World of Warcraft Reveals More War Within Hero Talents

Highlights

• Blizzard gave a preview of Hero Talent trees for Druid, Hunter, Mage, and Priest classes in the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion, The War Within.
• Each class has two Hero Talent trees that players can choose from, starting at level 71, to enhance their abilities in healing, defense, or damage.
• Blizzard emphasizes that these Hero Talents are subject to change based on player feedback, and adjustments will be made during the alpha and beta testing phases of The War Within.

With the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion, The War Within, launching later this year, Blizzard gave a glimpse of some additional Hero Talent trees that players can choose. In a post, the Hero Talent trees that World of Warcraft previewed were from the Druid, Hunter, Mage, and Priest classes.

Following the reveal of The War Within at BlizzCon 2023, Blizzard gave World of Warcraft players a glimpse of the Hero Talent trees that can be chosen once the expansion is out. A class’s Hero Specializations determine these trees, and each standard specialization has two Hero Talent trees to pick from, starting at level 71, with some overlap. For example, the Lightsmith Paladin Hero Talents can be chosen by Holy and Protection Paladins to further bolster their healing power and their defensive abilities, both of which can come in handy in a raid. However, all Hero Talents are still subject to change pending feedback from World of Warcraft players, and Blizzard will make adjustments as needed before and during The War Within alpha and beta tests.

In a blog post on the World of Warcraft website, Blizzard went over four more Hero Talent trees that are still in development. These Hero Talents are for the Druid, Hunter, Mage, and Priest classes, and each one takes from two different specializations. The Keeper of the Grove Hero Talents will be available for Balance and Restoration Druids to pick from. The Keeper of the Grove uses nature-based spells and summons powerful treants to attack their foes and keep their allies in the fight. The Hunter’s Dark Ranger Hero Talents, by comparison, take after Sylvanas Windrunner and will be available to Beast Mastery and Marksmanship Hunters. Talents such as Black Arrow, Withering Fire, and Dark Chains will be options that World of Warcraft players can use to either overwhelm enemies or escape to the shadows.

For the cloth-wearing Mage and Priest, two Hero Talent trees focus heavily on their class themes. True to its name, the Frostfire Mage combines the power of the Frost and Fire specializations to burn and freeze their enemies. Frostfire Bolt returns as a spell that will change both Fireball and Frostbolt and will take advantage of Frost’s and Fire’s respective Mastery bonuses. Finally, the Priest’s new Oracle Hero Talent tree combines the power of the Holy and Discipline specializations, which may be useful for World of Warcraft‘s healers to consider.

While the World of Warcraft development team remains focused on Patch 10.2.6, the alpha and beta testing periods for The War Within are slated to start shortly after. Only time will tell how Blizzard will react to player feedback on these Hero Talents.

World of Warcraft: The War Within Hero Talent Preview (February 2024)

Keeper of the Grove (Balance/Restoration) Druid

• Dream Surge (Keystone): Force of Nature grants 3 charges of Dream Burst, causing your next Wrath or Starfire to explode on the target, dealing Nature damage to nearby enemies. Damage is reduced above 5 targets. Grove Guardians causes your next targeted heal to create 2 Dream Petals near the target, healing up to 3 nearby allies. Stacks up to 3 charges.
• Treants of the Moon (Tier 1): Your treants cast Moonfire on nearby targets about once every 6 seconds.
• Expansiveness (Tier 1): Your maximum mana is increased by 5% and your maximum Astral Power is increased by 20.
• Protective Growth (Tier 1): Your Regrowth protects you, reducing damage you take by 8% while your Regrowth is on you.
• Choice Node (Tier 2): Power of Nature & Durability of Nature
• Power of Nature: Your Force of Nature treants no longer taunt and deal 20% increased damage. Your Grove Guardians increase the healing of your Rejuvenation, Efflorescence and Lifebloom by 5% while active.
• Durability of Nature: Your Force of Nature treants have 50% increased health. Your Grove Guardians’ Nourish and Swiftmend spells also apply a minor Cenarion Ward that heals the target over 8 seconds the next time they take damage.
• Cenarius’ Might (Tier 2): Casting Starsurge or Starfall increases the damage of your next Starsurge or Starfall by 10%, stacking up to 2 times. Casting another spell cancels this effect. Casting Regrowth, Wild Growth, or Swiftmend increases the healing of your next Regrowth, Wild Growth, or Swiftmend by 10%, stacking up to 2 times. Casting another spell cancels this effect.
• Choice Node (Tier 2): Grove’s Inspiration & Persistent Enchantments
• Grove’s Inspiration: Wrath and Starfire damage increased by 12%. Regrowth, Wild Growth, and Swiftmend healing increased by 6%.
• Persistent Enchantments: Orbital Strike applies Stellar Flare for 20 seconds and Primordial Arcanic Pulsar grants Celestial Alignment for 2 additional seconds. Reforestation grants Tree of Life for 2 additional seconds.
• Choice Node (Tier 3): Bounteous Bloom & Early Spring
• Bounteous Bloom: Your Force of Nature treants generate 3 Astral Power every 2 seconds. Your Grove Guardians’ healing is increased by 20%.
• Early Spring: Force of Nature cooldown reduced by 10 seconds. Grove Guardians cooldown reduced by 3 seconds.
• Choice Node (Tier 3): Power of the Dream & Control of the Dream
• Power of the Dream: Force of Nature grants an additional stack of Dream Burst. Healing spells cast with Dream Surge generate an additional Dream Petal. Cenarius’ Might increases spell damage or healing by an additional 5%.
• Control of the Dream: Time elapsed while your major abilities are available to be used is subtracted from that ability’s cooldown after the next time you use it, up to 5 seconds. Affects Nature’s Swiftness, Incarnation: Tree of Life, Force of Nature, Celestial Alignment, and Convoke the Spirits.
• Blooming Infusion (Tier 3): Every 5 Regrowths you cast make your next Wrath, Starfire, or Entangling Roots instant and increases the damage it deals by 100%. Every 5 Starsurges or Starfalls you cast makes your next Regrowth or Entangling Roots instant.
• Harmony of the Grove (Capstone): Each of your Force of Nature treants increases damage your spells deal by 3% while active. Each of your Grove Guardians increases your healing done by 3% while active.

