WoW Patch 9.1.5: How your class changes in the new update

Patch 9.1.5 is launching soon in World of Warcraft. MeinMMO tells you how the classes will change with the update.

After months of waiting, a new patch is finally coming to World of Warcraft: Shadowlands. The Update 9.1.5 may not be a major content patch, but it does bring a number of changes, improvements, and new features. This includes numerous adjustments to individual classes.

We will give you a brief overview of what is changing for each class. If you want all the details, you can find the complete class adjustments further down.

The AoE cap is being removed: One of the biggest changes is that the controversial AoE cap will be removed for many abilities. While it will still be the case that many spells will deal reduced damage when hitting more than 5 targets, certain enemies will no longer take any damage at all.

Changes to Death Knights

Death Knights receive a number of improvements regarding the AoE cap. Abilities like Bone Storm or Monstrous Limb will now deal less damage starting at the 8th and 5th target, respectively. Highlights include a buff to the Kyrian ability Bonds of the Unworthy. It will now deal 10% less damage but will bounce to nearby enemies with a 100% chance.

Changes to Demon Hunters

There is not much changing for demon hunters, only a few spells that were previously too weak are being improved. Kyrian Demon Hunters are happy to receive a reduced cooldown on Soulrender, while Necrolords will get a bug fix for the Feeding the Flame demon—it will no longer scale with increased health during Metamorphosis.

Changes to Druids

For Druids, Blizzard has primarily made graphical improvements. The ability Bloom now has a new visual effect, which can be disabled with a glyph. Additionally, there are 4 new forms of travel form that can be found in the game, each with 2 color variants. Apart from that, there are mainly minor bug fixes for Druids.

Changes to Hunters

A new patch means especially new companions for hunters to tame. These include Aquilons, Corpseflies, and Gromits. Aside from that, there is little new, as hunters mainly benefit from bug fixes and smaller adjustments, as well as the removal of the AoE cap and a reduction in damage when hitting more than 5 or 8 targets.

Changes to Mages

Frost Mages can rejoice, as their damage is significantly increased. Icy Veins, Frostbolt, and Blizzard are enhanced by an average of 10%. Apart from that, there are merely adjustments to the AoE cap—the other Mage specializations remain completely unaffected.

Changes to Monks

There is relatively little new to report for Monks as well. In addition to the AoE cap adjustment of many abilities, the Kyrian ability Fallen Order is made more reliable, and some spells are improved in their function. The Brewmaster receives a buff, as the talent Special Delivery now deals 100% more damage.

Changes to Paladins

Paladins receive only minimal changes, primarily affecting Night Fae. Blessing of the Seasons is improved and provides more healing done and received (Blessing of Spring), while the Blessing of Winter now deals more damage and creates a stronger slow.

Changes to Priests

Shadow Priests can look forward to 2 improved talents, as Descent into Madness lasts longer and Psychic Link deals 20% more damage to all affected enemies. Discipline Priests also receive solid buffs, with Divine Star dealing 40% more damage and Repentance healing significantly more.

Changes to Rogues

There is little new to report for Rogues. Only Outlaw Rogues receive a solid buff on the talent Fearsome Blades, as the first hit deals 26% more damage and immediately fills combo points. Otherwise, there are minor buffs to some abilities and the adjustment of the AoE cap for many abilities.

Changes to Shamans

Shamans have the fewest changes of all classes. Only a tooltip has been corrected, and a single ability has been added to the new AoE rules: Eye of the Storm from the Storm Elemental.

Changes to Warlocks

Warlocks will see some stronger buffs, mainly affecting covenant abilities and legendary items. The cloud from the Kyrian ability Impending Catastrophe is now 60% larger and applies debuffs to enemies more reliably. The Necrolord ability Decimating Bolt now has a cast time of 2 seconds, and the Kyrian ability Tormented Oblation deals 20% more damage.

