ForeverDB

Final racial changes: Dwarf hit, Orc Command, faster Tauren

The Ashenvale map from the WoW Forever client

· ForeverDB

Blizzard's last pass on racials before WoW Forever launches: Humans trade a point of crit for 10% Spirit, Dwarves swap Earth Fury for 1% hit, Orcs lose Savage and get Command back, Tauren run up to 60% faster on foot, and Skyborne's Leyline and Skysight become short effects that a ley line or convergence doubles for an hour. We quote Blizzard's notes word for word.

Blizzard has taken a last pass over the racials before WoW Forever launches on 4 November. The notes, posted by Kaivax (Community Manager) as an update to the beta development notes thread on 26 October, change Humans, Dwarves, Tauren, Orcs and both Skyborne orders. Some generic bonuses go, Orcs get Command back, and Tauren and Skyborne gain bigger but more situational effects.

These changes aren't in the client we datamined yet (build 1.60.1.70532). Until a new build arrives, our race pages and the class quiz show them marked Announced, with the client's text when you hover them.

Why Blizzard is changing them

In taking a final pass on these, we’ve prioritized racial identity, which means that some races will naturally be slightly more effective than others at certain combat roles. In some places where we had replaced role- or class-focused racials with generic ones, we’re rolling those changes back. Kaivax, Community Manager

The weapon specialization racials stay out, though. Blizzard's reason:

While those have a strong fantasy component to them, it is not healthy in the long run for future raid and dungeon loot tables to be evaluated through the lens of “required” weapon types. Kaivax, Community Manager

Human

Ruthless now increases critical chance by 1% (was 2%). Human Spirit now increases Spirit by 10% (was 5%). Kaivax, Community Manager

Humans trade a point of crit for twice the Spirit bonus, which favours healers and anyone who leans on Spirit for Mana regeneration. Will to Survive, the stun break, is unchanged.

Dwarf

Earth Fury (2% increased critical strike damage and healing) removed. Added: Artisan’s Precision - Increases hit chance with spells and attacks by 1%. Kaivax, Community Manager

A flat 1% hit chance works for every Dwarf class and every spec, which makes Dwarves a stronger pick for damage dealers. Stoneform, Big Game Hunter and Find Treasure stay as they are.

Tauren

Plainsrunning now grants 2% movement speed per stack (was 1%), for a total max increase of 60% (was 30%). Plainsrunning no longer increases mounted movement speed. Endurance no longer provides any modifiers beyond 5% increased Health (no hit chance or critical damage modifiers). Kaivax, Community Manager

Plainsrunning's on-foot cap doubles to 60%, but it stops helping once you're mounted. Endurance goes back to a plain 5% Health, so Tauren lose the hit chance and the critical damage it had in the beta.

Orc

Savage removed (1% increased critical strike chance). Command re-added, increasing Warlock and Hunter pet damage by 5%. Kaivax, Community Manager

Command is back from Classic for Hunters and Warlocks. Savage's flat crit goes; Blood Fury and Hardiness stay.

Skyborne

Wind-Blessed Haste bonus reduced to 2% (was 3%). Read Leyline now increases Mana and Health regeneration by 50% (was 100%), with a 15-second duration. This ability cannot be used while Innervate is active, and will be replaced by Innervate as a more powerful effect. Using Read Leyline at a Ley Line now also grants “Attuned” for 1 hour. While Attuned, the benefit of Read Leyline is increased to 100% regeneration increase. Attuned persists through death. Skysight is now a 15% increased movement speed (was 10%), with a 15-second duration. Using Skysight at an elemental convergence now also grants “Charged” for 1 hour. While Charged, the benefit of Skysight is a 30% movement speed increase. Charged persists through death. Kaivax, Community Manager

Both orders lose a point of haste. Read Leyline and Skysight now work anywhere for 15 seconds, and visiting a ley line or an elemental convergence doubles them for an hour. The Leylines map shows where players have found ley lines and convergences.

What it means for your race pick

  • Damage dealers: Dwarves gain flat hit chance; Humans, Orcs, Tauren and Skyborne each lose a little crit or haste.
  • Healers: Human Spirit doubles to 10%.
  • Hunters and Warlocks: Orc pets hit 5% harder with Command.
  • Getting around: Tauren run up to 60% faster on foot, and Skysight reaches 30% while Charged.

Our race picks and the class quiz use the announced values. For launch preparation, see which race should I play.

Sources

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