The WoW: Forever podcast episode 3: dungeons, a 20% dungeon XP bump, RMT bans and a racial review

2026-10-08 · ForeverDB

Episode 3 of the official WoW: Forever podcast is a dungeons deep dive with the encounter team, plus a beta-news round-up: dungeon kill XP going up about 20%, over 2,100 gold-buying and nearly 1,600 botting accounts closed, and racials under review. The client files hold none of those numbers, so they stay Blizzard's own words, quoted from the video. We add the class and talent changes the podcast only gestured at, straight from the client.

This write-up is of an official World of Warcraft video. The podcast is about dungeon design and beta policy, which the WoW Forever client files do not contain, so the experience, ban, racial and dungeon figures are Blizzard's own, quoted from the video. The class and talent numbers further down come from the WoW Forever beta client (build 1.60.1.70291), with Classic Era shown only as the before. Beta data can still change.

Blizzard's official channel put out episode 3 of the WoW: Forever podcast on 8 October 2026, an hour with host Josh Corbett, senior game designer Josh "Aggrend" Greenfield, encounter designers Jay Hartman and Rowan Ryder, and content creator Hammer Dance. It is mostly about the new dungeons, with a block of beta news at the top. The devs are talking about design choices and numbers their servers work out, so the client cannot confirm the XP, ban, racial or dungeon figures. We quote those from the video. Lower down we add the class and talent changes the client does show, which the podcast only gestured at.

The short version

• Dungeons are the main topic. Blizzard says kill XP in dungeons is going up by about 20%, first-time quest hand-ins stay the most rewarding, and they do not want dungeon grinding to be the optimal way to level.
• They are not touching old dungeon quests (like the Deviate Hide hand-in), even though it means some runs take more than one visit.
• RMT enforcement: over 2,100 gold-buying accounts and almost 1,600 gold-selling or botting accounts closed on the beta, with a trade-warning message coming.
• Racials are under review. Orc and troll active racials may be too strong, and weapon-skill abilities are being looked at. Changes land on next week's beta, not this week's.
• The "SD sky" (Skyborn) models are coming in the first major update in early 2027.
• Three new dungeons discussed: a low-level Lordaeron dungeon that Alliance reach easily and Horde do not, the Excavation Site in the Wetlands, and Dalaran (about nine bosses, shown at BlizzCon). There are no in-dungeon maps, on purpose.
• Excavation Site tuning: one physical-damage disease debuff was overtuned ("a zero being added") and was cut, while the raptor bleed stays.
• At the end we list the class and talent changes the podcast did not name, from the client.

Claim by claim

This podcast is about design and policy, so the client can confirm none of the figures. They are Blizzard's own words.

Dungeons and experience

This was the week's hot topic. Hammer Dance said a full Deadmines run with all the quests handed in gave him almost two levels around level 16, and that higher dungeons scale that down. The devs said the reward should feel good but not be the best way to level.

we are increasing the amount of experience gained from kills by about 20%. Blizzard, Dive into Dungeons with Devs ft. @hammerdancegaming | Episode 3 - The WoW: Forever Podcast (11:11)

• The intent is that a dungeon is worth running more than once, but grinding one dungeon over and over should not be optimal. The first time you do a quest is the most rewarding.
• They are leaving old dungeon quests alone, including the Deviate Hide hand-in that can take more than one run, because the XP change "wasn't congruent with a lot of classic quest design" and they do not want to punish you for multiple runs.
• There are more than a thousand new quests, and more questing and levelling content is coming in later patches, aimed at places like the Wetlands, Hillsbrad and the mid-40s.

actually a lot more than a thousand. A thousand is like the very conservative estimate Blizzard, Dive into Dungeons with Devs ft. @hammerdancegaming | Episode 3 - The WoW: Forever Podcast (13:58)

No dungeon maps, and dungeons that do not care about you

The encounter team said Forever's dungeons deliberately have no in-dungeon map, so you explore the corners instead of beelining the shortest route. They want the places to feel hostile and, as Rowan Ryder put it, apathetic to you.

we're not building theme park rides or roller coasters. We're building places that you're intruding upon. Blizzard, Dive into Dungeons with Devs ft. @hammerdancegaming | Episode 3 - The WoW: Forever Podcast (19:22)

we want you to feel like it's an adventure and it's threatening and we want you to go explore those nook and crannies. Blizzard, Dive into Dungeons with Devs ft. @hammerdancegaming | Episode 3 - The WoW: Forever Podcast (19:52)

Faction access: Ragefire for Horde, the Lordaeron dungeon for Alliance

The new low-level Lordaeron dungeon is easy for Alliance to reach and hard for Horde, which the devs compared to a Horde player's trek through Ironforge. They are fine with that not being in perfect faction balance, pointing to Ragefire Chasm the other way.

