If you’ve played Classic for years, you probably already know which quests to do for gear and which dungeon bosses you’re going to farm. WoW Forever is giving us a reason to check those rewards again. Blizzard is changing familiar items, adding hundreds of new drops, and updating several of the stats we build our characters around.
The changes include healing gear with bonus damage, improved dungeon sets, and items that become more useful depending on where you’re fighting. This reaches into the leveling experience too, so we’ll be seeing the differences long before our first raid. Blizzard outlined the changes during its WoW Forever Deep Dive
Hit, Crit, and Healing Gear Are Changing
Spell, melee, and ranged Hit are being combined into one Hit stat, and Crit is getting the same treatment. That’s especially useful for specializations such as Retribution Paladin and Enhancement Shaman, which deal damage through both attacks and spells. Blizzard also pointed to abilities such as Taunts, Poisons, and Traps benefiting from the change.
Healing gear is getting some much needed help outside of dungeons. Bonus Healing will also provide one third as much Bonus Damage, giving healers more damage to work with when they head out to quest. The Hide of the Wild shown at BlizzCon, for example, had 42 Bonus Healing and 14 Bonus Damage.
Weapon Skill is staying, although items will offer less of it. There are also effects that reduce the chance for your attacks to be dodged or parried. The preview of Edgemaster’s Handguards showed both types of bonuses on the same item, so Weapon Skill and these new effects can exist together.
Caster weapons are also being updated with spell damage and healing. Finding a new weapon while leveling should feel more rewarding when it actually improves the spells you’re casting.
Dungeon Loot and Quest Rewards Are Getting Reworked
Blizzard says every dungeon drop has been reexamined. Familiar items are staying, weaker drops are being adjusted, and hundreds of new items are being added. Unique dungeon boss items are also being made blue quality, with dungeon set bonuses receiving their own improvements.
The sets shown at BlizzCon give us a good idea of what that means. Defias Leather has a four piece bonus that gives melee attacks from behind a chance to cause a bleed. Embrace of the Viper has a five piece bonus that gives melee attacks a chance to trigger a short stun.
Quest rewards are getting more options for different classes and roles too. Mor’Ladim’s quest chain in Duskwood will still offer its sword, but casters will also have the Ladimore Heirloom Ring to choose from. Hemet Nesingwary’s quests in Stranglethorn are gaining options such as the Master Hunter’s Spellsword.
If you’ve ever finished a long quest chain and found nothing useful for your class in the reward window, you know why this matters. It’s another reason to check the rewards before deciding which quests to skip.
Some Items Get Stronger Depending on Where You Fight
Some of the new item effects depend on the area you’re in or the enemies you’re fighting. The Staff of Westfall shown at BlizzCon had spell damage and healing, plus a movement speed bonus in Elwynn Forest, Westfall, Redridge Mountains, and the Deadmines. Rune of Perfection offered additional spell resistance piercing in Forest and Woodland areas.
Other items have a much more specific job. Worgenbane Talisman had an on use effect that stuns a Worgen, while X’caliboar’s damage proc hit harder against Undead and Swine. Yes, there’s a sword with a particular interest in killing pigs.
These effects could give us a reason to hang onto gear for a particular quest, dungeon, or farming spot. How often they’re worth swapping in will depend on tuning, but the tooltips already give us more to consider when comparing upgrades.
World Epics and Rare Enemies Are Getting Better Rewards
World drop Epics are getting improvements and new additions as well. Blizzard showed items such as Skullflame Shield, Hurricane, Stonerender Gauntlets, and Ankle Slicers during the panel. The preview version of Hurricane added Frost damage to every ranged auto attack, while Ankle Slicers had a chance to slow its target. Blizzcon Epic Item Previews
Rare enemies are also gaining hundreds of new drops. Examples included Broken Tooth’s Flayed Hide, Cliff Jumpers, Spider Swarm, and Wintersaber Hide Lined Gloves. Cliff Jumpers reduced falling damage, while the gloves shown granted 6% increased mount speed specifically in Winterspring.
The BlizzCon tooltips are still preview values and can change during beta. We’ll need to test these items alongside the new talents and class changes before making firm calls on BiS gear. An item’s old Classic reputation won’t be enough to tell us where it lands in Forever.
