Greetings, heroes! Librarian Husky here, ready to guide you through everything you need to know about this epic anniversary celebration. In just one more year, WoW will be legally allowed to drink in most of the continental United States. The event will feature everything from classic raid bosses to a fresh coat of pixels on the iconic tier 2 armor sets. You’ll even be able to buy chicken from Leroy Jenkins himself. Let’s dive into the details and prepare for the adventures ahead!

Dragons and New Playable Races

First though, we need to talk about dragons. Dracthyr will now be a playable race for more than just Evokers, as Hunters, Rogues, Priests, Mages, Warriors, and Warlocks will now be able to select this race. When this was first announced a few months ago, people lost their minds, especially since the passive Glide racial was actually much faster than running.

Paladin Mobility and Damage Buffs

Paladins now have Polymorph, and if that wasn’t enough, they can select a new end-cap talent that allows them to use Blessing of Protection with Forbearance active, making double-Paladin lobbies a bit more forgiving. There’s also a variety of mobility talents centered around Divine Steed that might see some play. Additionally, Retribution Paladins are getting a 6% overall damage buff.

The Impact of Retribution Paladin Buffs

While 6% might seem minor, it’s actually a big deal since it affects everything. The question remains: will Retribution Paladins be broken? Tankiness isn’t really their issue in Solo Shuffle, but their lack of finishing power has held them back. With these buffs, Retribution could be a wild card, definitely moving up a tier and potentially sleeper OP down the road.

Enhancement Shaman Rework

Enhancement Shaman is also seeing a significant rework. A new talent was added to remove some button bloat, turning Ice Strike into a proc that replaces Frost Shock rather than being a unique attack. This addresses the common complaint that Shaman abilities are too overwhelming for beginners.

Shaman Stormbringer Spec Redesign

Shamans are also experiencing a redesign to their Stormbringer hero spec, which might become more popular for both Enhancement and potentially Elemental Shaman. This includes a new choice talent called Lightning Conduit, which further enhances their potential versatility in different scenarios.

Enhancement Shaman Redesign

The Enhancement Shaman is seeing a redesign to its Doom Winds ability, which now autocasts Stormstrike to nearby targets. While this may break crowd control, it significantly boosts damage. Enhancements are addressing three core problems: button bloat, mobility, and finishing power. These improvements will place Enhancement in a slightly better state. However, predicting its impact is difficult, as Enhancement Shaman needs broken damage to be high-tier in Solo Shuffle.

Hunter Class Redesigns

Hunters are undergoing some class-wide redesigns, and Survival is likely moving up half a tier. One key buff is to Butchery, which now hits 50% harder, providing more upfront AoE burst while leaving a damaging DoT on nearby targets. Previously, Survival had issues with crowd control due to random damage from Grenade Juggler, but this has been addressed with a redesign.

Beast Mastery and Marksmanship Nerfs

While Survival Hunter is on the rise, both Beast Mastery (BM) and Marksmanship (MM) are seeing nerfs to their main hero specs. Bigm remains optimistic that Survival could become the best Hunter spec in competitive settings. These changes could shift the Hunter meta significantly.

Rogue Changes and Talent Removal

Rogues are also experiencing major changes, with Subtlety seeing the most significant adjustments. The infamous Vanish cooldown reduction talent, Invigorating Shadowdust, has been removed. This talent was considered one of the most broken and problematic abilities, and its removal will likely lead to a shift in Rogue playstyles.

Rogue Cooldown Tracking and Button Bloat

In the game, Rogues have faced issues with cooldown tracking due to abilities like Invigorating Shadowdust, which made it nearly impossible for add-ons to track properly. Rogues are also seeing less button bloat with Cut to the Chase now automatically granting Slice and Dice, meaning you won’t need to press it manually anymore.

Rogue Talent Tree Rework

The Rogue talent tree is undergoing a major rework. Echoing Reprimand is being transformed into a passive ability called Supercharger, allowing Rogues to theoretically spend 10 blue combo points on a single finisher. This change means bigger crits and longer dots overall. While Subtlety sees potential increases in burst damage, the loss of cooldown reduction might balance it out.

