Pet Tanking Aligned to Classic Era, Affliction DoTs Back in the Rotation, Enhancement Goes Strength: Forever's First Class Tuning Lands November 10

Blizzard community manager Kaivax posted at 21:11 UTC November 6 (05:11 November 7 Beijing time) to schedule Forever's first class tuning for Tuesday, November 10 hotfixes: Hunter pets and Warlock Voidwalkers will be adjusted until they tank roughly as well as in Classic Era; for Affliction Warlocks, always channeling Wrack currently beats casting Siphon Life, Corruption and Bane of Agony, and the fix promises the DoTs become worthwhile again without touching total damage output; Enhancement Shamans, whose Intellect and Spellpower currently beat Strength and Attack Power, will be flipped so Strength is always their strongest stat — and leveling Shamans are told to collect Strength and Attack Power gear from now on. Blizzard will keep tuning on future Tuesdays if necessary. Exact values and the hotfix time are not announced. Within three hours of the post, two player threads questioning the Enhancement change were live on the official forums, and the blue thread itself had reached 161 posts from 116 participants as of 08:53 Beijing time November 7.

Published: 2026-11-07 Game version: Forever 60 Source published: 2026-11-06 Updated: 2026-11-07

Forever's first class tuning since launch has a date. In a blue post on the official US forums, community manager Kaivax announced that hotfixes landing Tuesday, November 10 will fix three things: Hunter pets and Warlock Voidwalkers are not durable enough as tanks, always channeling Wrack beats casting Affliction's damage-over-time spells, and Enhancement Shamans currently get more out of Intellect and Spellpower than out of Strength and Attack Power.

The post went up at 9:11 p.m. UTC on November 6 — 5:11 a.m. November 7 Beijing time — and both Wowhead and MMO-Champion carried it the same night, with Wowhead calling it Forever's first set of class tuning adjustments. The framing is blunt: players around the world are leveling up, and a few class problems can't wait for a patch. The changes are still being investigated, November 10 is the planned landing day, and if new issues surface over the weekend, Blizzard plans to keep making class balance changes on successive Tuesdays.

The next hard deadline for players is December 10 Beijing time, when the first three raids open — Barrow Deeps 10-player, Hyjal Summit 20-player, Onyxia 40-player. The hotfix lands exactly one month before that, and whichever of the three directions you're affected by, the month in between is your adjustment window.

Pets and Voidwalkers: the benchmark is Classic Era

The first change goes to Hunters and Warlocks. Blizzard admits that Hunter pets and Warlock Voidwalkers are not as durable as tanks as it would like, and the stated goal is to make their effectiveness relatively the same as in Classic Era, adjusting their stats as necessary.

In leveling terms: soloing elite mobs on a pet, or parking your Voidwalker at the front of a dungeon pull, should feel like Classic Era again after November 10. Which stats get touched and by how much — the post does not say a single number, so the real answer arrives with the hotfix.

Affliction: the rotation changes, the damage doesn't

The second fix is the Affliction Warlock rotation. Player reports show that always channeling Wrack is superior to also casting Siphon Life, Corruption and Bane of Agony — every extra button is currently a loss. Blizzard will adjust those DoTs so they are always worthwhile to cast combined with Wrack, and it says so plainly: Affliction Warlocks' total damage output will not be affected.

In other words, the change targets what you press, not how big your numbers are. The rotation will move; the total is promised to stay put.

Enhancement: start collecting Strength gear now

The third change touches the widest group. Blizzard confirms Enhancement Shamans are finding that Intellect and Spellpower beat Strength and Attack Power, and plans to flip the priority: Strength becomes always their strongest stat, Shamans stop preferring gear intended for Mages and Warlocks, and ideally the best items carry Strength or Attack Power along with some Intellect and/or Spell Power.

Blizzard bolded one line at the end of the post, and every leveling Shaman should memorize it: "Enhancement Shaman players who are leveling up will want to collect Strength and Attack Power gear from now on."

The Enhancement section is already drawing fire on the forums. At 8:02 a.m. Beijing time November 7 — under three hours after the blue post — a thread called Shamans and Int appeared in the Forever board. Poster Vvin does the talent-tree math: by his account, the tree holds a talent converting 150% of Intellect into Attack Power, tree-end options grant spell power and healing from Intellect, and the first Enhance row adds 10% Intellect — Blizzard built the spec around Int itself, and is now asking players to unlearn it. He also worries that devaluing Int leaves the spec even more mana-starved, and suggests Strength grant 3 Attack Power instead of 2. A live check at 8:53 a.m. counted 10 posts from 5 participants.

Sixteen minutes later came a second thread, titled Enchance changes are proof they dont know what they're doing (title verbatim). Poster GodisaCop doesn't object to a stat change — he objects to the method: why not keep Int/Spellpower as the primary stat and tune it instead? He expects loot bloat, and points out that quest rewards already fail to cover specs — his level-15 Balance Druid is still wearing mostly grays. By the same 8:53 check the thread had grown to 15 posts from 9 participants. Neither thread has drawn a Blizzard reply; the blue post itself has reached 161 posts from 116 participants, with Kaivax the only staff account speaking anywhere in it.

The anger isn't unanimous. Player HVD-7824 left the same advice in both threads: level as Enhancement, stack Strength — seasoned shaman players, he says, have been doing exactly that.

Changing stats without touching the tree has an official backstory: in Wowhead's November 6 report, Blizzard — addressing the Shaman Classic Discord shutdown — said shaman talents will be revisited no sooner than early next year. November 10 moves the numbers; the tree surgery waits until 2027.

What's confirmed, what isn't

Confirmed: hotfixes on Tuesday, November 10, in the three directions above; further Tuesdays may follow.

Not announced: every concrete value, the exact time the hotfix lands, and patch notes — Blizzard hasn't published notes for this batch, and the post says the issues are still being investigated.

The official hedging stays as written: pet durability is targeted to be relatively the same as in Classic Era, Affliction DoTs are to be always worthwhile combined with Wrack, and ideal Enhancement items should carry Strength or Attack Power along with some Intellect and/or Spell Power. These are directions, not live numbers.

What to do before November 10

Leveling an Enhancement Shaman: start picking up Strength and Attack Power pieces today and stop vendoring Strength gear from quests and drops; your current spellpower gear still hits harder until the hotfix lands.
Hunters and Warlocks: after the hotfix, take your pet into an elite fight and compare its durability against your Classic Era memory. Blizzard hasn't said how much it will change, and in-game testing is the only real answer — the on-site talent tool is a planner, not a DPS calculator.
Want to weigh in: the blue post and both Enhancement threads are on the official forums, linked in the sources. Blizzard closed its post by thanking players for feedback — replies are the channel.
Two dates to remember: hotfixes land Tuesday, November 10 (exact time not announced), and the first three raids open December 10 Beijing time, where Enhancement's new stat priorities get their first raid exam.