The hits just keep on coming with The War Within. After a handful of changes were made to Delves, a large list of class alterations was now unveiled in an official blue post.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Sept. 17 patch notes for World of Warcraft, including which classes are getting hit with the nerf gun.
Major changes in the WoW The War Within’s Sept. 17 update
The classes to be impacted most significantly on Sept. 17 are Warrior, Paladin, and Druid. It’s not all negative, but some big ability changes are on the way.
Warriors will get some nerfs, with Arms’ Bladestorm taking a 10% damage reduction and Fury getting the same, along with a 15% damage reduction to Odyn’s Fury.
The Colossus Warrior Hero Talent will get damage boosts. Mountain of Muscle and Scars will jump up from four percent damage dealt to five percent damage dealt, while the two initial Demolish hits will deal 20% damage.
Mountain Thane Warriors get a flat six percent damage buff for Thunder Blast, Lightning Strikes, and Ground Current, while Strength of the Mountain will receive a 20% buff for Bloodthirst and Rampage Damage.
Paladins will get a mixed bag of changes, with Holy being the most affected specialization. Holy Paladins will receive a six percent healing reduction (not including PvP healing) and damage buffs to the following:
- Crusader Strike (60%)
- Hammer of Wrath (20%)
- Holy Prism (single target, 100%, AoE, 50%)
- Judgement (60%)
Additionally, the transfer amount of Avenging Crusader has been cut from 420% to 260%.
Retribution Paladins with the Herald of the Sun Hero Talent will get a 15% damage nerf for Dawnlight.
Druids have a number of changes on the way, with every specialization except Guardian getting impacted somewhat. Balance Druids will get the following damage buffs:
- All abilities (six percent)
- Starfall (20%)
- Starsurge (16%)
The Elune’s Chosen Hero Talent users will also see Lunar Calling boosting Starfire’s damage to the primary target by 80% outside PvP combat.
Other than Bloodtalons and Lion’s Strength no longer boosting Rampant Ferocity, Feral Druids have several buffs to look forward to:
- All abilities (three percent)
- Feral Frenzy (10%)
- Ferocious Bite (three percent)
- Rip (six percent)
Druid of the Claw Hero Talent players will also get a three percent buff to Ravage’s damage.
Restoration Druids will receive an eight percent healing boost outside of PvP combat, along with a 20% damage buff for Starfire, Starsurge, and Wrath.
Other key changes to watch out for
Class changes
Here are the rest of the class changes, bug fixes, and alterations coming into play—we’ve put the PvP changes separately in the final section of this guide.
Death Knight
- (San’layan) Frenzied Bloodthirst damage for both Death Coil and Death Strike gets a five percent increase per stack
- (San’layan) Vampiric Strike—25% chance to trigger
- (San’layan)Visceral Strength—Grants eight percent Strength
Blood
- (San’layan) Infliction of Sorrow—Deals 15% of the remaining DoT
- (San’layan) Vampiric Strike—20% damage increase
Demon Hunter
Havoc
- Eye Beam—Now correctly has damage reductions beyond five targets, benefits from Isolated Prey’s bonus, and benefits from Chaotic Disposition’s boost too
Evoker
- Disintegrate—10% damage boost
Devastation
- Eternity Surge—10% damage boost
Mage
- Living Bomb visual only plays for the affected unit
Arcane
- (Sunfury) Burden of Power—Damage bonus for Arcane Blast and Arcane Barrage both cut to 20%
- (Sunfury) Meteorite—15% damage cut
Fire
- All ability damage gets a six percent boost
- Living Bomb—25% damage increase
Monk
Mistweaver
- All healing gets a three percent boost
- Rising Sun Kick—15% damage boost
- Tiger Palm—15% damage boost
Windwalker
- Darting Hurricane—Passive trigger rate cut by 50% and global cooldown down 0.25 seconds
Priest
Shadow
- All damage gets a six percent damage boost
- Psychic Link—Applies 25% of direct damage to targets with Vampiric Touch
Rogue
Outlaw
- All ability damage gets a four percent damage reduction
- Dispatch—10% damage reduction
- Melee auto attack gets an eight percent damage reduction
- Season one two-set bonus gives listed abilities 35% chance to deal 30% extra damage and four-set bonus for Between the Eyes increased to 15% damage per stack, going up to four in total
Shaman
Enhancement
- All ability damage gets a four percent damage buff
- Season one two-set bonus for The War Within increases Crash Lightning, Ice Strike, Lava Lash, and Stormstrike’s damage by 10%
- Witch Doctor’s Ancestry—Reduces Feral Spirit cooldown by a second whenever Maelstrom Weapon stacks occur
Restoration
- Chain Lightning—12% damage increase
- Lava Burst—12% damage increase
- Lightning Bolt—12% damage increase
Warlock
Demonology
- Demonbolt—20% damage increase
- Felguard—15% damage increase
- (Pact of the Ered’ruin) Doomguard—45% damage increase
Destruction
- All ability damage gets a six percent damage buff
- Channel Demonfire—40% damage increase
- Dimensional Rift—40% damage increase
PvP changes
PvP alterations are also coming into play on Sept. 17. The changes listed below are PvP only, meaning that they will not affect other forms of content.
Death Knight
- Frost Fever—No longer has a damage increase
- Lesser Anti-Magic Shell (Vestigal Shell)—Icon altered to keep it visually distinct from the usual Anti-Magic Shell
- (Rider of the Apocalypse) Horsemen’s Aid—Effectiveness cut by 50%
Demon Hunter
Havoc
- The Hunt—Damage and DoT both have a 15% damage reduction
Evoker
- Disintegrate—No longer has a 20% damage increase
Preservation
- Living Flame—20% healing reduction
Hunter
Beast Mastery
- Barbed Shot—20% damage increase
- Cobra Shot—15% damage increase
- Kill Command—15% damage increase
- Kill Shot—40% damage increase
Monk
Mistweaver
- Peaceweaver—Reduces Revival cooldown by 30 seconds
Windwalker
- Communion with Wind—Damage increase for this is no longer reduced
- (Shado-Pan) Wisdom of the Wall’s Shadow—50% damage reduction
Paladin
Holy
- Divine Protection—50% damage reduction increase
- Sanctified Plates—20% Armor boost, 10% Stamina boost, and six percent AoE damage reduction
Protection
- Ardent Defender—50% damage reduction increase
Rogue
Echoing Reprimand—Reverberation bonus reduced to 70%
Shaman
Enhancement
- Fire Nova—40% damage buff
- Frost Shock—40% damage buff
- Ice Strike—40% damage buff
- Lava Lash—20% damage buff
- Stormstrike—20% damage buff
- Windstrike—20% damage buff
Warlock
Affliction
- Corruption—10% damage reduction
- (Hellcaller) Wither—10% damage reduction
- Shadow Bolt—15% damage reduction
- (Soul Harvester)—Necrolyte Teachings boost Shadow Bolt and Drain Soul by 10%
- Unstable Affliction—30% damage buff, but backlash damage 25% increase
Destruction
- Chaos Bolt—15% damage buff
- Decimation—Now reduces Soul Fire cast time by 60%
- (Diabolist) Ruination—15% damage buff
- (Hellcaller) Wither—30% damage reduction
- Incinerate—15% damage buff
- Soul Fire—15% damage buff
While these changes may be frustrating for some players, for others, they’ll feel like the chance to get on an even playing field with their class of choice for the foreseeable future.
