World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor class changes

World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor brings many changes to classes. This article serves as a summary of them.

• Hit, Expertise, Dodge, Parry and Reforging removed.
• Tertiary stats added. These are bonus stats that can appear on gear that don't count towards the item level budget: Avoidance, Leech, Inspiration, Speed, and Sturdiness.
• Primary stats on armor will now change based on your spec. Plate drops and it will have whatever stats your class needs, no more Intellect plate! No more PvP Priest Healing set and PvP Priest DPS set, just a Priest set.
• Bonus system added that rewards players with powerful perks as they level up to the new cap. At every level from 91 to 100, characters will earn a major permanent boost to one of their their key spells and abilities (e.g. a Fire mage might earn a +50% damage boost to Pyroblast or +30% boost to Scorch). Players will also unlock a new talent tier once they’ve achieved level 100, rewarding each class with three potent new abilities to choose from.

Blizzard posted a large amount of information on November 26th. Some highlights:

Armor pieces are head, shoulders, chest, legs, gloves, belt, boots, and bracers

• Primary stats
• Armor pieces will always have some amount of Stamina and Armor value.
• Armor pieces always have Strength, Intellect, or Agility as a primary stat. Plate has either Strength or Intellect. Mail and Leather have either Agility or Intellect. Cloth has Intellect.
• In the cases of Plate, Mail, and Leather, the primary stat will change depending on your current spec. Specifically, casters (including healers) will get Intellect, and melee or tank specs will get Strength or Agility.
• Secondary stats
• Secondary stats don't change based on spec on armor pieces (or any piece).
• Secondary stats on armor pieces can still include Haste, Crit, and/or Mastery.
• Secondary stats on armor pieces will no longer include Hit, Expertise, Dodge, or Parry. These are being retired in Warlords, and will likely be removed even from existing gear.
• Secondary stats on armor pieces will also no longer include Spirit, nor will they include Bonus Armor, which are reserved exclusively for non-armor pieces (which are explained below).
• In addition, secondary stats on armor pieces may include several new stats we are exploring such as Readiness and Multistrike.
• Additional properties
• Additional properties are additional item level (a la Warforged), gem sockets, tertiary stats (Avoidance (less AoE damage), Inspiration, Leech, Speed, and Sturdiness)
• "We haven't decided on exact numbers yet, but for the current discussion, assume something like a 10% chance for an item to have an additional property. It's possible for one item to have all three of these properties, but the chance of that is very small."
• The properties are determined at the time an item is looted (and possibly even includes crafted gear). For example, if an ogre boss drops two copies of the Bracers of Crithto, one might be a normal version, while another might have a tertiary stat.
• Set bonuses
• Similar to primary stats, set bonuses will also change depending on your current spec.

Non-armor pieces are weapons, rings, cloaks, necklaces, and trinkets.

• Primary stats
• In general, most of these pieces will not have Strength, Agility, or Intellect.
• Instead, they may have Attack Power or Spell Power to make sure they are more universal.
• However, our current thought it to keep primary stats on weapons so that they continue to feel iconic and special.
• Many of the items will have Stamina as well.
• Secondary stats
• Same rules as armor pieces
• Spirit and bonus armor will appear, spirit only for healers and bonus armor only for tanks
• Stacking spirit in all non-armor slots will provide more mana than necessary
• Bonus armor expected to fulfill the niche that dodge and parry fill today
• Additional properties
• Same rules as armor pieces

• New level 100 talents: Necrotic Plague, Defile, Breath of Sindragosa

• New level 100 talents:
• Balance: Euphoria, Stellar Flare, Balance of Power
• Feral: Lunar Inspiration, Bloodtalons, Claws of Shirvallah
• Guardian: Guardian of Elune (druid ability), Pulverize, Bristling Fur
• Restoration: Moment of Clarity, Germination, Rampant Growth (Warlords of Draenor)

• New level 100 talents: Flaming Shots, Snipe, Adaptation/Lone Wolf
• Hunters will be getting updated weapon sounds in WoD.

• New level 100 talents:
• All specs: Focusing Crystal
• Arcane: Arcane Overpower, Arcane Orb
• Fire: Kindling, Meteor
• Frost: Thermal Void), Comet Storm

• New level 100 talents: Vital Conviction (Soul Dance, Detonate Chi, Hurricane Strike), Chi Explosion, Serene Mists (Chi Serenity, Soothing Tendrils)

• New level 100 talents: The Light Within (Bastions of Light, Empowered Seals), Seal of Faith, Divine Conviction (Saved by the Light, Holy Shield, Final Verdict (Warlords of Draenor))

• New level 100 talents: Divine Clarity (Clarity of Will, Clarity of Purpose, Clarity of Power), Power of the Void (Shifting Perspectives, Void Entropy), Spiritual Guidance (alpha)

• New level 100 talents: Master the Basics, Shadow Reflection, Death from Above (rogue ability)

• New level 100 talents: Rainstorm (Storm Armor, Condensation Totem), Storm Elemental Totem, Reach of the Elements (Spew Lava, High Tide)

• New level 100 talents: Chaotic Resources (Soulburn: Haunt, Furious Chaos, Charred Remains), Cataclysm (warlock talent), Demonic Servitude

• New level 100 talents: Anger Management, Ravager (warrior ability), Siegebreaker, Gladiator's Resolve

No changes are currently planned for worgen or pandaren.

• Draenei
• Heroic Presence is now +X to the spec's primary stat
• Gift of the Naaru heals for same amount, but over 5 sec
• Dwarf
• Crack Shot (racial) removed
• Mace Specialization removed
• New: Might of the Mountain - passive +2% crit damage/healing
• Stoneform now also removes magic/curse debuffs, but still cannot be used while crowd controlled
• Gnome
• Escape Artist now 60s cooldown (from 90s)
• Expansive Mind now 5% max mana/energy/rage/runic power
• New: Nimble Fingers - +1% haste
• Shortblade Specialization removed
• Human
• Every Man for Himself still evaluating
• Mace Specialization removed
• Sword Specialization removed
• The Human Spirit now +X to two chosen secondary stats
• Night elf
• Quickness also increases movement speed by 2% passively
• Shadowmeld unchanged
• New: Touch of Elune - grants 1% haste at night, 1% crit during the day

• Blood elf
• New: Arcane Acuity - +1% crit passive
• Arcane Torrent now restores 20 Runic Power, 1 Holy Power, Rage, Chi, or 3% mana
• Goblin
• No real changes planned - already nearly at baseline
• Time is Money becomes 1% haste, not just attack/casting speed
• Orc
• Axe Specialization removed
• Blood Fury unchanged
• Command unchanged
• Hardiness down to 10% stun reduction (from 15%)
• Tauren
• New: Brawn - passive +2% crit damage/healing
• Endurance now +X% stamina
• Troll
• Berserking reduced to 15% haste (from 20%)
• Dead Eye removed
• Beast Slaying now gives a 20% XP bonus when killing beasts, rather than increasing damage against beasts by 5%.
• Undead
• Touch of the Grave tweaked scaling rate
• Will of the Forsaken CD increased to 3m