[Update] The class changes have now gone live on the US en European realms.

　　[Original story] Blizzard has announced that it will be buffing Arms Warriors, Destruction Warlocks, Frost Death Knights, Unholy Death Knights and Restoration Shamans in World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth next week.

　　The class tuning will go live following next week’s maintenance on August 13/14. According to Blizzard, the above-mentioned specs are underperforming and could use some buffs. While these classes will be buffed, next week’s maintenance will also include some nerfs for Outlaw Rogues as Blade Flurry is being nerfed.

　　We’ve included Blizzard’s official list of upcoming changes down below. Please note that these adjustments are not final and could change prior to next week’s maintenance.

Battle for Azeroth upcoming class tuning August 13/14

Classes

　　Frost

　　Damage of all abilities increased by 5%.Unholy

　　Damage of all abilities increased by 5%.Warlock

　　Destruction

　　Damage of all abilities increased by 5%.Warrior

　　Arms

　　Damage of all abilities increased by 5%.Developers’ notes: Arms Warrior, Destruction Warlock, Frost Death Knight and Unholy Death Knight are generally underperforming and could use a damage increase.

　　Rogue

　　Outlaw

　　Blade Flurry now strikes nearby enemies for 30% of normal damage (was 45%).Keep Your Wits About You (Azerite Trait) now increases the chance for Sinister Strike to strike again by 3% (was 5%), and the maximum number of stacks has been increased to 33.Developers’ notes: While multi-target cleave is an iconic strength for Outlaw Rogue, we feel that Blade Flurry is currently too strong, particularly in Mythic Keystone dungeons. Likewise, the Azerite Trait Keep Your Wits About You provides too much added value to their AOE rotation at only a single instance of the trait. These changes should keep Outlaw Rogues very strong at multi-target cleave, but no longer significantly ahead of other specs.

　　Shaman

　　Restoration

　　Healing Surge and Healing Wave healing increased by 10%, and mana cost reduced by 5%.Healing Rain healing increased by 20%Riptide heal-over-time increased by 15%.Wellspring healing increased by 15%.Developers’ notes: In general, Restoration Shamans are struggling with single target healing environments like Mythic Keystone Dungeons and Arenas, so we’re buffing some spells from their single target kit. At the same time, we also feel like they aren’t doing as well in a particular area where they should excel: healing a large number of targets in a small area, so we’re increasing the strength of Healing Rain. Finally, Wellspring is an underperforming talent we feel could benefit from an increase to be competitive.

Player versus Player

　　All Tier 3 Azerite Traits (such as Resounding Protection and Impassive Visage) are now reduced to 20% effectiveness in PvP (was 50%).Developers’ notes: We’d like to see sustained damage become a greater source of pressure in Arena and Battlegrounds, but the passive healing providing by these Azerite Traits offsets much of that damage. We think that by decreasing their impact, we’ll see greater pressure on health and mana pools going forward.

　　Death Knight

　　Necrotic Strike’s Necrotic Wound now absorbs 5% of the target’s maximum health in healing received (was 7%).The melee attack damage and attack speed of the Raise Abomination guardian has been decreased by 30%.Developers’ notes: While Death Knight damage is underperforming in raid environments, they are very strong in PvP. To offset the increases to their base damage, we’re reducing the effectiveness of two very strong Honor Talents.

　　Mage

　　Temporal Shield now has a 4 second duration (was 6 seconds).Developers’ notes: While we like the predictive gameplay of Temporal Shield in response to offensive pressure, we think the duration provides too much protection for a class that should be focused on control and mobility for defense.World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth is available globally now.