What is different
Steamwheedle Mercs keeps the 1.12 game and changes what makes it tedious or lopsided: every class got new talents and spells, gear and professions were extended, and a long list of quality of life changes takes out the grind. This page lists what changed. The in-game talent tooltips and the Talent Calculator always show the exact current numbers.
2026-10-28
Class balance pass
Every damage specialization was parsed on a target dummy and brought into one range, so the custom talents are strong without one spec running away from the rest.
- Damage specializations now land in the same range on a target dummy: about 280 for the melee specializations and between 300 and 325 for casters, who also have to stand still to cast.
- Fury got a stronger Bloodthirst (100% of your attack power) to keep up.
- Retribution paladin, Shadow priest, Arcane, Fire and Frost mage, Affliction, Demonology and Destruction warlock, Beast Mastery, Marksmanship and Survival hunter, Assassination rogue, Feral and Balance druid, Enhancement and Elemental shaman and Fury warrior were tuned. The details are on the Classes tab.
- Mind Flay now also hits every enemy that has your Shadow Word: Pain on it.
- Shadow Flame Covenant makes Soul Fire free (no Soul Shard, no cooldown) and Fire damage bonuses still apply when the spell switches to Shadow.
- Demonic Embrace gives its Stamina to your demons too and no longer lowers your Spirit.
- Arcane Addict gives Evocation a 30 second cooldown, and Evocation no longer drops combat just before it ends.
- Bleeds deal full damage to every creature: there is no bleed immunity any more.
- Mana costs that were shown as percentages are now exact whole percentages, so the tooltip always matches the real cost.
- Many talent tooltips were rewritten shorter and clearer, and Envenom now lists its damage per combo point like Eviscerate.
- The Debuff Timers addon shows the cooldown clock on the debuffs and buffs you put on your target.
2026-10-23
Battlebots and mercenaries in the field
Battlegrounds fill up, and the hireable mercenaries learned the raid fights.
- Battlebots fill battlegrounds to the team size and give way when real players queue. Each bot rolls a gear tier and a PvP skill tier, shown under its name.
- Alterac Valley bots follow lanes, group up before the commanders, retake lost towers and graveyards and always bring at least four tanks.
- Mercenaries stay out of PvP and battlegrounds.
2026-10-22
Mercenaries learn the dungeons and raids
The Steamwheedle Consultant Agency goblins hire out party members who know the encounters.
- Dungeon mechanics from Blackrock Depths, Lower and Upper Blackrock Spire, Dire Maul, Scholomance and Stratholme.
- Zul'Gurub, Molten Core, Onyxia, Blackwing Lair, the Ruins and the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj and all four quarters of Naxxramas.
- Mercenaries have a bond level that makes them step out of fire, interrupt casts, and use their class tools better.
2026-10-18
Fishing, professions, auction house and transmog
Four big additions landed together.
- Fishing overhaul: five trophy fish with a daily quest, flotsam crates, angler gear, engineered lures and bites that come 40% faster.
- Professions: 15 leveling armor sets for Blacksmithing, Leatherworking and Tailoring, 7 enchants for rings and necklaces, 24 new cooking recipes with buff foods, half the material costs on mid tier recipes and Nexus Crystals from blue dungeon disenchants.
- Auction house bot: stocked Alliance, Horde and neutral houses with vanilla style prices. The bot buys fairly priced player listings and pays the seller by mail.
- Transmog: an account wardrobe, a Transmogrifier in the capitals, Theramore, Booty Bay and Gadgetzan, and the .tmog commands.
2026-10-17
Class sets, class passives and off-spec gear
Tier gear for every class and a third talent layer.
- New tier 1, 2 and 3 class sets with set bonuses that fit the modified talents.
- AQ40 off-spec epics, Blackwing Lair weapons and upgrade items.
- Class passives: three per talent tree, learned at 5, 10 and 15 points in the tree and unlearned when you move the points.
- Nature resistance passives for the 20 point talents of several classes let Nature spells reach creatures that are immune to Nature.
2026-10-13
Personal loot and dungeon gear
Loot that is meant for you, and gear for the first dungeons.
- Personal loot on dungeon and raid bosses: every group member rolls the boss table for their own armor type. Bind on pickup gear stays tradable for two hours played among eligible players.
- New and edited gear for Ragefire Chasm, Wailing Caverns, the Deadmines, Shadowfang Keep and Blackfathom Deeps.
2026-10-02
Class improvements begin
From the 2nd to the 12th of October every class received its first round of talent and spell changes, then the quality of life rounds.
- Paladin, Shaman, Priest, Druid, Hunter (all three trees), Warlock, Mage (all three trees), Assassination rogue and Protection warrior.
- Bigger stacks and bags, instant flights and raid wide group buffs.
- A mount overhaul: rare and epic mounts are cheap and available early and ride faster.
- Free talent respecs for players and pets.