Early WoW Patch Notes 10.2: New Raid and Class Changes

The latest WoW patch 10.1.7 has been out for a while now, but eyes are already looking toward the second huge content drop of the year, WoW patch 10.2. The upcoming patch, Guardians of the Dream, will bring some of the biggest changes to WoW Dragonflight yet as the expansion’s first anniversary approaches.

The new content will include a new zone, a new legendary weapon Fyr’alath the Dream Render axe, and a new raid, Amirdrissal: the Dream’s Hope, where players get to fight the flaming tyrant of the skies, Fyrakk himself. If that’s not enough, some immense class changes are coming to the Dragon Isles and beyond, including huge adjustments to Rogue, Priest, and Druid specializations.

WoW patch 10.2 is already live on the Public Test Realm (PTR), but for players who can’t keep up with all the changes, here’s a brief rundown of the new major updates coming in patch 10.2.

When Will WoW Patch 10.2 Go Live?

The exact release for the next WoW patch, 10.2, is currently unknown. Going by Blizzard Entertainments' recent patch schedule, we can guess it'll be around November after BlizzCon, also marking a year since the Dragonflight expansion launched.

As always when a new WoW patch launches, players on NA servers will have the luxury of playing through it first. EMEA players will have to update until the typical Wednesday weekly server reset to play through the new patch 10.2 when it goes live.

What's New With WoW Patch 10.2?

The Emerald Dream

A brand-new location will be brought to the Dragon Isles in patch 10.2, known as the Emerald Dream zone. There will be Emerald Dream world quests, stories, rare items, and even a new world boss: Aurostor the Hibernating.

The Emerald Dream will be home to some new Campaign Chapters, where players must stop the flaming tyrant Fyrakk from destroying the new world tree and taking Amirdrassil’s power.

A new faction, the Dream Wardens, will be unlocked so players can grind reputation for faction-specific rewards like transmogs, mounts, and more!

New Raid: Amirdrassil, The Dream’s Hope

The Emerald Dream also houses a brand-new nine-boss raid, Amirdrassil, The Dream’s Hope, where the new world tree’s fate hangs in the balance.

The nine bosses players can take on in Amirdrassil, The Dream’s Hope are Gnarlroot, Igira the Cruel, Volcoross, Council of Dreams, Larodar Keeper of the Flame, Nymue Weaver of the Cycle, Smolderon, Tindral Sagewift, Seer of the Flame, and Fyrakk the Blazing.

Later information about raid testing will begin at a later date - watch this space for the PTR raid resting schedule.

Three New World Events

Not one but three world events will be coming in WoW patch 10.2, all nature-themed. The event chain begins with Superbloom, where players escort an Ancient around the Emerald Dream zone.

During the Emerald Frenzy, players will fight off waves of frenzied flora and fauna to earn rewards. Finally, in Emerald Bounty, players plant saplings and nurture them into blooming. The rewards for Emerald Bounty will depend on how many players help the sapling to grow, similar to the Iskaara Tuskarr Community Feast event.

Class Changes

The class changes in WoW 10.2 are some of the biggest to date. Class specs, like Rogue, Death Knight, Priest, and Warlocks are seeing many changes coming their way, including new Talents and even reworked ones.

Druids in particular are seeing some exciting changes, as they are getting some fun customizations, including new Moonkin forms. Details on how these new looks are unlocked are yet to be revealed, so watch this space!

Death Knight

Unholy

• Unholy Assault increases all damage dealt by 20% (was granting 20% Haste for 20 seconds).
• Raise Dead damage increased by 10%.
• Summon Gargoyle damage reduced by 30%.
• Soul Reaper damage increased by 20%.
• Army of the Dead ghoul damage reduced by 25%.
• Apocalypse ghoul damage increased by 12%.
• Death Coil damage increased by 12%.
• Scourge Strike damage increased by 12%.
• Festering Strike damage increased by 20%.
• Festering Wound damage increased by 10%.

Druid

Balance

• Damage of all abilities increased by 2%
• Nature’s Grace now grants 10% Haste, was 15%.
• Power of the Godrinn damage increased by 20%.
• Rattle the Stars redesigned - it’s no longer a stacking buff when you cast Starsurge or Starfall. It’s now a passive bonus that always reduces the cost of those two abilities by 10% and increases their damage by 12%.
• Orbital Strike redesigned. A celestial energy bombardment in a target location blasts nearby enemies for AoE Astral damage. Stellar Flare is applied to hit enemies for 16 seconds.
• Fungal Growth has been removed, and Wild Mushrooms’ now includes the effects of Fungal Growth.
• Wild Mushrooms’ damage has been reduced by 20%.