Changes to Warriors

Warriors can also expect only a few changes. The talent Impending Victory becomes stronger, as it now has a reduced cooldown and heals a whopping 40% of the Warrior’s maximum health. Aside from that, only abilities are improved and the Sinful Wave now increases the duration of Avatar by 2.5 seconds when Condemn is used.

All class changes in detail

If you are interested in all the little details, you can examine all changes in detail here. However, as usual, they are extremely lengthy:

DEATH KNIGHTS

• The following abilities with area effects no longer have a target limit and now deal reduced damage starting at the 5th target:
  • Monstrous Limb (Necrolord ability)
  • Frost Scythe (Frost)
• The following abilities with area effects no longer have a target limit and now deal reduced damage starting at the 8th target:
  • Blood Pact
  • Consuming Void (Blood)
  • Bone Storm (Blood)
  • Bursting Sores (Unholy)
  • Reanimated Slurper (legendary effect)
• The damage of the Kyrian ability Bonds of the Unworthy has been reduced by 10%, but now spreads with a 100% chance to nearby enemies (previously 50%).
• A bug has been fixed that prevented the Kyrian ability Bonds of the Unworthy from bouncing to enemies behind the death knight.
• The legendary Necrolord effect Wrath of the Monstrosity now applies its damage increase of 10% to all enemies hit by Monstrous Limb (previously only enemies pulled by Monstrous Limb).
• The effect of the Night Fae medium Withering Ground has been increased by 50%.
• The damage effect of the Venthyr medium Impenetrable Darkness has been increased by 50%.
• BLOOD
  • The talent Consuming Void now deals 60% more damage.
  • The effect of the medium Weakened Suffering has been increased by 600%.
• UNHOLY
  • The global cooldown of the talent Unholy Strike is now reduced by haste as intended.

DEMON HUNTERS

• The following abilities with area effects no longer have a target limit and now deal reduced damage starting at the 5th target:
  • Blade Dance (Devastation)
  • Glaive Throw (Devastation)
  • Soul Cleave (Vengeance)
  • Soul Bomb (Vengeance) – was previously limited to 20 targets.
• The following abilities with area effects no longer have a target limit and now deal reduced damage starting at the 8th target:
  • Demonic Barrage (Devastation)
• The cooldown of the Venthyr ability Soulrender has been reduced to 45 seconds (previously 1 minute).
• The effect of the Night Fae ability The Hunt can now be dispelled by player immunities.
• The legendary Kyrian effect Blind Faith now grants 1% versatility (previously 1% mastery) and 10 wrath when a small soul fragment is consumed while Blind Faith is active.
• A bug has been fixed that caused the medium Lost in Darkness not to improve at higher medium ranks.
• DEVASTATION
  • The damage effect of the medium Dance with Fate has been increased by 300%.
  • A bug has been fixed that caused the medium Dance with Fate not to increase the damage of the last hit of Death Sweep.
• VENGEANCE
  • The demon summoned by the Necrolord ability Feeding the Flame no longer scales with the 50% health increase of Metamorphosis.

DRUIDS

• Discover 4 new variants of travel form, each with 2 color versions.
• The following abilities with area effects no longer have a target limit and now deal reduced damage starting at the 5th target:
  • Paw Strike
  • Brutal Slash (Feral)
• The medium Sharpened Instincts is now categorized for all specializations (previously only for Guardian).
• The jump range of the Necrolord ability Adaptive Swarm has been increased to 50 meters (previously 25 meters) and now jumps to an allied target when it has expired on an allied target and there are no valid enemy targets within 50 meters.
• A bug has been fixed that caused the effect Sated of the medium Reborn not to be increased by the racial ability Epicurean when Rebirth was cast on a Pandaren.
• FERAL
  • The Necrolord ability Adaptive Swarm now receives a damage bonus for the initial duration when used during Tiger Fury.
  • A bug has been fixed that caused the damage of basic attacks and periodic damage not to be increased by certain ranks of the medium Carnivorous Instinct while the damage bonus from Tiger Fury was active.
  • A bug has been fixed that caused the medium Carnivorous Instinct to not affect the periodic damage of Mangle and Rake.
• RESTORATION
  • Bloom now has a new graphic. For all those who liked the previous graphic, the glyph Wild Mushroom is available to take on the spell’s mushroom appearance.

