World of Warcraft Classic is Making Big Changes to Mages and Hunters

Season of Discovery has given the developers free rein to reinvent World of Warcraft Classic, as the latest update brings major buffs to Mages and Hunters, as well as Paladins, Warlocks, and Warriors to a lesser degree. Though retail certainly found success with Dragonflight, World of Warcraft Classic players have seen Hardcore Mode and Season of Discovery added to the game, two different approaches to Classic content that have both resonated with the World of Warcraft community.

Whereas Hardcore Mode in World of Warcraft adheres to the core principles of “Vanilla”, staying true to the original experience as much as possible, Season of Discovery is more about getting to adventure through Classic content in a completely new way. The first phase for Season of Discovery launched on November 30, 2023, while its second phase was released on February 8, 2024.

Though the first phase was a decent foundation for Blizzard to test out early runes for World of Warcraft classes in Season of Discovery, the second phase has allowed each specialization to become more concrete in its role and ranking. The patch notes for the latest update were posted on the official World of Warcraft forums. Scheduled for March 5, 2024, the update is set to spruce up the classes that have fallen behind in the second phase. Both damage and healing builds for Mages will see major buffs in the new patch, while Hunters will see notable improvements in Chimera Shot, Explosive Shot, and Carve damage.

Certain Warriors in World of Warcraft Classic can also rejoice, as Devastate will once again become a viable playstyle, with its baseline now being 150% Weapon Damage, as opposed to 100%. While Paladins have also gained a buff to Seal of Martyrdom damage, most players believe that the class still needs to be addressed by the developers. Unfortunately, much to the dismay of Feral Druids, the patch notes have no changes to the specialization in the upcoming update.

With the second phase of Season of Discovery stopping at the Gnomeregan raid in World of Warcraft, the Level 40 instance has given Blizzard ample feedback on what works and what doesn’t. The third phase isn’t expected to launch in a few months, and will only expand the level cap in Season of Discovery to 50. Though there is an obvious disparity in power levels across the specializations, World of Warcraft players will unfortunately have to be patient with class tuning as Season of Discovery continues to establish its identity separately from Retail and Classic.

World of Warcraft Classic Season of Discovery Patch Notes – March 5, 2024:

• Hunter

  • Chimera Shot damage increased to 120% of weapon damage (was 100%) and Chimera Shot Serpent Sting damage increased to 48% of Serpent Sting damage (was 40%).
  • Explosive Shot base damage done before Attack Power increased by 15%.
  • Carve damage increased to 65% of weapon damage (was 50%).

• Mage

  • Frostfire Bolt base damage increased by 50%, and its increased damage from bonus spell damage increased by 16%, identical to the value for Fireball.
  • Spellfrost Bolt base damage increased by 50%, and its increased damage from bonus spell damage increased by 14%, identical to the value for Frostbolt.
  • Regeneration, Mass Regeneration, and Chronostatic Preservation spell power coefficients increased by 88%.
    • Developers’ notes: This is to compensate for Mage healers wearing primarily items which grant “damage and healing” instead of “healing”.
  • Chronostatic Preservation mana cost decreased by 44%.
  • Resolved some tooltip issues with Chronostatic Preservation.

• Paladin

  • Seal of Martyrdom damage increased to 50% weapon damage per swing (was 40%). Seal of Martyrdom Judgement increased to 85% weapon damage (was 70%).
  • Seal of Martyrdom Seal and Judgement effects now benefit from talents and effects that modify Seal of Righteousness, particularly Improved Seal of Righteousness.

• Warlock

  • Grimoire of Synergy now increases damage done by the Warlock and their pet by 25% when it is active (was 5%).

• Warrior

  • Devastate damage increased to 150% of weapon DPS (was 100%), before being increased by number of Sunder Armor stacks.

World of Warcraft

Released

November 23, 2004