Feral

• Cat’s Curiosity replaced with Saber Jaws. When players spend extra Energy on Ferocious Bite, the extra damage is increased by 40%/80%.

Restoration

• New Talent: Liveliness. Any damage-over-time effects deal damage 25% faster, and healing-over-time effects heal 5% faster.
• Cenarius’ Guidance’s Incarnation: Tree of Life functionality redesign. During Incarnation: Tree of Life, you summon a Grove Guardian every 10 seconds.
• Incarnation: Tree of Life empowers Wrath, causing it to deal 20% more damage and be instant cast.
• Reforestation now grants Incarnation: Tree of Life for 10 seconds (was 9 seconds).
• Grove Tending healing increased by 30%.
• Grove Guardian’s Nourish healing decreased by 16%.
• Grove Guardian’s Swiftmend healing reduced by 20%.
• Grove Guardian’s Wild Growth healing from Wild Synthesis reduced by 20%.
• Regrowth initial healing increased by 20%, and over-time effect increased by 42%
• Rejuvenation healing increased by 25%.
• Wild Growth healing increased by 15%.
• Wrath and Starfire damage increased by 90%.
• Cenarion Ward healing increased by 25%.
• Spring Blossoms healing reduced by 25%.
• Swiftmend healing increased by 30%.
• Embrace of the Dream healing reduced by 30%.
• Removed: Circle of Life and Death.

Evoker

Devastation

• All damage increased by 5%.
• Mastery: Giantkiller reduced by 25%.

Preservation

• Spiritbloom healing increased by 25%.
• Living Flame healing increased by 20%.
• Verdant Embrace healing increased by 25%.
• Resonating Spheres applies Echo to the first three allies it hits (was previously five).
• Cycle of Life now accumulates 10% of healing over eight seconds (was 15% over ten seconds).

Hunter

Beast Mastery

• New Talent: Savagery (Passive) – Kill Command damage is increased by 10%. Barbed Shot lasts two seconds longer. Replaces Aspect of the Wild.
• Master Handler redesigned. Each time Barbed Shot deals damage, the cooldown of Kill Command is reduced by 0.5 seconds.
• Call of the Wild redesigned. Cooldown reduced to 2 minutes (was 3 minutes). Additionally, whenever Call of the Wild summons a pet, Kill Command and Barbed Shot's cooldown is reduced by 50%.
• Removed: Aspect of the Wild and Snake Bite

Survival

• Wildfire Bombs now deal 40% increased damage to the primary target and correctly state that damage is reduced when damaging more than eight targets.

Monk

Mistweaver

• Life Cocoon healing increased by 33%.
• Soothing Mist healing increased by 40%.
• Enveloping Mist healing increased by 25%.
• Enveloping Breath now heals up to five nearby targets.
• Invigorating Mist’s healing is increased by 25% and reduced beyond five targets.
• Burst of Life healing increased by 100%.
• Vivify direct healing is increased by 30%.
• Clouded Focus increases the healing of Vivify and Enveloping Mist by 15% per stack.
• Ancient Teachings’ range increased to 40 yards (was 30 yards).
• Ancient Concordance now costs one point.

Holy

• All healing reduced by 3%.
• Holy Light healing increased by 40%.
• Flash of Light healing increased by 30%.
• Glimmer of Light healing and damage is now increased by 4% per target (was 6%), and overall damage increased by 10%.
• Reclamation restores up to 12% of Crusader Strike and Holy Shock’s mana cost (was previously 15%).