HUNTERS

• Aquilons, Corpseflies, and Gromits can now be tamed as companions.
• The following abilities with area effects no longer have a target limit and now deal reduced damage starting at the 5th target:
  • Beast Maul (Beast Mastery)
  • Multi-Shot (Beast Mastery and Marksmanship)
  • Explosive Shot (Marksmanship)
  • Dissection (Survival)
  • Slaughter (Survival)
  • Ignition (legendary effect)
• The following abilities with area effects no longer have a target limit and instead deal reduced damage starting at the 8th target:
  • Suppressive Fire (Beast Mastery and Marksmanship)
• The cast time of Revive Pet has been reduced to 3 seconds (previously 4 seconds).
• Frost Trap now removes active debuffs from The Birds on the target when triggered.
• The Necrolord ability Death Chakram now also increases the physical damage done by you and your pets to hit targets by 10% for 10 seconds.
• The Venthyr ability Serrated Shot now deals an additional damage hit when used. This damage also has a 15% chance to reset the cooldown of Kill Shot (increased by the medium Empowered Shot).
• BEAST MASTERY
  • The tooltip for Wrath of the Wild has been updated to better describe its function. No functional changes have been made to Wrath of the Wild.
• MARKSMANSHIP
  • A bug has been fixed that caused the medium Sharpshooter’s Advantage to remove stealth from targets when Hunter’s Mark was used.
  • A bug has been fixed that caused the medium Sharpshooter’s Advantage of a player to be removed from targets when another hunter used Hunter’s Mark with the medium Sharpshooter’s Advantage.
• SURVIVAL
  • A bug has been fixed that required your hunter companion to be in line of sight during Coordinated Assault.
  • A bug has been fixed that prevented the talent Steel Trap from activating when the hunter did not have the trap in line of sight when setting it.
  • A bug has been fixed that caused the talent Chakram and Raptor Strike to deal damage to targets that were immune to area damage.

MAGES

• The following abilities with area effects no longer have a target limit and now deal reduced damage starting at the 5th target:
  • Glacial Fragment (legendary effect)
• The following abilities with area effects no longer have a target limit and instead deal reduced damage starting at the 8th target:
  • Arcane Echo (Arcane)
  • Frozen Orb (Frost)
• The effect of the Necrolord medium Gift of the Lich has been increased by 100%.
• FROST
  • The damage of Icy Veins has been increased by 12%.
  • The damage of Frostbolt has been increased by 8%.
  • The damage of Blizzard has been increased by 10%.
  • A bug has been fixed that caused Frostbolts from the Necrolord ability Bonechill to erroneously target enemies affected by dispellable control loss effects.

