THE WOW FOREVER COLLECTION · FIELD GUIDE · DATA CHECKED SEPTEMBER 14, 2026
Blizzard let anyone at BlizzCon open every talent tree for every class in the World of Warcraft: Forever demo. The community transcribed the lot, and the picture is bigger than "Classic with a few fixes." Of the 470 talents across 27 trees, 119 did not exist in Classic, 263 were reworked, 19 moved without changing, and only 69 are the talent you remember. Another 81 Classic talents are gone entirely. Fourteen of the 27 31-point capstones are new.
This is the tree by tree version. If you want to click through it yourself, every class is in our WoW Forever talent calculator, with each talent flagged as new, reworked or moved and the Classic text shown for comparison.
One caveat before we start. Everything below was read off demo tooltips and Blizzard's panel slides. Ranks the demo never displayed are estimated, and numbers will move once the beta opens on September 17. Treat the shapes as real and the exact percentages as provisional.
The pattern behind the changes
Four things happen in almost every tree.
The weapon specialization talents are gone. Warriors lose Axe, Mace, Sword and Polearm Specialization. Rogues lose Dagger, Mace, Sword and Fist Weapon Specialization. Shamans lose Two-Handed Axes and Maces. In their place sit single talents like Weaponmaster (Arms) and Hack and Slash (Combat) that give a benefit depending on whatever you have equipped. No more being locked to swords because Sword Spec is the only good one.
Hybrids get mana talents. Reverence for Holy Paladins, Mindfulness for Restoration Shamans, Mental Dexterity and Mental Quickness for Enhancement, Rapid Recuperation for Marksmanship, Soul Harvesting for Affliction. The vanilla problem of a spec that runs dry two pulls into a dungeon is being addressed with talents rather than base spell changes.
The "improved buff" filler is mostly cut. Improved Battle Shout, Improved Demoralizing Shout, Improved Blessing of Might, Improved Blessing of Wisdom, Improved Mark of the Wild, Improved Power Word: Fortitude, Improved Devotion Aura, Improved Hunter's Mark. Those rows are replaced with talents that change what you press.
And the 31-point slot is where Blizzard spent its budget. Half of the capstones are new abilities pulled forward from later expansions or invented for Forever, and the ones that stayed (Mortal Strike, Bestial Wrath, Adrenaline Rush, Moonkin Form) were mostly reworked.
Warrior
Open the Warrior calculator. 54 talents, 11 new, 9 removed.
Arms keeps Mortal Strike unchanged as its capstone, but the road there is different. Spearing Strike is a new tier 4 ability that deals 40% weapon damage, plus an extra 80% against Giants, Dragonkin and mounted targets, and it dismounts them. Bloodthrill gives your melee attacks against Rended targets a chance to activate Overpower, which turns Rend from a leveling button into a raid button. Weaponmaster replaces all four weapon specs with one talent: crit for axes and polearms, armor penetration for maces and staves, extra attacks for swords.
Fury loses Improved Battle Shout and Improved Demoralizing Shout and gains Raging Blows, which makes Whirlwind also strike with your off-hand and cuts the Rage cost of Cleave. Bloodthirst now also grants 10% movement speed for 10 seconds. Precision adds hit, Boundless Rage raises your Rage cap.
Protection is where the new talents pile up. Vanguard lets you Charge in Defensive Stance, which every Classic tank has wanted since 2004. Master of Defense generates Rage on dodge and parry with a shield, Bastion gives 2% damage per rank while a shield is equipped, and Shield Slam now scales with Block Value. Improved Shield Block and Improved Taunt are gone.
Paladin
Open the Paladin calculator. 52 talents, 20 new, 12 removed. That is the most new talents of any class.
Holy Shock and Holy Strike sit at the centre of all three trees now. The new Holy capstone is Light's Vigil, a 1.5 second cast that primes a target for 30 seconds so your next Holy Shock on them triggers no cooldown and heals their party. Infusion of Light shortens your next Holy Light after a Holy Shock or Flash of Light crit. Reverence gives mana regen while casting, and Voice of Truth is a 3 minute cooldown that makes you immune to silences and interrupts for 6 seconds. Consecration is no longer a talent because it is baseline at level 20 now, per Blizzard's Deep Dive panel. Improved Lay on Hands and Improved Blessing of Wisdom are gone.
Protection gets Templar's Bulwark, a 5 minute cooldown absorb equal to 100% of your maximum health that applies Forbearance, and Swift Judgement, which resets Judgement and makes the next one free. Iron Creed boosts Holy Strike threat and adds a damage reduction while Righteous Fury is up. Blessing of Kings left the tree because it went baseline; Blessing of Sanctuary is simply gone.
