The following sections cover each of those adjustments by class and spec.
In the October 24, 2023 PTR build (posted ahead of Guardians of the Dream), Blizzard adjusted the Vengeance Demon Hunter's Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible 4-piece set bonus. Recrimination is the set bonus's ability reset trigger: collecting souls through combat activates it, applying Fiery Brand to the target. The number of souls required to activate Recrimination rose from 20 to 60, and the Fiery Brand applied by the set bonus was shortened from 6 seconds to 3 seconds. The intent was to slow the tank's cooldown cycling and bring its defensive contribution in line with other set bonuses of the tier.
Mistweaver received the widest-ranging overhaul of the round. The changes targeted both the spec's overall throughput and the Fistweaving playstyle specifically.
Blizzard noted the Essence Font change was not designed to push the spell into regular rotation in Guardians of the Dream — its healing had fallen behind, and the 40% increase was targeted at making Faeline Stomp's initial heal feel more impactful rather than creating a new spam pattern.
✏️ The Faeline Stomp jump to 150% and the Ancient Teachings stack increase to 4 made Fistweaving competitive in Season 3 Mythic+. Mistweaver mains who had been waiting for a reason to run the melee playstyle found Guardians of the Dream to be their strongest window in Dragonflight.
Holy Paladin absorbed compounding nerfs entering Guardians of the Dream. Overall healing was reduced by 8%, building on the 5% applied in a prior pass. Holy Prism received a 40% healing increase as a partial offset — specifically targeting a niche utility cooldown rather than Holy Paladin's sustained output — leaving the spec with lower overall throughput in extended Amirdrassil encounters. Blessing of Sacrifice was also trimmed: the ability shared only 20% of incoming damage (down from 30%), narrowing its value in both arena and Mythic+ defensive coverage.
Discipline Priest absorbed the steepest adjustments of the round. Blizzard acknowledged that a prior damage-reduction pass had not been sufficient to bring Disc in line with other healers, and applied further cuts in this PTR build.
The developer note framed this as keeping Disc dealing "reasonably high damage" while closing the gap with other specs — but the Sins of the Many reduction reshaped how far Disc could push during Atonement windows across Amirdrassil progression.
📌 The Sins of the Many cut from 40% to 20% was Disc's largest single-ability damage reduction since Legion. Players who had been running Discipline Priest for its DPS-hybrid appeal saw the spec slide noticeably in tier rankings after these changes went live.
Holy Priest received targeted fixes rather than pure tuning. Holy Word: Sanctify had been erroneously hitting 6 targets; it was corrected to its intended 5. Symbol of Hope was adjusted to reduce major defensive cooldowns by 30 seconds instead of 40. The proc chance for the Amirdrassil, the Dream's Hope 4-piece set bonus was also reduced by 10%.
Shadow received a full damage pass in this PTR build, targeting its core kit; all changes excluded PvP combat.
⚠️ The Vampiric Touch buff was the anchor of Shadow's October 24 package. Vampiric Touch is Shadow's sustained filler DoT and the primary source of Vampiric Embrace healing to the group, so a 25% damage increase also meant a 25% boost to the spec's incidental raid utility in Amirdrassil.
Restoration Shaman received a broad 3% healing increase across all abilities. The Amirdrassil, the Dream's Hope 4-piece set bonus was also tuned upward: the bonus to Riptide healing increased from 20% to 25%, and the chance to generate an additional Riptide rose from 5% to 6%.
| Class / Spec | Change |
|---|---|
| Vengeance Demon Hunter | Aberrus 4pc: souls for Recrimination 20→60; Fiery Brand duration 6s→3s. |
| Mistweaver Monk | Blackout Kick +15% (non-PvP); Tiger Palm +50% (non-PvP); Spinning Crane Kick +5%; Faeline Stomp 100%→150%; Ancient Teachings 3→4 stacks; Essence Font 6→5 targets, healing +40%. |
| Holy Paladin | Healing −8%; Holy Prism +40%; Blessing of Sacrifice 30%→20% damage shared. |
| Discipline Priest | Sins of the Many 40%→20% damage bonus; Atonement 35%→40% of damage done. |
| Holy Priest | Holy Word: Sanctify corrected to 5 targets; Symbol of Hope 40s→30s; Amirdrassil 4pc proc chance −10%. |
| Shadow Priest | Shadow Word: Pain +17%; Shadow Apparition +17%; Vampiric Touch +25%; Amirdrassil 4pc initial SWP damage 200%→225% (non-PvP). |
| Restoration Shaman | All healing +3%; Amirdrassil 4pc: Riptide healing 20%→25%; new Riptide proc chance 5%→6%. |
With those changes covered, some recurring questions about this PTR round are worth addressing directly.
These adjustments were posted to the PTR on October 24, 2023. Patch 10.2 (Guardians of the Dream) launched on November 7, 2023, at which point confirmed versions of these changes went live on retail servers. Minor differences between PTR and launch tuning are possible.
Blizzard stated that a prior damage-reduction pass had not been sufficient to close the gap with other healers. Sins of the Many was the primary lever for Disc's DPS output during Atonement windows — halving it from 40% to 20% was a structural change, not a fine-tune, intended to align Disc's damage ceiling with specs like Mistweaver and Restoration Druid in Amirdrassil.
Yes. The increase from 100% to 150% on Faeline Stomp, combined with Ancient Teachings stacking to 4, gave Fistweaving Mistweaver enough throughput to compete in Season 3 Mythic+. The core mechanic of dealing melee damage within Faeline Stomp's zone to generate healing on nearby allies became efficient enough that Fistweaving logs placed competitively during Guardians of the Dream progression.
Net buff. Reducing targets from 6 to 5 looks like a downgrade on paper, but the 40% healing increase more than offset the lost target for most raid sizes. Blizzard's stated goal was to reduce reliance on Essence Font as a rotation filler, not cut its throughput — and Season 3 logs confirmed Faeline Stomp displaced Essence Font as the primary heal driver for Fistweaving builds.
The reduction from 30% to 20% damage sharing carried no PvP flag and applied in both PvE and PvP contexts. In 3v3 arena, this narrowed Holy Paladin's ability to absorb burst windows for a high-damage partner, reducing the spec's defensive value against sustained melee cleaves.
The October 2023 PTR buffs moved Shadow Priest up in Guardians of the Dream DPS rankings. With Shadow Word: Pain and Shadow Apparition at +17%, Vampiric Touch at +25%, and the upgraded 4-piece bonus, Shadow Priest became a reliable Mythic+ pick and a viable Amirdrassil option — particularly in compositions that leveraged Vampiric Embrace for incidental healing.
These changes are historical. World of Warcraft is currently in the Midnight expansion, and Dragonflight Season 3 ended in 2024. The numbers documented here reflect the Dragonflight-era tuning pass for the Guardians of the Dream patch cycle. Current class tuning follows the Midnight patch cadence.
Last reviewed 2026-06-19 against Patch 10.2 PTR notes (October 24, 2023 build). Maintained by WowCarry's WoW team.
