Blizzard is making one critical combat change in WoW The War Within

Over time, combat in World of Warcraft has become more dynamic, exciting, and demanding, especially compared to Classic. Precisely because of this, you can get addons like WeakAuras, DeadlyBoss Mods, and Big Wigs that give you cues to help you deal with mechanics. But that’s all changing in The War Within.

According to Wowhead’s report from May 15, The War Within will feature Private Auras in both raids and Mythic+ dungeons, making the already-demanding content an even bigger challenge. Private auras make PvE harder because you can’t rely on addons to do the heavy lifting for you. In Dragonflight, Private Auras were limited to raids only, but in the next expansion, they’ll apply to Mythic+ dungeons too. 

This means players will have to rely more on their wits and reactions, and thoroughly practice encounters before they can pull them off with the same level of perfection as if they had WeakAuras and other addons. Now, you’ll have to carefully read about the encounter mechanics, learn them inside out, and then stay mindful of them during encounters.  

WoW players typically used WeakAuras and other addons to solve puzzles and advanced mechanics that would otherwise take too long. For example, in the Sanctum of Domination, during the Fatescribe Roh-Kahlo encounter, players marked with Runic Affinity have to move to runes to rotate the rings. But there are many different runes on the ground, and you have to discern them before moving to the correct ring. This was overwhelming in the heat of combat, so most players used a WeakAura to do the work for them. 

Private auras limit the access your addons have in WoW, giving them only basic information instead. Your favorite combat addons will still work in The War Within, but they won’t be able to help you with advanced mechanics.