Dark Ranger (Beast Mastery/Marksmanship) Hunter

• Black Arrow (Keystone): Fire a Black Arrow into your target, causing it to take Shadow damage every 2 seconds for 16 seconds. Each time Black Arrow deals damage, you have a chance to reset the cooldown of Aimed Shot or Barbed Shot. 30 second cooldown.
• Ranger’s Finesse (Tier 1): Aimed Shot and Rapid Fire deal 15% increased damage. Barbed Shot and Kill Command deal 15% increased damage.
• Dark Hounds (Tier 1): Each time Black Arrow deals damage, you have a chance to manifest an undead hound to charge your target and deal Shadow damage.
• Death Shade (Tier 1): When you apply Black Arrow to a target, you gain the Deathblow or Hunter’s Prey effect.
• Choice Node (Tier 2): Dark Empowerment & Grave Reaper
• Dark Empowerment: When Black Arrow resets the cooldown of an ability, gain 15 Focus.
• Grave Reaper: When a target affected by Black Arrow dies, the cooldown of Black Arrow is reduced by 12 seconds.
• Choice Node (Tier 2): Embrace the Shadows & Smoke Screen
• Embrace the Shadows: You heal for 15% of all Shadow damage dealt by you or your pets.
• Smoke Screen: Exhilaration grants you 3 seconds of Survival of the Fittest. Survival of the Fittest activates Exhilaration at 50% effectiveness.
• Dark Chains (Tier 2): Disengage will chain the closest target to the ground, causing them to move 40% slower until they move 8 yards away.
• Intense Darkness (Tier 3): When Trueshot or Call of the Wild is active, Black Arrow deals damage 50% faster.
• Shadow Surge (Tier 3): When Multi-Shot hits a target affected by Black Arrow, a burst of Shadow energy erupts dealing moderate Shadow damage to all enemies near the target. This can only occur once every 6 seconds.
• Choice Node (Tier 3): Darkness Calls & Shadow Assassin
• Darkness Calls: All Shadow damage you and your pets deal is increased by 10%.
• Shadow Assassin: Kill Shot has a 15% chance to generate a charge of Aimed Shot or Barbed Shot when used on a target affected by Black Arrow.
• Withering Fire (Capstone): When Black Arrow resets the cooldown of Aimed Shot or Barbed Shot, a barrage of dark arrows strikes your target for Shadow damage and increases the damage you and your pets deal by 10% for 6 seconds.

