Shaman Discord closes in protest of the changes

The Shaman Classic Discord has locked itself down. Every channel of the server, with almost 80,000 members, is read-only since 3 November, in protest of the Shaman changes in World of Warcraft: Forever.

The server is one of the biggest places for Shaman players in every Classic version. You find rotations, leveling tips, gear and talents there for Classic Era, Season of Discovery, Mists of Pandaria and now Forever. The protest is only about Forever, but the channels for the other versions are closed as well.

Why

The moderators write that the developers ignore the feedback of the community and destroy the fantasy of the class. Their message ends with a clear demand: “Give us back our class and spec identities, and fantasies!”

The timing is no coincidence. In the development notes of 2 November, Elemental loses Lava Burst, Riptide loses its direct heal and Totemic Projection becomes Totemic Call. Earlier, Blizzard already said that Shaman tanks are not planned for the launch and that Enhancement fights with two-handers only.

Not the first time

A class Discord closed in protest before. In August 2025, the Paladin Discord of the modern game shut its Retribution channels, because the spec felt left behind. That protest lasted less than 24 hours: Blizzard announced buffs for Retribution soon after. Nothing showed that the closure caused those buffs.

Blizzard has not responded yet. Our Elemental Shaman guide and Shaman leveling guide get the new trees as soon as they are in the game.