Retribution finally has a real capstone. Twist of Light rewards swapping Seals by granting an Echo that applies the replaced Seal's effect on your next melee attack. Seal twisting was a TBC thing that never worked in Classic, and here it is as a designed mechanic. Champion of the Light converts Intellect into spell damage and healing, Sacred Arbiter makes Holy Strike refresh your Judgements, and Sanctity Aura is out.
Hunter
Open the Hunter calculator. 50 talents, 14 new, 10 removed.
Beast Mastery is the least touched tree. Bestial Wrath is unchanged, Focused Fire adds damage while a pet is out, and Summon Hawk is a new tier 4 ability that sends a hawk to dive-bomb your target for 18 seconds, two hawks at a time.
Marksmanship has the talent everyone screenshotted: Lone Wolf, 20% increased damage from all attacks while you have no active pet. Careful Aim turns Intellect into Attack Power, Rapid Killing cuts a minute off Rapid Fire and buffs your next shot after a kill, and Rapid Recuperation ties mana regen to Serpent Sting. Sniper Shot is a reworked capstone.
Survival lost six talents, including Wyvern Sting, Trap Mastery and both Slaying talents. It gained eight. The new capstone Lacerating Strikes makes Mongoose Bite bleed for 40% of its damage over 21 seconds, Strider Kick is a new melee attack for 100% weapon damage on an 8 second cooldown, Expose Prey activates Mongoose Bite off Hunter's Mark, and Predator's Edge buffs melee crit damage and off-hand damage. This is a melee tree now, on purpose.
Rogue
Open the Rogue calculator. 53 talents, 9 new, 7 removed.
Assassination lost nothing and gained Mutilate at tier 5 (both weapons for 75% damage plus a bonus, 20% more against Poisoned targets, two combo points) and Venom as a new capstone, a finisher that buffs poison damage by 30% and poison application by 10% for a duration that scales with combo points.
Combat drops all four weapon specialization talents for Hack and Slash, which gives extra attacks for axes and swords and other benefits by weapon type. Restless Blades reduces the cooldowns of Adrenaline Rush, Blade Flurry, Evasion, Sprint and Vanish by 2 seconds per combo point spent on a damaging finisher. Adrenaline Rush itself is unchanged.
Subtlety ends in Thousand Cuts: while Rupture ticks, your next Hemorrhage or Backstab costs 3 less Energy, stacking five times. Cutthroat gives Backstab a chance to let you Ambush out of stealth, Quietus adds damage below 35% health, and Improved Sap and Sleight of Hand are gone.
Priest
Open the Priest calculator. 53 talents, 13 new, 7 removed.
Discipline is a different tree. Penance arrives at tier 5, a channelled volley that damages an enemy or heals an ally over 2 seconds on a 12 second cooldown. Divine Aegis puts an absorb on the target of your critical heals. Soul Warding cuts Power Word: Shield's cooldown by 4 seconds and its mana cost by 15%. Twin Disciplines buffs instant casts, Power in Light buffs Smite and Penance against Holy Fire targets, and Renewed Hope gives crit on targets with Weakened Soul. Divine Spirit went baseline, Force of Will is gone, and Power Infusion stays as the capstone.
Holy gains Binding Heal (heals the target and yourself, low threat), Litany of Light (mana back for alternating heals) and Prayer of Mending as the new capstone, jumping between party members on damage. Lightwell did not make the cut.
Shadow Magic keeps Shadowform as its capstone but the tooltip now reduces the mana cost of all Shadow spells by 50%, which is the fix Shadow Priests asked for across three years of Classic. Improved Mind Flay adds range, damage and a slow, Devouring Contagion makes Devouring Plague spread on death, and Early Demise gives Shadow Word: Death 15% more crit chance on targets under 20% health. Both of those spells are new to the class.
Shaman
Open the Shaman calculator. 50 talents, 12 new, 8 removed. All three capstones are new.
Elemental Combat gets Lava Burst, a 2.5 second cast on a 10 second cooldown that deals 20% more with Flame Shock on the target. Lightning Overload gives Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning a chance to fire a second copy at half damage. Elemental Mastery is gone.
Enhancement turns into an Intellect tree in an unexpected way. Mental Dexterity gives Attack Power from Intellect, Mental Quickness gives spell damage from Intellect, and Maelstrom Weapon stacks up to five times to speed up and cheapen your next Lightning Bolt. Improved Stormstrike can reset Stormstrike's cooldown. The capstone Rage of the Farseer is a 3 minute cooldown for 30% melee and casting speed over 25 seconds. Shield Specialization and Two-Handed Axes and Maces are out, along with Improved Weapon Totems and Weapon Mastery.