Outlaw Rogue’s Potential Rise

Outlaw Rogue is likely to be the biggest winner among the specs. Outlaw has been trending in the EU and has seen play in the Arena World Championship (AWC). With these changes, Outlaw could be moving up at least one tier in the meta, making it a strong contender in PvP.

Windwalker Monk Rework

Windwalker Monk is also seeing a rework to its hero talents. Shadow Pan has been adjusted to make Flurry Strikes’ damage more telegraphed. Additionally, Windwalkers are getting a 20% buff to Blackout Kick, which could increase their viability. However, it’s hard to say if this will be enough to push Windwalker to S-tier, especially with the current bugs affecting the spec.

Monk’s Position in the Tier List

We’re going to keep Monks in the A+ tier, but they could end up ranking higher. While other melee classes have seen fewer major changes, Frost Death Knights are getting a slight rework to their Deathbringer spec. They’re receiving new choice nodes and a small rework of Dark Talent. Does this solve Frost DK’s problems? Definitely not, but it does represent more damage, at least on paper.

Warrior and Fury Spec Buffs

Warriors are also seeing some significant changes, particularly in Fury spec, with buffs to Raging Blow and Bloodthirst damage. While more damage is always good, it doesn’t really address the key issues faced by the Fury spec. Overall, both Warrior specs should feel solidly in the A tier, even though we might have over-ranked them last time.

Changes to Unholy DK and Range DPS Meta

Unholy Death Knights have been moved down as they’ve fallen off in the meta, with a significant loss in popularity. Now, the range DPS meta is where things get interesting with big changes to Boomkins, Hunters, and Elemental Shamans.

Boomkin Redesign and Starfall Changes

Boomkins are seeing a massive redesign to their talent tree. Some of the highlights include Starfall becoming baseline and a new choice node for Wild Mushroom, which can now proc off of Sunfire. This aligns with the theme of reducing button bloat and making their gameplay smoother and more intuitive.

Boomkin’s Powerful Redesign

The most broken part of Boomkin’s redesign is Whirling Stars, a choice node talent that gives Incarnation two charges with a reduced cooldown at the cost of some duration. But honestly, who cares? Two charges of one of the best cooldowns in the game is absolutely insane. While Boomkins may still struggle with survivability, this change alone is enough to bump the spec up at least half a tier. With any buffs to Frenzy Regen and a slower meta, Boomkin could easily return to S tier.

Elemental Shaman Rework and Ascendants Buffs

Elemental Shaman also has some exciting changes. The rework provides a major buff to Ascendants, which now includes bonus damage buffs to Mastery. Alongside Ascendants’ 25% haste bonus, this makes it one of the scariest cooldowns in Solo Shuffle. On top of that, Stormkeeper has moved up the tree, and the rework to the Stormbringer hero spec could make practicing the trending Lightning Bolt spec worth it.

Elemental Shaman Playstyles

While the traditional Lava playstyle will likely remain better in most situations, Elemental Shamans now have more options. Buffs to major cooldowns are significant in Solo Shuffle, and we fully expect Elemental Shaman to move up at least half a tier.

Marksman and Beast Mastery Hunter Changes

The final specs to receive significant changes are Marksman and Beast Mastery Hunters. They are getting a total redesign to the Dark Ranger hero spec. The summary of these changes is that Black Arrow is now essentially just Kill Shot, offering Hunters a fresh, potent ability for taking down enemies.

Impact of Changes on Hunters

If you’re unhappy with these changes, you can safely blame Mythic Plus, where Black Arrow was awkward to use because its benefits ended once the target died. Fortunately, Marksman Hunters are the least impacted by these changes, as Sentinel was already a solid choice, only slightly worse than Dark Ranger. A simple respec should help avoid these nerfs. Beast Mastery, on the other hand, will feel the effects more, as Pack Leader remains mediocre and Dark Ranger still seems to be the go-to option.