Ragefire Chasm, there's no alliance entrance to that. Blizzard, Dive into Dungeons with Devs ft. @hammerdancegaming | Episode 3 - The WoW: Forever Podcast (22:56)

not all content is for every race class combo. Blizzard, Dive into Dungeons with Devs ft. @hammerdancegaming | Episode 3 - The WoW: Forever Podcast (22:16)

Speculation. The captions garble this dungeon's name, calling it both "Ruins of Lordaeron" and "Hall of..." The devs also said a Horde entrance "may" exist. Treat the exact name and access until it is datamined or Blizzard writes it down.

The Excavation Site in the Wetlands

Jay Hartman's dungeon sits in a part of the Wetlands that was built in vanilla but never opened. It leans on tall grass and raptors for a Jurassic Park sense of dread, and the difficulty is meant to ratchet up through the teens. The team prefers to overshoot and dial back.

You can dial things back and make them easier. It's much harder to make things harder after they've been out in the world Blizzard, Dive into Dungeons with Devs ft. @hammerdancegaming | Episode 3 - The WoW: Forever Podcast (28:47)

there was one outlier and that was the physical damage disease that happens in there. That is the only one that was brought down because that was simply a zero being added. Blizzard, Dive into Dungeons with Devs ft. @hammerdancegaming | Episode 3 - The WoW: Forever Podcast (29:46)

They were clear that the disease is not gone, only cut back, and that the raptor bleed is staying as it is.

the bleed on the raptor. That hasn't been adjusted. Blizzard, Dive into Dungeons with Devs ft. @hammerdancegaming | Episode 3 - The WoW: Forever Podcast (30:01)

Dalaran

Dalaran (the captions render it Deran, Derin and Deloran) was shown at BlizzCon. Hammer Dance counted about nine bosses, which is a lot for a level 30 dungeon, so he asked if it was a mega dungeon. The devs said no.

I do not think Derin is a mega dungeon. I think it is a very compressed space that fits in a lot of content. Blizzard, Dive into Dungeons with Devs ft. @hammerdancegaming | Episode 3 - The WoW: Forever Podcast (33:04)

One thing the client does show that ties in: Mages get Teleport: Dalaran Teleport: Dalaran as a new ability at level 50, above the current beta cap.

Clamping down on RMT

Aggrend restated Blizzard's stance on real-money trading and gave the beta's numbers so far. A trade pop-up warning about where your gold comes from is coming, and the current dueling tournament (with a prize pot topped up by TimTheTatman) is being watched closely, with some entrants already actioned.

We've actually uh closed over 2100 gold buying accounts, accounts that have bought gold on the beta. And we are have closed almost 1,600 gold selling or botting accounts on the beta. Blizzard, Dive into Dungeons with Devs ft. @hammerdancegaming | Episode 3 - The WoW: Forever Podcast (3:14)

Racials and weapon skills under review

Aggrend flagged racial abilities as a current focus: the orc and troll active racials may be a little too strong, and weapon-skill abilities are being looked at hard. These are racial traits, which are not in the client's class data, so we cannot put numbers to them yet.

also things like weapon skill abilities that's something we're looking at really closely. Do we want to keep those? Do we want to replace them with something else? Blizzard, Dive into Dungeons with Devs ft. @hammerdancegaming | Episode 3 - The WoW: Forever Podcast (1:52)

He said not to expect it on this week's beta, but the week after.

next week's beta, we'll start to see some changes there. Blizzard, Dive into Dungeons with Devs ft. @hammerdancegaming | Episode 3 - The WoW: Forever Podcast (2:07)

Skyborn models and the first major update

A blog post on the "SD sky" (Skyborn) models was due out around the time of the podcast. Aggrend thanked the community for the feedback that shaped the art direction and gave a window for them.

that's going to come in our first kind of major update coming in uh early 2027. Blizzard, Dive into Dungeons with Devs ft. @hammerdancegaming | Episode 3 - The WoW: Forever Podcast (2:29)

What the video didn't mention

The podcast talked about class adjustments and a racial review but named no spell. Here is what the WoW Forever client already shows has changed for the classes we pulled data for, within the level 30 beta cap first, the rest marked above the cap.

