MoP Classic gets Warlords of Draenor pre-patch class changes
Explore the latest MoP Classic balance changes and see how your class stacks up. Jump into the Beta now and make your voice heard!
Table of Contents
Key takeaways:
- Blizzard is rebalancing MoP Classic classes for each phase, not just sticking to patch 5.4.8. This dynamic approach aims to improve class performance throughout the expansion.
- Community feedback is already shaping the Beta, with some controversial changes rolled back. The Hunter Sporebat reversal shows Blizzard is listening and willing to adjust.
- PvE is the primary focus, with PvP changes limited to keep the original experience intact. Most class changes revert inside PvP instances to maintain 5.4.8 behavior.
Blizzard Entertainment has announced a round of class changes set to debut with the World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria Classic release, with developers opting for a hybrid approach that both reverts and adjusts various specs based on the original patch 5.4.8, while also introducing targeted buffs and fixes to ensure balance throughout the phases of the re-release.
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Not sure which class to play in Pandaria Classic? Check out our MoP Classic DPS tier list for some helpful guidance.
MoP Classic balance changes
The company stated that while patch 5.4.8 serves as the design baseline for MoP Classic, many of the class changes from the original expansion were tuned specifically for late-tier content. Without intervention, this would have left some classes in an awkward or underperforming state during early phases, including Tier 14 raids. To solve this, Blizzard has made numerous class-specific adjustments—some pulling from earlier Mists patches, and even from Warlords of Draenor’s 6.0.2 pre-patch.
“We’ve gone class by class, spec by spec, and made changes,”
“Some classes also received early buffs to improve early-phase performance, which we plan to revert as the expansion progresses.”
- Community Manager, Linxy
MoP balance changes are comprehensive, touching most classes and most specs.
Major class updates
Now let’s dive to MoP classic balance changes more in depth:
- Druids saw significant improvements to Moonkin Form damage, Shooting Stars proc behavior, and mana efficiency for Guardians and Restos.
- Balance:
- Moonkin Form’s increase to Nature and Arcane damage has been raised to 20% (was 10%). New
- Shooting Stars will no longer split its chance to activate across multiple targets. 5.4 Revert
- Feral
- Ferals once again learn Nature’s Swiftness, but it cannot be used in Arenas or Battlegrounds (previously, Ferals did not learn or have access to Nature’s Swiftness). 5.4 Revert
- Guardian
- Maul’s Rage cost has been lowered to 20 (was 30). 6.0.2 Change
- Restoration
- Naturalist’s increase to healing has been raised to 15% (was 10%). New
- Balance:
- Hunters initially received a controversial change to the Sporebat pet’s utility, but after strong community feedback, Blizzard reversed the decision.
“We have decided to not move forward with the Hunter Sporebat pet change and will revert it off of Beta tomorrow,”
- Community Manager, Linxy
- Monks received some of the most detailed reworks with Mistweavers. Mana Tea and Enveloping Mists are more efficient, while stance-swapping exploits involving Rushing Jade Wind have been addressed to discourage unintentional optimization tactics.
- Mistweaver:
- Teachings of the Monastery’s Crackling Jade Lightning damage bonus lowered to 25% (was 100%). New
- Mana Tea’s mana return per charge increased to 5% (was 4%). New
- Surging Mists cost lowered by 13%, moving its cost to 7.65% of base mana (was 8.8%). New
- Rushing Jade Wind will now be canceled on the Mistweaver Monk when they enter Stance of the Wise Serpent. New
- Jab cost lowered by 25%, to 6% of base mana (was 8%). Partial 5.2 Revert
- Enveloping Mists healing raised by 48%. 5.1 Revert
- Eminence healing raised by 68%, moving it to a 42% conversion of damage to healing (was 25%). 5.2 Revert and 6.0.2 Change
- Revival’s healing raised by 43%. 5.4 Revert
- Glyph of Targeted Expulsion retains its original effects in PvP, but morphs to have the old effects from the previously removed Glyph of Uplift while outside of PvP instances. While not in a PvP instance: Glyph of Targeted Expulsion changes Uplift to no longer cost Chi, but instead cost 10% of base mana. 5.4 Revert and 5.2 Partial Revert
- Windwalker
- Mastery: Bottled Fury changed to increasing the damage of your Tigereye Brew by 0.2% per Mastery (was Mastery gives a chance to gain an additional charge of Tigereye Brew when you gain a charge of Tigereye Brew). 5.4 Revert
- Tigereye Brew starts with 3.5% damage per stack, plus 1.6% from base Mastery (was 6% damage per stack unaffected by Mastery). 5.4 Revert and New
- Tigereye Brew gains a charge after spending 3 Chi (was 4 Chi). 5.4 Revert
- T15 Windwalker Monk 4 set bonus reverted to “You have a 10% chance to gain an additional charge of Tigereye Brew every time you gain a charge of Tigereye Brew while not inside an Arena or Battleground” (was “Increases the damage of your Tigereye Brew by 0.5% per stack consumed”). 5.4 Revert
- Mistweaver:
- Paladins across all specs saw tuning, with Retribution receiving a damage increase to core abilities, and Holy regaining synergy between Eternal Flame and Illuminated Healing.
