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WoW Forever beta patch notes, October 1: Excavation Site dungeon, level 30, and class tuning

Published Source: Blizzard Entertainment (Kaivax, official forums), · 4 sources

The October 1 WoW Forever beta build opens a new dungeon, Excavation Site: Wetlands (26-31), plus Razorfen Downs and Uldaman, alongside the level 30 cap.

October 1 beta changes at a glance13 rows

  • Level capPlayers can level to 30Guide: Beta hub
  • DungeonsNew Excavation Site: Wetlands (26-31); Razorfen Downs (25+) and Uldaman (30+) openGuide: Dungeons
  • Dungeon XPDungeon quests give 50% less extra experienceGuide: Dungeon XP
  • DruidTiger's Fury removed; new Feral talent Shifting PowerGuide: Druid
  • Warrior75% more Rage from basic-attack critsGuide: Warrior
  • MageHot Streak renamed Heating Up; Combustion back to 3 chargesGuide: Mage
  • PaladinHoly Shield block 30% (was 20%); Redoubt cutGuide: Paladin
  • HunterPet Aggressive Mode is back; Sniper Shot range 45 yardsGuide: Hunter
  • PvPMost Honor costs up about 50%; Honor cap 25,000 (was 15,000)Guide: PvP
  • RacesGnome Eureka! skips periodic effectsGuide: Gnome
  • Cooldown ManagerRacials and Rogue supportedGuide: Systems
  • ProfessionsFewer Poor Copper Veins; creatures skinnable onceGuide: Professions
  • TalentsNew values in the calculator; renames and removals flaggedGuide: Talents

Status words come from the sources in the source trail. How we verify

Source trail4 sources

  1. Blizzard Entertainment (Kaivax, official forums)Main sourceWoW Forever Beta Development Notes, October 1
  2. Blizzard Entertainment (Kaivax, official forums)WoW Forever Beta Known Issues, New October 1
  3. Blizzard Entertainment (Kaivax, official forums)Temporary Dialog Bug for Australian Testers
  4. Blizzard Entertainment (Kaivax, official forums)Beta Update Maintenance - October 1
  5. Published here
  6. Sources last checked
Open the Dungeons Guide

Also: Talents · Classes · Beta

Dungeon quests now give 50% less extra experience, and all nine classes change.

Blizzard posted the October 1 beta development notes at 22:56 UTC, hours after raising the WoW Forever beta level cap to 30. The build opens a new dungeon, Excavation Site: Wetlands (26-31), plus Razorfen Downs and Uldaman. It also cuts dungeon quest experience by half and touches all nine classes.

Everything below is a beta change in the October 1 build, confirmed by Blizzard. It can change again before the November 4 launch.

On this page

Dungeons and leveling

Excavation Site: Wetlands is the headline. Blizzard lists it as a new dungeon for levels 26 to 31 and gives no other detail in the notes.

Razorfen Downs (25+) and Uldaman (30+) join the eleven dungeons already open: Ragefire Chasm, Hall of Thanes, Ruins of Lordaeron, Wailing Caverns, The Deadmines, Shadowfang Keep, The Stockade, Blackfathom Deeps, Gnomeregan, Razorfen Kraul, and Scarlet Monastery.

Dungeon quests now reward 50% less extra experience beyond normal quest values. The developers said they heard "a great deal of feedback" about testers leveling too fast. Respawn rates also rise in Hillsbrad Foothills, Ashenvale, Wetlands, Duskwood, and Thousand Needles. Our dungeon XP page tracks how Forever's dungeon experience has changed build to build.

Leveling 20 to 30 in the beta is now the same stretch you will level at launch. RestedXP and Zygor Guides both build Forever routes; Zygor vs RestedXP compares them.

Class changes

Druid

  • Bear and Dire Bear Form: 75% more Rage on critical strikes.
  • Swipe now gains 3% of attack power; tooltip fix later.
  • Tiger's Fury removed.
  • All Shapeshift Forms are immune to Disarm effects.
  • Faerie Fire no longer resets your swing timer.
  • Feral: Primal Bite threat roughly doubled.
  • Feral: King of the Jungle talent removed.
  • Feral: new row 4 talent Shifting Power, Cat Form only.
  • Feral: new row 5 talent Improved Shifting Power.

Shifting Power converts 55% of base mana into 40 Energy on a 16 second cooldown. Improved Shifting Power cuts that cooldown by 4 or 8 seconds. A Druid disarmed before shifting stays disarmed in form and deals reduced damage.

Open the Druid guide

Hunter

  • Pet Aggressive Mode is back, under the pet tab.
  • Marksmanship: Sniper Shot has 45-yard range.
  • Sniper Shot adds 10 yards to your next 3 shots within 10 seconds.
  • Survival: Deflection parry 1/2/3/4/5% (was 2/4/6/8/10%).
  • Improved Stings and Predator's Edge get new icons.
  • Pet ability ranks too high for some beasts were fixed.

Open the Hunter guide

Mage

  • Scrolls of comprehension rebalanced; no casting while moving.
  • Fire: Hot Streak renamed Heating Up.
  • Fire: Combustion charges back to 3 (was 4).
  • Improved Scorch's Fire Vulnerability no longer rolls a second resist.
  • Frost: Winter's Chill no longer rolls to be resisted.