Warrior

Arms

• Spearing Strike Spearing Strike, a new tier 4 talent at level 25: a strike for 40% weapon damage, and 80% more against Giants, Dragonkin and mounted targets, which it dismounts.
• Bloodthrill Bloodthrill, a new tier 5 talent at level 30 where Axe Specialization was: your main-hand hits on a target with your Rend have a 20% chance to let you use Overpower.
• Weaponmaster Weaponmaster, a new tier 5 talent at level 30 in Mace Specialization's slot: a different bonus per weapon type (axe/polearm crit, mace/staff armour ignore, sword extra attack).
• Tactical Mastery Tactical Mastery is a trainer ability at level 14 now; in Classic Era it was a talent.
• Thunder Clap Thunder Clap now works in Battle or Defensive Stance, on a 6 sec cooldown instead of 4 sec.
• Victory Rush Victory Rush is a class ability at level 20 (it was a Season of Discovery rune nothing else teaches): heals 10% of your health on a 30 sec cooldown.
• Gone from the trees: Weaponmaster Sword Specialization and Polearm Specialization.

Fury

• Lingering Rage Lingering Rage, a new tier 2 talent at level 15 where Improved Demoralizing Shout was: rank 5 gives 10 more seconds before Rage decays out of combat.
• Furious Precision Furious Precision, a new tier 3 talent at level 20 in Improved Cleave's slot: rank 3 adds 10% off-hand hit.
• Raging Blows Raging Blows, a new tier 4 talent at level 25: cuts the Rage cost of Cleave and Whirlwind by 3.
• Slam Slam gains a rank at level 20 and now has an 18 sec cooldown (Classic Era: none).
• Battle Shout Battle Shout is weaker but longer: rank 7 gives 139 attack power instead of 232, for 3 min instead of 2.
• Demoralizing Shout Demoralizing Shout is stronger and longer: rank 5 is -196 attack power instead of -140, for 45 sec instead of 30.
• Gore Drinker Gore Drinker, a new tier 6 talent (level 35, above the cap).

Protection

• Master of Defense Master of Defense, a new tier 3 talent at level 20 in Improved Shield Block's slot: a 100% chance to make 5 Rage when you dodge or parry with a shield.
• Vanguard Vanguard, a new tier 4 talent at level 25: Charge works in Defensive Stance.
• Focused Rage Focused Rage, a new tier 5 talent at level 30: cuts the Rage cost of your offensive abilities by 3.
• Shield Block Shield Block lasts 7 sec instead of 5.
• Shield Wall Shield Wall is weaker but longer and quicker to recharge: -60% damage instead of -75%, for 12 sec instead of 10, on a 15 min cooldown instead of 30.
• Revenge Revenge hits harder: rank 6 is 138 to 168 instead of 81 to 99.
• Gone: Improved Taunt Improved Taunt and Toughness Toughness.

All 71 Warrior changes, rank by rank →

Paladin

Holy

• Voice of Truth Voice of Truth, a new tier 3 talent at level 20: 6 sec immune to Silence and Interrupt.
• Reverence Reverence, a new tier 3 talent at level 20: rank 3 keeps 30% of your mana regen going while casting.
• Purifying Power Purifying Power, a new tier 3 talent at level 20 in Improved Lay on Hands' slot.
• Infusion of Light Infusion of Light, a new tier 4 talent at level 25: Holy Shock and Flash of Light crits speed up your next Holy Light.
• Divine Precision Divine Precision, a new tier 5 talent at level 30: rank 3 adds 18% Holy spell hit.
• Consecrated Ground Consecrated Ground, a new tier 5 talent at level 30 where Lasting Judgement was.
• Light's Vigil Light's Vigil, a new tier 7 talent (level 40, above the cap).