- Holy
- Eternal Flame’s periodic healing lowered by 28%. 5.4 Revert
- Eternal Flame’s Periodic can activate Illuminated Healing. 5.4 Revert
- Illuminated Healing’s base value has been raised to 12% (was 10%). 5.3 Revert
- Protection
- The damage reduction from Sanctuary has been raised to 20% (was 15%). New
- The shielding on Sacred Shield has been raised by 43%. 5.4 Revert
- Retribution
- Divine Storm, Crusader Strike, Judgment, Hammer of the Righteous, Hammer of Wrath, and Exorcism have all had their damage raised by 10%. New
- Templar’s Verdict damage raised by 20%. 6.0.2 Change
- Holy
- Let’s get to Priests. Shadow Priests now generate Shadow Orbs passively outside of combat, while Discipline sees a mix of buffs and nerfs to Atonement and Spirit Shell, reflecting early-expansion tuning philosophies.
- Talents
- Divine Star and Halo now obey AoE cap rules (20 targets for damage, 6 targets for Healing before they start splitting the effect’s total numbers).
5.4 Revert andIssue Originally Moved to 6.0 Pre-Patch` - The maximum times Cascade can bounce has been lowered to 3 (was 4).
5.4 Revert
- Divine Star and Halo now obey AoE cap rules (20 targets for damage, 6 targets for Healing before they start splitting the effect’s total numbers).
- Discipline
- Divine Aegis lowered to 80% of the Heal’s value (was 100%). New
- T14 set bonus Penance cooldown lowered to 1 second (was 3). New
- Atonement healing from damage lowered to 70% (was 90%). 6.0.2 Change
- Divine Star for Discipline Priests has had its healing lowered by 25%. 6.0.2 Change and 5.1 Partial Revert
- Spirit Shell’s active duration raised by 50% to 15 seconds (was 10). 5.4 Revert
- Talents
- Warlocks enjoyed widespread damage increases across Affliction and Demonology, while glyph behavior now varies depending on PvE or PvP context.
- Warriors were updated with rage generation while absorbing or mitigating damage in Berserker Stance, and Fury got small but impactful buffs to Berserker damage bonuses and uptime.
Other classes also received minor adjustments — for example, Mages saw an increase to Combustion’s percentage of Ignite’s tick damage per second. Rogues overall received a slight nerf, while Shamans experienced a mix of buffs and nerfs across their specializations.
PvP and scaling plans
Blizzard made it clear that their balancing intentions are primarily PvE-focused for now. Instanced PvP remains grounded in 5.4.8 behavior, preserving the original Mists PvP experience as closely as possible. Additionally, many of the early buffs are expected to be reverted as gear scaling catches up with spec performance across the raid tiers.
Ongoing testing and community feedback
These changes are currently live on the Mists of Pandaria Classic Beta servers, and Blizzard emphasized that further tuning is likely based on performance data and community input. Already, the rapid rollback of the Sporebat pet change demonstrates Blizzard’s willingness to pivot quickly in response to testing and player sentiment.
The MoP Classic balance changes have stirred overall mixed reactions. Players praised buffs to weaker specs like Mistweaver Monks, but raised concerns over strong buffs to Warlocks and reduced utility for Hunters, especially in 10-man raids.
Meanwhile, nerfs to Restoration Shamans and Discipline Priests sparked backlash, with many questioning the use of Warlords of Draenor-era changes. The community remains divided on whether the tuning enhances or undermines the MoP Classic experience.
Blizzard tends to make some quality-of-life updates to WoW Classic over time, such as adding LFG tools to Anniversary realms. However, deeper balance changes have been rare, and when they did happen, they were usually limited to special Season of Discovery servers where experimentation was expected. Now we can directly see the impact of MoP Classic balance changes on the Beta servers—some of which are likely to make it to the live game.
Conclusion
Mists of Pandaria Classic does not yet have a confirmed release date, but Blizzard is actively testing and refining class balance in the ongoing Beta. These changes reflect a new approach. Instead of locking players into late-expansion tuning, Blizzard is adjusting specs to better fit each content phase.
The goal is to make these MoP Classic balance changes feel both faithful and fun—honoring the original while smoothing out rough edges with modern insights.
If you’re excited for Mists of Pandaria Classic, why not get a head start? With WoW Cataclysm boosting, you can level up your Cataclysm character now and be fully prepared for the adventures ahead.
Happy week and happy grinding!
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