World of Warcraft Classic is Making Big Changes to Mages and Hunters

gamerant.com:

Season of Discovery has given the developers free rein to reinvent World of Warcraft Classic, as the latest update brings major buffs to Mages and Hunters, as well as Paladins, Warlocks, and Warriors to a lesser degree. Though retail certainly found success with Dragonflight, World of Warcraft Classic players have seen Hardcore Mode and Season of Discovery added to the game, two different approaches to Classic content that have both resonated with the World of Warcraft community.

Whereas Hardcore Mode in World of Warcraft adheres to the core principles of «Vanilla», staying true to the original experience as much as possible, Season of Discovery is more about getting to adventure through Classic content in a completely new way. The first phase for Season of Discovery launched on November 30, 2023, while its second phase was released on February 8, 2024.

Though the first phase was a decent foundation for Blizzard to test out early runes for World of Warcraft classes in Season of Discovery, the second phase has allowed each specialization to become more concrete in its role and ranking. The patch notes for the latest update were posted on the official World of Warcraft forums. Scheduled for March 5, 2024, the update is set to spruce up the classes that have fallen behind in the second phase. Both damage and healing builds for Mages will see major buffs in the new patch, while Hunters will see notable improvements in Chimera Shot, Explosive Shot, and Carve damage.

Certain Warriors in World of Warcraft Classic can also rejoice, as Devastate will once again become a viable playstyle, with its baseline now being 150% Weapon Damage, as opposed to 100%. While Paladins have also gained a buff to Seal of Martyrdom damage, most players believe that the class still needs to be addressed by the developers. Unfortunately, much to the dismay of Feral Druids, the patch notes have no changes to the specialization in the upcoming update.

With the second phase of Season of Discovery