Protection

• Improved Seal of Fury Improved Seal of Fury, a new tier 3 talent at level 20.
• Sacred Duty Sacred Duty, a new tier 3 talent at level 20: +4% Stamina and -60 sec on the cooldowns of Divine Shield, Divine Protection and Templar's Bulwark.
• Swift Judgement Swift Judgement, a new tier 4 talent at level 25.
• Templar's Bulwark Templar's Bulwark, a new tier 5 talent at level 30 in Blessing of Sanctuary's slot: an absorb shield worth 100% of your health for 8 sec.
• Seal of Fury Seal of Fury, a new ability at level 10, and Judgement of Fury Judgement of Fury at level 25.
• Iron Creed Iron Creed, a new tier 6 talent (level 35, above the cap).
• Gone: Improved Devotion Aura Improved Devotion Aura and Improved Concentration Aura Improved Concentration Aura.

Retribution

• Holy Strike Holy Strike, a new ability at level 6.
• Holy Conduit Holy Conduit, a new tier 2 talent at level 15 in Improved Seal of the Crusader's slot.
• Sanctified Judgement Sanctified Judgement, a new tier 3 talent at level 20: Judgement returns 60% of the judged seal's mana.
• Sacred Arbiter Sacred Arbiter, a new tier 4 talent at level 25 where Improved Retribution Aura was: +20% Holy Strike damage and it refreshes your Judgements.
• Blessing of Might Blessing of Might is weaker but far longer: rank 7 is 133 attack power instead of 185, for 1 hour instead of 5 min.
• Champion of the Light Champion of the Light and Instrument of Law Instrument of Law (tier 6, level 35) and Twist of Light Twist of Light (tier 7, level 40), all above the cap.
• Gone: Improved Blessing of Might Improved Blessing of Might and Sanctity Aura Sanctity Aura.

All 91 Paladin changes, rank by rank →

Mage

Arcane

• Arcane Blast Arcane Blast, a new tier 3 talent at level 20 (a Season of Discovery spell): rank 1 does 50 to 58 Arcane damage and stacks a buff that grows your other spells.
• Missile Barrage Missile Barrage, a new tier 4 talent at level 25.
• Arcane Intellect Arcane Intellect lasts 1 hour instead of 30 min.
• Dampen Magic Dampen Magic is stronger: rank 5 soaks 135 spell damage instead of 90.
• Arcane Explosion Arcane Explosion does a little less: rank 6 is 232 to 252 instead of 243 to 263.
• Teleport: Dalaran Teleport: Dalaran, a new ability at level 50 (above the cap), handy once the Dalaran dungeon is live.

Fire

• Heating Up Heating Up, a new tier 4 talent at level 25: crits speed up your next Pyroblast.
• Fireball Fireball does less at the top (rank 12: 425 to 541 instead of 596 to 760) but scales better at low ranks.
• Fire Blast Fire Blast does less: rank 7 is 402 to 474 instead of 431 to 509.
• Pyroblast Pyroblast, now learned at level 20, does less: rank 1 is 95 to 125 instead of 141 to 187.
• Frostfire Bolt Frostfire Bolt, a new ability at level 40 (above the cap), from a Season of Discovery rune.

Frost

• Ice Lance Ice Lance, a new tier 3 talent at level 20 (a Season of Discovery spell): 26 to 30 Frost damage, tripled against Frozen targets.
• Fingers of Frost Fingers of Frost, a new tier 5 talent at level 30.
• Frostbolt Frostbolt does less at the top (rank 11: 457 to 493 instead of 515 to 555) but scales better at low ranks.
• Frost Nova Frost Nova does a touch less: rank 4 is 69 to 77 instead of 71 to 79.
• Blizzard Blizzard's damage is worked out by the server now, so the client has no number to show.

All 65 Mage changes, rank by rank →

Warlock

Affliction

• Malediction Malediction, a new tier 2 talent at level 15 in Improved Curse of Weakness' slot: rank 5 adds 5% to all your periodic damage.
• Improved Drains Improved Drains, a new tier 2 talent at level 15.
• Soul Harvest Soul Harvest, a new tier 2 talent at level 15 where Improved Drain Soul was.
• Pandemic Pandemic, a new tier 3 talent at level 20.
• Malevolence Malevolence, a new tier 4 talent at level 25 in Grim Reach's slot: rank 5 adds 5% Shadow crit.
• Corruption Corruption does less but scales better: rank 7 is 438 over 18 sec instead of 822, at a 0.2 coefficient.
• Wrack Wrack, a new tier 7 talent (level 40, above the cap) where Dark Pact was.