Priest

Discipline

• New Talent: Sanctuary. Smite prevents the next 80% damage dealt by the enemy.
• New Talent: Ultimate Penitence. Ascend into the sky and unleash a massive barrage of AoE Penance bolts. This causes Holy damage to enemies or Holy healing to allies over six seconds. While ascended, gain a shield for 50% of your health. In addition, the player is unaffected by knockbacks or crowd control effects.
• New Talent: Overloaded with Light. Ultimate Penitence emits a light explosion, healing up to ten allies in a nearby radius, applying Atonement at 50% of normal duration.
• New Talent: Heaven’s Wrath. Each Penance bolt fired reduces the cooldown of Ultimate Penitence by 2 seconds.
• Mind Blast now has a 24-second cooldown, and damage increased by 30%.
• Schism redesigned as a passive Talent. Mind Blast now fractures the enemy’s mind, increasing their spell damage by 10% for nine seconds.
• Shadow Covenant redesigned. Shadowfiend or Mindbender enters the player into a shadowy pact, transforming Halo, Divine Star, and Penance into Shadow spells. Damage and healing of Shadow spells is increased by 25% for 15 seconds.
• Dark Indulgence no longer grants an additional charge of Mind Blast. Instead, Mind Blast has a 100% chance to give Power of the Dark Side.
• Inescapable Torment damage increased by 60% and triggers from Penance, Mind Blast, and Shadow Word: Death.
• Atonement now heals for 32% of damage done.
• Flash Heal increased by 40%.
• Removed: Power Word: Solace, Light’s Wrath, Resplendent Light, Wrath Unleashed, and Make Amends.

Holy

• Holy Word: Serenity healing increased by 30%.
• Flash Heal increased by 40%.
• Holy Word: Salvation cooldown is reduced by 15 seconds by Holy Word: Serenity and Holy Word: Sanctify.
• Symbol of Hope recovers 40 seconds of cooldown (was 60 seconds).
• Holy Word: Sanctify now heals up to five allies (was six).
• Divine Star healing decreased by 25%.
• Halo healing decreased by 15%.

Shadow

• Shadow Crash damage is now reduced beyond five targets.
• Surge of Insanity triggers from every three casts of Devouring Plague instead of every cast.
• Mind Flay damage increased by 10%.
• Mind Flay: Insanity damage increased by 30%.
• Mind Spike: Insanity damage increased by 20%.

Rogue

• New Talent: Featherfoot (Passive). Sprint increases movement speed by 30% and duration by 4 seconds.
• New Talent: Superior Mixture (Passive). Crippling Poison reduced movement speed by an additional 10%.
• New Talent: Graceful Guile (Passive). Feint has one additional charge.
• New Talent: Stillshroud (Passive). Shroud of Concealment has a 50% reduced cooldown.
• Marked for Death has been adjusted. Cooldown is now 40 seconds for all specializations. Grants full combo points and lasts 15 seconds with a reset cooldown if the target dies during the effect.

Assassination

• Shadowstep is now a baseline ability.
• New Talent: Sudden Demise (Passive). Bleed damage increased by 10%. Targets below 35% health take fatal damage when the remaining Bleed damage dealt to them exceeds 200% of their remaining health.
• New Talent: Path of Blood (Passive). Increases max Energy by 100.
• Crimson Tempest has been adjusted: It now has a damage-over-time effect rather than instant damage. Duration increased by two seconds and deals bonus damage when multiple enemies are afflicted.
• Exsanguinate adjusted: Active version: Garrote, Rupture, and Crimson Tempest consume 10 Energy to duplicate 100% of any damage dealt. Passive version: While above 100 Energy, Garrote, Rupture, and Crimson Tempest consume eight Energy to duplicate 40% of any damage dealt.
• Indiscriminate Carnage (Passive Talent) redesigned. When used from Stealth, Garrote, and Rupture apply to two additional enemies and for three seconds after breaking Stealth.
• Dragon-Tempered Blades cause weapon poisons to apply 30% less frequently.
• Improved Shiv now increases Nature damage by 30%.
• Arterial Precision’s effect increased Bleed damage by 30%, which was 20%.
• Dashing Scoundrel effect now generates 1/2 Energy (was one Energy at both ranks).

Outlaw

• Grappling Hook, Blade Flurry, Roll the Bones, and Restless Blades are now baseline abilities.
• New Talent: Airborne Irritant (Passive). Blind applies to four additional nearby enemies while Blade Flurry is active.
• New Talent: Crackshot (Passive). Between the Eyes has no cooldown.
• Thief’s Versatility adjusted. Moved from Class Talent tree to Oulaw as a one-point Talent. Now increases Versatility by 4%.
• Improved Adrenaline Rush adjusted. No longer grants full combo points when Adrenaline Rush ends.
• Ghostly Strike adjusted. Cooldown increased to 1.5 minutes. Energy cost increased to 35. Damage increased by 33%.
• Killing Spree adjusted. Now a finishing move, increasing the number of total strikes per combo point, damage per strike increased by 33%, no longer reduced damage taken during effect, and Haste now affects duration, reducing the time between strikes.
• Fatal Flourish effect now has a 50% chance to trigger (was 60%).
• Improved Main Gauche is now a one-point talent.
• Removed: Weaponmaster.

