WoW Forever Talent Calculator and Talent Changes
World of Warcraft: Forever keeps the classic three talent trees, but not the classic talents. Out of 466 talents across the nine classes, 119 are new, 14 of the 27 capstones have been replaced, and the talents that only existed to buff your raid are now built into the classes. Plan a build below, hover any talent to see what changed from Classic, then read what changed for your class.
New in Forever Hover a talent to see what changed from Classic.
How to use the calculator
- Pick a class and a level. The calculator gives you one point per level from 10 and stops at 51 points at level 60.
- Click a talent to add a point, right-click or Shift-click to take one back. On a phone, switch on Remove mode.
- Talents marked as new didn't exist in Classic; hover any other talent to see how it read in Classic.
- Copy build link puts the whole build into the address, so you can share it.
What changed from Classic
The trees keep their Classic shape: three per class, the same number of rows, and one-point key talents at 11, 21 and 31 points. Forever adds a fourth key talent at 16 points, which you can reach at level 25. Blizzard's stated aims were to keep the original feel and the differences between classes while adding real choice, removing talents everyone felt forced to take, and making levelling smoother.
- Raid buffs are baseline. Talents such as Divine Spirit, Blessing of Kings, Improved Mark of the Wild and Improved Battle Shout are now part of the class, so nobody spends points just to be invited.
- Every spec should be playable. Retribution, Protection Paladin, Balance, Enhancement, Shadow, Affliction, Demonology, Assassination and melee Survival all got the tools they lacked in Classic.
- Less mana trouble. Many classes get regeneration while casting or big cost cuts.
- Hybrids work outside the talents too: Forever has one hit and one crit stat for melee, ranged and spells, and damage and healing over time can crit.
What changed for each class
Pick a class to see its biggest talent changes, which specs became playable and how players reacted in the beta.
Warrior
The biggest Warrior change isn't a talent at all: rage is normalised. Each swing gives rage by weapon speed instead of damage dealt, incoming damage gives rage regardless of armour, and critical hits give bonus rage (raised to +100% on 1 October). Arms gets a real single-target loop, Rend into Bloodthrill into Overpower and a much faster Slam, while Fury and Protection get tools to keep their rage up.
- Weaponmaster (Arms) replaces Classic's four weapon specializations with one talent: axes and polearms crit more, maces and staves ignore armour, swords get extra attacks.
- Bloodthrill (Arms): main-hand hits on a target with Rend can enable Overpower.
- Improved Slam now cuts the cast and the global cooldown and no longer resets your swing, so two-hand Slam is a real rotation.
- Spearing Strike (Arms) hits giants, dragonkin and mounted targets harder.
- Master of Defense (Protection): dodges and parries with a shield give rage, and Vanguard lets you Charge in Defensive Stance.
- The 1 October build reworked Fury: Lingering Rage, Furious Precision and Gore Drinker came in; Improved Cleave and Boundless Rage went out.
Specs: all three were already played in Classic; Arms finally gets a PvE loop. How players took it: the rage change is the most argued-about topic of the beta, but feedback improved after crit rage came back.
Paladin
The Paladin is one of the two most reworked classes. Every Paladin gets Holy Strike, an instant holy weapon strike; Judgement no longer uses up your seal; Consecration is baseline; and a new tank seal, Seal of Fury, makes Judgement taunt. Blizzard kept the old weaknesses on purpose: still no interrupt, no real slow.
- Twist of Light (Retribution capstone): cheaper seals, and switching seals leaves an echo, so the old seal still lands on your next swing. Seal-twisting without a swing-timer addon.
- Champion of the Light (Retribution): Intellect adds spell damage, cut from 100% to 60% on 1 October.
- Sanctified Judgement (Retribution) refunds most of a seal's mana, the fix for Ret running out of mana.
- Templar's Bulwark (Protection): an absorb shield as large as your health, with Sacred Duty and Iron Creed around it, real active mitigation for a Paladin tank.
- Light's Vigil (Holy capstone) and Reverence, which lets a Paladin regenerate mana while casting for the first time.
Specs: Protection and Retribution become real specs, and Blizzard supports a ranged Holy Shock "Shockadin". How players took it: Protection and Holy are well liked; Retribution is split, because many feel Twist of Light is a convenience rather than a capstone.