Demonology

• Demonic Aegis Demonic Aegis, a new tier 2 talent at level 15: +30% to Demon Skin and Demon Armor.
• Demonic Energies Demonic Energies, a new tier 2 talent at level 15: your spells heal your pet.
• Decimation Decimation, a new tier 4 talent at level 25.
• Demonic Brand Demonic Brand, a new tier 4 talent at level 25.
• Demonic Knowledge Demonic Knowledge, a new tier 5 talent at level 30: more spell damage while you have a demon out.
• Improved Felhunter Improved Felhunter, a new tier 5 talent at level 30 where Improved Subjugate Demon was.

Destruction

• Molten Skin Molten Skin, a new tier 2 talent at level 15: rank 5 cuts all damage taken by 10%.
• Bane of Havoc Bane of Havoc, a new tier 5 talent at level 30 in Improved Immolate's slot: 15% of your damage to others is copied onto the cursed target.
• Fire and Brimstone Fire and Brimstone, a new tier 5 talent at level 30: rank 3 adds 25% Conflagrate crit.
• Immolate Immolate does less but scales better: rank 8 is 275 over 15 sec plus 158 instead of 510 plus 279.
• Shadow Bolt Shadow Bolt does less at the top: rank 10 is 253 to 283 instead of 482 to 538.
• Shadow and Flame Shadow and Flame (tier 6, level 35) and Incinerate Incinerate (tier 7, level 40), both above the cap.
• Gone: Devastation Devastation.

All 91 Warlock changes, rank by rank →

Druid

Balance

• Genesis Genesis, a new tier 1 talent at level 10: rank 5 adds 5% to your periodic damage and healing.
• Nature's Majesty Nature's Majesty, a new tier 2 talent at level 15 in Natural Weapons' slot: +4% crit.
• Nature's Splendor Nature's Splendor, a new tier 3 talent at level 20: longer Moonfire, Rejuvenation, Regrowth and Insect Swarm.
• Eclipse Eclipse, a new tier 5 talent at level 30.
• Wrath Wrath does less at the top (rank 8: 86 to 96 instead of 236 to 264) but costs less mana.
• Gone: Improved Thorns Improved Thorns.

Feral Combat

• Primal Bite Primal Bite, a new tier 4 talent at level 25.
• Shifting Power Shifting Power, a new tier 4 talent at level 25.
• Natural Instinct Natural Instinct, a new tier 5 talent at level 30.
• Improved Shifting Power Improved Shifting Power, a new tier 5 talent at level 30.
• Rend and Tear Rend and Tear, a new tier 6 talent (level 35, above the cap): +10% melee damage to bleeding targets.
• Gone: Feral Aggression Feral Aggression.

Restoration

• Gift of the Earthmother Gift of the Earthmother, a new tier 3 talent at level 20: a shorter global cooldown on Rejuvenation and Swiftmend.
• Living Spirit Living Spirit, a new tier 5 talent at level 30: +15% Spirit.
• Revive Revive, a new out-of-combat resurrect at level 12 (from a Season of Discovery spell).
• Mark of the Wild Mark of the Wild is stronger and longer: rank 7 is 385 armour instead of 285, for 1 hour instead of 30 min.
• Healing Touch Healing Touch heals a little less at the top (rank 11: 2139 to 2525 instead of 2267 to 2677) but scales better at low ranks.
• Wild Growth Wild Growth, a new tier 7 talent (level 40, above the cap).
• Gone: Improved Mark of the Wild Improved Mark of the Wild.

All 90 Druid changes, rank by rank →

Sources

• Dive into Dungeons with Devs ft. @hammerdancegaming | Episode 3 - The WoW: Forever Podcast (World of Warcraft, YouTube)
• WoW: Forever (official site)
• Warrior: changes from Classic Era (ForeverDB, from the client)
• Paladin: changes from Classic Era (ForeverDB, from the client)
• Mage: changes from Classic Era (ForeverDB, from the client)
• Warlock: changes from Classic Era (ForeverDB, from the client)
• Druid: changes from Classic Era (ForeverDB, from the client)