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WoW’s upcoming patch features Unholy DK and Resto Shaman nerfs, Havoc DH and Arms Warrior buffs

Blizzard is making a few finishes touches to classes ahead of Mythic Castle Nathria.
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Jerome Heath
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Published: Dec 11, 2020 10:35 pm

This article is over 4 years old and may contain outdated information

Blizzard Entertainment revealed its preliminary class changes for World of Warcraft’s Shadowlands expansion tonight, leading up to the release of Mythic Castle Nathria on Tuesday, Dec. 15.

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A few outliers have come out on top since Castle Nathria Normal and Heroic released on Dec. 8, namely Unholy Death Knight, who can be seen topping the meters on almost every boss fight on Warcraft Logs, and Resto Shaman. 

The developers are targeting Unholy in the game’s upcoming patch, reducing the effectiveness of Mastery: Dreadblade by a full 15 percent. This will take a toll on overall pet damage, acting as a significant nerf to the specialization in raiding and mythic+ scenarios. 

As for Resto Shaman, the devs are reducing all healing abilities by four percent and nerfing Healing Rain by an additional 10 percent. This is another big nerf to the class, putting it more in line with Resto Druid and Mistweaver Monk.

Blizzard is also buffing a few underperforming classes, honing in on Havoc Demon Hunter, increasing all damage abilities by five percent, and Arms Warrior, increasing Mortal Strike’s damage by 20 percent and Slam’s rank three damage by 50 percent. 

The class adjustments listed below are in their initial testing phase and may change ahead of their scheduled release on Dec. 15.

Classes

Tank specializations

  • Threat generation for all Tanks increased by 10 percent

Death Knight

Unholy

  • Mastery: Dreadblade effectiveness reduced by 15 percent

Blood

  • Blood Boil damage increased by 10 percent
  • Heart Strike damage increased by 15 percent
  • Marrowrend damage increased by 10 percent
  • Death Strike damage increased by 5 percent

Demon Hunter

Havoc

  • All damage abilities increased by 5 percent

Rogue

Assassination

  • All damage abilities increased by 5 percent

Shaman

Restoration

  • All healing abilities reduced by 4 percent
  • Healing Rain reduced by an additional 10 percent

Warlock

Destruction

  • Chaos Bolt damage increased by 22 percent

Warrior

Arms

  • Mortal Strike damage increased by 20 percent. Damage reduced by an equivalent amount in PvP
  • Slam (rank three) now increases Slam’s damage by 50 percent (was 25 percent)

Fury

  • All damage abilities increased by 5 percent
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Jerome Heath
Senior editor
Jerome has been in and around the gaming industry for the last eight years, and he's not going anywhere anytime soon.
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