Hunter
Aimed Shot is baseline from level 20 and no longer clips Auto Shot, traps work in combat, and pets scale with the hunter's own gear. Every pet family has its own ability, and the new Fox family joins the stable. The talents open two paths Classic never had: a petless Marksman and a melee Survival hunter.
- Lone Wolf (Marksmanship): 20% more damage while you have no pet out.
- Sniper Shot replaces Trueshot Aura as the Marksmanship capstone: a long-range shot that also extends the range of your next shots. Trueshot Aura moves higher up the tree.
- Summon Hawk (Beast Mastery): a hawk that dive-bombs your target for 18 seconds.
- Lacerating Strikes (Survival capstone): Mongoose Bite leaves a bleed. Predator's Edge adds melee crit damage and off-hand damage for a dual-wielding hunter.
- Careful Aim (Marksmanship): attack power from Intellect.
Specs: melee Survival and petless Marksmanship. How players took it: positive overall, with a long debate about whether a Hunter without a pet is still a Hunter.
Rogue
Energy now regenerates smoothly instead of in two-second ticks, and combo points stay on a target when you switch. Each tree got a clear identity: poisons for Assassination, weapons for Combat, and two different builds for Subtlety.
- Mutilate (Assassination): a dual-wield strike, stronger against poisoned targets, worth two combo points.
- Venom (Assassination capstone): a finisher that makes your poisons hit harder and apply more often.
- Hack and Slash (Combat) folds Classic's sword, mace, fist and dagger specializations into one talent.
- Thousand Cuts (Subtlety capstone) feeds a bleed build around Rupture and Hemorrhage, while Cutthroat lets Backstab trigger an Ambush outside of stealth.
- Hemorrhage is now a real damage button instead of a raid debuff.
Specs: a true poison Assassination and Subtlety for dungeons and raids, where Classic rogues all played Combat. How players took it: mixed; Combat feels like Classic with comforts, and the two new capstones read as raid buffs that do little in the open world.
Priest
Fear Ward and Devouring Plague are baseline for every Priest, Divine Spirit is learned at level 30, and Shadow Word: Death arrives at 32. Renew can now crit and stacks between priests. The headline change is Shadow, which no longer runs out of mana and no longer exists to buff warlocks.
- Shadowform now halves the mana cost of Shadow spells and doubles their critical damage bonus.
- Shadow Weaving is a personal buff instead of a debuff on the target.
- Penance and Divine Aegis (Discipline): a channel that heals or damages three times, and absorb shields from critical heals.
- Prayer of Mending replaces Lightwell as the Holy capstone, and Binding Heal heals the target and yourself.
- Discipline also gets a Smite and Holy Fire damage line.
Specs: Shadow as a self-sufficient damage dealer and a Smite Discipline path. How players took it: Shadow priests welcome the mana fix but would like more talents that change how the spec plays.
Shaman
All three Shaman trees end in brand-new capstones. Totems can be dropped four at once and moved, but totem twisting is gone and buffs of the same element no longer stack. Enhancement is rebuilt as a melee and spell hybrid that scales with Intellect.
- Lava Burst (Elemental capstone): a fire nuke that hits harder on targets with Flame Shock. Lightning Overload can echo your bolts for free.
- Maelstrom Weapon (Enhancement): melee hits stack up a faster, cheaper Lightning Bolt to weave between swings.
- Rage of the Farseer (Enhancement capstone): 30% attack speed for 25 seconds, a personal Bloodlust.
- Mental Dexterity and Mental Quickness: attack power and spell power from Intellect.
- Riptide (Restoration capstone), plus Water Shield and regeneration while casting.
Specs: Enhancement as real damage, at least on paper. How players took it: the most critical of all classes right now: the top Enhancement feedback thread from 3 October has more than 400 likes, and players expect big changes before launch.
Mage
The Mage changed the least: only six new talents, the fewest of any class. What it did get modernises each tree, and a new baseline spell, Frostfire Bolt, benefits from both Fire and Frost talents.
- Arcane Blast (Arcane): each cast boosts your other spells and raises its own cost. Missile Barrage gives free, faster Arcane Missiles.
