The beta returns with a new build and cheap respecs

Blizzard took the WoW Forever beta down on the evening of 24 September to deploy a new build. The maintenance lasted a few hours. The build fixes a memory leak, makes a respec cost 1 silver for now and adds the Cooldown Manager.

Community manager Kaivax announced the maintenance on the forums at 21.50 Belgian time, without an end time:

We took the Beta down for maintenance and to deploy a new build. We don’t have an ETA just yet, but it should take at least a couple of hours.

Players in the thread wrote that the warning in the game came late: the countdown to the shutdown was much shorter than announced. The development notes followed at 00.23 Belgian time. The changes per class are in a separate post.

What the build fixes

• A memory leak that made the game slower the longer you played. Players had reported frame rates that stayed low after a busy city until they logged out.
• On Mac a water display issue and other graphical artefacts. A setting that could switch off fog is gone.
• Campfires: you can now buff, cast and craft while you wait for the Campfire buff, without standing up. Sitting in a chair, sleeping, lying down and kneeling also count.
• Casters play their precast animation again. Pet happiness drops again at maximum loyalty, and mail no longer ignores surnames.

A respec for 1 silver

A talent reset costs 1 silver if you have not changed your talents recently. After that first reset the price rises, and it falls back to 1 silver after an hour. This is for the beta only, Blizzard writes.

The Cooldown Manager

The Cooldown Manager takes the key information from the buff bar and action bar and puts it where you want it. It is off by default and can be switched on under Options, Gameplay Enhancement. Druid, Mage, Priest, Warrior and Warlock can test it now; the other classes follow later. It does not handle spell ranks yet, and Blizzard asks which spells players want tracked by default.

Gamepad, items and races

• Gamepad: new flyouts on the action bar for shapeshifts, pets, auras and stances, a compact action bar, fixed party targeting and more options to swap targeting sides.
• Wands no longer gain damage from spell damage. Wizard Oil goes back to its Classic Era values: 8 spell power for Minor, 16 for Lesser, 24 for Wizard Oil. Brilliant Wizard Oil stays the same.
• A few guns and bows now use ammunition correctly, and several quest rewards have the right item level.
• Gnome: Eureka! gives a 10% discount on Mana, Rage or Energy on every class. Tauren: Cultivation needs a player level equal to the Herbalism requirement of the herb divided by 5. Undead: Touch of the Grave only triggers from damage and no longer breaks crowd control.

Quests

Many quest mobs and objects in the starting zones respawn faster, in Elwynn Forest, Dun Morogh, Durotar, Mulgore, Silverpine Forest and Westfall. Jasperlode Mine and Fargodeep Mine lose their candles, because they were more deadly than intended for solo players. The arrival of Khonsu in Silithus is removed from the beta and returns later. On Zephras Isle the Skyborne quest Catching Wind has been redesigned.

Known issues

Blizzard lists a few new known issues with this build. Forming or changing a group can move players to another instance of the world; a fix is coming. The minimap in Stormwind does not display correctly, and the Cooldown Manager cannot yet track pet cooldowns, Healthstones or weapon enhancements such as poisons.