WoW Forever Beta Patch Notes: 8 October Build Summary
Blizzard pushed a new WoW Forever beta build on 8 October. The headline changes are the City of Dalaran dungeon going live for testing, roughly 20% more dungeon XP and 16 free Legacy Points for every beta player. This is a summary of Blizzard’s development notes, which are long. Everything here is beta and may change before launch on 4 November 2026.
Headline changes
- City of Dalaran dungeon is now available to test.
- Dungeon XP: XP from killing creatures in dungeons is up by approximately 20%. A bug that cut XP for players in a party with higher-level players killing lower-level enemies is also fixed: only each player’s own level now matters, as in Classic Era. If a party member is vastly higher level than the enemy, nobody in the party gets XP, as intended. See our dungeon XP buff post and the leveling guide.
- Legacy System: all beta players have been granted the Legacy Challenge, which awards 16 Legacy Points so the system can be fully tested. The cheapest Legacy talent re-spec costs 1s, and the cost drops by one re-spec per hour. Blizzard says this is for the beta only.
- Weapon swaps: you can again swap multiple weapons within the same global cooldown, for example via a macro.
- Looting: Classic behaviour returns, so creatures that dropped no loot can still be interacted with.
- Cooldown Manager: now supports all classes, racial abilities and trinkets. Consumables are due in a later patch.
Rage fixes
Blizzard fixed several bugs in how Rage is gained from damage taken. Rage was using the player’s health rather than an expected creature’s health (so more Stamina gear meant less Rage), crits and crushing blows were not handled correctly, and absorbs are now ignored in the calculation. Rage gains were also rebalanced around a 20% to 40% armour range rather than a tanking 50%. In Blizzard’s words, the typical Warrior or Druid should gain more Rage from taking damage.
Class changes
This is a selection. See WoW Forever class changes for the running list.
| Class | Change (per Blizzard’s notes) |
|---|---|
| Druid | Bear and Dire Bear threat bonus up to 50% (was 30%). Crits generate 100% extra Rage (was 75%). Cat Form no longer lowers maximum health. Mana potions work in feral forms. Rejuvenation, Tranquility and Wild Growth can now crit. |
| Feral Druid | Mangle renamed Primal Bite (its debuff was removed). Shifting Power can’t be used at full Energy. |
| Hunter | Disengage’s intended doubled threat reduction implemented. Tame Beast no longer works on Beasts above your level. Furious Howl Attack Power bonus reduced by 40%. |
| Mage | Fire: Wake of Fire lasts 30 seconds (was 20) and Hot Streak 20 seconds (was 15). Arcane Missiles checks line of sight once at the start of the channel. |
| Paladin | Holy Strike scales better per rank and has a 10 second cooldown (was 12). Retribution Aura’s damage is cut back to Vanilla values. Righteous Fury Holy threat is 60% (was 90%). Retribution: Vengeance now has a maximum of 3 stacks (was 5). |
| Priest | Penance reduced in damage and healing (it was acting like a 3-second channel), with higher mana cost at rank 1. Smite, Lesser Heal and Heal lower ranks adjusted. |
| Shaman | Lightning Bolt lower ranks adjusted so each new rank is an upgrade. |
| Warlock | The current pet is stunned while you summon a new one. Shadow Bolt lower ranks adjusted. |
| Warrior | Demoralizing Shout now generates threat. Deep Wounds is again required to reach Impale. |
Blizzard also notes that critical strikes in PvP no longer have reduced efficacy.
Items and economy
- Wolfshead Helm now grants 5 extra Energy when Shifting Power is used; its Rage effect is unchanged.
- Various dungeon quest rewards dropped from Rare to Uncommon, with stats adjusted.
- The Truthseeker’s Bow from the Greater Friend of the Library quest now needs level 40, matching the other two rewards.
- Several Enchanting wands and Minor Wizard Oils had vendor prices adjusted (for example Greater Eternal Wand now sells for 25s).
- The new Desolace Gelkis and Magram quests now need level 35 (was 30), and a hotfix will make their rewards level 35 to equip.
Quests and world
- Stitches is hostile again as he enters Darkshire.
- Quests and creatures around Shadowvale and Bandarion Keep in Tirisfal Glades were raised in level.
- Numerous respawn and map marker fixes, including Durotar, Redridge, Teldrassil and the Shaman quest “Storm, Earth, and Fire”.
- Barbers in the capital cities have been replaced with local barbers.
Interface
- Voice Chat can use Discord Voice, and Group Finder postings can set an in-game voice mode.
- The Inspect window was updated, combo points changed in the Target Frame, and quest types and level requirements now show in the quest tracker.
Known issues in this build
- Some Skyborne textures (druid cat form, creatures in Zephras Isle, some mounts and pets) will arrive in a future build.
- Hunters with the Ferocity talent won’t see the pet crit chance increase on the character sheet (visual only).
- Some icons in the Professions window appear broken.
Horde access to Dalaran
Wowhead reported that Horde players can reach Dalaran city after completing the City of Dalaran dungeon and its related quests, and that Blizzard’s Josh Greenfield said on X this isn’t intended and will be looked at. We couldn’t read the original post, so treat this as a report and expect it to change.
Sources: Blizzard: WoW Forever Beta Development Notes, updated 8 October, Wowhead: Blizzard clarifies Horde access to Dalaran. Last checked 9 October 2026.