- Heating Up (Fire): critical hits shorten your next Pyroblast, so Pyroblast joins the rotation.
- Ice Lance and Fingers of Frost (Frost): chill effects let your next spells treat the target as frozen, and Ice Lance does triple damage to frozen targets.
- Winter's Chill is no longer a raid debuff; it only helps Frostbolt and Ice Lance.
- Regeneration while casting is much higher: Arcane Meditation reaches 50%.
Specs: Arcane as its own spec instead of a support tree. How players took it: lukewarm; mages want more new content and say deep builds all end up casting Frostfire Bolt.
Warlock
The Warlock got the deepest rework of all. Damage curses become Banes (Agony, Doom, Havoc), which can sit on a target next to a utility curse. Damage over time can now crit, and demons scale with your gear, so Affliction and Demonology stop being leveling trees.
- Wrack (Affliction capstone): a channel that also strengthens your other Shadow damage over time. Pandemic, Malediction and Soul Siphon make crit and drains matter.
- Demonic Pact (Demonology capstone): keep the Demonic Sacrifice buff while a different demon fights for you.
- Incinerate (Destruction capstone): a fire nuke, stronger with Immolate.
- Shadow and Flame: Conflagrate no longer eats Immolate, and Conflagrate and Shadowburn buff each other's school.
- Bane of Havoc copies part of your damage to the Bane target.
Specs: Affliction and Demonology as raid specs, where Classic raids were almost all Shadow Bolt. How players took it: the most positive class of the beta.
Druid
Shapeshifting is smoother: potions, racials and weapon enchants work in forms, and Omen of Clarity is baseline. Powershifting is gone, replaced by Shifting Power, and Restoration heals over time now stack between druids and can crit.
- Shifting Power (Feral, new on 1 October): turns mana into 40 energy in Cat Form, no shifting needed. Tiger's Fury and King of the Jungle were removed in the same build.
- Berserk (Feral capstone) works in both Cat and Bear Form; Primal Bite is the bear's threat tool.
- Eclipse (Balance): Wrath speeds up your next Starfires, the answer to Balance's old mana and damage problems.
- Wild Growth (Restoration capstone), and Swiftmend no longer eats your heal over time.
- Moonkin Form doubles Omen of Clarity procs.
Specs: Balance and the Feral tank. How players took it: split over Feral, with some of the busiest threads of the beta about powershifting; the Balance and Restoration changes are welcome.
Respec and dual spec
- You change talents at your class trainer in a major city, and that includes your Legacy perks.
- Dual Specialization unlocks at level 40.
- In the beta a reset costs 1 silver, and more if you reset again within the hour. Blizzard hasn't announced the price at launch.
- The Legacy perk Talented gives you talent points up to five levels early; plan it in the Legacy points calculator.
Questions and answers
How many talent points do you get in WoW Forever?
51: one per level from 10 to 60.
What is the new 16-point talent?
Each tree now has a fourth key talent at 16 points, reachable at level 25, for example Raging Blows for Fury warriors or Binding Heal for Holy priests.
Which class changed the most?
The Warlock and the Paladin, with 19 and 18 new talents. The Mage changed the least, with 6.
Will the talents change before launch?
Very likely. Blizzard changed talents in two large beta builds within a week (24 September and 1 October) and has promised a deep dive for every class. The calculator is refreshed from the beta data regularly; the date is shown above the trees.
Is there a new class?
No. Forever keeps the nine Classic classes and adds new race and class combinations.
Sources: Blizzard's Forever deep dive panel recap (13 September), class deep dives for Hunter and Druid, Priest and Warrior (30 September) and the beta development notes (24 September and 1 October), checked against Icy Veins, Warcraft Tavern and the Blizzard forums. Release dates are on the Forever roadmap, and the hidden quests and items of the beta are in WoW Forever secrets.
Mira Duskwood is the pen name of the Lost WOW editorial team. Mira writes the secret walkthroughs and the history of the lost areas, and keeps them up to date when a patch changes something.
- How this guide was made. Every step was checked against at least two independent sources (Warcraft Wiki, Wowhead and Icy Veins), and against the patch notes for anything that changed over time.
- Last updated . When a patch moves a step or breaks a puzzle, the page is corrected and the date changes.
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