Blizzard: major class tuning buffs Frost DK, Hunters and tanks
The first September tuning pass delivers substantial PvE buffs and aims to speed up PvP matches.
August 31 update: Elemental Shaman healing change withdrawn
Blizzard clarified that a bug caused Natural Harmony to increase Nature’s Guardian healing by 20% instead of the intended 10%. The bug will be fixed, and the previously listed Elemental Shaman PvP-specific healing change will not take effect. The listed change to Natural Harmony’s cooldown reduction will take effect: it will reduce Nature’s Guardian’s cooldown by 10 seconds rather than 15 seconds.
Blizzard has used the opening weeks of Raid, Mythic+ and PvP data for a new tuning pass. The changes arrive with weekly maintenance on September 1 in North America and September 2 in Europe.
Largest PvE changes
- Frost Death Knight: Howling Blast +15% · Obliterate +15% · Frost Strike +20% · melee damage +10%.
- Beast Mastery / Survival Hunter: +7%.
- Vengeance Demon Hunter: Demonic Wards 12% → 15% · Void Reaver 5% → 6% · Fel Devastation healing +25%.
- Protection Paladin: Blaze of Glory +150% · Consecration +30% · Divine Guidance +30%.
- Mistweaver Monk: healing +5% · Venomous Abyss 4-piece 20% → 25%.
The PvE direction is clear: underperforming specializations are being lifted without a broad nerf to the leaders. Frost Death Knight receives the largest direct ability buffs, both included Hunter specs gain a seven-percent increase, and Vengeance and Protection Paladin improve in different ways.
PvP pace is being increased
In PvP, the primary-stat bonus from Gladiator’s Distinction drops from 10% to 5% for every healer specialization. Mage barriers also absorb 25% less, while several weaker offensive options are improved.
What this means for players
Raid and Mythic+ compositions may shift immediately after maintenance. The pass also shows that Blizzard continues to react to Season 2 performance data rather than treating launch-week balance as final.
Sources and scope
This article is wow-anniversary.fi's own summary and analysis of Blizzard's official post, not a direct reproduction.
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