Frostfire Mage

• Frostfire Mastery (Keystone): Your damaging Fire spells generate 1 stack of Fire Mastery and Frost spells generate 1 stack of Frost Mastery. Fire Mastery increases your Haste by 1% and Frost Mastery increases your Mastery by 1% for 12 seconds, stacking up to 8 times each. Adding stacks does not refresh duration.
• Choice Node (Tier 1): Imbued Warding & Meltdown
• Imbued Warding: Blazing Barrier also casts an Ice Barrier at 25% effectiveness for Fire. Ice Barrier also casts a Blazing Barrier at 25% effectiveness for Frost. This also affects your Mass Barrier.
• Meltdown: You melt slightly out of your Ice Block and Ice Cold, allowing you to move slowly during Ice Block and increasing your movement speed over time. Ice Block and Ice Cold trigger a Blast Wave when they end.
• Frostfire Bolt (Tier 1): Launches a bolt of Frostfire at the enemy, dealing Frostfire damage, slowing movement speed by 50%, and causing additional Frostfire damage over 8 seconds. Frostfire Bolt generates a stack of both Fire Mastery and Frost Mastery. Replaces Frostbolt for Frost and Fireball for Fire. 2 second cast time.
• Choice Node (Tier 1): Elemental Affinity & Flame & Frost
• Elemental Affinity: The cooldown of Frost spells is reduced by 10% for Fire. The cooldown of Fire spells is reduced by 30% for Frost.
• Flame and Frost: Cauterize resets the cooldown of your Frost spells with a base cooldown shorter than 4 minutes when it activates for Fire. Cold Snap additionally resets the cooldown of your Fire spells.
• Isothermic Core (Tier 2): Comet Storm now also calls down a Meteor at 100% effectiveness onto your target’s location. Meteor now also calls down a Comet Storm at 150% effectiveness onto your target location.
• Choice Node (Tier 2): Severe Temperatures & Thermal Conditioning
• Severe Temperatures: Casting Frost or Fire spells increases the damage of your next Frostfire Bolt by 6%, stacking up to 5 times.
• Thermal Conditioning: Frostfire Bolt’s cast time is reduced by 10%.
• Frostfire Infusion (Tier 2): Your Frost and Fire spells have a chance to trigger an additional bolt of Frostfire, dealing Frostfire damage. This effect generates Frostfire Mastery when activated.
• Excess Frost (Tier 3): Reaching maximum stacks of Frost Mastery causes your next Phoenix Flames (Fire) / Flurry (Frost) to also cast Ice Nova at 200% effectiveness. When you consume Excess Frost, the cooldown of Meteor (Fire) / Comet Storm (Frost) is reduced by 5 seconds.
• Frostfire Empowerment (Tier 3): Your Frost and Fire spells have a chance to activate Frostfire Empowerment, causing your next Frostfire Bolt to always critically strike, explode for 80% of its damage to nearby enemies, and be instant cast.
• Excess Fire (Tier 3): Reaching maximum stacks of Fire Mastery causes your next Fire Blast (Fire) / Ice Lance (Frost) to apply Living Bomb at 150% effectiveness. When this Living Bomb explodes, reduce the cooldown of Phoenix Flames by 10 seconds (Fire) / gain Brain Freeze (Frost).
• Flash Freezeburn (Capstone): Frostfire Empowerment grants you maximum benefit of Frostfire Mastery and refreshes its duration. Activating Combustion or Icy Veins grants you Frostfire Empowerment.

Oracle (Discipline/Holy) Priest

• Premonition (Keystone): Divine the future, and gain access to a spell that gives you an advantage against your fate. Replaces Power Infusion. 1 minute cooldown. Instant Cast. Solace: Increases your target’s healing received by 25% for 10 seconds. Insight: Increases your targets magic damage dealt by 10% for 10 seconds. Glory: Increases your target’s physical damage dealt by 10% for 10 seconds.
• Preventative Measures (Tier 1): Increases the damage absorbed by Power Word: Shield by 10% and the healing done by Prayer of Mending by 10%.
• Preemptive Care (Tier 1): Increases the duration of Atonement by 1 second and increases the duration of Renew by 3 seconds.
• Choice Node (Tier 1): Waste No Time & Miraculous Recovery
• Waste No Time: Premonition causes your next Power Word: Radiance, Heal, or Prayer of Healing to be instant cast and cost 15% less mana.
• Miraculous Recovery: Reduces the cooldown of Power Word: Life by 3 seconds and allows it to be usable on targets below 50% health.
• Assured Safety (Tier 2): Power Word: Shield applies 1 stack of Prayer of Mending to your target. Prayer of Mending casts apply a Power Word: Shield to your target at 20% effectiveness.
• Choice Node (Tier 2): Prompt Deliverance & Divine Feathers
• Prompt Deliverance: Reduces the cooldown of Purify by 2 seconds.
• Divine Feathers: When an ally walks through your Angelic Feather, you are also granted 100% of its effect.
• Foreseen Circumstances (Tier 2): Pain Suppression reduces damage taken by an additional 10%. Guardian Spirit lasts an additional 2 seconds.
• Grand Reveal (Tier 3): When your Power Word: Shield is fully absorbed or your Prayer of Mending heals, gain a stack of Grand Reveal. At 150 stacks, gain an additional charge of Premonition.
• Choice Node: Perfect Vision & Versatile Divinations
• Perfect Vision: Reduces the cooldown of Premonition by 10 seconds.
• Versatile Divinations: Premonition can now trigger the Brilliance and Urgency effects. Brilliance: Restores 5% of your target’s maximum mana. Urgency: Increases your target’s Haste by 12% for 10 seconds.
• Choice Node (Tier 3): Divine Providence & Fatebender
• Divine Providence: Increases the duration of your Premonition effects by 2 seconds.
• Fatebender: Premonition’s effect is increased by 30% if the divined spell is different than the previous Premonition.