Beast Mastery Hunter’s Rework and New Talents

The rework adds Murder of Crows to the hero spec, which adds another damage-over-time effect to stack with Basilisk’s Collar. However, this is a somewhat strange change since Murder of Crows is already in the Beast Mastery tree. The ongoing issue for both specs is that they still have abilities that randomly break crowd control. For example, Shadow Surge, a newly added hero talent, can randomly break traps, meaning Diamond Ice is still the best choice in most cases.

Frost Mage’s Dominance

Frost remains the better Mage spec, proving that the rich get richer. After recent buffs, Frost is clearly in a league of its own and will remain in the S tier. Although Fire received a massive list of buffs in this patch, they seem focused on PvE and revolve around Living Bomb—a spell that has seen so many resurrections it practically has a soul stone.

Arcane Mage Buffs and Ongoing Issues

Arcane Mages will be marginally better with buffs to Spell Slinger and minor talent reworks. While these changes help, Arcane still suffers from structural flaws, with its wind conditions being too telegraphed and easy to shut down. Unless you’re a player like Cubsy or Venruki, these changes don’t drastically alter Arcane’s place in the meta.

Ranged DPS Meta Predictions

This brings us to our predictions for the ranged meta in the coming weeks. Though Evokers and Warlocks received minor changes, they weren’t noteworthy compared to the massive buffs to Boomkins and Elemental Shamans. It’s clear that we’re entering a ranged meta once again, with ranged DPS specs taking center stage.

Healer Mini Reworks

In addition to the ranged DPS buffs, a few healers also received some minor reworks, though these changes are less impactful overall. Nevertheless, they could shift healer rankings slightly as the new meta solidifies.

Winners in the Healer Meta

This time around, Restoration Druids, Mistweaver Monks, and, ironically, Holy Paladins are coming out as big winners. Restoration Druid has had a slow start to the expansion. The biggest issues for the spec have been its lack of burst healing to handle the fast-paced meta, and its vulnerability to dispels. This patch directly addresses both problems.

Restoration Druid Talent Rework

The patch introduces a rework to the Restoration Druid talent tree, with key highlights including a second charge of Nature’s Swiftness, potential cooldown reduction on Swiftmend, a longer duration on Scaran Ward, and the return of an old tier set bonus from Dragonflight in the form of a new talent. These changes help address the burst healing problem, even if Blizzard decided to modify them for PvP.

Dispel Protection for Restoration Druid

Restoration Druid also now has built-in dispel protection, with Reactive Resin becoming a passive ability. This turns purged HoTs into a stacking mini HoT that counts toward Mastery, freeing up a potential PvP slot. With these core problems addressed and more consistent healing output, Restoration Druid is being bumped up at least half a tier.

Mistweaver Monk Structural Changes

Mistweaver Monk is seeing massive structural changes as Fistweaving is now baseline. These changes will likely reshape the way the spec functions, making it more adaptable and competitive in the current meta.

Return of the Punch Monk

That’s right—the good old Punch Monk spec is back in an interesting way. You can now preserve the traditional caster playstyle while dealing some damage. Part of what’s new includes Jade Empowerment, which causes Thunder Focus Tea to make Jade Lightning hit 800% harder, converting that damage to healing thanks to Ancient Teachings.

Mistweaver Monk Quality of Life Improvements

Mistweaver Monks are also receiving some quality-of-life improvements, such as a reduced global cooldown on Zen Spheres, which helps alleviate some of their ramp-up issues. Additionally, Monks are gaining passive dispel protection, freeing up a potential PvP talent slot. Despite these buffs, it’s hard to predict where Mistweaver will land, as it may still be outclassed by Holy Paladins and Discipline Priests.

Holy Paladin Buffs and Class Tree Rework

As mentioned earlier, all Paladin specs are becoming titanium-armored tanks in this patch, benefiting from their class tree rework. Holy Paladins are also receiving healing buffs, further solidifying their role in competitive play. However, like Mistweaver Monks, they will need to adjust to the new meta to maintain their position.

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