WoW Forever Class Changes Nov 10: Pets, Wrack, Enhancement

Updated Nov 7, 2026, 06:19 UTC: first published. Built from Blizzard's "Class Tuning Incoming - November 10" post (Kaivax, Nov 6, 21:11 UTC), the November 6 hotfix list and the November 2 Development Notes. The changes are not live yet. We will add the final hotfix text here once Blizzard posts it.

Quick answer: Blizzard plans WoW Forever class changes as hotfixes on Tuesday, November 10, and has named three problems. Hunter pets and Warlock Voidwalkers are "not as durable as tanks" as Blizzard wants, so Blizzard will "adjust their stats as necessary" to make them about as effective as in Classic Era. Affliction Warlocks get changes so that Corruption, Siphon Life and Bane of Agony are worth casting next to Wrack, with no change to total damage. Enhancement Shamans get changes so that Strength is always their best stat, not Intellect or Spell Power. Blizzard's advice for leveling Enhancement players: start collecting Strength and Attack Power gear now. No exact numbers and no time of day have been posted.

Last verified: Nov 7, 2026, 06:17 UTC against the Blizzard forum threads Class Tuning Incoming - November 10, WoW: Forever Hotfixes - November 6, 2026 and the WoW Forever Development Notes.

TL;DR

• When: hotfixes planned for Tuesday, November 10. Blizzard has not given a time, and has not posted the final patch text.
• Who is affected: Hunters, Warlocks (all specs through the Voidwalker, Affliction through Wrack) and Enhancement Shamans. No other class is named.
• Pets: Blizzard's target is pet tanking that is "relatively the same as in Classic Era". It did not say by how much.
• Affliction: damage-over-time spells become worth casting alongside Wrack "without affecting Affliction Warlocks' total damage output".
• Enhancement: Strength becomes the top stat, so Enhancement "will not prefer gear intended for Mages and Warlocks".
• More is possible: Blizzard says it may find "new issues over the weekend" and may make class changes "on future Tuesdays if necessary".
• Reaction: the thread had 247 posts, 61,176 views and 965 likes by 06:17 UTC on November 7.

What did Blizzard announce for November 10?

Community manager Kaivax posted the plan on the US forums at 21:11 UTC on November 6, two days after launch. The opening line sets the scope:

"Now that players around the world are leveling up in WoW: Forever, we've identified a few class issues that we feel need some immediate changes." — Kaivax, Blizzard forums

The post lists exactly three issues and says the hotfixes are planned for Tuesday, November 10. Blizzard calls them hotfixes and gives no time of day. Blizzard has said it is "still investigating these issues and working through them", so the final changes may differ from the plan.

The three issues sit on top of changes Blizzard already made. That background explains why these exact problems showed up in the first 48 hours.

Why are Hunter pets and Voidwalkers getting buffed?

Blizzard's words: "We've seen that Hunter pets and Warlock Voidwalkers are not as durable as tanks as we would like them to be. Our intent is for their effectiveness to be relatively the same as in Classic Era. We will adjust their stats as necessary to accomplish this."

Blizzard has not said what caused it. Our guess for the Voidwalker is a change in the November 2 Development Notes: Warlock pets "now gain 2 Health per point of Master's Stamina (was 7.5 Health per point of Master's Stamina)". That cuts the Stamina-to-pet-health bonus by about 73%. In beta the Voidwalker was a big part of why Warlock was such a safe solo leveler. One player in Blizzard's thread says their level 11 Voidwalker had "like 300ish hp" and "took 3 hits and died", and suspects "more than a stam issue" (player report, not Blizzard).

Blizzard has already started on the fix:

• November 6 hotfix list (posted 01:07 UTC on November 7): "Voidwalker base health increased by about 40 at all levels." The same list "Fixes an issue where some Warlock pet abilities were benefitting too much from the Orc Command racial ability."
• November 10 plan: larger stat changes for both Hunter pets and Voidwalkers until they tank roughly like Classic Era pets.