Restoration gets Water Shield at tier 3, Mindfulness for mana regen while casting, and Riptide as the capstone: an instant heal plus a heal over time that also buffs Chain Heal on that target by 25%. Nature's Guidance and Totemic Mastery are gone.
Mage
Open the Mage calculator. 54 talents, 6 new, 1 removed. Mages barely got touched, and none of the three capstones are new.
Arcane picks up Arcane Blast at tier 3, with the familiar stacking damage and mana cost, Missile Barrage to shorten Arcane Missiles, and Arcane Geometry for range. Arcane Power keeps its 15 second, 30% damage for 30% mana deal.
Fire gains exactly one talent, Hot Streak, which reduces Pyroblast's cast time after a crit rather than making it instant. Combustion was reworked.
Frost gets Ice Lance at tier 3 (300% damage to Frozen targets) and Fingers of Frost at tier 5, which treats your next spell as if the target were Frozen. Ice Barrier is still the capstone.
Warlock
Open the Warlock calculator. 52 talents, 19 new, 17 removed. That is the most removals of any class, and the tree that changed the most in total.
Affliction loses seven talents including Dark Pact, Grim Reach and every Improved Drain. It gains Malediction for periodic damage, Pandemic for 33% more crit damage on your DoTs, Malevolence for Shadow crit, and Drain Hope as its capstone, a channel that ticks Shadow damage every second and buffs your other Shadow DoTs on that target by 10% while it runs. Note the spell names in Pandemic's tooltip: Bane of Agony and Bane of Doom, not Curse. The curse and bane split from Cataclysm appears to be in.
Demonology loses Fel Intellect and the Improved stone talents and gains a whole pet-focused mid tree: Demonic Energies heals your pet off your spell damage and shares Life Tap mana with it, Demonic Brand gives your pet high threat attacks on a marked target, Demonic Knowledge scales your spell damage while a demon is out, and Decimation speeds up Soul Fire on low health targets. The capstone Demonic Pact keeps your Demonic Sacrifice buff even after you summon a different demon.
Destruction drops Improved Immolate, Devastation and Emberstorm and builds around Conflagrate and Shadowburn instead. Fire and Brimstone adds Conflagrate crit, Shadow and Flame makes Conflagrate buff Shadow damage and Shadowburn buff Fire damage, Bane of Havoc copies 15% of your damage to a second target, and Incinerate is the new capstone.
Druid
Open the Druid calculator. 52 talents, 15 new, 10 removed.
Balance loses Natural Weapons and Improved Thorns, while Nature's Grasp and Omen of Clarity move to the trainer. It gains Genesis for periodic damage, Nature's Majesty for crit, Balance of Nature (alternating Nature and Arcane casts buff each other) and Eclipse, which makes Wrath shorten your next two Starfires. Moonkin Form stays as the capstone with a reworked aura.
Feral Combat is the biggest single tree in the game at 19 talents. Mangle arrives at tier 4 as a bear ability on a 6 second cooldown. King of the Jungle makes Tiger's Fury grant Energy, Rend and Tear buffs damage on bleeding targets, and Natural Reaction gives dodge and Rage on dodge. The capstone Berserk removes Mangle's cooldown and lets it hit three targets while making your combo point builders crit every time. Faerie Fire (Feral), Feral Aggression and Blood Frenzy are gone.
Restoration lost Improved Mark of the Wild (baseline now) and gained Gift of the Earthmother, which cuts the global cooldown on Rejuvenation, Swiftmend and Wild Growth, plus Living Spirit and Wild Growth itself as the new capstone: a smart party heal over 7 seconds on a 6 second cooldown.
What we still do not know
Blizzard's Deep Dive panel confirmed some of what the trees imply: Holy Strike and Seal of Fury are baseline Paladin abilities, Shadow Word: Death, Devouring Plague and Fear Ward are baseline for every Priest, Aimed Shot is baseline for Hunters, and Mages train Frostfire Bolt. The Bane spells in the Warlock tooltips have not been addressed. Dual spec was not announced. Blizzard also confirmed a new one-point milestone talent at 16 points in each tree alongside the familiar 11, 21 and 31, which is why so many of the new abilities above sit at tier 4. Nothing here is final. When the beta client is out we will rebuild the calculator data and update this page, and the pillar guide has the rest of the changes outside the trees.
Until then, go build something and argue about it in the comments.