paladin guide.
Priest: 8 changes
- Devouring Plague's cooldown drops from 1 minute to 24 seconds.
- Shadow Word: Death now has a cooldown of 18 seconds.
- Vampiric Embrace's cooldown drops from 1 minute to 30 seconds, and it can no longer be resisted.
- Dark Inspiration is a new row 4 talent: Mind Blast and a full Mind Flay raise your and your party's Spirit by 3 to 15% for 10 seconds.
- Devouring Contagion now spreads Devouring Plague to 2 targets; the bounce no longer costs mana or resets your cooldown.
- Power in Light now boosts Smite and Penance on targets with Holy Fire or Shadow Word: Pain. Twin Disciplines now covers Shadow Word: Death, Mind Flay, Starshards and Penance.
- Mental Strength now tops out at 10% Intellect (was 15%).
- Several Priests can now keep Renew on the same target.
The full kit is in our Priest guide.
Rogue: 1 changes
- Rogue gets fixes only in the 15 October notes, and Sap no longer triggers weapon procs.
The full kit is in our Rogue guide.
Shaman: 7 changes
- Grace of Air, Strength of Earth, Windfury and Flametongue totems now reach the whole raid.
- Chain Lightning costs about 35% less mana on all 4 ranks.
- Lava Burst moves from the 7th to the 5th row as the 21-point gold talent. It gains a 4th rank and needs no prerequisite, so Elemental can take it at the level 30 beta cap.
- Elemental Mastery returns as the 31-point gold talent. Lightning Bolt and Lava Burst cast 0.5 seconds faster and Chain Lightning has no cooldown for 15 seconds, with a cooldown of 3 minutes.
- Stormstrike now costs 8% of base mana (was 125 mana at every level). Its debuff is no longer used up when your spell does not land.
- Water Shield now triggers from any critical spell (was critical heals only). Mana Tide Totem gains a rank at level 38.
- Fire Nova deals less damage and costs much less mana. Call of Thunder is removed.
The full kit is in our Shaman guide.
Warlock: 3 changes
- Shadow Mastery now adds 2/4/6/8/10% Shadow spell damage (was 1/2/3/4/5%).
- A bug that stopped Soul Link from being cast on your pet is fixed.
- Malediction is replaced by Grim Reach, +10/20% range on Affliction spells. Destructive Reach now adds 10/20% range to Destruction spells.
The full kit is in our Warlock guide.
Warrior: 4 changes
- Battle Shout now reaches the whole raid.
- Slam is no longer subject to spell pushback, and Overpower now works against much lower level enemies.
- Lingering Rage no longer stops health regeneration after combat. Shield Bash and Shield Slam no longer trigger Weaponmaster's Sword Specialization.
- Protection gets no changes in the 15 October notes.
The full kit is in our Warrior guide.
8 buffs now reach the whole raid
8 group buffs now reach the whole raid: Battle Shout, Trueshot Aura, Leader of the Pack, Moonkin Aura and the Grace of Air, Strength of Earth, Windfury and Flametongue totems.
- Warrior: Battle Shout.
- Hunter: Trueshot Aura.
- Druid: Leader of the Pack and Moonkin Aura.
- Shaman: Grace of Air, Strength of Earth, Windfury and Flametongue totems.
Leader of the Pack now gives only melee and ranged crit and Moonkin Aura only spell crit, so a raid stacks both. Grace of Air Totem no longer excludes Windfury or Flametongue Totem; those 2 still exclude each other.
Raid leaders no longer need to sort players into parties to share these buffs.
Systems and quality of life
- Battleground Marks of Honor stack to 30 (was 20).
- Members of the Horde are attacked on sight in Dalaran. The City of Dalaran dungeon stays open to them, and the Dalaran Sewer Key questline no longer opens the city in the open world.
- Many items made by professions now sell to vendors for less.
- Scrolls now trigger the global cooldown.
- The Auction House shows a column for the level you need to equip an item, and it shows the stats of items with suffixes such as “of the Monkey”.
- New players get a new tutorial, and the in-game tutorials are updated.
- There are more Elemental Convergence and Leyline spawn points in most Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor zones.
What comes next
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| 19 October | Stress test. No subscription is needed, and characters, names and guilds are wiped after it. |
| 21 October | The beta's last full day. |
| 27 October to 3 November | Name reservation for anyone who owns a pack. |
| 4 November | Launch. |
| 9 December | Barrow Deeps (10 players), Hyjal Summit (20) and Onyxia (40) open. |
| Winter | Hardcore arrives. |
A character that is 60 by 9 December walks into the raids on day 1. Every launch date is in our release date guide.
Earlier beta builds
1 October build. The level cap rose from 20 to 30, and it stays at 30 in the 15 October build.
7 October. Blizzard posted the last 2 class deep dives, Mage with Shaman and Rogue with Warlock. With them every class has a written change list.
- Mage. A new level 40 spell, Frostfire Bolt, takes 3 seconds to cast and counts as both Fire and Frost.
- Shaman. Totems are on a global cooldown of 1 sec, persistent totems last 5 minutes, and weapon imbues last 60 minutes. The full kit is in the Shaman guide.
- Rogue. Poisons get more charges and stack with Sharpening Stones and Weightstones, and Rogues can learn 1-handed axes.
- Warlock. Curse of Agony and Curse of Doom become Banes, 1 per Warlock on each target. Pets scale with the Warlock's stats, and Firestone and Spellstone become weapon imbues.
8 October beta build. Blizzard's notes of 8 October tuned several classes. Druid critical strikes give 100% more Rage (was 75%), and Bear Form and Dire Bear Form threat rose to 50% (was 30%). Retribution Aura's base damage is about 33% lower. Penance damage and healing were cut to fix a channel-time bug, its rank 1 mana cost rose by 50%, and ranks 2 and 4 heal more. Survival's Expose Prey lasts 10 seconds (was 5). Base values for the low ranks of Wrath, Frostbolt, Fireball, Smite, Lightning Bolt and Shadow Bolt were adjusted so each new rank is an upgrade. Critical strikes in PvP no longer have reduced efficacy.
Where the 15 October notes changed a line again, the class lists above are current.
What it means for the tier list
- Elemental Shaman: B to A for DPS, C to B for PvP. Lava Burst is in reach at level 30, and Chain Lightning costs about 35% less mana.
- Shadow Priest: C to B for DPS. Devouring Plague comes back every 24 seconds, and Devouring Contagion spreads it to 2 targets.
- Retribution Paladin: A to B for DPS. Champion of the Light now gives half the spell damage, and Seal of Righteousness lost its extra benefit from spell damage.
- Beast Mastery Hunter: S to A for PvP. Dismember and the other pet abilities were cut, and Auto Shot now needs you to stand still.
Every spec's grade is on our tier list, updated for the 15 October patch notes.
From the source
Official“Lava Burst: Moved from the 7th row to the 5th row as the 21-point gold medal talent. New rank 4 added and ranks reflowed. No longer has any pre-requisite.”
Official“Stress test on 19 October with no subscription needed, last full day of beta on 21 October, name reservations from 27 October and global launch on 4 November.”
Official“WoW: Forever launches November 4 with: ⛓️ New dungeons 👨👨👦👦 10 & 20-player raids 🪽 Skyborne playable race 🗺️ New & expanded zones ✅ Account-wide perks 💡 Updated world visuals & lighting 🧟 New race & class combos ❗ 1000+ new quests. Join the Beta September 17!”
FAQ
Ask in chat →Tell us the class, the faction and whether you play PvP. You get the published racial that matters for it and a leveling plan that lands before 9 December.
- Page published for the October 15, 2026 patch notes.