Open the Mage guide

Paladin

  • Protection: Redoubt block chance 4/8/12/16/20% (was 6/12/18/24/30%).
  • Protection: Holy Shield block chance 30% (was 20%).
  • Retribution: Champion of the Light 20/40/60% Intellect to spell damage (was 33/66/100%).
  • Champion of the Light's healing tooltip line is gone; it never increased healing.

Open the Paladin guide

Priest

  • Devouring Plague can crit.
  • Shadow Word: Death no longer always benefits from Early Demise.
  • Discipline: Inner Focus no longer boosts periodic crit.
  • Shadow: Shadow Weaving can no longer fail to apply.

Open the Priest guide

Rogue

  • A missed Expose Armor no longer costs all combo points.
  • Subtlety: Setup only adds combo points to the target you dodged or resisted.
  • The Cooldown Manager now supports Rogue.

Open the Rogue guide

Shaman

  • Ghost Wolf is easier to see in bright areas.
  • Disease Cleansing Totem lasts 5 minutes as intended.
  • Totemic Recall restores Mana again.

Open the Shaman guide

Warlock

  • Drain Soul is interrupted when you start another cast.
  • Hellfire can crit.
  • Pet Aggressive Mode is back.
  • Affliction: Soul Harvesting is now Soul Harvest, with 50/100% Mana regeneration.
  • The Incubus uses a lower resolution model.

Open the Warlock guide

Warrior

  • 75% more Rage from crits with basic attacks.
  • Rend and Sunder Armor tap enemies instantly.
  • A queued Heroic Strike no longer raises off-hand hit.
  • Arms: Spearing Strike no longer needs a two-hander; it needs Battle Stance.
  • Fury: Dual Wield Specialization loses its off-hand Rage bonus.
  • Fury: Unbridled Rage procs at its intended rate.

The talent calculator shows the new talent values and flags the renamed and removed talents in their tooltips. Each class guide shows the changes beside the older values.

Open the Warrior guide

Race changes

RaceChange in the October 1 buildGuide
GnomeEureka! no longer benefits periodic effects; channeled spells are not periodicGnome guide, linked above
UndeadCannibalize cannot be used while immune to Physical damageForsaken

PvP and professions

  • Most PvP gear and upgrade token Honor costs rise about 50%.
  • The Honor cap rises to 25,000 (was 15,000).
  • Shenthul in Orgrimmar now trains Windshaper Skyborne.
  • Blacksmithing and Leatherworking dungeon drop recipes are now available.
  • Crafted common and uncommon wands sell to vendors for 1 copper.
  • Fewer Poor Copper Vein nodes in starter areas.
  • Creatures can again be skinned only once.

Systems, camping, and interface

  • Cooldown Manager: racial abilities and Rogue supported, duplicate rank entries gone.
  • Gamepad: pet stable and compact raid and party frames support gamepad.
  • Gamepad UI bindings are now static; rebinding only changes keyboard and mouse.
  • Barbershops open in Darnassus and Thunder Bluff, all staffed.
  • City guards give directions to barbershops.
  • Campfires no longer hurt players below level 5.
  • Campfires deal reduced damage to players under 90% health.
  • Boosted Rest has a clearer icon and tooltip.
  • Selling an uncollected-appearance BoE item to a vendor makes it soulbound (was Bound to Account).
  • The Ray Traced Shadows option is removed until it is fixed.

The character sheet now explains that low spell ranks get less benefit from spell damage and healing, and a lower chance to trigger class effects. Blizzard's example: a Rank 1 Frostbolt at level 60 has a 0% chance to trigger Frostbite. The camping guide covers Boosted Rest.

Notable quest changes

  • Mulgore: "Kyle's Gone Missing!" is added.
  • Druid: High Order Skyborne can do "Power Over Poison" for Cure Poison.
  • Druid: loot fixed in "The Great Cat Spirit" quests.
  • Redridge Mountains: "Blackrock Blockade" updated.
  • Westfall: pocket watch respawn in "The Forgotten Heirloom" sharply reduced.
  • Escort quests start even with 25 or more quests logged.
  • Dun Morogh: Shimmer Ridge trolls respawn faster and more evenly.

New known issues

Blizzard lists 13 new known issues for this build. The ones most likely to affect play:

  • Enemies can parry and block from behind if you stand too close.
  • Faerie Fire and Demoralizing Shout cause no threat.
  • Warrior Dual Wield Specialization grants hit to both hands.
  • Retribution Aura uses the target's spell power.
  • The install is larger than intended; a fix is coming.
  • Scroll of Liminal Passage does not work correctly.

The rest cover spell precast effects, Gamepad edit mode, Dwarf water sounds, Eureka coverage, Mage Research access, a quest egg respawn, and children wearing hats.

In a separate post, Kaivax said Australian testers may see a login dialog saying their social features are locked. That is a bug in the new build; social features are not locked, and a fix is coming.Source: Temporary Dialog Bug for Australian Testers, checked Oct 1, 2026.

Sources

Quest log1/28

  1. WoW Forever beta patch notes, October 1: Excavation Site dungeon, level 30, and class tuningBeta4 sources
  2. Blizzard bans WoW Forever beta gold botters and buyers, adds a trade warningSystems2 sources
  3. WoW Forever beta testers will get 16 free Legacy pointsBeta2 sources
  4. WoW Forever beta level cap raised to 30 in the October 1 updateBeta7 sources
  5. WoW Forever beta patch notes, September 24: class changes and Cooldown ManagerBeta4 sources