WoW Forever Rogue & Warlock Deep Dive: Every Change

The WoW Forever Rogue and Warlock deep dive went up on October 7 and covers baseline ability changes and talent reworks for both classes. Rogues get more poison charges, poisons that stack with temporary weapon enchantments, Sap that no longer breaks Stealth, and one-handed axes, while Warlocks turn Curse of Agony and Curse of Doom into Banes, gain stackable Firestone and Spellstone weapon imbues, and see new talents across all three trees. Blizzard notes that class abilities and talents may continue to evolve throughout the beta test.

How talents work in WoW: Forever

Talents become available at level 10 and keep the familiar structure, with one-point milestone talents at 11, 21, and 31 points, now joined by a new 16-point milestone. To change your talents, including Legacy talents, you visit a class trainer in one of the major cities, and Dual Specialization becomes available at level 40.

Rogue baseline changes

Expose Armor no longer prevents Sunder Armor from being used on a target, but Sunder Armor still will not overwrite Expose Armor unless its effect is weaker, which lets Warriors generate threat from Sunder Armor without interference. Blizzard's stated reason for the Sap change is to give Rogues a crowd control benefit for parties and raids that requires their unique skills to set up, usable when a group of monsters is too big to tank safely.

Rogue talent changes

Assassination gains Venom as a new 31-point gold medal talent: a 25 Energy Finisher granting 30% increased Poison damage and 10% increased chance to apply Poisons, with duration set by Combo Points spent. Blizzard expects Assassination to focus finishers on maintaining Venom and Slice and Dice, with Rupture and Eviscerate a lower priority. Seal Fate no longer requires Cold Blood as a prerequisite, and Mutilate triggers it exactly once if either or both hands crit.

Combat's Hack and Slash is a new row 5 talent combining the removed Dagger, Mace, Sword, and Fist Weapon Specializations and adding an axe bonus; axes gain the same extra-attack chance as swords, and the mace bonus makes attacks ignore some armor instead of stunning. Improved Eviscerate moved to row 1 from Assassination with an increased damage bonus, Puncturing Wounds now also raises Mutilate crit chance and can grant Backstab an extra Combo Point, and Weapon Expertise now reduces the chance a target Dodges or Parries your attacks. Aggression now also increases Backstab damage, supporting a Backstab-oriented Combat build.

In Subtlety, Premeditation moved from the 31-point to the 16-point gold medal talent with its duration increased to 20 seconds, Camouflage moved up to row 1, and Master of Deception went from 5 points to 3 for the same effect. Hemorrhage's percentage damage is increased while a dagger is equipped and now also increases your Rupture damage on the target for 15 seconds, Dirty Deeds lets Garrote be used when not behind your target, and Quietus is a new row 6 talent requiring Dirty Deeds that makes Sinister Strike, Ghostly Strike, and Hemorrhage hit harder against targets below 35% health.

Warlock baseline changes

Curse of Agony and Curse of Doom are now Banes, with only one Bane active per Warlock on a single target, and all effects that interacted with Curses now also interact with Banes. Curse of the Elements now applies to all magic damage, and Curse of Shadows was removed. Firestone and Spellstone now apply weapon imbues that stack with other temporary enchantments like Wizard Oil: Firestone grants increased Fire damage and critical strike chance, Spellstone grants increased Shadow damage and spell haste.

Warlock talent changes

Affliction's new 31-point gold medal talent is Wrack, which inflicts Shadow damage every second and increases the target's damage taken from your other Shadow damage-over-time effects by 10% for 6 seconds. Malediction is a new row 2 talent increasing all periodic damage from your Warlock spells by up to 5%, Improved Drains is a new row 2 talent raising Health drained or damage done by Drain Life, Drain Soul, and Wrack by up to 20%, and Improved Corruption now also increases Corruption's damage by up to 10%. Improved Bane of Agony is now 2 points instead of 3, Improved Drain Soul was renamed Soul Harvest, and Shadow Mastery's damage bonus was reduced.

Demonology's Demonic Brand is a new row 4 talent: Searing Pain generates less threat and brands the target so your pet's next 2 attacks deal Fire or Shadow damage depending on the pet, with Shadow damage being high threat. A recent change means a non-tanking pet like the Imp gains no extra threat, while a tanking pet like the Voidwalker does. Soul Link moved from row 7 up to row 5 and is now the 21-point gold medal talent instead of the 31-point, Demonic Knowledge is a new row 5 talent increasing your spell damage and your Demon pet's spell damage by up to 33% of your level while a Demon pet is active, and Improved Felhunter is a new row 5 talent. Master Demonologist was redesigned so the Imp increases Fire damage done, the Voidwalker reduces Physical damage taken, the Succubus/Incubus increases Shadow damage done, and the Felhunter reduces Magic damage taken. Demonic Pact is the new 31-point gold medal talent, requires Soul Link, and stops your Demonic Sacrifice effect from being cancelled by summoning a different pet, though resummoning the sacrificed pet still cancels it.

Destruction's Destructive Reach moved from row 4 up to row 1 and now applies to all damaging spells, not just Destruction spells. Bane moved from row 2 to row 1 and now also applies to Incinerate, Cataclysm moved down to row 2 and now reduces Destruction spell mana cost by up to 10%, and Improved Shadow Bolt now applies only to your own Shadow damage but no longer has consumable charges. Bane of Havoc is the new 21-point gold medal talent: it afflicts a target for 5 minutes so 15% of all damage you deal to other targets is also dealt to the cursed target, limited to 1 target. Incinerate is the new 31-point gold medal talent, requires Bane of Havoc, deals Fire damage with 25% additional damage if the target is afflicted by Immolate, and has a 2.5 second cast at 30-yard range. Shadow and Flame is a new row 6 talent where Conflagrate increases all Shadow damage you deal for 20 seconds and Shadowburn increases all Fire damage you deal for 20 seconds.

Removed talents

Rogues lose Sleight of Hand and Deadliness, with Dagger, Mace, Sword, and Fist Weapon Specialization subsumed into Hack and Slash. Affliction loses Improved Curse of Weakness, Improved Drain Life, Improved Drain Mana, Improved Curse of Exhaustion, Grim Reach, and Dark Pact; Demonology loses Improved Healthstone, Fel Intellect, Fel Stamina, Improved Subjugate Demon, Improved Firestone, and Improved Spellstone; Destruction loses Improved Firebolt, Improved Lash of Pain, Devastation, Improved Immolate, and Emberstorm.

How the classes rank in the beta

In the level 30 beta DPS tier list, all three Warlock specializations sit in S tier alongside Beast Mastery, Marksmanship, and Survival Hunter and Enhancement Shaman, while Subtlety, Assassination, and Combat Rogue are A tier. That list is limited to level 30 and everything in it is subject to change.

If you would rather have the demon side of the class handled for you, the WoW Forever Warlock Class Mounts Boost gets your Warlock its Felsteed or Dreadsteed. For the other classes in the same deep dive series, see the Hunter, Druid, Priest, and Warrior class changes.