Two points to keep straight. First, Blizzard did not say the November 2 health change is being reverted. It said it will "adjust their stats as necessary", which could mean health, armor or something else. Second, the Hunter part is new. The November 2 notes contain no Hunter pet health cut, so Blizzard has not said what makes Hunter pets weaker than intended.

For Hunters, this is a leveling issue more than an endgame one. Raids do not open until December 9. A pet that holds aggro and survives is what makes solo Hunter leveling fast, which is why Hunter sits near the top of our best class to level tier list. Until Tuesday, pick pets with a tanking role for big pulls. Our best Hunter pet for leveling guide lists the tames by level.

What is changing for Affliction Warlocks and Wrack?

Blizzard's words: "Affliction Warlock reports indicate that always channeling Wrack is superior to also casting damage-over-time abilities like Siphon Life, Corruption, and Bane of Agony. We will make adjustments to make sure those are always worthwhile to cast combined with Wrack, without affecting Affliction Warlocks' total damage output."

Wrack is Affliction's new capstone talent in Forever (see the talents guide). It got a big boost in the launch build. The November 2 notes say Wrack's "spell damage coefficient doubled" and that its base damage per second now grows with each level, reaching 86 at level 60, up from 36. Blizzard says player reports show that "always channeling Wrack is superior". Our reading is that the doubled coefficient is why. The same notes also say Improved Drains "no longer increases Wrack damage". Either way, the one-button Wrack rotation is what Blizzard wants gone.

The November 6 hotfix list also fixed a bug: "The Soul Siphon talent no longer incorrectly causes Wrack to increase its own damage." That fix removed an unintended Wrack damage boost for Warlocks with Soul Siphon. Blizzard gave no number. The November 10 change is about how the damage is split, not the total.

What it means for you:

• Total Affliction damage is meant to stay the same. Blizzard says so in plain words. This is a rotation change, not a nerf.
• Expect DoTs to do more and plain Wrack channeling to do less. That reading of Blizzard's goal is ours. Blizzard has not posted numbers or named the spells it will change.
• Keep your DoT keybinds. If you dropped Corruption and Agony from your bars after launch, put them back before Tuesday.

Why is Strength becoming Enhancement Shaman's best stat?

Blizzard's words: "Enhancement Shamans are finding that Intellect and Spellpower are superior stats compared to Strength and Attack Power. We plan to make changes so that Strength is always their strongest stat, and Enhancement Shamans will not prefer gear intended for Mages and Warlocks."

The launch build pushed Enhancement hard toward caster stats. In the November 2 notes, Mental Dexterity now gives Attack Power equal to 50/100/150% of your Intellect (up from 33/67/100%), Maelstrom Weapon's trigger chance doubled, and Stormstrike rose to 150% weapon damage on a 6-second cooldown. Blizzard has not said which of these made Intellect and Spell Power win. Mental Dexterity, which turns Intellect into Attack Power, is the obvious suspect. Players in Blizzard's thread say Enhancement Shamans have been rolling on cloth caster gear in leveling dungeons. Blizzard only says that after the change Enhancement "will not prefer gear intended for Mages and Warlocks". The Enhancement change is also the most argued part of the thread: many replies push back, and several say there is little Strength or Attack Power leather and mail in leveling dungeons (player opinion).

Blizzard ends this section with the one line of direct advice in the whole post:

"Please note: Enhancement Shaman players who are leveling up will want to collect Strength and Attack Power gear from now on." — Kaivax, Blizzard forums

Blizzard also says what good Enhancement gear will look like after the change: "Ideally, Enhancement's best items have Strength or Attack Power, along with some Intellect and/or Spell Power." So Intellect still has value. It just should not beat Strength.

Our Enhancement Shaman leveling weapons guide picks two-handers by weapon DPS first. Weapon DPS matters most for a Stormstrike Shaman whatever the stat balance. That still holds. What changes is the tie-breaker: from now on, take Strength over Intellect when two weapons are close.