Subtlety

• New Talent: Ephemeral Bond (Passive) – Increases healing received by 12%.
• New Talent: Shadowcraft (Passive). While Symbols of Death is active, Shadow Techniques triggers sooner, stores one additional combo point, and finishing moves can also use stored combo points.
• New Talent: Goremaw’s Bite. Lashes out at the target, inflicting Shadow damage.
• New Talent: Stunning Secret (Passive). Kidney Shot has 100% increased cooldown/Energy cost. It creates shadow clones that stun nearby enemies.
• New Talent: Warning Signs (Passive). Symbols of Death increases Haste by 6%.
• Shadowstep and Black Powder are now baseline abilities.
• Shadow Blades adjusted. Causes all attacks to deal 20% additional damage as Shadow (was previously 50%).
• Shadow Techniques adjusted. No longer grants a combo point immediately. Energy generation is reduced to three from four.
• Eviscerate damage increased by 10%.

Shaman

Restoration

• Primordial Wave replicates Healing Wave at 40% effectiveness.
• Mana Tide Totem increases mana regeneration by 80%.
• Healing Stream healing increased by 20%.
• Healing Surge healing increased by 30%.
• Healing Wave healing increased by 30%.
• Ascendance now duplicates 80% of all healing done.
• Resurgence now restores 20% less mana.

Warlock

Demonology

• New Talent: Volatile Fiends. Implosion deals 10% increased damage. Bilescourge Bombers deals 20% increased damage, and all spells have a chance to summon one.
• Gul’dan’s Ambition redesigned. When Nether Portal ends, summon a Pit Lord that despawns after ten seconds.
• Ner’zhul’s Volition redesigned. Demons summoned from a Nether Portal deal 15%/30% increased damage.
• Summon Demonic Tyrant redesigned. Summon a Demonic Tyrant to increase the duration of all summoned demons for 15 seconds. Demonic Tyrant increased the damage of affected demons by 15% while damaging a target.
• Grand Warlocks Design redesigned. Summon Demonic Tyrant cooldown is reduced by 30 seconds.
• Reign of Tyranny redesigned. Active Wild Imps grant one stack of Demonic Servitude, and active greater demons give three stacks, to a maximum of 15. Demonic Tyrant deals 10% additional damage for each stack active at summon time.
• Demonbolt now grants the passive Demonic Core when learned.
• Shadow Bolt damage increased by 30%.
• Demonbolt damage increased by 15%.
• Vilefiend damage increased by 15%.
• Removed: Bloodbound Imps.

Destruction

• New Talent: Chaosbringer. Chaos Bolt damage increased by 8/15%. Rain of Fire damage increased by 5/10%. Shadowburn damage increased by 5/10%.
• Chaos Bolt damage increased by 15%.
• Grand Warlock’s Design redesigned. Summon Infernal cooldown reduced by 60 seconds.
• Removed: Madness of the Azj’Aqir.

Season 3 Mythic+ Dungeon Rotations

With a new patch comes new Mythic+ dungeons! The Mythic dungeons for Dragonflight Season 3 are Dawn of the Infinite: Galakrond’s Fall, Dawn of the Infinite: Muzorond’s Rize, Waycrest Manor, Atal’Dazar, Darkheart Thicket, Black Rook Hold, The Everbloom, and Throne of the Tides. 

The new mount awarded from getting to the Dragonflight Keystone Master Season 3 achievement looks to be the Verdant Armoredon. There is also currently no news on the affixes that will be present in WoW Dragonflight Season 3 dungeons, but stay tuned!

Final Thoughts

Wow, that’s already a lot of changes coming to World of Warcraft with patch 10.2, and that’s not even all of it! Check back on this article for any new updates playing through 10.2 on the PTR.

If you want more gaming news, check out our best Overwatch 2 crosshairs, all LoL champions by release dates, information on CS2 launch, and more on our blog page!