MONKS

• The following abilities with area effects no longer have a target limit and now deal reduced damage starting at the 5th target:
  • Whirling Crane Kick
  • Rushing Jade Wind (Brewmaster)
  • Paw of Fury (Windwalker)
  • Rushing Jade Wind (Windwalker)
• The talent Chistoß now deals reduced healing starting at the 6th target.
  • Developer’s comment: This spell previously employed a complicated, invisible area healing limit. We are now replacing it with a clearer one, where the amount of healing decreases for each target healed from the 6th healed target onwards.
• The Venthyr ability Fallen Order now summons an equivalent number of adepts of the secondary specialization (previously random). Adepts now apply Mystical Touch to their targets.
  • Ox Adepts now cast a Brewing of Fallen on the Monk upon appearing, granting the Monk an absorption shield equal to 10% of their maximum health for 8 seconds.
  • The damage of Tigerclaw from Tiger Adepts has been increased by 200%.
  • Tiger Adepts now use Whirling Crane Kick when at least 1 enemy is in range.
  • As long as Tiger Adepts are active, the Monk and their allies gain 5% movement speed, which stacks with other effects that increase movement speed, such as the Monk’s Spiritwalkers.
• The effect of the Night Fae medium Way of the Fae has been increased by 100%.
• BREWMASTER
  • The talent Special Delivery now deals 100% more damage.
  • The damage reduction of Breath of Fire from Ox Adepts through the Venthyr ability Fallen Order now stacks with your damage reduction from Breath of Fire.
  • Cranes Adepts from the Venthyr ability Fallen Order now heal the Monk first and then other allied targets.
• MISTWEAVER
  • Enveloping Mist from Crane Adepts of the Venthyr ability Fallen Order no longer receives cooldown reduction from the Monk’s haste.
  • Crane Adepts from the Venthyr ability Fallen Order now cast Enveloping Mist twice when summoned.
  • A bug has been fixed that caused Damage Redirect to heal the caster twice while casting Soothing Mist on themselves.
  • A bug has been fixed that prevented the medium Resplendent Mist from increasing the healing of Spout from the Necrolord ability Bone Dust Brew.
  • A bug has been fixed that caused Damage Redirect to trigger Mastery: Spout twice when cast during Soothing Mist.
  • A bug has been fixed that allowed Refreshing Mist to reset the timer for auto-attacks erroneously.
• WINDWALKER
  • Whirling Crane Kick (Rank 2) now increases the damage of Whirling Crane Kick by 18% (previously 15%) for each individual target hit by Blackout Kick, Tigerclaw, or Rising Sun Kick in the last 20 seconds. Stacks up to 5 times (previously 6 times).
  • Attacks from Tiger Adepts of the Venthyr ability Fallen Order now count towards your bonus for recent targets with Whirling Crane Kick.
  • Crane Adepts from the Venthyr ability Fallen Order now heal the Monk first and then other allied targets.
  • The legendary effect Jaws of the Sky now correctly increases the critical strike chance of the Necrolord ability Bone Dust Brew.

PALADINS

• The following abilities with area effects no longer have a target limit and now deal reduced damage starting at the 5th target:
  • Divine Storm (Retribution)
• The Necrolord ability Hammer of the Conqueror now increases the effectiveness of the free ability that consumes Holy Power by 25%.
• The damage effect of the Necrolord medium Righteous Fury has been increased by 400% and the healing effect has been reduced by 50%.
• Blessing of the Seasons (Night Fae ability): Blessing of Spring now increases healing done by 15% (previously 10%) and healing received by 30% (previously 20%). Blessing of Winter now reduces the attack and movement speed of the targeted enemy by 5% per stack (previously 3%) and its damage has been increased by 40%.
• HOLY
  • A bug has been fixed that caused the talent Confer Hope to reset the timer for melee attacks upon casting.

PRIESTS

• The damage and healing effect of the Necrolord medium Viral Transfusion has been increased by 100%.
• The talents Divine Star and Radiant Burst now deal reduced healing starting at the 6th target.
  • Developer’s comment: These spells previously used a complicated, invisible area healing limit. We are now replacing it with a clearer one, where the amount of healing decreases for each target healed from the 6th healed target onward.
• The healing of the talent Radiant Burst has been reduced by 20%.
  • Developer’s comment: In conjunction with the above change, this still results in an increase in healing for many targets.
• The healing cap for the talent Divine Star now applies regardless of whether it moves forward or returns.
• DISCIPLINE
  • The damage of the talent Divine Star has been increased by 40%.
  • The healing of the talent Repentance has been increased by 15%.
  • The healing of the talent Shadow Pact has been increased by 10%, the mana cost has been reduced by 10%, and the duration has been reduced to 7 seconds (previously 9 seconds).
• HOLY
  • The damage of the talent Divine Star has been increased by 40%.
• SHADOW
  • The duration of Descent into Madness has been increased to 30 seconds (previously 25 seconds).
  • The talent Psychic Link now deals 60% of the damage of Mind Spike (previously 50%).

