The short version: Blizzard's October 26 development-notes update locks in the last racial pass before the November 4 launch — Human crit drops back to 1% while Spirit doubles, Dwarves swap Earth Fury for 1% hit chance, Orcs lose Savage and regain +5% pet damage for Warlocks and Hunters, Tauren Plainsrunning caps at 60% but no longer speeds up mounts, and Skyborne settle at 2% haste with new one-hour Attuned and Charged buffs. Name reservation opens across regions tonight through tomorrow morning (your region's local time): pick your race first, then grab your names.
Note: This article is based on the racial section of the official "WoW Forever Beta Development Notes – Updated October 26" (verified verbatim on Blizzard's official forums and cross-checked against the Bluetracker mirror and Icy Veins' write-up). The beta closed on October 23 (Pacific Time); final values are subject to the November 4 launch client.
What changed for each race
| Race | Final values (per the official notes) |
|---|---|
| Human | Ruthless critical chance 2% → 1%; Human Spirit bonus 5% → 10% |
| Dwarf | Earth Fury (2% critical damage and healing) removed; new Artisan's Precision: +1% hit chance with spells and attacks |
| Tauren | Plainsrunning now 2% movement speed per stack (was 1%), total max 60% (was 30%); no longer increases mounted speed; Endurance finalized at +5% Health only (hit and critical damage modifiers removed) |
| Orc | Savage (1% critical chance) removed; Command returns: +5% Warlock and Hunter pet damage |
| Skyborne | Wind-Blessed haste 3% → 2%; Read Leyline regeneration 100% → 50% (15 seconds, unusable while Innervate is active); Skysight movement speed 10% → 15% (15 seconds); new Attuned and Charged mechanics (below) |
Skyborne's new mechanic: visit a ley line on day one
The most actionable change of this pass: both Skyborne actives can now be "charged":
- Using Read Leyline at a ley line grants 1 hour of Attuned: while Attuned, Read Leyline's regeneration improves from 50% to 100%, and it persists through death;
- Using Skysight at an elemental convergence grants 1 hour of Charged: while Charged, the movement bonus improves from 15% to 30%, also persisting through death.
Practical takeaway: plan ley lines and elemental convergences into your leveling route, and start each session by picking up the one-hour buffs. Convergence and ley line points are spread across the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor, and more were added in the mid-October update.
What got walked back from the mid-October overhaul
The October 15 overhaul replaced the weapon-bound classic racials with a crit-based lineup (Human Ruthless, Orc Savage, Dwarf Earth Fury — we covered that pass in detail; see the links below). The final pass reverses two of them:
- Orcs: Savage is out and classic Command (+5% pet damage) is back — a clear win for Orc Warlocks and Hunters, while Orc melee loses its crit bonus.
- Dwarves: Earth Fury is out, replaced by 1% hit chance — critical-damage builds (healers included) lose that bonus in exchange for hit that applies to every spell and attack.
- Humans trade crit for Spirit: Ruthless drops to 1% while Human Spirit doubles to 10% — Spirit feeds mana regeneration, so sustained-fight playstyles benefit more while damage-oriented Humans get less crit.
- Tauren change on both fronts: Plainsrunning's cap doubles (faster travel on foot) but no longer boosts mounted speed, and Endurance settles at plain +5% Health — the same tanking value, nothing left for damage builds.
Known and unknown
- The notes are titled "Updated October 26"; the beta client closed on October 23 (Pacific Time), and these values take effect with the November 4 launch client. If anything differs in game, the client wins.
- As of publishing, the verified content of the October 26 update is the racial section (all five races listed above). Whether the notes include class tuning or bug fixes as well could not be verified — defer to the official post.
- Blizzard did not explain its reasoning in the racial section. Community debates — whether 1% hit beats 2% crit damage for Dwarves, or whether the Skyborne Charged 30% speed buff is too strong — deserve live testing after launch; this article endorses neither side.
What to do next
- Pick your race before reserving names. Reservation opens October 27–28 depending on region (EU 18:00 CET, NA 1:00 p.m. PDT, Korea and Taiwan October 28, 7:00 a.m. local). Your race choice shapes the character behind the name you're about to compete for.
- Re-check your race picks against the final numbers: Orc Warlocks and Hunters stay on top with Command; Orc melee should re-weigh the lost crit; Dwarves now care about hit rather than crit damage; damage-oriented Humans got thinner bonuses.
- Skyborne route planning: on day one, detour to the nearest ley line or elemental convergence before settling into your leveling loop.
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