What should you do before Tuesday?

Do not respec or re-gear on guesses. Blizzard has posted goals, not numbers. If the final hotfix text differs from the plan, we will update this page.

What did Blizzard not say?

The post leaves out several things players asked about in the same thread:

• No numbers. No pet health or armor values, no Wrack or DoT coefficients, no Strength-to-Attack-Power figures.
• No time of day. "Tuesday, November 10" is the only timing given. Blizzard did not say whether it is tied to weekly maintenance.
• No dungeon XP change. Dungeon experience is a frequent player complaint since launch. Players asked about it in this thread, but the post does not mention it, and as of 06:17 UTC Blizzard had not answered. For how dungeons compare with questing today, see our dungeon leveling vs questing guide.
• No auction house fix. Another reply asked whether auction house changes come on Tuesday too. No Blizzard answer yet. Live auction house problems are tracked on our is WoW Forever down status page.
• No other classes. Warrior, Paladin, Rogue, Priest, Mage and Druid are not in this post. The November 6 hotfix list did fix smaller bugs for some of them, such as Druid's Bloom not healing and Mage's Arcane Blast duration.

Will there be more WoW Forever class changes?

Possibly. Blizzard closes the post with: "We may find new issues over the weekend, and we will keep you updated. Our plan is to make class balance changes on Tuesday, and then on future Tuesdays if necessary."

So Blizzard plans to batch class balance changes on Tuesdays, when needed. So far there are two kinds of fix:

• Bug-fix hotfix lists in the "WoW: Forever Hotfixes" thread (November 5 and November 6 so far). The November 6 list had fixes for Druid, Mage, Rogue, Warlock and Warrior, plus dungeons and professions.
• Tuesday balance changes. This first one was announced four days ahead in its own thread.

For the full launch build and every hotfix so far, see our WoW Forever patch notes and hotfix log. For changes made during the beta, see the October class change breakdown.

What changed on November 7

• 06:19 UTC: first version. Blizzard's November 10 plan covers three issues (pet durability, Affliction Wrack, Enhancement stats). The Voidwalker +~40 base health hotfix from the November 6 list is already live. No final November 10 hotfix text yet.

Leveling an alt while Blizzard tunes the classes?

- WoW Forever Power Leveling to 60: any range from 1 to 60, played by hand on the quest route

- WoW Forever Gold, US & EU: for riding, training and the gear swap, face-to-face or by mail

- All WoW Forever boosting services

FAQ

When do the WoW Forever class changes go live? Blizzard plans to release them as hotfixes on Tuesday, November 10, 2026. It has not given a time of day.

Are Voidwalkers being nerfed in WoW Forever? No, the opposite. Blizzard says Voidwalkers and Hunter pets are not durable enough as tanks and will be made tougher, roughly like Classic Era. A small Voidwalker buff of about 40 base health is already live from the November 6 hotfixes.

Is Affliction Warlock getting nerfed on November 10? Blizzard says the change will not affect Affliction's total damage. The goal is to make Corruption, Siphon Life and Bane of Agony worth casting next to Wrack, instead of channeling Wrack all the time.

Should Enhancement Shamans use Strength or Intellect in WoW Forever? Strength. Blizzard told leveling Enhancement players to "collect Strength and Attack Power gear from now on", because after November 10 Strength will be their strongest stat. Some Intellect or Spell Power on gear is still fine.

Are Hunter pets getting buffed in WoW Forever? Yes. Blizzard says Hunter pets are not as durable as tanks as intended and will get stat changes so they perform about as they do in Classic Era. No numbers have been posted.

Is there a dungeon XP change on November 10? Not in Blizzard's plan. The class tuning post does not mention dungeon experience, and Blizzard had not answered player questions about it in that thread as of November 7, 06:17 UTC.

Will Blizzard make more class changes after November 10? Possibly. Blizzard says it plans class balance changes on Tuesday "and then on future Tuesdays if necessary", and that it may find new issues over the weekend.