As we eagerly await the release of WoW Season of Discovery Phase 3, Blizzard has not only been busy with class changes but has also introduced a plethora of new runes for testing. While we can't directly access the Public Test Realm (PTR), resourceful data miners have brought to light what's in store for Phase 3 of WoW SoD. So now let's take a preview of the possible new WoW Season of Discovery Phase 3 runes and changes (spells) to each class!
WoW Season of Discovery Phase 3 Runes & Class Changes Datamined
Blizzard has recently pushed a plethora of new runes and class changes for testing in World of Warcraft's Season of Discovery (SoD) Phase 2. While players cannot access the Public Test Realm (PTR) themselves, data mining has revealed some exciting insights into what Phase 3 might hold. Game designer Agren explained that some of the runes will be real, while others are experimental and may not make it to the live servers. He also mentioned that having no PTR runs a higher risk come launch date and advised players to avoid data mining spoilers if they wish to be surprised. But for those players who are curious about the new runes, you can continue reading to find out.
Mage Runes: Bale Firebolt, Temporal Anomaly (Arcane Healer)
Mages are looking promising for the future in SoD, with some entirely new abilities being introduced. One such rune is Bale Firebolt, a casted ability that deals spell fire damage (a combination of Arcane and Fire). Each cast increases the damage of Bale Firebolt by 10% but also decreases the caster's spirit by 10%. If the caster's spirit reaches zero, their character immediately dies. While this powerful ability comes with a significant drawback, it may need some adjustments to make it more threatening.
Another new spell is Temporal Anomaly, aimed towards Arcane healers. It fires an orb that grants all party members a shield every 2 seconds on a 1-minute cooldown. This persistent shielding effect could be beneficial in certain fights or scenarios, such as moving forward while carrying a flag in Warsong Gulch.
Warlock Runes: Belard Demon, Pandemic
Warlocks may have an upgraded demon to look forward to in the form of the Fel Guard. Initially introduced during The Burning Crusade as the capstone talent for Demonology, the Fel Guard could become the go-to demon for all warlocks in SoD, thanks to the rune system. Even without investing in the Demonology tree, the Fel Guard is expected to be a strong support pet.
The Pandemic rune, which allows damage-over-time effects to crit, has also been data mined. This could make warlocks a more significant threat in PvP content and may lead to Affliction seeing more play in PvE as well.
Priest Runes: Surge of Light, Despair
Priests have some interesting runes in the works, such as Surge of Light, which grants a chance for the next Smite to be instant cast upon spell crit. This powerful version of the rune affects multiple spells and doesn't specify that the proc cannot crit itself, potentially making Smite priest a viable playstyle in Phase 3.
Similar to warlocks, priests may also receive a rune called Despair, allowing their periodic effects to crit. This would apply to existing damage-over-time spells like Shadow Word: Pain, Void Plague, and the Undead-specific Devouring Plague, as well as any future periodic effects.
Rogue Runes: Focused Attacks Rune, Honor Among Thieves Rune
Rogues are getting better ways to regenerate energy through the Focused Attacks rune, which grants 2 energy every time the player crits with a melee or ranged attack. While the interaction between Shuriken Toss and Focused Attacks may not be as strong as Fan of Knives and Striking, it could still provide some decent AoE DPS or threat generation for tanks.
Honor Among Thieves, another data mined rune, grants the rogue 1 combo point against their current target whenever a party member crits, with a 1-second internal cooldown. This could lead to an abundance of combo points, especially when grouped with classes like Warriors or Hunters.
Druid Runes: Gale Winds Rune, Gore Rune (Feral Druid)
Druids are receiving buffs to Hurricane through the Gale Winds rune, which increases the spell's damage by 100%, removes its cooldown, and reduces its mana cost by 20%. This should make Druids more effective in larger AoE pulls, an area where they previously struggled.
For Feral Druids, the Gore rune causes Lacerate and Swipe to have a 15% chance to reset the cooldown on Mangle (Bear). However, the tooltip seems inconsistent with the current rune system, hinting at potential changes in the future to address the issue of Mangle and Lacerate sharing a rune slot.
Hunter Runes: Explosive Damage Focused Rune, Pet Synergy Focused Rune
Hunters have two runes data mined for Phase 3. TNT increases the damage of Explosive Shot and damaging traps by 10%, but trap damage may need to be buffed beforehand to make this rune relevant. Focus Fire consumes the pet's Frenzy stacks, granting the hunter up to a 15% attack speed buff and restoring some focus to the pet. A new version of Frenzy is also mentioned, which grants the pet 6% attack speed per basic attack, stacking up to 5 times.
Warrior Runes: Sword and Board Rune, Shield Mastery Rune
Blizzard appears to be encouraging Protection Warriors to use shields in SoD. The Sword and Board rune gives Devastate and Revenge a 30% chance to reset the cooldown of Shield Slam and reduce its rage cost by 100%. Shield Mastery adds 10% flat damage to the warrior while a shield is equipped and reduces the duration of disarm effects by 50%.
Paladin Runes: Purifying Pow rune, Wrath rune
Paladins are receiving runes to boost their spell damage. Purifying Power reduces the cooldown of Exorcism and Holy Wrath by 50% and allows Holy Wrath to be cast on any target, stunning Undead and demons for 2 seconds. The Wrath rune enables Consecration ticks to crit and grants Exorcism, Holy Shock, Holy Wrath, and Consecration spell crit equal to the paladin's melee crit chance.
Shaman Runes
Surprisingly, Shamans had no runes data mined for Phase 3 in the level 50 bracket. Given the recent class changes, it's unclear what more could be added to improve their performance. Tanks and Elemental Shamans seem to be in a good spot, while Restoration may benefit from future utility runes like Capacitor Totem or Spirit Walker's Grace.
These data mined runes provide an exciting glimpse into the future of World of Warcraft's Season of Discovery. While subject to change, they hint at the potential for new playstyles and enhanced class performance in Phase 3. As more information becomes available, players can look forward to discovering how these runes will shape their gaming experience.
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