Today, we'll delve into the recent class changes announced just a few days ago for the WoW Classic Season Of Discovery Phase 3. These updates promise significant boosts to the DPS of certain classes. Over the next few weeks, additional adjustments will be made to other courses. Let's explore these classes changes in hotfixes together!

Druid Class

The Natural Weapons talent has received a major update in Druid. Previously, this talent solely augmented physical damage, but now it extends its effect to boost all damage dealt by the Druids. Then the Gale Winds rune has been greatly adjusted, and the mana cost of Hurricane has been significantly reduced by 60%. This reduction in mana cost allows the Druids to utilize Hurricane more efficiently.

The functionality of Swiftmend talent has been enhanced. Previously, when casting Swiftmend, it would consume either a Rejuvenation or Regrowth effect on the target. However, with this update, Druids no longer need to sacrifice these 2 effects when using Swiftmend.

Paladin Class

As for the Paladin class, there are a ton of major changes. The damage of the Seal of Righteousness can now result in critical hits. The duration of Sacred Shield rune has been extended to 60 seconds, up from 30 seconds.

The Crusader Strike now refreshes all active judgment effects on the target, extending their duration by 30 seconds. Perhaps the most notable change is that the Seal of Martyrdom can now be twisted with other seals, including Seal of Command.

This introduction of Seal Twisting Paladins in WoW Classic SOD Phase 3 is a callback to an emergent effect from the original Burning Crusade. Seal twisting, though initially considered a bug, became a popular feature among players.

The decision to allow the Seal of Martyrdom and Seal of Command to be twisted together comes with some concerns, such as mana inefficiency and the need for addons like the WeaponSwingTimer. However, recognizing its appeal to many players and its historical significance, Blizzard will monitor the performance of Retribution Paladin closely and may revert the change or make additional adjustments if necessary.

Despite the introduction of twisting, the optimal Retribution play style is not expected to change immediately because of existing interactions between runes like the Art of War, Seal of Martyrdom, and Exorcism. Larger redesigns may be needed to diversify the Retribution play style, and Blizzard is evaluating options for potential changes in Phase 3 or Phase 4.

Priest Class

As for our Shadow Priests out there, the Shadowform now increases all damage done by 25%, up from 15%, marking a straight-up 10% buff to Shadow Priest damage. This significant increase in damage potential offers Shadow Priests greater potency in dealing with adversaries, enhancing their abilities in both PvE and PvP encounters. Additionally, having some WoW SOD Gold on hand can be extremely helpful when you encounter challenging situations.

Rogue Class

For Rogues, it looks like they’re trying to bring back the Sword Rogues. Saber Slash bleeds now stack up to 5 times. The damage of bleed in Saber Slash increases the impact damage done by Sinister Strike and Saber Slash by 15% per stack for the Rogue who applied the bleed. This means that with 5 stacks, you’re hitting 75% harder with Saber Slash or Sinister Strike.

Furthermore, the bleed of Saber Slash now can deal 3% of the Rogue’s attack power per damage, down from 5%. While this is a bit of a nerf, the 75% increase to your initial damage when using Saber Slash is still significant, especially considering it can now stack up to 5 times, resulting in a substantial DPS increase overall.

Shaman Class

Shamans will find that Mental Dexterity now triggers exclusively from dealing damage with Storm Strike and Lava Lash. The duration has been extended to 30 seconds, a significant increase from the previous 10-second duration. Burn now increases the damage of Flame Shock by 100%, extends Flame Shock’s dot duration by 6 seconds, and allows Flame Shock to strike up to 5 targets, up from 3.

Developer notes that they’ve received a lot of feedback about the overall usability of Mental Dexterity, particularly for Elemental Shamans. This ability was not intended to be used by Elemental, so the adjustments made aim to ensure its usage is more enhancement-centric. To compensate, the output and usability of the Burn rune have been increased, with a slight Quality of Life (QoL) improvement as a Flame Shock duration increase.

This allows for 2 Lava Burst casts to be used within a single Flame Shock duration. However, this may not be enough to bring Elemental up to the desired level, so further tactical adjustments are planned in future class adjustment updates as needed.

Final Thought

At the conclusion of the post, it is mentioned that in the upcoming weeks, there are meticulous plans for further adjustments to Hunters, Mages and Warlocks in future updates. The developer highly values the feedback received since the initiation of WoW Classic Season Of Discovery Phase 3 and eagerly anticipates sharing more details about the forthcoming round of adjustments.

So keep in mind that they are still evaluating and going to be making adjustments accordingly. But all in all, some class updates we discuss are very promising. I'm sure you may be excited about the Seal Twisting Paladin, and the DPS increase to Shadow Priests. Hope you can try it out and enjoy a good gaming experience.