Humans, Dwarves and Orcs lose their weapon racials

The weapon racials of Humans, Dwarves and Orcs are gone from World of Warcraft: Forever. In the beta build of 15 October, Blizzard replaces them with critical strike bonuses that no longer depend on a weapon type. Almost every other race gets changes too.

Blizzard published the changes in its development notes in the night of 15 to 16 October, after the beta had been offline for the new build. A week earlier, Josh Greenfield had said that the actives of Orcs and Trolls, and the racials that raise weapon skill, were under review.

Weapon specializations make way

Race	Old racial	New racial
Human	Sword Specialization	Ruthless: 2% more critical strike chance
Dwarf	Mace Specialization	Earth Fury: 2% more critical damage and healing
Orc	Axe Specialization	Savage: 1% more critical strike chance

A Human Rogue or an Orc Warrior no longer has to choose a weapon for the racial. Casters and healers get the full bonus as well.

Horde

• Orc: the cooldown of Blood Fury rises to 3 minutes (was 2). Shatter Curse now removes Curses and Banes instead of giving immunity, and reduces magic damage taken by 5% (was 15%).
• Troll: Regeneration raises Health regeneration by 20% (was 10%). Berserking is not in the notes.
• Tauren: Endurance now gives 2% more critical damage and healing (was 1% hit). Plainsrunning also raises mounted speed by 3%, stacking with other bonuses, but the Tauren has to cover a minimum distance per second to keep it. Stutter-stepping is no longer enough, says Blizzard. Cultivation drops to a 15 minute cooldown (was 60) and War Stomp to 90 seconds (was 2 minutes).
• Undead: the chance and cooldown of Touch of the Grave are adjusted so it triggers more evenly, with better visuals. Will of the Forsaken is no longer available under Scatter Shot. Touch of the Dead now has a 30% chance for casters and 20% for Paladins, Rogues and Warriors, with a 25 second internal cooldown. It no longer scales with Shadow bonuses and loses nothing when a lower rank is used.

Alliance

• Dwarf: besides Earth Fury, Find Treasure now also gives a chance at extra items from most chests.
• Gnome: Eureka! becomes a buff of 8 seconds without charges. The effect on damage and costs stays the same, and it now also works on Power Word: Shield. According to the notes, it does not work correctly in stealth or invisibility.
• Night Elf: the speed bonus of Quickness now stacks with other speed bonuses. Night Elves no longer show their shield in Wisp form.

Skyborne

Wind Blessed now gives 3% haste (was 1%). Skysight and Read Ley Line can be cast while moving, and Read Ley Line lasts at least 30 seconds (was 20). Walk on Air drops to a 90 second cooldown (was 2 minutes). Most zones in the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor also get more spots for Elemental Convergences and ley lines.

The table with every racial per race on Classes has been updated. All of this applies to the beta; whether the values stay for the launch on 4 November, Blizzard does not say.