ROGUES

• The following abilities with area effects no longer have a target limit and now deal reduced damage starting at the 5th target:
  • Dirty Trick (Subtlety)
• The following abilities with area effects no longer have a target limit and instead deal reduced damage starting at the 8th target:
  • Fan of Knives (Assassination)
  • Blood-red Storm (Assassination)
  • Black Powder (Subtlety)
  • Shuriken Storm (Subtlety)
• The legendary effect Toxic Offensive has been slightly reworked: When Sepsis expires on your target, you gain two of the following effects for 10 seconds: Shadow Blades, Adrenaline Rush, or Vendetta applies to your current target. The granted bonuses are always the ones not available for your specialization. For example, an Assassination Rogue will receive Adrenaline Rush and Shadow Blades.
• A bug has been fixed that caused Shadow Blades created by the legendary effect Toxic Offensive not to affect certain secondary specialization abilities.
• The effect of the Night Fae medium Septic Shock has been increased by 50%.
• OUTLAW
  • The first hit with the talent Fearsome Blades deals 26% more damage and instantly fills your combo points along with the existing effects.
• SUBTLETY
  • A bug has been fixed that caused the Venthyr ability Chains of Torment to always deal critical hits when used in combination with Death Mark.

SHAMANS

• The following abilities with area effects no longer have a target limit and now deal reduced damage starting at the 5th target:
  • Eye of the Storm of the Storm Elemental (Elemental)
• The effect of the Kyrian medium Elysian Cry has been increased by 50%.
• RESTORATION
  • The tooltip of the Spirit Link totem has been updated to better describe its function. No functional changes have been made to the Spirit Link totem.

WARLOCKS

• The following abilities with area effects no longer have a target limit and instead deal reduced damage starting at the 8th target:
  • Demonic Torrent of the Demon Guard (Demonology)
• The size of the cloud of chaotic anima created by the Venthyr ability Impending Catastrophe has been increased by 60%. It now deals some periodic damage on hit and applies the effect to enemy targets more accurately.
• The cast time of the Necrolord ability Decimating Bolt has been reduced to 2 seconds (previously 2.5 seconds).
• The direct and periodic damage of the Kyrian ability Tormented Oblation has been increased by 20% and the cast time has been reduced to 1.5 seconds (previously 2 seconds).
• The bonus to the critical hit chance from the legendary Kyrian effect Tormented Soul Remnants has been increased to 45% (previously 40%) and now grants the Warlock a buff of 33% movement speed and an increase in critical strike chance of 15% when the Kyrian ability Tormented Oblation expires.
• The legendary effect from the Night Fae Rotting Soul Sack no longer generates stacks when targeting enemies who are immune to the damage.
• Demonology
  • The cooldown of the talent Nether Portal has been reduced to 2.5 minutes (previously 3 minutes).

WARRIORS

• The following abilities with area effects no longer have a target limit and now deal reduced damage starting at the 5th target:
  • Whirlwind
  • Scythe (Arms)
  • Devastator (Arms)
  • Terror Strikes (Arms)
  • Devastator (Protection)
• The following abilities with area effects no longer have a target limit and instead deal reduced damage starting at the 8th target:
  • Blade Storm (Arms and Fury)
• The effect of the Venthyr medium Terrifying Punishment has been increased by 50%.
• The cooldown of the talent Impending Victory has been reduced to 25 seconds (previously 30 seconds) and now heals 40% of your maximum health (previously 30%).
• ARMS
  • The effect of the medium Relentless Bonebreaker has been increased by 100%.
  • The talent Warbreaker now extends the duration of Colossal Smash when caused by the legendary effect Enduring Strike.
• FURY
  • The damage of automatic attacks has been increased by 43%.
  • The medium Bloodbath has been increased by 50%.
• PROTECTION
  • The legendary Venthyr effect Sinful Wave now extends the duration of Avatar by 2.5 seconds when the Venthyr ability Condemn is used (previously extended the duration of Last Stand by 3 seconds).

What do you think of the changes to the classes? Good and sensible adjustments? Or should Blizzard have done significantly more?