World of Warcraft: Forever's beta is set to end in just a few days on October 21, but that hasn't stopped Blizzard from making some major changes to the game's various racial abilities.

Unlike in the modern version of WoW, where racial abilities are so minor that they mostly feel cosmetic, racial abilities in WoW Classic (and now in Forever) are a big part of why players choose to play a particular race. Some races synergise better with certain classes or playstyles. Others even benefit more from using specific types of weapons. 

Or at least they used to. In Forever's latest beta update, developer Blizzard has overhauled many of the MMO's racial abilities to remove weapon-specific buffs and improve some abilities that were seen as lackluster by the community. 

The removal of weapon-based passives for humans, dwarves, and orcs is a significant change. Orcs used to favor axes, humans swords and maces, and dwarves guns. In WoW Classic, that meant an increased weapon skill when using those weapons, resulting in a better chance to hit and increased damage. 

That changed for WoW: Forever's beta. Blizzard kept some of the weapon-specific flavor, but instead of weapon skill, pivoted to critical-strike chance. Now with this latest update, those bonuses no longer require players of a certain race to wield a specific weapon type to gain those passive benefits. Orcs simply gain a 1% increase to crit chance, humans gain a 2% increase to crit chance, and dwarves deal 2% increased critical damage and healing at all times.

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