Season of Discovery is approaching its 3 phase with a lot of modifications and updates that fanatics are eagerly waiting for. In this section, we will go through all the new class's abilities and runes as well as give out some information about those newly datamined profession items.

 

• Hunter Updates
• Druid Updates
• Mage Updates
• Paladin Updates
• Priest Updates
• Rogue Updates
• Shaman Updates
• Warlock Updates
• Warrior Updates
• Professions Datamined

 

 

↖ Hunter Updates

• Infernal Lasso: A new thing for hunters that allows lassoing and therefore, taming demons or beast creatures for a duration of 24 seconds. The core hound that is caught by the noose can be tamed thus implying fresh, thrilling possibilities for taming the same way as wyvern from phase 1. However, availability till the last phase might be limited.
• Sniper Training Changes: As part of changes in sniper training; now grants a stacking 2% increased chance to critically strike when standing still for two seconds, up to five times. Now stacks degrade when moving gradually with one being lost every second this is beneficial to ranged DPS hunters.
• New Runes:
  • Raptor's Fury: Boosts Raptor Strike and Mongoose Bite damage by 15%, stacking up to five times, enhancing melee Hunters.
  • Catlike Reflexes: Increases Dodge Chance by 20% and halves the cooldown of Kill Command and Flanking Strike, benefiting Beast Mastery Hunters.
  • Rapid Fire Killing: Reduces Rapid Fire cooldown by 2 minutes and increases damage of the next shot by 20% after a kill that grants honor or experience.

 

↖ Druid Updates

• Omen of Clarity Change: This talent now has also a chance to proc from any non-instant spell cast or melee attack which will help Balance Druids and Restoration Druids conserve mana more efficiently.
• Berserk Rune Adjustment: Activation now makes Lacerate cost no rage, significantly aiding Guardian Druids.
• First Runes Modifications:
  • Elune's Fires: Increases DoT durations based on specific spell casts.
  • Gore Helmet Rune: Provides Guardian druids with 10 Rage whenever Mangle come off CD immediately.

 

↖ Mage Updates

• Frozen Orb: With data mining indicating that this rather powerful ability could be made into an actual spell instead of a rune for Frost mages, it may significantly improve both PvP and PvE powers.
• Advanced Warding Rune: It doubles the power of mana shield, frost ward and fire ward while increasing the mana drain of mana shield by 50%. This defensive rune could alter Mage survivability in PvP scenarios, though it may come at the cost of forgoing Deep Freeze.

 

↖ Paladin Updates

• Shield Specialization Talents: Also now with an aura that increases spell damage and healing when a shield is equipped. This change could potentially boost spell power for Paladins, although specifics will be clearer in the next phase.
• Hammer of the Righteous: A new ability for Protection Paladins that aids in generating threat on multiple targets. This is a significant enhancement for tanking capabilities.

 

↖ Priest Updates

• Eye of the Void: A new Shadow DPS rune summoning Eye of the Void for 30 sec (sic!) which starts casting curses over your target making it similar to a pet dynamic among Shadow Priests.
• Pain and Suffering: Refreshes SWP duration on your current target to its max. Its full impact is yet to be determined but once again adds another dimension to a shadow priest's toolkit.

 

↖ Rogue Updates

New Poisons: Three new abilities offering great utility have been introduced into rogue's arsenal:

• Trophic Poison: reducing melee attack power of opponent.
• Numbing Poison: increasing time between enemy melee attacks.
• Sebaceous Poison: greatly decreases enemy armor and synergizes with Improved Exposed Armor talent.

 

These poisons increase vulnerability in raid bosses allowing Rogues to perform their roles effectively.

• Carnage Rune: A 20% damage increase to abilities against targets affected by your own bleeding making the Rogue's damage high.
• Unfair Advantage Rune: It gives a chance for immediate counterattacks when you evade an enemy's attack, something similar to parry attacks done by a rogue. This could be of great advantage more especially in the case of Rogue tanks, though it may require further improvement in terms of survival defense.

 

↖ Shaman Updates

• Shield Specialization: Expected modifications to damage and healing output, but the specifics are not yet available pending further review.
• Spirit of the Alpha Nerf: Instead of 20%, there is a decrease in attack power boost by 5% with added threat reduction benefits.
• Lava Lash Changes: The basic weapon damage for Lava Lash has been lowered to 100%, however it can be raised up to 125% if off-hand enchanted with Flametongue.
• Way of the Earth Requirement: To keep both active effects going, now you need a shield on, so dual-wield tanking is ruled out for Shamans.
• New Runes:
  • Overcharged: Lightning Shield will never lose charges, possesses one second cooldown and does AOE damage.
  • Rolling Thunder: Elemental shamans can get lightning shield stacks from lightning spells that can be released with earth shock increasing damage and mana regeneration.
  • Static Shock: Enhancement shamans' melee attacks may cause instant lightning shield charge damage. 
  • Burn Rune: Flame shock cast by elemental shaman now hits three targets aiding in lava surge procs
  • Tidal Waves: Casting Chain Heal or Riptide grants charges which enhance Healing Wave and Lesser Healing Wave.

 

↖ Warlock Updates

• Lake of Fire Nerf: There is now a full channeling requirement for getting fire damage percentage increase impacting DPS output. 
• New Runes:
  • Vengeance Helmet Rune – Demonology tanks get a temporary thirty percent health boost
  • Explorer Imp – This new feature allows summoning an imp that could explore portals potentially gathering gold or treasure

 

↖ Warrior Adjustments

Wrecking Crew Nerf Now only boosts critical strike damage of attacks instead of all physical damages.

 

↖ Professions Datamined

The next stage is expected to bring changes to how you acquire crafting recipes, with the aim of making it cheaper and smoother than what players have experienced so far. Here’s a breakdown of what’s coming for each profession:

Alchemy	Alchemists can now craft epic flasks which grant effects that are only active in zones corrupted by The Nightmare. The flasks affect damage, healing and attack power, but exactly how much (and if they'll be worth using) remains to be seen, alchemists should keep their eyes peeled for more info so they're ready to take advantage.
Gear Crafting (Leatherworking, Blacksmithing, Tailoring)	Crafters can produce epic pieces without any on-use effects. Instead they’ve got passive triggers which boost damage, healing and attack power. This does appear to devalue gear from Phase 2 that has useful on-use effects, so there may be some strategic combination of old and new gear that optimizes player performance.
Engineering	Engineers get epic bracers this time around which protect against particular psychic attacks. The item is described as "void powered" so we;re not done with Zotth just yet!
Enchanting	Enchanters' offerings are mostly unchanged from last phase – though it looks like they'll also get a Scroll of Spatial Mending which can close targeted fell portals. What this means for either mechanics or secrets isn't clear yet.

 

Make Gold Tips:

With the introduction of new items through professions in the next phase comes the opportunity for players to make lots of SoD gold. Here are some tips:

1. Monitor Waylaid Supply Turnin items for Phase 3
2. Craft consumables early and list them on AH
3. Be first-to-market with items when servers come online
4. Keep track of what professions will make you the most gold based on datamined information!
5. If you stay ahead and use the datamined information strategically, players will easily find themselves in a good position for the next phase. 
6. By using this information properly, you can set yourself up for financial success throughout Phase 3 and beyond.

 

These updates are targeted at refining class performance and maintaining a fair competitive environment. Players should look forward to how these tweaks will affect their class and adjust their strategies accordingly. Keep an eye out on the overall effectiveness of each class so you're aware of which situations they'll excel in moving forward.