As Season 2 of World of Warcraft progresses and the Mythic raid has been fully cleared, Blizzard has announced a new wave of class tuning adjustments aimed at balancing group content. These changes, set to go live with the weekly maintenance on Tuesday, March 25, will impact multiple classes across both PvE and PvP encounters.
Key Class Adjustments
Death Knight
- Frost: All ability damage increased by 4% (not applicable to PvP).
- Unholy: Festering Wound damage increased by 10%.
Demon Hunter
- Vengeance: Deflecting Spikes (Talent) now increases Parry chance by 10% (was 15%).
Druid
- Balance: Wrath damage increased by 30%; Starsurge damage increased by 5%.
- Guardian: Various buffs to Druid of the Claw abilities to enhance survivability and damage.
- Feral: Rip and Ferocious Bite damage increased by 5%.
Evoker
- Devastation: Nerub-ar tier set effectiveness reduced; Undermine set bonuses improved to encourage gear progression.
- Augmentation: Personal damage increased by 15% while maintaining strong support capabilities.
- Preservation: Overall healing increased by 5%; Spiritbloom healing buffed by 20%.
Hunter
- Beast Mastery: Quality-of-life improvements and bug fixes.
- Survival: Increased damage output and Pack Leader talent buffs.
- Marksmanship: Major improvements to Dark Ranger specialization to enhance damage output and usability.
Mage
- Arcane: Overall damage increased by 8%.
- Frost: Overall damage increased by 4%.
- Fire: Overall damage reduced by 3%.
- General: Ice Barrier absorption reduced by 10%.
Monk
- Windwalker: Damage reduced by 4%, but Slicing Winds damage increased by 20%.
- Mistweaver: Significant damage reduction (-25%), but improvements to Spinning Crane Kick.
Paladin
- Holy: General healing increased by 3%, with targeted buffs to Word of Glory, Eternal Flame, Light of Dawn, and Holy Prism.
- Retribution: Final Verdict damage increased by 20%.
- Protection: Consecration healing increased by 10%.
Priest
- Holy: Multiple healing buffs, including Prayer of Healing (+25%) and Renew (+60%).
- Shadow: Overall damage reduced by 3%.
- Discipline: Atonement healing increased by 5%.
Rogue
- Assassination: 3% increase in all ability damage; Mutilate and Ambush damage increased by 40%.
- Outlaw: Pistol Shot damage increased by 5%.
Shaman
- Elemental: Substantial buffs, including Primordial Wave generating 12 Maelstrom (was 3) and dealing 500% more damage.
- Restoration: General healing increased by 3% (not applicable to PvP).
Warlock
- Demonology: All damage increased by 3%.
- Destruction: Chaos Bolt damage increased by 5%.
Warrior
- Protection: Multiple damage reductions for Shield Slam and Colossus talent effects.
- Fury: Rampage damage increased by 4%.
PvP-Specific Adjustments
To address prolonged battles in Rated Battlegrounds and 2v2 Arena, Blizzard is implementing a global healing reduction:
- All healing done reduced by 10% in Rated Battlegrounds and Battleground Blitz.
- 2v2 Arena matches now start with an additional 10% healing reduction.
Additional PvP Class Balancing
- Death Knight: Improved defenses against melee classes.
- Druid (Balance): Increased damage in PvP; Frenzied Regeneration’s PvP reduction removed.
- Mage: Mobility and defensive nerfs to Arcane specialization.
- Monk (Windwalker): PvP healing improvements.
- Hunter (Marksmanship): Black Arrow damage reduced by 15% in PvP.
These changes aim to refine gameplay balance, ensuring an engaging and competitive environment in both PvE and PvP content. Players can expect these updates to go live on March 25 following the weekly reset.